Will I End Up As a Hero or a Demon King (WN)

Chapter 125

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Chapter 125 – The Effect of Prestige

After successfully purchasing the necklace and earrings for Riste at the accessories store, we head to our next destination.

For the umpteenth time, I find myself looking up at Riste walking next to me.

“I guess it doesn’t matter if a beautiful person wears cheap accessories…”

By wearing the accessories, Riste’s aura of nobility was raised even higher.

I really felt that the stares of people on the street were painful.

I wanted to send fireballs at the people who looked at me suspiciously, saying, “Who’s that guy next to her?”

But my own feelings had already calmed down considerably.

Whether I go up one level or two, there are still people above me, and Riste changed into that dress not for herself but because she thought it would make me happy.

“(Mm-hmm… Mufufu…)”

There are not many things that can make a man so happy, are there?

Just that feeling of superiority is enough to make me want to eat five bowls of rice, and thinking about it like that, I can feel a certain sense of mental space and freedom.

On the other hand, I’m sure Riste is in a tough situation right now.

The place we’re going to now is a clothing store.

It all started with a single comment from Riste.

“Loki-kun, I think we should change your clothes a little.”

I nodded deeply in silence at this comment from Riste, who valued honesty.

I had a lot of self-confidence, so I wasn’t shocked at all when she said it.

So I responded like this.

“Then you choose, Riste. At least if I’m seen as a follower and not a slave, that’s good enough for me.”

After that, Riste muttered to himself, emitting a different kind of oppressive air than before.

“What a responsibility… the ideal outfit for a man… I have to consider the budget…”

In the past, when things like this happened, I would have immediately asked her if she was okay, but now I’ve decided to just leave her alone.

I’m glad Riste thinks of things for me.

But when it comes to clothes that fit an immature body like mine, the person who chooses them must have a very good sense.

Well, she’s the goddess of commerce, so I’ll let her go through this kind of ordeal for the future.

“Riste, this store seems to have clothes in small sizes, right?”

“Well then, let’s go in. By the way, what’s your budget?”

“Hmm, about 100,000 Beeke or less? I’m going to start hunting tomorrow, so as long as I have enough money on hand, I’m fine with anything.”

“I understand. I’ll make you a good man, Loki-kun!”

Oh, such enthusiasm.

I really need to count the remaining money.

“(If I deduct the cost of food and lodging, will I have enough to cover any eventuality?)”

While thinking about it, I secretly started counting the contents of the leather bag.

▽ ▼ ▽ ▼ ▽

“Ho-How about this…?”

I check my upper body in the small mirror on the wall.

“Wow!”

The image of myself reflected back is quite similar to the clothes I used to wear on Earth.

A gray shirt with a mysterious string around the neck that doesn’t seem to be tied in any way.

I want to ask what the hell this string is for, but this kind of clothing, which you can buy at any time at a cheap mass retailer, is something that even I, a human from Earth, can accept without any resistance.

I don’t know what the material of the pants is, but they are ordinary black pants made of some kind of fiber that is not leather.

At first, Riste suggested these pants with their strange structure to me.

And for some reason, they came with white socks.

Apparently, the pants were designed to be worn with the hem tucked into the socks, and it was a strange outfit that reminded me of the aristocratic style I had seen in a book when I was on Earth.

So, I gave a short answer.

Please, seriously, spare me.

It’s easy to say that you don’t have to hold back on this kind of thing.

If it’s boots-in, I can accept it, but socks-in? It’s like a punishment game, right? I thought to myself, so I firmly refused, no matter how advanced the nobleman’s style was.

After that, I continued to avoid Riste’s suggestion of tucking the hem of the pants into something, and finally, I requested the commoner’s style, which is often seen, and it became the current form.

“Like this! I can accept this without any resistance. Thank you!”

“I wanted you to wear something that looks more like a high-ranking person…”

Riste seems a little unhappy, but considering our financial situation, a neat commoner’s outfit is probably the safest option.

I also bought four sets of second-hand clothes that looked relatively good for use as hunting clothes.

I bought more than I needed because I was worried that my height wouldn’t grow for a while due to my skill, but if each set costs around 10,000 beeke, I shouldn’t regret it even if I suddenly grow taller.

“The total is 156,000 Beeke.”

“Here you go.”

While paying, I looked at the clock in the leather bag and saw that it was already after 5 pm.

It’s time to check the availability of the high-class inn with a bath.

“Riste, shall we check if there are rooms available at the inn next?”

“Yes, I understand.”

The clerk who received the money watched this exchange with his eyes wide open.

“Hey… it seems like I shouldn’t casually mention your name in public, right?”

“Why is that?”

“Well, the clerk and the person from the accessory shop both clearly reacted to the name Riste.”

“I’m sure there are a lot of people who name their children after us, so I don’t think you have to worry about that.”

“Hmm. I heard that from Ria too. I think in the case of Riste, the atmosphere combined with the name itself makes people think of a goddess.”

Not many people have such an unusual aura.

People in business especially seem to believe in Riste, and when such a divine person is called by the same name as the object of their faith, it wouldn’t be surprising if they thought, “No way…”

“If it seems better to stay hidden, I’ll do that, but what do you think?”

“Please continue as you are.”

“So quick to make a decision! Have you really thought about it?”

“I have thought about it. I don’t want to be called Riste, so I will refuse.”

“No, no, you didn’t think about what would happen if something happened… Well, if that’s okay with you, then that’s fine.”

“Don’t worry. There is no precedent for a goddess descending to the mortal world, so even if you think ‘no way’, it will just stay ‘no way’.”

“I see.”

“And if you’re not called Riste, that means you have a temporary name, right?”

“You could make up a temporary name, or maybe even make up a nickname based on the name “Riste”? As expected, calling someone “Kimi” without making up a nickname would be too distant, and “oi” or “omae” would be too rude.” [T/n: They’re all pronouns that mean “you” in Japanese, but kimi was used for more casual Japanese, and the others were rougher.]

“Oi…Omae…?”

“(Oh no…I think I screwed up…)”

“No, no, that’s not what I meant! I wouldn’t say something so rude!”

“…I-I wonder if you could just say it once?”

“Huh?”

“Just once, to know what it’s like.”

“…..”

“…..”

“Hey, you, let’s go to the inn quickly, okay?” [T/N: He used Omae here.]

Brrrrrr…

At that moment, Riste’s body, which was walking next to me, started to shake slightly.

When I looked up, expecting the worst, I saw that she had a surprised yet ecstatic expression on her face…

“Riste! I have a bad feeling about this! I’ve finally gotten used to it, but I feel like I’m going crazy too!”

“That’s right, that’s right! It’s completely disrespectful!”

Even though it was her own wish, Riste’s face was all red, and she was calling it disrespectful. I couldn’t help but think it was cute.

But…

“(Is Riste secretly like a patriarchal man? Or is she maybe a masochist…?)”

I shake my head at the unseemly thoughts.

“(I’ll forget what just happened…)”

With that in mind, I walk towards the entrance of the inn with the bath I’ve just seen.

“Well, I wonder if there are any rooms available today~.”

“I think there should be something available today, right? I’ll go with you just to make sure.”

“What? What does that have to do with anything?”

“Yeah, maybe.”

As I walked over to the reception desk and turned my head to see what was going on, my eyes met those of the older man who had helped me yesterday.

“Excuse me, but are there any rooms available today?”

The old man looked at me with a panicked expression, then at Riste, and then back at me.

“O-of course…”

“T-that’s good to know.”

While he was answering, I had a question in my head, and it quickly led to a prediction.

“(Ah, I see. That’s what it means.)”

I wondered why he would say that.

But if there were vacancies yesterday, then I can understand why they would use those words.

And yesterday, there was no Riste, and I was dressed like a beggar in peasant style.

In other words, that’s probably what it was.

I’ve never heard of an inn that screens guests based on their appearance, but even on Earth, places with a certain level of formality expect you to have at least a minimum level of clothing and manners, so I can only think that this was one of those places.

Even though I had cleared things up, the conversation took an unexpected turn.

“If you don’t mind my asking, were you planning to stay here with that lady yesterday…?”

“Huh? Well, we ended up staying at another inn…”

In reality, she was just in the room and didn’t stay the night, but the middle-aged man stiffened at that answer.

Then he stared at Riste and bowed his head in what could almost be called a deep bow.

“I am very sorry for our mistake!”

The voices of the wealthy-looking people relaxing in the lobby gathered at once.

Ugh…

Looking up at Riste…

“…..”

As usual, she was silent.

Come to think of it, for some reason, Riste doesn’t exchange words with the inhabitants of this world.

Maybe it’s not important in the current situation, but for this man sweating profusely in front of me, it’s probably not a trivial matter.

According to the composition, Riste is the master, and I am the servant.

Since they denied the servant’s hotel reservation based on appearance alone, it seems that they also denied Riste’s stay.

On top of that, Riste was in a bad mood―if she didn’t say anything, she would be judged as such.

“As an apology, we will prepare the highest class room for you free of charge… please, please forgive us…”

That was amazing… it was inappropriate, but I honestly thought that.

Riste had not revealed her identity at all.

She just stood there in silence.

Still, I could tell from Riste’s demeanor that she was not someone with a small fortune, and I immediately entered into the proposal to offer the upstairs room.

Riste, who makes him do that just by standing there, is amazing, and this man, who immediately offers the upstairs room after assessing the person in front of him, is also amazing.

However, when it comes to this, the next person in trouble is me.

I’m not just staying here temporarily; I plan to stay here until I’m satisfied with the hunting in this area.

If they say it’s the top room, I’ll be grateful, but if I stay there for just one day as an apology and then go to a lower-class inn, it would, of course, lower Riste’s stock.

On the other hand, the inn wouldn’t be able to let us stay in the top room for free indefinitely, and I don’t know if I can keep paying for it.

“Just out of curiosity, how much does the top level room usually cost?”

“Including food, it’s 200,000 beeke per person per night.”

“I see…”

This is hard.

That’s 400,000 beeke for the two of us.

If I were to try my hardest to earn that money just for lodging, it might be possible, but for me, who thinks that as long as there’s a bath and good food, everything else is just a waste of money, it’s too much.

“First of all, we’re not planning on staying just one night. This lady here is going to stay for about a week.”

“…..”

I looked up at Riste, but I couldn’t see any change in her expression.

I thought it would be bad to mention Riste’s name here, so I was relieved to see that she read the situation correctly.

“It would be hard for you to keep it free all the time, too―what do you think? If you say today is free, how about reducing the lodging costs for the duration of our stay?”

“I understand. Then for the duration of your stay, we will charge 100,000 beeke per night for the first-class room.”

“Is that for one person or two?”

“Of course, it’s for two people at 100,000 beeke.”

“(Th-That’s dangerous…)”

If he had said 100,000 beeke per person, I would have chosen a cheaper room, but with two people, it’s still within my budget.

But if it’s 100,000 beeke for two people, it’s probably within our means if we consider it a temporary luxury.

“Is that okay?”

I asked, looking up at Riste, who nodded silently.

“I understand. Then please follow me. We will bring your meals directly to your room in the morning and in the evening.”

On the way to our room, they wondered, “Who are they?”

The men in the lobby, who looked like merchants, looked at us curiously.

Although I was getting used to it, I still felt an indescribable sense of uneasiness, and we followed a woman who acted as our guide to the upper floor of the inn.

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