A Fae's Emporium 5

Happy Fourth of July!

Commissioned by InfiniteChaosRai

A Fae’s Emporium

Chapter 5

-VB-

Emiya Shirou frowned as he looked around the devastation that had come whirling out of nowhere and devastated the southern edge of the town. 

The strange thing was that the police didn’t seem to care, which was odd in and of itself. 

It also seemed to happen too far away for him to go investigate or in the middle of the night when he was sleeping. It was frustrating not having a reason to go out and help people. 

But if there was one thing that Kiritsugu taught him, then it was that he needed to be dedicated to his current duties. 

And his current duties was that of a student. 

… But he seriously wanted to know what that was about. 

Maybe he should go back to that disappearing shop to have another taste of that oyakodon. It might distract him long enough to forget about it once it calms down. Whatever that is. 

… Yes, he definitely needed to get another taste of that. 

It might help people find meaning in life. Perhaps even those who want to end their lives might find it in themselves to live again. 

Was it possible that he could help people with food?

It was certainly a thought. Instead of analyzing the history of a machine, he could analyze the history of the ingredient. Reinforce the flavors. Present it in an almost magical manner.

It would be great if he could help people with just food.

-VB-

“What do you intend to do with that?” Medusa asked her master. 

Despite the chaos he tended to bring about in the shop and for those outside of it, her master was not a bad master. 

She got to taste near heavenly cuisine on the daily, exercised frequently to burn off, visited many worlds with many different cultures, and had work that … kept her busy. 

And she wasn’t talking about being a maid.

Well, it was partially being a maid, because the job of a maid was to keep a location clean and presentable. For her, this included what her master did with the objects, powers, and others he traded. 

Because, maybe it was his fae heritage, he wasn’t exactly orderly about how he displayed objects except with one criteria: cheaper things at the front and expensive things near the counter at the back of the store. He normally set up whatever new stuff he acquires in a timely fashion, too. He took the time to make them look attractive. 

That’s how he got half of his “customers.” 

This time, however, he has been waiting with a jar on the counter. A jar filled with a gunky white substance that moved more like a gel than a thick fluid like honey. 

And she recognized where that one had come from, too. 

It was a dangerous thing. 

She could feel that much. 

“I’m not sure,” he hummed. “I have it here, after all, and I should be stowing it away, but the shop is telling me to keep it on hand for now.”

Medusa raised an eyebrow. “The shop is telling you?”

“Uh huh. It’s being insistent, actually. Might have connected to a world with some serious power if it thinks that this is the first thing that’ll go.”

“And you traded … what for this?”

“About fifty thousand souls?” 

She nearly tripped on the spot. 

Fifty thousand souls?! “... What is that going to do to a teenage boy?” she asked, aghast at how casually and irresponsibly he gave away something like that. A Holy Grail War didn’t even use a tenth of that much power! 

He looked up at her and smiled wryly. “I suspect he’ll be fine. He’s not the sort to just give in because a few hundred voices are whispering to him about their pain or that they’ll be burned to fuel his power.”

She stared at him incredulously. 

He looked up at her with a smile. 

“... You are a monster of the highest order, master,” she sighed. “Why would you do that?” 

His smile turned into a confused frown. “I’m not.”

“But you are.”

“No, the store is. And the store is me but I am and the store are not the same. We’re like… God and Jesus Christ. And the Holy Spirit. Three beings in one. Except unlike the Trinity, I am me and my domain is the shop, but the domain acts independently of me and thus holds enough “self” -.”

“You’re bullshitting to deflect responsibilities.”

“Yes, I am, but it doesn’t change the fact that I don’t choose who comes in, what they pick, and what they agree to. I’m just the man who confirms the final transaction.”

“Lies.”

“But they’re good lies,” he grinned but the feeling wasn’t in the grin. 

“... Why are you feeling down?” she decided to ask with a sigh. 

He looked up with a perk. “Because I wouldn’t be able to hold White for much longer! Do you know just how big of a deal this little guy is?! I mean I could have gone over to some huge ass marketplace and -!” 

While her master ranted, Medusa finally realized why he had been passive aggressive. 

See, he went through the motions and scripts of being a shopkeeper, but she felt that he was closer to an investor than a collector, despite how many things he’s collected from the universe and beyond. He was more than happy to let something go if it meant that he got something better in return, either in quantity or quality. 

Obviously, this “White” was worth at least fifty thousand souls in his opinion. He made a large investment and wanted to hold onto it for a little while longer. Find the right buyer and get something better in return.

But the shop, which had a mind of its own, was apparently pushing him to exchange it for something too quickly, and from his passive-aggressive and pouty demeanor, what he’d get in return wasn't much better than White, if not outright worse. 

And then the door opened.

Immediately, Medusa felt herself get on edge as the stench of something awful and evil walked in. 

Her head snapped towards the front of the store and found herself staring at a vibrantly red haired high school girl.

… Was the scent coming from her? 

… it was.

“Calm down, ‘dusa,” her master drawled. “They aren’t bad.”

“Aren’t bad?” she hissed. “That’s brimstone!” 

“Oh yeah. But not the apocalypse kind. I would call them snort the fanservice kind.”

“Succubus?”

Master choked on his laughter. 

“I-I guess you can call her a succubus…!” he cackled out between his coughs. “She’s certainly tried that…!” 

Finally, the girl made her way up to the front after perusing the store rather thoroughly.

“Good evening,” she spoke up with a smile. 

“Good evening, customer-san! How are you doing tonight?” her master grinned. 

The girl glanced at Medusa for a second before focusing back on her master. “I found myself drawn here during my patrol,” she said before her eyes narrowed. Then, with a fwhoomp, a pair of bat wings appeared from behind her back. “May I ask what a magician is doing inside of my territory without permission?” 

Master quickly raised his arms up. “Woah, lady! Don’t flash me like that!” 

Medusa sighed. 

The devil girl, though, wasn’t having any of it. 

“You will answer my question.”

Seeing that she wasn’t going to be reacting exaggeratedly to his mock accusation, Master huffed. “Fine, fine. I’m not really in your territory.”

“You are inside my city.”

“The space my shop occupies does not occupy space as you know it. In fact, if you came back tomorrow after vehemently rejecting my poor shop, then you would come back to find that there is no space between the bakery to my left and the jewelry shop to my right.”

The devil girl processed what he was saying before -.

“Space magic?” 

“Close!” Then he grinned. “Welcome … to the Fae’s Emporium.”

It was a second but it took the devil girl that long before color drained from her face. 

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes, and I am very much available for trading. I heard that you, Rias Gremory, might have an engagement problem, and I have a solution to that.”

Then he tapped the jar.

She stared at it.

“... You think the solution to my problem is a jar of semen?”

“What? No! This is White!” 

“... So a jar of semen.”

“No, this is a spiritual modification. It can alter the soul of the host to become nearly god-like. In fact… if you push this power to the max, then you can become Satan-level within the decade. But right now, you can use it to utterly demolish your fiance in the upcoming battle.”

“Rias” looked at him and then the jar. 

“... I don’t see how that can help me.”

“How about this? We’ll write a simple binding agreement. I’ll let you test it out and if it is powerful, then you’ll pay me with an item of equivalent value.”

The girl looked skeptically around. 

And Medusa only felt pity for the girl when he and her master began drafting an agreement.