Slave Harem in the Labyrinth of the Other World (LN)

Unfortunately we do not have a hundred of them, so we will have to collect more and come back to sell them later. In the meantime, why dont we go for a little stroll around the shopping district before we will go back home?

Alright. Where do you want to go?

Lets go check what is over there and see where the road is going to take us from there.

We could have backtracked to the Adventurers Guild and see what other things the main street had to offer, but my gut feeling was telling me that it might be more beneficial for us to go and explore the places that were off the beaten path this time. Who knows, maybe we will find something nice in there? At times like these, its better to just trust your own curiosity and go with the current and see where it will end up taking you.

Even though we have entered a side street, it was still filled with a number of small shops. As expected of an Imperial City. This place really is on an entirely different level in comparison to other cities.

Whats that over there?

What are you looking at, master?

That store over there, the one with all the weird mushrooms and plants and all is this an ingredients store? Or perhaps a food store?

The store that I was talking about had a bunch of mushrooms and other weird-looking plants on its display. And also fish skeletons and jars with liquids of various colors and densities.

Maybe this is a drugstore? Or perhaps a pharmacy that also sells items and potion ingredients?

No. It doesnt seem to be the case here. Look.

Looking into the back of the shop from the entrance, there were also dried lizards and frogs, and even a bat hanging upside down. Overall, I say it was pretty disgusting.

We had no need for any of those obviously dubious items, and honestly, I dont know if I would get my hands on them even if somebody paid me for it, so we just walked past it without ever looking back. It would be a whole different talk if that place was also selling potions or medicinal slaves, but no, it does not look like that in the slightest. The only purpose all of those creepy-looking things might have is to be used in some definitely sketchy rituals, and if thats the only thing this place has to offer, then it is in our best interest to stay as far away from it as possible.

Well, even in modern Japan, there were still people who would be willing to buy such occultic shit, so the demand for such things must be even bigger in this medieval world, but I do not count myself among the ranks of the freaks who enjoy things like that. Even if that store was selling something as simple as a cold medicine, I still dont know if I would be willing to drink it out of fear that something poisonous might have been added there without my knowledge.

Continuing our stroll, we passed by a certain shop where I instinctively stopped dead in my tracks when the aroma that was wafting from it reached my nose. Hmm, this smell, I feel like I have smelled it before, but where exactly no no way could this be no, Michio, keep it together. You dont know if that assumption of yours if on point or not, so lets start by confirming it first.

Huh? What is this place? A jar store?

I tried my best to hide my expectations and racing heart under the guise of genuine surprise when I threw that question into the air.

I think it is probably a store that sells seasonings.

From the looks alone it was not at all obvious that this store, located a fair distance away from that previous, sketchy-looking one might have been the one that sells seasonings, and I certainly would not have been able to tell without having a closer look at it first, however, the smell of some of the jarred liquids has definitely reminded me of Japan! As weird as that may sound.

Welcome. We are selling various fish sauces in this shop.

The old woman greeted us and explained what was the purpose of her shop without us even asking, meaning that she must have been listening to the conversation between me and Roxanne.

Fish sauce, huh?

No wonder that it reminded me of home then. This might just turn into a discovery of the day!

Does that mean you also sell Shoyu (TL Note: the most basic of the basic types of Japanese soy sauces that uses wheat as its main ingredient) here?

Shoyu? I am afraid I have no idea what you are talking about, boy. What is this Shoyu that you speak of?

No, its nothing, nevermind. Just tell me what is your most popular sauce.

When I spoke the word shoyu, I noticed that it was not translated into Brahim, so perhaps soy sauces like I know them from back home do not exist here? That would have been quite a shame, because I was really hoping that I could someday get my hands on it here. What a bummer. But I cannot lose hope just yet. So what if they dont have shoyu or anything that would even remotely resemble it? Maybe they have other fish sauces in stock that are going to be exactly he same or similar to the ones that I am familiar with?

Hmm. You said to give you our most popular sauce, but truth to be told, all of the products we are selling here are pretty popular with the residents of the capital.

Oh for crying out loud! You see this, people?! That is exactly why in the modern times we have this convenient little thing called sales rankings! Thanks to them, it does not matter if all of the products offered by the store sell good, because the rankings will always tell you which ones of these good products will sell better than others and form a nice hierarchy from the least selling good products to the most selling good products. That way, you wont ever get scammed into buying good products that will end up only being subpar at best and costing way more than you can actually afford. Popularity, is not the only quality that is important in the business, but I can see that people living in these times have yet to realize that simple fact. Unfortunately that is something that I cannot say to a newly-met shopkeeper, so I have no choice but to keep silent about it, and the only thing I can reply to her with is

Is that so?

If you still insist on it, why not try this one then?

The old lady poured some of the sauce on a shallow plate and handed it over to me, and I scooped a little drop of it with my finger in order to closely inspect it before trying it.

*Sniff Sniff* !!!!!!

It has an incredibly strong, unpleasant smell that makes me sick in a second I smelled it. How about the taste then?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . *lick*. . . ugh . . . my god

Not only it smelled so bad that you felt as if instead of going through your nose it was sticking onto it instead, but it is also incredibly bitter and spicy. What is this shit even? Rotten natto or funazushi?! (TL Note: Natto: a dish of fermented soybeans with a very pungent flavor and gluey texture that is eaten chiefly in Japan and usually served over rice. Natto is prepared by fermenting steamed or boiled soybeans with a bacteria, especiallyBacillus subtilis natto. Funazushi: A form ofsushimade with carppacked in salt andriceand aged for several years.)In my honest opinion, this can hardly be called a sauce, or even food! Just look at Roxanne! She has not even tried it and she is already making faces as if having to smell it was some kind of torture to her! Not surprising, since her nose is much more sensitive than mine. Its okay, Roxanne, you dont have to push yourself to do it, its enough that I had to go through it. I dont want to see you suffer anymore!

Dont you have anything a little bit more normal in stock? Because this thing right here is a little

Hee hee hee. It seems that it was an impossible combination after all, just as I expected.