Chapter 52

Three days had passed since the riding on the wagon .

I was on top of the wagon, letting Mae carve Ortem on the wagon .

Theres a split right there! Ah, no! When you put the knife around the corner, its not held that way like this

Yes! Yes! Master Abel!

Mea didnt look very handy, but she was keen so she was improving fast .

At first, she was bored or quickly lost focus, but ever since I cut off the garms, shes been like this .

She was lifted up oddly as if she was really scared of Garm, so he hid his embarrassment and said, Since I was little, Its thanks to the Ortem carving . Maybe she really took it to heart when he said, Most of the Marrens can do it .

Well, its true that Ortem carving is the foundation of magic improvement .

I can finally see it . Thats the city of Lomarn .

James called out to me and I shifted my gaze from Mea to the city .

I could see the city surrounded by waterways .

Beyond the city gates, the wagons stopped near a square with a fountain .

In the plaza, bright white tiles were laid out underneath . Thats very well maintained .

It was quite a beautiful sight, with a row of stone buildings . There is no sign of trash being thrown away .

I read in the book that it is a lawless street, but it seemed to have changed completely .

Ehhh~! James-san, were going to split-up?!

Haha, no, I had to run some errands too . I know you guys arent familiar with the city, so Id like to accompany you, but

Were splitting up here .

Of course, we are . James is traveling for the sole purpose of peddling .

I dont think Mea and I can be of any help to him .

Im going to be in town for a while, so if I ever feel like Im in trouble again, Ill give you a call .

Thanks for your help, James-san .

No, Ive been saved too . If it hadnt been for Abel-san, the Garms would have eaten me to death .

James quickly reaches out to me .

I squeezed his hand back and we laughed at each other .

This guy, his smile is kind of scary . Its not like I have anything to do with it .

Ehh, but but

Mea still seemed confused .

Maybe she was going to follow Jamess lead the whole time .

Oh, yes! Mea will buy you all the wheat with this! Now youve got some free time!

Mea said as if it was a good idea, and took out a sachet from his pocket .

Youre not sure if you have that kind of money, but you can see a goldwork collar and ring peeking out from inside the sack .

I dont know the market price of such things, but Im sure they cost about a hundred million yen .

Even though youre just a runaway!

If my village had something like that, I would have traded for it .

Is that some kind of savings that Meas parents grabbed when she left the village?

I think theyre looking for it very carefully .

Theres no way James would take it, and he gets into the wagon with a wry smile .

Finally, he said, Well then . Ill see you later and waved as he left .

With a gulp, Mea kneels down on the spot .

H-hey, dont be so depressed

When I called out to her, Mea shook with a jolt and got up with a start .

Abel-san isnt going to disappear, right? Look, Meas Ortem carving hasnt improved at all!

She grabs my shoulders with a gulp and moves her face closer to mine .

What? Oh, yeah, yeah . I dont have any acquaintances over here either, so that would help?

Are you sure? Tha-, thats right, is there anything you want? Mea have the money! Here . look look, this, if we sell this somewhere!

I thought she had grown up in a tough environment, but shes a bad girl .

No, I dont want that kind of thing to affect our future relationship

I guess Id better stick around for a while and see what happens .

Shes vulnerable to being tricked by a bad guy and taking all my money in an instant .

An hour later .

I was glued to one of the products at the Chimeras Tail store in the shopping arcade .

Chimeras Tail focuses on products that can be used as alchemy materials and magic catalysts .

Metal, which is the general main material for the core of a golem, and jewels that attract fire spirits when they are charged with magical power .

The latter is probably used to raise the power of magic by attaching it to a staff or something .

I want it . Of course, I want those too .

But its something else that really caught my attention .

Wow, Customer, you have a keen eye . Ive had them for a long time, but Ive never been able to find anyone who was interested in them . Especially those who would be the first to jump at it, you know . In fact, its something that no cheap shop like ours would ever carry .

A person who looks like the owner speaks to me .

She was a blonde woman with a large pointed hat .

She was dressed like a typical witch, except that the hat was a little too big and bushy .

In my line of sight was a large log .

It is surrounded by a thin blue light . Its probably a ward for storage .

Right! Its not something youd normally leave in a little shop on the edge of town like this! It looks like its warded, but its not perfect . Oh, it must have deteriorated . Couldnt they have spent more money to put up the warding? Well, thats about as far as you can go in this store .

Do you have a problem with my shop?

Ouch, ouch, ouch! Dont pull my ears off! Im sorry, Im sorry! I just got excited!

She said it was a cheap store like ours, she said it herself!

No, I know its not the same thing as being told by someone else and saying it yourself .

Mea, too, moves her face closer to the product Im looking at .

What is this? Is it that good of a tree trunk?

No, not a trunk . Its a branch of the World Tree .

I rub my ears and tell Mea .

The World Tree is a huge tree located in the innermost part of the great forest called the Devils Forest .

Due to the magical power of the World Tree, Ive heard that there are powerful magical beasts around the World Tree .

This is the first time Ive seen a real one, but Im pretty sure its a branch of the World Tree .

I dont think there is any other tree in this world that has such a strong magical power .

Where did you get this stuff from?

About five years ago, a famous party from this city raided the Demon Forest . There were four of them who entered, and only one of them came back alive .

It seems that one of them had a hallucination by a demonic beast on the way in, so he took out all his weapons and armor, and found a log naked and unarmed . He was walking through the shallow woods carrying it and was protected by another adventurer . He wanted to make some money right away, and he offered it to my store, which I knew, at a discount .

What a pity .

If only they hadnt been shown the hallucination, Im sure they would have gotten other materials and things that have many more uses Im sure youve done it before .

It is true that the branch of the world tree is not something that can be handled easily .

If the person has no use for it, its better to let go of it as soon as possible, even if its a cheap price .

In fact, if you consider that the owner of this shop has been leaving it for five years, its clear that she cant have anymore .

Unless theres a place where they can more aggressively promote it to the rich, but I dont think they have the connections to do that .

Im sure I could get an amazing one if I create an Ortem with it .

I stared at the branch of the World Tree .

Im sure he was looking at it with eyes that were quite covetous . The owner of the store was a bit taken aback .

Its obvious that the value of the tree is deteriorating and that it will continue to decline in value even if you leave it in the store .

The owner of the store wanted to sell them as soon as possible, but there was no way to sell them .

It would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have a branch of the world tree at such a negotiable condition .

If I let this one slip away, Ill never get it again .

Its a shame I dont have any decent fortune right now .

If I had some money, I wouldnt hesitate to negotiate .

If I had the house, I would have sold it without a second thought .

Its worth it, and if you use it properly, you can definitely get your moneys worth .

I had that confidence .

As I bit my teeth, I got a thump on my shoulder .

You want it so bad? Shall Mea buy it for you!

N-no, but its not a good idea to make a financial loan like that and

The branches of the World Tree must be quite pricey .

Its doubtful if the parents savings that Mea has grabbed is enough .

I cant take such a huge amount of money in the first place .

No no, Its not a loan . If Abel-san hadnt been there, the wagon would have been in danger, James-san said it too!

No But

I knew it would follow me later

Look, look, Ive been told about the Ortem carving! I dont owe you anything at all!

.

You dont owe me anything?

Okay, so were all rather equal now . So were even now, yeah .

No, no, dont be swayed . Thats not possible .

Hello . Is this enough?

Hmmm, well, Ive been poking around in poor storage conditions and even if I compromise . . We cant afford to not sell this stuff either .

The negotiations were coming to an end while I was fretting .

Hey, wait!

Hmm, what is it?

Mea looks back at me .

Well in the form of debt, please .

I was weak at heart .

Hearing my words, Mea turned to the shopkeeper .

Then, since Abel-san says so too .

The owner and Mea quickly negotiate with each other, as if to say that they were taking words .

I hate myself for keeping quiet about it, which is a good thing .

I can return it . . right?

Uh-huh . You can return it, maybe .

If you want, I can carve it and show it to someone who knows about magic, and Im confident we can resell it . Itll be fine .