When I asked Marina if there was anywhere she wanted to go, she refused to budge, saying, "Marina is a slave, so she will only follow the Lord" and so on, and in the end, that's where I wanted to go - the arms store, the tool shop, the -- and so on.
　It wasn't date sweetness by any means, but Marina was in a good mood all the way through for some reason, so let's call it good.
　After all, it's important for a girl to have a smile on her face, isn't it? And when it comes to the smile of an elf-chan (or technically a dark elf-chan?), that's all the more reason to eat good food. I can eat at least five bowls of food with room to spare!

　For lunch, we had something like a barbecue set meal at a restaurant set up in a corner of the market (it was quite salty, but the kalbi-like meat was thick but tender and delicious. The seasoning, Marina's smile, made it even better), and while we were having a smoke with a cup of tea after dinner, I asked Marina about it.

'Deanna said in the morning that it was a 'special day', do you know what that was about, Marina?'

'What?　Ha, yes. I am at ............ know.

　Marina is a little surprised that she wasn't expecting to be asked, and then answers with a seriousness.

　Um, was it a special day on some level that I shouldn't forget?　If it's an otherworldly holiday or something, you're out because you don't know about it to begin with, and first of all, I've already said I'm not from this world, so you'll understand that I don't have to know about it: .......
　So, I guess there's something else, after all. What is it ......?

'Hmmm. If Marina knows about it too, then ......?　Oh ......, maybe a birthday or something?　You know, I didn't hear Marina's or Deanna's. This is not good, this is not good. All right, I'll go buy a present for you as soon as possible.

Oh, no, it's not my birthday.

'Oh, yeah, ....... So then ......, what is it?

　Hmm?　If it's not my birthday, I can't think of any ...... at all.
　Well, there's still a lot I don't know about this world, ....... I'm sure it's a special day for Marina ......, but I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that she's been in a good mood all day.

'No, I'm sorry. I still don't get it. I surrender.

It's a good thing that you're not sorry. It's thanks to the Lord that today is ...... an important anniversary for Marina. It's because of the Lord that I met him ......... and because he chose Marina for me .......

　Marina is kind of suddenly in tears. ...... I honestly don't know, but I think it has something to do with the fact that she met me. I'm also a little distraught.

"Special day because I did something ......?　No. Does that mean it's your anniversary because I chose Marina?　...... If it was hard to say, I wouldn't have had to say it.

...... No, Lord knows I want you to listen to me. ............ Marina, my mom always told me that when I was little. The Great Spirit is always watching over us and will surely guide us someday. That's why you need to believe and live positively. ...... But I hadn't had it for a long time, but I did, and I couldn't believe it: ...... and I said that the Great Spirit has abandoned me because I'm miserable and I'm a Turk. ...... but... ...

　Marina speaks in a pecking order and a half. The great genie is ...... Le Baraka. I forgot it even existed recently .......
　I've been told that the Turk tribe is not really loved by the spirits.

''So what does that great genie have to do with the anniversary?

Gusu, I'm ....... For the first time, I got guidance from ...... and two at once!

　Wah, Marina is crying a lot. But she seems to be crying with joy. ...... I've never seen someone cry so loudly and happily before.

　When Shero-san achieved the guidance before, she was also happy to see him in a small leap of faith, and it seems that guidance is really important to people in this world ....... It's not just a matter of time before you get to the point where you'll be able to get your hands on a new one.
　But I don't know how old Marina was when she received the blessing, but it's really quite rare for a guidance to have never appeared until now. Well, I knew it was rare considering the unusual price of the spirit stone (20 gold coins at a discount, which is roughly around 3 million yen), but ....... I'm a guide all over the place, but I guess that's just unusual for me.

I'm sure you're not the only one. I'm happy for you, Marina, but it wasn't me. But it's no thanks to me.

No, it's because the Lord has found me. This is the same as the Lord's guidance to Marina.

　Marina stares straight at me with sincere and innocent eyes.
''Woo-hoo!　I'm hacking it up, Dark Elf!　I can't say that I chose Marina in the slave trade because I was in the mood for "this is the only way to protect her..." or something like that .......
　Yes and no: ......!　I'm not such a proper master, ....... I'm just a good old neat bum. ......

............ So what was your guidance on that?

　When I asked that, feeling annoyed, Marina looked momentarily dazed and said, "It was 'Let's try to defeat the monster'.

It was called ...... 'Let's try to defeat the monster'. We have weapons now, so if they are weak, we can defeat them. And ......, there's one more thing, but the other guidance, if possible - I want to keep it a secret. ...... This is Marina's selfishness, so I will answer if asked: ......

Hmm, if you want to keep it a secret, that's fine. It's the first time I've ever heard of this kind of guidance. It's the same guidance I got when I read 'defeat the monster'. Does it mean that we have to defeat it together?　Well, let's do our best to achieve either one of your guidance, Marina.

Ha, ha!　Marina, it is Gambal!


　---- Marina is my slave, but no matter what she says with her mouth, I don't know how far she really is loyal to me... ....

　I think Marina is cute, and I even want to protect her for the rest of my life, but that's just my ...... me only feelings.

　It's a good thing that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about it.

　I'm not sure if I've ever taken Marina's loyalty, and Marina's feelings, lightly, for all those reasons.

　It was only after a while, though, that I came to regret that.




　◇◆◆◆◆◆.




　We decided to hang out in the marketplace directly after lunch.

　Elishe is one of only three cities in the Hanok Empire that are allowed to trade with other countries, and perhaps that's why the market is so much more crowded than the imperial capital or any other free city.

　--Yes. It's definitely large.
　If you want to see all the shops -- though most of them are stalls -- it might be tough to see them all in one day. That's how big Elishe's market was. If you convert it into Tokyo Dome, it might be as big as two.

　In the corner where there are many grocery stores, there are shops specializing in butchers, butchers, meat shops, wild fowl shops, and even shops that specialize in the meat of magical beasts (and it's expensive). There are places that sell whole animals, and of course chickens are sold alive. Naturally, they don't have a refrigerator, so they are just laid out in a big bowl at room temperature.　　On the contrary, there are not so many shops that sell fish as butcher shops, and there don't seem to be many kinds of fish. I guess they can't get much fish. However, we were sometimes surprised to see a big fish of tuna size lying on the table.
　There are many shops selling vegetables. They have a wide variety of vegetables, from the kind you often see in Japan (strictly speaking, they might be a completely different kind of vegetables) to the kind that looks like a cross between a corn and a tomato, which I don't understand. There are specialty shops for nuts, potatoes, cheese and fruit.
　Other shops include a rice shop, a bakery, a dry goods shop, a herb shop (I heard later that they are called herb shops, not herb shops), a delicacy shop (selling tsukudani-like objects in a jar), a tea shop (not a coffee shop, but a tea leaf shop), and many more. ......

　My favorite was the fruit shop. The smell of sweetness in the air and the odd fruit you've never seen before tickle your curiosity.
　In addition to the ......, the best thing about it is that it is a marketplace, but the best thing about it is that the prices are very cheap.
　The first time Shero and Rebecca took me to a food stall, I had a fruit called lilia lamb, which cost 10 erros for 3 pieces. As I recall, it was actually 4 ells each, but they made us lose 10 ells because we were buying three.
　That was 3 ells a piece from the start here, and 5 for 10 ells. They're cheaper from the start than the amount you got to lose at the stall to buy them. ......

　It's a fruit of another world. As expected, I can't bring it back to Japan to sell it (it's too mysterious a fruit for any amount of money), but I thought it would be OK to at least let my parents eat it, so I bought some lilliarum, some other fruits that look like peaches and some that look like figs. It would also be a good souvenir for Deanna, who was working separately.

　The market is divided into three main zones: the food zone, the livingware and miscellaneous goods zone, the second-hand clothing and tools zone, and the dining area.
　What I had bought for Netoque was not at this market but at a flea market held periodically, and I had never bought anything at the antique shop in this market.
　Partly because it was farther away from the flea market in the main square (about 1km away from where we've been staying for a long time), and partly because I thought there were more bargains to be had at flea markets where ordinary people set up shop.
　Also, ......, the market's antique zone has a unique atmosphere, and ...... is a bit advanced, or, to put it bluntly, scary... ...Hey .......

　So I hadn't been in there yet, but today I had Marina, my escort (who I don't rely on as an escort), and I decided to get up the courage to go in.

'Ooohhhh!　What the hell. Hahaha.

　I am in the "second-hand clothes and tools zone" at the moment, packed with what must be no less than 100 stalls, filled with shoppers.
　Most of the stalls are simple ones with colorful sunshade cloths attached to the tables on which the goods are lined up, and some of them look like wooden huts, and some of them have cloths laid out on the floor instead of tables.
　In a word, it's an obscene and indescribably chaotic space, with everyone decorating it in a colorful way (perhaps to stand out more). There is an indescribable scent of exoticism in the air.


　The shopkeepers selling miscellaneous products and messy displays. ......
　...... was very much to my liking.

　And above all, the products they sell are the best.

　At the flea market, most of the ordinary people sold items brought from their homes at ......, so even if they found a bargain, it was basically just that one item and it was of varying degrees of quality, but the people who were selling at the market were very professional. Or rather, they sell products that are specialized by people who make a profession out of it. ......
　In other words, there are a lot of second-hand items of the same kind to choose from. I guess the price is more expensive than buying at the flea market, but even so, I am happy about this.
　For example, if I sold something on the Internet, there are lamp shops that sell lamps, ranging from a simple portable lamp shop to a gorgeous over-decorated version, and if it's a doll, there are also specialty shops that sell dolls (although the price seems high) and scary-looking old men combing the hair of dolls with a Buddha's face.
　In addition to such things, second-hand clothing stores sold shirts, dresses, tunics, robes, and even maid's clothes, and second-hand shops sold cutlery, plates, and cups, not to mention cutlery and other tableware, such as bracelets, rings, anklets, rings, and so on. Stores that sell accessories, stores that sell tanned animal skins (or maybe hexenbiests), stores that sell cotton and linen sheets and blankets (used, apparently, but blankets are quite expensive) and other bedding, stores that sell swords and daggers and maintenance oil and whetstones, candle shops, used bookstores, weapons stores and armor stores... ..........
　There are so many things for sale that I can't introduce at all, and I never get bored just looking at them. It's a fun place to buy and eat at the stalls, too.
　---- It's like every day is a festival.

"Marina, I've made up my mind.

'Yes, sir!　What have you decided to do at ......?

'I'm going to set up shop here. I'm not going to be slumbering like ...... at a flea market just to see how it goes!