Chapter 12: The Potion and The Wand

I returned to the Guild from the smelter to make a report on my quest, so I could Rank Up.

「Hello, Sally-san. I have fulfilled the request. 」

「Yes. Can you give me your Guild card? 」

Sally-san responded with a smile as usual. I also gave my Guild card with a smile. Then, Sally-san’s smile began to distort.

「I don’t care…I don’t care anymore… Yes. You brought 9972 kg, which is 19944 Tael.」

Sally-san, who spoke with a quivering voice, handed me the coins and my Guild card. I threw them all together in the item box. I noticed that my Guild card said rank F.

I noticed four iron coins among the money I received. It seemed that iron coins were also used widely, but the shape was a little uneven and the iron itself had impurities. Well, I did not think that the cheapest currency would be that useful in the first place.

I thanked Sally-san and left the Guild. I became a little rich again. With that said I still had to collect some things needed for my adventurer life, so it was likely that this amount of money would disappear soon.

For the time being, I entered a store next to the Guild. It was about half the size of a convenience store on Planet Earth.

「Welcome. What do you want to buy? 」

An old woman talked to me. The store was in a very good location, but the owner seemed to be a lonesome old woman. Oh well, I must not judge other people by their appearance.

The store had shelves, and the layout was quite different from that of convenience stores, where products were placed in such a way to avoid petty crime. Naturally, there was no cash register in this world.

Instead of drinks, this place had potions. The shape of the container caps differed depending on the type. The containers were made of wood (although twice the size of a plastic bottle lid). The lid and the container were glued together. I wondered how one would open it.

The price was high for the amount, and yet, it had a discount written on it. It seemed that this high price was actually cheaper than the usual amount. I wondered if this was correct. Did the old woman got it wrong and priced them too high?

I compared the current price of the potion with the appraisal result. Apparently, the potion was truly expensive. 1 potion recovered about 2 HP and cost 1200 Tael, which was the amount of the accommodation fee for 2 days. However, it could be a great deal if it recovered 1/15 of a normal human physical strength.

I did not know if it could be useful for my HP, but the fact that this store sold recovery potions at such a high price meant that it had to be useful in some way.

Thinking about it, if I got myself in a situation where I could not use recovery magic, then I would be in great trouble. Therefore, I decided to buy about 5 of them. I could not mix them and each of them only lasted about 30 minutes. However, if I ran out, I could always replenish them.

The potion that restored magical power was also high. The potion that recovered about 7 MP cost 1000 Tael. It may be useful for a wizard with an MP of about 30 because it could instantly replenish the amount of magical power that could be recovered in about 4 hours. For me, it was useless. I was at a level where recovering 7 MP would be insignificant.

Either way, the use of a recovery magic potion was less effective than a physical recovery potion. Besides, the magic recovery potion only lasted 5 minutes after usage.

Then, I found about 20 dust-covered containers on the edge of the potions’ shelf. Price tag…It said 100 Tael. It was cheap. I decided to appraise it.

—

Magic Recovery Acceleration Potion

Description: Increases the MP recovery speed by 10 times. The effect time lasts 3 hours.

—

This was the perfect potion for me. I could recover nearly 1 in 3000. Moreover, there was no restrictions for continuous use. It was cheap on top of that.

I had no choice but to buy it. I grabbed all of the magic recovery acceleration potions on the shelf, and carried them to the old woman while dexterously balancing with the HP potions.

「You didn’t bring magic potions, but recovery acceleration potions? Is that okay with you?」

「Yes, these are rather good! I don’ know why these were covered in dust!」

Well, maybe because of the low MP of ordinary people.

「Well, you know, that type of potion is cheap because it requires fewer materials, but that’s all. It isn’t useful for adventurers because it doesn’t have an immediate effect. Even if you use it for a long time, you can recover yourself more quickly if you drink the magic potion at the same time. At best, it is used by those who work with magic in a safe place, but not for combat.」

「Is that so? Well, this type of potion has a use for me, so I am going to buy all of them. By the way, how do I open the lid?」

「I don’t know how to explain it well. But, you can use Life Magic, right? If you chant to break the seal, then it will open. If you can’t use it well, then you won’t open it. It’s okay to buy it, but if you die, the number of customers will decrease by one.」

I did not have Life Magic, but I was sure that I could open it because of my special skill. Maybe I could do it by saying “open” or just by imagining it.

「Yes. I won’t die that easily. Please add it to my bill.」

With that said, I also put the HP potions on the counter and gave the old woman 8 silver coins. I also bought 20 recovery acceleration potions.

「Thank you. Please come again. Well, if you are alive by then.」

The old woman smiled at me while saying that. I did not know if she was joking with me or telling the truth. Therefore, I did not laugh at those words. In fact, I had trouble reacting. I threw the potions into the item box while pretending to be oblivious and left the store. It was awkward, but I did some good shopping.

What should I buy next? Oh, a wand. There were no wands for sale in Dveragh-san’s shop.

I looked around, and saw a store with a staff design. This store was not recommended by Dveragh-san, but since it was near the Guild, it wouldn’t be a strange shop, I think.

I stopped in front of the store for the time being. The store said, “Magic Tool Shop”. A staff made of wood with a length of about 1.2 m high leaned against the entrance.

I came inside smoothly, since it had no doors. They sold magic tools, but this place sort of felt like a second-hand bookstore in a shopping street. There were no safe mechanisms to prevent crime. I wondered what type of mechanism they used for thieves. Besides, since this store was in front of the Guild, it would be difficult to steal.

In addition to the long staff at the entrance, I saw other items inside, such as a staff of about 60 cm and a magic tool that looked like the light bulb in the inn but a little smaller. When I appraised the magic tool that looked like a light bulb, it appeared the words, “Magic Light”. Just as the name suggested, this object seemed to be a tool that illuminated with the usage of magic. The description said that this tool worked for about 8 hours by consuming 1 MP. It seemed that the mana consumption was quite good. It had a reasonable price at 500 Tael each.

While I stared at the magic light bulb, I heard a voice from the back of the store.

「Are you interested in magic lights? 」

The one who spoke to me was a woman who looked like a witch. A witch did not mean an old woman with a pointed hat and an eagle nose. Actually, this witch was someone I often saw in light novels. She had short blue hair, blue eyes, short stature and a thin chest armor. She also carried a staff of about 1m20cm in one hand. She looked like the perfect Lolita* witch.

「No…No. I was just curious about the magic lights. What I want is a staff. In fact, a short staff, or to put it simple, a wand.」

I showed about 15 to 20 cm with my hands while describing the wand that I wanted.

「Eh? Fuh fuh, you’re a funny guy. There is no way that I have a staff that size. Using a staff of that length will only increase the magic speed by two or three times. For battles, you will need a staff strong enough to increase your magic speed by at least 10 times or more. Do you understand what am I saying?」

The Lolita witch laughed weirdly upon hearing my request. How cute.

「Ah, I can use magic at a relatively fast rate, so that’s fine with me. Until now, I’ve been using a sword and a shield while invoking magic, but since the shield is a type that I can attach to my arm, my left hand is free. I want a small staff that won’t get in the way.」

「Do you use magic and a sword at the same time? It seems that you can joke too. Anyway, if you have the money, I will make it for you. What do you think? That size will be around 2000 Tael. But, if you really want to purchase a piece that size, I won’t be held responsible for its malfunction. So don’t come here later to say that it was useless.」

Apparently, she was willing to make it. But I wondered if it was necessary to wait for something that she could easily cut down from a long staff.

「Why don’t you cut it down from one of your staffs? I don’t mind if it gets just a little bit longer than the size I requested.」

I pointed toward the 60 cm staff while professing those words…The price plate said 4000 Tael.

「Cut it down…!? Fuh fuh fuh fuh…Cut it down, you say…! A staff…Fuh fuh fuh…」

She laughed at me again. Did I say something strange or funny again?

「A staff, ah, fuh fuh, has different functions depending on the part, fuh fuh, so if you cut it down, fuh fuh, it will be meaningless.」

Is that so? I see.

「Then, please make me one.」

I waited for the Lolita witch, who had fallen down to the floor because of her laughter, to get up. Then, I gave her two silver coins and left the store. The Lolita, who seemed to have finally recovered from her laughter, said, “It will be ready by tomorrow noon.” It meant that my equipment would be available tomorrow, including the armor.

The F-rank requests at the Guild were either subjugation requests or extermination requests, so I decided to go hunting for the time being. I did not know if it would be more profitable than picking herbs. Regardless, I paid for all the equipment and I was not in short of money right now. If I hunted, then my level would surely go up and my rank would go up easily too.

I did not fought today, so I was not tired. However, I still did not have all of the equipment with me. Therefore, I went back to the inn, had dinner at the restaurant, and went to bed.

I decided my plans for tomorrow before falling asleep. First, I would spend some time collecting herbs until noon, and then, I would go pick up the rest of the equipment.

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*In Japanese culture, the term is used to describe the Lolita fashion subculture of cute (kawaii) or delicately feminine appearance reflecting an idyllic childhood, a girl’s world of frilly dresses and dolls.

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