Peromus and the rockfish-faced shopkeeper continued negotiating over the price of the two earrings.
(Good good, they're really going at it now. I knew Peromus had it in him, even the shopkeeper can't keep up with him.)
Allen praised Peromus' negotiating skills.
The shopkeeper was proud of himself, having become the best business in that street.
They had started to negotiate, so he would not step down either.
Even more so when someone as young as Peromus was the one trying to haggle.
But Peromus was also determined to buy it.
At the very least he wanted to lower the price to half of the 2400'000 gold coins the shopkeeper asked for.
(Well, I'll let Peromus take care of the deal. There's that orange haired woman again. I guess she's done shopping.)
Allen let Peromus in charge of the deal, and turned to look at the many women crowding the store looking for accessories.
He quickly spotted the orange haired woman from earlier, who seemed to be done shopping.
"Two of these earrings, please."
"Right up."
She was talking to one of the clerks in the store.
"Are you a participant of the contest?"
"Of course."
She answered completely sure of herself, as if her appearance alone was enough to say that.
"Do you mind showing me your participant card then?"
"I-I'm really sorry, I left it at the inn."
Hearing that response, the shopkeeper seemed to notice something.
"I'm really sorry, that's our policy here, you'll need to show us your participant card if you want to buy."
"What? But you didn't even ask the last person."
The person before the orange haired woman was not a participant, so they were not asked for their card when paying.
The store clerk insisted on seeing the woman's card, so she began to complain about how unfair that was.
"I'm really sorry to insist, but it's obligatory for participants to show their cards."
"That's so dumb, I've had enough. I'll just go to another store."
The woman left the earrings on the counter and turned away.
"...Excuse me, there's something I'd like to discuss. Could we talk over there?"
The store clerk seemed to notice something from the woman's attitude.
He glanced at the two guards next to the store's entrance.
The woman tried to hurry and leave the store before anything happened.
"Hey, what are you doing! I'm busy preparing for the contest!"
She started raising her voice in annoyance when the guards blocked her way out.
"I'm really sorry, but it'll be over soon."
They tried to make her calm down before she made too much noise.
The other women in the shop turned to look at her hearing the noise.
"Hey! Where are you touching!!"
The two guards closed in on the woman, each taking hold of one of her arms, lifting her into the air. She complained and yelled, kicking around wildly, but they did not release her.
"Please calm down. We just want to know exactly why you couldn't show us your participant card."
The clerk explained that she would be released as soon as she told them that.
"I won't tell you anything!!"
(Oh oh, a participant card, huh. Now this is a good chance.)
While the orange haired woman kept thrashing around with her arms restrained, Allen started to think of something and approached them.
"Hmm, did it happen again? It's become way too common lately. I appreciate your support with the event though."
"I-I'm really sorry you had to see this."
Now that even Allen was getting involved, the shopkeeper quickly went there and tried to defuse the situation, stopping his negotiations with Peromus.
He also apologized to Allen, who had a distinct noble look to him.
"Don't worry. Is someone forging a participants' card again?"
(Let's try saying something random.)
He wanted to know exactly what was going on, so he tried to get into the conversation, pretending to have some knowledge already.
"It seems that way. Either that, or she's trying to force her way into the contest without being qualified. It happens a lot during this time of the year."
"Why are you assuming all that! I am qualified! Rosalina will be in the contest!!"
The woman got even angrier hearing herself being called not qualified.
It seemed to have ruffled her feathers somehow.
'Knight Commander Iwanam, bring your men into the store. Just go with the flow.'
While the woman made even more noise, Allen had his Bird F summon use its Special Skill [Transmission] to relay a message to Iwanam, who was standing outside.
"What happened, Lord Alec?"
A group of knights led by Iwanam rushed into the store, being called by Allen.
They had been stationed outside, just in case Allen needed them for something.
The Special Skill [Transmission] allowed Allen's voice to be relayed through the summon.
"Yes, there's a bit of a situation. Take this woman to the palace, but treat her well."
""Yessir!""
Overwhelmed by the presence of knights, the guards of the store released the woman.
The knights then took the woman, who was still shouting and screaming, out of the store.
"Thank you very much, that was a great help."
The shopkeeper thanked Allen for dealing with the situation like that.
(I ended up getting more involved than I hoped. Let's just try to make sure it doesn't become a big issue.)
"This is part of my duties as well. I'm trying to help Emperor Ignomas in whichever way I can. That's also why I'm trying to get those earrings. Are you sure we can't reach a compromise?"
Allen looked at the shopkeeper, grinning.
He wanted him to be a bit more lax when negotiating with Peromus.
"D-does that mean we're really going to war then?"
The shopkeeper seemed to realize something.
"Hm? War, you say? Did I say something wrong maybe?"
The shopkeeper was starting to get a bit overly friendly, so Allen glared at him.
"N-no, forget I said anything!"
It seemed like the shopkeeper was finally starting to get an idea of just who Allen and Peromus were.
The shopkeeper was starting to think Alec came from some decently important noble house, having command over knights. Even though he looked young, he was probably already the head of the house.
There could only be one reason why a young noble like that would want those expensive earrings.
It was to have an upper hand in the war Ignomas was planning.
There were already rumors amongst the merchants that after his rebellion and having seized power over the palace, Ignomas was planning on attacking the surface.
Once the Songstress Contest was over, he would head there with his army.
A good way of having success when attacking the surface was to have expensive equipment.
So the shopkeeper assumed that having heard that a valuable set of earrings had been sold from the palace's treasury, Allen had come with a merchant in his service to buy them.
The rockfish-faced shopkeeper was suggesting that Allen wanted those earrings to improve his chances at the war against the surface.
Those earrings were worth enough that a house could crumble after spending on it.
So if Allen was still insisting in obtaining such an item, there was a chance that the palace was proceeding with its plans to go to war against the surface.
That could end up influencing his future sales, so he wanted to know as much as possible.
But Allen's expression and attitude seemed to say "I can't talk about anything now."
(I'm glad he's jumping to conclusions so easily.)
Even if rumors spread to the palace about their outing, and Allen was questioned why he was buying expensive items even though he said he would be researching, he had plenty of excuses.
"Anyway, I'll let Peroniki here so you can continue discussing the deal."
"O-okay."
(I feel like we can take advantage of the situation, so let's not waste it.)
"By the way, what's your name, shopkeeper?"
"Huh? I'm Kasagoma."
He seemed a bit confused as to why Allen would want his name, but he answered eventually.
"Hmm, Kasagoma, huh. I feel like you could be of help in the future too, so I'll remember."
"What?! I'll do anything to serve you then!!"
If a war started, the Magic Shop would be able to earn a lot from selling supplies.
If Allen thought of this shop first, that would be extremely useful.
Maybe Kasagoma would even become the main supplier for the war.
His mind quickly began to calculate just how much he could profit from that.
Allen had revealed that he wanted the earrings no matter what.
His negotiations with Peromus were starting to turn against him too, but the future seemed even more enticing than his current deal.
And if he charged too much for the earrings, there was a chance he would not be picked as a supplier for the war.
After confusing the shopkeeper like that, Allen let him continue discussing with Peromus.
(Oh, there they are.)
A short distance away from the Magic Shop were the knights, restraining the woman.
Allen had used the Special Skill [Transmission] to tell Iwanam to wait there.
"Rosalina is innocent! Where are you trying to take me? And stop staring like that!!"
She had orange hair, beautiful green eyes, and her light clothing left a lot of skin exposed.
Her figure was quite well-defined as well, which made sense for a contestant.
She seemed to be around the same as him too, so she seemed quite wary.
"There's a place I quite enjoy nearby, let's talk there."
"Huh?"
Allen invited her to have some dessert at a nearby place that looked good.
He also told the knights to spend some time walking around before they went to pick up Peromus.
Allen used the Bird F summon's Awakened Skill [Messenger] so Peromus knew where he was.
The Special Skill [Transmission] could only transmit words, but the Awakened Skill [Messenger] could transmit both images and sounds.
He could communicate with Peromus while showing him an aerial view, so he knew the exact location of where to go.
Allen entered the shop with the woman and sat at a table, but when he asked what she wanted she still seemed wary, so he ended up ordering random items off the menu.
(If I find anything good I should take some for Luck too. He seems to be in a bad mood lately.)
While Allen and Peromus were allowed in the palace now, Luck was still in charge of overseeing the magic device, so he could not visit the palace or the city whenever he wanted.
He could not leave the house that was lent to them, so he was starting to get fed up.
Allen thought that some sweets could improve his mood, so he planned on bringing him some.
"..."
Rosalina remained silent, wary of Allen, while a waiter brought some sweets famous in Patlanta.
"So tell me, why did you attempt to fake your participation in the contest?"
He asked Rosalina, who kept silent even after the sweets were brought to the table.
Since that was how she behaved, Allen's voice was quite direct too.
"Rosalina has no obligation to tell you anything."
"Hmmm."
"Or what, are you going to take Rosalina to the palace?"
"No, not really. I don't really care where you go. I can just report you as a fugitive if you try to run after all."
(Though it'll be annoying if they ask me about that in the palace, so I won't even do that.)
"I see! Then good bye!!"
Saying that, Rosalina stood up, having nothing left to do there.
"But I have connections with the palace, so I could get you in the contest."
(That's a lie though.)
"Huh?! W-what do you mean?!"
Rosalina's feet instantly stopped.
"There's exceptions for everything. And I'm in the position to create such an exception for you. So what will you do? I feel like you're struggling to even buy a single earring though?"
Rosalina seemed to finally start considering her situation hearing that.
"...Okay, as long as Rosalina participates in the contest. What was your name again?"
She seemed to decide something, and spoke to Allen.
"Just like I said in the Magic Shop, I'm Alec. Should I just call you Rosalina?"
"Rosalina is good, yes. What do you have to gain if Rosalina takes part in the contest though?"
She seemed curious about Allen's goal.
(I see, so she's still standing her ground. She looks like a commoner, but her attitude is quite feisty.)
Just like her confident attitude, her personality was quite stubborn as well.
While Allen was still evaluating Rosalina's attitude, she began to frown, urging him to answer.
"I have a goal. I heard that if you win a prize in the Songstress Contest, you obtain a Sacred Bead from Makris."
"Huh? Wait, then you..!"
Rosalina's eyes opened wide.
"Yes. I'll let you take part in the contest. So if you win a prize, I'll want that Sacred Bead. That's my offer, what do you say?"
Allen grinned menacingly, offering that deal to Rosalina.
