"Granny, this should be all of it," Yuto said, handing the basket of selected vegetables over.
"Mhm," Granny acknowledged softly, taking the basket.
As soon as she placed the vegetables on the chanical scale, she launched her trap.
"By the way, don't you young people all use that... L-Line app on your smartphones to chat nowadays? Why don't you and gumi add each other as Line friends? You can chat whenever you both have free ti!"
Yuto froze.
Up until this exact mont, Yuto only had Utaha listed as a friend on his phone.
For a modern young adult, it was a genuinely pitiful social network!
"Uh... this is..." Yuto stamred.
"It's no problem at all! Co on, add each other!"
Yuto felt incredibly awkward.
Forcing soone he barely knew to add him as a friend felt highly intrusive.
But Granny wasn't taking no for an answer.
She grabbed a large heavy tomato and slapped it down onto the wooden counter with a loud thud.
Her montum was suddenly incredibly forceful, completely different from her usual sweet, elderly deanor.
"gumi, listen to . Yuto is a very, very good and reliable boy. Getting to know him will be very helpful for you," Granny turn to look strictly at the girl and lecture her.
She praised Yuto with an extrely satisfied tone.
gumi glanced at Yuto, her eyes were unreadable and then gave a slight, compliant nod.
It seed she wasn't going to argue with her grandmother's forceful matchmaking.
"Yuto-chan, quick, take out your phone and add gumi," Granny ordered, looking back at him with genuine urgency.
Feeling cornered by the aggressive elderly woman, Yuto helplessly pulled his smartphone from his pocket.
He looked over at the quiet girl.
"Are you really okay with this?" he asked softly, offering her an out.
gumi just nodded gently. She pulled her own phone from her apron pocket and opened the app.
Scanning the QR code was quick.
After adding each other, both of their phones buzzed with a quiet notification.
Yuto's friend list officially doubled, increasing to a grand total of two.
If he had been able to peek at gumi's screen, he would have found that her own friend list only had three people on it.
"Well, that is just wonderful. Make sure you two chat often," Granny smiled contentedly, the fierce aura vanishing as she watched them connect.
She quickly bagged the fresh vegetables and handed them over.
"Yuto-chan, today I am giving you a special twenty percent family discount. The total is 4,560 yen, but just give 3,600 yen," Granny bead. For so reason, the old lady was in an incredibly good mood.
Naturally, Yuto refused to take advantage of an elderly woman's business.
He pulled a crisp 5,000 yen bill from his wallet and shoved it directly into Granny's hand.
"Keep the change, Granny. See you later!"
To avoid giving the old lady any chance to force the change back into his pockets, Yuto grabbed the heavy bags of vegetables and practically sprinted away toward his bicycle.
gumi watched his frantic retreat, a rare look of genuine surprise flickering in her eyes.
Granny sighed, reluctantly putting the extra money into her cash box.
Then, she turned her full attention back to the girl.
"gumi, did you see that? Yuto-chan is a very good and honest boy. If it's him, I truly believe you two can beco good friends," Granny said softly.
gumi's lips twitched slightly, and she blinked twice.
"You are both sensible, quiet, good children. Spending ti together will surely be very comfortable for both of you," Granny continued her campaign.
"By the way, gumi, aren't you going clothes shopping tomorrow?"
gumi nodded.
"Then why not ask Yuto-chan to go with you? You don't have any friends around to help, and I worry about you wandering the shopping districts all alone."
gumi pouted slightly.
"I can go alone," she finally spoke, her voice flat but carrying a hint of stubborn determination.
She seed highly protective of her solo shopping trips.
"How can one person shopping be as convenient as two? Besides, Yuto can help you choose which clothes actually look good. You know, girls shouldn't just dress up for themselves; sotis you have to consider how the opposite sex views your outfits," Granny lectured.
The old woman's thinking was definitely a bit old-fashioned and traditional, but gumi wasn't visibly annoyed by it.
"You can ssage Yuto on that Line app later tonight. No, actually, I will help you arrange it tomorrow..." Granny continued, her tone shifting into a relentless persuasion.
gumi simply nodded in quiet agreent.
But her flat expression betrayed a heavy hint of tired helplessness.
...
Yuto rode his bike back to Ichinosuke Street.
Most of the stores along the street were already closed.
He arrived at the alley entrance, pushing his bicycle into the restaurant.
He put the vegetables and other items into the refrigerator.
Then he picked up the backpack Ainz had given him.
The bag didn't look very big. Just an ordinary-looking, light yellow backpack. From the mont Yuto first saw this bag last night, the thought crossed his mind: only a ga backpack would be this plain!
He sighed helplessly.
After so thought, he decided not to wear it on his back.
He'd just carry it by hand. Having made up his mind, he picked up the bag and walked out.
Although Yuto hadn't traveled far in this world, he'd been learning about its related knowledge.
During his previous conversation with Utaha, she ntioned the ultimate hub of otaku culture to him—Akihabara.
What was striking was that a place like Akihabara was actually located in Chiyoda Ward.
This sohow created a sense of contrast.
Chiyoda was, relatively speaking, Tokyo's most traditional and profound area.
Totsuki Academy was also in this ward. The last ti he ca here, Hisako brought him.
This ti, he ca alone.
Carrying his backpack, he boarded the train.
To avoid others' gazes, he deliberately found a corner to stand in.
But he still couldn't escape being noticed.
Many eyes, upon first seeing his appearance, naturally conveyed a look that said, "Ah, this child is so cute."
But when they turned to see the backpack in his hand, their eyes shifted to a sowhat pitying expression.
However, so gazes grew even more intense!
Yuto didn't understand why their eyes changed so drastically upon seeing the backpack
. Could there be so deeper aning to it? He was puzzled.
When the train arrived at the station, he hurriedly got off.
As soon as he stepped out, he froze.
Hiss—
This truly was Akihabara.
Even inside the station, there were vertical signs of various ani characters. The walls were plastered with advertisents promoting light novels and manga.
The station's screens scrolled with 2D characters.
Yuto suddenly felt out of place here.
He tightened his grip on the backpack. He felt the need to speed up and make the most of his ti.
He walked toward the west exit of the station.
Crossing the station passageway door, an even more spectacular scene greeted him.
Rows of tall buildings stood in orderly formation.
On the exteriors of these buildings were countless banners featuring ani characters, scenes, or announcents of the latest manga releases.
The electronic screens on the outer walls continuously played 2D videos. The crowds coming and going wore expressions of delight or curiosity.
Most people held manga or light novels in their hands, stopping on the streets to read. In front of so storefronts, there were character models five or six ters tall.
Beneath these models, groups of people gathered to take photos.
The number of people gathered around the models of certain revealing characters was large.
Yuto simply watched this scene.
He felt a peculiar atmosphere.
This peculiar atmosphere seed similar to the feeling conveyed by Rimuru and Ainz last night!
This... is... the world of ani and manga.
Yuto was shaken inside.
At this mont, he probably understood why the people on the train looked at him differently.
He noticed many people in Akihabara carrying backpacks.
So of those backpacks even had exaggerated stickers of certain characters or comic scenes on the surface.
In comparison, the backpack in his hand was as plain as it could get.
Huff— Huff—
Yuto took a deep breath.
He needed to finish this quickly. Right now, he wasn't suited to stay here!
'Light novels... light novels...' he silently repeated to himself as he began scanning the stores.
He found the largest store and walked in.
The sales staff were all cute girls. Yuto glanced at them and sighed inwardly.
This is specifically targeted at n!
He sighed and walked up to the counter and many people noticed him.
To them, such a youthful, handso boy was rare.
As soon as Yuto reached the counter, he attracted seven or eight female employees to his side.
Each of them looked at him with curious, sparkling eyes. In the past, Yuto wouldn't have felt awkward.
But now, he inexplicably felt a bit nervous.
"Custor, what would you like?" a gentle female voice asked.
Yuto cleared his throat.
"Could you help get the best-selling light novels from the past year?" he said with a smile.
He felt a bit stiff at this mont.
"Of course, please wait a mont." The female employee responded and went to find the books for him.
Yuto waited quietly where he stood.
Not only waiting, but also enduring inquiries from several won.
"Oh? Are you also a light novel enthusiast?"
'Sorry, I'm not.'
"Which light novel do you like to read?"
'Sorry, I haven't read any.'
"Do you know XXX Master?"
'Sorry, I don't know.'
Yuto felt the only ti comparable to this level of awkwardness was when he first arrived at Ichinosuke Street.
Fortunately, he'd been through it before.
Yuto handled the situation quite well, until the employee brought a stack of books to him.
"This is the best-selling light novel from the past year, 'I Beca a King in Another World.' There are seven volus in total, and the next volu will take so ti to be released."
"I'll take them. Please pack them up."
Yuto straightforwardly took out his bank card and swiped it quickly.
He wanted to leave!
'Rimuru! Ainz! I promise I won't buy anything for you ever again!'
Beneath his smiling expression hid resentnt toward a certain Sli and a certain skeleton!
---------
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