CH 176

The next day, as usual, I put Shion in the hood of the robe and went out into town.

The sky is shining blue again today, and the sun is warm and comfortable.

It feels like it’s almost midsummer, but it doesn’t feel that hot. I don’t know if it’s because we don’t have the sweltering heat of midsummer in Japan, or if the temperature doesn’t rise as high as in Europe, or if the days of the year are longer than on Earth, but whatever the reason, I am glad to be here. I don’t think I would be able to live without an air conditioner or even a fan if mid-summer in Japan showed up.

With Mimi-san’s note in hand, I walked from the south side where the Clan House is located towards the center of town.

Today’s destination is a bookstore near the center of town. In the past, when I stopped by a town or a village, I would look for a bookstore to see if there were any grimoires on Sacred Magic, but this time, I think it was great that I could ask Mimi-san, who knows this town very well, for information. It would have been very difficult to check out this large town by myself.

As I headed north on the main street, where horse-drawn carriages come and go, I found a stall that sold weapons and other mysterious items.

A few swords and knives in sheaths. Some clothes, a box, and a scroll of some kind. And other things. I stopped to take a look.

“May I pull this out?”

I asked the man who owned the stall, bending down in front of the stall and pointing to the sword. He said, “Oh, sure, feel free to look around.”

The shopkeeper agreed, so I took the sword I had chosen at random out of its scabbard and observed it.

It was a simple double-edged straight sword. The silvery blade is not distorted or bent. The color indicates that the material is iron, and there are no chips on the blade, so it looks good, but what more is there?

After that, I looked at several other swords and knives, but all I could think of was, “They all look good, I guess.”

“Well, they are all good swords, aren’t they?” (Shopkeeper)

“Oh… that’s right.”

“The one over there is a sword said to have been forged by the legendary blacksmith Elde. And this is a sword that is said to have been treasured by a certain duke family, and this one–” (Shopkeeper)

The shopkeeper’s explanations all sounded great, but to be honest, I didn’t really understand what he was talking about.

I don’t have the knowledge of legendary blacksmiths, where the iron came from, or anything like that.

Next, I picked up the box and examined it.

The material is based on wood. The corners are reinforced with metal and look sturdy. The lid is reinforced in the same way, and there is one hole that looks like a keyhole. It looks like a “treasure chest”! However, I could not figure out what this box was.

“What is this?”

“It’s a box” (Shopkeeper)

“A box?”

“You can lock it!” (Shopkeeper)

“Oh, I see.”

It looks like something, but there is nothing. It seems to be just a box.

No, but in our world, locks are always simple things like bolts, and the kind of lock that you insert a bar-shaped iron with jagged edges into a keyhole and turn it with a click, which is familiar to us, is seen only in high-end hotels. Perhaps this is something that is actually quite impressive.

With this in mind, I took one look at the shopkeeper with a smug look on his face, put down the box, and picked up the scroll—a piece of paper wrapped around and fastened with a string.

“That’s a [Spell Scroll of Fire Seed].” (Shopkeeper)

“Spell Scroll…?”

“Yeah, it gives anyone who uses it the ability to use the magic contained in it! You won’t find them in the dungeons around here. It’s rare, you know?” (Shopkeeper)

Spell scrolls? You can use it to cast spells? You can’t find them in the dungeons around here? Have I ever heard of such a thing existing? I don’t think it was mentioned in the beginner’s magic instruction book I read in the South Village… No, but the items that come out of dungeons are different from dungeon to dungeon, and some items may be rare and only available in certain dungeons. It is possible that information about rare items can only be obtained in dungeons located far away and is not widely available to the public.

“So how much is it?”

“10 gold coins.” (Shopkeeper)

“…By the way, how many times can I use it?”

“Of course, once!” (Shopkeeper)

“Oh, I see.”

Hey, it was too expensive! I can’t pay 10 gold coins for a single-use Life Magic scroll. Besides, for that price, I could have bought a magic tool with a similar effect.

I put the [Spell Scroll of Fire Seed] back on the cloth spread on the ground.

“Hey, hey, this is one of those precious items imported from afar! You can’t find it anywhere around here, even in the most expensive stores for bigwigs.” (Shopkeeper)

“I don’t think I have the money for this.”

I replied appropriately as I stood up and turned on my heel.

I’m very interested in the [Spell Scroll] item, but the price is too high…

I put my hand on my chin and tilt my head as I walk away and think.

I wonder if the spell scroll is really a real find? Is it really an item that is rarely found even in the most expensive stores? When I think about it, even the swords lined up in the row were all with titles that seemed to be very impressive, and they all seemed to be unbelievable. In other words, isn’t it more likely that everything is fake?

I stopped, looked back over my shoulder, and looked at the stalls.

“Hmm…”

“Kyu…” (Shion)

If I had some sort of appraiser-like ability to look up everything, it would be a quick story, but life doesn’t work that way. The appraisal ability that I have can only examine a small number of items such as the Grimoires of Sacred Magic. The only thing I can do is to accumulate knowledge on my own to find out what is right and what is not. There is no other choice.

While I was thinking such things as these as I continued down the main street, buying a skewer of sausages from a food stall and eating it with Shion, I heard the sound of plucking strings among the throngs of people.

One each for both of us, we nibbled on the sausages, and we continued on our way as the sound lured us in.

A street branching from the main street. A pile of crates behind a store. A man sitting on a pile of crates, a slow melody playing in his hands.

I blend in with the gallery that sparsely surrounds the man and observe him.

The man had golden hair and a fair face, was dressed in loose-fitting clothes made of fine cloth, and wore a wide-brimmed circular hat. The instrument in his hand was of a shape I had never seen before. It was made like a rectangular box with strings strung on it, which he held and played like a guitar. His overall appearance is similar to the rich people we have seen in the high-end stores and other places north of Elem. I think I would believe him if he called himself a bard or a nobleman, partly because of his well-dressed appearance.

Perhaps the prelude was over, the man slowly opened his lips and began to spin a tale.

“That day, he fell in love. A newly hired maid girl at the mansion. Ah, it was a wonderful encounter.” (Bard)

It was “poetry” that was accompanied by music.

A little different from the “songs” from modern Earth—no, it was completely different, this was a “poem” recited with music.

It may be more like a story than a song, or more like a reading.

The story was apparently a love story. It seems to be a love story between an aristocratic man and a maid girl.

Looking around the gallery surrounding the man, I found many young women, who were smiling and blushing as they listened to the love story of the hero and heroine.

I felt a freshness in this scene, and thought to myself, “It’s good to see this kind of thing once in a while,” as I enjoyed the story with the gallery.

“Oh Father, why not?　I love her, even though–” (Bard)

It seems that the story has reached a climax, and a wall stands between them.

The aristocratic man and the maid girl love each other, but because of the maid girl’s low status, her parents do not approve of her, and the maid girl is transferred to another house.

The young ladies in the gallery are also on edge.

The story is already at its end. The man plucking the strings has his fingers full of strength, and his voice grows fiery.

“Lalala~ The girl throws herself off the cliff—” (Bard)

“What a tragic ending…”

“Kyukyu…” (Shion)

That’s not worth a “Lalala~”! I exhale deeply, suppressing the urge to click my tongue.

Apparently, the maid girl who could not realize her relationship with the nobleman threw herself off the cliff and took her life in anguish. And that’s really the end of the story.

The sound of women sobbing can be heard from the surroundings.

I thought it would be a reversal of fortune and it would result in a happy ending… [T/N: Oh you poor child. That might be Shakespeare Isekai’d or something.]

“That’s it. Thank you!” (Bard)

The bard took his large hat and bowed gracefully, turning it over and holding it up in front of him.

The women put their coins into that hat with tears in their eyes.

Eventually, after listening to the whole thing from beginning to end, I decided to put a silver coin in mine, too.

“I feel sad, Shion.”

“Kyu…” (Shion)

But Shion seemed to somehow understand what I was talking about, but did he even understand the story I had just told him?　

Well, but it’s a world with little entertainment, and this kind of thing is usually good. For what it’s worth, I had a good time too. If I am going to enjoy my life in this world from now on, I should find a lot of entertainment like this.

“What is that?”

The words that someone somewhere had uttered reached my ears with unusual clarity.

The people around me began to murmur, and soon people began to look up at the sky as if they had noticed something.

Following their actions, I also looked up at the sky.

“Oh, it’s a Golden Dragon!” (Voice)

Someone cried.

Someone then shouted, “It’s the Golden Dragon!” “Why did it come out?” and the whole town was drowned in chaos.

“Golden Dragon…”

It is the origin of the clan’s name “Golden Dragon Claw”.

Wrapped in golden scales and flapping its two large wings, it flies above the town.

Its figure is only about the size of a fist when seen from the ground, but I could imagine that it is actually incredibly huge. The largest monster I have ever seen was a Great Boar, but I am sure it was much larger than that.

If it attacked me, there would be no way even this town could stand a chance.

It looked so divine and shining that I thought so.

Fortunately, the golden dragon seemed to pay no attention to us, flapping its golden wings and disappearing into the western sky.