Chapter 26

Previous Summary ------------------------------------------------------

We are going to the town of Saarstadt to look for a friend, but before that, we decided to spend a day wandering around the town of Lafan for a rest.

-- Bookstore.

The first place we visited was the only bookstore in town, as Haruka wished.

It's a small shop, about 10 square meters in size, and gives the impression of an old bookstore in a back alley, slightly dim.

However, there is a significant difference from what I imagine when I hear "bookstore."

First, the selling area is very small.

At the entrance, right inside, there is a counter, and in that area, there are no bookshelves at all, only a small table.

On that table, only tattered books are piled up, and the books that can be sold normally are stored on the shelves behind the counter.

An old man with white hair sits at the counter, and it seems that one cannot go beyond that point.

In other words, it is arranged so that "you can look at the tattered books, but you cannot touch the normal books."

The reason is obvious; the books are expensive.

"Are you going to buy something?"

"Yeah. As I mentioned before, I need magic textbooks, right? I want to learn not only the basics but also elemental magic to level up."

"Indeed. I'm still level 1, you know."

"But, are you going to buy them now? For an expedition? They look heavy, you know?"

When Toya said that, I looked at the shelves behind the counter.

The books lined up there give a very heavy impression, creating a good fantasy atmosphere.

They are certainly not the kind of books that are easy to handle, like paperbacks or pocket books.

If I were to measure their weight, they would probably be in kilograms.

"…What should we do?"

"…Let's check the prices, yeah. Let's do that."

"Really, in reality, the luggage problem is a big one…."

It hinders us in various ways.

Conversely, if we could just make a magic bag, things would progress a lot.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for magic books…"

"Which ones?"

When Haruka spoke to the old man, he only glanced up from the book he was holding and asked.

"Basics and books related to water, wind, light, fire, space-time, and alchemy, if you have them."

"…Hmm. Wait a moment."

The old man put down the book and stood up, pulling out a few books from the shelves behind and lining them up on the counter.

"These are the basics. The contents are almost the same, but they cost 15,000 rea and 20,000 rea. These are water, light, and fire. They cost 30,000 rea, 36,000 rea, and 25,000 rea, respectively. The alchemy dictionary is out of stock."

T, that's expensive!

I had expected it to be high, but it was even higher.

Are we talking about books costing hundreds of thousands of yen each…?

"That's quite a lot. Is the price difference due to the condition?"

"Yes. If you just want to read, the 15,000 one is enough."

When I compared the two basic magic books lined up, the cheaper one was indeed more worn out, and the binding was a bit cheaper.

Since we're not buying art, and we're just reading the contents, if we're going to buy, the cheaper one is the only choice.

"What about wind and space-time?"

"There are no books on wind and space-time. Wind books occasionally come in, but space-time is almost impossible."

"Is that so?"

It seems that space-time magic is indeed rare.

If no one uses it, magic books won't sell, and if they don't sell, they won't be stocked.

It makes sense.

In the first place, since there are no publishers or wholesalers, it's difficult to obtain the books you want.

Most of them are old books that mages or nobles have let go of, and new editions or new copies are rarely stocked.

There is a profession called a copyist, but it requires not only reading and writing, but also the financial power to obtain the original book, connections with people who own books, and the patience and concentration to copy them accurately. Since the demand for books is low, the number of copyists is small.

"Old man, what about the books on this table?"

"Those are clearance items. They're all 2,000 rea each, but if pages are missing, don't complain."

"Wow, cheap…?"

No, no, a clearance sale of old books with missing pages for 20,000 yen is not cheap.

I almost mistook it for the price of a regular book.

But, something about it catches my attention.

When I picked one up, it was indeed tattered.

It wouldn't fall apart if I held it, but the cover was missing, the binding was loose, and pages were separated, and there were actually missing pages.

That's why it might be interesting—

"Naoto, are you going to buy something later?"

"…Yeah."

I want to look for a good find, but it's frustrating that I can't increase my luggage right now.

Pulling my hand, which was lingering on the table, Haruka bowed slightly to the old man.

"Thank you. I'll come back to buy something."

"Hmph, I won't wait for you."

Despite his words, the old man seemed a bit pleased, and we thanked him and left the store.

-- Clothing Store.

This was also Haruka's wish.

"Do you have something to do? We have enough, don't we?"

The clothes we bought were considering the need to wash them, but thanks to Haruka's [Purification], we don't even need to wash or dry them.

We change clothes during the day and at night, but in theory, two sets would be enough.

"The clothes we have now are cheap and durable, right? Wouldn't it be good to upgrade a bit in terms of comfort and design? Clothes, food, and shelter are very important for living, right?"

"Yeah, clothes are important."

Do we really need them?

During work, we wear leather armor over our cloth clothes, so they're barely visible.

We only take them off during the relaxation time after dinner until we go to bed, which is like pajamas.

We hardly see them, just us.

Do we really need them?

Isn't it a waste?

Of course, I told Haruka that.

"Yeah, maybe."

No way.

Interfering with a woman's choice of clothes leads to trouble.

Toya and I have learned that.

I'd like to improve my skills and shorten the time spent on clothes shopping with some talk techniques.

Should I try this time?

No training, no level up.

When I looked at Toya, he nodded and gave me a go-ahead sign.

"Hey, Haruka—"

Our stay at the clothing store was only about 2 hours.

Of course, we didn't buy anything.

-- Complete defeat for Shoji Naoto.

-- Weapon Shop

This was Toya's wish.

Toya, who recently bought a decent weapon, suggested that Haruka and I, who have the lowest rank weapons, should update them.

"Gantz, we're going to bother you."

"Yeah, you guys. Finally decided to buy better weapons?"

Gantz, who has been helping us since the first day, greeted us.

At first, he didn't even greet us, but after using his services a few times and consulting with him, he got to know us and started giving us advice.

"I bought mine. Today, I'm here to look at weapons for Haruka and Naoto."

Gantz snorted at Toya's words.

"You only have a sword, right? Your armor is trash, and you need a shield, too, don't you?"

Trash… Toya's partial armor was a pretty good buy—admittedly, it was much cheaper than others.

"We don't have much money. I don't want to buy mediocre ones. Or will you give us a discount, Gantz?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I make a living from this. I can't just give discounts! -- But, if you're buying a few, I might consider it."

Is Gantz a tsundere!?

Well, actually, he has given us a few small discounts before.

"Besides, when you're young, you shouldn't hoard money. Against monsters, money is just a weapon or armor. With a good weapon, you can protect yourself, and if necessary, you can sell it."

"What about against humans?"

"It's bait. If rookies smell money, troublesome people will come around."

Gantz snorted again and twisted his face in dissatisfaction.

When he said that, we looked at each other.

To be honest, we were also uneasy about carrying large amounts of money.

As ordinary high school students, carrying over 100,000 yen in our wallets made us worry about losing it.

Now, we're carrying about 100 times that amount in a place with worse security than Japan.

It's impossible not to be anxious.

We'd like to deposit it in a bank, but in this world, there's no system for individuals to deposit money.

If we could deposit money with a guild card, it would be great!

"To be honest, you guys would be easy targets in other towns. You look like amateurs, and you seem to have a decent amount of money. Be grateful for the good security in this town."

We seem to be easy targets.

Should we check if we're carrying any radishes on our backs?

(What should we do?)

(Gantz has a point. I was a bit scared to carry a wallet, too.)

(I think we should keep about 100,000 rea and use the rest.)

(No, wait! We need money for books.)

(Then, how about keeping 200,000 to 300,000 rea and buying weapons and armor?)

We nodded in agreement with Haruka's suggestion.

"Have you made up your minds?"

"Yes. By the way, Gantz, can you tell us what makes us look like easy targets?"

"Clean clothes, cheap weapons and armor, and one of you has a high-quality weapon. It looks like a rich kid brought a weapon from home, doesn't it?"

When he pointed that out, we looked at each other.

Now that he mentioned it, it could look that way.

But in reality, we're not staying in an expensive inn, and Toya's weapon was a hard-earned purchase, putting us on the back burner.

We do have money now, though.

"There are some people who judge by appearance without thinking. If you want to avoid trouble, a bit of bluffing is necessary, you know?"

"Thank you. Do you have any good bows and spears?"

"Yeah, wait a moment."

Gantz went to the back and returned with two bows and two spears, which he lined up on the counter.

"First, these. They are made of a composite material of elder treant and mithril, and the strings are made of specially processed magi-spider silk. The feature is that it uses the shooter's magic to create arrows. You won't need to replenish arrows anymore, right?"

Wow! It's a magical weapon.

Arrows, which are consumables, take up space and budget, so not needing them would be very convenient.

Isn't that great?

"Hmm. Can't you just use magic normally?"

"…Maybe for you. But this can be used by people who can't use magic. Plus, the activation time is short."

Well, for a fire arrow, I can do it almost instantly.

Wouldn't it be slower because you need to draw the bow?

It might be good for humans, but a bit iffy for elves?

"How much are they?"

"Since they're not that powerful, they're surprisingly cheap. 78 million rea."

Too expensive.

To be honest, even at a tenth of the price, it wouldn't be worth it for us.

If you have magic, you can just use it.

Haruka immediately shook her head.

"No, thanks. At least for us, it's not worth it."

"Tch! Well, you're an elf. Then, how about this? It's made from processed branches of a treant. It doesn't have any special effects, but it's a good, solid bow."

"Can I try it?"

"Yeah."

Haruka picked up the bow from the counter and drew it a few times to check the feel.

It looks like a regular wooden bow, but the quality of the wood seems quite high.

I can only tell that much, but it's hard to know how valuable it really is.

"How much is this?"

"Well, it's just a regular bow. 80,000 rea."

"That's a big drop."

"That was a joke. I didn't think you'd buy it."

"True. Let's keep this one. Can I see the spears?"

"This is my recommendation. The tip is made of yellow iron, and the shaft is made of pseudo-ironwood, which is quite hard. It's a bit heavy, but the sharpness and durability are in a different league."

"Can I try it?"

"Yeah."

I took the spear Gantz offered and swung it lightly.

It's a bit heavy, but within acceptable limits.

The pseudo-ironwood shaft looks like iron but feels like wood, which is a bit strange.

"Pseudo-ironwood is a bit unusual. It's hard to begin with, but it becomes even harder with special processing. It won't get scratched even against iron. It also has some flexibility, making it ideal for a spear shaft."

Wow, that's impressive.

In our world, I remember there was a material made by processing cellulose extracted from wood, which was lighter and harder than iron, but it didn't retain the original form of the wood.

"The other one is a bit special. Since you're an elf, you use magic, right? This spear has a slight magic rod function. If you use magic with this, the power will increase slightly.

The tip is made from the fangs of a snake-type monster, processed. It's not as hard as yellow iron, but it's harder than regular iron. The biggest advantage is that it doesn't rust even if you neglect maintenance."

This one is lighter than the first.

It's definitely easier to handle.

The tip is not as hard as yellow iron, but the advantage of not rusting and increasing magic power is significant.

The tip, made from the fangs of a snake, looks like polished ceramic and feels a bit strange.

It seems a bit fragile—

"Be careful not to touch the tip carelessly. If it pierces you, you might get poisoned."

"Yikes!"

I quickly pulled back my finger, which was about to touch the tip.

"What kind of poison is it?"

"It's a magical effect. You don't need to worry about maintenance because it's not applied. The yellow iron one is 140,000 rea, and the other one, though rare, is 160,000 rea because there are few who use both spears and magic."

The poison effect doesn't require reapplication.

It's convenient, but it's not suitable for hunting.

I don't want to eat poisoned meat.

The yellow iron one is the only choice.

"By the way, Gantz, what are blue iron