"Don't be surprised. I mean everything I say." Jiu Ming shrugged slightly, unbothered by the confusion on Shokuhou Misaki's face. "Since I made you do a few extra things, I can satisfy your curiosity a little. Fair trade, right?"
"Fair trade? Are you really that so-called Mysterious Merchant, and not just some chuuni?" In her current disadvantageous position, Shokuhou Misaki could only go along with Jiu Ming's words.
"Of course. I sell all kinds of... Uh, well, my stock's limited at the moment, but I can take on commissions. I'm planning to make that my main business."
At least accepting commissions meant he wouldn't have to worry about hunting around for goods to sell.
"Is that so?" A sly, foxlike smile appeared on Shokuhou Misaki's face. "Then I have a commission for you, too... Will you accept it?"
"Oh, we don't know each other that well. Let's discuss the payment first." Jiu Ming curled his lip. He was all business, insisting that even close friends should settle accounts clearly, and got straight to the point.
"Do you want money?"
"Forget it. You're not the first, but you definitely won't be the last!" Jiu Ming scratched his head and answered helplessly. Why was money always the first thing people brought up when talking about payment!?
Especially with Shokuhou Misaki looking like she had more money than she knew what to do with. But he genuinely didn't need money. What would he even do with it? Maybe there was a place like Hell in this world, and burning paper money for him might actually be useful.
"Don't bring up money! And whether I accept a commission depends on my mood."
That was right! Whether he accepted or not was entirely up to him. The Mysterious Shop's restrictions on him, aside from two rules about disclosing information that he could more or less ignore, amounted to handing over a set amount of "Origin" each month. Otherwise, most of the shop's authority was in Jiu Ming's hands.
So he wouldn't be like those system-type or portable-overlord types, forced to accept a "mission" whenever something happened, without even having a say in it. He could accept or refuse as he pleased, set whatever price he wanted—even demand an outrageous amount, or do it for free!
All he had to do was hand over the required amount of "Origin" each month. If he couldn't, he'd be replaced as shopkeeper...
Compared to those other types, his was more of a go-with-the-flow type.
"Tell me about your commission. I'm listening."
"Lick my feet..."
Jiu Ming froze for a moment, looking at the foxlike smile on Star-eyed Girl's face. Her earlier fear had vanished without him even noticing. Oh? Had she realized he was a "good guy"?
Ahem!
He shook his head. He already knew she'd seen through his earlier villain act. From the way she could joke around with him now, she'd probably figured out that he really didn't mean her any harm.
Talking to smart people could be convenient, but negotiating with them was a real pain.
"Ahem. Anyway, you agreed to something earlier, and I'm sure you don't want to see me get angry. All right, tell me what you're offering for this 'commission.' What can you pay?" Jiu Ming clasped his hands together, maintaining a perfectly proper smile as if they were finally getting down to business.
"So you really are the kind of merchant who's so obsessed with profit that you'd sell anything!"
"Rubbish! My whole image is that of a mysterious merchant who shows up with all kinds of rare treasures and super Divine Artifacts..."
"Then what do you have right now?" Shokuhou Misaki shot back without the slightest courtesy, as if she meant to reclaim all the "humiliation" she'd suffered just now.
"All right, I haven't been in this line of work for long, so I don't have much on hand. Just three items." Jiu Ming shrugged and answered casually. He really did have some special things! He really did have "Divine Artifacts," so what?
"You really do!?" Shokuhou Misaki looked at him as if he were joking. If she could read Jiu Ming's mind, how could she possibly have seemed so "passive"?
"Yeah. Want to hear about them? By the way, your lackeys are in pretty good shape. They're already waking up." The students Jiu Ming had knocked to the ground stirred in surprise, ruining their plan to launch a sneak attack.
"...Useless. You can leave now."
"Yes, Queen."
"..." Queen? Hah!
"What did you just do?" Jiu Ming tilted his head slightly and asked Shokuhou Misaki. He'd clearly seen the students' eyes go vacant for a moment.
"Nothing. I just made them forget some of what they heard, and told them to go do what you said earlier." Shokuhou Misaki answered casually, but Jiu Ming sensed that she was showing off.
"Handy ability. I guess people with mental powers are either incredibly disciplined (@Professor X), or... Never mind."
Seeing the girl's expression darken, Jiu Ming smiled faintly and decisively stopped there. "All right, back to business. Want to see what I have on hand?"
Items on display...
"What? A phone that can call other worlds? Is that even reliable? I feel like you're trying to trick me!"
"What's this? Century egg? Why not tell me it's a fossil!"
"And this? You expect me to believe in something this unscientific? A lifespan of fifty days? Come on, this isn't a novel, and you're not some horned, winged devil."
"...The horned one with wings would be a demon. And there's a ghost standing right in front of you, yet you're talking to me about science?" Jiu Ming clicked his tongue twice, then put away the fossilized century egg that would definitely cause food poisoning and the cheapest Divine Artifact in history, the phone, sealing them back into cards. If Life Force wasn't used on a living being, then crushing the card would make the Life Force sealed inside vanish like air in an instant. That was right... He knew he couldn't sell them, but he'd still brought them out. Maybe he'd just wanted to show off a little.
"So the way you passed through the window just now... was because you're a ghost?"
"Of course."
Shokuhou Misaki sat down to one side, feeling much more at ease. If he was a ghost, she didn't need to worry about anything physical. "Let's get back to that commission."
"Lick your feet!? You haven't forgotten?" Jiu Ming curled his lip and lowered his eyes slightly. Her legs were covered in white stockings with spiderweb-patterned lace, and when his gaze shifted toward them, the girl simply slipped off her shoes. Such dainty little feet.
Tch, he wasn't some perverted foot fetishist. He immediately looked away. "That's an unreasonable commission. I... refuse!"
"Don't give me that. I haven't even told you the price." The girl gave him a playful wink. She pulled one stocking off her leg right in front of Jiu Ming and tossed it aside. "How about me?"
"A femme fatale. No comment!" Jiu Ming glanced over her smooth leg and curled his lip. Trying to seduce him? He'd gone through the experience of dying hundreds of times. If he couldn't control himself after all that, he'd be pathetic!
But then Panel-kun suddenly popped up and gave him a piece of information.
"You!? Thanks for the compliment!" Shokuhou Misaki first got angry, then seemed to think of something and gave him a faint smile. But this time, she noticed that Jiu Ming was looking at her a little... strangely.
She had a bad feeling about this.
"Ah-ha! Sorry, sorry. I misunderstood. How about you? Mm-hmm, go ahead and tell me. You're definitely the most generous client I've ever met, even more generous than the one who traded his life for a few dozen photos."
Did he have no principles? Even the most unbreakable principles would eventually crumble under a tempting enough price!
Shokuhou Misaki's words seemed to trigger some hidden mechanism in the Mysterious Shop. Panel-kun made a rare appearance of its own accord and gave him a notification.
The Mysterious Shop permits the shopkeeper to offer himself as payment
Jiu Ming immediately asked a bunch of follow-up questions. If someone really did this, then once the transaction or commission was completed, their "registration" would be transferred from their original world to the Mysterious Shop.
The "Origin" that world had bestowed on them would be transferred as well. Oh? Hard to understand? Just think of it as "Fate." The more attention a world paid to someone, the greater their Fate would be. Fate was also a special blessing from the world's Origin Power.
Those especially favored by a world... could be called protagonists!
In other words, offering yourself as payment depended on your status—not your social standing in the ordinary sense, but your status in that world. You could be a billionaire living in a mansion, waking up every day on a fifty-thousand-square-meter bed...
Mm, too bad you weren't an important presence in that world. In the Mysterious Shop's judgment of your "worth," you wouldn't even measure up to a passerby destined to become a side character. If you wanted to sell yourself, you had to consider whether you mattered to the world you belonged to.
If the world would keep turning just fine without you, then don't even bring it up.
Anyway, this time Panel-kun explained a lot, and even shifted from giving passive answers to taking the initiative. Its explanations were full of encouragement, too.
"Commission confirmed?"
Watching Jiu Ming suddenly change his tune, Shokuhou Misaki felt a strong sense of unease as she held up her little foot. It was as if no matter what she did, she was the one who'd end up losing out...
The thought made her want to pull her leg back at once, but wouldn't that mean she was backing down again!?
Absolutely not!!
"Of... Of course!"
"Honestly, why put yourself through this?" Jiu Ming shook his head and asked, "Do you have a family? Would you be able to leave them behind?"
"What do you mean?"
"Phew." Jiu Ming whistled and smiled. "Good reaction. You don't seem heartless, so here's a friendly bit of advice: next time you run into something like this, don't be so stubborn."
Jiu Ming grabbed the little foot Shokuhou Misaki was holding up. It felt pretty nice. Since he'd decided to stop taking advantage of her, he might as well enjoy a little perk, right?
"What?" Shokuhou Misaki tried to pull her leg back, but couldn't break free.
"Heard of a Devil's Contract? After you answered my question just now, you'd already signed the devil's contract in a certain sense."
"Ha! Thank me!"
Before you continue