Chapter 65: Act 1 – The Burning City
Is it because the subject is deeply related to spirits that the Spirit Girl Meruru is involved?
Just in time, it seemed that due to sheer luck, there was information that a limited edition doll would be sold here to celebrate the ‘Spirit Festival.’
Although the information from the computer can’t always be trusted, this time it was more likely not to be false since I accessed the store’s page and checked thoroughly.
Based on that information, Luke and Dayton arrived at a mall filled with toy stores shortly after.
The sight of numerous types of toys and character merchandise displayed in vibrant colors looked like a magical realm beckoning to children, and indeed, many kids were walking down the street holding their parents’ hands.
As Luke looked at the scene from inside the car driven by Dayton, he spoke as they passed by a large toy store.
“Dayton, this is it.”
“Really? Is this the place you mentioned?”
As Dayton stopped the car following Luke’s direction, Luke immediately got out and said,
“I’ll go in alone from here, so you stay out.”
“Why? Let’s go together. There are a lot of people.”
At Dayton’s words, Luke shook his head and explained.
“If I went in with you, you’d know exactly what kind of gift I’m buying. And that would mean I’m giving you the information myself.”
The promise that Luke made with Diana was to not tell anyone, except for spirits, about what gift he wanted, so bringing Dayton into the toy store would be classified as ‘informing Dayton about that item.’
If the condition were simply ‘don’t say it,’ it wouldn’t matter, but promises and contracts can greatly constrict the scope of possible actions over the difference of such trivial words.
“That’s complicated.”
Dayton somewhat understood Luke’s words by this point but still found it hard to grasp.
At this point, didn’t everyone already know what Diana wanted?
It was obvious it would be a toy related to Meruru.
Well, if it’s important to Luke, it must be significant.
“Well, just be careful not to lose the money. Have a good time. Contact me if anything happens.”
Dayton willingly handed Luke some money, seeing him off from inside the car.
In truth, if it were another child, they would never be allowed to enter a toy store alone, but Luke was a different case.
That little kid, despite his appearance, was stronger than the current Forest Keeper himself, so there was little danger physically. He also had a good sense of direction, so there was no worry about getting lost anywhere strange in the forest.
Even if something happened, it would likely just be a case of not having enough money to buy toys or perhaps getting pickpocketed.
“Thanks for the ride. I’ll contact you when I make a purchase.”
“Oh, wait. Luke.”
Dayton called out to Luke, who was about to turn away after accepting the money, adding a bit more to the amount in Luke’s hand.
“If you see anything you want while looking around, buy it for yourself too. It’s the Spirit Festival, after all.”
Luke, staring blankly at Dayton’s grinning face and the money he handed over, thought to himself.
If he was going to give it anyway, he could have just given it all at once from the start.
Dayton really doesn’t seem to think efficiently.
Moreover, receiving money separately made Luke feel suddenly embarrassed about being treated like a kid.
As he looked at Dayton with a peculiar expression, Dayton asked,
“…Do you need more?”
“…”
Luke didn’t outright deny it.
It was true that the amount was far too little to buy what he wanted.
Still, he felt some joy knowing that Dayton was thinking of him enough to give him money.
Besides, this amount was nothing when the prize money came in.
So he didn’t feel disappointed or anything like that.
“No, it’s fine. I’ll make good use of it. Thank you.”
——
With that, Luke walked on to buy the limited edition Meruru doll.
The large store was filled with a variety of toys fitting its size, making it no easy task to find that doll.
‘Just how many toys are there?’
Everything was so different from the shops Luke knew from his time.
Honestly, he had thought that children’s toys consisted mainly of yo-yos, dolls, balls, and wooden swords at most.
Who even thought of such toys to turn them into products?
Among the various toys and character merchandise were stickers, cars, building blocks, golems, and countless forms that seemed to result from the struggles of many merchants endeavoring to capture children’s interest.
In reality, many little kids could be seen standing in the store, throwing tantrums or deep in contemplation between two toys.
If Luke had been accustomed to visiting toy sections in department stores since he was young, he wouldn’t have been as shocked.
However, Luke had no interest in toys that children would like, and he thought that current toys wouldn’t be anything special, so he had never bothered to visit the toy section.
Even if he had enough time for that, the direction he was heading was towards the magical goods section, not the toy aisle.
“…”
But now, it seemed that toys had reached a different level.
Toys that made various sounds when swung, dolls that said ‘I love you’ when pressed, small cars that children could ride in, and all sorts of bizarre items that were hard to even name.
It was truly astonishing how all these things had been developed for children to play with.
But not only that?
Even more astonishing were the toys that transformed from cars into human-shaped golems or ones that could combine!
Oh my, transforming and combining?
The designs seemed to have too many moving parts and inefficient structures, making them difficult to maintain durability for practical use, but the concept itself was simply amazing.
For a moment, he even thought of making a part of the doll to fill Arinseia into a transforming golem.
However, as previously mentioned, due to the structural limitations making it hard to ensure actual durability, there was no way to do that right now.
If a doll golem made of cloth and cotton could easily be fixed even if it broke, the rigid composite materials wouldn’t allow that to happen.
Moreover, since these weren’t handcrafted items and their magical value didn’t seem high enough to fit with Arinseia’s golem core.
Still, if only the structural problem could be resolved…
“No, this isn’t the time to be looking at such things!”
Clap, clap!
Luke barely suppressed the rising curiosity towards the various toys packaged in different ways by slapping his own cheeks while thinking.
‘Getting Diana’s gift comes first. I can look around later.’
For now, it’s best to secure that limited edition doll.
A limited quantity means he needs to hurry to purchase it before the stock runs out.
‘But they’ve prepared 200 pieces, so it should be fine.’
How many may be buying limited edition toys for kids anyway?
———
And Luke felt once again how naive his thinking was.
Having ignored the first line and entered, he was scolded by a man waiting in front and was pushed to the very end of the queue. Luke shouted,
“No, is this really the line for buying that toy?”
“Yeah, everyone is waiting in order, so you have to stand there if you want to buy it.”
He would have never imagined this long line was for just one girl’s toy.
Even though it was still early morning, it felt as if more than 200 people were ahead of him.
It was an extremely bewildering situation.
Luke examined the faces of those waiting in line and gasped internally.
‘Aren’t they all adults? Isn’t the Spirit Girl Meruru for little girls?’
Maybe not.
It could really appeal to fully grown adults, but since Luke had never thought in such a way, he found it hard to imagine that scene.
Thus, Luke could only form one hypothesis.
“Perhaps all of you are waiting to buy gifts for your daughters? Most don’t seem like they actually have daughters though…”
“What?”
Luke meant that their ages seemed too young to have daughters or that they did not seem to live with women, but the man who received Luke’s question responded with a subtle expression and fell silent.
It looked as if he’d like to slap him.
