Chapter 15 – Shapeshifting Medicine

“This is nice. I’ll take this as my reward then.” (Bouchi)
“Ooh! Could it be that you’re also a watch lover? Watches are nice, aren’t they? Especially Rolex watches, they’re the coolest.” (Man)
“Come on dear, don’t trouble our benefactor.” (Woman)
“Eh? Ah, I’m s-sorry!” (Man)
“Not at all, it’s a satisfying reward to me.” (Bouchi)
“You might as well throw them all away along with that one.” (Woman)
“N-No, how cruel! Those are my treasures!” (Man)
Seeing the two start to flirt, I quickly got up to leave. As I repeatedly thanked them on my way to the door, in my mind I was thinking that they could be potential business partners in the future. With a slight cordial bow, I left their house.

After walking a bit away from their house, a smile leaked out, and I began to break out into evil laughter.

“Master?” (Sol)
“Ah, my bad, my bad. I just made a little more than I expected, that’s all.” (Bouchi)
I never thought that I would have received over 100 times more than what I had expected to receive.

I sold the wristwatch without delay, adding it to my remaining balance. I also sold the materials I had obtained from my fights this time around. I kept holding onto the [Core Fragments], though.

With this, my remaining balance was now―¥10,177,200.

I was once again back over the threshold of ¥10,000,000. But it was still uncertain. I needed to make much, much more money. There was the option of going back to that couple’s house and taking their watches, but that was a measure I wanted to put off for now.

Discovering that helping people out was more profitable than I’d thought, I decided to help out those that seemed to have more money on them and do business with them. Even if they were rich, money and other precious metals had very little use, so rich people didn’t have very much of an advantage right now.

But for me, rich people were my best source of revenue. I could certainly demand something in return for conquering a dungeon as I did just now, or selling food and other useful items to them might also be good.

In particular, selling off fantasy items would likely fetch a hefty price. But of course, I had to choose the right person for that. If word got around about me, there was a good chance that I would attract the attention of a lot of troublesome people.

It would be most optimal to find a tight-lipped rich person and negotiate with them on the grounds that they keep it a secret.

“But how do I even begin searching for someone like that…?”
…No, wait a minute. I didn’t necessarily have to be selective about finding rich people.

“If I remember correctly, in the Shop, there was… ah, found it.”
I caught sight of a product that was named [Shapeshifting Medicine]. One tablet of this medicine could transform me into anything I wanted for 6 hours.

Inanimate objects, animals, or even a different person. In other words, as long as I hid my true face, no matter how famous I became, no one would be able to follow me because I could just change my appearance again.

Even supposing rumors spread about a strange merchant selling fantasy commodities, it would be almost impossible to trace it back to a certain Bouchi Hiro. Incidentally, it was also possible to release the transformation at will. But once it was released, it wasn’t possible to immediately shapeshift back.

I immediately purchased a box of [Shapeshifting Medicine]. One box contained 6 pills, and it cost ¥15,000, which was quite expensive.

“I guess I’ll try one out first.”
After I had taken the medicine, I pictured a certain figure in my mind, and my body began to emit light and change form. Then I took out a hand-mirror and examined my appearance.

“―Oohh! I’m really a different person! Even my voice is different!”
I had transformed into an austere man in a suit who was approximately in his forties. Everything ranging from his looks to his height were completely different from Bouchi Hiro. Even my voice had changed to a deeper, raspier one that was more fitting of my outward age and appearance.

“This is nice. With this, it won’t be a problem even if I stand out a little bit.”
If things got dangerous, I could always change my appearance again.

“But I still have to be careful about the duration.”
If I lost track and my transformation dispelled while in front of others, it would be a problem. I set an alarm on my own watch to go off in 5 hours and 30 minutes. With 30 minutes remaining, I should be able to handle it.”

“Now then, I still have 5 hours and 57 minutes left, so I should probably make the most of it.”
I tried to act the part of an elegant and refined dandy, but I couldn’t help feeling a bit embarrassed. But there were times where I might have to shapeshift into a woman or a child, so I had to get used to it. Just like this, I decided to go to a famous affluent neighborhood in search of my next target.

I arrived at a peaceful and quiet residential area and began to walk around while listening carefully for any screams. However, it wasn’t going too well, and time was ticking away.

I had already been walking around the same area for 2 hours. Under normal circumstances, I would have already become the target of a police questioning.

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“Are there no people in the houses?”
In that case, I could just be a phantom thief and sneak in then shapeshift immediately once I was off the scene. While I was thinking that and making my millionth lap around the area, I heard the sound of a car running, so I ducked behind cover to see what was happening.

There was a luxury imported car off in the distance making its way down the road. It waited in front of a huge gate leading into an estate, which opened automatically, and then went inside.

“What a massive house. If there’s anything they’ve got, it’s money.”
The property was probably worth around ¥100,000,000 or ¥200,000,000, or something around that magnitude. However, it wasn’t possible to put a house or building inside of the <Box>. If it were so, it would’ve been easy to just snatch away a house and sell it to get rich quick.

However, houses were being sold in the <Shop>. But as expected of such assets, they were extremely expensive across the board.

“Hmm. If houses like these were in trouble, that would be for the best.”
That way, I could help them resolve the problem and get a huge reward. That was the goal I had in mind.

But if they were this rich, there was a possibility that they were hoarding food. If so, as long as their house wasn’t turned into a dungeon, they probably wouldn’t be in much trouble. They could be self-sufficient if they wanted to be.

And then the gate opened once more and the car came back out.

That was when I saw it.

Deeper inside, there was a girl in a wheelchair, sending off the car. She looked to be around 10 years old and was surrounded by servants as she waved. She was likely the daughter of this family, but I was more interested in the smell of money on the wind.

“…I guess I should do a bit of investigating.”
I opened up the <Box> and brought out the cooler box that I had bought beforehand. I told Sol to stay away from the houses for a bit before going up to a house in the neighborhood and pressing on the intercom. The nameplate on the house had the word Ishibashi on it.

I thought that no one would answer, but after a while, I heard a woman’s voice saying “Yes?”.

“Ah, excuse me. My name is Kaiba. I am a door-to-door salesman of food ingredients. May I have a moment of your time?”
“Eh? Food ingredients… what?”
“…Please wait just a moment.”
I waited as I was told, and a woman looking to be in her forties or so came out to the front door. There was a man beside her, who appeared to be her husband.

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