The first trap that I encountered is a pitfall trap, which I'm pretty sure is actually unfinished. I remember trying out a new kind of trap a few weeks ago and this was the idea that I decided to settle with, only for me to stop making it half way through.

  And I don't hate myself for doing it either, actually I felt happy that I stopped making it. Digging a giant square that can fit an aberrant— which is six feet deep and fourteen feet wide. — is already bad enough, but then I have to make spikes that will fill that square?!

  Yeah no, that's too much work for a single aberrant. If the day ever comes where I feel like torturing myself then I'll try and remake the trap. Other than that? It can stay in the depths of my mind, never to be used unless it's like, against a human or something.

  Right now, that's the trap I'm heading for, it won't kill the aberrants chasing me but it will probably slow them down. Or one of them maybe?

  So that begs the question, do I regret not finishing it? Nope. If I have a time machine and manage to tell past me that saving me from eight aberrants is going to be the only use the pitfall trap will have then she'll abandon it just the same.

  Moving past the pitfall trap is simple enough, I didn't hesitate to run through the tarp covering the trap even as the sounds of falling trees and a series of localized earthquakes came from behind me.

  When I reached the other side, I turned back and prepared my wand. "[Water Ball]."

  Hitting the aberrants with several icicles from a distance is a fairly good idea, it's not like they'll reach me immediately. Soon, they entered into my line of sight and instead of being scared by the giant crustaceans, I just waved my wand back and forth, shooting them.

  The spells came down on them relentlessly, every time my wand emptied, I immediately recast [Water Ball] and kept peppering them with giant icicles.

  Unlike the ferret I fought outside the dungeon, these things aren't as strong so my spells visibly did damage to them with each hit. It was genuinely cathartic to see myself being capable of hurting these things, even if it's only very little. And seeing them slow down? God seeing them slow down is pure ecstacy.

  Some of them are even hesitating, this must be the whole "self preservation" schtick that I've heard about. They do come back to going for me once they get hit with another icicle though, so their instincts only matter as long as they aren't pissed off at someone.

  Continuously attacking them like this did eventually cause one of the aberrants to fall, shortly after that they activated the trap and two of them fell face first into the spikes. They aren't moving so my best guess is that they're no longer alive, or if they still are then it won't be long before they take their last breath.

  Three dead, five more to go.

  That being said, the rest of the aberrants used the dead bodies of their brethren as a bridge to reach the other side of the pit so I had no choice but to go back into running.

  Persistent bastards that they are, the aberrants continued to come after me until we reached my next trap, which is the standard fishing line trap that wraps them up nicely.

  One got caught, the rock fell, its shell cracked, and let's be honest here, that thing is going to die even without me interfering with its fate.

  I shot it with an icicle spear anyway, just in case the other four broke the trap accidentally.

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  Aberrants do have a healing factor, so there's a small chance that an exposed brain paired with a deadly concussion might not kill them.

  Walking, moving, running, and even stumbling down the path like I did would make most kids collapse from the sheer effort but not me, it's almost impossible to make me fall from exhaustion in my current state actually.

  Not even the crustaceans can keep up with me and while I still felt fine and energetic, the giant crayfishes chasing me are starting to slow down, attacking them at every opportunity may have also helped whittle them down.

  Eventually, they had to reach their breaking point and when we reached that point, I started to attack them in earnest. Hitting them with spells over and over again while they can only pathetically lunge at me was like shooting fish in a barrel, there's nothing they can do except take it.

  One crayfish fell, then another followed, all of them died to me before long. No bull, and no level up either.

  Later on, I would visit the store that my family now owns. Several people are sitting on the chairs outside the building, talking, eating, that kind of thing. Inside, a small line has formed in front of the counter and Wardcruncha looks like he's holding himself back from attacking the adventurer complaining about something to him.

  Ahhh, retail, it's the same in every world isn't it? It even sucks the soul of a wizened wizard. Amazing.

  Our available food, by this point, has actually expanded several times over and besides only selling standard meals, we also have different kinds of bread— cupcakes and cakes included. — and even a few pieces of candy, we also have traveling rations such as pemmican, jerky, and dried/powdered soup.

  That last one had been dad's idea as apparently, in his youth, he frequently traveled between multiple towns and dried soup was a staple for him during this time. Dad lore is fairly tame, I guess? Maybe he'll tell me about how he killed a giant bear one day or something?

  Not that he can do something like that of course, I mean, if he does tell me a story of "beating a huge monster" I'd be more inclined to believe he's just exaggerating and that there's a good chance he just threw a spear at the monster and then running away while it's distracted.

  Will I ever believe him? Ehhhhhhhh... Maybe?

  Going back to the shop now, a lot of adventurers have begun to actively come here. Beyond our usual customers— who make Wardcruncha smile just from seeing them, which says a lot! — there are also newcomers and included among them are tasters who simply want to get a feel for the store's general atmosphere.

  There's so much traffic that the profits have started to reach into the gold coin territory even, just two nights ago Laself counted around 3 gold coins from an entire day's worth of customers!

  I have also helped out in the only way that I can: which is attracting more adventurers through my scrolls and making connections with passing merchants. They haven't given my offers much thought yet but soon I'll be able to buy several bags of spices, sugar, and other hard to get ingredients from them!

  They might even let me buy magical items and rare minerals if I play my cards right, which I will. Let me see... Aberrant eggs should get their attention right? I'm pretty sure it will, doubly so since the cull is about to start, soon they won't have access to eggs at all, just meat and shells.

  Right now, there should still be a few spawning pools I can harvest so I should focus on raiding those the next time I hunt the crustaceans.

  "By the way, has the merchant I've been talking to come back yet?" My question made everyone in the kitchen pause, I waited but eventually spoke up before anyone else. "It's fine if he didn't, we're in no rush, okay?"

  Vanilla extract would have been good though and cocoa beans too, the man thought I was making perfume or something like that but that's obviously wrong. I'm not gonna correct him though, just bide my time.

  Or maybe I can work on the ice cream right now? There's always fruits right? It doesn't have to strictly be the popular flavors, it just needs to be delicious.

  Cheese? Yes. Cheese!

  "Rontress, he says that he's not that interested in making contact with our shop, maybe if we focused on scrolls then he would but as things stand, he's not interested." My mother informed me, her voice full of hesitation.

  "Ok." That was fine, the rejection was in my line of expectations. "We don't have to worry about that okay? We're okay, we just need to keep our stock of eggs and all the stuff we've been preparing for the festival, that's where we'll earn most of our profits from, not the wares of a merchant."

  Hopefully it does change their opinion though, I don't hate them for saying no to my proposal, that's expected. I need them if I want this store to succeed, no, not just the store, but for me to fulfill my goals.

  A source of materials I normally wouldn't be able to get in Flotol or Ghorise is always good. I'd argue it's outright vital even, that's how important foreign goods are.