CH 193

I leave the blacksmith shop and wander around town.

Having had several coincidences of finding Sacred Magic grimoires in roadside stalls and bookstores, I have decided to look around the town for treasures whenever I have time, as much as possible.

However, I have not been able to visit all of them in most towns.

It seems that there are always dangerous areas in large towns, and since I try to stay away from such places, there are inevitably places that I cannot see. When I was in Rankfurt, I was low-ranked, so I stayed at a cheap inn near such dangerous areas all the time, but that was an inn that Dan and his friends introduced me to, and they were the children of a merchant who owned a store near there, so I had no problem because I was familiar with them and knew the area well. It might have been difficult for me to find a good and inexpensive lodging in that area by myself.

I walked around, browsed the stalls I found, and looked for the next one.

As usual, there were many stalls selling mysterious items whose purpose I did not understand.

The stall I found on the day the Golden Dragon appeared was not to be found. I was curious about this interesting store that sold swords and mysterious scrolls, but it looked like a peddler and may have already moved to another town.

I guess a stall is like a once in a lifetime event. I guess it can’t be helped that the vendor doesn’t have a specific store, but if you miss the right moment, you can’t find it again. That’s why they feel like they can get away with selling counterfeit goods that are nothing more than a scam. However, it was in such a situation that I was able to find an item like a Sacred Magic grimoire, so it is hard for me to complain about it.

So, I explored the town until late afternoon, and after satisfying my hunger with some grilled meat skewers with Shion, I returned to the Clan House.

I didn’t find anything in particular today, but it’s not every day that a great discovery comes along.

“Well,”

Sitting on my bed in my room, I took the Orichalcum ring out of my Magic Bag as I reflected on the day’s events.

I was going to check out this thing, but relying on other people basically turned out to be a no-go. In other words, I had to do something on my own. But–

“How can I find out more on my own?”

I think I’ve done most of the research I could think of…

I think that consulting with Mimi-san is also a no-brainer. I’m sure Mimi-san knows that I have this ring, but she doesn’t know that this ring has special abilities. I’m afraid that Mimi-san might be aware of something with her mysterious power.

I would like to find out more about Mimi-san’s ability if possible… but that can wait until later. The only way to find out is from a knowledgeable standpoint. I’d like to look for Artifacts, Magical Arms, and Attribute Arms that existed in the past and find items that have similar effects.

“Artifacts…”

As I thought about it, the word remained in my head.

The first thing that comes to mind is that this could possibly be an artifact?

…No, I don’t know the definition of artifact to begin with. I am sure that Gildan-san did not know what an artifact was, and his understanding of the term was vague, as if he thought it was an artifact because “it could not be made by human hands”, and at least in general, it should be a fairly broad definition.

Hmmm, before that, I don’t even know the details of Magical and Attribute Arms…

Let’s organize it again.

I take out the memo from the magic bag and remember it while checking it.

I know most of the details about Attribute Arms, as I saw them being made at Grandma Ulke’s place before.

Attribute Arms are made by fusing magic crystals with alchemy and adding the attributes of the Magic Crystals to them. The more attributes you add, the more powerful it becomes, and it becomes a magic invoker that can strengthen the magic of the attribute you have added. However, other attributes become difficult to handle.

In other words, this ring does not have Magic Crystals attached to it, so it is not an Attribute Arms. It should be definite.

Next, as for the Magical Arms, it seems that this is an armament with a magical tool in it. But first of all, I don’t know much about magical tools.

I have seen them several times, but the people who use them do not understand the details of how they work. Well, even people on earth use 100 yen lighters without understanding how they work, thinking that they are just like that, so I guess that’s how it is.

I once thought about buying one myself and taking it apart to check it out, but the price was in gold coins, so I gave up. I don’t even know if it is safe to disassemble such a thing, so it has been quite difficult. So, I came here without really knowing, but I would like to find out somehow at some point. Well, it’s difficult to find things out.

So far, I haven’t seen any books that summarize how magical tools work or how to make them. In a world like this, where there seems to be no copyright, it is highly likely that the technology is out in the open. There’s no way they would give me the details, even if I thought it was normal.

I flipped through my notes, looking for information.

“Oh!”

Come to think of it, magical tools are basically powered by magic stones, but there are some that can be powered by channeling magic power, right? When you think about it, magical tools and Magical Arms may seem more mechanical or science-like than I thought.

And, as I see it, this Orichalcum ring does not have a place to put a magic stone. So, if this is a magic tool – or even a Magical Arms, wouldn’t it be activated by channeling magic power?

“I should try it… no, wait.”

What if that has some ridiculous effect?

If the effect is something that makes you want to pray, like it restores MP when used but it breaks down after some time, that’s fine, but if it activates explosive magic when magic power is channeled through it, that would end it for a lot of reasons.

“Let’s stop it here…”

Dangerous, so very dangerous… I’m glad I noticed.

But I’ve used magic with this ring on, and I don’t think the magic is flowing… well, I don’t know.

I’ll do this experiment next time I’m out there.

“Is there anything else…”

I can’t think of anything, so I put my hand inside my backpack and search for something.

My usual towel, paper for notes, pencil, emergency rations, pot, change of clothes, water bottle, and a fluffy fur… Shion?

“Come on! Don’t get in the backpack.”

“Kyu?” (Shion)

I thought he was awfully quiet, but it seems he was tired and sleeping after playing in the backpack. I’ve been seeing this naughty side of him lately, but he doesn’t really do anything naughty that would get him in trouble, so I’ve decided to let him get away with it. He is at that age, you know.

I take out Shion and set him down beside me, then remove the contents from the Magic Bag at my waist.

A round stone engraved with symbols, a torn scroll.

These items were bought with a single gold coin at Rankfurt, along with the Purification Grimoire and the Paralyzing Knife. There was also a battered leather shield and a ceramic-like bottle, but I had already thrown those away. The leather shield was just an ordinary, tattered shield, and the ceramic-like bottle contained nothing but water. But even so, I won a Purification Grimoire and a Paralyzing Knife, so I didn’t throw away any of the missing items. In fact, there were even some lucky items.

I still have the round stone and the torn scroll, although I have no idea what they are for. I felt that there could be something in the scroll made of paper and the beautiful spherical stone with engraved letters on it.

I untied the scroll and opened it.

The paper was rolled up like toilet paper, and there were strange words written on it. But the second half of the scroll was torn off. Even if the scroll were meaningful, it would be unusable.

“But I think it’s familiar.”

I took out the Enhancement Scroll from the magic bag.

Somehow, it feels similar to this Enhancement Scroll and also the Spell Scroll that I saw in the stall before.

Well, if they were going to counterfeit something to fool people, they would make it look like it, and the resemblance may not be that significant. But I have a bit of hope.

I rummage through the magic bag again.

Holy Stones.

The stock has already exceeded 30. At this point, the only use for them is to be used for Summon Fairy, and the number is only increasing. Recently, I have not been trying to increase it that aggressively, but I wonder if there will be magic that consumes a large amount of it someday.

Thinking about this, I try to press the Holy Stone against the orichalcum ring, but nothing happens.

“Nothing? Next.”

The Light Magic Crystal and the Dark Magic Crystal.

The Orichalcum ring does not show any reaction.

Dried Fungus.

I take out the dried Fungus and press it against the Orichalcum ring.

“…”

It smelled a little bit of mushroom.

“…Next.”

Salt.

It is the bag of salt I bought in the port town of Ruda. Putting the Orichalcum ring in the bag.

“…”

The Orichalcum ring got salted.

…I ponder some more. I feel that my ideas are heading to some absurd line.

What did I want to do in the first place?　I am not sure from that point on.

This feeling where I don’t know what I’m doing it getting worse. It is not really a good feeling.

“Hah…”

I reset my thoughts and put the Orichalcum ring on my finger.

It’s mentally taxing to carry out endless tasks that you do not know whether it is right or wrong in the absence of proper proof. It’s just like going through the fog.

With this in mind, I reached into my magic bag and pulled out the remaining items at random–

“Eh…”