Translator: Lilia

Editor: Shizukuku

Read at Watashi Wa Sugoi Desu!

Chapter 149 – A Scary Solicitation

“The shelves over here contain books concerning prayer. Please wait for a moment.” 

As the librarian said that, she brought over a nearby step stool and took some books out from the highest shelf. 

“When you’re done reading, please bring them to the reception desk. I’ll put them back for you.” 

“…Thank you very much.” 

I was very grateful, but I also had mixed feelings as I thanked the librarian. 

After all, even with the step stool, I couldn’t reach the books on the highest shelf. Because I was short. 

That was why I was offered such a service. I was happy but also frustrated. 

Whether the librarian knew how I felt or not, she returned to her desk with a smile. 

Holding the books in my hands, I went to the reading space, still feeling a bit conflicted. 

The reading space was much wider and brighter than the room about curses. I placed the books on a table, sat down in a chair, and promptly opened the first book. 

I started with books that were about God. As I finished reading one book, and then a second, I piled them up on top of each other. 

As I opened the third book, a shadow suddenly fell across the table. 

I looked up and saw a man wearing church robes and a friendly smile standing before me. 

“Excuse me for interrupting your reading.” 

The moment our eyes met, the man took a step back and spoke in a quiet, calm tone. 

“Um, can I help you?” 

He took a step back but made no further move to leave, so I called out to him in confusion, and he slowly nodded in response. 

“You seem to be interested in [ Prayer ], so we thought we may be able to lend you our support.” 

“Support?”

The abrupt offer caused my confusion to increase further. 

I didn’t think the fact that I was trying to make an item that dispelled curses got leaked. 

I didn’t expect the church would contact me, either. 

As I waited for him to speak again, my heart beating nervously, the man bowed his head and said, “Ah, sorry, that was quite sudden. Please allow me to explain. At the church, we host seminars on how to give thanks to God, and I wanted to ask if you would be interested in attending them.” 

“Seminars…?”

I wondered if the church was offering something similar to the beginner training grounds. I was a little interested. 

But then, I remembered the creepiness of the room where they broke my curse, and my brows furrowed. 

If that creepiness followed me during the seminar, my mental state would be completely drained. 

“Sorry, but I wasn’t planning to study it that seriously, so I’ll have to decline taking the seminar.” 

“Is that so? I think it will definitely be worth your time, though.” 

“No, thank you.” 

In spite of my firm refusal, the man in the robe didn’t move from his place. 

Was it possible that he was targeting me? 

“If you take this seminar and understand the true essence of prayer, then you will surely be able to receive wonderful blessings.” 

“No, I’m good…”

No matter how many times I refused, the man in the robe seemed determined to get me to take the seminar. 

What should I do? Really, what should I do? I didn’t know how to get rid of such a persistent person. 

“A hardworking person such as yourself is the kind of person we would definitely welcome at our church…” 

“Excuse me. You seem like you’ve finished reading, so I’ve come to help you tidy up.” 

From behind the robed man, who was about to continue his argument even more strongly, the librarian suddenly appeared.

She made sure to pass by the robed man to stop directly in front of me and picked up one of the books from the pile I had made. 

“Oh, excuse me. Were you two in the middle of a conversation?” 

As if she had just noticed him, the librarian turned to face the man in the robe. 

“It’s impolite to cut into a conversation…” 

“No, it’s fine. Thank you. The shelf is high, so I can’t reach it, haha.” 

I stood up from my chair, interrupting the robed man, who was starting to show signs of frustration. I handed the librarian the book and pleaded with my eyes for help. 

“Please do not worry. Then, please excuse us.” 

The librarian bowed her head to the robed man with a smile, then with the books in her hands, urged me to walk away. 

I was saved! 

“Um, thank you.” 

“You’re welcome. This is part of my duties as well.” 

The librarian said this with a smile while putting the books away. She looked very reliable. 

I really was saved. 

The man in the robe was looking our way, but as expected, he made no move to follow us. 

The librarian briskly returned the books to their shelves, then raised her voice a little and spoke while looking at me. 

“Next, you were looking for a book about farming, right? It’s right this way.” 

“Eh, ah, yes?” 

I wasn’t looking for that, I thought, confused, as I followed behind the librarian. 

The librarian opened a door and entered the next room. She closed the door firmly before turning to me and speaking in a hushed voice. 

“I apologize for your uncomfortable experience after you took the trouble of coming to our library. Lately, these kinds of people have been going to great lengths in their activities.” 

“People from the church?” 

“Yes. People from the church come here, approach anyone looking for books related to the church, and try to get them to join their seminars. You are the third person to have been approached. We do our best to stop them each time, but since this place is open to the public, we can’t refuse anyone from the church from entering.” 

“Is that so? It must be difficult.” 

Religious solicitors were awfully persistent. I could imagine how hard it must be for the librarian. 

“Whether or not you accept their invitation is up to you, but if you are still being pressured after firmly refusing like earlier, please let us know, and we will do our best to help you.” 

“It’s a big help. If I get caught and agree to be dragged to a seminar, I’ll be in trouble for the future when all my money gets taken away.” 

I sighed, thinking that the church seminar would definitely have a ridiculously high price, and the librarian gave me a surprised look.

“It seems like something happened before.” 

“I had my curse broken, and I nearly went broke.” 

I was really surprised when I heard the price. I could add a new expansion to my workshop for that price! I thought, and for a moment, regretted getting cursed.

The librarian then looked at me with a sympathetic gaze. 

“I understand how you feel. I think he’s still over there, so if you would like, how about staying in this room and killing time for a bit?” 

“I will do that, thank you.” 

Upon hearing the librarian’s generous offer, I jumped at the opportunity to take it. 

After all, I couldn’t just teleport away from here and cause trouble for the librarian. 

Oh, but lately, Crash had been unashamedly drawing magic circles everywhere, so if I explained it to the librarian, it might be ok to teleport away from here. 

…Nevermind. I’ll give up and wait here until the man in the robe leaves. 

Luckily, it was a room with books about farming. If I read through these books, maybe I could learn a new recipe. 

I bowed to the librarian and turned to the bookshelves. The librarian bowed their head to me in response and left the room. 

After I had learned a couple of recipes and was returning a book I’d finished reading to the shelf, there was a knock at the door. 

When I answered, “Yes?” the door softly opened, and the librarian poked her head in. 

Apparently, that man had finally left. 

I could finally leave the library. 

I thought I might make a delivery on my way home, so I headed towards Crash’s shop, and sure enough, there was a line again. 

Today, I was a delivery person, so I made my way up through the line. Sorry, but I’m not cutting in line, I swear. 

“Crash, I brought some goods, are you there?” 

“Ah, I’m here! Come on over, and if you could put them on display too, it’d be much appreciated.” 

“Is this a freebie service?” 

Commenting on Crash’s words, I headed towards the counter. I could tell he was busy even without him saying it, so I lined up the bottles. 

Seeing me line the bottles up, a player suddenly spoke up. 

“Hooray! Some high-ranked items arrived! Hey, hey, Shopkeeper-san, can I have the ones that are being stocked right now?” 

The player pointed at me as Crash was preparing the already selected items.

“I bought that one yesterday, but it was different, even the taste. This one is a lot tastier, you know? Even if it’s more expensive, the tastier one is still better. Is that okay?” 

The player clapped their hands together, saying, “Please,” so Crash said with a smile, “It’s okay. This one is definitely tasty,” and he put away the High Potions he had just taken out. 

After receiving 3 bottles from me, he transferred them to the player. 

Crash took the High Potions, which were a little more expensive than yesterday, and put them in the grateful player’s bag with a smile. You’re a businessman. A true businessman. You just casually ripped them off. 

When I finished arranging the potions I had brought on the shelves and returned to behind the counter, a female player who had just bought a Magic High Potion glanced over at me. 

“You’re also a player, right? Are you a pharmacist? Hey, could you be my personal supplier? I’m a big fan of your potions.” 

As we made eye contact, she looked at me while smiling sweetly. 

Wait, personal supplier? 

For someone I didn’t even know? 

Since when were you a big fan? 

Your story is full of holes. 

“Um, I’m this store’s exclusive pharmacist.” 

“Don’t say that. We’re both players. Come on, please?” 

The lightly-armored female player put her hands together, shrugged her shoulders, and said, “Please~”. Her pose, which emphasized her cleavage, was a bit sneaky. 

Certainly, her face was cute. But if Kairi had been the one making this pose, it would have been a lot more convincing. Her “do it for me because I’m cute!” attitude was definitely not cute at all. 

Yui and Kairi were definitely cuter in terms of behavior. 

I felt a bit guilty thinking that, so I bowed my head and said, “I’m sorry.” 

And then: 

“What do you mean, exclusive? You can sell potions freely to anyone, can’t you? You’re a player, after all. Just make them without being so arrogant.” 

The words that the female player spit out gave me a bit of whiplash. Yeah, I can sell potions freely to anyone, so I don’t want to sell them to you. Get that into your head. 

I mean, I can’t believe you’d say something like that right in front of the owner of this store. 

As I looked to the side, I saw Crash with his mouth curved upwards, with his gaze fixed straight ahead on the female player. 

“Dear customer. Could you please refrain from trying to buy off this store’s exclusive pharmacist right in front of the owner’s gaze?” 

“Please don’t say something like buying off. You’re just a shop clerk.” 

Ah, even though it was “just a shop clerk,” I heard it as “just an NPC.” Those words really annoyed me. 

Then, wondering what was going on next to me, I stole a quick glance and saw that Crash was quietly, calmly, furious. 

The players lined up in the back were also shifting around and glancing at each other after hearing what the female player had said. 

The curve of Crash’s mouth had flattened out, and his polite smile had disappeared. “Haa…” he sighed. 

“Now, look here,” he said, while casually lifting his beautiful, flowing blonde hair and staring straight at the female player. 

When beautiful people get serious, it’s scary. 

“If you’re not a customer, then can you just leave? I mean, I already told you that he’s this store’s exclusive pharmacist. Are your ears missing? And another thing, I’m not just this shop’s clerk, I’m this shop’s owner. So, this pharmacist is mine, you know.” 

“Crash…” 

Actually, could you please not say lines like this that could cause a misunderstanding? I’m grateful that you stepped in, but please, I’m begging you, no more! 

I instinctively crouched down on the spot and hugged my stomache. 

Someone had definitely taken a screenshot of this. There would definitely be posts on the message boards saying that the Hero’s son’s lover is a player! 

Still crouched on the floor, I tugged on the fabric of Crash’s pants a couple times. 

“Hm, what’s wrong, Mac? Are you tired? Are you okay?” 

Crash’s worried tone, a complete 180 from his tone of voice before… No matter how you looked at it, it looked like a lover worrying about his partner, but it wasn’t trueeee! 

Aaaah, if there’s a misunderstanding, how are you going to take responsibility for it? But, if I asked the person responsible, he’d probably just grin and tell me, “I’ll take responsibility by becoming your love in Vidello’s place.” Ugh, just stay quiet. 

It was probably my imagination that there were a lot of customers suddenly whispering to each other from the commotion. That’s right, it was just my imagination. 

“Since I’m done delivering the goods, can I leave from the back…?” 

“Yeah, that’s fine. Thanks, Mac. You can rest in the back since I keep working you so hard.” 

“No, I’m fine. Please shut up.” 

I weakly staggered towards the back, and the moment I put my hand on the back door, the murmuring between the players grew even louder. 

…For the time being, I wasn’t going to look at the message boards. Definitely not.