Chapter 105: Vol 7 – Chapter 4 – The Mines Of Moira? Not! (Part 3)

“Tek here, you hear all the time about natural ‘remedies’ that work on hangovers. I never got any hangovers, even though I would go out drinking to celebrate the completion of certain projects, with my workmates. In a fantasy world, there are Potions that can completely cancel out hangovers.”

The morning after the banquet, four girls are suffering from hangovers.

“Urgh, my head hurts. Uuu, it’s blurry.” Arisa grips her head while curled into a ball.

 

“Nyuu.”

“Ouch--”

 

Tama and Pochi are hugging each other.

“Tek, medicine.” Mia looked at me, her face pale and her long ears seemed to droop.

Of course, Nana, who I gave the medicine to last night is fine, but both Liza and Lulu are fine. When my eyes meet Lulu’s, she turns red and looks away. I must admit, it’s quite a cute reaction.

I quickly give out the Potion to everyone, even the ones who seem fine--I’m pretty sure that even if Liza was suffering from agony, she would act as though she was okay. I can’t be sure who is fine and who isn’t, other than Nana.

The effect of the Potion is incredible. Within seconds, everyone who had been in obvious pain since they woke up, are back to their usual selves and begin to say that they are hungry.

When someone knocked on the door, Lulu quickly darted over and opened it. She seemed to be taking her role as a servant very seriously, not only did she insist on driving the wagon when around people, she also opened doors for me. Maybe she had fallen back on childhood training when I received peerage--I felt strange having someone do all that for me, but she seemed to enjoy it, so I let her do what she wanted.

Jojori had come for us, to take us to the dining room.

Come to think of it, Dohar and Jojori are the ruling family in this town, yet they eat in one large room with the craftsmen and blacksmiths. I wonder if those two occupations rank highly in the Dwarven culture.

Dohar is already in the dining room, and already has a mug of alcohol. In front of him is a heaped plate with the same meat from last night, which I learned was Basilisk meat.

It is a pretty good tasting meat, with a naturally strong flavour, so it didn’t require too many spices.

When Mia took off her hood, to eat, he noticed that she was an Elf. Why he didn’t notice last night, but it was probably because he was too distracted with drinking and partying.

“Hoo, the girl from the Bornean Forest, eh? I’ve heard that you’re missing--but you’re actually eloping with a human, huh?”

“Nn. Mutual love.”

Uhh, she probably shouldn’t say things like that. Well, I won’t deny that I feel positive feelings towards her, but I’m not sure if it is classified as love? It’s difficult to get to know her with how taciturn she is. But I would be willing to destroy a city to save her, like I would with the other girls, like Arisa, Lulu, and Liza--all of which I do know how I feel about them.

Dohar and Mia, and the others, are all staring at me--they seem to be waiting for my response.

“I won’t deny that, but the reason that she went missing originally was because a Mage kidnapped her. I am taking her back to the Elves, so she can reassure them that she is okay. From there, well, if she wants to stay--I’m fine with it. If she wants to leave, I will respect her wishes.”

Mia blushes at my words, because I didn’t deny the ‘mutual love’ statement.

Arisa, who was mentally older and more experienced, whispered, “Coward.” With an eye roll.

“Since we’ve received a request from Bornean Forest’s Senate to search for her, do you mind if we send them a letter to report this?” Driar asks.

“I don’t mind, it would probably be helpful--so feel free.”

The Worker’s Guild in Seryuu City should have also sent a letter, but since there’s no guarantee that the letter will arrive, there’s no problem if many letters are sent.

 

***

I decided to bring everyone with me on the sightseeing tour of Bollhart city today. Both because I left them unattended yesterday, and because they all said they wanted to come.

It seems that Jojori has volunteered to guide us--it feels like we are VIPs.

First, we’re going to the Magic Shop that I heard about yesterday. I can feel Arisa almost vibrating with excitement beside me, she really does love Magic Tools and Magic books--which is understandable.

The Magic Shop is beyond the passage which leads out from the open space where I met Dohar and all of the blacksmiths yesterday. I can see why it Dohar’s permission is needed to go here, since it’s behind where Dohar almost always works, so there’s no way to get to it without his knowledge and permission.

I don’t know why, but Jojori requested that I keep my new sword sheathed on my waist. It’s probably something to do with being in a city of blacksmiths, and how it has Dohar’s mark on it.

“Yo, Jojori, have you fallen for a Human? Zajir will cry y’know.”

“Oi, Jojori, what are you doing bringing some Humans here? Your grandfather will be pissed off.”

Two small old men greet us as we enter the Magic Shop, they seem to be twins. They are also Gnomes, not Dwarves.

Nana--please stop drooling…Jojori is looking flustered.

Yes, there are a lot of Magic books--Arisa, please stop drooling--

“Hello, mister Don, mister Dan. I’ve gotten permission from Grandfather.” Jojori tears her gaze from Nana and points to the pommel of my sword.

Since the gnomes ask to take a better look at it, I unclip the still sheathed sword from my belt and put it on the bench in front of them.

“This is surprising. This is the True Mark of Elder.”

“Dang, it is a surprise. Did Elder make this as a joke after drinking too much?”

It seems that the True Mark is like Dohar’s signature, and he doesn’t usually put it on ordinary creations. Apparently, if I show this True Mark to the Dwarves and Gnomes of this dominion, I’d be treated like an old friend.

Elder Dohar--you rely a little too much on ‘learning’ about someone’s ‘heart’ through combat--

Since I, and the girls, can buy anything in the shop, thanks to the True Mark. I made sure to ask about that. I ask to see the Magic Books and Scrolls.

They also seem to sell Alchemical products, but they don’t sell Compounding tools or materials.

“Right. We have Lower-Grade Magic books for Water, Wind, Ice, and Fire Magic. Intermediate-Grade Magic books for Earth and Fire Magic. Oh yeah! There are some unusual stuff, like Blacksmithing Magic and Mountain Magic.” Don is piling Magic books up on the counter.

This is the first time I’ve heard of Blacksmithing Magic, but it seems to just be a specially arranged Spell List of Earth and Fire Magic which would be very useful in blacksmithing.

It is the same in the case of Mountain Magic, just an arrangement of Earth Magic Spells specialized in the detection and mining of minerals.

Even though I have some of the Lower-Grade Magic books which I bought in some of the towns I have passed through, I see some unfamiliar Spells, so--I buy them all.

Next, I ask for Scrolls.

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“Oh? Scrolls, eh? We do have Scrolls, but they’re mainly just expensive things for people who can’t learn the Magic themselves, the effects aren’t that great, y’know?” Don gives me a warning as he takes Scrolls from the shelves.

It seems that there are only six different types Scrolls, with many copies of each.

“They’re insurance fro miners who’s going alone into the mine. To crush rock into sand, ‘Rock Smasher’; for when water comes out of unmapped underground springs, ‘Freeze Water’, and , ‘Hard Clay’; for reinforcing brittle bedrock, ‘Mud Wall (Wall)’. There are also ‘Air Cleaner’, and ‘Air Curtain’, in case of gas.”

Of course, I tell him that I’ll buy them all--but Don halts me.

“I’m sorry lad, but I insist that you don’t buy ‘Air Cleaner’. There’s only one of them left. I want to keep it in stock, until we restock next month.”

So--why did you bring it out?

“Alright, I’ll buy the other five.”

Of course, I buy everything that Arisa and Mia want as well--which adds up to a little less than what I bought for myself.

Tama and Pochi got bored and hold my sleeves while swinging their arms.

I asked if it they could deliver the purchases to the Mayor’s Mansion--the two happily agreed, though added a silver coin to the cost of everything as a ‘deliver cost’. This caused Jojori to roll her eyes at them and she was about to speak when I just handed over the coin.

***

After finishing the required business for today, we can now go into the city for fun sightseeing.

Hmm?

Once we enter the city proper, I notice that there are people following us. Checking on the map, I notice that they’re Dwarves, and they are marked as friendly. They seem to also be people from the Bollhart Bureau of Public Order.

When I ask Jojori, after she recovered from shock at the fact that I noticed them that easily, she explained that they’re bodyguards that Driar had prepared for us--well, it’s not ‘feel like’, but we ‘are’ treated as VIPs.

In the center of a square, which has an impressive water fountain, there is a swordsman who is performing some kind of sword dance; some random traders, and people who openly sell weapons.

The commodities are put on sheets on the ground, unlike the stalls and stands in a lot of human cities. Although the items being displayed aren’t bad , they’re also not good enough to make me want to buy them.

Oh?

There’s a Weaselman street vendor who’s opening a game which involves throwing darts at a target. It seems that you have to hit the target from 3 meters away using darts that are similar to Shuriken in design.

A single game is 2 copper, and you get 1 copper for each one of the five Shuriken that hit.

The customer wins if they hit more than twice.

“How ‘bout it bro? Would ye like ta play?”

Since Pochi and Tama seem like they want to, I give him two copper coins.

Pochi’s first throw missed.

 

It looks that the dart’s balance is bad--no, it seems that it’s deliberately made to be unbalanced. Yet she still hits twice, she does have the Throwing Skill.

“I hit twice!” She looks pleased as the Weaselman hands her two copper coins with a fake disappointed look--her tail is wagging like a fan. I pat her head, praising her for a job well done.

“Revenge for Pochi?” Tama says.

I hand was about to hand over the two coppers, when Pochi held out her reward.

“Keep them, spend them how you want.” I smile at her, and give two coppers to the Weaselman.

Tama holds the darts, looking focused, her eyes narrowed and her tail stood up straight, like a cat stalking prey.

People begin to get drawn in when Tama manages to get three hits in a row--Pochi is standing by her side and cheering her on the loudest.

 

“Oh, that little girl is beating the current record.”

“I’m betting she gets four hits.”

“I’ll bet that her third hit was her last.”

 

The surrounding crowd has started betting.

Tama takes her time, ignoring the excited atmosphere, throwing her fourth and fifth darts. Unfortunately, her fifth shot misses--but four hits with the darts created to miss, it amazing.

“One missed?” She wanted to hit with all the darts, and she forgets to ask for the prize, which I receive for her. When I give her the money, I also pat her head, my praise seems to cheer her up.

While she is rubbing her head on my hand, after I finish patting her, she triumphantly shows the copper coins, that she’s holding in her hands, to Pochi.

Since Tama shows off her prize, Pochi’s rivalry begins burning and she went to challenge the game again--but apparently the Weaselman doesn’t allow people to play again if they have hit the target twice or more.

The other girls wished to try it. Beside Mia, who hit once, no one even managed to hit it once. Even though Liza occasionally practices throwing her spear, she missed all of them.

***

Since we’re already here, I suggest that everyone can spend up to one silver on buying items, such as jewelry. Or food, in the case of the Beastkin girls.

But they denied it, saying that they didn’t need jewelry, and that Lulu’s cooking is much better than what is sold here. Nana and Lulu, who are looking at accessories tell me that the accessories I make are better--which is true, because of my highly advanced production skills. I think I may make earrings, necklaces, or bracelets some time while we are next traveling.

Since it is near to lunchtime, I decided to buy food from an expensive restaurant. We sit on the open terrace in front of the restaurant.

***

“Why aren’t you selling Mithril swords, even though this is the Dwarven hometown!”

While we are finishing off our meal, I heard someone yelling.

Looking over, I see a man who is wearing noble-like clothing complaining to a Dwarf who’s selling weapons from a sheet on the ground of the public square.

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