Looking closer inside, I discovered that the store mainly produces sexually graphic novels and comics.
Moreover, as their titles suggest, they cover quite a wide range of tastes.
Impassioned Bondage Lass, Yuri Lily, The Wife in a Housing Complex and an Old man, Siblings, Salivating Scatology, and so on.
Un, too heavy, even for me.
However, these titles that I might get traumatized if I look at the contents are all over the place.
Especially the “Rotten Bastard’s Corner.” Going over there looks like a bad idea.
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However, I was even more astonished when I saw the person behind the checkout counter doing something.
“Miss Priestess? What are you doing here?”
“…”
No answer.
“Hey, Miss Priestess.”
“You got the wrong person.”
No, it is true that she is not wearing a priestess uniform, and in her oversized hoodie and jersey, she looks like an ordinary girl, but her silver hair and sharp eyes make her look like the priestess from any angle.
“What is that? Are you drawing something? What are you drawing?”
“No! Don’t look at it! Don’t look!”
As I peeked over the checkout counter, the priestess hid what she was working on with an agile movement that was unthinkable of her under normal circumstances. If y ou a re ab le to rea d th is m es sage, yo u a re read ing fro m an unaut hori zed ag gre ga te sit e. Rea d at m y Wo rdPr ess at stab bi ng with a syr ing e. ho me. b log to supp ort me and my tran slat ions.
Perhaps she was writing a novel or drawing a comic book.
But still, what is she getting embarrassed for?
She had the same sharp look in her eyes, but her face was bright red.
“I understand. You’re not actually the priestess.”
“What?”
“I had the wrong person. You are a person who looks like the priestess.”
“U, umu. It’s good that you know.”
“By the way, the person who looks like the priestess, what are you working on over there? Are you drawing something?”
“This? Well, it’s called a self-made comic.”
Saying this, she showed me the manuscript she had been working on.
It was titled “The Female Warrior and the Crooked Merchant.”
“You son of a-!!”
“What is it? What are you so angry about?”
This woman, just because I declared that we don’t know each other, she suddenly starts to go brazen at me.
She knows I can’t get angry at her now that I’ve told her we have no relationship.
“A wonderful piece of work, isn’t it? My job is to bring salvation to all Andersen’s people in this way.”
I’ve heard that line somewhere.
I should tell the sister.
“Well, I don’t know about that, but…”
I looked around the store again, and after a pause, I spoke again.
“It’s amazing that an amateur can run such a splendid shop, even more in a black market.”
“It’s not just me. It is made possible by many doujinshi circles that provide us with good works.”
“I see.”
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“But I’m going to have to close this place down in a few short months.”
“Why? Sales not going well?”
“No, as a matter of fact, sales have been pretty good. But soon, a new wall will be built around the area outside the city walls. When that happens, the crackdown will get tougher.”
What?
“They’re going to expand the walls?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“Because the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Internal Affairs told me.”
After saying that, the priestess’s eyes widened a little, and she put her hand over her mouth as if to say, “Oh, no.”
“No, just now is…”
No, I have no intent to retort on that.
Still, I see now.
I forgot she is a priestess because she is like this, but she is still an important person in the State Church. Th is chap ter tra nsla tion is ma de pos si ble by sta bbi ng wi th a syr in ge trans lat ions. Che ck onl y up- to-dat e transl atio ns on my Wo rdpre ss si te.
In this country, her position is basically higher than that of the cabinet.
She must have heard about the policies of the executive branch herself.
If that’s the case, then I guess I can believe what she says about the city walls.
“I understand. No need to say anything further. By the way, what I’m going to say now is just a soliloquy, but I’m thinking of going to the cathedral tomorrow. It would be nice if I met the priestess there.”
“Oh, I see. I hope you will be able to meet her.”
I said goodbye to the priestess and left the store.
○●○●
The next day, I went to the cathedral, and there, I finally saw the priestess.
She prayed earnestly at the church as if yesterday’s meeting was a lie.
“I’ll go straight to the point, Miss Priestess. How much do you know about the expansion of the city walls?”
I asked her, sipping the tea the sister had made for me.
“Well, it’s nothing you don’t already know.”
If that’s true, then how come I don’t know about it?
I have to hear more from this priestess.
“You see, to put it bluntly, I’m thinking of getting involved in the wall project. Or rather, as a merchant, I can’t let this chance slip by. So no matter what, I have to try to negotiate with the Minister of Finance after this.”
When I said this, the Priestess stared at me with a stern look in her eyes, not moving an inch.
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“What, you want me to introduce you to the Minister of Finance? Well, if you say you’re a friend of mine, that much is possible.”
“Huh? Miss Priestess and I are friends?”
“…”
“…Sorry. Yes, friends. We’re friends, absolutely.”
Seeing the priestess change from her stern expression to one of depression, I immediately declared to her that we were friends.
“Well, though I’d like you to introduce me to the Minister of Finance, as a merchant, I also know that’s not going to be enough.”
“And what do you mean by that?”
“I meant it as it is. Just as I am trying to get an audience with the Minister of Finance through my “friend,” the priestess, other traveling merchants must have done the same way through some kind of connection, making my existence not much different from them.”
I spoke, emphasizing the ‘friends’ part.
“Well, I suppose so. And?”
Is it me, or is the priestess sounding a bit happy whenever I emphasize that word?
“What I mean is, even if our efforts did get me an audience, it will still be a futile one because the Minister of Finance will not be interested in a lowly merchant like me, as I won’t be standing out.”
“In other words, you want something enough for him to turn his eyes on you? However, are you sure you can handle it?”
What this means is that, basically, I am asking her to give me some dirt on the Minister of Finance.
But to begin with, due to the difference in ranks, our negotiations would only start if I laid out the weak points of the minister.
At that time, I thought that this priestess was a strange person, but seeing her like this, I discovered that she was not stupid at all.
Wait. Doesn’t this make me a “crooked merchant” even more?
