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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Good job, Milia.”
“Hee hee… Did I act well?”
Milia looked up at me, seeking praise, as she wrapped her arms around my waist. I bestowed a reward upon the adorable Dullahan’s head and fiddled with the Lava Crystal I had just received.
“Yes. You were very childish.”
“I don’t know if that’s a compliment or not!”
“It’s a compliment.”
Ah, it’s hot.
I might get burned at this rate.
I pulled out a leather pouch and put the Lava Crystal inside. It wasn’t something I could carry around with my bare hands.
I used my skill to attach the pouch to my clothes so I wouldn’t lose it and led my companions out of the auction house.
The grimoire auction would be starting now, but I didn’t care.
The moment I heard the name “Noam’s Grimoire,” I decided to leave without hesitation, after pretending to participate for a while.
Who would even use such a useless item?
It was about the same level as my Crafting skill with a slightly longer range. Even that was assuming I could fully understand and utilize the grimoire.
In the game, it was just a grimoire you used briefly in the early stages and then discarded.
Besides, I already had Rue.
I couldn’t form a contract with two grimoires simultaneously, so even if I obtained it, it would be useless. It was more beneficial to leave the auction house without looking back and save time.
“Elisa, what item did you need to buy?”
“Uh, th-that is… a, a few cursed items…”
“For research?”
“Y-Yes…”
Cursed items… Was it for her Herbology assignment?
To think she would come to the auction alone to buy something like that, I didn’t know if she was brave or naive.
She must have known what it meant to enter a lawless zone alone.
I stopped when we reached a less crowded area and spoke to Milia and Sif.
“Can you two give us some space? I have something to discuss with Elisa privately.”
“Huh? A private conversation?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll go look around with Sif! Have a good talk!”
“Huh? Me too?”
Milia readily agreed and walked towards a nearby stall with Sif. It wasn’t that far, so it should be fine.
After making sure they were far enough away, I spoke to Elisa, who was stealing glances at me.
“Elisa, I understand you came here to buy cursed items. But didn’t you know how dangerous the auction is?”
“I, I knew…”
“What were you planning to do if I hadn’t come with you?”
“Uh… Go alone…”
[What a reckless girl.]
“Was that really necessary? You could have just asked Professor Lennon for cursed items.”
I didn’t know how Professor Lennon obtained cursed items, but that’s how she had always done it. Why was Elisa trying to acquire them on her own now?
Elisa looked down at the ground and stammered, squeezing out her answer.
“I, I wanted to, to be of, of help to, to Lady Karina… A-And… I, I can’t, ke-keep relying on, on the Professor…”
Was she thinking of researching Karina’s curse?
I didn’t know the specifics, but it seemed like she was using cursed items for her research.
“Even so, the auction is not the place. It’s not a good idea to wander around a place where you could be robbed blind.”
Regardless of Elisa’s skills as a mage, there was no way this socially awkward girl could handle a transaction properly on her own.
Besides, you needed a password to enter the auction. How was she even planning to get in?
“Did you even know where the auction was?”
“Uh… No…”
“How were you planning to enter the auction?”
“Th-That too…”
This girl was hopelessly clueless.
I sighed, looking at the hopelessly inept purple-haired witch. It was a good thing I brought her here otherwise, who knows what would have happened.
I lightly flicked her forehead and said,
“Consult with me before you do something like that.”
“B-But, you’re, you’re busy, a-and I…”
“Even if I’m busy, I can make time.”
After all, I had to visit the auction occasionally to find hard-to-obtain but unrecognizable materials like Lava Crystals.
“Th-Thank you… Th-Then, ne-next time, ju-just the two of…”
“What?”
It was hard to understand her when her voice trailed off like a mosquito.
“Th-That is… N-Nothing!”
How disappointing.
I sighed, looking at Elisa, who was fidgeting and then lowered her head, avoiding my gaze.
It had been over a month since we met, and conversations were still this difficult.
“…We’ll talk about this later. I have a lot to do, so let’s go join the others.”
“…Okay…”
As we started walking side by side, I felt a tug on my sleeve.
Elisa was holding onto it.
Feeling like a parent taking their kids out for a day, I led Elisa towards Milia, who was browsing the stalls with Sif.
“If you’re not going to buy anything, then leave.”
“This awful smell…”
Everyone except me was holding their noses.
I, on the other hand, sniffed the air, trying to identify the source of the stench coming from a shop deep inside the auction.
Ah, this smell.
“I heard you sell that item here…”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, so you should go somewhere else.”
Tsk.
How troublesome.
I clicked my tongue at the bald man’s stubborn refusal. He clearly had no intention of cooperating.
“Let’s skip the pointless arguments and get straight to business.”
“Hmm…”
The bald man scrutinized me from head to toe, then suddenly asked,
“How much do you have?”
“300 gold coins. I’d prefer a 1:1 ratio.”
“I can’t sell that much.”
“Johann, Johann, what are you buying?”
“Ingredients for gunpowder.”
“Gunpowder?”
“You sure have a lot of money.”
“Gu-Gunpowder… I-Isn’t that, that a prohibited item…?”
“It’s fine as long as we don’t get caught.”
Technically, the manufacturing process was prohibited.
The gunpowder I used in the last rift had a suboptimal ratio, so it wasn’t as effective as I had hoped. It couldn’t be helped since I had mixed it haphazardly.
The reason I came to the auction today was to buy ingredients in bulk and experiment with different ratios.
“Stop chattering and pay up if you’re going to buy it.”
“Alright.”
I ignored the shopkeeper’s bluntness and placed my pouch of money on the counter. The bald man checked the gold coins inside and started counting them one by one, putting them into his pocket.
The counting process took almost three minutes. I guess it couldn’t be helped since the currency here was limited to coins.
I watched the greedy bald man get up from the counter and asked,
“How long will it take to get everything ready?”
“Five minutes. Wait here.”
As he said, two large leather pouches appeared on the counter after about five minutes.
The quantity wasn’t that much, but considering how troublesome it was to legally obtain gunpowder ingredients, this was acceptable.
I thought it would be easy to buy gunpowder and its ingredients in a fantasy world, but it was treated as a strategic resource and was expensive.
As a result, it was impossible for ordinary people to legally purchase gunpowder.
You could even be labeled as a dangerous individual.
“Here’s your saltpeter and sulfur.”
They were quite heavy.
I slung the pouches over my shoulder like Santa Claus carrying a sack of presents and left the shop with the kids. I had acquired the cursed items, and my objective was complete.
All that was left was to return.
“Let’s go back.”
We quietly left the auction.
“Good work today.”
“Ugh, I’d prefer a gold coin over empty compliments.”
“Here you go.”
“Thanks! See you in two days!”
Three gold coins.
That was Sif’s reward for guiding us today.
It was quite expensive for a simple guide, but what the hell. We would be earning tons of money in the dungeons anyway.
I watched Sif disappear into the distance and thought to myself.
“I’m sleepy…”
“Milia, just hold on a little longer.”
Don’t look at me with those expectant eyes.
Elisa’s face was pale with exhaustion, but she was holding on…
“Elisa, are you okay?”
“I-I can hold on…”
Her legs were trembling like a newborn lamb, so her words weren’t very convincing. I had no choice but to put them both in the cart I had prepared beforehand.
As soon as they got on, they started nodding off. They must have been past their bedtime because they looked incredibly vulnerable.
“It’s not good to be so relaxed. Both of you.”
“It’s okay… because Johann’s here…”
“Th-That’s right…”
“I’m not your father.”
“I prefer an older brother over a father…”
“M-Me too…”
What are they talking about?
“Save the sleep talk for when we get back.”
[He’s a wall. Seriously.]
I ignored their nonsense and pulled the cart towards Yeomyeong-gwan.
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