Sigh… “I’ve used so much powerful magic between the dragon and everything else, so I’m definitely feeling the fatigue now.”
Afterward, I decided against staying in the city prepared for a defensive battle and instead headed to another nearby town to find an inn. This town, too, had been thrown into chaos with the onset of war, and many people had already fled. Because of that, the inns were relatively empty, and I was able to secure a room quickly.
This town is called Egis. I wonder if I can find Gaocherena here?
Sitting on the chair in my room at the inn, I ate a late breakfast of bread and salad I had bought earlier when I heard a gentle knock at the door.
“…Lady Ilya? It’s a bit late this morning—are you alright?”
It was Ekvar , worried about my condition.
“Good morning. I’m fine. I overslept a little. I’ll be ready to go soon, so please prepare.”
“Understood. If you’re still tired, though, why not take it easy and stay another night?”
“What are you talking about? If I can buy some Gaocherena, I have to start crafting magical items right away!”
I clenched my fist in determination, to which Ekvar laughed and responded, “Understood.”
In the end, we didn’t set out until after 10 AM, leaving the others waiting. During that time, Ekvar had looked into stores that sold Gaocherena.
And now, here we were, standing in front of a shop selling materials.
There were lots of Gaocherena seeds for sale, each about 10 centimeters in diameter! This is amazing! However, they were much more expensive than I had anticipated… And I had just bought a house recently.
We were allowed to buy up to ten per person, so the three of us could purchase a total of thirty. However, with the cash I had on hand, I couldn’t afford that many…
As I stood there dejected, Belial removed one of her brooches and handed it to me, saying, “Sell this.” Though I hesitated, I accepted her kind offer and sold the brooch for cash. It turned out to be a valuable gemstone, and I had more than enough money left over after buying thirty Gaocherena!
Overjoyed, I bought all thirty Gaocherena seeds at the store—but there was something I didn’t know.
There was a restriction on taking them out of the country!
The shopkeeper asked me, “Do you have an export permit or a registration certificate if you’re planning to take these abroad?”
That’s right—they had warned me before that “Gaocherena exports are a matter of national policy and are strictly controlled!” While answering the shopkeeper’s many questions about how and where I planned to use them, a patrol of soldiers entered the store.
I’d heard that the military superpower Trantinel had retreated after all. With tensions running high and the near brush with war, the country was taking precautions.
“What’s going on here?”
“Well, this person is trying to take Gaocherena out of the country…”
“…And quite a lot of it, at that,” the soldier said, frowning. It seemed they suspected I was planning to resell it. Even though I insisted it was for personal use, they pointed out that the quantity was unusual for someone without a workshop and refused to believe me.
Ugh… Thirty isn’t even close to enough for what I want to do!
“Lady Ilya, why not show them your merchant guild registration? It might help prove you’re a craftsperson,” Ekvar suggested.
“Good idea…”
As I followed Ekvar ’s advice and showed them my guild registration, the door swung open with a loud clang, and another person entered. I looked over nervously, thinking this was becoming a hassle, and saw the woman from yesterday! She had shoulder-length crimson hair tied in a single braid and wore a breastplate despite being a mage—a tall figure.
“What’s going on here? Is there some kind of problem?” she asked.
“Lady Albertina, these individuals were attempting to buy Gaocherena to take abroad but don’t have the necessary permits,” one of the men inspecting my guild registration answered, saluting her.
I watched nervously, unsure of how this would play out.
“I see. But these people were collaborators in yesterday’s operation. Please ensure they are treated with the utmost respect,” Albertina declared.
“What?! I didn’t realize! My deepest apologies!” The soldiers and shopkeeper bowed their heads in unison.
Albertina was apparently an advisor mage for the knights’ order, ranking above these individuals.
“Normally, individuals are allowed to take only two seeds abroad. Ilya, the advanced magical item artisan from Renant, isn’t it? You can’t possibly carry that much yourself, can you? The rest will be delivered later.”
“Ah, no… I can store them in my item box, so I’d prefer to carry them myself…”
“You’ve got a nice item, then. No one will notice. Alright, I’ll hand them over to you,” she said with a smile.
After I stored the seeds she handed me, Albertina herself bought some Gaocherena seeds, and even instructed the two soldiers speaking with us to buy some as well, making up the total of thirty.
“I’ll have these delivered to your home. Think of it as a thank-you gift,” Albertina said.
“That’s incredibly kind, but you really don’t have to…!”
“Nonsense. You deserve it as a contributor,” Albertina whispered in my ear with a mischievous smile.
With this many Gaocherena seeds, I couldn’t thank her enough. After expressing my gratitude many times, we finally left the town.
Upon returning home to Renant, Ekvar delivered the scales we had collected to Timo. We had actually taken down three mid-level dragons in total. With that, we wouldn’t run out of Dragon Tears for a while!
Serpent-type dragons rarely have Dragon Tears, but their whiskers can be used as materials instead. Yormungand apparently has Dragon Tears, but since it’s dark-attribute, we couldn’t use it… and its whiskers got burned as well. What a waste.
As for me, I was thrilled about my haul of Gaocherena seeds. I immediately got to work crafting advanced mana potions and high-grade mana potions. I still lacked the materials to make Nectar, and honestly, I don’t use Nectar very often anyway.
The pinnacle of mana potions, Nectar. It has the ability to heal damage to the soul. However, the soul doesn’t typically suffer damage. Unless you continuously use powerful magic without recovering or are targeted by magic or curses that affect the soul, it’s not necessary.
Such magic or curses are extremely rare, and there are very few users capable of them. The only other truly dangerous one might be the “Demon Lord’s Curse,” but I’ve never seen or heard of anyone being afflicted by it.
…Though the person most likely to be afflicted is always right beside me.
For that reason, high-grade mana potions are more than sufficient.
While I was relaxing and feeling quite content, there was a knock at the front door.
“Is this the residence of Lady Iriya ?”
“Yes, I am Iriya , but…”
When I went to check who it was, it turned out to be a well-postured man in his fifties, dressed like a butler. I recognized him as someone who had once asked me to imbue a gemstone with magic at a market stall.
“Thank you very much for the wonderful magical enhancement you provided the other day. My master was deeply pleased. As a token of gratitude, my master wishes to host you and has sent me with an invitation.”
“Well, thank you so much for going to such lengths.”
I accepted the letter and gave a slight bow. Judging by the wax seal on the envelope, with its elegant rose pattern, the sender was surely a noble.
“My master is Hermann Schultz de August.”
“Ah, that would be His Grace, the Duke.”
Before I realized it, Ekvar was standing behind me. And how does he know that?
I couldn’t exactly refuse the invitation after accepting the letter, so I ended up agreeing to visit three days later.
Feeling a bit heavy-hearted, I sighed as I sat on the sofa. Ekvar placed a cup of tea in front of me and took a seat across from me.
“It’s fine. That man is just an aficionado. If anything, it would be better to meet him. Receiving his patronage would be advantageous, wouldn’t it?”
“…Patronage?”
I took a sip of the steaming amber liquid.
“Yes. Duke August has a fondness for magic, and one of the court magicians he employs is said to have a contract with a marquis-class demon. Despite repeated requests from the royal palace for the magician to serve there, the Duke has consistently refused on their behalf, rendering even the royal family unable to interfere. In short, if you gain his patronage, it would serve as a shield against both the kingdom and other nobles.”
“…You seem to know an awful lot for someone who just recently arrived in Renant.”
“I’m your escort, after all. It never hurts to investigate potential threats.”
Wow, he’s surprisingly diligent.
Still, his words eased my nerves a bit. If that’s the case, I might avoid any unpleasant experiences.
“At least it doesn’t seem like it’ll turn out like with the Viscount.”
The thought slipped out of my mouth.
“…The Viscount?”
Oh right, he wasn’t around back then, so he wouldn’t know.
“Well, actually, there was this time I went to deal with a Blizzard Dragon for a Viscount named Haegstett. His son…”
“Ah, he’s the captain of this town’s garrison, isn’t he? Like me, the third son.”
Wait, how does he know that too?
I couldn’t help but panic internally. Just how much has he managed to investigate in this short time?
“Yes, yes, that’s him—Lord Sieghart. The second son was also present, and we went together. But his condescending attitude toward commoners really got on my nerves, and I ended up losing my temper a bit.”
“The second son? He’s the commander stationed at the defensive city, right? So he was there too. Still, I would’ve liked to see you angry, Lady Iriya . Weren’t you all timid when you were in the capital?”
“…You really know everything, don’t you? When do you even find time to investigate?”
I didn’t expect him to know even about Ranvalt . I was shocked. At the time of Egdualum, we hadn’t even met yet, so he must’ve heard about my timid behavior from others. I guess that’s how I came across… I certainly was quite hesitant back then. Thinking about it now, I was a bit self-deprecating.
“Well, I’ve got my ways. But meeting that Viscount? That’s just bad luck.”
“Wait, why?”
“The Viscount had an older sister, but she fell ill as a child and passed away. At that time, people claiming to be magicians or herbalists kept coming to his parents, extorting research funds or selling overpriced, ineffective medicines under the pretense of curing her. He saw it all and developed a deep mistrust because of it. He must’ve been quite harsh toward you, wasn’t he?”
So it wasn’t just because I’m a commoner. Now that I think about it, he did say something like, “Their trick is always to demand funds for research or materials.”
That must’ve been a reflection of his own experiences as a victim.
“I see… So that’s what happened. Even if I didn’t know, it’s embarrassing. I actually said, ‘How could you be afraid of a mere mid-tier dragon!’”
“…That’s kind of badass.”
