We left the guild “Epic Seeker” with sufficient equipment and war funds from the workshop.
“Have a good trip! Take care, Titty-chan!” Teiri, who seemed to have developed a preference for hopeless girls, saw Titty off. Behind him, Volzak silently waved goodbye.
“Mmm. I’m off then!” Titty, with a greatsword slung across her back and clad in a dark green coat, waved back. I waved with my hand in new gloves and then blended into the townscape of Lauravia. It was a departure that marked the beginning of a new adventure, with our bodies adorned with new equipment.
Our next stop after Epic Seeker was a general store. There was one nearby that I used when I was the Guild Master, so we quickly finished stocking up on preserves. Following the instructions in Rainer’s memo, we finished our preparations so that we would never go hungry again in the future. We also stopped by the exchange office to convert our unwanted magic stones into more war funds. I figured we wouldn’t have time to blacksmithing like today once we reached the mainland. So, what was the point of holding onto rare magic stones? Travel expenses were surely more important. The magic stones we obtained around the sixtieth floor, which would be rare in these Allied Nations, were sold without hesitation, yielding an astronomical sum of money.
Our preparations in Lauravia proceeded smoothly. Along the way, Titty was thrilled with her new clothes and sword. “Fufufu, this new equipment for the child is so cool! I feel like I can’t lose to anyone anymore!” “Hey, don’t trip! It’ll be a pity for the people you bump into! Watch where you’re walking!” I admonished Titty, who was prancing around like she was dancing. It seemed she wanted to show off her new equipment to passersby. She was restless like a child. “Mmm, I’ll be careful! Rainer’s memo said not to be complacent here! He really can read my mind as always! Now then, according to the memo… next is magic! I heard they sell magic stones that you can learn by drinking them these days! Alright, let’s buy them all out!” With our food supplies sufficiently purchased, we decided to aim for strengthening our magic, the next item on the list. “Buy them all out…? No, I suppose that is the best approach.” I thought buying them all out might be an exaggeration, but I quickly realized it was possible with the contents of my wallet. There was no point in carrying too much money, so perhaps buying them all out to our heart’s content was the right thing to do. Immediately, I headed to the largest magic shop in Lauravia to fulfill Titty’s wish. “Alright, we’re here. With Teiri’s recommendation and the letter of introduction from Sera, this should work.” “It’s something that didn’t exist in the child’s time, so I’m looking forward to it.” The magic shop we arrived at was more like a grand library than a store. It had a castle-like exterior and an interior resembling a ballroom for nobles. It was as large as a baseball dome, with walls lined with books, and only a few elegantly dressed individuals were walking around. A store of this size seemed to operate differently from ordinary stores. We were stopped at the entrance and our identities were verified. Fortunately, I was the master of Epic Seeker and had a letter of introduction from the Living God of Fuziaze. When I relayed this to the attendant, their eyes widened, and we were immediately escorted to a private room with VIP treatment. We entered a room as luxurious as the guest rooms in Fuziaze Cathedral, were seated on plush sofas, and faced the female attendant. However, as time was of the essence, we decided to state our business directly without preamble. “—Um, it’s difficult to say, but please give us all the types of magic stones you have here.” “Give us two of each!” Naturally, the woman sitting on the opposite sofa’s eyes widened further. “Huh?” “Two of each, please. We’d appreciate it.” I was getting used to surprises, so I waited for her to accept the situation. In the meantime, I turned to Titty, who was next to me, with a question. “By the way, are you drinking them too?” “Of course! Rainer recommended it too!” “Well, I guess you’ll be fine.” It was strange to enhance the boss, the guardian, but since it was Titty, I agreed. It wasn’t strange to enhance her, especially if we might have to fight Aid or Hidaki in the future. While we chatted casually, the attendant was still stunned. “Um, all of them, you say…?” “Don’t worry. We have the money. So, if possible, please bring them all out as soon as possible.” “Y-yes! Of course, right away! However, this is a rather significant transaction, so I will have our highest-ranking official handle it!” “Please do. I’ll be ready to pay in advance, so I’ll be waiting.” I smiled slightly and urged her on. The attendant, with a pale face, bowed low and left the room. Seeing this, Titty looked at me as if I were a rare sight. “Hmm? Kanamin, you’re starting to use your power and status skillfully little by little. It’s almost boring because I can’t tease you anymore.” “It’ll be found out somewhere anyway. If that’s the case, it’s better to be open about it and make the most of it to minimize damage. I came to that conclusion with the Epic Seeker incident.” “Hoh, a good conclusion. But be careful—” “Of course, I’ll be careful not to be swayed by power. You taught me that, Titty.” In the underground recollection, we learned that through a life-or-death struggle. I met her gaze with strong eyes, conveying that we would never end up like Titty. Titty accepted this with a smile. “Fufu. I’m happy that my teachings have been passed on to Kanamin.” She seemed genuinely pleased that her spirit and power would remain with Rainer and me. Her mood improved with each passing moment of the day. She impatiently began to fiddle with the furnishings in the room. I was a little worried she might break something in her excitement. A few minutes later, the VIP room door opened, and an elderly man entered with the previous attendant. “I am the manager of this establishment. Welcome, ‘Aikawa Kanami Christ Eurasia Valt Fuziaze Von Walker’ sama. Here is everything our shop can offer you at this moment.” My haste seemed to have been communicated, as he got straight to the point with minimal greetings. I had become somewhat accustomed to the name ‘Aikawa Kanami Christ Eurasia Valt Fuziaze Von Walker,’ so I bowed my head without changing my expression and welcomed him. I then focused my gaze on the magic stones carried by the attendants who followed. [Magic Stone of Water] A magic stone imbued with the magic of Water Magic [Water]. [Magic Stone of Flame] A magic stone imbued with the magic of Fire Magic [Flame]. [Magic Stone of Shock] A magic stone imbued with the magic of Shock Magic [Shock]. [Magic Stone of Blood] A magic stone imbued with the magic of Hemomancy [Blood]. [Magic Stone of Shift] A magic stone imbued with Dimensional Magic [Shift]. [Magic Stone of Dark] A magic stone imbued with Dark Magic [Dark] — I grasped and counted all the magic stones spread out on the table with [Dimension]. “It won’t be two of each, will it?” “Y-yes. I’m sorry, but…” I assumed there were issues with handling other customers and inventory. I accepted this as unavoidable, quickly finished my calculations, and presented the corresponding amount. “No, this is sufficient. The amount seems to be within my means. I’ll pay you now.” “Now?” “Yes, here you go. Please count. This should be exactly right.” I no longer intended to hide my [Inventory]. While I pretended to take them from the bag at my waist, I skillfully piled gold coins and sacred gold coins onto the table that clearly wouldn’t fit in the bag. As one of the attendants rushed to count them, Titty, like a child before dinner, eagerly reached for the magic stones. “Alright, I’m taking them!” “Wait. First, let me analyze these magic stones.” That was the primary objective here. In the past, I had naively swallowed magic stones when I came to this magic shop, but now I should be able to try something different. Knowing that the Labyrinth was created by the Shiso Kanami and that magic was created by his disciple Tiara, I might be able to fully decipher the magic stones themselves. “Hmm? Analyze them?” “I’ve always been curious about how these magic stones that allow you to learn magic work. Perhaps with my current abilities, I can understand something different.” “Indeed, the reality of these magic stones that allow you to learn magic… it does pique my interest.” “Right? I have so many research materials. It’ll be quick, so wait for me. —Magic [Dimension – Decisive Calculation].” The sheer number of them required considerable magic power to analyze the magic stones. During this time, the shop manager hesitantly handed me some prepared documents and a quill pen. “Um, ‘Aikawa Kanami Christ Eurasia Valt Fuziaze Von Walker’ sama. About the contract for this transaction…” “Yes, I’ll write it immediately. It’s a large purchase, so naturally.” While using [Dimension – Decisive Calculation], parallel processing of this magnitude was easy. As I confirmed all the terms of the document and signed it, I began to examine the magic circles and mechanisms within the magic stones. My Dimensional Magic power was vastly different from when I came to buy magic stones with Maria. Above all, my experience fighting powerful enemies made understanding the true nature of magic stones easier. “—I’m starting to understand. The basic principle is a combination of Hemomancy and [Distance Mute], but elements similar to Divine Magic are also mixed in. It’s clear that the power of the Shiso and the Saint are involved in these objects called magic stones. Then, the people of this world manually added new attribute magic to improve them into magic stones that allow learning magic… Hmm. It’s too complex, and I still can’t fully comprehend it. It seems I haven’t reached the level of the former Shiso or Saint yet.” I was still one step away from fully understanding the magic stones. Ideally, I wanted to understand the magic imbued in the magic stones without consuming them, but it seemed impossible. The magic circles written on the magic stones could be accurately read by [Dimension – Decisive Calculation]. However, just reading them was like being handed a set of equations. It wouldn’t immediately allow me to solve problems. “Mmm. As expected, the attribute of this ‘magic stone’ is ‘blood.’ I suspected as much from this feeling.” After reporting the analysis results, Titty took one magic stone and looked at it intently. “There’s no point in just looking at it. May I drink it?” “Ah, I’ll try one too.” For now, I picked up the Dimensional attribute magic stone, [Shift]. The attendant immediately prepared water, making it easy to drink. I gulped down the magic stone. “Phew. Will this do? —Magic [Shift].” As soon as I uttered the magic name, a spatial distortion occurred in the nearby space due to the dimensional attribute’s magic. It was easily done. It seemed that by drinking it, the formulas were forcibly understood and made usable in practice. This must be what it means to be imprinted on the blood. Ideally, I’d want to drink more and confirm the sensation of it being imprinted on my blood, but— “Hoho. So this is what it means to learn magic from a magic stone? Mmm, then let’s keep going!” “But won’t you reach your blood’s limit if you drink too much…?” “Limit…? I don’t think ‘Thieves of Principles’ have limits. Besides, even if there is a limit, if you reach it, you can just learn without relying on magic stones next time, right? To save time, I think drinking the magic stones left by our predecessors is the right approach.” “You’re right… Come to think of it, that’s true.” Besides, I can develop new magic like [Dimension – Decisive Calculation ‘Prologue’] and apply [Dimension – Decisive Calculation] without relying on blood. Those are etched into my brain, not my blood. Or rather, it should be said they are etched into my magic stones. The common belief in this world—that one cannot learn magic once they have drunk magic stones to their blood’s limit—likely doesn’t apply to us, who can develop magic. Therefore, it would be ideal to imprint the knowledge of our predecessors onto our blood and devise new magic ourselves. “So, drink away!” “Ah…! Let’s do it…!!” Convinced, I began to drink magic stones indiscriminately as Titty suggested. However, no matter how easy they were to drink, they were still stones. It was difficult to do it all at once. I soon groaned, clutching my stomach. “—I feel like I’m going to vomit… or rather, my stomach is upset…! My stomach lining, which was just getting better, is getting rough!” “Ah, the child is giving up. Let’s take it one step at a time. Drinking stones is just impossible.” “You give up too easily!” Titty grimaced after the first one and stopped after the second. Reluctantly, I left Titty behind and desperately swallowed the magic stones one by one. As I did so, the transaction of buying and selling magic stones concluded. The shop manager, after confirming the signed contract and the amount of gold coins, informed us with a mixture of joy and fear. “W-we have finished checking here. We have indeed received the exact amount.” “Yes. Well, we need to go to other stores, so we’ll be leaving now. We’ll take all the magic stones here.” “You’re leaving already…?” “We’re in a hurry.” Leaving the dumbfounded shop staff behind, I quickly stored the magic stones in my [Inventory] and left the room. We hadn’t acquired all the magic stones at this shop, so we had to head to a new one. As we were seen off by the shop managers bowing deeply in front of the store, we once again disappeared into the streets of Lauravia. “Thank you very much! We await your next visit! We will definitely have them all by your next visit, so please come again—!!” As if fleeing from the shop manager’s loud voice behind us, we headed to our next destination, Griad. We calculated the shortest distance using [Dimension] and walked through the city. However, our hands were full of magic stones. We moved on, gradually consuming magic stones like snacks. “Hmm? The wind magic stones are subtly sweet and delicious.” “I’ve never considered the taste. Mine, on the other hand… the dimensional magic stones are a little delicious…?” Titty savored the magic stones like candies, so I imitated her. It was an interesting phenomenon that the compatibility with one’s body affected the taste. I wondered if Shiso Kanami, Saint Tiara, or someone else entirely had set this up. However, since I couldn’t figure it out even if I thought about it now, I forgot about the taste and quickened my pace. “Come on, let’s head to the next one. It’s easy to cross countries as we’re near the Labyrinth. We have [Connection] too.” “Mmm, the next shop! Can’t we just fly there to save trouble!?” “Eh…? No, I don’t think so. I’ve never seen anyone fly in these Allied Nations…” Either there’s a law prohibiting flight, or winged beastmen aren’t strong enough in their blood to fly. In either case, if Titty flew, she would stand out too much, so it was out of the question. “Well then, I’ll run a little!” “Ah, hey. Wait.” I chased after Titty, who started running as if skipping. However, it was at a reasonable speed. If we really ran at full speed, we might blow people away with the gust of wind. And without taking too much time, we crossed the border and arrived at the country’s foremost magic shop, which was our destination. “—We’ve arrived! Excuse me, please give us two of each!” Titty burst through the door of the magic shop in Griad and placed her order right away. Naturally, the surrounding customers buzzed. A beautiful woman with striking emerald-green hair appeared, and her order was outrageous. And she possessed an aura that suggested such an order could be fulfilled. I understood why people would stop and pay attention. “Excuse me. Following what she said, could you first show us all types?” I joined in on Titty’s words and added to the order for a nearby attendant. I’ll get used to standing out. Or rather, I’ve given up on avoiding attention as long as Titty is around. She’s doing it for fun— no, she’s too thrilled with the surface world to control herself. And knowing that it’s the result of a thousand years of suppression, I can’t stop her. I won’t be able to. “Um, esteemed customer, all of them…? Forgive me, but please wait a moment…” The subsequent flow of events was exactly the same. We entered a VIP room, avoiding the eyes of the bustling customers, and bought everything with money. We did this in Griad—and in Valt—and repeated it at large stores in each country. In doing so, we acquired almost all the magic stones sold in stores.
