“But that was all before I ended up at that guy’s shop,” Keel continued.
“So it sounds like that monster trainer doesn’t use a hierarchy of slaves to control one another,” Father said. “I get the sense that he would leave any abusive treatment to the customers.”
“He’s not the worst, but he sure is creepy,” Keel said.
“You’re not wrong there,” Father said.
“So what shall we do next?” I inquired.
“Shouldn’t we go back to Riyute to help with more of the cleanup?” Father suggested. “We ended up leaving yesterday just after everything finished, and there’s no way the soldiers would’ve done anything to help, right?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea,” I declared. “But since you say so, Father, I think it would be prudent to go and see.”
“That settles it, although since we’re not planning to come back to the Melromarc castle town anytime soon, why don’t we go visit the old guy first before we head over? I want to thank him for the weapons.”
“An excellent idea. Then let’s get going!”
We left the back alley and went to say hello to the old weapon shop guy. Father gently open the door and called out to him. The rest of us waited outside.
“Wouldn’t ya know! If it isn’t you kiddos! I heard you kids did some great deeds!”
“More or less,” Father said. “But it was only thanks to the weapons you made us.”
“I’m happy to hear it,” he said. “Anything I can do for you today?”
“Oh no, just stopping by to say hello . . .” Father trailed off. “Well, we did get some money from Melromarc, so it might not be a bad idea to get some more weapons made.”
“What kind of weapons this time?”
“Honestly, I haven’t thought about it.” Father scratched his head. “I figured we wouldn’t be back for a while, so it made sense to say hi before we left. We’ll see you next time.”
“Wait now, wait now!” the old guy exclaimed. “I remembered something!”
As soon as Father turned to leave, the old guy stopped him. Whatever could it be?
“What is it?” Father asked.
“I have a colleague who wanted to thank you for what you did in the wave of destruction,” he said. “He wanted to at least see you.”
“Oh, that’s not necessary,” Father said.
“He said that thanks to you kids, Riyute managed to avoid the worst of the damage. And he doesn’t want to get back to his merchandise without thanking you first.”
“He feels like he owes us something?” Father asked. “Well, that’s really not necessary. That would mean that we owe you something for all the help you’ve given us.”
“No, no, you’ve done plenty for me. There was the thing with Tolly, too, and all.”
“And you’ve already sold us so much good stuff for cheap,” Father said.
“All I want to do is do a good job. Favors don’t come into it.”
“All right. Fine with me.”
Father and the old guy were like fast friends. He was a good man. Father trusted him in the first go-around, after all.
“So who is the person who wants to thank us?”
“It’s the man who runs the apothecary and the woman who runs the magic shop,” the old guy said. “You been there?”
“The apothecary? Yeah, we went there a few times before we started our peddling. And we went to the magic shop when we got Sakura’s clothes. Okay, we’ll go there.”
We left the weapons shop and went over to the apothecary.
“Excuse me, the man from the weapons shop told us to come over here . . .” Father called out to the owner. I supposed Father was holding back since we had only come a few times before. But the owner had a kind expression, very different from what we had seen before.
“So you already heard?” he asked. “Well then, this won’t take long. You saved the life of one of my relatives in Riyute. He said he wanted to do something to help you.”
“Oh, no kidding.”
It seemed like the owner planned to give us some recipes for medicine. Father had mentioned that he had been practicing the Melromarc language and had just started to be able to read a little. I took a quick glance at what he gave us: a book chock-full of lists of medicinal ingredients and their uses, how to mix them properly together and in what ratios, the differences between different herbs, and much more.
“I’ll also give you some more advanced recipes,” the owner said.
“Wow, are you sure?” Father asked. “This seems . . . so valuable. Aren’t these secret recipes?”
“Aren’t you the ones who saved our village from being destroyed? For that, these recipes are fair payment.”
“Okay, if you insist.”
“Anyway, I’ve seen you taking a peek at us make our medicine. This is your chance to learn the recipes officially.”
Father looked taken aback. So he had been watching them make the medicine to learn how to make it himself. The apothecary owner must have heard that Father was selling medicine from the old weapons shop guy and figured out what was going on.
“Y-yes, of course! I’ll keep that in mind.”
“From what I’ve heard about your operation, I have no problem with it.”
The book would definitely be useful. When we made them by hand as opposed to with our weapons, there was a clear difference in quality. It would help pass the time in the carriage to learn to make the medicine from scratch. But since we were spending a lot of time leveling up in Siltvelt, we could always just let our weapons handle it in the end. Father was so fastidious, so he’d likely learn the recipes to perfection, I say.
“I hate medicine! It’s too bitter!” Kou said.
“Then all I need to do is rub medicine all over me so you’ll stop trying to eat me,” Keel said.
Father turned around to spot Kou and Keel sniffing the various medicines.
“What are you two doing?”
Yuki was smelling the perfume, and Sakura looked like she was about to fall asleep.
“What a marvelous perfume,” Yuki said.
“So you sell perfume as well?” Father asked the owner.
“The best of the best. The recipe’s in there as well, so give it a try if you’re interested.”
“Of course. I’ll give it a shot.”
“Did you visit the magic shop yet?”
“Not yet,” Father said. “We’re headed there next.”
“Be careful,” the owner said. “I never know what that cheapskate is up to.”
“I thought she seemed like a nice lady.”
“That’s just what she wants you to think,” he responded.
“G-got it . . .”
Dealing with the merchants and shop owners is Father’s specialty, I say. There’s no one who would be able to take advantage of him.
When we got to the magic shop, the pig who was apparently the owner appeared to call out to Father in a friendly manner.
“Oink oink!”
Unfortunately, I hadn’t the slightest idea what she was saying.
I hate dealing with pigs who have business smarts. I never understand what they’re saying. But was she really up to something here? All I could register was a bunch of snorting and squealing, as per usual.
“Thank you so much for your help with Sakura’s clothes,” Father said. “So did you need something from us?”
The pig oinked a few times.
“What about magic types?”
A few more oinks.
The pig was looking at Keel, I noticed.
“So you want to see what kind of magic Keel is capable of?”
“Huh? I can’t use magic,” Keel said.
“Oink oink oink!”
Father picked up Keel and held her up so that the pig could divine her magical potential with a crystal ball. After she was finished, Father looked over at me.
“Motoyasu, do you want to learn any magic?”
“I can already use magic, Father,” I declared.
Up to the powerful Liberation-class magic reserved for the heroes, I say! There was no need for me to pay any attention to what was going on at the moment.
The pig appeared to have oinked something else at Father.
“You want to see his magic?” Father asked. “Motoyasu, can you use some spell or something that is harmless?”
“No problem. Here it goes.”
My magic types were fire and healing. I couldn’t use the type of powerful healing magic that Father could, but I went ahead and chanted a high-level healing spell.
“Liberation Fireheal!”
The pig oinked and squealed and fell backward in shock.
“A-are you okay?” Father asked, rushing over to the fallen pig.
The pig stood up and crossed her arms, shaking her head.
“She says your magical power is incredible, Motoyasu,” Father said.
“Not nearly as amazing as your own magic, Father,” I said.
However, I must admit, I was the best when it came to offensive spells. But in terms of basic healing spells, I had a long way to go.
If some simple magic was this surprising, there wasn’t really any point in showing her anything else.
Lazy pig oinked at the other pig, who oinked back.
“Yes. Motoyasu and Elena here can both use magic, so we don’t really need to learn anything new at the moment.”
I forgot to mention that Lazy Pig had joined up with us again. As usual, she kept yawning.
The pig oinked and pointed at the filolials.
“Motoyasu, should Sakura and the others learn some magic?”
“They know magic by instinct, so I’d say there’s no need.”
Filolials even know powerful magic like Drifa-class spells naturally. Depending on the situation, you might want to teach them some other magic too, but I had never felt the need.
“Oink oink.”
“Yep, so just me and Keel. Why are you asking this?”
The magic shop owner gave a few books to Father.
“Is this what you recommended for us to buy before?”
“Oink oink.”
“I see. Thank you so much!”
From what Father told me later, it was her way of thanking us for protecting Riyute village.
Finally, the pig handed Father a crystal fragment. It caught a flash of light, and Father blinked, examining it.
“And what is this? It feels strange . . . I can’t quite put my finger on it.”
“Oink oink.”
“Oh, a fragment of a magic jewel? Thank you. So it’s useful for learning magic. I can’t thank you enough.”
“Oink oink oink!”
The pig clapped Father on the back enthusiastically. She seemed very informal.
“Uh, y-yeah, my bad!” Father stammered.
So we left the magic shop behind. We loaded the book. Father got into the carriage and wiped the sweat off his brow.
“They’re all so nice!” Keel said.