Chapter 44
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Magic Tower (4)
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After emerging from the separated space,
I spotted Isabel.
Those unpleasant memories from the past that still lingered in my mind, tormenting me,
made me carefully place my hand on Isabel's head.
It was an action to lower her line of sight,
perhaps rude, but no other method came to mind.
'Right now...'
Right now, somehow...
I felt like I couldn't maintain my expression properly...
[Title {Pioneer} assists your action.]
[Title {Pioneer} assists your action.]
With the title's assistance, I gradually calmed my emotions,
and by the time I could maintain my expression again...
I removed my hand from Isabel's head and offered a light apology.
"Sorry..."
"It's fine. Is the talk over?"
"Yeah, it's done now."
She accepted my apology more lightly than expected
and asked about the conversation inside.
As I vaguely brushed it off and shifted to another topic,
the separated space behind us returned to normal,
and the Magic Tower Lord Bella and Eris began walking out.
'They took longer than I thought...'
After I had left,
seeing the two emerge after some time had passed,
it seemed they had continued talking separately inside.
"You're out?"
Seeing them,
the words from earlier resurfaced, bringing a wave of embarrassment, but...
I endured it and greeted them casually, as if nothing was wrong.
"Uh... yeah."
"Let's go, Aden."
'......?'
Bella responded in a thoroughly dejected manner,
while Eris ignored her and spoke to me.
'What's up with her...?'
I wondered at the Magic Tower Lord's utterly wilted appearance and Eris's slightly annoyed look, but...
I quickly caught up to Eris, who was already walking ahead,
and asked what had happened inside after I left.
"After I went out, what happened inside?"
Hearing that,
Eris turned to look at me and cautiously opened her mouth.
"Just... I warned her in advance about things like the world's destruction that will happen later, and looked into why you reacted that way..."
"Ah..."
From her answer,
I vaguely understood the reason for their reactions.
'She got scolded...'
From their responses,
it seemed Eris had chewed out the Magic Tower Lord after hearing her plan to die and pass the responsibility to Isabel.
True to her status as the current strongest,
even the Magic Tower Lord couldn't hold up easily against her.
'Hmm...'
It felt like she got scolded because of what I said,
but I didn't feel particularly sorry.
'She shouldn't have planned something so unapologetic in the first place.'
I wasn't pleased with her intention to dump the Magic Tower Lord position on Isabel either...
"So, are you done with your business? Heading back?"
As I thought that,
another question came from Eris.
Asking if we were done and going back.
Of course, with nothing pressing right now, going back was fine, but...
"I was thinking of stopping by the artifact shop."
Since I hadn't visited the Magic Tower's most important artifact shop yet,
leaving now felt like a waste.
"Artifact shop?"
"Yes, to see if there's anything good."
"You got money?"
As I mentioned going to the artifact shop,
Eris hit me with a painfully pointed question.
'Money...'
Of course, I had the top entrant scholarship money,
but it was woefully insufficient for a decent artifact...
"Nope..."
So I replied in a deflated voice, but...
"Really? Then I'll buy it for you."
Hearing Eris's casual response,
I turned to look at her.
"For real...?"
"For real. It's no big deal."
Her firm answer came in an offhand tone, as if it were nothing.
At those words,
I swear I could see a halo shining behind Eris.
'Ah... Ah...'
In this moment,
Eris was my god.
After sending overwhelming gratitude toward Eris,
we moved to the artifact shop via the Magic Tower Lord.
Of course, I initially wanted to find it myself, but...
'Couldn't find it...'
Navigating the overwhelmingly vast interior of the Magic Tower to locate just one shop wasn't easy...
In the end, we had no choice but to rely on the Magic Tower Lord's help.
Arriving at the artifact shop interior...
"Welcome! Ah, hello, Lady Isabel!"
"Wow..."
Upon entering, the mage managing the shop greeted Isabel as if they knew each other,
and a gasp of admiration escaped Isabel's lips at the items here.
"First time here...?"
"Yeah, first time."
To my question about her reaction, as if visiting for the first time,
came an affirmative reply.
It was a bit surprising.
Hard to imagine the Magic Tower Lord's disciple had never been to the artifact shop...
As I thought that,
Isabel seemed to read my mind and continued while looking at me.
"Well, whenever I came here, I only learned magic."
"Ah..."
Come to think of it, a first-year academy cadet and disciple of the Magic Tower Lord had little reason to visit the artifact shop.
After that,
as Magic Tower Lord Bella and Eris entered together,
the shop mage jumped in surprise and continued.
"Ch-Chairwoman...?!"
Precisely, not at the Magic Tower Lord,
but reacting to Eris,
Bella reverted to her acting mode from earlier and approached the mage with a predatory smile, like she'd found prey.
"Hey? Hey! Am I invisible or something? I'm hurt..."
"Eh? No, Magic Tower Lord!"
I was momentarily dumbfounded by her perfect return to acting mode, but...
"Pick out what you need."
Eris approached me quietly and said that,
so I began excitedly browsing the artifact shop.
'Want to buy everything...'
Everything here tempted me,
but since the chairwoman was buying,
I had no intention of overspending, so I slowly looked around.
Some displayed items had prices and performance listed,
but others, not on display,
had unknown prices and performance.
'Performance random, price random...'
A sort of gacha shop.
Bad luck could get you junk at a high price,
good luck a cheat-level item cheap.
Even in the game, pulling cheats here was overwhelmingly hard,
but this shop's gacha was the only way to get certain overpowered artifacts,
making it hugely popular despite the abysmal odds.
The two stat-related artifacts I wanted now,
{Dream of the Divine Beast} and {Memory of the Goddess}, were exclusives here.
Spawn times random too, so normally I wouldn't even try,
but I had Piercing Eyes, nearly omnipotent,
so activating it flooded my mind with item info.
From ordinary fire-spewing swords,
simple fireball orbs,
potion temporarily hardening the body,
simplified cooking tools,
potions boosting focus...
While scanning unknown artifacts for treasures,
Isabel asked me.
"Huh...? Aden, what about this?"
Hearing that, I turned and looked at the item.
'Oh...'
An unassuming orb, price and performance unknown, rolling around like junk,
but it aided Mana Manipulation—quite useful.
"It's something that helps with mana manipulation. Not great."
So, not for Isabel.
Helpful if you couldn't do mana manipulation,
but she already could.
Hearing my explanation, Isabel set it down as if agreeing it was meh,
and continued in a voice tinged with faint admiration.
"Oh... You can appraise artifacts too?"
"Roughly."
I vaguely affirmed and we resumed browsing.
"Aden?"
"Aden, this one?"
"Aden-!"
Afterward, as Isabel kept asking about various artifacts,
I explained them while searching the shop, but...
'Not here...'
As hard to find as in the game,
not easy.
After quite some time searching,
just as I thought maybe nothing was here...
I spotted a notable artifact.
'Hmm...'
Definitely a hidden one.
Easy to distinguish even without Piercing Eyes,
since I memorized all effects and names...
'Emperor's Tome...'
Looked like a worn-out,
useless book with just the empire's emblem in the center,
but it was a skillbook usable after learning Imperial Sword.
'Not bad...'
Very rare,
granted a passive skill,
of course not bad, but...
Failed to find the two I wanted, so a bit disappointing.
Still, not a bad book,
so I picked it up
and resumed searching the shop interior with faint hope of more.