"Alright, next up is the meat. I need to buy plenty and preserve it as salt-cured or smoked."
Mother finished buying the vegetables and fruits, then headed toward the back of the Market. Apparently, the butcher stalls were lined up near the Outer Wall.
"Why do you need to buy so much?"
"We have to do our Winter Preparations, don't we? Around this time of year, every farmer culls all the livestock except what they need to survive the winter, so it's the season when the most meat is available. The animals also put on fat preparing for hibernation, so you can get nicely marbled, delicious meat."
"...Um, does the Market close down during winter?"
"Of course it does. There are hardly any vegetables that grow in winter. The number of Market days drops dramatically."
When I thought about it, it was obvious, but it never occurred to me.
Even in
"...I've never done anything like Winter Preparations."
"Hm? Did you say something?"
"Nope."
Making preserved foods at home, huh? Where in that tiny house would we store them? The shed isn't exactly spacious either.
I was truly glad to be a little girl young enough to be an unhelpful burden that nobody would harshly scold.
"...Ugh, it stinks."
"It's the smell of meat."
As we approached the butcher stalls, the foul odor grew stronger. I walked pinching my nose, while Mother walked ahead of me with a completely unfazed expression.
Did meat really smell this bad? Ugh, I had a really bad feeling about this.
By the time the stench seeping through my mouth was making my eyes water despite breathing through it, we arrived at the row of butcher shops.
Alongside bacon and hams, the butcher stalls had leg meats lined up where the hooves still retained the shape of the animal. In the back of the shops, butchered animals hung from hooks—rabbits and chickens with their eyes rolled back and tongues lolling out.
"GYAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"What's wrong, Mine!?"
Honestly, having only ever seen neatly packaged meat that was completely butchered—sometimes pre-cut into bite-sized portions—I found this world's butcher shops to be way too much.
Goosebumps covered my entire body, and tears welled up all at once. I wanted to close my eyes and not look, but once I'd opened them, they seemed to be locked in place, refusing to close as if I'd forgotten how.
"Mine!? Mine!?"
Mother shook me back and forth.
That was when I saw a pig being butchered amid squealing screams right in front of me. All around, people with cheerful, excited faces had gathered, eagerly waiting for the pig to be slaughtered.
Why does everyone look so happy?
Why are they all grinning?
Stop, stop, stop! This is terrifying!
"Hic!?"
I let out a small shriek and passed out on the spot before the final blow even landed on the pig.
Something flowed into my mouth.
It was a highly stimulating, brutally alcohol-scented liquid. Unlike when I consciously swallowed something, this unexpected alcohol had gone straight down my windpipe.
I sputtered and coughed, my vision swimming, as I jolted upright.
"Ugh-hough! Gough! Gahough!"
Is this sake!? What kind of idiot gives strong liquor to an innocent toddler!? What if I get acute alcohol poisoning!?
I opened my eyes wide to find Mother holding a sake bottle.
"Mine, you're awake? Thank goodness. You came to quickly."
"Cough! ...Mother?"
She looked relieved and hugged me tight, so I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud, but was it okay to think it?
Don't give an infant such strong liquor! And not just any infant—one who's already sickly, who nearly died from a high fever, and has only just barely recovered! Are you trying to kill me!? Are you insane!? Am I going to die!?
"Now then, Mine. Since you're awake, let's go buy the meat."
"Wha—!?"
I instinctively shook my head vigorously. The earlier scene was completely burned into my brain. It was the kind of sight that would haunt my dreams for days, and just remembering it gave me goosebumps—I did not want to go back there.
Using brutally strong alcohol as a stimulant for a recovering infant, and then trying to drag a daughter who'd fainted in front of a butcher shop right back to said butcher shop... Could this mother actually be somewhat monstrous?
"...Um, I'm still feeling a bit sick... I'll sit here. You go ahead, Mother."
"Huh? But..."
While Mother hesitated, I quickly turned around and pleaded with the shopkeeper auntie. Before Mother could forcibly drag me away, I needed to secure a spot.
"Excuse me, ma'am, could you let me wait here? I promise I'll sit still and not be a bother."
"My, what a well-mannered little lady you are, despite your size. She did buy liquor from me too, so sure. Go finish your shopping quickly. It'd be terrible to drag a sick child around and have her collapse again, wouldn't it?"
Mother must have bought the sake from her as a stimulant. The liquor stall auntie laughed lightheartedly and agreed without fuss.
The old man at the adjacent general goods shop also looked at me with pity and beckoned me over.
"If you come inside the shop, no one will bother you..."
The old man let me in through the back, so I took him up on his offer and sat down without hesitation.
The strong alcohol that had been forced into my mouth earlier seemed to be swirling around inside my body. Moving around right now would be dangerous. Dangerous in the sense that even if I collapsed from acute alcohol poisoning, nobody would figure out the cause.
Sitting there, I gazed dazedly at the merchandise of both shops. The liquor stall seemed to be in the peak season for new fruit wines, with customer after customer appearing to buy small casks. In contrast, the general goods shop had very few visitors.
What exactly does a general goods shop in this world sell?
Looking at the items displayed, the majority were things I had no idea how to use. I pointed at the jumble of items in front of me and asked the old man.
"Excuse me, sir, what's this?"
"You've never used one before, missy? It's a tool for weaving cloth. And this is a trap used for hunting."
With no customers and apparently bored, the old man answered every item I pointed at. Every single thing that would be considered an everyday item in this town was something I didn't recognize. Even searching through Mine's memories, she apparently hadn't been interested in such things, so her recollections were faint.
As I gazed at the merchandise with admiration, I spotted it in a corner of the jumbled general goods—a single book, but one that was meticulously bound: thick, large, with an impressive spine.
It had the kind of binding you'd expect to see behind glass in a library—leather covers with delicate gold ornamentation at each corner. At a glance, it looked about forty centimeters tall. There was no way someone like me could even hold it.
A book!? Wait—could it actually be the real thing!?
The instant I spotted something that looked like a book, my vision bloomed into rose-pink. Like dark, heavy storm clouds being swept away in an instant, my heart brightened and cleared all at once.
"O-Old sir! This! What is this!?"
"Ah, that's a book."
Yes! I finally found one! It exists—books exist! Just one, but it's here!
In my despair that books might not exist in this world, I had found one. Trembling with emotion, I stared at the spine.
It was quite large, looked heavy, and was lavishly decorated. From every angle it looked expensive, and I had the feeling that no amount of begging would get it bought for me.
But if books existed in this world, then there had to be smaller, more portable ones too. I latched onto the old man with desperate intensity.
"Sir! Do you know where there's a shop that sells books?"
"A shop? There's no such thing."
The old man looked at me as if to say "What is this child talking about?" and my spirits plummeted instantly.
Wait—books exist, but there's no bookstore? How does that work?
"...Huh? Why not? You sell them here, don't you?"
"Books are something you borrow from the author and copy by hand. They're far too expensive to be sold as merchandise easily. This one is collateral from a nobleman who couldn't repay his debts—it's not for sale yet. Well, it probably will be soon, but the only sort of person who'd want to buy something like this is a noble."
I absolutely loathed nobles! Following the standard reincarnation-into-another-world template, if I'd been reborn as a noble, I could have read books! Why was I born a commoner!?
I felt a flicker of murderous intent toward the nobility. Being surrounded by books from the moment you're born was just outrageously unfair. How dare they.
"Is this the first time you've ever seen a book, missy?"
At the old man's words, I nodded repeatedly without taking my eyes off the book.
This was my first time seeing a book in this world. And since it wasn't for sale, and there were no bookstores, this might be my last encounter with one.
...Then!
"S-Sir! I have a request!"
I clenched my fists tight, stood up straight to compose myself, and then dropped to my knees on the spot.
"What's this? What's gotten into you all of a sudden?"
The old man's eyes went wide with shock at the sight of me suddenly pressing my knees and palms to the ground.
When you're the one making a request, showing sincerity is the basics of the basics.
When it came to sincerity, prostration was the way to go.
I bowed my head sharply and conveyed my feelings with complete honesty.
"I know I can't possibly buy it, but please—at least let me touch it! I want to press my cheek against it! At the very least, let me sniff it—just smelling the ink would make me so happy!"
I made this heartfelt, desperate plea, but only a painful silence filled the space, and no response came.
Cautiously, I raised my head to find the old man staring at me with an expression that mixed bewilderment and revulsion—as if he'd bitten into a bitter bug and was witnessing an unbelievable pervert up close.
Hm? My sincerity didn't seem to come across?
"I... can't quite make sense of what you're saying... but letting a little girl touch it would be dangerous."
"N-No way!?"
I was about to plead again when the time came.
"Mine, sorry to keep you waiting. Let's go."
"Mother."
Hearing Mother's voice, I nearly burst into tears.
The book was right there, and I still hadn't touched it. Hadn't even smelled it.
"What's wrong, Mine? Did someone do something!?"
"N-No, no!"
The sight of Mother suddenly casting a hostile glare at the shopkeeper made me quickly shake my head.
I had to clear up the misunderstanding right away—this man had saved me from being dragged to the butcher shop and had taught me about books. It would be the worst kind of ingratitude to repay kindness with hostility.
"I'm just feeling queasy around here. Mother, what did you give me to drink earlier? I've felt weird ever since I woke up."
"...Ah, maybe the stimulant sake was too strong. When we get home, drink some water and rest quietly—you'll be fine."
Mother nodded as if convinced, but she apparently felt no remorse whatsoever about giving liquor to a child. She just tugged my hand and urged me to head home.
I turned around and gave the shopkeepers at the liquor stall and general goods shop a bright smile.
"Thank you for letting me sit there."
I had to remember to thank them properly, or I wouldn't feel at ease. Mine's memories didn't include a habit of bowing, so I scattered smiles for the time being.
A smile was essential for smooth relationships. Both of them saw me off with smiles too, so it seemed to have worked.
"Mine, still feeling sick?"
"...Yeah."
Holding Mother's hand, I walked home in small, slow steps, speaking only in short responses. The shops along the way on our route home likewise had no bookstores.
I'd been planning to ask Mother for a children's picture book today and start learning to read little by little, but that had ended in vain.
Even though this town had a lord's castle and a magnificent stone gate, there was no such thing as a bookstore. I'd been told that books weren't merchandise—perhaps it wasn't just this town. Perhaps there were no bookstores in the entire world.
I was in despair.
Did God really think it was fine to demand a book-crazed woman who'd been perfectly content going a day or two without meals as long as she had books to now live a life without them?
If only I'd been reincarnated as a noble... Damn it! Being reincarnated as a commoner... God, did I do something wrong?
Even if I said I wanted to be the kind of noble who could buy books for my parents, it would be brushed aside as a cute dreamer child's idle muttering. And I couldn't say I wished I hadn't been born into this family.
But I wanted to be a noble. And even if I couldn't become one, I wanted at least the financial means to buy up the collateral of fallen nobles.
Crushed by the sheer awfulness of my circumstances, I had at least learned that crying wouldn't get me any books. If bookstores didn't exist, there was no way to obtain them.
If I couldn't obtain them, then what?
I'd have to make them myself.
Ideally, I wanted books from this world, but I couldn't be picky. To quickly satisfy my needs, I'd put off learning the local script for a while and make books using the Japanese I still remembered.
From here on, I wouldn't be picky about methods.
I would get my hands on books no matter what!