And... he honestly didn't have a fucking clue where to go to get coal. As he ripped out a length of wire he sighed, "Fuck. I'm going to have to make a gas forge." He groaned, "I just hope I don't blow myself up with it."
So... he needed to steal some propane. Or barring that, steal enough money to buy some propane. That seemed more likely. He set down the clumps of wire he'd recovered and dug into his pockets. Between begging and pick pocketing, he had some money to his name. After a quick count he knew he had exactly thirty-four hundred yen to his name. His stomach growled as he put the money away reminding him that he still needed to eat breakfast.
"Okay. Breakfast, theft, supplies, ward stones, rigging a forge. Not necessarily in that order. Except breakfast, that's definitely first."
Why was he so obsessed with getting a forge up and running? Magical jewelry. His mana reserves were pretty pathetic at the moment, meaning he was of no interest to anyone. He wanted to make a ring to hide any growing his mana might do and an amulet enchanted with a notice-me-not type spell to help hide his presence. Also, it'd be amazing for pick pocketing and was something he dearly wanted. And he couldn't just scratch those semi-powerful enchantments out on some piece of scrap. He'd need decently processed mana enhanced steel for them, at minimum. Silver or gold would be better but there was no fucking way he was getting either of those anytime soon.
Junichiro nodded to himself as he finished his plans and his new braided wire belt. After slipping the belt on and tying it off, he slipped his shiv into the side of it and covered it with this overly large shirt. Now no one would notice he was walking around with a weakly enchanted deadly weapon. It wouldn't do to walk the streets alone unarmed. Sure, this area's crime rate wasn't horrendous, but it still had crime and he needed to protect himself.
He dusted himself off and climbed out of the broken window of the car. All the doors were rusted shut so it was the only way in and out. Once clear, he looked at the, surprisingly unbroken side view mirror. He wanted to make sure he didn't look like complete shit.
Staring back at him from the mirror was an absolutely normal looking Japanese face still rounded due to baby fat. His eyes were dark, his hair was dark, and his face was pretty plain. Luckily it was also pretty clean still. Sneaking quick sponge-style baths in public restrooms was annoying but necessary. He fixed his hair the best he could before declaring himself 'clean enough.'
The junkyard he'd taken residence within was a good quarter kilometer outside of the city, then it was several more kilometers to get to the city center where it was busiest. The walk took about an hour for him as he calmly walked with purpose. He'd found that if he acted like he knew where he was going and what he was doing that people would leave him alone. Though he did have to be extra vigilant during the school week. If an officer saw him they'd try and grab him and haul him off. That was not something he wanted to deal with. Thankfully, it was Saturday.
Once he made it to the city center, he made his way over to his favorite breakfast place. It was just a small stand that served a simple thing that had no official name. It was essentially a big ass hashbrown, some sausage patties, some scrambled eggs, and some peppers all wrapped in a crepe like pancake and deep fried. It was exceptionally Western and not something more traditional people would eat, but younger folks like himself loved it. Junichiro loved it because of the sheer amount of calories it contained for a reasonable price.
As he got close to the cart the vendor smiled brightly, "Ah! Junichiro, good morning. The usual?"
Junichiro nodded with a bright and happy smile anyone would expect a child to display, "That's right!"
As the vendor got to work he chatted with him, "How's your mother doing today?"
"Same as usual. She sent me out to get breakfast and you know how we love your food as something different from a more traditional morning meal."
The man nodded along as he worked, not really paying too much attention to the conversation with his focus on the food. As much as he would love to, Junichiro couldn't come to this particular stand every morning for breakfast. That would likely raise some red flags as no respectable mother would let her child eat such unhealthy food so regularly.