Touring the Imperial Capital (1)

On the second day since connecting Haku-san's villa to the gate, I decided to tour the imperial capital.

That's because the first dungeon construction site candidate is "inside the imperial capital."

Why, you ask? There are several reasons, but the biggest one is this: if this remains our dungeon after the Dungeon Battle ends, having it as an exclave here means we could instantly travel to the imperial capital through [Deployment].

So what's the advantage for this Dungeon Battle? Maybe calling in local adventurers to defend on the day of? But that's something we could do at other locations too.

I'm about to flip the table on what I just said, but honestly, I don't think we'll actually do it here. Yeah, that was just a pretext.

The real reason is that I wanted to see this place at least once.

Haku-san's headquarters and the mecca of adventurers — the imperial capital. As the capital of a great nation, it's developed and full of people.

Even this main street I'm on right now is within dungeon territory, and all these people in sight… no, not just them, everyone in this entire imperial capital is a source generating DP for Haku-san.

Both as simple sightseeing and as the final evolved form of our village, there's no harm in seeing this. Though I have no intention of going this far myself.

"There are so many people, Haku-ane-sama. This is the first time I've seen this many humans."

"Fufufu, this is an everyday occurrence here."

By the way, Haku-san is also accompanying us for the inspection.

However, if she walked around in her normal appearance it would obviously cause a huge commotion, so she came along in her DP-saving form… her loli mode.

Turns out variable apparent age isn't just a Rokuko thing. She looks like a slightly older sister compared to loli Rokuko. A mature young girl, you might say.

To match calling such a Haku-san (small) "ane-sama," Rokuko is naturally also in her smaller form.

And Niku is with us too.

… Let's call this formation the Loli Triangle. Well, it's not like naming it does anything.

"… Ah, Kehma-san… should I call you Onii-chan or something?"

"N-no, please just keep it as usual, I beg you."

"I see. So then, is there anywhere you want to go? There isn't a single place in this imperial capital I don't know."

Haku-san, leading the way, spun around and said this with an innocent-looking smile.

Coming from the person who has this entire imperial capital under her control in both name and reality, that statement carries some weight.

"Let's see, I'd like to visit some shops, and the Adventurer Guild… also, I'd like to see something like an underground arena."

"Oh, an underground arena… fufu, that's for nighttime. Well then, shall I show you around the commercial district first?"

 

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Led by Haku-san, we arrived at the commercial district. There were shops selling vegetables and fruits, shops selling clothes and accessories. Butchers and fishmongers too. Come to think of it, there's a sea nearby. It's more bustling than Tsuia.

I don't see any weapons or armor shops. I wonder if they're sold in a different district.

"This is the main street of the commercial district. They do sell minor weapons like ornamental pieces here, but proper arms are basically sold on the adventurer street. Convenient magic tools for daily life like lighting are also sold here."

So that's how it is. Rokuko was immediately whisked away by Haku-san into a clothing shop. It looked like a high-end establishment, apparently patronized by royalty, and they seem to know about her incognito loli mode. Or rather, it seems to be a shop specifically for when she wants to drop by incognito and do some shopping.

… This is definitely just shopping. Well, I'll tag along for now.

"There's a wide variety of dungeon-produced clothing items combined with designs brought by heroes. Look, like this bunny outfit, or this white angel outfit."

"That's a bunny suit and a nurse outfit, isn't it… past heroes, really…"

There was also a policewoman outfit, a maid outfit, and even a school swimsuit. The materials seem to be from this world, but the reproduction quality is extremely high. There are properly made men's versions too, showing deep dedication… There was probably a cosplayer among the past heroes.

"The prices are… yeah, tens of gold coins. Clothes really are expensive…"

"This is the finest shop patronized by royalty, after all. Now, Rokuko-chan, shall we try some on?"

"Y-yes!"

She said that, but what's in Haku-san's hands includes that bunny suit from before. There's even a bikini armor. Are you sure about this, Rokuko?

Haku-san snapped her fingers to summon a shop attendant, then headed to the back of the shop with Rokuko. Niku and I were left behind.

"Niku — er, Kuro, is there anything you want?"

"Um… then, um, I-I'd like to look at those clothes over there."

What Niku pointed to was the underwear section.

… That's a high difficulty level.

Rokuko was dressed up in various outfits, but ultimately ended up in a safe one-piece dress.

By the way, getting things through DP would be both cheaper and better quality, so I didn't buy anything, but Haku-san bought quite a lot. On credit.

Having the castle come pick up the payment is apparently also a performance meant to favor this shop. It's to let those around know that the shop has dealings with the castle. So there are things like that too, huh. How troublesome.

"Spreading money around to stimulate the economy is also an obligation of those who stand at the top. Ah, I'll give this to Rokuko-chan as a present after the Dungeon Battle is over."

"Yes! Thank you, Haku-ane-sama!"

The clothes she bought were pretty risque though, is that okay? I didn't see her wearing them though.

"Shall we go to a magic tool shop next?"

 

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At the magic tool shop, various tools were on display.

Magic tools for starting fires, producing water, and providing illumination. These are popular and apparently best sellers. I'm told they're also sold at shops on the adventurer street.

There were also instrument-type magic tools like a keyboard harmonica, and cooking magic tools for peeling potato skins. There was even a fountain pen magic tool, though I'm not sure why it needs to be magical… Hm? It automatically refills ink? So it never runs out? Heh, that's impressive.

What particularly surprised me was seeing magic tools that produce paper being sold to the general public.

"This [Papermaker-kun] is a magic tool created by a past hero. When you put finely shredded wood into it, it turns it into paper. That [Permanent Fountain Pen-kun] is often bought together with it by merchants."

The "[XX-kun]" naming appears to be a characteristic feature of the magic tool series developed by that hero. Looking around, there are several other magic tools with "[XX-kun]" in their names.

"I'd think a paper-making tool is pretty important, but is it really okay to sell it like this?"

"It was the inventor's wish, so there's nothing to be done. However, if it breaks, it can only be repaired here in the imperial capital."

By the way, it can only make one sheet of A3-sized paper at a time, and making one sheet takes several hours. Also, purchasers are recorded in a registry under the guise of maintenance and after-service.

While I was looking at those kinds of production-type magic tools, Rokuko came over holding a pot.

"Kehma, isn't this [No-Wood Pot] amazing? The pot heats up automatically!"

"Like a hot plate? Can you adjust the temperature?"

"It doesn't look like it."

"Oh, this [Heating Pot-kun] over here can heat without wood and also adjust the temperature. Low, medium, high… apparently it's a popular item among both adventurers and cooks."

The one without temperature control was five silver coins. The one with temperature control was five gold coins. Just being able to change the temperature to three levels makes this much difference…

"That's because [Papermaker-kun] and the others can only be made by the [Hero's Workshop]… Plus, the cheap ones break easily."

So they're like brand-name goods.

And if something's too cheap, it might even catch fire inside your bag… or rather, they deliberately make inferior goods and circulate them as no-brand products from unknown sources, thereby raising the relative value of brand-name products. Apparently it's better not to buy those.

In Japan, the shop that sold it would get sued, but in this imperial capital, anything that's not brand-name is basically like warranty-less junk — buy at your own risk. They really have it well set up.

Ah, Haku-san is behind all this, isn't she?