The Suspicious Magic Tool Merchant
Since I had already bought Erna a gift, I was browsing around to pick something out for Lumine as well.
Both of them seemed best suited to practical items they would actually use often, so I decided to look for something along those lines for Lumine too.
Even among mages, Lumine was the type known as a “magitech mage.” She specialized in using auxiliary magic tools—offensive ones, defensive ones, and the like—to make her combat far more efficient.
Apparently her defensive magic tool had been destroyed during the recent battle with the hydra.
I was the one who had invited her along, so buying her a replacement felt like the least I could do.
“I’m so torn~ ♬ Knowing Esilly is treating me makes me happy too~ ♬”
Defensive magic tools were expensive enough that she had politely refused at first, insisting she would buy one herself. But the moment she spotted the new bag at Erna’s waist, she changed her mind and threw herself into shopping with gusto.
Cute.
She was older than me, yet still so adorable.
“Lumine unnie, what about this one?”
“The defensive power looks decent, but the design is terribly outdated. The craftsman’s sense leaves much to be desired.”
Lumine was the sort of person who would wear thick clothes and a full robe even in the scorching desert, so fashion clearly mattered a great deal to her. Erna, by contrast, seemed more focused on efficiency and value for money… or so I thought. Then again, the bag we had just bought her had a little embroidered teddy bear on it, so maybe she cared about design more than I realized.
“Then how about this? The design is plain enough, and the mana-to-performance ratio looks ridiculous.”
“Hmm…”
This time she stared intently at the tool I recommended. Even that one failed to impress her; she shook her head and turned her attention to the other displays.
“The output is a little higher than the one I used before.”
“I guess being the chief mage of the Alliance Lord’s household meant you got to use the good stuff…”
So her old one really had been that excellent. In that case we would just have to keep looking around.
While we were at it, maybe I should start branching into the magitech-mage route myself. Fighting the hydra had driven home a painful truth: once I started preparing a spell, I had no way to protect myself if a monster attacked mid-cast.
“What would be good…”
“If you need a defensive magic tool too, Esilly, how about something like this?”
The tool Lumine held out for me was one that summoned a mithril shield to follow me around and block attacks. It guzzled mana and was far from efficient, but with my infinite mana recovery those drawbacks barely registered as penalties. The price tag, though—ouch.
Expensive, inefficient, and mana-hungry. No wonder it was still sitting on the shelf.
“Maybe I’ll buy it and test it at the labyrinth entrance.”
“If you use it, Esilly, it’ll become an absolutely broken magic tool.”
When Lumine put it that way, I had to trust her. I called the shopkeeper over, handed him ten gold coins, and finished the transaction on the spot.
“I’ll take this one.”
What Lumine lifted was a defensive tool slightly weaker than her previous one, but with a far lower mana consumption rate. Mine manifested a mithril shield that stayed active and blocked for me; hers generated a mana shield only when she became the target of an attack, then vanished again. Because it appeared only in the moments it was needed, the mana cost stayed low. Mine was an on-off type that simply drank mana the entire time it was active.
Why bother worrying about mana consumption when our whole party had infinite mana? Because magic tools still overheated after prolonged use and became unusable. Lumine’s old defensive tool had broken precisely because she had pushed it past its limit until it overloaded.
“Please ring this up.”
“Oh my, thank you so much! Here’s your change!”
Maybe it was because we had finally bought something that never sold. The shopkeeper was beaming from ear to ear. The item was expensive, too, and looked like it had been gathering dust for ages. For him this must have felt like free money falling from the sky.
“Thank you, Esilly.”
“It’s not free for you either, Lumine. I’m going to collect payment somehow.”
“H-how…?”
With Erna I was willing to wait for the distant future. With Lumine, I planned to collect no later than tonight—maybe the moment we got back to the hotel.
I leaned in close so Erna couldn’t hear, bringing my lips right to Lumine’s ear and whispering as softly as a baby bird murmuring to its mother.
“With your body.”
After that, Lumine’s face turned as red as a ripe tomato.
We hadn’t scoured the entire magic-tool market, but we had found enough satisfying purchases that it was time to eat.
The biggest reason I had come to the Labyrinth City in the first place was the abundance of delicious food, wasn’t it? I had no idea how long we would stay, so I intended to enjoy as much of it as possible. That way I wouldn’t end up somewhere else later, regretting that I had never tried this or that dish.
First, decide on the menu.
As for me, meat, fish, vegetables—anything was fine as long as it tasted good! Ideally we would find a place where all three of us could eat happily.
“I’d love to have charcoal-grilled meat again. It’s been so long.”
With Lumine’s request added to the mix, the task of reconciling everyone’s wishes fell to Erna—the youngest among us, yet the one who had lived longest in the Labyrinth City.
She pondered in silence for a good ten minutes before finally nodding and speaking with quiet confidence.
“If we head toward the entertainment district there’s a big public restaurant. I’m sure both of you will be satisfied there.”
“If Erna’s that sure, we have to go.”
“Then let’s head there.”
By unanimous vote of our little gourmet expedition, the destination was set: the large public restaurant in the entertainment district.
That made me wonder what the Labyrinth City’s specialty products actually were. Not the magic tools or mana stones excavated from the labyrinth, but something edible—something you could actually consume.
“Surprisingly, the fish caught inside the labyrinth are quite popular. They even export them.”
“Fish… from the labyrinth?”
“Esilly, we saw them ourselves not long ago—flopping around all lively.”
“Ah… so those weren’t monsters.”
Labyrinths and dungeons weren’t home only to monsters. Ordinary animals lived there too. Still, fish from a place like that felt a little… off. Then again, as long as they tasted good, I supposed it didn’t matter.
Chatting about food the whole way, we set off for the restaurant. The walk from the magic-tool market to the entertainment district took less than five minutes, so we decided to take our time and browse a little more on the way.
The market’s turnover was faster than I expected. Some vendors were packing up for the day while others were just arriving to set out their wares. Sure enough, several magic-tool merchants who hadn’t been there earlier now stood out clearly.
Lingering near the entrance, the three of us found ourselves drawn like foxes under a spell toward the very first stall. We craned our necks over the display.
“Mister, what’s this?”
One of the tools looked especially strange, so I picked it up and asked the owner. Neither Lumine nor Erna recognized it either—maybe it was something rare.
When we asked what it was, the man flashed a broad grin.
“Looks like the young lady’s a bit behind on the latest news! This is a monster-repelling magic tool freshly developed on the Northern Continent.”
“Have either of you heard of it?”
“No, first time.”
“Same here.”
Both of them shook their heads. Lumine I could understand, but Erna was usually so knowledgeable about magic tools that her ignorance made me a little suspicious. The merchant, however, nodded as if that were only natural.
“Of course you wouldn’t know! This tool was only developed recently!”
“Hmm… so if I just carry this around, monsters will actively avoid me?”
“Exactly! Dungeon, labyrinth, open field, deep forest—doesn’t matter! Carry this one item and monsters won’t even show up!”
Whoa. If that claim was true, this thing was incredible. Constant monster encounters were a massive source of stress for any adventurer. Even someone as strong as me would be in real trouble if a monster appeared while I was sleeping or bathing. Just the other day, during the expedition, one had shown up while I was washing and forced me to charge out wearing nothing but a towel!
Worth it!
That was the conclusion my brain reached.
“If the young lady buys it right this second, I’ll let it go for two gold coins! At that price it’s practically a steal!”
“I’ll take it! Right now!”
Two gold coins for something like that? I had to buy it. I was already digging into my pouch for the coins when—
“Unnie, let’s just go.”
“It looks way too suspicious. Better not.”
“It’s fine. Even if it doesn’t work, it’s only two gold.”
“Still…”
“It’s okay, it’s okay!”
I managed to talk the two of them around and handed over the two gold coins. They both sighed, but gambles like this weren’t half bad in my experience!
“I knew the young lady had a good eye for merchandise! Use it well!”
“Thank you. If it works out I’ll come back for more!”
I slipped the magic tool into my Inventory and waved to the merchant as we walked toward the entertainment district.
I would test it as soon as possible—and if I liked it, I would definitely come back for another.