I was impressed by Hands’s business acumen for about ten minutes.
“Ah, Leader, you’re already here?”
“Sorry, Senpai, we’re late.”
“We’re sorry to keep you waiting.”
Just then, the remaining party members, Kaido and the others, entered the shop chatting amicably and noticed us who had arrived earlier.
We, who had been searching for Amelia’s dagger, stopped our shopping and rejoined Kaido and the others.
We were the only customers in the shop besides Hands, who was also present.
“Did you buy it safely?”
“Yes, we bought it safely. We’re all set for this part.”
“I see, then all that’s left is to get new equipment.”
“That’s right!! I had a weapon I wanted!”
Since we had sent them to buy Magic Bags first, they each had one equipped at their waist, and their purchases were likely stored inside.
Thinking I’d check them later if they were bought safely, I took the envelope with the receipts from Kaido.
As I wondered if the Magic Bags alone for these three would cost eight figures, I looked at the weapon Kaido had wanted.
“Wow!! A sword made of mithril alloy is really cool, isn’t it!”
“Of course!! It’s a masterpiece I crafted myself!!”
A silvery sword was displayed in the showcase.
It wasn’t overly decorated, but it still exuded elegance as it sat there.
Mithril.
A quintessential metal in fantasy.
Harder and lighter than iron, it’s also an excellent metal for magic channeling.
However, the sword Kaido was after wasn’t just any mithril sword.
It was a mithril alloy, meaning mithril mixed with another metal component.
“It’s a creation forged with a ratio of nine parts mithril to one part adamantite, and it can slice through the scales of not just ordinary dragons, but even high-grade dragons!!”
By adding adamantite, its performance was further enhanced beyond that of pure mithril.
Hands was boasting, no, he was genuinely bragging.
Proud of his creation, he extolled the sword’s perfection.
“The price is 3.5 million per sword!! That’s a bargain, right?”
“When you call a price that can comfortably buy a new car a bargain…”
“What are you saying? This is a service price. Even at five million, someone would buy it.”
However, the price was as impressive as its performance.
Furthermore, Kaido dual-wields, meaning he uses two swords.
It wouldn’t be enough to buy just one.
Buying two would cost seven million.
The price had been upgraded to a level where one could buy a regular or even a luxury new car.
Seeing my hesitation to confidently declare that I’d buy them, the gloom on Hands’s face deepened.
“I understand, give me two. Just adjust the hilts as a service.”
“What, you’re not buying? Huh? What did you just say?”
“I said I’m buying. Have you gone deaf from hitting metal too much?”
And then, as I quietly said I’d buy them, Hands, who had jumped to conclusions, realized he misheard as he started to frown, and showed a shocked expression.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. I have the money.”
“Seriously!?”
“Are you that surprised?”
Being asked twice and met with such surprise made me wonder if I lacked credibility that much.
To the disbelieving Hands, I silently took out a duralumin case from the pouch-like Magic Bag on my waist and opened it.
“Seriously.”
Seeing the stacks of bills inside, Hands, hit by reality, blinked a few times.
“Right away!!”
With a smile, he quickly, and with a speed unsuited to his massive frame, skillfully slapped a “Sold” sign on the showcase of the mithril alloy swords.
“Now, next.”
“You’re still buying!?”
“I told you, we came to get new equipment. Minami, have you decided on yours?”
“Hoo hoo hoo, did you think I came here without doing any prior research!? No, I did not. What I wanted was this staff!! Crafted from a tree over a hundred years old that has the blessing of the spirits, and decorated with orichalcum and magic stones. It reduces magic consumption, aids in activation, enhances spells, and even boosts spirit summoning, and it looks cool too, so I had to buy it!! It’s the Fairy Tree Staff!! The price is a whopping 4.3 million!! I!! Have!! No!! Reservations!!”
Hands, who was grinning about the first profit in a while, was called to move on to the next purchase.
His expression at that moment was probably one that could be captured in a photograph and displayed.
Suppressing my regretful feelings, I approached the next likely buyer.
I assumed both Kaido and Minami had decided on what they wanted, and asked Minami, one of them, and as expected, she had.
She walked straight to her destination from the entrance, and on the way, she explained what the item was with the passion of a TV shopping host, putting all her emotion into it.
Then, at the moment of saying the name, she reached the product, and as soon as she arrived, she turned and pointed, her expression shining with the pure enthusiasm of a child begging for a toy.
“You managed to say it without stumbling.”
Impressed by the smooth progression, which felt like it involved timing and rehearsal, I praised her honestly. She replied with her usual smug look.
“Hmph!! Mages can handle tongue twisters with ease!! That’s common sense!!”
“But isn’t chanting wirelessly your basic approach?”
“It’s for the day I’ll be able to perform cool chants!!”
“Is that so? Well then, Hands, this one too.”
“Oh, okay. You’re sure?”
“Yeah, please.”
“Right away!!”
As Minami’s shopping spree continued, Hands, finally catching up mentally, grinned and slapped another “Sold” sign on this showcase.
“So, what are you buying next?”
“You’re not surprised this time?”
“With this flow, I can’t be surprised anymore.”
“What, that’s regrettable.”
“Hah, I was just surprised by the sale of an expensive item after a long time. For the next one, please surprise me with something that will make my jaw drop.”
“I wonder when that will be.”
After finishing sticking the sign, Hands’s expression shifted from bewilderment to anticipation.
Thinking he calmed down quickly, I looked around for the next person.
“Jiro-san! Over here, over here!! It’s my turn next!!”
“It seems so, let’s go.”
“Okay, so that’s a dagger… Wait, before that, hey, someone come here!! Take number 136 and 53 to the workbench!!”
Amelia, waving her hands energetically, caught my eye. It seemed she had found the dagger she wanted.
Before heading over to the cheerfully bouncing Amelia, Hands shouted towards the back. With heavy footsteps, two giants emerged.
“Hey boss, is this for adjustment?”
“Yeah! Call everyone who’s free and measure those two’s sizes too.”
“Understood.”
One of them finished checking the work, took the key from Hands, opened the showcase, and took out the items I had just agreed to buy.
Then, he returned the items with a surprisingly polite demeanor, considering their appearance, and led Kaido and Minami away.
“Shopkeeper, you have other employees?”
“They’re my apprentices, but that’s not important. Next is that young lady’s weapon, right?”
“Yeah.”
I had always thought Hands ran the shop alone since he was usually the only one there, but that wasn’t the case.
However, thinking about it calmly, he deals with this many weapons. It wouldn’t be odd to have one or two employees, or apprentices, as he called them.
I reconsidered, realizing he probably didn’t manage it all by himself.
As I was thinking this, I walked towards Amelia.
Next to her was Kitamiya, looking at the excited Amelia with a resigned expression and a slight bitter smile.
“Hoh, young lady, you’ve chosen a good one.”
“Yes!! I knew it was this one!!”
“Good intuition. Cherish it.”
“This… is a fang?”
“Yeah! This dagger was made from a dragon’s fang. But it’s not just any dragon’s fang, it’s from a high-grade wind dragon’s fang. It’s light and sharp, and your petite frame can wield its full power.”
The tooth, polished white, was clearly not made of metal at first glance, but I couldn’t tell what kind of fang it was. I was about to look at the explanation plate, but Hands had already started explaining.
“When sharpening the fang, I used a Damascus ore whetstone to make it even sharper and more acute. Furthermore, I carved a curse seal to absorb surrounding magic to imbue the blade with wind attributes, making it the Dragon Tooth Edge. The price is a mere 3.9 million!!”
It seemed I was consistently hitting Hands’s creations. Here too, Hands proudly explained the weapon, and then looked at me, asking with his eyes what I would do. However, in his hand was already a “Sold” sign.
So, I nodded silently.
“Right away!!”
And again, he called out to his apprentices in the back, and Amelia headed to the back with the retrieved weapon.
Seven million, 4.3 million, 3.9 million… these were all high-priced purchases.
Hands’s smile grew deeper with each transaction.
As soon as he finished putting up the “Sold” sign, he looked at me, conveying with his eyes that he was ready for the next one, indicating he understood the flow.
I wondered what his expression would be if I told him this was the end, but I’ll save that for another time.
“Me.”
And my judgment was correct. Kitamiya lightly raised her hand and asserted herself.
Like Amelia, she had already chosen what she wanted during her earlier sweep. Unlike Minami, she didn’t describe the product but instead started leading the way.
The direction she led us to wasn’t the staff corner Minami had gone to.
We arrived at an area filled with many crystal balls, like those seen in fortune-telling dens.
“I see, magic spheres.”
“Magic spheres?”
I made a joke, asking if they were like the magic spheres in baseball manga, but was met with a genuine “What are you talking about?”.
“Magic spheres are auxiliary weapons used by mages. Depending on the quality, they can store magic and release it at any desired timing. Once you get used to it, you can prepare other magic while chanting your own. Combined with spirits, they can even become autonomous magic tools. They’re difficult to use, but any veteran mage has one.”
“I understand. Instructor Fushio told me to get one. They’re difficult to use, but if you master them, they’re very convenient.”
From among these various-sized, colored, magic stones and accessories woven together to resemble ornaments, Kitamiya pointed.
“Honestly, Jiro, your companions have such good taste.”
“Do they?”
“Yeah, the one you want is what we call the Twin Stones among my friends.”
“Twin? But they’re different colors.”
“That’s why I like them.”
They were two magic spheres, one red and one blue.
The blue one was adorned with silver decorations, and the red one with gold.
The blue one had water-like patterns, and the red one had fire-like patterns.
As Hands said, there was no sign of them being twins; they looked like separate items.
Kitamiya pointed to the explanation plate and explained.
“The magic stones used for these magic spheres were apparently excavated stuck together, one a water magic stone and the other a fire magic stone, which are normally opposing elements. Thanks to that, fire and water, which would normally cancel each other out, don’t, and their effects enhance each other.”
“We giants rarely see things like this. Unfortunately, they’re a bit small. Even so, no effort was spared; each magic sphere can store up to three advanced spells.”
“Naturally, they’re expensive, right?”
Two different elemental magics simultaneously, operable even as autonomous weapons.
I thought this was almost cheating, and figured they wouldn’t be cheap without even looking at the price tag.
Hands gave me a thumbs-up and smiled.
“Six million.”
“……Understood.”
The feeling of a cash register’s *clink* made me regret it now.
These magic spheres were necessary for our military strength, and I decided to buy the item labeled “Twin Sunrise” on the plate.
It seemed these magic spheres require registration of the possessor, so the giants who had reappeared came out again, took out the items, and Kitamiya followed suit.
And then there was…
“……”
“Whoa, as expected, Jiro’s companions have great taste. To notice that.”
Katsu stood frozen in front of the showcase.
Displayed in the showcase was a tiger-striped gauntlet.
The gauntlet, with its somewhat spiky appearance, covered the hand from the fingertips to the elbow.
Katsu’s eyes, not noticing our presence behind him, sparkled with an age-appropriateness as he stared intently at the gauntlet.
“So? What is this gauntlet made of?”
“Oh? Ah, it’s a masterpiece made from the hide, claws, and fangs of a thunder tiger. What’s amazing about it isn’t just its offensive capabilities. It can also heal through lightning.”
“With lightning?”
“Yeah, the scary thing about thunder tigers is their strong vitality, which comes from their bodies being activated by lightning, enhancing their physical abilities. Not only physical ability, but it also boosts their natural healing power. Because of that, they’re incredibly tenacious, and it’s not something you can get easily.”
“What if a healer equipped this?”
“Even just the fact that a healer can survive is a threat to the enemy, I think.”
After hearing such a description of the product, there was no choice but to buy it.
“How much is it?”
“Three million.”
“Understood.”
“Right away.”
After this exchange, a “Sold” sign was placed on the showcase. Finally noticing us, I gestured with my thumb towards the back of the store, telling Katsu to go ahead. He flushed slightly and headed to the back of the shop.
“That was quite the generous spending spree.”
“Well, I knew it was necessary, but it was a painful expense.”
“Whether you can spend money on that or not determines if you’ll be able to proceed.”
“I’ll gratefully think of it that way.”
“Think of it that way, then?”
“Huh?”
“What about you? Are you buying a new weapon?”
“Me? I wonder.”
We bought new weapons for the party this time to go find the Ore Tree.
It would be a disservice to the party to go to that Dungeon unarmed.
Although my abilities are superior to everyone else’s, they might not be sufficient in the Dragon King’s Dungeon.
It might be good to buy a replacement weapon here, but I’m not too keen on it, thinking I might not use it if the Ore Tree is successfully recovered.
As I pondered, leaning against the counter, I happened to notice something.
“Hands, what is that?”
“Oh, you’ve noticed something interesting again. That is…”
After receiving the explanation for that item, I thought, “This is it.”
With a smirk, I offered to purchase it from Hands.
Today’s word:
Changing your mood is also important.
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*The first volume of the book is published by Hayakawa Bunko JA.
It was released on October 18, 2018.
The e-book version was also released on October 31 of the same year.
The second volume was released on December 19.
The third volume was released on February 20, 2019.
The content is a revised and expanded version of the material posted on “Shosetsuka ni Narou,” with an additional unpublished interlude.
Please check out the new releases as well!!
The comic adaptation is being serialized in Kodansha’s “Young Magazine The Third.”
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