Chapter 44

Stepping out of the transfer gate without any particular "Welcome to Ail!" greeting, I thought I might as well pay my respects at the shrine. However, the only statue there was that of Tasha, the goddess of magic. As I thought, this is a magic nation. When I left the temple, I could see another temple in the distance.

There were five spires of the same shape, making six when combined with the spire of the temple I was in. It seems that in this city, there is one temple for each deity.

In the center, there is a castle with a dome-shaped roof.

I'm not particularly devout, but here, I know the gods actually exist and are present. It's a bit of a hassle, but I'll visit all the temples. After having lunch, though.

Ah, the guild receptionists, those lovey-dovey guys, looked pitiful, so I entrusted them with the small amount of sweets I had left. It probably won't be enough for everyone who runs out of the guild!

The climate in Ail after the transfer was nice, with no wind and clear skies. I could see a white moon in the blue sky, and it seemed that the wind was still strong up there, as white clouds were drifting by.

Well, where's a good restaurant? The lower-ranking priests have a simple diet, so I'm not sure who to ask. While thinking about this, I decided to ask a priest standing near the entrance, guiding visitors.

"Excuse me, it's my first time visiting this country. Could you tell me about places to see and recommend a good restaurant?"

"That's wonderful, welcome to the magic city of Ail. This capital, Arnsa, is known for its magic and academic pursuits. Between this temple and the castle, on the right is the magic academy, and on the left is the academic academy and library for those without magical power. You can't enter the magic academy without permission, but the academic academy is open to all. It's the largest library on this continent, so I recommend it if you're interested. As a servant of the temple, I would recommend visiting all the temples, but since they are all built the same, many people only visit the temple of their deity. Still, many people come to pray every day. As for a restaurant, based on what I've heard from visitors, 'Caterine' near the Rusa temple is a bit expensive but popular."

I got a surprisingly detailed response.

Maybe there are a lot of tourists... no, maybe there are a lot of visitors, so they are used to guiding them. Moreover, near the entrance, a girl who looked about fourteen or fifteen and was wearing something that looked like a uniform was distributing paid leaflets while offering to guide tourists.

Is this country okay?

"Seeing the capital as such a tourist spot makes me a bit worried about national defense."

I could see a simple map on the leaflet, so I bought it. While handing over 5 silvers, I voiced my thoughts. The map updated as I confirmed and put away the leaflet.

This country's roads form a hexagon with the castle at the center, like two triangles joined together. The hexagon's vertices are temples. To the north is Tasha, the goddess of wood, and then clockwise, fire, wind, earth, metal, and water.

The roads extend from the temples, intersecting to form a large hexagram, and the outer side is connected to form another hexagon. Six main streets extend from each temple. It's a good thing I have a map; otherwise, I might get lost. Once you memorize it, you can tell the direction by the subtle differences in the spires of the temples.

"Oh, this country has always accepted people from all over as an academic city, and the six temples are visited by various races as places of faith. There are also powerful barriers in places that are off-limits, so it's not defenseless."

"Barriers... Is there a place where I can learn them?"

I sensed a new skill!

"At the magic academy, you can choose classes on barriers and the castle's protective magic, but outsiders are not allowed. Are you considering enrolling?"

I can't sit down and study now. It would be different if it were Kikuhime or Leo, but I'm too old to look like a student. Age doesn't matter when it comes to learning, but...

"No, I'll pass."

"Even if it might deviate from the tour, can you guide me to the craft workshops and guilds?"

I suddenly thought of it and asked.

"Of course, I can."

It costs 100 silvers per location, so I immediately asked for a guide.

"Then, let's start with a casual place that serves good food."

"Casual...?"

"Casual means something for the common people. Casual?"

I could hear a whisper. Is this guide girl a well-bred young lady by her speech? Why is she doing tour guiding?

"...Just give me a good place, casual or not."

I corrected my order to the girl, who was completely frozen in place. Is this going to be an expensive course?

While walking and listening to her, she seemed to be a well-bred young lady, though she didn't say it outright. Her name is Christina. She has black hair and amethyst eyes that look slightly upturned, and she's a pretty candidate with a strong personality.

"Why are you doing tour guiding, Christina?"

"I wouldn't normally allow you to call me by my first name, but since I didn't introduce myself, I'll make an exception this time."

It seems to be a special exception. Her expression stiffened for a moment, but I ignored it.

"It's a school assignment."

"Interesting. By the way, is the person following us a bodyguard?"

"You noticed, huh? I'm never alone."

She said it casually.

The place we were taken to was a high-end restaurant that looked like it refused first-time customers, one block off the main street connecting the temple of Fal and the castle. There was a carriage stop, and the structure suggested that this place was not meant to be reached on foot.

Can I get in here in this outfit? What's the dress code? Christina is in her uniform.

"This is Miss, welcome."

"Conrad will come later."

It was a face pass for the young lady.

Conrad is probably the bodyguard's name. I thought he would stand out among the other customers, but it was a serious high-end place, and we were taken to a private room without encountering any other customers. Conrad didn't come; there might be a waiting room for attendants.

Wait, how much does this cost here!!!

So, I'm having a meal with a pretty candidate.

I'm sure I have enough money, so I'm ready. Bring it on.

I thought I would be nervous in an inappropriate setting, but it was more relaxed than I expected because the private room was empty except for the waiter who came to explain the dishes. The waiter was an elderly chef who looked more suited to a butler's uniform!

The high-quality ingredients were carefully prepared.

Usually, residents' products don't get evaluated, or they stay at a fixed evaluation of 4, neither good nor bad. But with some trigger—probably a named request from an adventurer or a material-provided request—their products can transform, and residents can produce items with an evaluation of 5 or higher, or they might fail.

I've also heard about residents with skills that make them fail at cooking no matter what, or those like Ruba who are called masters and can produce high-evaluation items without fail.

The chef here is the latter!

High-rank ingredients with a cheat chef!

It's incredibly delicious.

The salad and appetizers are exceptionally good.

There's rice in the salad!

Rice!

It's a watery, non-sticky, smooth substance.

Rice!

My heart is swaying between enjoying the delicious food and encountering rice. Without showing my scattered thoughts, I asked Christina.

"Is rice circulated in this country?"

"The vegetable I explained earlier? I've only eaten it here."

"It's a grain, not a vegetable. So, it's not circulated?"

"Would you like to know where to get it?"

I was relieved by her kind words!

"Of course."

I answered with a full smile, which I think was inevitable.

Christina asked the chef for the source of the rice, and I received an introduction letter to take with me. Thank you. Thank you.

"Thank you. Thanks to you, I can get it."

"I don't want to guide you while you're depressed. You're too emotional about ingredients."

She turned away when I thanked her directly. She looked flustered, which made her a cute pretty candidate.

"I thought you were a holy mage because you wanted to learn barriers, but you're not?"

"I'm a magic swordsman."

Barriers are a holy magic system that depends on MID.

"...Are you a chef?"

Her clear, hard voice wavered.

"Cooking is a hobby."

"The way you were disappointed when you found out it wasn't available was worse than if it were a hobby."

"Well, I think having barriers would be nice, but there are other magics too."

"What's your attribute?"

"Mine?"

Attribute? Does she mean the magic I can use or my compatibility?

"I won't force you to answer if you don't want to."

She seemed to care when I thought about it for a moment.

"No, I was thinking about what you meant by attribute. My compatible attributes are water, wind, darkness, and wood?"

I hadn't been using my compatible water attribute, and I hadn't even thought about having compatible attributes, so I planned to focus on fire.

"Well, you can use four attributes? And wind?"

"No, I can use wood, fire, wind, earth, metal, water, light, and darkness."

I thought it was okay to say that much, but she was surprised. Her usually expressionless face was stunned.

"All attributes!"

What? Can residents not learn all attributes? Shin is struggling with puzzles, and having both light and darkness is not common. Are lightning and air magic not possible?

"Each attribute is at a low level because I took on too many."

"Still, being able to use all attributes is rare. For common nobles, it's usually double, and for upper nobles, triple. The highest I know is sextuple. I've heard that adventurers can increase their attributes by defeating many monsters... Are you an adventurer?"

Sextuple is six? In Japanese, six attributes are wood, fire, earth, metal, water, and either light or darkness?

"Yeah, I'm an adventurer."

"I've never talked to an adventurer directly. Being able to use both light and darkness is rare even among adventurers, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's rare. But it will increase in the future. I can't teach the method to obtain both light and darkness because the person who hears it might not be able to obtain them."

The Alphas sea bream poached with crispy skin and fluffy flesh, served with a paste of Popoto potatoes and a sauce, was exquisite. The meat in the first appetizer was also delicious. I want to try a meat-focused course.

After asking more questions, I learned a shocking fact: residents couldn't use all attributes. Not just light and darkness, but the attributes they were born with plus the light or darkness attribute they could get at the temple if they had the aptitude. They could also use an attribute if they received a blessing from a spirit.

Even adventurers don't suddenly develop new attributes, and having more than four is rare.

Camilla only had darkness, and when I showed the status to the three of them, they were surprised by the lightning attribute. I hadn't realized that having many attributes was rare for residents.

Not only magic but also skill development is more common for players. Even for adventurer residents, developing skills outside their aptitude is rare, though recovery magic is easier to obtain compared to others. The more often someone visits the temple, the more likely they are to develop skills, according to Christina.

Christina herself has five attributes: wood, fire, metal, water, and darkness.

When I asked about recovery, she said that more people can obtain it compared to light and darkness, but to be called a light attribute user, the recovery effect must be significantly high. Recovery is only effective for minor injuries, like a child's scraped knee.

In this way, I gathered more information about this world than I expected.

The chocolate tart with San Orange ice cream was delicious. Eating them together created a different flavor.

...Yeah, the bill was higher than the amount I planned to spend on a full set of equipment. I should be praised for stopping Christina from adding it to her family's bill.

I was so excited about the introduction letter for rice that Christina said, "You really do love eating, don't you?"

"Your hope was the magic stone workshop, right?"

When I asked during the meal, she said that the industry in Ail is strong in magic stone processing and alchemical processing of gems.

In Ail, processed magic stones are called enchanted stones to distinguish them from unprocessed ones. Alchemically processed gems become enchanted stones with various effects and are used in accessories.

"Is the store's workshop okay?"

While muttering, I was guided to a large store.

Yeah, I kind of expected it.

The area between wood and water is a student district because of the academy, but I was surprised to see many prestigious, high-class stores. The grounds were unusually large, and the buildings didn't look like stores at first glance.

When I entered the store, I didn't feel the strong magic of the enchanted stones or the high-transparency gems with magic arrays inside, which were displayed in the showcase. The showcase was there, but the items were displayed like art pieces in a tasteful lobby. This store brings out items based on the customer's taste, and they are one-of-a-kind.

If I buy here, I'll go bankrupt again.

Christina talked to the manager and called me over.

It seems they will show me the processing process, and the store manager will be my guide. How high is Christina's family status?

Enchanted stones are created by combining magic stones, compatible gems, and herbs through alchemy, enhancing the magic stone's effects several times. The process is simple; you just place the ingredients in the array. As long as the combination is correct, there shouldn't be any problems. The resulting enchanted stones are not used alone but are mostly used to add attributes or special abilities to weapons and armor.

Gems are diverse.

You can combine low-quality gems to create a higher-quality, flawless gem, or you can alchemically combine a magic array on parchment with a gem to enclose the array inside the gem.

The mechanism of the magic array being transferred to the gem reminded me of the system where the inter-country travel permit at the adventurer guild is absorbed into a card. It's probably a type of alchemy or a magic item.

According to the manager, the people working on the process have a specialized skill called gem alchemy, which is derived from alchemy.

"How about making one?"

"Can I make one?"

"Alchemy is impossible, but as a young lady, you can write a magic array. Let's alchemize it with your favorite gem."

I'm being guided by Christina, but the manager is guiding her, and I'm just an extra.

"What about you, Homura?"

Her expression didn't change much, but her voice was a bit excited. She probably wants to make one. I also want to learn magic arrays. I'll definitely take advantage of this.