Gacha Addict in a Matriarchal World

I followed Rosemary up the stairs.

After passing the first floor and arriving at the second floor, Rosemary glanced this way and spoke.

“If the first floor is a place where cost-effective items are displayed for upper-level adventurers, the second floor targets mid-level adventurers and sells more specialized equipment.”

“Heh. It certainly looks more upscale. Both the items and the people. But the number of customers has definitely decreased – was it always like this?”

Sure enough, the first floor was filled with customers, creating a rather noisy atmosphere. However, the second floor here probably only had about twenty people at most.

Saying that there are twenty customers, it might seem like a lot, but since the Trading Company building is so large, this is practically nothing.

Speaking in Earth terms… It’s like going to a large department store, and even on a floor selling items with steady demand, there are only about twenty customers.

I wondered if they were actually operating at a loss, seeing that there were more staff than customers.

“Except for a few special cases, the items at the Cradle Trading Company have fixed prices. Take a look at the price list.”

Most of Pangrave’s shops are in a romance-filled city where, if a customer looks easy, they immediately consider stabbing them in the back of the head.

That makes sense, since customers who spend a lot are adventurers, and adventurers are the kind of guys who could die at any moment, right?

The dead have no words. Even if they realize they’ve been scammed, if they die in the Labyrinth, they wouldn’t even be able to complain.

But for elves who live long and run their businesses for a long time, it’s more beneficial to build a solid image over a long period than to freeload off one or two adventurers.

Not only the Cradle Trading Company, but the elf merchants I’ve seen so far also seem to place great importance on this kind of trustworthiness.

“Hmm hmm. Let me see. A Grand undead weapon crafted using consecrated silver as the material, engraved with five types of Enhancement magic and Turn Undead magic called ‘Judgment’? Phew. Just hearing the description makes it seem expensive.”

The fourth floor is where the God of Death is buried, so undead monsters mainly appear there. This weapon is probably intended for adventurers who hunt in that area.

The longsword, shimmering in silver, looked like an excellent decorative piece on its own. However, the intricate details visible in places suggested that this sword was made for actual combat.

“So, the price is…80 silver?”

“It’s 80 gold.”

“Come on. Even if it’s a good weapon, are weapons used on the fourth floor really worth 80 gold?”

“Swords made of consecrated silver maintain their durability no matter how much Enhancement magic is applied. However, this longsword comes with free repairs and maintenance for half a year. Of course, deliberate damage is not covered.”

“No way, half a year?”

“Any weapon that breaks in less than half a year has no value as a weapon. At least, it doesn’t live up to the name of ‘Cradle Trading Company’.”

“Hmm. But 80 gold is a bit…”

“80 gold is the regular price, but it’s not always sold at that price. We offer up to a 30% discount for adventurers with exclusive contracts depending on their rank, up to a 20% discount for regular customers depending on the duration and transaction volume, and various other discounts as well.”

“At that level, it definitely seems worth it… But what’s the actual discount rate? The price isn’t always cut by that much. That’s the maximum, right?”

“Sharp. Probably, the maximum benefits you, Jonah, can squeeze out would be around 10% in total.”

“Ehh….”

“If you’re short on money, you can borrow it. Cradle Trading Company is also expanding into loan sharking. If you borrow money from Cradle Trading Company’s lenders to buy items from Cradle Trading Company, they’ll cut the interest rate in half, so keep that in mind.”

“I don’t plan on taking on debt, though.”

“Hmm… I can reduce it a bit more within my authority and sell it to you for 60 gold. How about that? Since I’ve cornered materials from Minotauros this time, that amount shouldn’t be impossible…”

“It seems like you’re trying to do business with me by chance… Rosemary. We’re on our way to the banquet hall right now, you know? I never said that I’m going to buy.”

“…Ugh.”

Rosemary, whose face was once stern, dignified, and serious, suddenly crumbled and changed to a servile expression.

Probably, it was her own form of escapism.

“And would I, who just now is about to ascend to the third floor, need weapons for the fourth floor? Even if I do….”

I chuckled softly and pulled out the Unicorn Dagger. Today as well, this guy was uselessly emitting a bright light as soon as he was touched by my hand.

“I don’t think it can be better than this. Am I wrong?”

“Grr!”

Rosemary, as if feeling humiliated, bit her lip and nodded.

I don’t know where or how I got scratched, but there’s no reason to waste time unnecessarily.

I continued speaking while jabbing Rosemary’s back sharply with my index finger.

“Thinking about what we have to do from now on…we need to conduct ourselves properly, right?”

This is my own sincere advice. If I present Basilieus, my reputation among the elves would completely turn around, so wouldn’t it be better to display our friendship in advance?

But as always, sincerity doesn’t easily get through.

Rosemary nodded, her twisted face burdened by guilt and helplessness.

“…Then let’s head straight to the third floor.”

Following the sulky Rosemary, we ascended to the third floor. Unusually, there was a door built into the stairs.

The door attendant didn’t block Rosemary, but upon reaching the third floor, I understood why it was blocked.

The third floor was a sort of luxury showroom. Expensive-looking items were neatly arranged, and in front of them lay quality assurance certificates with stylish handwriting, and there were no customers browsing at all.

Instead, Lydia was there, extremely excited.

“Huuh… Haa… I always love coming here. Do you see that, Jonah? It’s Borne’s Earth Crusher. It’s a hammer made by melting the weapon fragments of heroes that can be obtained from the 7th floor, using the Dragon’s spine bones, the Floor Guardian of the 6th floor, as the framework. It just hasn’t been sold yet because no one is using blunt weapons, but I expect its power is similar to Senior Ellie’s strength when she was in her prime…”

“Sniff! Miss Lydia, either close your eyes like Benny or just look at me!”

“…Okay.”

Lydia, who had been clearly excited, just slumps down and nods her head. Even amidst this, she kept her gaze fixed on the crown of my head, which is the key point.

By the way, the materials themselves are so astonishing just by their names, yet they’re used so generously, and a weapon crafted by an artisan who prefixes names like modifiers is on a similar level to Ellie’s true punch.

I suddenly realized that Ellie is unbelievably strong.

I’m planning to get Ellie’s arm on the third floor that I’ll be going to soon…but is that really okay?

For one, there’s the setting that it fits her body perfectly, making it virtually the same as a real arm, but after all, isn’t it a prosthetic?

I don’t know if it can keep up with Ellie’s specs.

As I shook my head back and forth and kept walking, this time, a much more ornate door was blocking the stairs compared to what I saw a little earlier.

“That’s the fourth floor…so it’s the way to the banquet hall. Please, just take it easy…hm?”

Rosemary tilted her head in confusion without finishing her sentence. Thinking something was off, I followed her gaze and immediately understood the reason.

A special door adorned with gold and jewels, emanating a magic aura. In front of it stood an elf couple who looked quite strong as gatekeepers…

On the floor, two familiar elves were flailing their limbs.

“We won’t move an inch until you hand over our Boss!”

“Lemon is the type of woman who does it if she says so! But don’t you dare cut her short!”

“As I said earlier, she’s not here!”

“Can’t you just scram?! How many times have we already embarrassed our distinguished guests…”

“Then prove it’s not a lie!”

“Go inside and let us meet the Cradle Trading Company president! If it’s not related, Lemon will take full responsibility!”

“These idiots…”

The doorwoman chastises the ridiculous tantrums. Just as they said. Why on earth are those two idiots here?

Rosemary didn’t expect such problematic guests and seemed to hesitate. Probably, I’m the only one who can make those two behave properly here.

I sighed deeply and spoke.

“Lemon, Apple. What are you doing here?”

“…Sir Jonah?”

“It’s Sir Jonah! It’s clear he came to help us!”

Lemon and Apple thrash their limbs even more violently, rolling on the floor. Even amidst that, their perfectly maintained chests are incredibly pitiful.

“Like Benny or even more…!”

“What?! Jonah, what did you just say!”

Benny, who is sensitive about her chest, growled and threatened me, but I don’t listen to insignificant talk.

After roughly ignoring Benny’s struggles, I head towards Lemon and Apple, and the two’s eyes start to sparkle.

Then, they wiggle their hips and move aside, creating space for one person to lie between them.

“Sir Jonah! Lie down here!”

“Let’s fight together!”

“I don’t want to! The clothes I went to all the trouble of borrowing will get dirty.”

“Ah! By the way, your clothes look awesome today.”

“Lemon is flirting. I can’t lose either.”

I shook my head at the sight of Lemon making a le-ro-le-ro sound and twitching her tongue.

“Why did you come here in the first place? Miss Eve isn’t trapped here, is she?”

“That’s something I don’t know.”

“Aside from us, the last person Boss met was the president of the Cradle Trading Company.”

“If you put it that way, it does sound suspicious… But wouldn’t someone like the president of the Cradle Trading Company know Miss Eve’s identity?”

It’s possible for her to aid with Eve’s runaway or disappearance.

According to Rosemary, there were a few high-level elves who knew about Eve’s whereabouts.

But that doesn’t mean they kidnapped and imprisoned Eve.

Anyway, Eve is still a queen admired by the elves.

…However, it seems that Lemon and Apple have somewhat different thoughts.

“If they were other elves, Sir Jonah would be right! But he’s not the president of the Cradle Trading Company!”

“She’s a total bastard! It’s clear she received an odd home education! Otherwise, a person can’t become so twisted!”

“What…!”

Rosemary, who had been waiting patiently, suddenly heard an insult to her mother and glared.