I Quit Being a Court Magician Apprentice to Become a Magical Item Craftsman
“Iriya -san, are you there?”
“Who might you be?”
Hearing a voice from the entrance, I was about to step out when Annika opened the door first.
She was a newly appointed disciple of mine, a magic item craftsman from the royal capital. Apparently, she was a fan of Sebirino, and despite usually being reserved, she enjoyed talking and working on alchemy with him.
The visitor was Alesia. She and her sister ran a stall in this town of Lenanto, selling my potions and medicines.
However, since I had been away often recently, they had started making and selling more of their own products.
“Hello, I’m Alesia, a friend of Iriya -san.”
“Oh! I’ve heard about you! I’m Annika, the second disciple. Nice to meet you!”
“You’re her disciple?!”
The two shook hands at the entrance, so I invited them inside and had them sit on the living room sofa.
Today, Annika prepared the tea. Sebirino had taught her that it was a disciple’s duty… He seemed to enjoy guiding the straightforward Annika as her senior.
“Actually, a new cave was recently discovered, and monsters with strong venom have appeared. I came to ask if you could create a stronger antidote.”
“An antidote… Adding Auralal would work well. Drying and grinding it into a powder is probably the best method. Also, snake monster magic cores are effective. Unicorn horns are incredibly powerful too, but they’re too rare to use.”
“Snakes…? I didn’t know that! Thank you! I’ll check with the Commerce Guild, and if they don’t have any, I’ll request some from the Adventurer’s Guild.”
Auralal alone should be effective. But since it’s in limited supply, getting another ingredient before we run out would be ideal.
“I see, a snake’s magic core, huh?”
Annika, who had prepared the drinks, took notes. It seemed that, unlike us, the town’s craftsmen were unaware of the snake core’s properties since it was difficult for them to obtain.
Auralal might be easier to get. It’s harvested from the common forest monster, Alraune.
Alesia then updated me on the situation in Chenkaslar while I was away in Egdoarm.
I hadn’t been gone for long, so there weren’t any major changes. However, trade with the Fenn Principality had declined. Rumors were circulating that the military nation of Tranchinel, which bordered Fenn, was acting strangely.
Apparently, spies sent by Fenn had discovered some kind of anomaly.
Additionally, angels and demons in Fenn had sensed an ominous magical force.
Belial was the king, but he usually concealed his power. If he was making it detectable even in a neighboring country, there must be a reason.
It seemed likely that some kind of summoning had succeeded. However, instead of declaring war, there was an eerie silence.
The border troops were on edge, and discipline among them was unusually poor.
That said, it’s common for these two countries to be on the brink of conflict, so apart from merchants dealing in trade, life in Chenkaslar remained largely unchanged.
Alesia’s stall was doing well and was now running smoothly.
“I want to open my own store in Lenanto one day.”
As she spoke about her dream, Annika grasped her hand.
“You can do it. I used to be an adventurer, but I studied while helping at a shop and eventually opened my own workshop in the royal capital. It’s small, though.”
“Really?! That’s amazing! I’ll do my best too!”
I also managed to buy a house as a magic item craftsman, but since I started as a court mage apprentice, my situation was different from theirs…
Thanks to the Elixir, I only had to make one initial payment, after all.
Alesia left with a bright smile, eager to gather materials and begin crafting items.
I decided to head to the basement with Annika to work on recovery items.
This time, we’d be making potions and fever reducers. First, I needed to assess her skills.
She handled herbs with great care, followed the recipes seriously, measured ingredients precisely, and adjusted the heat properly. For basic medicine-making, she had no issues.
However, when imbuing potions with magic, her output was inconsistent. She didn’t seem to be aware of how much magic she was releasing or what attributes it was taking on.
Most people can’t perceive attribute changes, so it wasn’t unusual. But if she wanted to make high-level potions, this would become a problem.
When I pointed it out, she took notes diligently, and we decided to focus on practicing magic control first.
“By the way, what’s in this barrel?”
“Oh, don’t touch that yet. It’s Soma, and it’ll be ready in a week. The bottles on this shelf contain Nectar, and the ones in the back are ingredients for Elixirs. I’d rather you not touch any of these.”
“Y-Yes! I had no idea they were such valuable items… You’re incredible, Master…!!!”
Hearing their names, Annika quickly pulled her hand back and stared at the barrel. From the outside, she could probably only sense the overflowing magic.
Each container had a tag with the preparation date written on it.
I explained other valuable ingredients to her and told her to let me know if she needed anything before taking a break.
As we were drinking herbal tea, there was a knock at the door. Lately, we’ve had a lot of visitors.
“Is this the residence of the magic item craftsman, Iriya ? I’ve come from the mining town of Conglomo. You helped me before.”
Was it someone from when I assisted with the Hihiirokane mining? I heard the craftsman who could see auras had returned, so the issue had been resolved.
When I opened the door, I found the supervisor standing there.
He had short brown hair and appeared to be in his thirties. His name was Danio. Last time, he wore work clothes, but today he looked a bit more refined.
“I actually have a favor to ask.”
Annika prepared another herbal tea for him, and we listened to his request in the living room.
She stood behind the sofa—probably something Sebirino had taught her. I had told her to sit next to me, but she was being reserved.
“A noble from another country is coming to inspect the mine. It’s just two people from a distant land… But we have no idea how to properly host nobles. Then we remembered how polite you were last time and thought you might be able to handle it.”
“I’m not sure I’m the right person for this…”
Sebirino or Ekvar would be better suited. I’d like to ask them, but they’re both unavailable.
Danio pressed on.
“We checked the Adventurer’s Guild for an A-rank adventurer with noble etiquette training, but there were none available. It’s such short notice, and we don’t have time to go to the royal capital…! Nobles respond better to women, and we’ll pay you properly! A court mage will be sent from the capital to assist, so it’s mostly a support role.”
He clasped his hands together and lowered his head so deeply that it nearly touched the table. This was hard to refuse.
“…Alright. I’ll do it. But in exchange…”
“In exchange?”
Hearing my agreement, Danio immediately looked up, his face lighting up.
“I don’t want money—I want mithril.”
“Ah, for magic use? Are you making a staff?”
“Yes, something like that.”
Danio readily agreed, and the deal was settled.
It was only for a day, so I wouldn’t get enough mithril to make an entire staff. But I could use treant wood as the base.
My Yggdrasil staff, entwined with a mithril snake carving, was already quite heavy. Carrying it without an item box would be a hassle.
Since Ekvar and Sebirino were on government-assigned jobs, I decided to go with Belial and Annika. We still had time since we only needed to leave the day before.
Even though I had interacted with nobles during my training and as a court mage apprentice, I should ask Ekvar and Sebirino to review noble etiquette with me.
After all, they were real nobles!
