Haku took a deep breath. No time to hesitate!
Even waiting one more second outside the store would reduce his chances of getting the half-price bentos, after all, there were enough aunties in the convenience store right now.
It's well known that aunties, no matter which country they are in, appear in various supermarkets when prices are low, and then, with a hand speed that ordinary people cannot achieve, they sweep away cheap food like a whirlwind!
And in this convenience store, there were several such aunties!
Therefore, at such a moment, there must be no hesitation, because hesitation leads to defeat.
He casually helped wrap Tom around his neck, then flicked Tom's tail so it hung directly in front of him. Then, Haku, with sharp eyes, pushed open the convenience store's glass door, quickly entered the convenience store, and walked straight towards the bento section!
"Welcome… huh?" Just as the cashier greeted Haku, Haku casually grabbed a shopping basket and turned to rush towards the bento section. His swift movements left the employee momentarily bewildered.
"Screech, screech, screech…" Since the distance wasn't long, Haku had barely accelerated before he started braking. For some reason, he usually wouldn't need to brake for so long at that speed, but he actually skidded for a meter before stopping. The floor was incredibly slippery.
After slowing down, Haku didn't bother to hide it anymore and headed straight for the bento section. Urged by Tom, Haku quickly scanned the shelves, confirmed the half-price labels were on, and immediately began picking.
Basically, anything cheap and delicious-looking went straight into the shopping basket.
"They're putting on labels over there." Unfortunately, before Haku could pick a few, an auntie nearby noticed the half-price items and even called it out.
Hearing this, Haku's heart sank. He knew it was bad news.
Sure enough, he hadn't even grabbed a few when a group of aunties and uncles swarmed in. The moment the employee put a label on, they grabbed an item. Haku's position was awkward, right at the end of the line, and he was quickly squeezed out. After all, his combat power when it came to shopping was far inferior to those aunties.
He looked at the bentos in his shopping basket; he had already picked up six boxes. Haku hesitated. Stopping now would still be a decent gain, but unfortunately, anything less than a huge profit felt like a huge loss.
Seeing others get a better deal than him was more unbearable than dying.
At this moment, Tom seemed to sense that Haku didn't want to leave. Tom's mind quickly pondered, and finally, it patted Haku's shoulder.
"Hmm? What's wrong?" After confirming no one was looking at them, Haku quietly asked Tom, using his back to block the surveillance camera.
Tom simply pointed to the unlabeled bentos nearby, then pointed to the employee, and picked up a bento box from the shopping basket. With its other hand, it seemed to pluck a piece of paper from thin air, slapped it onto the box, and then looked at Haku.
After finishing its performance, Tom put the bento back into the shopping basket and once again transformed into a scarf.
After seeing Tom's mime-like performance, Haku understood instantly.
After hesitating for 0.114514 seconds, he decisively walked to the left of the employee and, under the employee's slightly surprised gaze, began picking out the unlabeled bentos.
With no competition here, he quickly picked about ten items, all chosen for their value, especially those with a longer shelf life. After looking at the somewhat heavy shopping basket, Haku decided to stop!
He carried the shopping basket to the employee who was labeling and said righteously, "Could you please label these for me? Thank you."
"Huh?" Seeing Haku's move, the employee was clearly stunned, obviously thrown off by Haku's actions. After realizing what was happening, he took the bento that Haku handed him. "Ah, okay."
Watching the employee continuously label the bentos he had chosen, and feeling the gazes from the aunties and uncles, Haku felt extremely awkward. However, saving money was not shameful.
After the labeling was done, Haku quickly walked towards the cashier.
If he stayed there any longer, Haku felt like he could dig a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment into the ground with his toes.
After paying at the cashier and walking out of the convenience store with his plastic bags, Haku immediately felt relieved. A total of 21 half-price bentos cost him 4000 yen, averaging less than 200 yen per box. It was an epic victory!
Thinking of this, Haku felt that his sacrifice of dignity was extremely worthwhile!
Although it was still early, Haku decided to head home. After all, there had already been one battle tonight, and the other Holy Grail War participants would surely not make any major moves. He figured the rest of the night would be peaceful, so there was no need to wander around outside. To be honest, after the mountain road chase with Tom and the rapid freefall from high altitude, Haku just wanted to lie down now.
Of course, Tom's urging to go home for dinner also played a huge part.
About twenty minutes later, Haku brought Tom back near his 'home'. He looked around, confirmed no one was nearby, and then quietly climbed into the yard.
When he left in the evening, without a key, Haku had inserted a piece of cardboard into the door lock. This way, from the outside, it looked like no one had entered the house, but in reality, the door would open with a pull.
"Phew~, finally home." After entering the living room, Haku immediately took Tom off his neck, placed him on the floor, and handed Tom a bento box. He also took one for himself.
Tom sat cross-legged on the floor, holding the box in its left hand and chopsticks in its right, and started devouring it!
Seeing this, Haku also prepared to dig in.
"Beep beep~~~" Just then, an unwelcome sound suddenly echoed in Haku's mind, immediately catching his attention.
Clearly, it was the panel's notification sound.
"Panel." Haku no longer cared about eating. He stood up directly and summoned his panel. Soon, a display screen floating in the air appeared directly before Haku's eyes. He saw that the summon button on the left, which had turned gray after summoning Tom, was now lit up again.
Seeing this, Haku immediately became energized. He knew exactly what this meant; he could finally perform the summoning ritual again!