“To be accurate, money is the only thing I don’t have. Do you know of any shops that will buy and sell?”
“Hmm? What are ya fixin’ ta sell?”
“An enchanted catalyst, or maybe a completed enchanted item.”
“Oh, shoot, Girlie, if that’s what yer lookin’ for, y’can just sell your stuff here instead.”
“Huh? Are you sure?” She had been a tad bit hopeful ever since she arrived at this shop, considering that this place dealt with magical items and had all sorts of different potions and enchanted items lining the display shelves. If I can ask for her services, then... Ristia thought, pulling out the leather satchel she’d shown the soldier earlier.
“Huh...? I feel that leather bag just popped outta thin air. Am I just imaginin’ things?”
While Eindebelle was perplexed, Ristia didn’t pick up on it, instead proceeding to line up the catalysts in her bag one by one on the counter.
“A leaf...? Never seen this type of leaf before, but it sure is oddly chock full o’ mana.”
“Ah, that’s a leaf from the World Tree.”
“A-Ahh, the World Tree, right. ...Beg pardon? World Tree?” Eindebelle started throwing up question marks all around her. It was so utterly absurd that she wasn’t able to wrap her head around it, but... Ristia herself hadn’t realized that, and she continued lining up other catalysts next to her.
“...Hey, that’s a magic stone! And it’s holdin’ a crazy amount of mana! You could make a fortune offa this alone!”
“Oh, really? I have a bunch of those, so that’s a relief.” Ristia pulled out a new leather satchel and poured a heap of similar-looking magic stones out onto the counter. The sight made Eindebelle’s jaw hit the floor.
“W-Wait just a second! What? What the hell?! One o’ these magic stones can build a new house, so how are you comin’ up with so damn many of ‘em?! This ain’t right!”
“I make magic stones myself, so I have a lot of them.”
“Y-You made them?! The hell?! What d’ya even mean?!”
“I put in a lot of practice~” Ristia said in a cutesy manner, but it went without saying that a normal human would never be able to produce magic stones. If one wanted magic stones, they either had to go hunting around for them or fish around for them in ancient ruins. That being said, Ristia declared that she had created the magic stones she was producing. She pulled out yet another leather satchel from her Item Box as if it were completely normal to do so.
“Hold on, I thought I was just imaginin’ things, but you are using an Item Box, aren’cha?!”
“Yes, I am. Out of convenience.”
“Uh, I’m not debatin’ the convenience here. Y’realize that’s an Item Box, right? Y’know, legendary magic?!”
“By the way, my greatest masterpiece is this one. Pretty, don’t you think?” Ristia had pulled out a black, several hundred-karat magic stone, which sparkled a ridiculous amount from taking in the surrounding light.
“Are you listening to me when I sai—Wh-What in the hell?!”
“Huh? Like I said, it’s a magic stone I made.”
“You’ve gotta be kiddin’. I’ve never seen or heard of such an extraordinary magic stone in all my years,” Eindebelle exclaimed, flabbergasted.
Eindebelle was actually an enchantress capable of handling Third-Level magic, putting her in an elite class among humans of this era. However, that was all the more reason why Eindebelle’s blood curdled upon coming into contact with the mind-blowing stone. This tremendous magic stone was akin to those described in legends—incomparable to any other conventional item. The stone was obviously national treasure-grade material, and it was definitely not something you would find a mere girl carrying around.
“...Okay, spill. Who are you?”
“I’m just a normal girl.”
“A-A normal girl does not go around with stones like these!”
“Whaa?! R-Really?!” I didn’t knooow! she thought, displaying her shock plainly. She appeared to be normal; abnormally cute, as well. In fact, she seemed to be nothing more than that. Nevertheless, her conduct was clearly abnormal all around. This young girl had such an imbalance that it struck Eindebelle with an indescribable sense of unsettlement.
“I’m gonna ask you one more time. ...Who are you?”
“U-Um, well... you see, I’m just a normal girl who is, uh, a tad good at making magic stones?”
“Nope, nope, nope, back up. We’re past the point of ‘a little’ here, Missy! First off, a normal girl ain’t gonna be able to use an Item Box, and even if yer not normal, you’re still not gonna be able to make magic stones!”
“...What a mess,” Ristia said, literally flopping her shoulders in disappointment after being told that she was nowhere near the realm of normal. She looked frail and adorable, like a small animal abandoned on the streets.
“Oh...” Eindebelle looked at Ristia, now obviously in a rut, and let out a sympathetic groan. “Wh-Why are you so down on yourself? Yer makin’ it seem like I did something bad here.”
“Huh? O-Oh, no, that’s not true at all! Belle, you’ve done nothing wrong. I’m just getting down on myself for no real reason! Please, don’t worry about me!” Ristia gallantly proclaimed as tiny droplets of tears formed in her eyes. This was a huge blow to Eindebelle, as she felt like completely scum for what she’d apparently done.
“H-Hey now, I’m sorry. You’re a regular girl, Ristia. Honest, ya are.”
“Huh? Really? Do you really mean that?”
“Y-Yup, cross my heart. I ain’t just sayin’ that out of guilt or anythin’.”
“Yay, that’s great~ I’m doing normal girl things!” Watching Ristia prancing around and chuckling while choking back her tears was so cute that Eindebelle came to her own silent realization.
“Well, nothin’ wrong with sayin’ Ristia’s a normal girl. We’ll just go with that.”
In her mind, however, she also came to the conclusion, And besides, I can always press Nanami for details.
Nearby, Ristia was none the wiser to any of this deliberation, as she was too busy jumping for joy. And that was how Nanami gained yet another thing to worry about.
──5──
“So, will you be able to sell these catalysts at your shop?”
“A-Are you asking me to sell these here?” A long drip of sweat trailed down Eindebelle’s brow as she answered Ristia, the adorable girl from parts unknown. Every single catalyst from the stack in front of Eindebelle was worth more than the entire stock of her shop. She’d casually offered to sell them in the girl’s stead, but this was drawing some serious red flags.
“That’s right, and if you need it, I can always craft these into enchanted items.”
“What the—? You can even make enchantments?! At your age?!” Eindebelle asked in shock for the umpteenth time.
Creating magic stones was a skill straight out of fairytales, so it was hard to swallow, but enchantments were Eindebelle’s area of expertise. She had dedicated herself to her craft since she was a child, so she knew better than anyone. She knew that a girl in her mid-teens like Ristia being able to create enchanted gear with the stack of catalysts in front of her was absolutely impossible.
Nevertheless...
“...Oh, right. I’m a normal girl, so I can’t make enchantments,” Ristia commented in an aloof yet adorable manner, sending shivers down Eindebelle’s spine. She shouldn’t be able to make them, logically speaking. She shouldn’t, but her comment made it certainly seem as though she very well could if she wanted to. Eindebelle then decided to play a little trick.
“Y’know, Ristia. Normal girls nowadays can do stuff like make enchantments.”
“Wait, they can?”
“Sure can. I’m a girl m’self... and I even run this here enchantment shop, right?” And the only reason I’m capable of that is because of the almost twenty years of training I’ve put in since I was a tyke. I know I called myself a normal girl to cover that up, but it’s got me feelin’ pretty bad... thought Eindebelle.
Ristia then responded, “You have a point... All of the enchanted items here are your work, after all.”
How the heck does she know that? suspected Eindebelle, but she let that slide in order to accomplish what she set out to do. Ristia continued.
“I see. Got it. That just means that Nanami had the wrong idea this whole time, huh?” she said with an angelic smile. Eindebelle simply looked on and thought to herself, This girl is... kind of a pushover, ain’t she? The way she put that caught my interest, though. I’m figurin’ that Nanami put that idea into her head. And that means Nanami knows who this girl really is and told ’er to keep it a secret, I reckon? Pretty sure I’m not far off the mark. That was Eindebelle’s conclusion on the matter.
It was also at that point that she could have let well enough alone, as tricking an innocent little girl was racking her with guilt. Unfortunately, her curiosity got the better of her.