Chapter 53: 45

“Aria, can we talk for a bit?”

“Sure.”

The day Kili completed her water stone, I stop Aria right before she followed Reno and Sui into training.
It was to question her about the current state of the village.

“I wanted discuss finances since we’ll be buying a few things inevitably, like Sui’s alchemy pot. How much does this village have in savings right now?”
“That’s…”

Aria struggles to continue.

Kili and Milia who listened in from close-by, also had dark faces.

“…Aria. He’ll piece things together eventually. How about taking this opportunity to tell him the truth?”
“You’re right…”

The three sit around the table we usually eat at.
Following them, I also take a seat at the table.

“To tell you the truth, we only have the money we got by selling all that stuff to Lady Margravine.”
“Huh?”

It should be common sense to leave at least some savings.
Did they spend it all on their food stocks for winter?
For having so little money, they sure had large reserves of food, for one…

“I told you about the young men who ran from our village, right?”
“Eh? Ah, yeah you did mention that.”

I remember what she told me about the young men who ran away, abandoning the village.
Running away from your residence meant having your name removed from the official registry, making it a rare occurrence, but it happened on occasion in pioneering villages where the risk of staying was grave.

“Before running away, they stole all the money we had saved, along with the farm tools we could have use to earn more, over a period.”
“Wh-!”
“That’s why we have zero funds right now. We also have no choice but to borrow or buy more farm tools, so we might go into minus even.”

Pioneering villages often specialized in agriculture, due to their proximity to the Demon Forest.
Just by planting seeds, you could grow wheat without taking care of it till harvest.
Furthermore it could be harvested three times a year in spring, summer, and autumn.

Still, it’s not like you could get away by doing absolutely nothing.
Before planting seeds, you had to plow the land otherwise the crop won’t grow. Afterwards, you’d need to cut it using a sickle.

Plowing especially was an important step.
By doing so the land responded to you as the owner of the land, and provided special nutrients to your desired crop making it grow quicker.
On the contrary, by not plowing the land, you are not recognized as its owner and the land grows all sorts of weeds on its own.
The act of plowing itself was an essential ritual here.

It’s treated casually where there is thin magic power, but places like here where magic concentration was strong, it was a very important step.

By not cultivating during winters, all the land returns to nature.
If there aren’t any tools by spring, their all-important harvest will get stalled.
It’s possible to plow using hands, but will they be able to plow a sufficient area of it alone?
This village lacked working men the most, to begin with.

If that happens, the Margravine will take the ownership of this village from us.

“They really hit our critical places.”
“So, what’s the plan? Will you be buying new tools?”
“…As long as we take care of the money, we could request the Margravine, I think.”

Farming tools are made-to-necessity.
They’re not something you buy tomorrow, by setting out today.

“…Hey, Lain, can’t we plow the land using magic?”
“Nah, that’s quite difficult.”

There are spells to plow land, but their efficiency is very poor.

The act of plowing is akin to a ritual which assigns the ownership of that land to you.
Due to its nature, the ritual consumes an equivalent amount of magical power as well.
After all, god is said to be involved in this ritual.

I used to use magic for plowing land, but comparing the amount of land I plowed in 3 hours, to what a farmer could with a hoe and no magic training, I realized that I possessed no talent for farming magic.

In short, it’s much more efficient to plow using farming tools, rather than magic.

“Ah! How about making farming tools out of magic?”
“Hmm, that might the only option left…”

It’s inefficient to make farming tools out of magic.
The reason was not clear, but as you kept working on the land, magic power kept getting duller and duller.

In case of an object made with magic, it will dissipate into magic again, and in case of an object processed with magic, it will return to its original shape.

Still, it was far better than directly cultivating using magic.

“…Rather than magic, it might be better to have Kili make some with her alchemy pot.”
“Eh? Me?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Creation of farming tools is just another form of alchemy.”

Seeing the conversation turn to her, Kili acted surprised, but it was obvious.
With her current skills, she could even manage to make a wooden hoe.
Though it’s impossible for someone like me.

“It falls upon Kili, since she’s the only one who possesses an alchemy pot.”
“Why can’t Lain do it, using my pot?”
“I explained that when I handed it to you, right? Alchemy pots gradually adapt to their owner’s unique magic, so you should never let anyone else use them. Besides, you know I’m hopeless at alchemy, right?”
“…That’s true.”

An alchemy pot consumes a lot of magic, but it also becomes familiar with your magic gradually, making it progressively easier to use.
But if you let someone else use it, it pulls in their magic as well, making the pot harder to use.

“If we decide to plow all the land around the village, I guess a hundred hoes should suffice.”
“HUN-!!!”

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Kili expression freezes, hearing that number.

“W-, won’t we fix them as we go along, using magic?”
“We can’t. The “correct shape” of farming tools can seemingly be overwritten, so restorative-type magic doesn’t work on them.”

Like farming tools, any tool related to magic rituals can’t be fixed using magic, even once they break.
It is said that magic twists the “correct shape” of that tool, and the part consumed by the ritual can’t be fixed using magic.
Even if it does, it’ll break and fall apart soon enough, just like any other tool made from magic,.

Aria gently pats Kili’s stiff shoulders.

“Kili.”
“…Ariaa~”
“Sorry, but please get to work as soon as you can.”
“…..”

Seeing that she had no allies, Kili hangs her head in despair.

***

“Haa~. It’s always such a hassle.”

I was summoned by an alchemist, and was heading to his workshop.

I founded Sieg Company and had set up a store in the Margravine’s town, but that was only for tax purposes.
Most of my business took place inside the country.

Regardless of the fact that this store opened only a few days a year, this alchemist master always visited during one of those days.

Further, he was almost guaranteed to come with some unreasonable request.
That master was known for spending large amounts of money on junk, which he pawned off to merchants.
Despite that, he was highly skilled, and was also familiar with the Margravine, so I couldn’t ignore him either.

What a troublesome customer.
He wasn’t dense either, so purposefully not letting me make a loss was a part of his bad personality.
Although, not buying at a loss wasn’t the same as being profitable, so most of the junk I bought from him kept accumulating at our warehouse.

Still, it was a necessary expense in order to make new connections.
The same could be said for other merchants.
Everyone shared information about the junk they were pawned off with, so whenever they went to an eccentric aristocrat, they were accommodated well.

However, I hadn’t heard of any recent large-monster hunting excursions, so just what did he have to sell?

Well, I guess it doesn’t matter.
With heavy feet, I head towards his house, imagining the kind of junk I’ll be handed this time.

***

“Ooh! Good of you to come all this way.”
“It has been a long time. Master.”

The alchemist master welcomes me with wide arms as I reach his house.
I had a bad feeling about what he had in store.

“What I wanted you to buy, was this!”
“This, is an alchemy pot.”
“Exactly. I’m sure it’ll sell handsomely to those vain aristocrats.”
“Ah, yes, absolutely.”

The master brought an alchemy pot from the back and places it in front of me.

Today’s item was a broken alchemy pot.
It’s true that some aristocrats would be interested in buying this, but that happened only once every decade.
Considering its storage fee, it’s not a very attractive piece.

We’re not an antique shop, you know.

“How much will you buy it for?”
“Let’s see. It’s not worthless either so…”

I wanted to make it as cheap as possible.
But if I reduce the price too much, he would sell it to someone else instead.
I don’t want to put the warehouse under any more pressure either.

It’s not very merchant-like, but I guess I can ask him how much he wanted for it.

“How much money do you require, master? It’s embarrassing to say, but I came to your house straight after shutting shop,which didn’t allow me to gather much information. I believe there hadn’t been any large-monster hunts recently…..but master has been a loyal customer. That’s why I’d like to hear your price, before deciding.”
“Ooh! Is that so? Actually, I just bought a high-quality earth extract put out by Melia Company, so I couldn’t help myself, you see. 50,000,000 Gane. Wait, I have to buy other things as well, so 51,000,000 Gane. That’s my final offer.”
“Hmm, I’m afraid I can’t hand over that much for a single, broken pot.”
“Then how about two? I have one more pot that’s broken.”
“…Why didn’t you bring it out earlier?”
“I tried fixing it myself, but I couldn’t you see.”

Saying that, master goes off again and brings back another broken pot.
Despite claiming he tried to fix it, I couldn’t even notice any scratches on it.

“It’s very pretty.”
“I tried disassembling it, but in the end I couldn’t even dent it. I just can’t make heads or tails of products from ancient magician civilization.”

Saying that, he gives a dry laugh.
He was quite a capable master, so I’m guessing it’s really amazing to even him to give up on it.

“I hadn’t heard of any new dungeons being discovered, so your claim of buying high-quality earth extract…”
“The Margravine herself aquired it, you know? It’s said that a great alchemist has arrived… Oops, that was supposed to be a secret. Don’t tell anyone, alright?”
“…I won’t tell anyone.”
“Really? I’m counting on you, okay?”
“Of course.”

There’s no way I could leak out such delicious information.

“How about 6,000,000 Gane for both of them?”
“Ooh! You’ll buy them both for that much? How fortunate.”
“Yes. Master is our loyal customer, after all.”

We both start laughing with distorted smiles.
I’ll begin my search from all the places the Margravine went to recently.

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