“Wow, Kaiba-san! Thanks so much for bringing such wonderful ingredients again!”
The husband and mainstay of the Ishibashi family was smiling broadly before me. Next to him were his wife and children, who seemed just as delighted to see the goods that I had brought to their home.
At the moment, I was steadily increasing my funds while acting as Kaiba, the door-to-door salesman.
“Not at all, I should be the one thanking you for your loyal patronage.” (Kaiba)
“Oh, no no, thanks to you, we don’t have to step out into danger to get food ingredients and other goods. You really are our lifeline.” (Mr. Ishibashi)
Here and there throughout the world, dungeons were appearing, causing vicious monsters to appear. These monsters were beings that attacked humans and were overwhelmingly more powerful than humans.
Recently, more and more monsters had been breaking out of the dungeonized buildings and entering the city, which made it impossible to go out. Water, gas, and electricity had been cut off, and humans now had to be self-sufficient.
Amidst all of this, I was essentially the embodiment of good fortune for all of these powerless people. After all, if they continued to stay in their houses, they would have to worry about food. Otherwise, they would be done for.
“Speaking of which, Aida-san next door wanted to thank you, Kaiba-san. You really are the savior of this entire street.” (Mr. Ishibashi)
“Haha, as I told you before, I’m just doing business in the end. It’s all based on respectable profits, which is why I’m able to offer you what you require.” (Kaiba)
“Sure, it’s nice that we still have something to pay you for now, but it honestly scares me to think about what might happen if you weren’t here.” (Mr. Ishibashi)
Indeed, this wasn’t charity work. If they couldn’t pay me, that would be the end of our relationship. I was sure he understood that very well.
“Right. That’s true for me as well. I still have enough goods to sell right now, but one day, I might run out sooner or later. Even I can’t procure an unlimited supply of food.” (Kaiba)
Just kidding. As long as I have the money, I totally could.
If I used the <Shop> Skill, I could get whatever I want depending on the price. Not just the necessities like food, shelter, and clothing, but also weapons, pets, and much more. Plus, I could purchase fantasy items that didn’t originally exist on Earth. It was thanks to this that I could fight monsters, and Iwas proud to declare that I had a higher chance of survival than anyone else in this world.
“Well then, I should be going now. I will visit again in one week.” (Kaiba)
Finished with my goodbyes, I turned heel and walked off, stepping into an empty side street. I reached into my pocket, pulling out a [Shapeshifting Potion], which I took immediately. My appearance changed from an attractive middle-aged man to a tall, handsome young man with a slight gloominess to his face.
Then, I proceeded to approach the mansion across the street from the Ishibashi family. Instead of going through the gate, I unlocked the door at the back side of the house and went inside. Incidentally, the key was given to me by the owner of the house, so it wasn’t a crime.
After all, I had been staying here— with the Fukuzawa family for a while now.
“Welcome home, Torimoto-san!” (Kanna)
When I entered the house, a girl jumped at me with a gleeful expression on her face.
“Whoa there, it’s not safe to suddenly jump on someone out of nowhere, Kanna-chan.” (Torimoto)
“Ehehehe~, sooorry.” (Kanna)
This girl was Kanna, the youngest of the Fukuzawa family. Until recently, this 12-year-old girl was suffering from paralysis of the lower half of her body, and she hadn’t been able to smile from the bottom of her heart. Her father, Jouichirou, struggled day in and day out to cure her, but no matter how hard he tried, there was no hope of a cure with modern medicine.
But then I, an irregularity, appeared before them and cured Kanna with a fantasy item. Through this connection, I was allowed to borrow a room in the Fukuzawa residence and stay here.
I was living a fulfilling life here, and it cost much less than living at my own home.
“Heyhey, where’d you go today?” (Kanna)
“I went outside for a little walk. What about you, Kanna-chan?” (Torimoto)
“I was practicing soccer in the yard!” (Kanna)
Her dream was to become a professional soccer player. And truth be told, her ball control was really good, and she knew a lot about soccer. If the world hadn’t become like this, perhaps she could have become a pro.
No, I suppose it was highly unlikely, but it wasn’t possible to completely rule out a future where there were no monsters. If that happened, the world would begin to recover, and peace would return. In the case of such a future, Kanna seemed to have not given up on her dream.
However, she had found another dream recently. She was considering the possibility of becoming a great doctor like Jouichirou. Perhaps she admired her mighty father who was hailed as the modern day Redbeard.
“Ah, where’s Sol-chan? She wasn’t with you?” (Kanna)
Sol was a Familiar that I had purchased in the <Shop>. Of course, she wasn’t a regular animal, but a monster called a Sonic Owl. In truth, she was far stronger than a human, and she was even strong enough to kill me if she wanted to.
In terms of appearance, she looked like a cute little owl, and Kanna cherished Sol a lot.
“She’s probably off gliding around in the skies alone again, I guess.” (Torimoto)
“I see. Sol-chan sure has a lot of freedom.” (Kanna)
In truth, it was more about scouting the area. Recently, more and more buildings were being turned into dungeons.
This place was a high-class neighborhood, so if it ever became dungeonized, then I planned to take advantage of it by helping people and demanding money in return. You might call me a lowlife for doing something like that, but this was the world we lived in. In order to survive, I was ready to sip on any kind of muddy water.
After all, I didn’t care one bit what others thought of me.
“Is Fukuzawa-sensei at the hospital again today?” (Torimoto)
“Torimoto-san! Can I ask you to help me with my soccer practice?”
It was honestly a pain, but… since she and her family were taking care of me, I couldn’t flat out refuse. I agreed, and we went out in the yard to kick around the ball for a while.
At 6:00 PM, Jouichirou, the master of the house, came home, and we all had dinner together.
“Man, this meat always tastes so good.” (Jouichirou)
Jouichirou broke into a smile as he looked at the roast beef on his fork.
“Yes, all of the meats sold to us by that door-to-door salesman were exquisite,” Jouichirou’s wife, Minako, said with a nod.
Of course, the person they were referring to me was me. Starting with the Ishibashi family, the name Kaiba gradually spread throughout the street.
And recently, I had also begun selling food to the Fukuzawa family while acting as Kaiba.
TL: Crescent here. This marks the end of Volume 1. I hope you all enjoyed it! If you are liking it so far, please consider giving a favorable rating on NovelUpdates and bookmarking it on Foxaholic. From here on, I’ll be doing daily releases. I’m also now opening up sponsored chapters on my Ko-Fi, so please check that out if you wanna see more. Thanks for reading this far!