Translator: Bluestar.H

Well, my thanks to the editor, KHORINTHIAN. Also again, I’m in your care for this part of the translation.

Okay, I’m going to take my vacation and will be absent for around 2 weeks. So see you later guys.

Enjoy~

Editor: Khorinthian

Sorry for the late release, totally my fault. I blame college xd.

「Did we need to leave?」

Perhaps Maria thought it was just an excuse to get out from that place.

「ーIt’s because I’m interested」

「It’s fine if you are just interested in those magic stones. Perhaps for the people who are attending the Academy, the price of those are similar to groceries, but for commoners, they are expensive」

「That’s fine, I have money to spare」

It seems that in order to learn magic, you need a lot of money. Fortunately, I have a lot of it.

The house was worth 10 gold coins, and Maria was worth 4, so I have 7 gold coins left. Also, I have already secured 20 gold for Dia, so I don't have any problems financially at the moment.

「Anyway, let’s go and see. If possible, I want to have you learn magic」

「Eh?」

Maria takes priority. As for me, I prefer using a sword. Even if I learned new magic, when the battle occurs, I'll be mostly using Dimension Magic anyway. I don’t think there's a much more reliable magic for me.

Therefore I'll prioritize Maria if we have the opportunity.

However, Maria answers me with doubtful face.

「Me? Magic?」

「I want Maria to become a Labyrinth Explorer. It will be an investment for the future.」

Since she has become level 7, she should be able to help me in battle.

Maria's stats lean towards magic. Once Maria learns some, she should be able to surpa.s.s other explorers after some time.

「Don’t you think that if a person like me learns magic, I won't just use it to run away?」

Maria certainly doesn't look enthusiastic about my idea. She's right, there is a possibility that she could just run away with it.

「……I don’t think so. You don't have a place to run to, right?」

「That's…the case if I don’t have power. However it will be a different story if my level has increased and moreover, you will let me learn magic? What will you do? If I run away and sell information about you for money?」

Maria raised her voice in dissent.

She's said nothing wrong. But, really, it's no problem for me at all. This should make Maria happy. Therefore I reply back to her.

「That’s okay, if you want to run away, just go, but please spare me regarding selling my information」

「If I do run away then you won't be able to do anything about my actions afterwards, Master…!」

「Yup, but I have the feeling you won’t run away, maybe…」

Maria's persistence makes me laugh a little.

Well, I’m aware of the situation.

I don't care about the consequences of my actions. That’s the reason why I'm this honest with her.

I feel like Maria acknowledges that such an action against one's master is a grave crime. That’s why she should think more carefully.

Also, I’ve already informed her about her freedom yesterday.

During this pause, she should be using her skill “Insight” to observe me. That's why I should speak about it anymore.

「Haaa……At least be more confident about it, Master…」

Breaking the silence, Maria spoke.

I thought so.

Apparently, just now she tried to use Insight, so she is telling me to put more confidence regarding my “maybe…” from before.

It would be meaningless if we kept talking about this.

「I’ll say this, I don’t know anything about you, but my intuition tells me that you won’t do such a thing even if you said you would. I’m sure you won’t」

「On what basis? You are too kind」

Hm, on-story basis, I learned it from movies and mangas.

「I know, but I won’t change my policy. Hey let’s go and look for your magic」

「Kind, you are too kind…」

While on the way, Maria continues babbling and complaining about this and that, but still it won’t change my decision. I have the feeling it will be okay.

However, I’m wrong about being able to guess her feelings. The reason is, I’m not good with people. I can only measure people based on their status on my display.

Thoughts of resentment towards myself festered in my mind as we headed towards the shop.

Surprisingly, the store is pretty close to the bar. The place is called the Magic Store, and they sell magic items aside from stones as well.

「Welcome to the storeー」

The moment we entered the store, the staff greets us kindly.

At first, I thought that this 'Magic Store' has articles for a Magical Girl, but I was wrong.

EDN: Basically he's referencing the mahou shoujo cliché, in that the store lacks those frilly… things

I should say, more than anything, this store resembles a book store from my world. The bookshelves are orderly arranged for the convenience of customers.

Well, first let’s ask the counter girl. Ah, she has long-ears and a tall body. An elf.

「Do you have some magic stones?」

「Yes, magic stones, is it? Wait for a second, let me check if we still have some in stock… Uhmmーmy apologizes. We are short in stock, so we don’t have many stones on sale besides those listen in the catalog. Please chose the stone you'd like.」

Right after the explanation and the staff telling me what to do, I have a look the list. Among the ones in the catalog, I something interesting. However, it’s written off as 'out of stock'.

「What does it mean, that it's “Out of Stock” here…」

EDN: >_______>

「Yes, it means just as what's written. Recently, they've become a rarity among the countries. Since the Big Conference and the Big Event is coming soon, those magic stones had been booked. For that reason, none of those stones for sale remain. Moreover, due to the coming events the flow of materials which are being used for production are slowingdown , so we don’t know when those stones will be available」

I heard that in this world there is an Arena. So the big conference refers to the fighting tournament. Seems like I have come to this store at the wrong time.

Keeping my complaints to myself, I continue to look.

At a quick glance, they're supposed to have thousands of magic stones for sale.

「Could you please give me some more time to look?」

Healing Magic to Attack Magic. Magic Resistance to Elemental Magic. I recognize these as the essential types..

For now, I want to get one which suits Maria. However, the ones I found suitable were out of stock.

At present, Maria who is behind me is looking around the store as if it was her first time.

「Maria, help me and choose whatever you like.」

「Ah, yes.」

And so, Maria came and partook in searching with me.

「Wait a seconds sir. Are going to have this child learn magic?」

The counter girl stopped us.

I can see that she's not used to having a child learn magic. Though I am quite young myself, because I'm tall, she's suspecting Maria and not me.

「Is there a problem?」

「No, it's just that she's too young. Therefore, I recommend having her take an examination on whether she has apt.i.tude for it or notー」

Ah, so she won't sell them to children. I can tell from the way she speaks.

The counter staff takes out a crystal ball from under the table.

「Can you tell with that thing?」

「Y, yes. If you put your hand on this crystal ball, the results will appear. Depending on the results, I can measure which attribute of magic is suitable and also their capacity」

What a useful crystal ball.

As expected from a world of magic, they should have something like this.

But, "magic attribute and capacity" makes me curious. Don’t tell me, there is a limit to learning magic? If there is, even though I have a lot of money, I shouldn't buy them carelessly.

「So, little miss…could you please put your hand on this?」

Maria obediently does as told.

「Yes」

Right after Maria put her hands on the crystal ball, a red light appears.

「E, eh? Oh, wowー …Your magic power is middle cla.s.s. Moreover, you have dual attributes, fire and colorless!」

Apparently, Maria’s magic power is on the middle cla.s.s. I wonder how Dia and me will fare.

Just placing my hands on that crystal ball scares me.

The staff is excited as if she's discovered a talented person.

「Waah, Little Miss. I have been in this business for a long time, but this is my first time seeing such magic power」

「T, thanks…」

Maria who is not used to getting praised shyly hides her face.

「Well then next is you, onii-san.」

Then the crystal ball is pa.s.sed over me. I’m still in doubt, but I decided to obediently place my hands on it.

Right after that, the ball starts glowing. Though the crystal ball was transparent from the start, it has become more transparent than before.

「Eh? I’ve never seen such a color. Just what color is it?」

Saying so, the staff pulls out a thick book nearby. She's going to search for information on my magic attribute? Before things go wrong, I stop her.

「No, that’s fine. You don’t have to……」

「No, actually I know what color it is, but since it’s so transparent, I can’t tell your capacity. I'll say, this transparent color means you have Dimension Magic attribute. That magic is very minor and ancient. My apologies on not being able to give you more information than that.」

The staff bows her head to give an apology.

But the result is enough for me. Since I can use “Status” on myself. Rather, that crystal ball lacks the ability to measure the capacity of someone using Dimension Magic.

「I don’t mind. That’s helped me by just hearing what my attribute is」

「I wish I had another tool besides this crystal ball to measure your ability. Okay, for now, I will take out the catalog for Dimension Magic. If I’m not mistaken the minor magic’s catalog should be around here……」

Then, the staff handed me another catalog.

Inside the catalog, I also found “Star” “Sun” “Light” and “Darkness.” Those are on the list of Minor Magic. Looks like my attribute isn't very popular. Yes, there is only two for me in the catalog.

「Dimension Magic 《Connection》and 《Form》are on the list….」

「Yes, we only have two available, and we have them in stock.  Since users are really rare, the magics for the Dimension attribute are few in number」

「Okay, I will take those two」

「He? Is that alright? Even though you don’t know your capacity yet?」

「Well, even if I couldn’t learn it right now, I could probably do so someday」

「For you, onii-san, to take this that lightly… Are you perhaps wealthy?」

「Yes, it's no problem for me」

「Ah, I'm envious. Okay. I will bring those magic stones so please wait a moment」

The staff enters the inner part of the shop. While on it, I ask Maria to decide on the magic she likes.

「Maria, how is it?」

「Magic for fire attribute are mostly sold out. But, perhaps colorless magic users are also rare, so they still have some in stock」

I look the catalog which currently Maria looking at.

Indeed, all of the fire attribute magics are sold out. Even the basic “Flame Arrow” was out of stock.

Then I try to take a glance at the list for Ice Magic. However, since I am prioritizing Dimension Magic right now, I don't feel any urgency for the other.

「How about this 《Fire Fly》?」

I point out something for Maria.

「Eh, that?」

It should be possible since it's for the Fire attribute, but the name is just… It is noted that the magic has no attack and weak.

「If possible I'd like you to play a supporting role, so learning magic with attack properties isn't required.」

「Is that so…? But I'm interested in the colorless magic 《Impulse》. It's an attack magic」

Maria points out 《Impulse》in the list

Short-range magic shock, is what's written. The magic can be used in close range, and the attack is meant to blow the enemy away. (TL Note: Shock Gun?) (ED Note: I think it's more of an impact kind of magic, where you can blow the enemy away a fair distance cuz a shock/stun gun sounds more like it's for a lightning/thunder attribute. Currently reflecting that on this ver of the edit)

「Okay, let’s buy those two for you. Since they're not really expensive, I'll buy another one for myself, Ice Magic」

「What’s wrong?」

「You are, really really generous」

Maria looks at me with an astonished face.

「Is it wrong to spend a lot of money for things that will save my life later?」

「Common sense says you should spend money wisely…」

Maria gives me a straight argument

But I don't intend on saving money. That's because I have no intention of staying in this world in the first place.

「Yes, yes. My apologies in making you wait. The magic stones are ready」