Chapter 32
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Frederica has arranged for a girls-only orphanage, which she supports with her pocket money, to take on the job of sorting magic stones.
The payment will be about the usual rate, and I will leave the magic stones I have with them.
Then I remembered that I needed to go shopping later, so I decided to ask her about something I hadn’t resolved yet regarding that.
”Ah, right. Frederica, I’m planning to go shopping soon. Do you know a store where I can buy magic catalysts without anyone finding out?”
”Catalysts? …Ah. Monoka, what I’m about to say is strictly confidential.”
”Eh? Oh, okay!”
Since there are future matters to consider, I showed that I could trust Ms. Monoka… or rather, that she could be kept quiet, and Frederica answered my question.
”You want to hide that girl is a magician, right?”
”Do you understand?”
”Well, yeah. That girl is pretty thin for someone who uses a sword.”
”Yeah, that’s the point. I want to avoid drawing too much attention.”
Even if “Gem Snake” isn’t suspicious of Iris for now, if they find clues that people who haven’t returned from the dungeon were dealt with by magic… the chances of Iris being suspected would increase.
So, since Frederica is the daughter of a powerful family, I thought she might know a store where she could help me secretly buy magic catalysts.
It seems my guess was right, as Frederica put her finger on her chin and made a thoughtful gesture before answering.
”Not that it’s impossible, but going into a high-end store would definitely draw attention, right? So, a regular store that has a lot of customers and is big… Ah, maybe Wendy’s place would be just right.”
”Wendy?”
”There’s a shop called ‘Hooters,’ and Wendy is the daughter of the merchant guild’s master who runs that shop.”
The intonation is different, but just looking at the name, I wonder if the staff are stylish older sisters?
No, it’s probably just a coincidence that the names are similar.
In response to Frederica’s answer, Ms. Monoka, who was listening, mentions the shop.
”Thanks to Mrs. Frederica’s recommendation, We could get the prices low for the supplies.”
”Yeah. Well, I can’t ask them to go into the red, but I’m on good terms with her, so she takes the situation here into account.”
”Oh… so we can secretly deal with catalysts there.”
”For big deals, you negotiate in a separate room, so it would be arranged to talk there and have it delivered to the inn.”
Ah… if we receive the products in that separate room, it means magic catalysts will be brought in there, so we need to make sure no one sees it.
”If they deliver from the shop to the inn, we can hide from outside eyes. But what about the chance of leaks from the inside?”
”Using a separate room itself won’t attract too much attention, but if Wendy is dealing with just some adventurers, that will draw attention, and her father, the merchant guild master, will get a report.”
”Can that merchant guild master keep it quiet?”
When I ask that, Frederica crosses her arms and looks thoughtful.
”Umm… It’s not that I have that kind of power myself, so I’ll write a letter of introduction for her to deal with a trusted subordinate. But if that happens, there will be a record of what was delivered and where.”
”There’s a chance that someone who can check that record might leak the information. If that’s the case, I can’t receive it at the inn, right?”
”That said, you can’t just receive it here either. If it leaks that magic catalysts were brought in here, people might think there’s a girl among the children here with the potential to be a magician.”
”If that happens… there might be people who want to negotiate properly, but there could also be those who want to kidnap her.”
”That’s true. So, if it’s already known that it’s normal for magicians to buy catalysts, and if there’s someone who seems free, it might be okay to pay a fee and receive it inside the dungeon… but magicians usually get a lot of invitations, so there aren’t many who are actually free.”
”That’s definitely true… Huh?”
At this point, I remember a certain person.
It’s about Seria, who belongs to the church that monopolizes healing magic. Because of her title “Minor Recovery,” her healing magic is weak, and she seems to be waiting like an ambulance in front of the dungeon to earn a daily wage.
If it’s her, there’s a high chance she might be free, and if I arrange to receive a large amount of catalysts at once… people around might just think we’re occasionally hiring her out of pity.
On the day of the handover, I would have to spend a decent amount of time with her, but in that case, we could just hunt in a shallow area to pass the time.
Thinking it’s a good idea, I share my thoughts, and then… Frederica speaks up.
”Well, if there’s someone like that, why not have them buy the magic catalyst for you?”
”No, that person isn’t financially stable enough for that. So how about we pay for the catalyst as a way to provide it for magic practice, and she shows us the results in the dungeon?”
”I see… as long as it doesn’t get out that Iris is the one who needs the catalyst, right?”
”Yeah. Plus, there are other things I want to buy, so I was planning to go to the store anyway.”
”Okay, got it.”
Frederica nodded and then had Ms. Monoka go get some paper and writing tools to create a letter of introduction, sliding it across the table to me.
”Here, Iris can hold onto this. As for the negotiations, I’ll leave it to you until we get taken to the separate room.”
”Sure, I understand. But what if Ms. Seria doesn’t agree to help us?”
”In that case… I guess I’ll have to ask ‘Koji.’.”
If Seria can’t help, we’ll have to look for another magician, but as we discussed earlier, it might be hard to find a “free magician.”
That means the easiest option would be to use “me as a magician.”
I could also create another persona like “Mose,” but… the common sense of being a magician gets in the way here.
It seems that magic is hindered by metal, so magicians generally don’t wear metal weapons or armor.
The reason other magicians avoid metal gear isn’t just a trend; it’s because there are real dangers associated with it.
In other words, needing a magic catalyst while wearing full-body armor that covers your face would be quite unnatural.
So, as a backup plan since Seria didn’t work out, I suggested myself as a candidate.
Hearing that, Iris raised a concern.
”But, won’t that mean you’ll be recruited as a magician?”
”Since I can’t actually use magic, I can just say I’m someone who admires it, so I shouldn’t get recruited, right?”
”Is that really okay…?”
Iris made a slightly unsure face at my response, but for now, it was the best I could come up with.
I can wrap myself in flames through Magic Armor, so I do have some magical talent, but since my way of activating it is strange, I could use that as an excuse to practice.
If I can only use magic imperfectly, then even if I get recruited, they should give up on me quickly.
Well, I think the reason of admiring being a magician is a bit unnatural, so I hope Seria will take it on.
For now, since we wrapped up our discussion, we decided to leave the orphanage.
After this, we plan to go to a shop called Hooters, where Frederica will write us a letter of introduction, to buy what we need…
”Oh, right. Frederica, can you withdraw the money I have at the guild from your reception?”
Just as everyone was about to get up, I asked her, and she turned around to answer me.
”The dismantling area only does assessments. Ah, in that outfit, you can’t withdraw it. So that means…”
Frederica realized that as “Mose,” I couldn’t withdraw the money I had deposited as “Koji,” and she started to think deeply.
Frederica, Mose, and Iris left the dismantling area together. If Koji and Iris came out of the returning carriage, their relationship would be noticed.
So, since Frederica already knew Mose’s true identity, she might be able to use Koji’s guild card to withdraw some money, and I thought we could go back to the dismantling area together as Mose.
”?”
While Ms. Monoka looked puzzled about this, Iris spoke up from the side.
”Um, I can withdraw the money, so I can pay today…”
”No, you said you didn’t have that much money left for the trip. We need to buy a cart too, so I should help pay, right?”
”Well, that’s true…”
I had heard about her situation during our casual talks, which is why I intended to contribute money as well.
It had been quite a long journey, and I could imagine that ensuring their safety during that time would cost a lot of money.
When she got closer to this city, she had to save a bit, and it seemed she was attacked at night by the men she had hired as guards.
Of course, those guys ended up being set on fire in an instant.
As a result, it seemed Iris had to stand alone at the entrance of this city.
Because of that, Iris’s finances, which she said were “somewhat okay,” were actually quite precarious, and I considered that we might need to share a room.
Well, I preferred to spend time alone, and even if we split our earnings, it seemed like it would still be a decent amount, so it didn’t seem necessary.
As I was thinking about that…
”Alright, let’s go with this.”
So, it seems Frederica came up with an idea, so I asked her.
”Do you have a good plan?”
”As long as Iris and ‘Koji’ aren’t together, right? Then I’ll send Iris to the shop in the carriage, and you can come after you withdraw the money from the guild.”
”I’d like to do that, but then there’s the problem of what to do with this armor.”
”Just leave it here.”
”Here? Um… if that’s the case, then ‘Mose’ wouldn’t have left this place, and if ‘Koji’ goes out, his identity will be exposed, right?”
It’s a secret that the Magic Armor can only extend a certain distance, and if it goes too far, it disappears.
So, I can’t just leave it here… I quickly looked for a reason why I couldn’t take off the Magic Armor here, and she accepted my response.
”Ah, I see. But there are people watching the comings and goings here… I can’t say there aren’t any.”
Since this is a facility supported by the daughter of a powerful person, no one would try to break in, but still, it would attract attention if only women were coming and going.
If there are women within my area of interest, I wouldn’t actively watch them, but if I happened to pass by, I would be a little curious.
”Right? …Well, I guess I can just book a random inn and leave it there.”
As long as ‘Mose’ can leave this place, it’s fine if Frederica and the others think I took off the armor somewhere.
In reality, I’ll remove the Magic Armor in a place where no one is watching, become ‘Koji’, withdraw the money, and then turn back into ‘Mose’ to go to the shop.
I want to explain the details of the request to Seria if possible, but that depends on whether she looks like she has free time.
”Is that okay? It’ll be an extra expense.”
”This much is fine. If you sort things out properly, we’ll have some extra money soon.”
When I replied that to Frederica, she stood up smoothly.
”Well then, shall we go? Oh, ‘Hooters’ should be easy to find if you ask a few people in the southwest area.”
”Yeah, got it.”
After she said that to me, who was going to act separately, we both stood up, and then we left the orphanage with Ms. Monoka seeing us off.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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