CH 11

After waiting for about twenty minutes, Sigelinde comes back, after having found a house for us. Apparently we can even move in today.

She’s also taking us there herself, so we walk through the capital as the sun sets. Ririi is still fast asleep in my arms.

Ten years have passed, but this city is actually pretty close to how I remember it.

There are new stores, and some buildings have been torn down. Some people I knew aren’t here anymore, and strangers are in their place. I figured that would be the case, but it all still looks the same to me.

In Zenith, it’s not strange for the town to look different from one day to the next, let alone in ten years. The fact that this city looks the same is a good representation of how stable it is.

“How do you feel seeing the city after all these years? This area here looks different, doesn’t it?”

Asks Sigelinde while spreading her arms slightly. She kind of looks like she’s bragging.

“Does it…?”

I look around while digging inside my memories.

This is a section in the main commercial street that’s aimed mostly at sorcerers, so there are magic item stores that carry all sorts of brands.

The stone pavement avenue is wide enough for twenty adults to walk side-by-side, and even though it’s dusk, there are a lot of people here. Enough for me to sometimes bump into someone coming the other way. I spot quite a few people wearing uniforms from the magic school too.

I came here a lot when I was a student too, but I can’t really see anything that’s different from what I remember.

“…Did something change?”

In that corner over there is the main store of ‘Bitne Arqueur’, the top selling brand of magic items even back when I was in school. Next to it is ‘Franchet’s’ main store. Yes, and on the other side there’s a store that only sells magic books. I remember coming here with Sigelinde after school. It really all looks the same.

Sigelinde sees me looking perplexed, and lets out a big sigh. It’s not my fault. A lot happened in these past ten years.

“Look at that store in the corner for example. It’s Bitne’s now, but it used to be Gatlin’s when we were in school. Gatlin moved to the next street.”

“Eh? Bitne wasn’t there all along?”

That’s how I remember it.

“What are you talking about? Don’t you remember being banned from Gatlin’s because you made all their products react to your magic energy? Hey… You’re not going to tell me you don’t remember that I had to apologize and bow with you, are you?”

“A-ah… That happened… Or not…”

Sigelinde glares at me with her eyebrows raised, and the pressure makes me start saying nonsense without even thinking.

…This is probably because of underhanded business strategies from magic item brands, but high-grade magic items are typically bound to one owner, which is done by making their magic energy flow into them, and ‘carving’ into them their ownership. Making all the items in a store react to my magic energy would basically ruin all of them.

I have no memory of this. Was I really banned from Gatlin’s? It’s the most popular brand in this country aside from Bitne.

Maybe it just sounds like I’m grumbling, but I think those high-grade magic item brands are pretty sketchy.

Groups of sorcerers get together, form companies, monopolize rare materials, and jack up the prices. That’s all there is to it. You can just use whatever staff or robe suits you, and you can even go without them in extreme circumstances. The idea that paying more means more efficiency is really only true for magic vehicles.

“…And what happened after that?”

“I ended up paying on your behalf. Forty three million zeni if I remember correctly, and I’m pretty sure you only finished paying me back when we graduated.”

Forty three million zeni…

That’s about seven times the yearly wage of a lower level employee of the ministry of magic. You could buy a hundred and forty thousand elf girls with that kind of money in Zenith.

It’s pretty impressive that Sigelinde was able to pay that back when she was a schoolgirl. Oh right, her family’s really rich. It’s one of the leading families here in the capital.

“From that point forward, you started going all over the place doing quests after school.”

“…Ah, and that’s how I ended up in the ministry of magic. I remember.”

I sort of remember going to the ministry of magic frequently. So that’s what it was.

I had to make money to pay my debt to Sigelinde, so I went to the ministry of magic to accept quests. But even if we assume I was only doing A ranked quests, to earn forty three million zeni I would have to do about fifty of them. And those are the kinds of quests where I’d have to hunt vicious monsters or collect rare materials.

Nice going, past me. Seriously…

“…Although that debt would have been forgiven if you married me.”

“What?”

Sigelinde mumbled quietly, which is pretty uncharacteristic for her. Whatever she said was completely drowned out by the noise around us.

“Nothing. I’m just impressed that you actually paid me back.”

As we talk about the past, we exit this commercial street, get through the residential district, and after walking for a while longer, the path suddenly opens up.

I’m pretty sure this is a high-class residential area. I can tell because even just one of the many street-lights lined up at regular intervals costs one gold coin.

Those magic stones that suck up magic energy around them to emit light get much more expensive the smaller they are. The ones in the street-lights in the commercial street and the residential district from before were all the size of a fist or a human head.

But the ones in the street-lights in front of me are too small for me to see. All I see is the light. They must be using very high-quality light emitting stones. I can’t imagine they cost less than three hundred thousand zeni a piece.

“We’re here.”

Sigelinde says after she stops in front of a wooden two story house. It has a big yard and a beautifully tended lawn.

“…How much? Land is pretty expensive here, isn’t it?”

I’m picturing about a hundred million zeni. Well, it’s not like I don’t have the money to pay for it up front.

“This is property of the ministry of magic. It’s basically a waste of taxes, because it has to be looked after even though no one lives here. There’s actually a lot of property like this in this city. That means you don’t have to pay.”

“Seriously?”

“I’m planning to put you to work like a work-horse, so don’t worry. Call it a prior investment.”

Says Sigelinde with an amused smile on her face before going inside.