The Stolen Star Silver
“Ruina,” Chris said, “I’ve had the most brilliant idea.”
“So you finally came up with something.”
“Let’s just make and sell hot-spring-related merchandise. The baths are far more popular than I expected, and I don’t think the craze will die down for at least another six months. Those wooden soldiers are secretly adorable, so we carve them up and sell the figures. Then we slap on the whole story about how we fought the priests of the Evil God. What do you think?”
“Chris.”
“Yeah?”
“I believe I specifically assigned you to prepare for negotiations with the Second Prince.”
“It’s not even confirmed that the Second Prince actually has the Holy Grail. So how about my idea?”
“I will not be investing.”
Character merchandising like this could mint a fortune if it succeeded, but success was never easy. It required both expertise and luck. The odds of losing money were painfully high.
“I can’t put in that much, so you should chip in a little too, Ruina. I’m not going to risk too heavily either—it’s dangerous.”
If she already understood the risks, then… well.
“Then I shall invest ten gold coins.”
“Two hundred.”
“Do you perhaps misunderstand the meaning of ‘a little’?”
Two hundred gold coins was an astronomical sum. At a rough estimate of one gold coin to a million won, the amount approached two hundred million won.
“But we need at least that much. So, what will you do? Even if you refuse, I’ll simply do it alone.”
I hesitated for a brief moment before making my decision.
“I will invest.”
“I’ll make you rich, Ruina.”
Chris bounced out of the inn with a delighted grin, clearly heading straight for the artisans’ guild. She would handle it well. After all, she was Chris—the aspiring merchant who would one day be called the demon of money.
I took a sip of honey wine. Leon spoke quietly.
“Ruina.”
“Go ahead.”
“How long do you intend to continue this?”
“I plan to drink alcohol for the rest of my life?”
“That is not what I meant.”
Leon’s gaze slid sideways. I followed it. The man who had been crouching beside us drinking water set his cup down with an awkward expression.
“Um… have I done something wrong?”
“No.”
“I see…”
Jerry took another sip of water. He really did look like he carried a tragic backstory.
“I’m curious what kind of pitiful circumstances would drive a man to drink water so pathetically in a place like this.”
“Ruina. How long exactly do you plan to keep this person with us?”
“My, my, Leon. Are you anxious about losing a friend?”
“How long do you plan to keep this person with us?”
Completely ignored. In such a short time Leon had grown remarkably good at shutting me down.
“It is rather ambiguous.”
“If it is ambiguous, would it not be best to send him back?”
“Exactly! Please send me back now! You released all the others—why am I the only one still like this?”
“If you had truly tried to kill me, I would have repaid you in kind. But Jerry only threatened me, correct? Although using magic for a threat already exceeds the level of a mere threat, does it not?”
Leon nodded at my explanation.
“It is certainly complicated.”
“Right? That is why I am still pondering. Should I repay him, or should I not?”
The moment I finished speaking, Jerry shouted in panic.
“I will simply stay like this! Do not release me!”
“But among mages, what you did is basically just a greeting, is it not?”
“Correct. That is true.”
“So I am considering returning the greeting.”
“I will simply stay like this. Please do not release me…”
Leaving the now-dejected Jerry alone, I asked the question that had been bothering me for some time.
“Jerry, are you truly a fourth-circle mage?”
“Yes… From the beginning, one cannot learn Roaring Wheel without reaching at least the fourth circle…”
So Roaring Wheel could not be learned without the fourth circle.
“It seems my master set that standard.”
“What standard do you mean?”
“Until I reached the fourth circle, I never told anyone that I was Adelian’s disciple.”
“He truly is an admirable person. To show such restraint. A man of character who will remain in the history of the Croft School.”
“Excessive praise sounds more like sarcasm.”
“Please spare me.”
Jerry actually began to cry. The genuine tears left me bewildered. Anyone watching would think I was tormenting the poor man. This was painting me in a strange light.
“Jerry. If you keep reacting like that, it stops being fun.”
“Hiiik.”
“I am joking.”
“This appears to be the first time Ruina has shown this much interest in anyone. Is there a particular reason?”
A reason? There was nothing particularly deep about it.
“We are from the same school. We should help each other live.”
“…Ah.”
Jerry let out a short, appreciative sigh. We are getting along. Really.
“Those other bastards are from the same school too, so why am I the only—”
“What was that?”
“Nothing at all.”
How dull. I added one more thing.
“And because I want to learn magic.”
“Magic, you say?”
“Yes. That Roaring Wheel looked rather delicious. You had no intention of giving it to me anyway, correct?”
“Give it? Is it even possible to give magic?”
When I responded with a meaningful smile, Jerry coughed violently. He must have swallowed the wrong way. Oh dear, do be careful.
“So you cannot teach me?”
“Roaring Wheel can only be taught to those who have joined the school and served for a set period of time…”
“Is that a no?”
“Besides, you are only third-circle. Even if I taught you, you could not use it.”
“What a shame. Then shall we part ways here?”
“I will teach you immediately.”
Jerry stepped into the room and demonstrated Roaring Wheel while explaining.
“The axis in the center is the key.”
The structure of Roaring Wheel was surprisingly simple. Process an elemental rod to serve as the axis, spin it at high speed, and create a band of elements around it. That was all. The structure itself was not as labyrinthine as its name suggested, though the difficulty was another matter entirely.
I kindled a flame inside the lantern and shaped it into a rod. Not an ordinary rod, however—an ultra-high-speed spinning one.
Crackle—.
The element formed only to scatter apart. I frowned. It was not going well.
Jerry immediately panicked.
“I definitely taught you correctly! The spell is simply very difficult!”
“I am aware.”
This fellow truly seemed to think I would stab him like a psychopath the moment anything went wrong.
There were multiple reasons for the failure, but the greatest was control over the element. Without creating a sturdy axis that could maintain its shape under intense rotation, the magic was impossible.
Inherited magic, a spell that represented a single person… Something felt just on the edge of coming to me. I decided to let it pass for now.
I attempted Roaring Wheel several more times before stopping at an appropriate moment. There was something I needed to do immediately, so I ended the practice there.
When I set the lantern down, Jerry spoke cautiously.
“Since I have taught you the magic, may I leave now?”
“No. Not until you have perfectly mastered it.”
“……”
“If you truly hate it, you may go. If my heart is appeased, I will not come looking for you.”
“I will wait.”
After leaving the room I stepped completely out of the inn. I walked through the crowded streets until I reached a building whose sign bore the short, bold words Eternia Storage.
The quiet interior reminded me of a bank. I found an empty counter, and the clerk asked,
“What business brings you here today?”
“I wish to check on a vault.”
Without further explanation I handed over the silver plaque. The clerk examined it and passed me a sheet of paper. All I needed to do was write the sixteen-character code Kelton had given me, and the procedure would be complete.
The clerk read the code, then neatly burned the paper with a flame and murmured,
“Please follow me.”
The inner area of the storage was expanded by space-distortion magic and therefore enormous. I stopped before one particular room.
With a creak the clerk opened the door, revealing a mountain of gold coins. Roughly thirty-five hundred coins, if memory served. In my previous life that would have been around three and a half billion won. Full-body healing required approximately three thousand coins, so I could have received burn treatment immediately if I wished. Yet—
“Will you make a withdrawal?”
“No. Seeing that it is still there is enough.”
I turned away, leaving the gold untouched. That money contained Kelton’s entire lifetime. I had no desire to waste it on mere burn treatment. Of course Kelton had complained that I meddled too much in how he spent his own money, but as I had said before, the moment I inherited it the owner became me. How I used it was entirely my decision.
I intended to spend it in a far more meaningful, far better place.
“But if I were to become a criminal, would this money not be confiscated?”
“There is no chance our customer would become a criminal, but in any case we simply return the stored items when the designated plaque and code are presented. We ourselves do not know who owns each vault.”
In other words, as long as the silver plaque remained well hidden, even a criminal would not lose the money. A business perfectly suited for money laundering, operating openly in the imperial capital. Was it because their backer was a high-ranking mage? With a seventh-circle mage behind them, it seemed such matters were overlooked.
I left the storage and hurried back, eager to continue the magic lessons with Jerry.
Then I stopped.
A familiar robe had caught my eye. That robe that practically reeked of chemicals—could it be the assassin? Filled with pleasant surprise, I approached Muran and greeted her.
“Hello? Has the request already been completed?”
“…No. That is not it. First, could we go somewhere quiet?”
I did not know what this was about, but I followed Muran’s wish and entered the inn, taking a seat at a table. Once I activated the soundproofing magic, Muran sat across from me and lowered her head.
“…I am sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing? Did you perhaps fail to compress the Star Silver?”
That was the only thing Muran would apologize to me for, so when I asked, she answered at once.
“…No. It is far more serious than that.”
“It cannot be—”
“…Yes. The Star Silver was stolen.”
I tapped the table. Hmm. I wondered who had dared to lay hands on my belongings. How very curious.