AIWON Mall Isekai Store, Grand Opening Today! - Chapter 67
Episode 7-7
“Naoya, do you know where you are? Do you know who I am?”
“Anna-san? This is the Aion Lounge, and I… oh, right, I ate the dragon steak and passed out.”
“It seems your consciousness isn’t impaired. That’s a relief, Naoya-san.”
I woke up lying on a sofa in the Aion Lounge, with Anna’s face close to mine.
“Excuse me,” she said, and started examining my body. It wasn’t in a lewd or gruesome way, but more like a doctor’s checkup.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong—wait, what!? No way!”
“Huh? Anna, what’s wrong? You’re freaking me out. I’m okay, right? I just ate the meat of an Ancient Dragon, didn’t I?”
Anna removed her hands from my body, staring at me with wide eyes, as if she’d found something alarming. She covered her mouth with her hand and began trembling.
“Could it be that the meat was poisoned? No, I was fine when I tasted it, and I was the only one who collapsed. Wait, everyone else isn’t human. They’re a dragon, an elf, and an undead. So, was it really poisoned?”
“C-calm down, Naoya-san. Everything’s fine, really.”
Anna-san’s usually calm demeanor was gone, and her speech had quickened. We were the only ones in the Aion Lounge; Chloe, Barbera, Barbera’s parents, and the merchant family were nowhere to be seen.
“Anna-san, what happened to me? Is something wrong with me?”
“Naoya-san, please listen calmly. After eating the Ancient Dragon’s meat, you…”
“I?”
“…have gained magical power. Naoya-san, you were supposed to have zero magic power.”
“What? Magical power? Seriously?”
“In this world, having zero magic power is unheard of, yet you had none. But after eating the Ancient Dragon’s meat, you’ve acquired it. This implies that consuming certain foods can bestow magical power. It supports the idea that eating creatures with magic can increase one’s own magical strength.”
“Anna-san? Calm down.”
“Ah! Sorry, Naoya-san. I got a bit too excited.”
I brought Anna-san back to reality from her muttering. So, eating the Ancient Dragon’s meat had imbued me with magical power?
“So, I have magical power now? Does that have any negative effects?”
“No, I don’t think so. It’s more surprising that you had no ill effects from having zero magic power until now.”
“A shocking truth revealed!”
“Although it’s rare, some young children with low magical power get sick. We, too, can faint or even die if our magic runs out.”
“I can’t believe I was okay!”
“Yes, I was worried about you. I’ve been observing you closely, but you showed no problems until now.”
“So, it’s fine that I have magical power now? Does that mean I can use magic?”
“Not really. Currently, you don’t have enough magical power for that.”
“Great, just when I thought I could do something cool. So, basically, nothing has changed for me?”
“Right, there shouldn’t be any significant changes. However, unlike before, eating more of Barbera and her parents’ meat could increase your magical power. Although you probably won’t faint again…”
“Okay, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Maybe I’ll try eating a bit more of that Ancient Dragon meat.”
“You have a strong heart, Naoya-san. …May I observe you?”
“You mean to observe me eating and the change in magical power, right? Not my actual heart, right?”
Anna smiled without answering my question, her usual undead humor returning.
“Naoya-san, let’s head to the kitchen immediately! Don’t worry, Chloe, Barbera, and the merchants are handling the Aion Mall’s otherworldly store! Let’s go, Naoya-san!”
“Anna-san, you seem unusually excited. That was an undead joke, right? You’re not thinking of experimenting on me like a mad scientist, are you?”
Anna-san pulled me up from the sofa, leading me towards the exit of the Aion Lounge.
“Hey, Anna-san? You’re not going to say, ‘I’ll fix you right up, hehe,’ and start cutting me open, right? I’m getting a bit worried.”
Despite having passed out earlier, I felt no physical discomfort. No dizziness or numbness. The fainting wasn’t due to any physical ailment, it seemed. My body had apparently gained magical power, but I didn’t feel any different.
Anna-san led me out of the Aion Lounge in silence.
…Wait, that was a joke, right? She isn’t actually planning to dissect me to observe changes after eating Ancient Dragon meat, right?
Anna-san remained silent.
“Well, Anna-san is a kind lich who has never harmed me, Chloe, or Barbera. She even healed the merchant’s daughter, so it’s probably fine. Yeah, it’s fine.”
I reassured myself as I followed Anna-san into the Aion Mall’s otherworldly store.
It was late afternoon, and the store was empty of customers. I nodded to the skeletons cleaning in aprons as I headed to the kitchen.
First, I’d check if eating the Ancient Dragon meat would make me faint again. If it did, that would be too dangerous.
“I might not be a good reference since I was magic-less. If other people faint, we can’t sell it. Not that we can regularly stock it anyway.”
It was my 15th day as manager of the Aion Mall’s otherworldly store. Barbera’s parents were too powerful, so their meat, scales, skin, blood, and fangs couldn’t be sold easily. …We’d only consider it if absolutely necessary.