Chapter 175 - Episode Two - Reformation of Fage Territory (2)

We descended the basement staircase of Larks mansion, with Mea leading me down the basement stairs, and arrived at the art warehouse or something like that.

Although it was now left open, the entrance door was thick, perhaps to prevent intruders.

The walls and ground were painted with a magic circle to prevent the deterioration of the artworks, and the magic stones that power the magic circle were placed there.

It was quite an authentic warehouse.

It must have cost a lot of money to build it.

There were several shelves with bags of what appeared to be antiques on them.

The walls are filled with paintings.

There was also a book that looked like an old magic book on the shelf.

For me, that is the one Im most interested in.

Lark and an unfamiliar old man were talking among the servants who were organizing them.

From the looks of Lark, he seems to have generally recovered from Marias shock, though not completely.

Maybe he just doesnt have the time to be pessimistic, though, since he has a lot of work to do.

The old man wears glasses with thick lenses, his nose is red and his waist is bent wide.

Hmm, as Ive said before, I can only do a really simple appraisal. Im sure Lark-samas grandfather, who bought them all, knew a lot more about them than I do.

Having said that, Im afraid I didnt talk to my grandfather much. Jozef can just give me a general idea of what to expect, Ill pick a few things and get another scholar from the city to appraise them.

I see, that old man Jozef was called in to be an appraiser.

As soon as Lark noticed me and Mea, he came over to me.

Oh, Abel-kun, you came. If you find something you like, you can take it with you.

No, that is a bit

He says something outrageous so easily.

The artworks that the nobleman collects as a hobby must be quite expensive.

I dont think it is right to give them away so casually.

You dont have to be so reserved. Youre not just my lifesaver but a hero of the entire Fage territory.

If you ask me that, is it so?

Ive been doing whatever I wanted to do, depending on my emotions, so I dont really feel like Im doing it at all, and in fact, it would be awkward or even kinda itchy if I were to be strangely thanked.

Then can I take a look at the magic book around there?

I wanted to talk with Lark about the future of the territory, but it looks like theres still some discussion left with Jozef.

Todays education of the Alchemy Division ended in the morning session anyway, so theres no need to hurry.

Let me take my time and look at things first.

Hm? Yeah, thats fine. But I dont think thats a priceless thing. I showed Icarus a couple of books once, and he snickered back at me.

That he simply couldnt read it

If its an old magic book, its not uncommon for the quirks and conventions of the times to be broken off.

It would take me a long time to decipher my own array of characters, especially if they were written for my students.

I picked up one of the magic books.

On the cover, it says Anorga Style Magic Formation Formula I in a rather old handwriting.

I flipped through the pages.

What do you think? Is it worth it?

Mea tries to look at the contents of the magic book from the side.

I decided to spread it out on an empty shelf so that Mea can see it easily.

From the habits of the array letters, its about a hundred years old. The magic circle mold also looks like something that was popular in that era. Im confident I can set up the magic formula more efficiently than the text describes.

Why are you assuming that youre going to compete?

Theres a part of me thats curious, but it doesnt look like its worth writing down.

I close the book and put it back on the shelf.

Im starting to feel like I cant rely on Abels standards to assess at all.

Really? I was pretty confident in this area

It would be quicker if Abel wrote and sold a book on sorcery rather than scavenging through old books

I then took out two books from the shelf that I was curious about.

The titles were Golem Making Applications and Artificial Small Spirits.

I had never made a golem before, and the practical precautions were detailed, so it seemed useful.

The golem