Spend It All
"Umm, well...."
"Yes, Young Lady?"
"Thank you for accompanying us."
Sicily called Iris Young Lady while clinging tightly to Margine's arm.
"Don't worry about that. It's been a long time since I've eaten out, after all."
Sicily was a popular courtesan during her active days. She retired despite still in her prime age after a regular customer's plan to buy her out fell through. It seemed that her customers often took her out to eat at restaurants.
"Umm...."
"Yes, Young Lady?"
"M-My name is Iris."
"Oh, really? That's a nice name. I'm Sicily, Young Lady Iris."
Iris introduced herself hoping Sicily would stop calling her Young Lady, but she didn't stop. Margine had already prepared himself to be taken to a high-end clothing store, but contrary to his expectations, he was taken to a normal clothing store.
"Margine will pay for it, so pick whatever you like. Especially underwear, it's better to have a lot. How about this?"
Sicily said this while holding up some pumpkin pants for children. Margine waited outside the store, unaware of this exchange.
Men are unnecessary when women are shopping. Even if we were asked for advice, we wouldn't know, and if we were asked which one is better, our answer would always be wrong. I'm saying this based on my experience shopping with Misty.
Even so, they sure are taking so long. I didn't expect it to end quickly, but not this long.
The shopping, which took until past noon, finally ended, and it was time to pay.
"The total is 170,000 G. I've rounded down the price."
"Huh?"
The shop assistant smiled, saying she had rounded down the price.
"This is a shop selling commoner's clothes, right?"
"Yes, but we also sell some high-end clothes. Thank you for your purchase."
The clothes were to be delivered to the brothel. Then, guided by Sicily, the three went to a certain restaurant. It was the kind of place that made you wonder if you have to wear a suit to eat there.
"Lady Sicily, it's been a long time."
"Hello. Is there a private room available?"
"Yes."
Thanks to Sicily who seemed to be a regular customer, despite Margine's questionable attire, he was allowed to enter and even shown to a private room.
The menu doesn't have prices listed. How terrifying....
"I recommend this or this. For drinks, I think I'll have this.... and juice for the young lady."
Margine ordered what Sicily recommend. It was a quite extravagant lunch course.
"Delicious!"
"Well, it's not bad."
Starting with the appetizers, the soup, and very tender beef fillet as the main course, everything was delicious.
"Right? I don't know about the noble district, but this is probably the best restaurant in the commoner district."
You probably meant the most expensive restaurant, right?
The bill was 300,000 G. One bottle of wine was apparently on the house.
What a terrifying restaurant....
"It was a good place, wasn't it? It's the kind of place where even commoners can feel like nobles."
Sicily saw Margine received 500,000 G from selling the magic crystals, so she had calculated it so that all the money would all be spent. But thanks to the free bottle of wine, there was still 30,000 G remained.
I can eat and drink every night at Rikka's Diner for a month with the leftover money....
However, that leftover money was also gone as Margine was persuaded to buy this and that on the way home.
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"Did he spend the money?"
"I made him spend all the money."
The madam chuckled at Sicily's answer.
"To think that Margine would bring an unfamiliar girl here. I guess he's finally moved on."
"Yeah. He usually tried to not get involved with other people's problems."
"It's been three years since then. He must be getting used to this era by now. Tabatha is no longer with us, so he should stop feeling obligated to this place and just go wherever he wants."
"That's right. He would get more customers if he opens his shop in the central commercial district."
"He said it was too much trouble, but I'm sure he just couldn't leave those orphans alone...."
"Tabatha cared about the orphans, so he's probably doing the same thing."
"He also donates almost all of his spellbook sales to the orphanage. Thanks to that, fewer girls are coming to become apprentice, which is a real nuisance to the business."
The shrewd old woman scoffed, but inwardly, she thought it was a good thing that fewer children were coming to work in the brothel. After finishing her report, Sicily happily took the expensive clothes she had secretly set aside for herself to her room, pretending that Margine had bought them for her.
"Umm, thank you for clothes and everything. I'll work hard and pay you back...."
"Don't worry about that. Just earn enough money for your return trip."
"I-I don't plan to go back."
"What? You father didn't want to meet you, right? Isn't your business in the royal capital finished now?"
"My mother has passed away. There's no one waiting for me even if I go back...."
Margine stopped pursuing the topic, sensing the mood was getting dark.
"Where are we heading now?"
"To Rikka's Diner. It's owned by someone I know. I'm gonna ask if they can hire you."
"Huh?"
"There aren't many places that would hire minors. You can't just walk in and get a job. Even if there are such places, they probably won't pay much. Rikka's Diner probably doesn't pay that much either, but it's better than being exploited at some unknown place. If you don't like it, you can find a job yourself."
"N-No, I will leave it to you."
~ Rikka’s Diner ~
"Welco---Who is this girl!?"
Rikka, who tried to greet Margine with a smile, suddenly became very displeased when she saw an unfamiliar girl with him.
"I picked her up."
"Huh?"
Finding it troublesome to explain, Margine only said that and asked Rikka to call Boss. There were no other customers as lunch time had just passed.
"Is this the girl Rocca and the group mentioned? The one you saved from wolves?"
"Yes. Her stuffs were stolen, and she has no money or place to stay. Can you hire her as a live-in waitress?"
"Sure, we certainly are short-handed, but the live-in part will be difficult. There are no vacant rooms here."
"Umm.... You don't have to worry about that. I will manage it somehow."
"How exactly are you going to manage it?"
"I can set up a tent in the town square or something...."
"You lost your tent too, right?"
"Ah, that's right...."
Iris slumped, remembering that her tent had also been stolen.
"Rikka, would you mind sharing a room with this girl?"
Understanding the difficult circumstances, the proprietress suggested that Rikka shared a room with Iris.
"N-No way!"
"Well, there you heard it. I'm sorry, but live-in might be difficult."
"I see...."
Margin didn't blame Rikka. Nobody wanted to suddenly sleep in the same room with a stranger.
"Umm, well, I'm just grateful you're willing to hire me. I'll figure out where to stay myself."
"Look, there's no way that will work. Winter is just started..... Tch, fine. I'll let her stay at my place until you find a place."
"What do you mean by letting her stay at your place!?"
Rikka suddenly got angry when Margine said he was going to let Iris stay at his house.
"There's no helping it. I can't say 'Okay, it'll be cold, but sleep outside.', can I?"
"B-But.... some things are just not okay!"
"Look, I'm talking about my house here. You have no say in it."
"Y-You might attack her!"
"If I were going to attack her, I would have done it yesterday."
"Huh?"
"Umm, I stayed at his house last night, but nothing happened"
Hearing that, Rikka glared at Margine.
"You pervert!"
*slap*
Rikka slapped Margine before running to her room.
"That girl...."
The proprietress sighed in exasperation.
"Margine, are you serious about letting her stay at your house?"
Boss asked Margine with a serious expression.
"I could lend her money to stay at the inn for a night or two, but she's planning to stay in the royal capital permanently. Until she saves up enough money to rent a proper house, I'm going to let her stay at my place."
"Even so, living together isn’t a good idea. This girl might not be able to get married. Can you take responsibility for that?"
"Why would she not be able to get married?"
"Look, even if nothing happened, people wouldn't look kindly on a woman living with a man who isn't her family or her husband."
"So, Iris, do you want to marry me?"
"Huh? Um, well... You can't just say something like that out of the blue."
Iris turned bright red when Margine asked if she'd marry him.
"I'm obviously joking!"
*smack*
"Ouch! Why did you suddenly hit me, Lady Boss?"
"Even if you only see her as a kid, she is a still a woman. You should not make that kind of joke."
Margine, having been hit by the proprietress, was grumbling.