Chapter 23: Necessities and Non-Necessities (Part 1)

At this time, the practical class had already ended, and as Ryuto returned to the classroom, he heard a discussion going on.

"Seems like Saho is the one who stole the class fund after all."

"But you really can't tell just by looking at her, because she doesn't interact much with others."

"I heard she even went to that kind of place."

"Oh... really?"

"Are you talking about that kind of place, the one that adults go to?"

Hey, what kind of place do adults go to exactly? It sounds so mysterious.

"People really can't judge others by their appearance, huh? That's pretty impressive!"

Hey, is that something to admire? Although I don't even know what kind of place they're talking about.

Curious, Ryuto approached the group of people who were having an intense discussion.

"Can you tell me the specific details?"

"..."

"What do you want?"

One of them asked with considerable caution. No need to be so dramatic, I'm not part of any anti-pornography task force.

"Well, this is also a matter concerning the school, and adding another crime might make it easier to get expelled. According to what was just said, it's a serious violation of the school rules."

With various reasons from Ryuto, finally, he managed to extract important information, then hurriedly went to an arcade after school to get things done.

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After school, not far from the school, was a commercial street.

After going to a certain place, Saho Seto came straight here. It was very lively here, with the mix of conversations between passersby, car horns honking from time to time, and the competing hawking from various shops. The various sounds mingled together, and it may be more appropriate to describe it as bustling and prosperous rather than noisy.

However, none of this had much to do with Saho Seto. That's right, the conversations between passersby had nothing to do with her because she was walking on the sidewalk. The honking of cars also had nothing to do with her because she was walking on the sidewalk. As for the hawking from the shops, it had nothing to do with her to the point that it wasn't even necessary to listen, let alone look.

In this world, there exist "necessities" and "non-necessities," but the "non-necessities" had no connection to Saho Seto. Since they were non-necessities, there was no need to buy them, and she didn't have the energy to do so anyway.

As for the necessities, for Saho Seto as well as for people in general, they were the most obvious. If we had to say out of words, it was because their quantity was small, making them easy to remember. In other words, most things were "non-necessities" for Saho Seto, perhaps even herself...

So the ultimate conclusion was that there was no need to listen to various sounds from the outside world.

As a result, Saho Seto walking on the shopping street appeared somewhat out of place in her surroundings. No matter what the pedestrians were doing, it could be guessed from their expressions, but Saho Seto was difficult to gauge. Because no matter what happened, her expression hardly changed—what they called a "poker face"—no emotions at all.

Despite the stark difference with others, the people around her didn't notice, or should I say they turned a blind eye. If we were to ask why, the reason was actually very simple. For Saho Seto, not even "non-necessities" were relevant, she had no connection at all. For people who had no relationship with her, of course, there was no need to pay attention to them. Yes, because people nowadays prioritize efficiency in everything.

She herself should be very clear about this, but Saho Seto didn't seem to care much. She just continued to move forward as if no one else was around.

Perhaps because no one was bothering her, or maybe she was very familiar with this route, in any case, Saho Seto quickly arrived at her destination.

She walked in as if it were her own home. Upon closer inspection, it was a regular store that sold accessories and such. Although the store itself was not big, it was very exquisite, indicating that the shop owner had put a lot of effort into it.

Seeing Saho Seto entering, the shop assistant naturally said,

"Welcome."

As if it had become a habit, doing the same thing at a specific time every day, today was no different, although it was slightly later than usual.

After entering the store, Sae Houju quickly went to a certain place without even glancing at anything else. After briefly inspecting it, she picked up the item she liked and went straight to the cashier.

"Finally bought it? It seems like the day is coming soon. Is it today?"

"Yes."

Facing the enthusiastic inquiry from the store clerk, Sae Houju just responded lightly, but the clerk was not unhappy and carefully packaged the goods.

Originally, this item was actually a "non-essential item" for Sae Houju, and she didn't have the economic ability to afford it. So she didn't need to buy it.

But for some reason, this item changed from a "non-essential item" to an "essential item", and besides, she received some money today as planned, so for various reasons, she ended up buying it in the end.

"Thank you for your patronage. The total is 6800 Bett."

Sae Houju took out the money she had just received today and handed it over. The store clerk took the money with a smile and handed over the item.

Because she had other things to do later, Sae Houju didn't stop for a moment after receiving the change from the store clerk and headed towards her next target.