I entered the apartment building.
While there were only a few, I could definitely detect that there were residents.
It seemed that some people were holing up in here.
Though, they were only on the upper floor.
I didn’t think I needed to worry about them.
I just helped myself to a random room that was open.
The door wasn’t locked, and the interior was a mess.
There were marks on the floor and furniture as if they had been slashed. And the windows were broken.
It was probably the work of goblins.
The first thing I do is put all of the furniture and glass that was on the floor into my Item Box.
Now there was some free space.
“Good, let’s eat lunch now.”
“Bark!”
Momo’s replies always seemed a lot happier when it was time to eat.
Her tail would wag uncontrollably when I brought out her favorite dog food.
“Alright then, let’s try this one today.”
I take out some especially cheap dog food.
“Bar- …kuuuunnn…”
Momo suddenly looked very crestfallen.
Even her tail had gone limp.
Really, she had expensive tastes. Her palate had become very refined recently.
For someone so stubborn over food…
“–just kidding. Here you go.”
I take out one that was more expensive than the usual.
“! –Bark! Bark! Bark!”
Momo becomes overjoyed again when she sees it.
Her tail began to wag furiously as she pawed at my legs. Give it to me. Hurry up and give it to me!
Hey, stop that. I can’t move if you stick so closely to me.
Momo really was impossible sometimes.
We don’t have a lot of this, but this is special, okay. Really now.
“Hmm, now what should I eat…”
I could just take some random cup noodles from the Item Box…
Ahhh, but I am also quite tired of premade meals now.
I think I will make something.
I move to the kitchen.
The stove…seems to be usable.
The water was running as well.
I want to eat noodles. Some yakisoba would be great.
I roughly chop up the vegetables and pork I got from the supermarket and fry them together.
Then I dump the noodles inside. Also some tempura bits.
Some powdered sauce and Chinese stock powder are also added as I continue to fry it.
After that, I sprinkle some white sesame seeds and bonito flakes and the dish is ready.
It’s easy to make, but it tastes so good.
Great, all done.
“Okay, let’s eat!”
“Bark!”
I slurp up the noodles.
Yes, it was good.
I liked this somewhat cheap flavor.
The firmness of the cabbage and bean sprouts. Also, the tempura bits went really well with the sauce.
This is also great with a little pepper.
Oolong tea is the perfect drink to go with it.
It really suits meals with a strong taste.
Momo must have been quite hungry as well because she was eating in large bites.
Hey, now! You’ll choke if you eat too fast.
I thought as I continued to eat my food.
Hahhh… That was delicious.
Now that I was done, I lie on the floor.
The sunlight that comes in through the broken window is very comfortable.
It makes me sleepy.
“Wafu…”
Hey, Momo.
You shouldn’t lie on people’s stomachs.
Ah, fine then.
I enjoy the softness of her fur.
“…”
…What was this? This feeling of safety I had.
It was the feeling of a normal day among abnormal days filled with monsters.
It reminds me of how grateful we should all be for a normal life.
Well, except being a corporate slave. No thanks.
“Normally, I wouldn’t even be able to eat something like this…”
Currently, there was no new food coming in. Unless you had an Item Box with a preserving feature like me, you would have to eat all of your perishable foods quickly.
It was now the middle of May.
I already retrieved most of the food in this area, but the raw produce in supermarkets in other regions would start rotting right about now.
That’s what it was like. And even if you tried to save your stock of food, it was likely that you would eventually have to eat tasteless hardtack and water.
Though none of this applied to me.
I had already acquired more than enough food, and it was all stored inside of my Item Box, which now had a ‘Preservation Feature.’
The food that I kept would not go bad or be ruined.
Apparently, this ‘Preservation Feature’ allowed you to maintain the exact state of the food when you put it in.
For instance, if you put hot water into a bowl of instant noodles and put it inside the box and waited a long time before taking it out again.
It will come out in the exact same state, without being soggy or having cooled off.
If anything, it was more of a ‘Time Stop’ than a ‘Preservation Feature.’
It was quite the cheat. Good god.
I didn’t know how such a thing could work, but in any case, my problem with regards to food was solved.
And if I somehow ran out of food, I could always go fishing or grow vegetables from seeds I guess. But that wouldn’t happen for a long time.
Also, while not at the same pace as yesterday, I did intend on continuing to collect more food.
It wouldn’t hurt to have more stocked up, I wouldn’t want them to be eaten by monsters.
And as Nishino said before, food will be important for trading in the future.
…Well, I doubt anyone had something I would trade for.
The Item Box was all I needed.
The only thing that could make it even better would be if you could put ‘something that was still moving’ inside of it…
As useful as this Item Box was, it couldn’t do everything.
There were things that could not be placed inside.
Such as a ‘living creature.’
It wasn’t possible when I tried it.
I didn’t test it on Momo, okay?
I found some crow that was resting on a telephone wire. But it didn’t work.
Plants, seeds, branches, and soil were fine.
I suppose it depended on what I or the voice in my head considered to be living.
I also tried ‘something that was moving.’
But these were also not able to be stored.
Apparently, objects needed to be still in order to be put inside.
If only I could, it would make me incredibly strong.
I could store something as it was falling, adjust the position and unleash it. It could be a frighteningly large bullet.
Like Real Gate Oblivion.
It made me think of a certain sparkly spirit.
I wish I could do that…
There weren’t any additional features that could alter what you could store.
There was no point in whining over something that didn’t exist. But that move was something that any guy would want to do.
Hopefully, I would be able to do it one day.
“Ah, right. Momo, want to eat some magic stones?”
“Bark!”
It was the one I got from the mimic, plus some others that I picked up on the way here.
I give these to Momo.
At first, Momo ate them happily.
But then…
“…kkuu…”
“Hm? What is it, Momo?”
Momo was looking at the last one— ‘Mimic Magic Stone(Small)’. Was she not going to eat it? But then she put it into her mouth.”
“…”
And then she moved her gaze towards the window.
And–through the crack in the broken glass, she tossed the magic stone outside.
“Ah! What are you doing, Momo!”
There is no need to throw it away just because you won’t eat it.
“Bark.”
But it seemed like Momo was saying, ‘it’s fine like this.’
What’s fine?… I don’t understand it at all.
Oh, well.
I could retrieve it when we go out again.
I wished we could rest a little longer, but it was almost time to head out.
I got ready and retrieved everything that was in the room.
“Okay, let’s go. Momo.”
“Bark!”
Now, off we go.
I open the door.
“Hmm…?”
In the next instant, ‘It’ entered my vision.
In the corner of the hallway. The thing that was jiggling there was—.
“…You, did you chase me all the way here…?”
As I asked this, the red slime shook in a way that made it look like it was very pleased.