LOST TIME MEMORY Vol. 1

Chapter 1.4

During the next fifteen minutes of getting ready, Ene was babbling away about what new stuff they would need for the room after he'd briefly told her they had money to spare. She kept on and on about places they should stop by. Several that she wanted to visit on the way to and from the mall, now that she was wholly confident that he was actually going outside. She'd been transferred via USB into his phone and was swerving all around its tiny screen. Shintaro checked his computer for how his stocks had gone. They'd moved up as he'd predicted the day before. He would usually coop up in his room and continuously sit in front of his PC. Therefore he had all the time in the world to check on his stocks' worth. Now that he was going out, he had to make some predictions that would last the day. He didn't want to have to constantly look at his phone for updates. The night before, he'd skimmed through every relevant news site for information regarding his stocks. He'd memorized the info and was either selling, buying, or exchanging his stocks accordingly. He was the man of the house, after all, and he had to act like it. Sometimes. There was that and the desire to not lose out to his little sister on being the family's breadwinner. However, every resident of his house, even Ene, thought of him more as a goblin that occasionally crawled out of the dungeon and pooped out Gold.

"You know, I still don't get what it is you're doing, Master," Ene said, looking dubiously at his monitor from his phone.

"Me neither," he said, his attention stuck on the screen. Solely using the mouse to navigate through everything was proving to be a pain in the ass.

"Yeah, yeah. But, though, how do you remember all of that stuff? And how do you even know what to do after?"

"I just pay attention to whatever is happening around the world. I use that info to buy stuff cheap and sell high."

"Oh, look at you. Must be nice. You probably have more brain capacity than I have in gigabytes," Ene said, though she didn't actually believe it to be as easy as that.

"I probably do, yeah."

"Tch. Smartass."

"Hm." He stood up as soon as he got done. He'd had his back turned around when Ene suddenly called after him.

"You can rely on me for that kind of stuff too, you know. I can do more than just store memes."

"YOU CAN!?" he yelled, pulling out the best theatrical performance he could muster.

"What do you- SCREW YOU! GO AND SHOWER!YOU STINK, YOU POOPOO-HEAD." As she screamed after him, she silentlywondered where this newfound energy he had appeared from. He would usually goalong with a gag, sure, but Ene would always be the one on the teasing end mostof the time. Even when he made snappy remarks, he would never put much effortinto them. It seemed as though she found his good mood surprising, but quiteendearing. And thus, she likely took the next few moments looking over otherinsults she could add to her arsenal for the upcoming battles ahead. Herexcitement was rising through the roof.