LV999 Villager Vol 1 Chapter 3.11

It’s Fine For You To Become What Ya Wanna Be

Part 11\n“I wonder if it was a good idea…running away from them.”

“I already said that it’s fine, it was a bad situation because they were cautious. Besides, if you were caught, it would have become an unreasonably annoying situation, you know? Those guys won’t listen to us properly.”

After leaving the shop, Kagami picked up Alice and ran away using his full strength until they arrived at a section of the main street. Rather than walking as before, the people on the street were going to and fro rather forcefully, and it had become a situation where it was easy to mix in with the crowd and hide.

Kagami was deep inside one of the side streets, within the vicinity of the main street, and thanks to the people who were gathered to watch the parade, the main street had been packed with many people, to the point that Kagami couldn’t be picked out.

Meanwhile, Kagami bought a hot dog at a nearby stall, which he handed to Alice.

“We’ll have spaghetti another time. Please bear with what happened today.”

“Thank you, Kagami-san…What is this? What do you call this?”

“Ah? You don’t know what a hot dog is either? It’s a simple food that has a sausage placed in a bun. Though the types of vegetables and sauces you put on it depends on the stand.”

After Alice listened to his explanation, she muttered ‘Hee~’ as if she was impressed, and then she opened her mouth widely, digging into the hot dog. At that moment, she widened her now sparkling eyes, and with a blistering speed, she chewed and swallowed it. After looking at Kagami, she replied with “It’s really delicious!”

Seeing Alice begin vigorously eating the hot dog like a hamster, Kagami unintentionally revealed a smile. Even though it was something he had grown accustomed to eating everyday, after seeing her eat it happily and call it delicious, he realized that this pleasure was different than usual. While he thought about that, Kagami also began to dig into his hot dog, just like Alice.

“Fuah~ Thanks for the meal.”

“You’re a quick eater. You ate it just like a hamster.”

“But it was so good.”

As he said this, he noticed Alice showing him a satisfied smile, and then Kagami also sighed, as if he were satisfied in the same way. Afterwards, he saw his own hotdog that he’d just bit into and felt bad about having her wait for him to finish, so he ordered ice cream from the stall for Alice. After he muttered ‘This is what I talked about,’ when he handed it over, Alice’s eye glittered once again. Since the ice cream was swirled into a spiral on top of the cone, she began to lick it elegantly like Kagami described.

“What do you guys normally eat as Demons? Don’t you get to eat good food since you’re the Demon King’s daughter?”

“There isn’t a need to worry about food. Normally it’s something like vegetables…sometimes boar and deer meat? But, because there are little to no seasonings, there aren’t that many variations. The food in human towns have a lot of new flavors!”

As she said this, Alice showed him another smile. After Kagami was satisfied by her expression, he began to walk with Alice, trying to stay clear of the main street. After a while, something he got used to seeing often as he passed through Balman appeared in Kagami’s view.

Despite it being daytime, there was a bizarre sign illuminated with neon lights. It was common for banks, the Quest Guild and other facilities that operate across the country to use such signs. This one in particular was a special recreational facility that only the really rich could use. It was a Game Center, which had always existed since ancient times.

“Now that I think about it…this town has one too.”

Alice also noticed the strange building when she looked at Kagami, who had suddenly stopped moving.

“What…is that, Kagami-san?”

“A Game Center.”

After Kagami muttered that, he revealed a grin and suggested “Let’s go stop by for a bit.” Alice definitely wouldn’t refuse the invitation, and trotted along, holding ice-cream in one of her hands as she followed Kagami into the Game Center.

At that moment, Alice’s eyes widened and glittered once again. When they entered the center, loud sounds from the game machines filled their ears, and the colorful lights combined with the variety of game machines naturally drew their attention.

“Every one of them has a different type of game, and although the cost of 100 Silver for one session is expensive, it’s reasonable for the time that would be spent if you’re here….Well, it’s just a recreational facility.”

“One session is 100 Silver!? Isn’t that expensive?”

Kagami informed Alice, who was standing in at the entrance of the Game Center in a daze, and she replied with a surprised expression.

“Well, since the energy consumed by the game machines is rather high, the price was probably set up to compensate for that. The guys who play are quite wealthy, no?”

After he said that, Alice checked their surroundings and realized that the people playing the games in front of those practical machines were all rather good-looking. Although there were also those who weren’t good-looking, they were only loitering around watching from behind the people who were playing instead of playing themselves. After seeing such people in a daze, Kagami said from the side, “After all, it’s free for those who only want to enter,” and she assented with an “I see.”

“Want to give one a try?”

“I-It’s fine! I would just be borrowing money, even though it’s 100 Silver, and you also took care of various things, like our meals. I can’t cause you any more trouble than this.”

When she said this, Kagami recalled the debt he’d forgotten about, since their goal had changed from an escort mission to visiting the Demon King’s Castle. Although he wasn’t really worried about it, he gave her a smile and said, “Is that so? Well, since I’ll let you pay it off, let’s do it another time,” believing he’d be barking up the wrong tree if she were to borrow more against her will.

However, it seemed like she at least had an interest in the games, and since she wanted to see, he decided to watch from behind as other people played.

The game units consisted of video games that were displayed on a monitor, those that let you feel movements as you rode them and moved around, and games where you pressed buttons to match a rhythm. Alice held an interest for all of them and smiled happily like someone who was waiting to play.

“Kagami-san, what type of games do you like?”

“I like fighting games, since if you win, you can always play another round without having to pay.”

While Kagami said that, he moved in front of one of the game machines he usually played. Compared to the other games, there were a lot more people watching, and they were cheering enthusiastically. Those who were playing were also so engrossed that their expressions changed frequently, and they shouted if they were victorious, while they hung their heads and hit the machines if they lost.

Although Alice expressed her interest of the spectacle with an “Ooh!,” she noticed a video game machine located separately in the corner of the Game Center and gazed at it. Nobody was surrounding it, and whether or not the location was bad, nobody looked at it.

“Hey Kagami-san, why is that one placed in the corner like that?”

“That one is different from the others, and it charges by time. Ten minutes is 100 Silver. You need to train to get stronger so that you can defeat enemies, and you end up spending a ridiculous amount of time to clear it.

“What’s the game like?”

Although she asked out of mere curiosity, Kagami’s expression stiffened and he hesitated to answer as though it would be difficult.

“…It’s an RPG. A role-playing game.”

He muttered it as if he found it unpleasant to say it.

“Role-playing…game?”

“It’s simple, it’s a game where you form a party just like you do in this world. You clear the game by raising characters with roles that you like, defeat monsters to get stronger, and defeat the Demon King.”

“That’s…interesting? It doesn’t seem like we should bother trying that Game.”

“Well at least the characters have a Status like we do, and as for its value, it might be fun since both you and the enemies are born with advantages and disadvantages. You also need to use your head to think about favorable conditions, otherwise you will lose.”

The expression Kagami wore while he spoke suggested that he didn’t enjoy it at all, and even though he burst out laughing as he added “Though it’s disagreeable to not have a Villager as a Role,” Alice had a feeling that she knew what he didn’t like about it since a part of him was different and tried to ask about it.

However, at that moment a large amount of loud cheering and the sound of music booming from outside could be heard clearly by those inside the Game Center.

“Oh, it looks like the parade has started. Shall we go?”

“Y-Yeah.”

Replying to Kagami, who held out his hand, she held back the words she had tried to say, deciding that it wasn’t anything important, and departed from the Game Center.\n