CH 13

“School? Ririh’s going to school?”

“That’s right. And school is a place where you study.”

Sieglinde works fast. We were sent an enrollment notice the very next day.

I’m reading it with Ririi in the living room.

“Study! You too, daddy?”

“Daddy’s already graduated.”

“Graduated?”

Ririi tilts her head.

“Graduation is… Well, it means daddy also worked hard in school a long time ago.”

“Hm… Daddy, nice.”

Ririi climbs on the sofa and pats my head. She clumsily moves her tiny hand and messes up my hair. It’s so cute.

“Wawa!”

I grab her, sit her on my lap, and check the ‘necessary items’ section with her.

Uniform, gym clothes, indoor shoes… And magic items. The things I used back then are enumerated here.

“Magic items…”

“What’s magic items?”

There are dozens of varieties of magic items for different uses, but the two most used in magic school are the ‘staff’ and ‘robe’. As students advance in grade, a ‘hat’ is required too. Said ‘hat’ controls magic energy, so it was decided that older students with more magic energy need to wear them.

“What should we get…”

Ririi’s magic items… I want to get them all from Bitne, the top brand. Apparently I’m banned from Gatlin anyway.

I don’t really care about the brands themselves, but the biggest ones tend to have the most stylish magic items. They make an effort because they’re so expensive. I’m sure we’ll find something Ririi likes there.

“…All right! We’re going out.”

“Going out! Yay!”

Ririi celebrates close to my chest. She was sleeping the whole time yesterday, so this is going to be her first time seeing the streets of the capital.

◆

“Daddy, there’s so many people!”

“Yes, so be careful not to get lost.”

I say while holding Ririi’s hand a little tighter. She’s pulling me by the hand and looking all over the wide commercial street like every single thing she sees is interesting.

“Daddy, what store is this?”

Ririi asks while pointing to a store made out of stone that’s clearly old. The words on the hanging wooden sign are all scratched, but they say the name of the store and that it specializes in robes.

“This is… A place that sells robes. A clothing store.”

“Is Miss Horo here?”

“I don’t think so.”

I guess in her head, clothing store is synonymous with Horo. She really took to her.

“Do you want to go in?”

“Yes!”

I was planning to buy everything we need in Bitne, but we might as well have a look.

I push the wooden door.. And it creaks as it opens.

“Welcome!”

As soon as we enter, a young voice greets us.

After seeing what the store looks like from the outside, I thought for sure it was run by an old man all by himself, but the interior, while kind of small, is pretty well taken care of. And the employee greeting us is a young woman.

I guess they’d have to know what they were doing to open a store in the commercial street.

“Are you starting school soon?”

Asks the woman wearing a black robe that she probably got from this place. The fabric looks thin, but it has a lot of frills and is clearly going for appearance above all else. That makes it pretty stylish.

It looks like the type that’s supposed to be worn not on top of one’s clothes, but as the clothes themselves. But its efficiency depends on the quality of the fabric, so I can’t tell how good it is from a glance.

“Yes. Can we have a look?”

“Take your time. You have a very cute daughter.”

She says while looking at Ririi. That’s right, she is cute.

Ririi looks at her with a shine in her eyes, probably because she’s wearing a robe.

“I’m Ririh!”

“I see Ririi. Are you looking forward to going to school?”

“Yes! Ririh’s gonna study lots! And then help daddy!”

“I see. You’re a good girl, Ririi.”

The employee pats Ririi’s head, and I’m almost moved to tears.

Ririi… You really care that much… Sniff…

I let go of her, and Ririi dashes into the section for kids.

“Can I help you with anything?”

The employee asks with a gentle smile.

“Yes… What kind of robes do you sell?”

I’m not attached to any brand, so if I think theirs are better than Bitne’s, I’ll just buy it here.

“Our products are all handmade by our store’s owner. The owner really is incredible, not just as a top-class sorcerer, but also at sewing.”

“That does sound great.”

Robes mainly serve to protect the wearer from others’ magic. That means most use materials with high resistance to magic. But on the flip side, if the materials themselves do the job, there’s no need for a sorcerer to actually sew.

At most, sorcerers are only involved in applying a coating of magic energy to the finished product.

Incidentally, the top brands use rare materials, and a lot of times get noted sorcerers to finish them with magic energy. That means they can use the sorcerers’ names to tag a higher price.

It’s like ‘that one has the blessing of so-and-so!’.

“What is the owner’s name?”

If this person really is a top-class sorcerer, I might know the name.

The employee opens her mouth… But doesn’t get to tell me the name.

“…That voice… Is that Weiss? Heehee. When did you get back?”

I hear a husky voice, and an old woman I recognize comes out from the back.

“…Miss Esmeralda…?”

Esmeralda Eisenburn.

Mine and Sieglinde’s teacher. She was known as the best teacher in our magic school and the most prominent sorcerer here in the capital.

…This is her store?

I never heard anything about her making robes back then.