Meikyuu Toshi no Antique Shop Vol 1 Chapter 17

“Keep the change. Never say I dine and dash.”
Miss “Footsteps of Death” put one gold coin on the counter so that Fujiwara could inspect it and store it away. For reference, a gold coin is exactly a thousand Gerun, so there were no coppers for change. It was pointless to point this out however, so Fujiwara didn’t bother.
“I don’t care anymore. I’m going home.”
She made to go toward the exit of the store, stamping her feet.
Fujiwara was feeling quite refreshed from this, but he still wasn’t quite done yet.
He needed to find a way to take out a hara.s.sment charge or something of the like.

“Dear customer. I do hope you pay the rest of the payment before you leave.”
“What? I just paid!”
“Yes, you paid for the biscuits.
“And yet there’s something else?”
“Previously, you received a detoxification charge due to the allowance used to cure the poison, the poison appraisal costs, and the Poison Resistance amulet still hasn’t been paid for.”
“But…”
“It become a total of, well … a hundred thousand Gerun.”
“Hundred, huh… Hundred thousand!?”

Raising her voice, Miss “Footsteps of Death” toppled right over, falling grandly as though she had tripped outright.
I’m sorry, but this is a respectable job, was how Fujiwara justified himself.
“By the way, that’s the base price, with no inflation.”

The antidotes take up most of the expense. That deadly poison required a High Quality elixir to leave no after effect, which costs eighty five thousand Gerun. The rest of the drugs he needed total to twelve thousand Gerun, and the usage fee of the Amulet was three thousand. The rest would be for his injuries due to her flinging that blade around, of course.
Since she had used such expensive objects from the store, Fujiwara did have to charge her. If he didn’t, he’d be roared at by his Master.

“It’s… I only just found out… Because you treated me, I’ll pay.”
The Miss seemed mortified, saying as much.
Fujiwara was relieved she understood. He expected for her to run wild and kill her, since she had more than enough ability and the right personality for it.
“But, please wait. I don’t have these sorts of funds you’ve addressed to me in the price, so it would be useless to charge me now. Why don’t I leave a bill I can pay at a later date?”
“…Hmm.”
This reaction was a bit unexpected for Fujiwara.
Miss “Footsteps of Death” was clearly on a level where she was not handicapped by money based on their past interactions.
This could also be told from the quality of her body armor, sword, and underwear. He avoided looking at the latest, but all three were first rate items with intricate designs, for aristocrats and n.o.bility to use. It would seem she was a high-ranking official of some kind from outside Labyrinth City, and he read that to be the reason for hiding her ident.i.ty.
Though, he wasn’t particularly disappointed over the money. Even if she was the sort to have that much on hand, he didn’t plan on it being paid in cash.
He thought about dropping the charge. Then, Fujiwara let loose some pre-prepared words.
“It’s no issue. Since dear Customer is a Seeker, shouldn’t payment be made from items collected in the Dungeon?”
“I am indeed a See-“
“For example, that item you have there, perhaps?”
Fujiwara pointed to the large keychain hanging low from the large sword Miss “Footsteps of Death” was holding. He had kept his eye on it from the moment he carried her into the store. From the way she treated it he knew she only was using it as a decoration, not knowing its value.

It was undoubtedly a Full Moon Rabbit’s hind leg. From the hair gloss and color characteristics, Fujiwara was nearly certain. The animals became extinct in the “Era of Supreme Magicians”, as it was a popular material for Magic Tools to be made out of.
“This little trinket’s useless. It’s just a little thing I liked on the eleventh floor.”
“It’s likely a Granting Tool. Some Granting Tools sell for more than a hundred thousand Gerun.”
“A hundred thousand… How much is that in sheets of biscuits?”
“I don’t have any clue what you mean by that, but five thousand of them.”
She asked so with a furious face, and Fujiwara responded with simple arithmetic.
“So much… I’m glad I brought it.”
“Thank you very much.”
She seemed to be convinced.

Fujiwara received the cute keychain with great care, and they decided to get the appraisal done immediately.
◆
“It’s like so. Are you sure you want to exchange it for fifty five thousand Gerun of your debt?”
The results of the Appraisal were that the trinket was a “Rabbit’s Foot”, Off The Mark.
It was a Granting Tool which could call some fortune in exchange for magic.
However, the “Good Luck” was not necessarily in a way easily visible. Some examples, “Your foot stuck in mud comes out with no difficulty”, or “Your precision with a bow gets a little better”, or “You aren’t very hungry even though you should be”, and so forth. It isn’t quite as useful as one thinks, so it wasn’t a huge boon for a Seeker.

However, this item had quite a lot of demand, other than Seekers. “Rabbit’s Foot” brings good luck over a long period of time, so it was greatly desired by Merchants and your everyday villager. Because of how easy it was to make, though, it was the most common scam item, but real ones were rare.
While considering that, he remembered the Goodwife’s plight. Because of their pa.s.sive aide, it was considered a good item to help with safe deliveries, or as a prayer for safety of the baby and mother.
‘Right, I’ll deliver it later’
“But, it wasn’t worth a hundred thousand.”
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t that high quality. Just harvesting the Dungeon can lead to getting those easily enough.
“I never knew… No wonder Seekers have so much moneys, these item prices…”
“Why have you been so short on cash?”
“It’s dishonorable to loot the fallen.”

“But, then, the items will never be recovered.”
“But… Argh… I should have picked them up, one after another, if this was the situation.”
Seekers that couldn’t recover Drop Items were unusual. In the past, however, many parties would go deep for the thrill and honor, such as that “Capture Set” expedition, but she didn’t seem to be that sort after all.
◆
“Guu… But, I don’t have the other forty-five thousand…”
“Miss Footsteps of Death” was having a staring contest with her bag of coin.
‘It seems that she’s in dire straits, after all. Getting the money will be hard.’
Fujiwara wondered if she knew the clasp on her valuable Wyvern bag was made of pure gold, but decided against pointing it out. He wondered if she had run from a Seeker’s household, or if she was the daughter of a ruined n.o.ble household, or so forth.
Now, he was uncertain.

“Then, we’re fine for now. You can pay it later.”
“……What, for real?”
“Yes. However, there’s a condition.”
“What is it?”
She suddenly eyed Fujiwara with a suspicious glare, as if looking at a con artist, or something worse. From this alone Fujiwara considered retiring. ‘I’m sorry, I’m sincerely just doing my job.’
“In the future, you must bring all drop items from the Dungeon here for appraisal, and then anything valuable can be used for repayment.”
“…Mu. Is this really okay?”
“Yes. But, I’ll have to balance the charge of appraisal with the cost.”
Most appraisers charge for their services, so it wasn’t anything shady. It’s a rare skill, for the appraisal to be done as well as Master or Fujiwara did.

“You have a period of two months to get that done.”
“Can I do it that fast?”
“Yes. A customer who can pa.s.s through the tenth floor alone, so skillful, could likely do it easily.”
“Fine, I agree.”

Even if Fujiwara got her consent, it could be rescinded like smoke.
Fujiwara recorded down the contract and presented it.

“Okay, here you go.”
“…Thank you very much.”
Fujiwara checked the parchment and nodded.

Truthfully, the contract was insignificant. He didn’t know who she was or where to send the militia after her, after all. Truly, it was miniscule.
However, Fujiwara knew she was too prideful to break her oath. Her willingness to do this gave him some security. Her character and strength were too strong for scamming.
He now looked at her signature.

As such, there was the name Anemone L. Amberlite there. No doubt, she was indeed n.o.bility, because her middle initial was there as well, and only n.o.bles maintained their baptismal name. He wondered if she was famous.
◆
“Well, this is pointless now.”
Miss “Footsteps of Death” began to don her armor, even saying so. Most people would need a servant or friend to help put it on, but she covered the gaps one after another with familiar hand movements.

After a while she paused, seemingly thinking, before speaking aloud.
“It’s a good feeling for someone to know my name. It’s different, but it’s good to exchange names.”
“Well, my name’s Fujiwara.”
“What an odd name. I’ll remember it, though.”
Finally, she donned her helmet. With this, she went from the girl who happily chews biscuits in her underwear, to the hefty Seeker “Footsteps of Death”.
Although he didn’t know how she grew up, it was no joke to wear that large of armor as the daughter of a n.o.ble. Fujiwara was unsure how much of it was “Divine Protection” and how much of it was willpower.

With this, she made her way out of the store with a ‘Gas.h.i.+n, gas.h.i.+n’, but before the exited, she turned to ask
“By the way, where do I purchase those biscuits?”
“Did you like them?”
“…They weren’t unpalatable.”
“Do you know ‘Underground Tavern That Looks Up at the Sun’?” (tl: I’m going to try to write this consistently now… Alternative tl: ‘Respectful Mole’s Sun’. Yeah, this name’s a huge pain…)
When the Miss heard that, she made an annoyed face and clicked her tongue.        “You mean that haunt for commoners?”
‘How cruel’. Fujiwara wondered if she knew that the primary rumor was what her appearance was, and then considered it again and realized her making an appearance would be bad.
“On second thought, you should come by for tea and biscuits.”
“Okay.” The Miss swung her helmet back down.
Compared to the cost of those, the amount she was paying back for the medicine was much higher. Claiming the full cost would be a hard sell.
Therefore, Fujiwara decided that this degree of service would be okay if her feelings softened a bit, no matter how cheap the patronage was.

Hearing the sound of the door, he waited awhile before bowing his head low.
“Feel free to visit. I look forward to next seeing you.”
◆
From then, Miss “Footsteps of Death”, Anemone, was a patron of the store. She’d come to eat biscuits and Café au Lait and exchange high quant.i.ty of items.
Occasionally, she’d come back against her will due to poor condition or injury, and they’d have to decide the treatment method.

“This isn’t going to be free.”
“So noisy, cure the bruise quickly.”
“If I say so, you should be quiet.”
“You need an intervention on the number of biscuits you eat.”
“Ah, which loot do you want to buy, or all?”

And that was how a lonely Full Body Armor and Fujiwara began their chats.

◆
Appraisal Certificate “Rabbit’s Foot (Off the Mark)”
“Thou faithless gambler, offer up five hundred and twenty drops- and, until the world is exhausted, it will carry and turn you, surrounding you and giving to you, like a wheel of Baden-Baden” (tl: Author decided to name the G.o.d of luck after a small German town…)
You attach it by fastening the Rabbit’s Foot to you in some way with the chain. Extremely easy to carry like this. This amulet is a type of charm, and it is favored by street vendors, even if this Granting Tool is rare.
As most should know, Rabbits were hunted frequently in the old days, by many things.
Without their alertness and speed in fleeing, rabbits would have long ago died off. As well, baby rabbits are born with their eyes already open, alert. As such, it was considered that their reproductive abilities and wariness were divine favors, that such endangered animals could be so prolific. The hind legs of the rabbit were said to happily kick in the womb, which is the origin of the charm, for the health of newborns and general good luck. This is just ancient suspicion, but The Superior Magicians ensured this became real.
It’s difficult to verify its effectiveness, because luck is something abstract and think. However, every time it is used, magic from your body will be used up. If the consumption is there, it is being exchanged for something as collateral. It can aide with precision, it makes itself hard to steal, and it makes you less hungry- various tiny aides that happen pa.s.sively, ones you won’t even notice.

But, to put it into perspective, if you’re forced into the corner while in the Dungeon, it might just make it your lucky day.