Zena and Satou's Date

"Satou-san, what's wrong?"
Zena-san turns to look at me with her light blonde hair swaying slightly.
I don't want to admit that I was captivated by her eating that sweet potato, so I just replied "It was nothing". I take her hand and we continue to look at the other stands.
People passing by also have their eyes drawn to her smile and cute outfit.
When I first met Zena-san, she was wearing leather armor as the standard mage soldier outfit. Today, she is wearing a blue knee-high skirt and a clean white blouse.
For some reason, she isn't wearing any pendants or rings. Maybe she just isn't interested in those kinds of accessories.
"This hair accessory seems like it would match you well, Zena-san."
"Silverwork? It's wonderful, but there's no way I can afford it with my army salary. What about this handkerchief? Don't you think it's lovely?"
Zena-san loses interest in the hair accessories, and drags me over to the nearby stand selling handkerchiefs. It looks like she didn't consider that I might buy her something as a present.
She goes past the embroidered handkerchiefs and starts picking out the more plain ones.
"Satou-san, between the blue one and the yellow one, which one do you think is better?"
Zena-san takes the two handkerchiefs and holds them up in front of me.
"The blue one seems to fit you more."
"Ehehe, just like I thought."
Zena-san has an embarrassed smile as she holds out the blue handkerchief.
The reason I chose the blue one is because I noticed her looking at it longer than the yellow one.
When a girl gives you two options, it's likely that they've already decided which one they like more.
They are really just looking for a confirmation of their choice rather than asking you to decide for them. At least, that's what the self-proclaimed playboy at my college told me.
This logic seemed to apply to my girlfriend back in college, and it also seems to fit here in Seiryuu City.
"I'll buy the white one too, so could you please lower the price to 2 coppers?"
"No way. I can barely make a living at 8 coppers, how do you expect me to go that low?"
Zena-san starts haggling with the stall-owner.
Unlike Japan, this seems to be the norm here in Shiga Kingdom. Prices are often two or three times higher than the market value, so you can't buy things at the starting price.
According to my [Estimation] skill, the white handkerchief is worth 2 copper, the blue one is 3 copper, and the embroidered one is 6 copper.
A portion of the blue one catches my eye. I take a closer look, and notice that part of it is slightly discolored compared to the other handkerchiefs.
This must be my [Bargaining] skill at work.
I might as well help Zena-san out a bit.
I put on a bright smile and walk up to the stall-owner, who is a woman in her 40s.
My youthful smile matches well with my appearance as a 15-year old boy.
"Excuse me, could you explain why the coloring is off here? Are the rest of them like this too?"
"Huh? Coloring? Tch, how did you even notice something so small. Fine, I'll lower the price by 1, so 7 copper."
"Only 1? Can you take off another?"
Zena-san makes good use of the opening I created. A nearby housewife mutters something about our 'impressive coordination'.
Just a little bit further to go until market price.
I look at the handkerchief again and notice something else.
"Isn't this thread here a bit loose?"
"It's just a tiny bit loose, that's completely normal."
"Oh? But didn't you say earlier that the sewing was perfect, and that's why the price was so high?"
Zena-san takes my assist and keeps up the pressure on the stall-owner.
"D-did I say that?"
"Yes, you did."
The owner flinches, and she gets driven into a corner by Zena-san.
"Okay, fine. You can have both for 4 copper. Good grief, like husband, like wife."
"W-wife, that's..."
Zena-san's cheeks are red as she holds the handkerchiefs and writhes in embarrassment.
However, there is a clear smile on her face.
"Don't tease her too much now, here's the money."
Zena-san isn't even my girlfriend, so there's no truth in that statement. She seems happy though, so I don't bother to deny it as I hand over the payment.
A little while back, I stumbled upon enough money to buy a country, so 4 copper is nothing to me.
"Thank you for the business, looks like you have a long way ahead of you."
As she takes the copper from me, the stall-owner gives some words of encouragement to Zena-san.
I take an embroidered blue ribbon and tie it to Zena-san's hair. This was something I secretly bought from the earlier stand while she was busy haggling.
"U-um, what's this?"
"A present from me. It goes well with your beautiful hair."
Zena-san is going red and shrinking in embarrassment, but her face turns into a smile as bright as the sun.
I don't know how I got to this world, but I'm grateful that Zena-san was the first person I met.
I silently give my thanks to whoever brought me here.