Chapter 13

Returning from the refinery to the guild, I reported in. This would mean a rank-up.

"Hello, Sally. I've completed the request."

"Yes. Could you please hand me your guild card?"

As usual, Sally greeted me with a smile, and I handed over my guild card with a smile as well. I thought I saw her smile twitch.

"Don't push it... Don't push it, okay? Here. It's 9972 kg, so that's 19944 Tels."

Muttering to herself, Sally went to the back and then returned, handing me the coins and my guild card. I put them in my item box. The guild card read "Rank F."

I had four iron coins. They seemed to be minted, but the shape was a bit irregular, and the iron itself seemed to contain many impurities. Well, they probably couldn't afford to spend much on the cheapest currency.

I thanked her and left the guild. I had become a bit of a small-time rich person again. However, since I still needed to gather items necessary for my adventurer life, they might be gone soon.

I entered the general store next to the guild. It was about half the size of a convenience store on Earth.

"Welcome. What would you like to buy?"

An old woman greeted me. Despite the prime location, she seemed to be the only employee. You can't judge a book by its cover, I guess.

The store had shelves with items, but the layout was different from a convenience store, which considered security. Of course, there was no cash register or air conditioning.

Instead of drinks, there were potions. The caps of the containers varied by type. The containers were wooden cups (about twice the size of a PET bottle cap) with wooden lids, sealed with some kind of adhesive. I wondered how they opened them.

The prices were high for the quantity, but it was written that they were slightly cheaper than usual, so now was a good time to buy. Something must have happened. Maybe the old woman had bought too many by mistake?

I compared the prices and appraisal results of the potions. As expected, the potions were quite expensive.

A potion that seemed to restore about 2 HP cost 1200 Tels, which was two days' worth of lodging. But if it could restore 1/15th of a normal person's stamina, was it cheap? If we consider it as 1/15th of a person's weight, it would restore about 4 kg of function.

I didn't know what HP was, but if a 2 HP restoration potion was this expensive, it must be quite useful.

If I couldn't use healing magic in a situation, it would be troublesome, so I decided to buy about five.

I probably wouldn't fall into such a situation soon, and I didn't know if I could use the potion when I needed it. Besides, it was written that the same type of potion wouldn't work for 30 minutes after use. I could replenish it when it ran out.

The mana restoration potions were also expensive. A potion that restored 7 MP cost 1000 Tels. For a mage with about 30 MP, it could instantly restore the amount that would take about 4 hours to recover naturally, so it might be useful. But I didn't need it. A 7 MP restoration was a level that could recover while taking out and drinking the potion. Well, that might be an exaggeration.

The restriction on consecutive use of mana restoration potions was less strict than that of HP potions, but it still wouldn't work for 5 minutes.

Then, I noticed about 20 dusty containers at the end of the potion shelf.

The price tag—like the request board at the guild—read 100 Tels. Cheap.

I appraised it.

Mana Recovery Acceleration Potion

Description: Increases mana recovery speed by 10 times. Effect duration is 3 hours.

This potion seemed to be made for me. I could recover nearly 3000 with one bottle. Moreover, there was no restriction on consecutive use, and it was cheap.

I had to buy it. I grabbed all the Mana Recovery Acceleration Potions from the shelf, balanced them with the HP potions on my hands and arms, and carried them to the old woman.

"Those are not mana potions but recovery acceleration potions. Are you sure you want them?"

"Yes, this is exactly what I need! I can't understand why these were dusty!"

Well, it was probably because normal people had little MP.

"Well, sir, these potions are cheap because they require fewer materials. They're not very useful for adventurers because they don't have immediate effects. If you use them for a long time, you might as well drink mana potions continuously, as they would recover more. And they won't work while the effect is active. They're mostly used by people who do magic work in safe places, not for combat."

"I see. Well, I have a use for them, so I'll gratefully buy all of them. By the way, how do I open these lids?"

"You don't know that? Can you use life magic? If you say 'Open,' it will open. If you don't know, it's better not to force it. It's good that you're buying them, but I don't want to lose a customer if you die."

I don't have life magic, but I should be able to use it from my skills. I just need to say "Open" or imagine it.

"Yes, I'll be careful. And I'll take these too."

I handed over eight silver coins and the HP potions. I thought I might not have enough, but there were exactly 20 Mana Recovery Acceleration Potions.

"Thank you. Come again. If we're both alive, that is."

The old woman smiled. I wish she wouldn't make jokes that aren't funny. It's hard to react.

I deflected her joke with a Japanese-specific skill, pretended to put the potions in my pocket, and actually put them in my item box before leaving the store. It was getting tedious to put everything in the item box, but it was a good purchase.

What should I buy next? I didn't think I needed anything in particular. Oh, a staff. Dovellarg's shop didn't have any.

Looking around, I saw a shop with staffs. Although Dovellarg didn't recommend it, it was near the guild, so it probably wasn't a bad shop.

I went to the front of the shop. It was called "Magic Item Shop." There were wooden staffs about 1.2 meters long leaning against the wall.

There was no door, and the shop felt like an old bookstore in a shopping district. There was no shutter, but I guess there was no need to worry about theft since you'd become a thief if you stole. Besides, it was in front of the guild, so it would be easy to be caught.

In front of the shop, there were long staffs, 60 cm staffs, and magic items that looked like the dim lights in the inn.

I appraised the magic item that looked like the light in the inn. It was called a "Magic Lamp." As the name suggested, it was a magical light.

It was written that it could operate for about 8 hours with 1 MP. It seemed to have good fuel efficiency, and the price was 500 Tels, which was reasonably affordable.

As I was looking at the Magic Lamp, a voice came from the back of the shop.

"Are you interested in the Magic Lamp?"

The voice belonged to a woman who looked like a typical mage.

By "typical mage," I don't mean a hawk-nosed old woman with a tall hat.

I mean the kind of cute mage you often see in light novels. Blue short hair, blue eyes, short stature, thin chest armor, and a 1.2-meter staff.

She was the perfect embodiment of a cute mage.

"N-no, I just wanted to look at it. I'm actually looking for a staff, a short one, about this long."

I indicated a length of about 15-20 cm with my hand.

"Huh? Haha, you're funny. There's no such thing as a staff that short. A staff that short would only increase your magic speed by 2-3 times. Even if your magic is a bit faster, you'd need at least a 10 times increase for combat use."

The cute mage looked confused for a moment, then laughed. She was cute.

"Ah, I'm quite fast with magic, so that would be fine. I've been using a sword and shield while casting magic, but my shield is arm-mounted, so my left hand is free. I want a staff that won't get in the way."

"Are you going to use a sword while casting magic? You're making jokes non-stop. But if you have the money, I can make one for you. It would cost about 2000 Tels. But if it turns out to be useless, I can't accept returns."

It seemed she would make it for me. But couldn't I just cut down one of the staffs already there?

"Can't you just cut down one of the staffs here? I don't mind if it's a bit more expensive."

I pointed to a 60 cm staff, which was priced at 4000 Tels.

"Cut down...! Hahaha, cut down...! The staff... Hahaha..."

She laughed. Did I say something that funny?

"Staff, hahaha, depending on the part, hahaha, the function, hahaha, is different, so, hahaha, cutting it down, hahaha, is meaningless. Hahaha."

So, the staff has different functions depending on the part, and cutting it down is meaningless.

"Then, I'll take this one."

I waited for the cute mage, who had collapsed from laughter, to get up, handed her two silver coins, and left the shop.

She said, "I think it will be ready by noon tomorrow." My equipment, including armor, should be ready by tomorrow evening.

There were also F-rank requests for extermination and hunting, so I might go hunting the day after tomorrow. I felt that gathering herbs might be more profitable, but I had already paid for the equipment, so I wasn't that short on money. Hunting would also help me level up and rank up.

I hadn't fought today and wasn't tired, but there was nothing else to do, so I went back to the inn, had dinner at a restaurant, and went to bed early.

I might spend the morning gathering herbs and then go to pick up my equipment.