Vending Machine on the Move
“Fwah? Oh, did I fall asleep? It’s a good thing no monsters showed up.”
The girl, now awake, puts a hand to her chest and sighs in relief. And her chest—despite how short she is and how young her features are—is incredible. Her leather armor is keeping it in check, but her cleavage is still perfectly visible when looking down at her from above.
“That cost a lot of money, but my stomach’s full and I feel much better. Thanks a ton!”
She bows deeply to me, the vending machine. What a nice girl. I’m the one who should be thanking you. Your money is what gave me more points.
“Thank you.”
I’m so glad someone is giving a vending machine such praise. I can say this much at least, to show my appreciation.
“Huh? Oh, yes. Y-you’re welcome,” she stammers. “Um, can you talk?”
I want to answer, but I can’t. The struggle is real. If I had a body, I’d be writhing in agony. Isn’t there anything I can do to communicate my thoughts, my feelings?
“Um, maybe you can only say certain things? I have a friend. She invents items with magic in them. Her name is Hulemy. Oh, wait, I haven’t even introduced myself yet. I’m Lammis.”
I see, I see. I’ll be sure to remember. My first customer’s name is Lammis. Okay, I won’t forget.
“Anyway, she’s been trying to invent something. She’s researching how to seal a voice inside an object and then get it back out. She was wondering if she could make automatic versions of those people who call out for you to come to their shops. You kind of resemble that. If you meet her, I’d like it if you said something to her—anything at all.”
Oh, this is my biggest chance yet to communicate! This kid must be pretty sharp. I’ve never been so thankful to be wrong.
“Welcome.”
“Whoa. You understand me! When Hulemy finds out, she’ll be so excited. Oh, I got it! If it’s okay with you, can you say ‘welcome’ when you mean yes? And what should the word for no be?”
What a fantastic idea. Just being able to say yes and no changes the world. Of course I’m more than okay with this.
“Too bad.”
“Pfft. Is that what you’ll say when you mean no?”
“Welcome.”
“That was yes. Okay, got it. Um…can you say your name or anything?”
I want to answer, but I can’t. I hope one day I can talk to her fluently. “Too bad.”
“You can’t say your name? That really is too bad. Oh, right! Why are you here? Are you on an important mission?”
“Too bad.”
“Hmm, what should I ask you? I was just wondering, but…do you get lonely?”
Wait, how would she know something like that? Can Lammis sense this because of a Blessing or something—like being able to understand an inanimate object’s emotions?
“Welcome.”
“I thought so. For some reason you looked real lonely standing by the lake. I thought maybe it was just me, though.”
Did I really seem that mournful? I mean, she’s right—a single vending machine sitting on an empty lakeside is a pretty sad sight.
“Hey, would it be better if you were in a different place?”
“Welcome.”
“Oh, I see! Then, if it’s okay with you, do you want to leave here and go see Hulemy? I think she’ll be able to talk to you.”
“Welcome.”
That would be great, but I don’t think there’s any way for me to move. It’s not like she’s going to carry me. There’s no way one person can carry a whole vending machine by themselves.
“Okay! That’s good. I was nervous about asking because I thought it might bother you. Okay, then. Excuse me for a moment!”
Wait, she’s squatting down. What’s she doing? Hugging me? She must have turned into quite the vending machine maniac herself. A comrade has appeared!
“Hup, ho!”
Wh-what? Wait, my body’s floating. Hold on a second. Why can this little girl lift me? I must weigh over a thousand pounds!
“You’re a little heavy, but I think I can carry you. One, two!”
Ohhh, we’re moving! She’s walking slowly, but wow, Lammis is amazing. Is this because of that Blessing of Might thing? Her fingers are sticking into me a fair bit, but I can’t possibly ask for more now that she’s carrying me.
Oh, the lake’s getting farther away. It was only a few days, but I’ve been staring at this scenery ever since coming to this world. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t attached to it.
Filled with a flood of emotions, I mentally bow to her in gratitude.
“Thank you.”
“I’m going to take a little break here. Oh, and maybe buy one of those bottles with the thick yellow soup. I’m hungry again.”
Lammis, who has been walking with me in her arms for close to two hours now, sets me down gently behind a giant boulder on a weed-infested grassy plain.
“I wonder if meeting you brought me good luck. We haven’t run into any frog fiends at all, even though this is their turf.”
I don’t think that’s quite accurate. We haven’t run into any battles yet, but I’ve spotted the frog people in the distance several times, watching warily. Maybe word of me got to their friends and they’re all being cautious.
Hmm, did she say she’s hungry? Corn soup alone doesn’t fill up the stomach that much. Don’t I have something more filling?
I have 268 points remaining, so I look over the list of items I can substitute for ten. It hurts to spend them right now, but Lammis will be taking care of me for a bit. I want to do what I can to help.
It should be something high in calories with good texture, right? Sweet red bean soup might be good. It’s sweet, which seems like it would be popular with girls. Oh, wait—I heard once that foreigners don’t like red bean paste very much. Apparently, it resembles mud too much.
Which means I need something else. Hamburgers and cup ramen are options, but I’d need to add on a special function to bring those out. Considering how low I’m running on points at the moment, that’s a lot to ask.
Something you can eat from a can… Oh, there is one thing. It’s a regional specialty, too. Wait, stocking this costs thirty points, huh? Ahhh, I really wanted to offer cans of oden stew, too. Well, now I know more expensive products cost more points to exchange.
For now, I want to conserve as many points as I can. I’ll keep things on the cheap side and not force the matter.
Would that mean something priced one thousand yen, or one silver coin, is better? Oh, I forgot about snacks. Some of them would need special functions, but there is one particular snack that’s ever so occasionally lined up next to carbonated drinks in regular vending machines. It’s shaped like a can, so it’s probably easy to stock.
Hmm… There we are. Unlike regular potato chips, the potatoes in these are molded and pressed, then put into a tube. I’ll switch one of my mineral waters out for it.
“Eek! Th-that scared me. Something glowed… Wait, are the items different now? What’s this red tube? The picture on it shows a stack of thin, round things. Is it food?”
Lammis’s accent had come out again.
“Welcome.”
“Oh…um, I see. It’s the same price, so I’ll buy it.”
She’s slipped back into normal speech. Her accent is cute, though. I wonder if it bothers her?
After retrieving the chips from the compartment, she struggles valiantly with the red tube before finally managing to open the lid.
“This tube is really well made, and the pictures on it are really detailed, too. They would sell for a high price. No, wait, first let’s look inside.”
Her appetite appearing to overtake her curiosity, she tears open the paper cover and takes out the contents.
She seems to understand they’re snacks, since she plucks one up and bites into it without a second thought. They’re the lightly salted flavor.
“Wow! It feels so different. It has a simple taste, but… What are these? I can’t stop!”
After shoving a whole bunch into her mouth at once, she buys a bottle of mineral water to go with the treat and washes them down. Has she fallen for the demonic charms of this snack? I love them, too, and frequently ended up devouring a tube twice that size before realizing what happened.
“Aaah, my money’s leaking out like bathwater…but I can’t stop!”
“Thank you.” I make sure to show my appreciation.
My sales this time total 6 silver coins. That’s 6,000 in yen. I got 60 points from it and recovered up to 320.
Oh, right. Now that I can change prices, I’ll change the mineral water to one thousand. Now all the products in the vending machine cost one thousand.
Part of why I made all the prices the same is because it’s a pain to do the calculations otherwise. Also, it costs the same number of points to stock mineral water as it does the corn soup and the milk tea, so that was pricking at my conscience.
If it looks like Lammis will run out of money, I’ll lower all the prices to help out. I know her wallet’s getting lighter pretty quickly, after all. But she’ll have to put up with these prices for a little while longer, since my life is on the line, too.
