Read Novel Full Chapter 38
Here’s the chapter. Enjoy~
Chapter 38 – Magic Stone Study
Bezart is a remote town in the countryside.
According to Amanda-san’s information, the “Kingdom of Ragreath,” in which this town is located, stretches from north to south, and Bezart is located at the southernmost tip, almost adjacent to the Great Palmera Forest.
The road only leads to the regional city of Malta in the north, which is the trading center of the south, with four roads running east, west, south, and north.
Of course, there are several other villages scattered around the region besides Malta, including cold villages, but neither the state nor the cities know all of them, and the state is not very involved except for some reasonably sized villages that have lodging near the roads.
In other words, it may be a tax-free state, but I think it would be more accurate to say that there is nothing to tax at all.
Bezart is a rural area, and the only thing that surrounds the town is a wooden fence about as high as the town itself.
The main streets crisscross for about two kilometers in a straight line, and the center of town is the main commercial center with shops, the Hunters’ Guild, and other important facilities such as churches.
From there, the number of private homes increases as it spreads out to the foot of the road.
The inn where I am staying is along the main road, just north of the center.
It is very convenient for guilds, shopping, etc., and I think it is an inn where it is quite easy to be active.
The dirty inns that Mei-chan mentioned are along the main street that runs from left to right, and because they are a little outside the center, the appearance of the inns blends in with the private houses.
Well, I personally don’t have a problem with that, or I can only imagine what it would be like for a Japanese person to stay in a guesthouse, but the problem is that the only entrances and exits to the city are from north to south, and it’s very inconvenient to go hunting if you’re on both sides of the city.
For this reason, and also because I was able to get out of the tight financial situation, I did not even think about changing my accommodation.
By the way, going south is the way to the Great Forest of Palmera.
From the south of the city, there is nothing but the forest, so the southern part of the city is not very popular.
Conversely, to the north is the road to the regional city of Malta, and to the left and right are huge granaries.
If you go further northeast from there, you will find the Rocker Plain, and if you go northwest, you will find the Lulub Forest. Inevitably, the north of the city of Bezart is treated a bit like a wealthy district since the city’s leading hunters, merchants, and farmers also come from the north.
I never met him, but I guess the house of the mayor of the town from whom I received a reward for rescuing Zink-kun and the others is also somewhere in this northern district.
When Amanda-san gave me this information, I wondered why a wooden fence when the Great Palmera Forest is just a stone’s throw away?
Wouldn’t something sturdier, like a stone structure, be better? When I asked her why, she replied that the Great Palmera Forest is very special and that there has never been a case of a mass outbreak in the area in the past.
Therefore, there is no need to waste money on increasing security, and as Zink-kun had said before, a sufficient countermeasure to keep the Goblins away from the city is not to plant crops between the forest and the city and to leave the grassland as it is.
When I heard all this, I thought, “Then why is there a mass outbreak in the Lulub Forest…?” But I felt that I might raise a strange flag if I asked him, so I couldn’t ask him.
If a mass outbreak of monsters occurred in such an E-rank-recommended place, I would have no choice but to go into the old-fashioned cave hermit mode. I would definitely die.
So I’m in the center of town.
I will explore the side streets that are one street away from the intersection.
I’ve never been to the left or right side of town before, so I’m really looking forward to exploring them as if I were on a trip.
I looked at the wooden signs with worm-crawling letters on them to see if they were shops, and the first one I spotted was a fruit stand.
They have a row of kiwi-like ones that I used to eat in the forest.
“(Hmm… Mei-chan said it could be sold to the guild for 100 beeke, and here it sells for 200 beeke…)”
So I can kind of understand why when the common people want to eat, they feel like they have to go into the forest to get a little bit of it.
There are some yellow fruits that cost 3,500 beeke, which is more than the cost of my lodging, but I guess in this world, the cost of transportation drives up the price.
It seems that the request to escort a convoy also costs a certain amount of money.
And the next thing I found was… That’s it! A magic stone shop, which I was kind of looking forward to!
I had to go inside to see what they were selling, so I opened the door and peeked in, and the shopkeeper noticed me at the sound of a clatter.
“Welcome!”
“Oh, hello!”
As I greeted the shopkeeper, I was immediately struck by the sight inside the store.
Unlike Japanese jewelry stores, the shop was filled with magic stones of various colors and sizes.
Although the store was small, there were more than 50 magic stones on the shelves.
“This is the first time I’ve been to a magic stone store like this… There are so many different types of magic stones.”
I could not help but speak to myself in a tone as if I were asking the shopkeeper, but the sleepy-looking mature female shopkeeper, whether she was a nice person or not, answered me well.
“We also order magic stones from other countries, depending on the purpose~”
Some of the stones are the size of my thumb, which I am used to seeing, while others are the size of a child’s fist.
Also, the colors are not all the same, and there are some light blue and orange magic stones on display.
“(Come to think of it, the Goblin and the Horned Rabbit were black, but the Hooley Mole had a little brown mixed in…)”
I suddenly started to wonder about something I was thinking.
“I kind of get that the bigger the better, but what does color have to do with it?”
“Oh… you seem to be quite unfamiliar with magic stones. It can’t be helped, Onee-san will teach you.”
“T-Thank you very much…”
“The color represents the attribute of the magic stone. The black color has no attribute, the light blue has a water attribute, and the Hooley Mole magic stone from this area is brown and has an earth attribute. The stronger the attribute of the stone, the clearer the color, so the bigger the stone and the stronger the color, the more valuable it is.”
“I see.”
With that, I looked at the magic stones again and found that some were light blue, some were black with a hint of blue mixed in? While others were a bit more light blue.
“Does anything change when you mix attributes?”
It does change. For example, a magic tool that emits water will be more effective and last longer if it has a water attribute mixed with the stone. If the magic stone has a fire attribute, it should be orange or red. However, since magic stones with attributes are expensive, ordinary households usually use black, unattributed magic stones that can be used for anything. However, there is a demand from the rich, so we have some magic stones with attributes.”
“Hoho…”
“Are you a buyer of magic stones? Or do you want to sell them?”
“Well, I guess I’m more of a seller. My job is as a hunter.”
“I see… since you don’t have a weapon, I guess you’ll be working hard from now on?”
“That’s right. It’s only been a few days since I started…”
“Then you can return when you want to add attributes to your weapons.”
“Attributes on weapons?”
“That’s right. When you want to add an attribute to your weapon, you need to have a magic stone of the attribute you want to add. Paisa-san… the owner of the weapon shop in this town, can use magic to add attributes, so some people buy the attribute magic stone from that shop and ask him to do it. Especially around here, fire attribute magic stones are rare.”
I think I heard a very interesting story.
And Paisa… well, the short sword I’m looking for was made by Paisa himself.
Speaking of which, I can’t remember what it was, but it must have been a weapon with some kind of additional effect.
I carefully activated my status screen and checked the skill column. I can confirm that there is a skill called Grant, so I know it is not a hidden rare skill.
Hmm… If I acquire the Grant skill myself, I don’t even know how effective it is at level 1 or 2, and if I want to put an attribute on it, it would be safe to talk about the price of it.
And by the way…
I closed the status screen and checked the price of the Magic Stone attribute.
But…
“The ice attribute magic stone of a similar size to the Hooley Mole costs 50,000 beeke… That’s pretty… expensive, isn’t it?”
I couldn’t help but say out loud.
Because the Hooley Mole’s earth attribute magic stone costs 2,000 beeke each, you know? Isn’t that too much?
“Hahaha! That’s because they’re imported from other countries, so they’re expensive. Magic stones are small but valuable, so they are easily targeted by bandits. And you should expect the ice attribute to be especially expensive. It’s a very popular attribute to put on weapons!”
When I checked the price of the Earth attribute magic stone―in other words, the Hooley Mole magic stone―I found that it was indeed cheap at 3,500 beeke.
“The earth attribute magic stone is not popular… As someone who has been beating Hooley Mole for a while, I feel sad…”
“Earth attributes magic stone is generally used in the construction of buildings and the like. In this area, there are no large buildings to construct, and since they are made of wood, to begin with, there is no need for earth attribute magic stone. It seems that a large amount is used to build fortresses, though.”
There is no consumption, even though it can be obtained in large quantities. The seller is at an extreme disadvantage when it comes to buying and selling goods.
But what she says is also quite fair, so there is nothing I can do about it, even if I complain.
If I were a merchant, I would buy a large amount of earth attribute magic stones here and sell them to a country that seems to be at war and make a lot of money. That is if they were not stolen by bandits on the way.
Finally, I thanked her and told her that I would come back if I wanted to add an attribute.
Attribute weapons, huh…
It’s expensive, but… the ice attribute magic stone is even more expensive!
Still, isn’t it a bit too cool to fight with a weapon covered in pale, cold air?
Maybe two swords, one with an ice attribute and the other with a fire attribute?
And then, blah! Shriek! I can’t help but feel like a strong man!
…Well, let’s go for it.
Let’s set that as a goal as well.
With this thought in mind, I was drawn to the next shop by a familiar smell I could smell.