CH 70

“I heard from Ana that you made something amazing, so I came!” Adventurers Mark and Letia, the last two people who should receive the “Guardian Ring,” have come to my atelier.

“Um, since it’s a thing, can you come inside?” I said, inviting the two of them to the back workshop.

Moving to another room, I took out the ring that I had locked away and showed it to them in my palm. “This is the ‘Guardian Ring.’ It prevents all abnormal states and gradually restores the wearer’s health with magical power. By the way, even if someone with an evil heart wears it, it won’t work. This is what I am trying to give you.”

“……” Both of them were silent.

“Um?” I tilted my head.

“It’s not ‘um’! It prevents any abnormal state and naturally restores health?! Isn’t that a national treasure-class item?!” Mark exclaimed, while Letia was quietly surprised.

“Well, do you not need it?” I asked, half-jokingly.

“Of course we want it! When we met before, I told you that we struggled with a magic beast that had an abnormal state attack!” Mark scolded me.

“How much do we have to pay for this?” Letia murmured, looking troubled.

“I talked to Riin about it, but what do you think about paying the ‘Unlimited Escort Request Fee for Mark and Letia during material collection’?” I suggested to Mark and Letia what I had discussed with Riin.

“Are you saying we have to pay with our bodies?” Letia nodded in agreement.

“What are you understanding, Letia! This is not an item that can be settled with that! … Geez, both Riin and Daisy need to be more serious about money as artisans! Let’s go, the three of us will go to Riin’s place!” Mark said, and both Letia and I followed him.

Mark led us to the blacksmith district and we arrived at the entrance of Riin’s workshop. “Riin, are you there?” Mark called out as he opened the door. Riin was working inside, and she immediately answered.

“Hey, Riin. About that ring, what do you mean by ‘if you guard us, it’s free’? As a proper artisan, you should take what you deserve!” Mark scolded her.

“Oh, so it didn’t work out after all?” Riin shrugged and stuck out her tongue. Mark punched her in the shoulder. … They’re such good friends. It looked painful, but I couldn’t help feeling a little envious of their casual relationship.

“Well, what are we going to do then?” Riin asked, rubbing her head.

“I’ll pay 10 million ril each. So, give one big gold coin to Riin and Daisy each. And then, the escort request will depend on the schedule, but we will definitely accept it. I think 10 million is cheap. Make sure you receive it, okay?” Mark admonished us.

“Yes,” we nodded obediently.

“Is that okay with you too, Letia?” Mark checked, and Letia also nodded, saying, “Yeah, that’s fine.”

Finally, the price of the ring was determined, and we received a big gold coin each from Mark’s magic bag. Finally, I was able to hand over the ring to Mark and Letia.

◆

We were still at Riin’s grandfather’s workshop, sitting at a table set up for a break and chatting.

“So, do Daisy and Riin have any places they want to go for material collection?” Mark asked us.

“I don’t have any right now. I mean, eventually I want to work with Daisy to make a magic sword or armor with incredible resistance. Does Daisy have anything?” Riin asked, leaning her elbows on the back of her chair.

“I want the ‘Sage’s Herb’ and ‘Healing Moss.’ And also, yarn material that can be used for robes because my family is made up of mages,” I said, following Riin’s lead and sharing my material collection hopes.

“What are ‘Sage’s Herb’ and ‘Healing Moss’ used for?” Letia asked, tilting her head as it seemed like she had never heard of them before.

“You can make a higher-grade Mana Potion with them. I thought if the amount of Mana Potion consumed by the mages who dive into the dungeon in the labyrinth city decreases, it might solve the toilet situation,” I explained.

“Toilet situation?” Letia looked puzzled. Then she continued, “Can’t you just hide and go anywhere? That’s what I do.”

The ‘female’ Letia said this with a serious expression. Then Mark patted the back of her head.

“…You need to have a little more shame as a woman!” Mark scolded her.

Anyway, it seemed that they had accumulated escort requests for defeating magic beasts with abnormal state attacks, so we decided to do that first before going for the material collection.