047. Exclusive Contract
What on earth was he thinking?
Not long after Gail left the store, several carriers claiming to be "I'm the one who received the request, but........." visited the store, handed Nora a document in their own handwriting, and took almost all the equipment in the store with them. They took them away somewhere.
And in no time at all, the store, which had felt so oppressive, was transformed into a deserted atmosphere, and all but the equipment, which seemed to have been created by Nora herself, were cleanly gone.
「Th, that-that damn old man ......!」
Nora said while shaking her fist.
「He's as capricious as ever and keeps doing things that don't make any sense! What the hell is he going to do about running the store!? Even though there are still other jobs for the military and for our clients――D-don't tell me, did he run away because he didn't like it?」
「That's a possibility, but what are you going to do now?」
「I'm the one who wants to know! Oh my God!」
She's still irritated, but she's not going to let it get to her.
「Say, Yuuto. What are you going to do, too?」
Osada-kun asked me, but I myself was filled with a feeling of "What am I going to do?"
「In the meantime, I guess we'll just have to explain the situation to your close acquaintance and clients and close the business for a while.」
「......Yes, you're right. And I'll have to talk to the military as well. ...... Geez, that's troublesome!」
「So? What is Nora going to do after that?」
Osada-kun asked again.
「Whatever the circumstances, it's your fault that this happened, so you have to take some responsibility. So, until that idiot comes back ......, No. At the very least, you're going to help me out until we get the store back on its feet. Got that?」
When she said that, "Haaaahhh!?" I screamed out in a crazy voice. But,
「Do you have a problem!? It all started when you came to that old bastard for advice, didn't it!? I just got caught up in it! Of course, I'm not going to say that everything from 1 to 100 is your fault, but ...... you're not going to just abandon me like this, are you?」
「Don't threaten me with your nonsense...」
In my heart, I thought, "That's unreasonable!" "This is outrageous!" But, after being involved to this extent, I can't just ignore the situation.
I reluctantly agreed to cooperate, and after running around in circles, dividing my time between all possible scenarios, I was finally able to catch my breath after the sun had set for quite some time.
「Ughhhh...... I'm so hungry」
Osada-kun's sad voice echoed in my empty stomach.
Because of everything that had happened, we hadn't eaten anything for almost half a day. But...
「If you don't mind eating something simple, please go ahead and eat.」
Nora, wearing an apron, brought us a pile of pasta and salad.
Osada-kun immediately exclaimed with delight, "Oh, wow!" and then he said,
「Thanks for the meal~♪」
and began to eat his pasta vigorously.
I thanked her properly, and put my hand on the pasta. And then
「Ah, you know. Yuuto...... Umm. I've been through a lot, but when I think about it calmly, Um―I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you.」
Suddenly Nora demurely spoke those words.
「Why all of a sudden? Did you eat something weird?」
I said, and she gave me a big glare.
「――I suppose, in a way, I think my encounter with you was inevitable. 'Cause, we had a lot of problems」
Nora muttered to me as if she was trying to let something heavy out of her mouth.
「If you are a fixer, you may have heard some of the rumors about us... maybe one or two years ago? My father, who had been devoting himself to the creation of the "supreme equipment," suddenly lost his will to do so as if the flame had gone out. I asked him many questions, but he never told me why.」
In fact, he began to abandon the management of the store, and Nora herself had no choice. She says that she began making and selling equipment to newcomers, even though she was painfully aware of the inexperience of her own skills.
「The people I got involved with during the day were the same people who buy swords I made. It's just―I didn't remember making something that would break so easily, and I was confident that I had made something better than the swords that were out there. But」
「But there was something defective that led to a fight ― from the fixer's point of view, if something happened to their equipment during a battle, it would literally be "fatal". I can understand their feelings.」
「But I know that too! I know ...... I know ...... No, that's a lie.」
Shaking her head, Nora broke off once.
「When I heard what you just said, I got a little shocked. Until then, I thought it was simply a matter of "making good equipment"―But, I had never thought about the compatibility with the user. I thought I understood more than enough in my head that "the equipment and the users are one and the same", but...」
Apparently, she was quite shocked.
The energy she has in the daytime was completely gone.
「In any case, I can't do anything on my own. So... how about we make a deal?」
「Deal?」
「Yes. From now on, you will help me and the store as much as you can. In exchange, I'll be your "exclusive equipment maker" and make your equipment at a discount. How's that sound?」
「What's the time frame?」
「...... for now, one year. Since you also have a job as a fixer, you can basically put your priority on that. How about "negotiable" on the details?」
「I don't have a problem with that, but what about you, Osada-kun?」
「I don't have a problem either♪」
「Then we have a deal.」
I held out my right hand to Nora, and she held back her hand with a reserved look on her face.
「For the time being, you can stay at my place for the day. We have an empty room―but」
「But?」
「...... If you do anything strange to me, I'll beat you with a hammer, no questions asked!」
She seems to be at least a little cautious.
However, until she pointed it out, I hadn't been particularly conscious of her, though,...... I told her with a wry smile on my face.
「Yeah. I'll be careful at best.」
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