“Well then, that’s that! I’ll purchase the sword for you right away and grant it to you as a gift, Rix! You may keep it as a family heirloom as a show of your thanks to me for generations to come!”
“Um… Princess Serephina?”
“Of course, if you should wish to express your debt of gratitude by serving as my vassal in the future…”
“Princess. Hey, Princess.” Randy was poking Serephina’s arm and shooting her an exasperated look.
“What is it, Randy? Can’t you see I’m just getting to the good part—? Oh…?”
Randy silently pointed to a certain part of the sword that Rix still held in his hand.
It was the price tag: 30,000,000 est.
“Gwaaaaaaaaaaah?!”
Serephina let out a quite unladylike screech.
“Th-this is…”
“…About the same amount as the reward money for defeating a relatively high-class dragon.”
“Th-that’s too much…even for royalty…”
Annie, Shino, and Randy cringed.
“All right…so this thing is worth just one dragon, then?” Rix asked with a straight face.
“I don’t have to tell you that what you’re thinking is a bad idea, do I?”
Randy could only sigh in exasperation.
After that, the three girls continued to argue over Rix’s wand, but ultimately, no one could decide who would get to choose and purchase one for him.
“So, Rix. You ended up choosing and buying your own wand,” said Randy. “Though I guess practically speaking, it is best for you to choose your wand yourself…”
After leaving the wand shop, the group walked down the street.
Randy glanced over at Rix. “But why did you choose that thing?!”
“Huh?”
Rix looked quite proud of himself, carrying on his back a brand-new wand—a log.
Yes, that kind of log.
Thick and long. Freshly cut from a tree. Nothing more, nothing less.
“It’s got heft, it’s sturdy, it has good reach, and it was cheap… I thought pretty hard about it, and this is the one.”
“Not sure you thought hard enough about the right things…”
“Hmm, you may be right. It’s a little hard to carry, and I’ve gotta get used to how to swing it around…”
Rix grabbed the fat log in one hand and started slashing at the air.
“No! Regular humans don’t just brandish logs like that! And why the heck was that store selling a log anyway?!” Randy was doing his best to keep up with Rix.
“Hmph… You should have just listened to me,” mumbled Shino, who seemed a bit disappointed. She had also bought herself a wand—a one-handed type that was thirty centimeters long.
It was made of poplar, a material that was favored by many mages. This wand couldn’t be used for physical attacks, but it was extremely portable and had excellent magical conductivity—perfect for quick spellcasting.
More than anything, it was an advantage to have one hand free. That way, she could use various other magic tools at the same time.
“Ah-ha-ha, it’s too bad… I really wanted to be the one to choose Rix’s wand.”
Annie had also bought a wand. It was an evergreen oak staff about as long as she was tall (but was of course not as large as the one she had recommended to Rix).
Staffs had been the preferred wands of mages in the olden days, and while their rather low magical conductivity made them unsuitable for quick spellcasting, their high mana amplification made them ideal for casting powerful magic.
Staffs were suited to mages who wanted to stand still and cast their spells with both hands.
“But, Randy, what you opted for is rather curious as well,” Serephina noted.
“You think so? Well, maybe…”
Randy looked at his hands.
He had gone with a pair of studded gloves that had magic circles on the back.
“I used to be into boxing. I went with these because I thought maybe I could put my boxing skills to use…”
“I think it’s an excellent choice,” said Serephina. “It is indeed beneficial to make use of one’s own skills.”
“In that case, mine must be a good choice, too!” Rix added confidently.
“Yeah, sure. If you think so, then let’s go with that.”
Randy was starting to get tired of making quips at Rix, who was happily swinging around his log.
And so as they pestered each other back and forth, the group made their way through the town.
“…So? Where to next?” Shino quietly asked Rix, who was walking beside her.
“Hmm? We didn’t really have any plan in particular, besides just wandering around town and going in anywhere we found interesting… Everything okay?”
“It’s fine.” Shino averted her gaze. “I was just curious.”
“…Don’t tell me, are you actually having fun?”
“Whatever!” Shino snapped back.
Rix couldn’t see her face since she was turning away, but he could tell her cheeks and ears were turning red.
Little by little, Rix felt like he was starting to understand her. She was actually pretty cute.
“…What are you grinning at? It’s gross.”
“Whateverrr?”
Rix tried to mimic one of Shino’s usual responses as she glared back at him.
Their day of fun was flying by.
“Aaah! What a great day!”
“No doubt about it.”
While they had been enjoying themselves, the day had turned into twilight.
Walking through the town as it burned bright in the sunset, the group started on the road back to the academy.
“There really is much to do in this town,” Serephina remarked. “It was impossible to see it all in one day.”
“Yes, so let’s come back again together sometime! Right, Shino?” said Annie.
“Huh? Oh…y-yes, sure… If it’s okay for me to tag along, I mean…”
As Rix looked at the three girls walking ahead of him, Randy draped his arm over Rix’s shoulders and pulled him closer.
“Hey, Rix. Tell me, who’s your first choice?”
“First choice?”
“Don’t play dumb.” Randy let out a mischievous chuckle. “As far as I can tell, all three of them like you quite a bit. Though I don’t think any of them are completely in love with you yet.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah, I do. So? What about you? If you had to choose one of them, who would you pick? Come on, spill it: Who’s your top pick?!”
“Hmm, lemme see… I still don’t really know anything about relationships… I just always thought I wanted to have a cute wife in the future, so I guess, if I had to choose between the three of them…” Rix looked up at the sky for some time while he thought it over, then answered with a smile: