“Now then, let’s go shopping!”

“Yes!”

“How are both of you so energetic?”
We should have gone at it until late at night yesterday, but their skin actually looks smoother and more vibrant than usual today. Was I the prey? Did they suck out my life-essence of something? I was really curious about it, but it’s not like anyone will answer my doubts.

“Hiro-sama?”

“Nah, it’s nothing. Shall we go?”

“Yes~!”

While being pulled by the arm by an energetic-looking and smiling Mimi, I went out of the hangar bay and the three of us boarded the express elevator. Gazing at the now-familiar space scenery, we went straight towards the 3rd Block, which we’ve frequently visited as of late.

“You’re not scared, are you Mimi?”

“I’m okay! I have Hiro-sama and Elma-san together with me. And I also have my laser gun here.”

Mimi patted the laser gun she holstered on her hip while smiling brightly. Un. But I hope she never encounters a situation where she has to use it anyway. Let’s have Elma train her in hand-to-hand combat as well next time.

“By the way, do you have any place in mind we could visit?”

“Nope, this was an impromptu suggestion, so I didn’t really plan anything. Do you have anywhere you want to go Mimi? You researched the shops in the 3rd Block before, right?”

“Ah, yes. That’s right.”

Mimi took out her portable terminal and considered which places to check out.

“The gadget shop catered for mercenaries seems interesting. They’re selling some things we could use inside and outside the ship. There’s also the gun shop and the import shop.”

“The gadget shop’s fine. But the gun shop huh?”

“Yes. There’s a chance you’ll get into trouble and find yourself in an emergency if you don’t keep yourself adequately protected. I’m physically weak and I don’t have good motor skills, so I want something that suits me.”

I see. So Mimi’s been properly thinking about what she needs huh. I’m not that confident in a firefight anyway, so it might be good to check that shop out.

“I’ve been to the import shop and it’s quite fun to check out rare foodstuffs that you can’t find in a normal convenience store over there.”

“Hm, sounds great. You guys want to go there as well? I’m more interested in the gun shop so let’s check that place out later.”

“The closest one’s the gadget shop.”

“Let’s head on over then.”

The three of us walked along, with Mimi checking the store’s location on her terminal’s mini-map.

The public order of this colony’s 3rd Block isn’t all that great in general, but the outer areas near the elevator and the gate to the 2nd Block as well as the area near the military base were relatively safe. Oh, it seems the area where Oishii Mart was located was in between the secure and unsecure areas.
“It looks like it’s that shop.”

“That one huh.”

The outer appearance of the store was quite normal. The shop-front had some window displays where male and female-shaped mannequins dressed in what looked like g-suits were shown. Well, they certainly didn’t look like your normal g-suits though.

“Welcome!”

As soon as we entered, the shop clerk sitting behind the counter just beside the door called out. The clerk was an intense-looking muscular uncle.

After getting a look at the interior, it seems like it wasn’t all that spacious. It’s about the same size as the convenience store. There were surveillance cameras installed here and there to prevent theft.

“You brought your women?”

“It’s not allowed?”

“Nah. Leaving that little lady aside, you and that other lady seem like you’re seasoned mercenaries.”

“You can tell?”

“It’s experience kid. Experience. Well, we have a lot of goods here, so have a look around. Give me a holler if you need me to explain the use of the products.”

The shop uncle waved us away and dropped his gaze toward the tablet terminal on the counter. He sure doesn’t look like your typical salesman. Oh well. I guess shops outside Japan generally have this kind of vibe to them. The Japanese hospitality spirit is just a tad atypical in comparison, I guess.

“Anyway, there sure is a lot of weird-looking stuff here huh.”

I grabbed a mysterious-looking can from the shelf. It’s price was 3 Enel. Just what… Oh, what a nice, fresh smelling scent! This probably goes inside the cockpit. It’s sure to eliminate that unpleasant cigarette odor! This thing was an air freshener? Now that I got a good look at it, there’s something like adhesive tape stuck to the bottom of the can. So things like this don’t change even in the future huh?

“Hiro-sama, should we buy these pilot suits to cope with the Gs?”

“Oh, that’s not necessary. Krishna’s cockpit block has a device installed which greatly offsets Gs during acceleration and sudden turns. That’s why Mimi hasn’t felt that much Gs while inside it.”

“Ah, you’re right… Now that you mention it, it wasn’t as uncomfortable as I thought.”

Mimi got a little shocked by my reveal. Well, these suit’s designs do indeed look cool, but all the life-support and survivability-enhancing equipment and systems in my ship are the highest quality, so these aren’t needed. It’s a bit unfortunate though.

“I found something good here.”

Elma brought a really high-tech looking sphere thingy. I have absolutely no idea what it’s used for, honestly.

“What the heck is that?”

“It’s a Gravity Sphere. It’s quite useful.”

After claiming that, Elma brought the sphere up to shoulder-level and pressed a button on it. The sound of whirring machinery was heard from inside it.

“Well?”

“That’s about it.”

Elma pulled something like a straw from inside the Gravity Sphere and put it on her mouth. The device kept floating above her left shoulder even after she let it go. That does look kinda neat, but I still don’t get what the thing is used for.

“Sorry, but I don’t get it.”

“You can pour drinks inside it and sip it anytime during combat.”

The Gravity Sphere kept following her around no matter where Elma turned towards. O~kay?

“So, it’s basically a floating tumbler?”

“That’s right. When you press the On button, it would float on the spot and would follow the closest object with mass after a three-second interval. It’s secure, spill-proof and can keep your drinks hot or cold indefinitely depending on the settings.”

“I’m not sure if I should call it a perfect example of pointless advanced technology, but it does sound pretty convenient.”

I reached out for the Gravity Sphere floating around Elma’s right shoulder and gave it a poke. It did sway for a bit, but eventually returned to its previous position. That sure is some mysterious tech…

“But it’s expensive, right?”

“It’s about five hundred Enel.”

“It… actually isn’t?”

Weird. Really weird. Well, it’s way more expensive than your usual tumbler at about 50,000 Yen alright. But, considering the ultra-high-tech feature which allows it to float and automatically hold its place, that price actually seems kinda cheap. And with our financial capability right now, it’s a downright steal.

“Well, it does look convenient. Shall we buy it?”

“I’ll also buy one.”

“Nah, I’ll get them as supplies for the ship, so I’ll get your share as well. I think I’ll buy six of these things.”

“Really?”

Elma smiled sweetly at me. Kuh, her destructive power is off the charts because she’s beautiful to begin with. I somehow felt embarrassed and looked away. Elma walked to the counter with light gait while laughing softly.

Urgh.

There were other mysterious goods in the shop, but I didn’t find anything I particularly wanted. I was a little curious about the ordinary-looking cooking tools such as portable gas stoves, pots and pans, but the ship already has Chef Tetsujin. I don’t want to bother cooking dishes the conventional way anymore. We paid for everything at the counter, asked the shop to send the goods straight to the ship and continued on to the next shop.

“Let’s head for the gun shop next!”

“The gun shop? …You seem really excited about going there, Hiro-sama.”

“It’s not like you’re a kid y’know.”

The gun shop was quite near to the gadget shop. It was just a short 30 second walk on foot.

“It looks quite imposing.”

“It’s a gun shop after all.”

The show window facing the street was lined with reinforced glass panels. The door was a thick and sturdy-looking automatic type. It’s cool-factor was certainly MAX level! The door parted with a heavy-sounding hiss, and the three of us entered inside.

“This is actually pretty exciting!”

Guns, guns and more guns are lined up all over the shelves in the interior of the store. In addition, it seems like accessories like custom parts, replacement energy packs and holsters are also being sold here. When I looked at the back of the store, I saw a sharp-eyed grandpa manning the counter.

“Kid, this is a shop that sells weapons to shoot and kill people with. It’s not a place for taking women on a date.”

“Understood. Well, I promise we won’t be bothersome, so please just let us off.”

“Hmph.”

The grandpa seems to have lost interest in us and brought his attention back to servicing the disassembled gun on top of the counter. This area’s shopkeepers really don’t have the slightest bit of merchant spirit in them don’t they?

“Right, come to think of it, do you have a weapon that can be used for close combat?”

“Yeah, I guess. I don’t really get to use it much so it’s stuck inside the ship armory.”

“Hm. Well, it’s not like mercs like us get into fights in the flesh all that much anyway.”

“But it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be prepared for the possibility.”

I grabbed the laser rifle displayed on the wall and checked its weight. I wonder what materials this thing is made of. It’s strangely light. Being light’s not a bad thing per se, but I think this rifle’s just too light. Mimi seems to be eagerly inspecting the handguns. She picked up several models and checked out their weight and grip.

“Don’t you want to check those as well?”
“I already have this.”

I tapped the laser gun on my waist. It was a prize from a Stella Online Melee Tournament event. Its performance was probably higher than ones sold inside the shop and it looks pretty cool to boot, so I reserved it as my gun of choice.

“I’ve never seen such a gun model before. Who’s the manufacturer?”

“I don’t really remember.”

It’s not really possible for me to explain how I got this thing. Memory loss is such a convenient excuse!

“Hm, I see. But what about gun maintenance?”

“I don’t remember that either.”

“Oh c’mon you… How about we have the shop keeper take a look at it?”

“Okay, let’s show it to him then.”

We headed towards the counter after our discussion. As we approached, the grandpa shopkeeper gave us a sharp glare. That’s one heck of a glare gramps!

“Whaddya want?”

“Due to some complicated circumstances, I don’t really know how to perform maintenance on my gun. Can you take a look at it gramps?”
I placed my laser gun on top of the counter along with the holster. The shopkeeper gave me a dull glance and carefully pulled out the gun from the holster. His eyes suddenly widened in surprise.

“This is– !? Mandas Workshop’s…!? And it’s even a gunslinger champion limited edition model…!?”

Gramps suddenly stood from his seat with a *gata sound. You okay old guy? You’re shaking like crazy and kinda look like you’re about to faint at any moment y’know.

“Kid… No, can you actually fire this gun Sir!?”

“Huh? Well, of course I can fire it.”

I used this thing to rescue Mimi after all. Both Elma and Mimi saw me firing this gun.

“I see… So you can fire it… That means you’re truly its registered owner huh……”

Gramps sat back down on his seat and turned silent.

“Hey Elma, why’s this gramps so surprised about my gun?”

“I’m not sure. But I heard that Mandas Workshop is a famous gun making studio known for producing one-off, super-luxury deluxe weapons. Is that gun made by Mandas Workshop?”

“I’m not familiar with the details. At least I know it’s better than the ones normally sold in shops.”

“Well of course it is! If that’s truly a limited-edition Mandas model, there’s probably no better gun you can find even if you went all over the galaxy!”
The shopkeeper hurriedly thrust the gun back on its holster and handed it back to me.

“Uh, what about maintenance?”

“That gun doesn’t need maintenance! It has a nanomachine repair system which would activate automatically the moment it gets damaged! It’s best if you don’t fiddle with it carelessly. And only you will be able to use that gun.”

“He~e……”

It seems it was more superb of a gun than I expected. It’s designated as a non-tradable item in Stella Online, but to think it also had an owner registration feature. I’ll have to treasure this thing more from now on. I’ll polish it with cloth from time to time.

Mimi tried all kinds of laser handguns, but it seems she didn’t find one that felt more comfortable to use than the current one she got from the Mercenary Guild. In the end, we just bought several sheets of special cloth for gun maintenance. In addition, I decided to purchase three dozen spare energy packs for my laser gun as ship supplies. We then proceeded to the next store.