“They don't have anything particularly special here, do they?”
This was Goua, a provincial city in the Celuroa Kingdom. It was a magic industry city where many magi craftmen resided.
“No matter which shop I look at, they all have the same old things.”
Although it was located about twenty kilometers north of the main highway, many tourists visited because of the high concentration of magi craftmen. The city was lively, aided by the fact that a side road leading toward Azul Lake passed through it.
“I don't feel any sense of originality at all.”
Shops lined the streets, displaying a wide variety of magi craft products for the tourists. There were self-defense weapons like daggers and knives, and travel supplies such as portable magi-lamps and bells to ward off beasts. There were also accessories like brooches, rings, and necklaces.
“...Maybe the second-hand shops would have more interesting items.”
For some time now, a young girl had been peeking into the shops facing the street, only to emerge moments later with a dissatisfied look on her face.
She appeared to be around fourteen or fifteen years old. She was a beautiful girl with straight, light-blonde hair that fell to her shoulders and eyes like emeralds. However, her face was twisted in a grumpy grimace, and it was clear she was in a foul mood.
Her clothing was neither flashy nor simple, but coordinated with impeccable taste. Furthermore, as was common for young ladies of high status, she was accompanied by an attendant—a boy two or three years older than herself.
“My lady, that way leads to the backstreets.”
“It’s fine. Everything on the main street is just for show; they’re all things that lack quality. Don't you think there might be something better this way?”
The girl turned a corner and broke into a light run. The boy attending her hurriedly followed after her.
After running straight for about twenty meters, she turned another corner into a T-junction, at the end of which stood a single second-hand shop. Without a second thought, the girl stepped through its door.
“Whoa...”
To put it simply, the inside of the shop was chaos.
A vintage wooden table sat in one corner, while a brooch in a design that had been popular last year lay discarded nearby. Next to a mismatched set of silver tableware sat a rusted sword. Dolls that a child might enjoy were lined up beside a helmet once worn by a soldier from a neighboring country.
“Hehe, this is it, this! A shop like this is bound to have some hidden treasures!”
Her mood completely transformed, the girl smiled happily and began rummaging through the shop.
“Oh?”
Then, she found it—a single dagger.
It had a golden scabbard that glowed with a soft light, decorated with intricate carvings and studded with small magi-crystals. The hilt was also gold, and a light blue magi-crystal was embedded in the pommel.
“...Exquisite.”
She picked it up. It was lighter than she had expected. She gently drew the blade.
“...What is this?”
The blade was about thirty centimeters long. The material was undoubtedly mithril silver. The girl was captivated by its magnificence.
“My lady?”
The attendant boy finally found his mistress.
“...Look, Andro. This dagger.”
The boy called Andro stared at the dagger as he was told. He, too, was impressed by its beauty.
“My, that is a magnificent piece.”
“I want this.”
Sheathing the blade, the girl walked toward the back of the shop. The shopkeeper was there, having been watching the girl for some time.
“Shopkeeper, I want this dagger.”
“Ho, you’ve got quite an eye. I found that in Ikasanat in the Kingdom of Egerea a short while ago. Apparently, some soldier or other sold it off.”
“I don't care where it came from. How much?”
“Let’s see... how about 100,000 Toll?”
Hearing this, the girl glanced at her attendant.
“Eh? M-My lady, are you really going to buy it?”
“That’s right. Pay him. Hurry!”
“U-Understood.”
The boy took ten gold coins from his pocket and handed them to the shopkeeper.
“Here you go, exactly right. Thank you.”
“Andro, let’s go!”
“My lady, please wait!”
Once outside the shop, the girl hugged the dagger to her chest with delight.
“Ah, that was a great purchase! If I had commissioned this, it wouldn’t have cost a copper less than 1,000,000 Toll!”
“Eh? I-Is it really such an expensive sword!?”
The girl gave a proud snort.
“That’s right. It was a wonderful find.”
Jin and the others, who had set out on an exploration trip to the Leonard Kingdom, returned to Hourai Island after staying only one night. Exploring the ruins had been less interesting than expected and was quite mentally taxing.
Since they returned via the Warp Gate of Condor 3 along with their specialized camping vehicle, the Tortoise, it was still only ten o'clock in the morning.
“...The schedule got a bit messed up...” Jin muttered while drinking a sparkling juice in the dining hall.
“Shall we have a bit of a reflection meeting?” Stearena suggested.
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” Jin agreed.
Elsa and Saki had no objections either, so they decided to hold a brief reflection session.
Incidentally, Hanna was outside playing with Reiko. When Jin peeked to see what they were doing, it seemed Reiko was giving her a tour of the fields. They were even eating fully ripened Persica.
“Well, I’ll leave that to Reiko.”
And so, the reflection meeting began.
“How was the safety management?” Jin asked, having built the camping vehicle himself.
“Well, I have no complaints about the Tortoise itself,” Stearena said. “Except for the luggage shifting on the slopes.”
“Ah, that. I’ll think about ways to secure things depending on the item.”
Saki was the next to offer an opinion. “Going to nothing but ruins is disheartening. How should I put it... I feel a profound sense of transience...”
“Yeah, certainly. Plus, it’s even worse because most things have already been looted. Maybe I chose the wrong destination...”
“Mm. The only real harvest was the reason for the Leonard Kingdom’s fall,” Elsa said.
Everyone nodded at Elsa’s statement.
“Ah, seriously. To think the whole country teleported away together because they feared a plague...”
“Is there a possibility, however slight, that they were under mind control?” Elsa asked.
“Eh...?”
During the magical consumption fever incident, Jin and Elsa had worked together to settle the matter, so she knew that the demon race had been involved. And when one thought of the demon race, mind control was a natural connection—one she made because her own father had been manipulated by the demon Marcosius.
“I can't say it’s impossible...”
Evidence would be impossible to find now, but it seemed like a distinct possibility.
“Master, may I offer my thoughts regarding the time the door to that basement opened and when you descended into it?”
“Oh, Anne. What is it?”
Anne had approached Jin and the others as they continued their meeting, indicating she had an opinion to share.
“Thank you. First, regarding the opening of the door, it seems you stepped outside, but that was insufficient as a safety measure. You should have remained inside the Tortoise and deployed the barrier. Ideally, you should have been several hundred meters away.”
“...”
“What if it had been an explosive trap? Please consider that possibility.”
She was exactly right. Jin reflected that if he was going to be cautious enough to prepare the Tortoise, he should have taken that level of precaution.
“Furthermore, going underground was also reckless. You should have been more prudent. After all, Master, you are an irreplaceable person.”
He was being taken to task by Anne. Jin reflected—at least a little—that he might have been a bit too caught up in the excitement of the ruins investigation.
“That said, since the Quinta are investigating and it seems to be a place where ordinary people come and go, the things you truly need to be careful of are places like that hidden room.”
Anne was sworn to Jin, but she was not an automata he had created. Therefore, she did not follow him blindly; she was a precious presence who was willing to offer necessary, blunt advice.
“Lastly, Laojun. You should have confirmed with Master—no, even without permission, you should have had an aviation unit on standby in the sky.”
Even Laojun received a warning. Jin, and the rest of the group, reaffirmed just how valuable Anne was to them.