We wandered past the various street stalls without buying anything.

I see! Mmh, mmh, I see, I see!

Hmm? Found somethin of interest?

I did! Theres an abundance of different types of strongly fragrant and tongue-whetting leaves and nuts!

I was unable to easily get my hands on different spices in Ys and the earldom. I was told by Bennyboy that hed get some for me, but I felt like buying them here to give them a try first.

Excuse me, pretty lady, Id like a little bit of all these kinds. How much does it cost?

Sword was taken aback.

Oh my, you silly thing! Despite looking so young, youre quite the experienced smooth talker, arent you? So you want all types?

Yep. I love cooking, and you see, I had a strong feeling that Id be able to make great food if I used these! 1

Having an extended talk with the sturdy-built stall owner who was in her forties, I got her to tell me what taste the different spices had and for which dishes they were suited the most before buying samples of all types.

Sword paid for it, but only then the stall lady noticed his existence.

S-Sir Thunderclap Whitefang!?!

Im Sword of the party Allrounders. This one here is my partner. He may look like this, but hes an amazin cook who can whip up dishes thatd make the royal familys cooks scurry to the winds. We might regularly come to buy at your place, so please take care of us then, kay?

O-Of course! I-Id be more than d-delighted to do so!

The stall lady immediately became scared stiff.

Miss, theres no need to be so tense around us. Sword is a good guy, despite his rougher outward appearance, so youll be fine talking with him normally as long as you dont send any malicious intents his way, okay? It seems like hes done some great things, but that was long ago, even before I was bornou-ouuuch!

An iron claw descended upon me once again!

Im sorry to tell you, kay? But it wasnt that long ago, you know? You just didnt hear bout it since you were cooped up indoors all the time.

Eh? So it was a story that took place at a time I had already been born?

He grabbed the scruff of my neck.

Its alright for you to be normal round us, just as he says. Were simple customers. This fellow has a honey mouth, but hes extremely rude and tends to blurt out stuff that pisses off folk to no end, so please try to look past his shenanigans as much as possible. Hes got no evil intent. Probably.

While the stall lady was repeatedly bowing, I said, See you again, miss.

I casually waved my hand, but while being dragged away by the scruff of my neck.

Hey, how old do you think I am!? Sword roared at me after the stall wasnt in sight anymore.

Hmmits hard to tell the age of life-forms in this world. Going by the standards of the other world, youd long passed your thirties. Yep, Id guess youre something around forty?

Sword froze. No, its better to call it petrified.

Oops, it looks like I went a little too high with my estimate.

Ummanti-aging technologies are quite advanced in the other world, you see? Id estimate the young man over there to be around thirty. I pointed at a youth walking in front of us.

Ah, so its not like your judgment labels me as old. Swords petrification was lifted.

By the way, how old are you?

Silence followed my timid question. After a painfully long spell of quietness, he whispered,

25.

Okay, I got it. Ill create some beauty products. I forgot that being an adventurer is a job where youre often exposed to the sun. Sunlight consists of several light rays. Some of them are also harmful to the human body. If you keep exposing your skin to them, it gets burned by those rays and ultimately hurts. The skin tries to resist those sun rays, resulting in an accelerated aging. Since some of the sun rays are also necessary for your body, itd be bad to avoid all sunlight, but as with everything else, keeping it moderate matters. Alright, Ill do my best to normalize your skin again, okay? I rattled down in a hurry.

Sword seemed to be on the verge of crying.

Sorry, I didnt expect you to be so young. You gave me a dad-like impression. Until now, that is. Thats why Ive thought that various things might have withered away, though

Ive been regularly drinkin healing potions, you know? He appealed with a tear-choked voice.

Im sorry to tell you, but skin aging is a normal cell reaction. For this reason, healing potions wont help with beautiful skin. Its alright. Ive asked the pharmacist to teach me various things for this very occasion. And now is the perfect time to test the results of all my studying!

Its fine. Were in the capital, a place thats overflowing with all kinds of resources, items, and products.

Having said that, its impossible to obtain Vitamin-C derivatives and W377 in this world. And as might be expected, I dont know how to make them either.

Resveratols seem to be good as well, but Ive heard that you can only get grapes from the big farming nation

So its only ceramides, huh? Well, its still better than not tending to your skin at all, I suppose. Then again, itd be scary if he suddenly had weirdly beautiful skin.