44 - The Magic City of Ayr

After exiting the gate, we were greeted with a "Welcome to the isle! I went to the shrine to pay my respects and found only a statue of the god Tasya, who presides over magic. As I left the temple, I saw another temple in the distance.

There were five spires of the same shape, six if you include the spire of the temple where I was now. Apparently, there is one temple for each god in this city.

In the center is a castle with a domed roof.

I am not a religious man, but I know that here I have actually met the gods and they are present. We will visit all the temples, although it will be a bit tedious. After lunch.

Oh, and just in case you feel sorry for the guys in the guild who LOVE the receptionist, I've shoved the small amount of leftover pastries into the consignment sale.　Not quite enough to go around to all the people running out of the guild, though!

When I moved to the Isle, the weather was nice and sunny with no wind. The sky is blue with a white moon. The wind seems to be strong as usual, and the white clouds are drifting away.

Now, where is the best restaurant?　I have the impression that the priests at the end of the line eat very poorly, so I don't know who to ask. With these thoughts in mind, I call out to the priest who stands near the entrance to guide visitors.

Sorry, this is my first visit to this country. Can you tell me what I should see and what restaurants you would recommend?

Welcome to the magical city of Isle. Here in the capital city of Alsuna, the arts and sciences are flourishing. Between this temple and the royal castle, there is a law school on the right and a non-magical academy and library on the left. You must have permission to enter the academy of legal arts, but you can freely enter and leave the academic academy. It is the biggest library in this continent, so if you are interested in it, I recommend you to visit it. As a temple worker, I would like to recommend you to visit each of the temples, but many people tend to only visit the temple of the god they serve because they are all made in the same way. Even so, many people visit the temples every day. As far as restaurants are concerned, , located by the Rusha Temple, is the most popular, although it is said to be a bit expensive.

The reply came as a surprise.

Is it possible that there are a lot of tourists or tourists who visit Kya......, or are they familiar with guiding tourists because there are a lot of worshippers? Moreover, near the entrance, a 14 or 15 year old girl wearing a school uniform or something still looks like a student is handing out handmade leaflets for a fee and asking for tourist information: .......

Is this country OK?

"I'm a little worried about our national security if the royal capital has become such a tourist attraction.

I see a leaflet with a simplified map, so I buy it and say what I think while handing over the 5 cils. He checks the leaflet and puts it away, and the map is updated.

The country has a path that looks like two triangles coming together to form a hexagon with the castle in the center. The apex of the hexagon is the temple. The wood god Tasha is in the north, and the rest are fire, wind, earth, gold, and water in clockwise direction.

From the temple, the roads extend further, intersecting to form a large hexagram, and then connecting to form a hexagon again, so that there are six main roads from the temple. The map is good, but you will get lost if you actually walk around the temple. If you remember, the subtle differences in the shapes of the spires of the temples will help you to find your way around.

"Oh my, this country has always been an academic city that welcomes people from all over the world, and the six temples are places of worship for people of all races. And there are strong wards in places that are off-limits, so it is not unprotected.

"Is there any place that will let me learn warding ......?"

Signs of new skills!

"At the Academy of Magic, you can choose to take classes in warding and castle protection magic, but it is off-limits to outsiders. Or are you going to enroll?"

I can't sit and study now. I don't care if it's Kikuhime or Leo, they're out of the picture in terms of appearance and age--! I don't think so. I suppose age is no barrier to learning.

No, thank you.

"This may be a bit of a distraction from the tourist information, but can you give me a tour of the craft workshops and guilds here?"

A thought occurs to him and he asks.

"Yes, of course.

He says he can show me around for 100 shillings per place, so I ask him to do it right away.

"Well, let's go to a casual place that serves good food," he says.

"You want to go to ...... for a casual meal?"

When you say "casual," you mean "common people's casual. Casual?

I can hear you whispering, is this guide girl a nice young lady with a nice way with words?　Why is that a tourist information?

"...... don't be casual, just ask for a good restaurant."

Correcting an order to a girl who has completely frozen in place. Could this be the course you are prepared to pay for?

As we walked, we talked to her, and although she didn't say so, she seemed to be a very important young lady. Her name is Christina. She has dark hair and hazel eyes with purple crystals, and she looks like a strong-willed and pretty candidate.

Why is Christina giving a tour guide?

I would not normally allow you to call me by my name, but since I don't use it, I will make a special exception this time.

He seems to be special. His expression hardens for a moment, but he lets it go.

"It's an assignment from the school."

"I see. By the way, is that an escort or something following you from behind?"

"How did you know I wouldn't be alone?"

It's said so plainly.

And then I was taken to an upscale restaurant, one street off the main road connecting the castle and the temple of Falu, where it was clear that no one was allowed to eat there. There was a carriage stop, and the structure of the restaurant suggested that this was not a place to come on foot.

Am I allowed here dressed like this?　What's the dress code?　Christina's in uniform.

"Well, miss, welcome."

Conrad will be in later.

It was a face-pass for the young lady.

I wonder if Conrad is the name of the escort. I was afraid that I would stand out from the other customers, but it seemed to be a seriously high-class restaurant, and I was shown to a private room without meeting any other customers. Maybe they have an antechamber for their attendants.

Wait, how much does it cost here!

So I'm having dinner with a potential beauty.

I'm sure you won't be short of money, I'm ready. Come on!

I thought I would be nervous because I would feel out of place, but it was easier than I expected because there was no one around but the waiter who comes to serve me and explain about the food just as I finish a plate in the private room. The waiter was an elderly chef who would have looked better in a butler's uniform, though!

Fine ingredients are carefully prepared.

Normally, the produce of the inhabitants is not rated, or rather, it is rated from 4 and remains unchanged, neither good nor bad. If the production is requested by an adventurer (player) by name, or by providing materials, or something like that, even a resident can produce a product with a rating of 5 or higher, or even a product with a rating of 5 or higher. Failure.

Apart from that, I have also heard of residents who have some kind of batu skill that makes cooking fail no matter what they do, for example, in relation to an event. Or, on the other hand, there are special residents like Luba, who are generally called masters or artisans, and get high marks without question.

The chef here is the latter!

It's highly ranked ingredients and a cheat chef!

It's so good.

The salads and appetizers are very good.

The salad had rice on it!

Rice!

Oyster meuniere with large meat, very tasty.

Rice!

It's kind of watery, or not sticky at all.

Rice!

My heart is shaking from the delicious food and the encounter with rice. Without giving away my incoherent inner thoughts, I ask Christina.

"Is rice distributed in this country?"

"This vegetable you were describing earlier?　I've only had it here."

"It's not a vegetable, but a grain, like wheat. I see, so it's not distributed."

"I can ask him where you can get it."

If you're disappointed, kind words!

"By all means."

I suppose it was inevitable that I answered immediately with a full-throated smile.

Christina asked the head chef who came to serve us where we could get the rice, and we were given a letter of introduction on our way home. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thanks to you, I'll be able to get it."

"I don't want to give you a tour of the city with you depressed next to me. You're too happy or sad about the food."

I thanked him straight away, and he turned away. She looked embarrassed.

"Since you said you wanted to learn warding, I thought you were a holy priestess, but you're not, are you?

"You're a magic swordsman."

Warding is a MID-dependent holy law system.

"...... not a cook?"

A clear, hard voice wavers.

"Cooking is my hobby."

"I think my hobby was worse when I found out I didn't have it."

"Well, I'd be happy to have warding, but I have other magic too."

What are your attributes?

Mine?

Attributes?　Do you mean the magic that can be used, or the compatibility?

"If you don't want to answer, I won't force you.

I was thinking about it for a minute, and then he got all worked up.

"No, I was thinking about what you meant by attributes. Are the compatible attributes water ......, wind, dark, and wood?"

Water, which is a good match from the beginning, has not been active, and I was planning to go mainly with the fire attribute since I didn't think it was a match in the first place.

"Well, you can use all four attributes, can't you?　And I can't believe it's wind."

"No?　We can use wood, fire, wind, earth, gold, water, light, and darkness."

I thought I could go as far as to say that I was surprised, but I was not. His face, which basically never changes its expression, was stunned.

"Not all the attributes!

Huh?　Can't residents remember all the attributes?　Shin is struggling to solve the riddle, too, and there's no such thing as both light and dark. I wonder if lightning and sky magic are not allowed.

"You've taken too many things, so the individual levels are low."

"Still, it is rare to be able to use all the attributes. It is normal for an ordinary noble to have a double and a high noble a triple. s*xtuple is the best I know. I've heard that you can get more if you become an adventurer and kill many demons. ...... Are you an adventurer?"

s*xtuple is six?　Please use Japanese. The six attributes are wood, fire, earth, metal, water and light or dark?

Yeah, you're an adventurer.

"This is the first time I have talked directly with an adventurer. Isn't it rare for an adventurer to be able to use both light and dark?

"Yes, I heard it is rare. But there will be more. I can't tell you how to get both light and dark, though, because if I told you, you might not be able to get them.

The alfas snapper poached with crispy skin and fluffy meat, served with a sauce made from a layer of potato pesto that has been molded and browned on the surface. The meat in the first appetizer was also delicious. I would like to try the meat course.

I asked him about the various dishes and found out a shocking fact: the residents could not use all of their attributes. I don't mean light and dark. They were born with the attributes they were born with, and if they had the aptitude for it, the temple would give them light or dark attributes.

And if you get the blessing of the spirit, you can use those attributes.

Even adventurers do not develop new attributes so frequently, and it is rare to have more than four attributes.

Camilla had only darkness, and when I showed her status to those three, they were surprised at her lightning attribute, so I didn't think it was unusual for the residents to have many attributes.

Only players have many skills as well as magic, and it is rare for residents, even adventurers, to have skills outside their proper occupation, with the exception of recovery magic, which is easier to acquire than others.

It may be that the more often they go to the temple, the more likely they are to manifest it, so it may be that they are unknowingly familiar with it, Christina said.

Christina herself is said to have the five attributes of wood, fire, gold, water, and darkness.

What about recovery?　I asked him about it, and he said that since there are more people who can get it compared to light and dark, they can't call themselves holy attribute holders unless they get skills of healing or holy law other than recovery, or unless their recovery effect is very high.

By the way, the healing is said to be enough to heal the kneecap of a child who fell down. Iittai no ittai no todoke!

So I feel like I've learned more about this world than I thought I would.

The chocolate tart with sun-orange ice cream for dessert was very delicious. It tastes different when eaten together.

...... Yeah, the price I paid was more than what I spent a while ago to get a complete set of equipment. Praise me for naturally stopping Christina from trying to pay for the house later.

I was thrilled to receive the letter of introduction for the rice, and Christina told me that I really like to eat.

"Hope was a magic stone workshop, wasn't it?"

During the meal, I was told that the industry is active in the processing of magic stone and the smelting of gemstones.

In the Isle, the processed magic stone is called "granted magic stone" to distinguish it from the unprocessed one. Alchemized gems become magic stones with various effects and are used for accessories.

"Is it okay if I go to the store's workshop ......?"

The store I was taken to was a big store.

Yes, I kind of expected that.

I thought that the area between the trees and the water was a student area because of the school, but I was surprised to see a group of old and prestigious stores. The premises are so large and the buildings are not what you would expect to see at first glance.

When you enter the store, you are greeted by showcases with highly transparent gems with magic circle inside and stones with strong magic power that give you a feeling of magic ....... That's right, there is a showcase, but it looks like a piece of art displayed in a tasteful lobby. This is the method of bringing items according to the taste of the customers when they arrive, isn't it?　And it's one of a kind.

If you buy here, you will go bankrupt this time.

Christina talks to a man who looks like the manager who greets us and calls me over.

He seems to be showing me how the process works. The manager is there to show me around. I wonder how high up Christina's family is.

The magical stone is made by combining magical stones, gems, medicinal herbs, etc. that go well with each other to increase the effect of the stone many times over. The combination of these stones is just by placing them on the camps that appear, so there seems to be no problem as long as the combination is correct. The result is not used by itself, but is usually used to add attributes or special abilities to weapons and armor.

The gemstones are different.

Some people combine two less good quality stones to make a flawless and bright gem of a higher rank, while others smelt a parchment with a magic circle on it and a gem, trapping the magic circle in the gem.

The magic circle being moved into the gem reminds me of the system in the Adventurer's Guild whereby the permission for interstate travel is sucked into a card, and I now wonder if this is also a kind of alchemy or a magical tool.

According to the manager's explanation, the people who were working were specialists with the skill of gem smelting, which is derived from alchemy.

"How about it, would you like to make one?"

"Oh, you can make that?"

"I can't do alchemy, but I'm sure you can draw a magic circle, can't you, young lady?　Let's have it alchemized into the jewel of your choice."

I am being guided by Christina, but the manager is guiding Christina, and I am an extra, not to be disparaged.

"Homura, what do you want?"

He looks back at me, his expression hasn't changed much but his voice is a little bouncy, maybe he wants to make it. Maybe he wants to make it. I want to learn magic circle too. I'll be along for the ride.