Please to Kitsune-sama!

Chapter 177 : Kitsune-sama, Goes to the Electronics Store

Akihabara was now the city of awakeners.

Once famous as an electronics district, then reborn as a hub of subculture, and then reshaped again by the era of monster disasters, it had become a city for the awakener.

It all began when, as subculture lost its footing and tenant spaces went empty, a small workshop opened that specialized in goods for awakeners.

The custom-made armor produced there, once its quality spread by word of mouth, brought more and more awakener to visit Akihabara. Soon, various craftsmen and awakener artisans began setting up workshops there as well.

Naturally, small and large workshops alike gathered in Akihabara, empty stores filled up, and even the ruins left behind by past destruction gave way to new workshops.

Thus was born the Akihabara of today. Even if Inari mostly only visited the Servant Uniform Workshop and Fox Phone, the district housed many different kinds of shops.

For instance, large retailers such as Chakram Hole or Melon Axe carried the works of regional workshops or independent artisans who had no stores of their own.

But even without such big stores, Akihabara was full of small weapon shops and item sellers. Many kinds of tools existed, developed exclusively for awakener use—like the awakener phones sold by Fox Phone or Lion Communications.

And so, having decided to try “improving her standard of living,” Inari came to an electronics store.

In the five-story building, every floor was packed tightly with appliances—each made for awakeners.

“Fumu. A… coffee maker, hm?”

“Yes. This model was designed with the goal that even if a physical-type dealer accidentally gripped it too hard, it would not break. In our durability tests, it withstood seven full punches.”

“I understand its sturdiness, but still…”

Glancing at the flashy pop sign—“Never break it again! Reliability tough enough to protect your mornings!”—Inari wore a doubtful expression. Normally she drank tea, so she had never needed a coffee maker. But since she had been having more guests lately, she thought of trying one.

The problem was that too many products here seemed to value sturdiness above all else. Did awakeners really break things that often?

At least, she had never seen Eri, Hikaru, or Shion break anything. Inari herself certainly didn’t. In that case, wasn’t it better to choose based on taste instead? …Well, perhaps she should simply ask Eri for advice next time.

“My thanks. I shall look at some other items now.”

“Please, take your time.”

Inari already had the basic appliances needed for daily life. What she sought was something to make life a little richer… though the thought itself was vague. Her material desires were limited mostly to rice and furikake, so perhaps it could not be helped. Still, she lingered a while at the rice cooker corner.

Of course, her current rice cooker was more expensive than most of these. Still, she found herself curious. Curious, but—no, she would not buy.

Next, she headed to the health and beauty appliances corner.

Muscle pain and beauty treatments meant little to Inari, but she recalled how Hikaru often sighed “So tired…” and collapsed in exhaustion. Between her role as mascot, the idol work attached to that, her training, and her awakener duties… Hikaru really was burdened with so much.

The fatigue carried by awakeners in modern society must have been unimaginable. Inari, who lived comparatively freely, could not truly understand. But if there was something that might help soothe it, perhaps she should try.

“Fumu…”

The shelves were filled with shoulder and facial massagers, beauty devices, hair removal machines, massage chairs… all things Inari did not really understand.

“What is this stick? Why is a pestle here?”

“That is a massager. Press the switch and it vibrates.”

“Then this thing that looks like a back scratcher?”

“A shoulder massager.”

“Then perhaps this box-like one?”

“A beauty device.”

Abandoning the attempt to understand, Inari wandered toward the massage chair corner. These chairs, designed to knead the sturdy bodies of awakeners, were built with considerable power. Some even bore labels such as “For physical-types only.”

“Uuumu…”

“If you’re looking for something in particular, may I help?”

“Indeed. I seek something that soothes the fatigue of modern life.”

“Er… I see. In that case, how about an aroma diffuser?”

The store clerk’s ability to respond so quickly to Inari’s almost philosophical request was truly professional. Aromatherapy was, indeed, one answer to modern fatigue.

Following the clerk’s suggestion, Inari looked over the aroma diffusers, circled the store once, and then resolved: “Next time I’ll ask Eri to come with me and take a proper look.” With that, she left the electronics store.

“Mm… how difficult it is. To raise one’s standard of living is truly no easy task…”

The truth was that Inari hardly wanted anything in the first place, and that made the task impossible. That, in itself, was one of her virtues. But when it came to the goal of “improving her standard of living,” it might also be her greatest weakness.