Disciple of Immortal

Act 2: Chapter 7: 《Witch Ring》

Pomera, Philia, and I were touring around the shops that handled magic items.

The inside of this shop was clean and orderly. Items that looked like necklaces were lined up properly inside glass cases. The shop was currently filled with middle-aged men with a neat appearance– obviously wealthy men– which made us stand slightly out of place.

「K-Kanata-san… uhm, do you really think that we need to visit this kind of shop too? We’re… sticking like a sore thumb right now.」

Pomera was walking behind me, as if trying to hide herself from the curious gazes around us.

Actually, I also felt the same as her. I wanted to leave this shop as soon as possible… The eyes of the people around us were rather disturbing after all.

Some of them were whispering amongst themselves while looking at us as if we’re just nuisances. Some even went toward another floor while displaying undisguised disgust in their eyes towards us.

… I guess it’s better if we leave this place as soon as possible.

But, I must gather the ingredients for 《God’s Blood; Ether》 at all costs.

In fact, we’re already on our third round of visiting three other shops before we came to this shop but the results were disheartening.

I heard from the employee of the previous shop that the bigger shops around this area were selling many more varying ingredients, thus we’d come to this 《Witch Ring》 but… this shop whose interior was definitely geared toward the nouveau riche made us stand out like a sore thumb.

Let’s complete our search quickly and leave this shop ASAP.

「Waah! so pretty!」

Philia was the only one who was unperturbed by the looks from the people around us.

I hurriedly caught her hand as soon as she looked like she was about to run towards the display item.

「Okay, let’s stop! This is a dangerous place!」

I whispered those words in Philia’s ears.

I heard the sound of someone giggling at my actions just now.

I guess… It would be better if I left Philia in Pomera’s care and asked them to wait outside of this shop.

That moment, I heard the sound of someone coughing.

When I raised my head, the figure of a dark-green haired, bespectacled woman was already standing in front of me.

Fixed on her ultramarine robe was a golden wheel-like badge with a blue crystal embedded at its center.

「My name is Riva, the employee of this 《Witch Ring》.」

「Sorry for causing trouble for your shop…」

Riva heaved a sigh upon seeing me bowing my head in apology.

「Thank you very much for taking the time to visit our shop but, don’t you think that the true value of the items in our shop is… beyond something that adventurers like dear guests can comprehend? The items in our shop are geared towards alchemy.」

Riva pointed at the glass case as she explained to us like we were nuisances.

「Don’t you think that the general shop would be more suitable for you rather than this place, dear customer?」

「That’s… actually we’re looking for something.」

「Looking for something? Ha~h, what that something might be?」

Riva asked, as if she already lost her interest in us.

「An… ore.」

Anyhow, the item we were looking for was 《Adamant Ore》, an S-rank ingredient.

In the worst case, I’ve already found a way to get 《Yggdrasil’s Droplet》 in case I can’t find one in this city.

The problem was the 《Adamant Ore》. I really had no idea where in the world I could find that ore aside from Cocytus.

「Ore… an ore, is it?」

Riva turned around as she looked around the shop.

「This way please.」

I bowed lightly and followed after Riva.

Pomera was fidgetted for a while before following me. Philia, on the other hand, followed after me happily.

「Well, as long as you guys are our guests, even if you’re goblins, it’s the 《Witch Ring》’s policy to treat them with sincerity…」

Riva led us while grumbling in that way.

… Aren’t you quite rude for treating your guests like goblins?

Riva then stopped in front of a case located on the same floor.

「Please take a look at the ore inside this case.」

I then looked at the ore. It was a rugged, roundish ore which cast blue light.

It was around the size of a 500 yen coin.

「Is this the one you’re looking for? this is…」

「《Blue Moon》 huh.」

It was an ore that cast blue light.

It was rolling around all over 《Cocytus》, in short the least valued ore there.

I mean, I’d seen a lump of 《Blue Moon》 as big as ten metres in diameter over there.

「Y-You know this ore huh. Then you should’ve known already, right? this store only deals with this kind of expensive stuff, and the ore that you’re looking for is…」

「Yeah… this is a D-ranked ore, so, is there something special about this ore?」

「…」

Riva frowned in silence.

I got a bad premonition about this.

Don’t tell me, this store only dealt with D-rank ore like this at maximum.

I mean, it’s not like I never considered the possibility before.

The level difference between the upper and bottom part of this world was simply too cruel.

And by “level,” I wasn’t just referring to the level of humans; that also included the difference in items and magic.

In short, I might not be able to find 《Adamant Ore》in this store either.

This is a troubling matter indeed.

「Uhm… the one I’m looking for isn’t this ore… its rank was a little bit higher than this…」

「HAH?」

The frown on Riva’s forehead became even more apparent than before.

「D-Don’t worry, it’s not like I’ll file a complaint even if I can’t find that ore in this store…」

「SHOO PRETTY! KANATA! KANATA! PHILIA WANT THIS COOL LOOKING THING!」

Philia’s attention focused on the necklace beside the 《Blue Moon》.

It was an accessory for 《Blue Moon》.

「Well, I guess it’s safe to buy this cheap looking thing but…」

Upon looking closer, I saw a piece of paper with price written on it.

【340000 gold】 was written on that paper.

「Eh, how can a 《Blue Moon》 so expensive!?」

I brought my face closer to the case to confirm that it wasn’t just my eyes playing a trick on me.

340000 gold was a number that was enough to spend all of our savings from doing commissions in Aarburgh.

《Blue Moon》 was a D-rank item after all.

Its manufacturing process aside, I think selling it at 340000 gold was simply overcharging.

I guess I should’ve picked up more of this ore when I was still in 《Cocytus》.

If this was a reasonable price for the store, even though I didn’t wish to sell the items I got from Lunaire, I would sell Lovis’ compass right away.

I mean, its value was A-rank after all.

「P-Pipe down, Kanata-san, your voice is too loud…」

Pomera warned me in a hurry.

I shuddered and turned around in a hurry.

Riva, whose frown almost reached her nose, was looking at me with a bright red face.

「S-Sorry… I-I really don’t mean to undermine the value of this ore!」

「HOW DARE AN IGNORANT MONKEY FROM THE STICKS SAY THAT, GET OUT OF THIS STORE!」

Riva’s hand reached out to the cane next to her, and brandished it toward me.

D-DIDN’T SHE JUST SAID THAT IT WAS THE STORE’S POLICY TO TREAT EVEN THE MOST IGNORANT AND IMPOLITE GUEST POLITELY!

WAIT A MINUTE, COULD IT BE THAT MY WAY OF TALKING WAS IN THE WRONG!

「S-SORRY! WE’RE GOING TO LEAVE RIGHT AWAY!!」

I caught the cane with my fingers in order to not break it, and threw it to the floor.

It seems I’ve become more skilled in controlling my own strength.

Thus, I pulled Pomera’s hand as I left the 《Witch Ring》 in a hurry.

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TN : Mission Failed! what our trio would do next, find out next week!

TN of TN : Sorry for the tardiness, I fell asleep!