Isekai de Mofumofu Nadenade Suru Tame ni Ganbattemasu. Chapter 21

h.e.l.lo, another chapter a really long one here, sorry only one a month for now until i get more free time, also if there are any typos (besides Nema's talking, it's child talk) or anything i can change let me now please.

                                                                      Let’s go shopping.
“Happy Birthday Nema.”
 
“Thank you bewy much, daddy.”
 
That’s right. I, Nefertima, have turned four years old!
I’m already 4 years… no, I’m still only four years old!
Being a child means that there are a bunch of things I cannot and am not allowed to do.
Just thinking about it makes me feel ill.
 
“As well as a celebration, I’ll grant you one request Nema. What would you like?”
 
Huh, only one?
Papa is surprisingly cheap.
Let’s see. Because it’s my long-awaited birthday, instead of being bought something I would rather create some memories.
 
Hmm, that’s right!
 
“I want to go to town!”
 
Yes, since I’ve been here I’ve only been allowed to be in the house and the royal palace!
I’m forced to be a shut-in. Such a waste.
At any rate, for now my goal is to memorize the currency and learn the prices of commodities.
Isn’t it about time for my first errand debut?
 
“Oh no Nema. The town is too dangerous!”
 
Oi! Didn’t you just say that you would grant me my request!
 
“Well, it should be fine as long as she’s not alone.”
 
Ohh. Mama will side with me!
If I can’t go by myself, then what if I go with big sis. Of course, shopping is more fun when girls do it together!
 
“Ahh, I’ll go with Nēne.”
 
“Just two girls by themselves, it’s just getting more and more dangerous!”
 
Uhh, big sis can use magic right? She’s so strong that she could turn any punk into burnt ash right?
Well, I guess she still has a lot of actual fighting experience to acc.u.mulate.
 
“We bwing Dee too!”
 
“Wouldn’t it be good if Paul and Josh went as well, to carry the bags?”
 
Paul and John are apprentice butlers. In other words, they’re footmen?
They’re stewards who run the entire house, father and mother have two exclusive butlers, and Paul and Josh are apprentices who are being taught how to butler from them. We have eight maids, three cooks, three stable men, and two gardeners.
We have a really big family now that I think about it.
Even with this many people, it’s still small when compared to the estates of the high-cla.s.s n.o.bles.
I’ve heard that the truth is that they fragment the jobs of their employees, and because of that the number of people they employ increases.
Everyone at our house are nothing but multi-talented people.
It’s kind of like mediaeval Europe!
It’s too bad we don’t have Sebastian as a butler though.
 
Ah, Papa lost. There was no way he could win using his mouth anyway.
 
“Now then, Nema. Go and get ready to leave. I’ll go and talk with Carna.”
 
“Okay!”
 
I did it!
I wonder what kinds of stores there are?
It’s really exciting going somewhere new for the first time!
 
The imperial capital sits atop high ground and surrounds the royal palace. There is a living district for the high as well as the middle-lower cla.s.s n.o.bles, there is also an industrial district for educational inst.i.tutions and workshops. There is the commerce district where various shops are lined up, and finally the living district for the commoners which, along with all the other districts, extend outwards like a donut from the palace.
There are avenues that divide the districts which end up creating a four layered circle.
From the center extends eight main roads that pierce through those circles.
 
I was taught this while looking at a basic map of the capital, but I noticed something strange.
If the land is limited, then does that mean the number of buildings can’t increase?
And I think if that happens then nothing will develop.
And so then Mama smugly told me.
She said that once every two years, super large-scale magic is used to move the districts that need to be expanded.
Earth attribute and non-attribute magic are used, and both buildings and roads are pushed as are for expansion. Then new houses and shops can be built on the s.p.a.ce that was made.
Why is the town built in such an annoying manner!
Ah, I heard it was because the founding King wanted our townscape to look beautiful even from above.
Just as I thought, the founding king was one weird person…
 
As expected, going around the entire commerce district in one day was out of the question, and so we went to the academy side of the commerce district that big sis often goes to.
 
The carriage shook with bangs and thuds.
It wasn’t because the road was rough.
It’s because the main roads are paved with stones, it’s about three lanes wide, and the footpaths are also properly maintained.
The first thing we came across after leaving our house were lots of large estates. Although Gauche Jichanchi is more of a small fortress than an estate.
Next we saw a lot of ostentatious houses that varied in sizes.
We went straight along a road where a lot of places that looked like dojos were lined up, and then there, the royal academy stood.
First things first we got off our carriage, and now all that was left was to just enjoy wandering around window shopping with big sis.
 
I held hands with big sis, Dee was on the other side, and Paul followed silently behind us.
We came out of a different avenue than the one the carriage came by, and surely enough there was an event plaza!
So many people! I have the feeling I won’t be able to walk properly with so many. If something goes wrong I could get lost!
Alright, I have one plan of evasion.
 
“I want to wide on Dee!”
 
I asked Paul and he let me ride on Dee.
Wait, people have started avoiding us… Do I stand out!?
A peerless beautiful girl accompanied by a butler and a young girl riding a dog… Is it because of our weird group combination?
But it’s still a lot better than getting lost.
 
“I’m really happy I get to go shopping with Nema.”     
 
Big sis is really excited today. Because her face is s.h.i.+ning she looks about 20% more beautiful than usual. It would be nice if nothing happened today to change that.
 
“Nēne, teach me how to wuse money.”
 
That’s right. Unless I learn that then I won’t be able to do anything.
Big sis pulled out some money from her wallet, she first taught me about the different kinds of currency.
 
“Let’s see. The smallest one is called a Rhye. 10 Rhye make 1 copper sheet. 10 copper sheets make 1 copper coin. The same goes for silver sheets, they also become silver coins. But what comes after silver coins again?”
 
Hmm, if we follow that pattern then the next one would be gold sheets? Or maybe it will be something different like paper money?
 
“Gold sheets?”
 
“That’s too bad. 10 silver coins make 1 gold coin. And although it is quite rare to see, 10 gold coins make 1 platinum coin. Platinum coins can only be exchanged at the royal palace, and so some people just collect and save them.”
 
Why, that’s so complicated!
So we have no paper money. Do other countries have any?
 
“The drinks sold at that cart are eight Rhye. But, having a drink in a store usually requires about three silver sheets.”
 
Ho Ho. I’ve got it!
1 Rhye is 10 Yen, and next is 100, 1000, and 10,000 Yen which we get by multiplying 10 for each new number.
So that would mean a platinum coin is 10,000,000 Yen!?
But coins would be nicer to carry around rather than Yen notes. Because they’re coins, they won’t end up getting cluttered and bulky if you have a lot of money.
 
That’s right, our war funds for today are 10 copper sheets, 10 copper coins, and 2 silver sheets.
So that the stores won’t be troubled with change, mama gave us some small change to use, she really is quite the dependable mother!
 
Alright! Let’s quickly begin our a.s.sault on a cart!!  
They look like stalls during a festival, they look super interesting!
 
“Dee, wet’s go there.”
 
 I pointed out the cart I wanted to go to and Dee led me to it.
Ohh, as expected of Dee! People are avoiding him, it’s kind of funny. It’s like a drama or movie.
 
The first cart we looked at was a spit-roast stall.
What, one smoked wild turkey is one silver sheet.
Huh? By wild turkey do they mean the bourbon!
Yeah right. It’s that bird people have for thanksgiving right.
And it has so much meat on it!
It seems like they smoke the chicken meat and stab it into skewers, they then press it onto a hot metal plate, and after it has been blackened a little it then some cream cheese and various other types of pastes are spread on it before you eat it. Wait, the pastes are charged separately! 
 
“Mister, thwee please!”
He’s more of a geezer than a mister. But in this kind of energetic place I too have to play my part!
 
“Welcome! You’ve got a keen eye for quality, my lady. My turkeys are the tastiest in the world!”
 
Hey, how upbeat can you get!
I won’t be inelegant and make a retort to that ‘tastiest in the world’ comment.
 
“That’s three copper sheets for three pieces. Be careful, they’re hot.”
 
I took the skewers and handed over the money.
Ahh, it smells delicious! Oh, I’m drooling…
 
“Here, Nēne.”
 
One piece for big sis.
 
“Thank you.”
 
Speaking of which, I don’t actually know big sis’s likes and dislikes, but she took it, so that means it’s okay right?
 
“Paul too.”
 
He looked surprised when I offered it to him, but he quickly tightened his face again, I’ve told him he doesn’t need to be so reserved. C’mon.
 
“It’s a bwibe for carrying our bags.”
 
“A… bribe…?”
 
Paul showed me a troubled, bitter smile, but he took the chicken saying, ‘Well if that’s the case.”
 
Now then, let’s dig in!
Munch, munch… it’s sooooooo good!
The meat is softer than what I was expecting, and the more I bite into it the more deliciousness exudes from the meat.
I took my time eating two bits of it, and the rest I gave to Dee.
 
“Is it yummy, Dee?”
 
“Woof.”
 
Human food actually has a lot of salt in it so it’s not good to give to dogs, but this is a one off, and Dee will feel lonely if he’s not included.
 
“Nēne, Paul, did you like it too?”
 
“Yes, very much. Eating anything with Nema makes it delicious. Isn’t that right, Paul?”
 
“Indeed. Thank you very much my lady.”
 
You’re face doesn’t look very grateful at all Paul!
He could show a little bit of expression for times like this.
Is he just sick of big sis acting like a klutz. You’ll get used to it.
 
After leaving the spit-roast cart, we went window shopping at a sandwich cart, and next to that was a shake drink cart.
I was somewhat interested but I found something else that really caught my attention, so I’ll leave those carts for later.
 
An inflated, yellow confectionary. A nice sweet smell wafted from it.
 
“Nēne, what’s that?”   
 
“It’s some candy called behbeh.”
 
Behbeh? In my language that means a b.u.mp or swelling…
 
“The fine powder from the fruit of a jew tree is kneaded together with wheat flour, the batter is then boiled in water and then fried on a metal plate, and then it starts to inflate.”
 
I took a peak at the cart making behbeh, an older girl was boiling round dumpling looking b.a.l.l.s, and then an older lady would cook those on an imagawayaki looking plate. After removing one side of the metal plate from the fire, the b.a.l.l.s would naturally and suddenly expand.
 
Oh, how interesting!
But, why is it called a b.u.mp?
 
“Why behbeh?”
 
“There are a few theories, but the common opinion is that it is because it resembles the b.u.mp of a desert camel.”
 
 Desert camel, like those things with the two humps?
Certainly, they look more like a camel’s humps then a swelling b.u.mp.
 
“Thwee please!”
 
“Oh, what a cute young lady. Are you sure you just want three?”
 
Eh, how am I supposed to respond to that? What should I say?
While I was thinking it over, the older lady pressed me for an answer without a moments delay.
 
“If you buy 20, then I’ll give you 3 on the house.”
 
20? How many do you expect me to buy woman!
Am I supposed to give everyone in my house one as a gift?
If I exclude Paul then we have exactly 20 people.
 
“Uhh, will you give us four for fwee?”
 
“If you buy 20 then I don’t mind, but who is the fourth piece for?”
 
Well, I guess she wouldn’t know that I was going to give half of one to our dog.
 
“Him!”
 
I said as I pointed to Dee.
 
“You’re a good girl aren’t you, my lady. In that case, 20 pieces with 4 on the house will be 1 silver coin.”
 
Cheap!!
Is the individual price for behbeh actually really cheap?
Can you make them at home?
Hmm, I wonder if they will even make for a good gift.
At any rate, I got 20 of them wrapped and grabbed the last 4.
 
“Thank you bewy much.”
 
“If you become a regular customer, I’ll keep giving you extras.”
 
Wow, that old lady sure is good at business!
 
“We’ll come again!”
 
As we left the cart behind, I waved back to the old lady with a smile, I was quite pleased with myself.
I gave the wrapped ones to Paul to hold onto when we got to somewhere deserted.
 
“Nema, what do you plan to do with all of those?”
 
Big sis asked me as I handed one more over to her and Paul.
 
“I’ll give them to everyone at home.”
 
Suddenly I was embraced by big sis.
 
“You’re too adorable!”
 
You’re hugs hurt big sis! The behbeh will break too! Wait, don’t squeeze any harder!!
 
“Miss Carna.”
 
Paul attempted to restrain big sis by calling out to her.
Thanks to Paul big sis regained her senses, she apologized and patted my head.
Well, it’s fine as long as the behbeh are intact.
 
Now that we’ve pulled ourselves together, let’s dig in!
Gobble gobble… It’s sweeeet! It’s yummmmy!
But I get the feeling that it’s a different kind of sweetness to sugar. That’s right, it’s closer to the simple sweetness of a roasted or sweet potato.
The batter feels like it is partway between pancakes and steamed bread. The texture is similar to castella.
I could get addicted to these. I’ll have to go back and buy some more eventually.
 
I peaked at an accessory stall, and bought matching pendants for me and big sis. The image of a bunny jumping with the combination of the pendant and chain is super cute!
My one is pink, and big sis’s is green.
At a different store I bought mama a pretty barrette which had a bird motif. A copper bookmark for big bro. A dragon is engraved into the thin copper sheet. It’s a gift that you would often find in Chinatown.
Big bro has a habit of leaving his books that he reads open lying down. I wish he would stop hurting his books.
I really struggled with trying to find something for papa, but I eventually went with a paper knife. Maybe he could use it for his job?
 
We got tired after looking around a lot of shops, so we took a break, had some tea, and decided to head home.
We had tea at a place that big sis really likes to go to.
It’s close to the academy, and because it’s a bit far from the main roads it was actually quite a relaxed and peaceful store.
Hypothetically speaking; the girls who came to talk with big sis were actually really loud.
 
After entering the store I immediately heard the loud laughter of a few young girls.
A sight that I’ve seen all too well at fast food restaurants, and as I thought about how it’s the same thing here…
 
“Geh”
 
Geh… B, big sis!?
I didn’t think that big sis would actually say that sort of thing, Paul also raised his eyebrows, big sis definitely just said, geh…
 
The girls who were making the noise also seemed to notice, the pair got up from their seats and walked towards us.
 
“My my, lady Carnadia, it’s nice to see you.”
 
“It’s nice to see you too, Ultina, Shaela.”
 
Big sis does not look happy at all.
 
“It’s so rare seeing you in a place like this.”
 
It’s seems like the conventional pattern of greetings.
Didn’t big sis say that she knows of this place because she comes here often?
 
“We came here today by chance. I’ve just been shopping with my little sister.”
 
“Little sister? The rumored one?”
 
Huh? Have I done anything recently to be made into a rumor? I don’t remember doing any such thing.
I feel like I’m being sneered at though.
And anyway, isn’t this the first time that I’ve seen either of you?
You should introduce yourselves and greet me properly.
No matter how much older they are, if they address big sis as ‘lady’ then that means we don’t need to do a proper greeting. But for now let’s just observe.
 
“Lady Carnadia must also be in quite the conundrum. Her little sister is a failure. My little sister Shaela on the other hand is remembered by all her teachers and is the pride of her family.”
 
Hmm, these two are sisters.
They do look somewhat look alike.
 
“But you, my elder sister, are both intelligent and beautiful and are also the pride of our family.”
 
Do that at your own home.
Each praising the other in public, I can only see the both of you as idiots.
 
“Heh. I’m relieved that you don’t know the splendour of my little sister. Because people who have any wit at all would immediately understand.”
 
“What do you mean by that?”
 
What!! You don’t understand?
And then big sis super openly said “I mean that you’re both idiots!”
Did they even need to ask?
 
“You won’t understand unless I explain it to you? You two are aware that the Lazul Duke House is of a lower status than the Osfeh Duke House? And yet, despite knowing that, is not introducing yourself to my little sister, and making despising comments to someone you have just met really something that a young woman of n.o.ble heritage does? This goes for you too. No matter how high you say your social status is, coercing with people who have no grace and dignity might besmirch our family name.”
 
…As expected of the daughter of our mother!
They had nothing to say to such a sound argument. This is one such time when one of them could let out a murmur of frustration.
 
“My elder sister was just stating the facts. She’s not beautiful, she can’t use magic. And her black pupils are uncanny. Is there a reason why she is even a n.o.ble?”
 
Ohh, the other little sister is surprisingly firm and steady!
Do your best, other little sister! Wait, I shouldn’t be cheering for her.
Also, isn’t this the first time that I’ve been insulted so much?
 
“That’s right. So are you going to deny the G.o.d of creation?”
 
“Wha! Who said I would do such a thing?”
 
Certainly, I don’t think she said that. Why did it come to that?
 
“Denying a person’s existence is the same thing as denying the G.o.d who created that person. G.o.d thought that my little sister was necessary for this day and age, and so she was born.”
 
Wait a minute big sis! Isn’t that argument a little extreme? Also, since when were you such a zealous believer?
However, I’m afraid of telling her just how wrong she is. I haven’t told anyone about my reincarnation, and I don’t plan on telling anyone. Big sis, do you already have an inkling of my orgins?
 
“Those who understand that will be very affectionate to my little sister. As a member of the royal family.”
 
Ah, she brought out her last resort.
Well, I’m certainly beloved at home. As a toy or dress-up doll.
That’s why if you mess with me, you might incur the wrath of the king, good people should be mindful.
 
The color from the sister’s faces actually drained. To a pitiful blue.
I guess it can’t be helped. I’ll bail them out.
 
“Nēne, wets go home alwedy.”
 
I pulled at her skirt, and appealed using my fatigue.
 
“You’re right. We weren’t able to calmly rest because of those two. Let’s get home quickly and give father and mother their gifts.”
 
Phew. That’s one problem settled at least.
I wonder what we will have for dinner tonight.
Since it’s my birthday it would be nice if there were lots of things that I liked.
Alright, let’s go home.