AIWON Mall Isekai Store, Grand Opening Today! - Chapter 57
Episode 6-8
“In the past, this place was called the “Cursed Land.”
“…Anna-san?”
Her robe fluttered without wind, a black aura that seemed to condense thick darkness.
Anna-san, with a serious gaze and no smile, approaches.
I swallowed hard.
Th- this is…. The Lich.
I saw a figure different from the usual Anna-san – an undead known as the “King of the Dead.”
Anna-san slowly approaches.
The merchant family, who was trying to leave the Aion Mall Otherworldly store, stopped in the face of her overwhelming presence.
The plump merchant stood trembling, and his wife squatted, holding their child.
“About 800 years ago, a plague called the Red Death struck the city. The church and orphanage in this area were also affected.”
Anna-san’s downturned expression is unreadable.
“People fell ill, and those unaffected were guided out of the city by soldiers. Those who were still able to move, despite being infected, aimed for this land.”
Anna-san passed by me.
Behind her, Barbera followed, glancing worriedly at Anna-san and the sick child.
“There was a woman called the ‘Holy Maiden’ in the church here. It was believed that even the incurable Red Death could be cured by the ‘Holy Maiden.'”
“Anna-san? 800 years ago, that’s quite a long time, isn’t it?”
“I heard it from the village elder. ‘The city destroyed by the Red Death and the lamenting Holy Maiden.’ According to the people in the city, it was ‘The false Holy Maiden and the cursed city’… I never thought…”
“Chloe? Oh, the fairy tale that Guild Master and Anna-san were talking about. In this city, suspicious potions are strictly checked.”
Not only Barbera followed Anna-san, but also a clattering group of apron-wearing skeletons, carrying blankets, cushions, and wood.
“There were women in the church who cared for the sick people who crowded in. They smiled even though they were infected with the Red Death, not fearing it.”
Anna-san lifted the sick child.
The merchant couple seemed frozen, as if under a spell.
While the merchant couple stared in astonishment, the skeleton apron-wearers assembled wood with a clatter.
A makeshift bed.
Swiftly, as if they were accustomed to it.
Anna-san laid the child to rest.
“Knights and soldiers protected the crowded church from monsters. Even they, afflicted by the disease, tried our best. The knight said before he died, ‘Unable to protect the people in life, I will protect the peace of this land even in death.'”
A skeletal captain in luxurious armor, riding a bone horse, and a skeletal unit in armor rushed over.
The captain held moss, and the unit carried pharmaceutical tools from this world, perhaps.
They spread the tools in front of Anna-san, who was sitting next to the makeshift bed.
“The child with the Red Death said before passing away, ‘I wanted to see more things and talk to various people.'”
The child in the makeshift bed, watched by a worried rabbit costume.
“The mother who lost her child said, ‘Even if I suffer for eternity, I will continue to carry the Red Death even in death. In order to find a cure.'”
The ground in the parking lot of Aion Mall Otherworldly store bulged.
“Huh? Hah?”
Rising from the ground, a human figure with crumbling flesh appeared.
A zombie.
A type of undead in this world.
The rabbit costume rushed to the emerging zombie.
It held the zombie’s hand as if comforting it.
“Even if this life is considered dead, some become researchers, and some become laborers. Despite suffering from fever, they think more about others than themselves. They wish for what comes after death more than life.”
Anna-san, holding pharmaceutical tools, crushed moss, poured water, and mixed the liquid received from the skeleton.
Captivated by her intensity, neither I nor Chloe nor even the merchant couple could say anything.
Undead and a horde of the dead surrounded us.
Looking at the child with concern, but the undead didn’t pray.
“And then, the ‘Holy Maiden’ who couldn’t save anyone despite being called so, could only watch and turned to dark arts.”
Anna-san smiled a little.
Looking at afar, somehow lonely.
“Impossible. Anna-san, the false Holy Maiden practicing dark arts?”
“About 200 years ago, a kind-hearted dragon, after hearing the story from its parents, visited this land. It offered its body, blood, anything that could be of use. The dragon said it could be used as medicine.”
Anna-san crushed red powder and, presumably, dragon scales used for generating power, into a liquid in front of her.
Barbera approached Anna-san with small steps. Barbera brought her wrist close to the liquid and… with the opposite hand’s claws, she cut her wrist. Blood dripped.
The dragon’s blood, believed to be very effective as medicine.
“Even so, even as the church decayed and the underground cemetery was swallowed by soil and plants over time, no cure was found.”
At Anna-san’s words, the faces of the merchant couple twisted. They probably understood that she was attempting to make medicine, and perhaps they had some hope.
I was about to ask Anna-san, “Can’t he be saved?” when Anna-san continued speaking.
“No cure was found—until the Aion Mall Otherworldy Store was established here.”
Anna-san took out a silver sheet about the size of her palm from her robe.
Pressing it with her fingers, small white grains fell.
Pills.
Japanese medicine, although it wasn’t being sold, probably something from the Aion Mall Otherworldy Store’s drugstore or medical mall.
Anna-san’s hands faintly glowed.
A warm light, different from the black aura, flowed into the liquid.
It might be magic or magical power.
The undead surrounding us clenched their fists as if cheering on Anna-san and the child suffering from the Red Death.
Chloe and I just stared at Anna-san.
“Holy and unholy, magic and science. Beyond life, beyond death, I, we, for this moment. …Never again, will anyone die! ‘Generate Magical Medicine!'”
Anna-san’s hands glowed.
The hands of the lich and the potion she was concocting also glowed.
When the light subsided, Anna-san stood up with the medicine in her hand.
The apron-wearing skeleton put its hands, or rather, bones on the child’s back and lifted its upper body.
Anna-san tilted the vessel and poured the thick red liquid into the child’s mouth.
I, Chloe, the merchant couple, all watched in suspense.
From the skin of the lying child, the redness gradually receded.
The red spots also became smaller—
As if melting, they disappeared.
“Ohhh! Amazing, Anna! The Red Death spots disappeared! I never thought something like this could happen!”
“Chloe, does that mean it’s cured!? Anna-san!?”
Chloe’s words seemed to trigger it; the merchant couple rushed to the child on the makeshift bed.
As Chloe and I approached, Anna-san seemed to sway and almost fall.
So, I caught her.
A soft sensation, Anna-san was a lich, no- that’s not it.
“Thank you, Naoya-san. But I still have to do my best. After this, I’ll apply healing magic, provide nutrition, and keep them at rest.”
“Great! Then Anna will rest! Leave the healing magic to me! The Holy Knight! Chloe!”
“Seems like that, so let’s let Anna-san rest. Truly, thank you.”
I held Anna-san, who leaned heavily on me, and watched.
Barbera offered her arm to me.
“Oh, dragon meat strengthens the body and enhances magical power, like in Anpanman. Anyway, it’s better to use energy drinks or nutritional drinks than meat, it looks heavy all of a sudden.”
“…I see. Anytime you say.”
Barbera obediently stepped back.
While wondering where to put Anna-san and the sleeping child, I looked up and saw.
Skeletons, zombies, and the rabbit costume were jumping and dancing in joy.
“It’s like a festival. Even though it’s a completely horror spectacle. Well, I guess it can’t be helped; their long-cherished wish came true even in death.”
I thought of forgiving them for today; it’s already night, and no one else is watching.
“Oh. The merchant folks saw us a lot. They found out that the Aion Mall Otherworldly Store is filled with undead. Well, it should be fine, we’re their benefactors!… It’ll be okay, right?”
On the 12th day of the Aion Mall Otherworldly Store, since I became the store manager.
Although an emergency occurred after closing, it seems like we will manage to finish the day somehow.
Number of visitors: 134 people.
Sales: 364,000 yen.
Anna-san and the undead turned out to be more capable than imagined, and it seems that considering a full-fledged drugstore or medical mall might be a good idea.