Debuffed Farmer

It was a city exactly like one you’d imagine in any portal fantasy. It’s got the houses and urban planning quintessential to any low-effort Isekai.

“So what exactly are we doing here, Rin?”

“I’ve got a few more beans for you to sell, and I’m going to see what else the city’s got to offer.”

“Wait… surely I don’t have to sell them, right?”

“They’re not going to sell themselves.”

“No, please! Anything but that. It was absolute torture; this guy said he’d buy them if I lifted up my skirt! I’ll do anything else.”

“Did you sell it to him?”

“Of course not!”

“Damn, I wonder how much money we missed out on.”

I was kidding obviously. As much as I didn’t care about Seria’s health and safety, I wasn’t morally bankrupt enough to want her to strip on the streets for a few coins. Still, it sounded like these beans weren’t going to sell for a whole lot.

With all my debuffs, I had my doubts that I was going to be able to progress at all by doing anything aside from farming.

“Rin… I’m starving. I haven’t had anything to eat since I was up in the God’s Realm. Can we get something?”

“I suppose so.”

I was also pretty hungry at this point—less so than I expected, but still hungry.

I turned to the pink-haired teenager.

“Hey pinkie, where’s the cheapest place we can go eat?”

“Can you stop calling me that?”

I don’t know. I’m afraid that if I ask for her name she’ll be assimilated into the main cast of characters—making it much harder for me to abandon her in the future. I really preferred her as a background character at the moment. Was it really worth it? Just so it would be easier to call for her.

“You’ll have to prove your worth to me.”

“What the hell. Why do you sound like my karate teacher?”

“They have karate here?”

“What do you mean ‘they have karate here’, it’s not some forbidden art shared only through folklore and memoirs.”

“Damn, I didn’t realise you were capable of such witty dialogue.”

“Can you shut up with your self-absorbed talk? Why are you talking like you’re the main character of some story?”

“Ah, sorry. It’s a bad habit of mine.”

“Anyways, my name’s Yuki, actually. Now call me that or I’m not responding to you.”

In complete honesty, my life would be much less complicated if she never did respond to me. However, now that she’s forced herself into my party, there wasn’t much I could do aside from tolerating her existence here.

Maybe if I find her boyfriend, it’ll make things better. I’m sure it definitely won’t cause things to become any more complicated.

“Yuki, on a completely separate note. Whereabouts does your boyfriend live?”

“Oh, he’s just around the corner.”

“Why don’t we go say hi to him?”

“Why are you so desperate to meet him?”

“I just love to meet new people, you get that don’t you?”

“If anything, you look like someone who’d sit alone in the corner at parties.”

“What’s with that oddly specific analogy.”

I was being a bit hypocritical since I was indeed a big fan of oddly-specific analogies. Whatever the case, things were getting a bit off track and Seria was getting closer and closer to starvation as time went on.

Rin, why are you putting up this facade?

It’s not like you

Still, I can see bits of your old, apathetic self

Ignoring the random voice that just appeared in my mind, I looked around at the various food stands housing various foods.

Eventually, I gave up and simply approached the nearest stand, it seemed to be selling some sort of meat on a stick.

“Hi, how much for one of those?”

“Ha ha ha, did you want a rat? Those are two bronze each, or you can have two mice for a bronze.”

Economising wasn’t necessarily the issue with this stand. However, despite being trained to eat a lot of different foods, mice and rats on a stick didn’t really fit in even my broad palate. It was even less likely that Seria or Yuki would want one.

“Yeah, I’ll have a look around and get back to you.”

“O-kay, ha ha ha.”

Making my way further through the hustle and bustle of street stalls, I eventually found another stand where I hoped to find edible food.

“Hi, what are these?’

“They’re apples, sir.”

Now, despite the fact that I looked like an absolute buffoon in front of this fruit stand, I couldn’t be too sure after seeing meat skewers featuring rodent meat.

“How much for one?”

“Ten bronze each. Or eight for eighty bronze.”

“Is that supposed to be a package deal? Because obviously eight would cost eighty bronze.”

“Are you threatening me, sir?”

What is up with the weird personalities of these stand owners? This guy reminds me of a millennial employee at a coffee shop. Whatever the case, it didn’t matter that much. There was food, and I could afford to buy it.

Granted, it was much more expensive than I had expected.

“Hey Yuki, is this the right price to pay for apples?”

“How am I supposed to know? My parents buy all my food.”

Sigh.

I turned back to the shopkeeper.

“Alright, just give me three.”

“You could get eight for eighty bronze.”

“Please, I’ll just take three.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am sure.”

“You’re missing out on the deal.”

“I will have to bear the psychological burden of missing out, then.”

“I’ll give you one more chance.”

Why.

I don’t want one more chance.

I just want my apple.

There was a moment of silence.

“Alright, here’s your three apples.”

I handed him the silver coin.

“I’ve got another deal, 10 apples for a silver—”

“No. I’m good. Thanks.”

Finally receiving my apples and surprisingly, the right amount of change, I handed two to the two girls.

It tasted just like an apple.