Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

“What’s going on? Did you really sell it?”

There seemed to be some kind of dispute happening inside the magic shop.

“That’s quite an accusatory tone you have there.”

The answering voice was hoarse like that of an old woman, yet it was loud enough to be heard clearly.

“Of course! At a time when the domain’s survival is at stake, selling valuable strategic supplies to outsiders—there’s such a thing as being a money-grubber!”

“Well, at least you’re calling me a money-grubber.”

There was a loud bang as if someone had slammed the desk.

“I made sure to give proper notice. It was your own guardian who refused, saying it was unnecessary.”

“What do you mean? I haven’t heard anything about that.”

“If you haven’t heard, that’s your responsibility. When Viscount Belton’s steward came to buy, I temporarily put the sale on hold and asked your guardian if they wanted to buy the ‘Dragon Scales.’ But he said he wasn’t willing to pay such a high price and just refused.”

—Dragon Scales?

I don’t know who this Viscount Belton is, but apparently, everyone everywhere needs dragon scales.

I moved about five dragon scales from the storage to my shoulder bag.

Since they’re valuable items, I took a few scales from low-rank dragons, which seem less rare, and also one from an Adult Dragon.

“On top of that, he even said, ‘If you care about the domain, just hand them over for free.’”

Wow. I don’t know what kind of position a guardian is, but that sounds like a typical useless bureaucrat.

“Who said that!”

The door opened from inside, and a strikingly beautiful woman shouted angrily.

She wore what looked like a fine riding outfit, with a blue cloak draped over it. Her gaze was a bit intimidating.

—Yikes.

An AR display popped up next to the beauty.

Her name was Chrisberna Kages.

She appeared to be the Countess who ruled over the Kages Domain.

◇

“You little brat! Eavesdropping, huh? Quite bold!”

The imposing beauty scowled and grabbed me by the collar.

Her AR age was around thirty, but she looked like she was in her early twenties.

“I didn’t want to intrude because you seemed busy.”

“Oh?”

Her gaze sharpened.

Maybe I should have activated my exculpation skill or deception skill.

“How much did you overhear?!”

She placed her hand on the sword at her waist.

That was quite threatening.

Come to think of it, she mentioned “the domain’s survival” earlier.

“If it’s about the Dragon Scales—”

The moment I said that, a drawn sword was pressed to my throat.

I instinctively raised both hands to show I meant no harm.

Thanks to my evasion skill maxed out, I could have easily dodged, but doing so might have led to me being wanted in the territory, so I chose to surrender peacefully.

“Perhaps you’ll keep company with the rats in a cell until this matter is resolved.”

I’d prefer to avoid unsanitary places and making friends with rats.

“If that’s the case, I have a proposal that will resolve things quickly.”

“Oh? You still have the nerve to joke after having a sword at your throat—”

Well, that’s only because I’m confident I could dodge even with her sword at my throat.

“More importantly, please inspect what’s in the bag.”

“—Search it.”

The Countess ordered briefly, and a figure who looked like a bodyguard knight emerged from the magic shop, took my bag, and checked inside.

“Th-this is—”

“What happened?”

“It’s best not to discuss it here. Come inside for now.”

The bodyguard grabbed my arm, and along with the Countess, I was led into the magic shop.

He held onto my bag the whole time.

◇

“So, what happened?”

As soon as we entered, the Countess asked the bodyguard.

“Scales.”

“Scales...? Could it be?!”

The bodyguard nodded firmly at the Countess.

“Dragon scales.”

“Oh wow, this is incredible.”

The old shop owner peeked over the bodyguard’s shoulder with a face as if about to whistle.

“These are dragon scales... The others are quite small — are they wyvern scales?”