Otherworld General Trading Company: Mitsugoshi Company

Evening rolled around, and with classes finally over, I headed to the Student Affairs Office to beg my way out of the Selection Tournament.

“Sorry for the trouble.”

I gave a polite bow and stepped out of the office.

“So, how’d it go?”

Hyoro and Jaga, who had been loitering outside, scurried over to me.

“The tournament brackets are already set in stone,” I said with a heavy sigh. “They told me it’s impossible.”

“Hey, chin up. If you put on a good show, you’ll be drowning in girls.”

“Exactly! Like they say—a pinch is just a chance in disguise!”

I shook my head.

“It’s not about winning or losing. I just straight-up don’t want to be in it.”

“Tch, fine. You’re hopeless. Come on, I’ll show you a good shop to cheer you up.”

“A-A good shop?” Jaga asked, his breathing getting suspiciously heavy.

“Whoa there, not that kind of shop. I’m talking about the Mitsugoshi Company. It’s been the talk of the town lately. Word is they sell all sorts of stuff no one’s ever seen before. Apparently, they’ve got this sweet treat called ‘Chocolate’ that’s supposed to be damn delicious.”

“A sweet treat? That sounds lovely.”

“Idiot! You’re not supposed to eat it yourself!” Hyoro barked, slapping Jaga across the back of the head. “You give it to girls as a present. Bitches love sweet stuff; they’re easy pickings if you’ve got treats.”

“O-Oh, I see! As expected of Hyoro-kun. I’m learning so much.”

“Heh, you know it,” Hyoro said, looking smug as hell.

“Alright, let’s move out, Cid!”

“Let’s go, Cid-kun!”

The two of them had stars in their eyes.

“Fine, fine. I’m coming,” I replied, trailing another sigh behind me.

Though, I guess I am a little curious about what passes for ‘Chocolate’ in this world.

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Hyoro led us onto the Royal Capital's Main Street. Since it was evening, the road was packed, and every shop in the prime real estate district was doing brisk business. But even among the crowd, one place stood out—the rumored Mitsugoshi Company.

“Whoa, look at that...”

It was a towering, newly built, luxury building. More than that, it was tasteful—it even had a certain modern flair to it. How should I put it? It gave off that maximum sense of "I don't belong here" that I used to feel whenever I wandered into a high-end designer brand shop in my past life.

There was a massive line at the entrance. Every single customer waiting was either a noble or someone connected to the nobility; you could tell they were high-rollers just by looking at them. At the very back of the line stood a young lady in a uniform holding a placard. Apparently, it was currently an eighty-minute wait.

“Eighty minutes,” I noted.

“We should just barely make it back before the dormitory's curfew,” Jaga said.

“We’ve come this far, might as well line up,” Hyoro insisted.

“But I’ve heard rumors that the Slasher has been showing up lately. Getting back too late might be...”

“Don’t be a moron. You’ve got three Spellswords right here. If he shows up, we’ll just give him a taste of his own medicine.” Hyoro patted the sword at his hip confidently.

“I-I guess you’re right.”

“Wait, what’s this about a Slasher?” I asked, cutting in.

“Supposedly, there’s a killer prowling the Royal Capital at night,” Jaga whispered. “Word is he’s incredibly skilled. They say even the Knight Order has taken casualties...”

“Huh. Sounds too scary to go out at night.”

A Slasher Event? That sounds like a blast. I definitely need to get in on that action.

“Hey! Stop dawdling and get in line! We’re gonna miss curfew!”

Hurried along by Hyoro, we took our spots at the very end of the queue.

“H-H-Hey there, miss. Y-You’re looking lovely today. What are your h-h-hobbies?”

Hyoro immediately tried to hit on the girl holding the placard, but she brushed him off with the kind of polished smile only a seasoned veteran of the service industry could pull off.

Then, for some reason, she turned that beaming smile toward me.

“Excuse me, sir. Could I trouble you for a moment of your time?”

She was a total knockout with dark brown hair, matching eyes, and a calm, elegant face. She wore a simple navy-blue mini-dress—the company uniform. It weirdly reminded me of a cabin attendant from my previous life.

“Wait, me?” I asked, pointing a finger at my chest.

“Yes. It won’t take long. We’d just like your cooperation with a survey.”

A survey? They’re doing market research in this world? That’s rare.

“I mean, I guess, but...”

“Thank you so much.”

“I-I-I’ll help too!”

“M-Me too!”

Hyoro and Jaga tried to appeal with everything they had.

“One person will be sufficient, thank you.”

The lady linked her arm with mine and led me past the long queue and straight into the shop. I looked back one last time to see Hyoro and Jaga wearing expressions of pure, unadulterated despair.

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I followed the lady into the store, and man, the interior was fancy.

The designers had avoided gaudy flashiness, opting instead for a refined, calm atmosphere where every detail was meticulously polished. Even an amateur could tell this place had incredible taste; it felt incredibly modern.

As she guided me through the sales floor toward a staff door, I caught a glimpse of the merchandise. It was insane.

Obviously, they had the popular Chocolate, but there was also coffee, cosmetics, soap—a literal mountain of things I’d never seen before in this world. Everything from the clothes and accessories to the shoes and underwear featured sophisticated, novel designs. Even I could tell that in a world like this, this stuff would sell like crazy.

This was dangerous.

This company is going to achieve total market hegemony in the very near future, I realized. I was certain of it.

We passed through the staff door and down a hallway until we reached a grand staircase that looked like it belonged in a movie about a luxury cruise ship. At the top was a wide, brightly lit corridor covered in red carpet. At the very end stood a pair of massive, glowing doors engraved with elegant sculptures.

Two beautiful women stood before the entrance. They bowed to me and slowly pulled the doors open.

Inside was a space the size of a Great Hall.

Rows of pillars reminiscent of a Greek temple lined the room, and the marble floor gleamed. Along both sides of the red carpet that led deep into the room, beautiful women stood in perfect formation.

“Huh?”

The moment I stepped inside, they all knelt in unison.

“Um... what about the survey?”

At the far end of the room sat a massive chair.

It was a delicate work of art, bathed in the madder-red glow of the evening sun filtering down from a skylight. No one was sitting in it yet.

Standing beside the chair was a beautiful Elf with indigo hair. She was a sophisticated woman with the figure of a supermodel, dressed in a bewitching black gown.

I recognized her face.

“We have long awaited your arrival, My Lord.”

She knelt with the grace of a world-class actress.

“Gamma...”

The third veteran member of the group, following Alpha and Beta.

With her intelligent features and sharp blue eyes, she was the kind of person you could tell was a genius just by looking at her. This was the one and only Gamma, THE BRAINS OF SHADOW GARDEN.