CH 17

Chapter 17: - Why Is It So Much Fun to Answer a Question About Winning?

“I’m home!”

“…We’re back.”

When we entered the room in the most luxurious inn in town, we were greeted by the stern face of Alexis. That would be the kind of face I’d get if he had given a test to a newcomer, but their fellow examiner ignored it and went along with the newcomer in high spirits.

“Welcome back, Tia. So, how did it go?”

“Huh? What?”

“… I see. Well, I didn’t expect that kind of thing from you from the start, so it’s okay.”

“Mou~! Look, Ed! Alexis is acting so mean right now as soon as I’m back. See?”

“Ha ha, ha ha …”

Alexis shook his head in annoyance, and Tia puffed out her cheeks as much as she could and looked at me. However, the best I could do was to give her a bitter smile.

“So, let me check your work. Shall I?”

“Okay. Should I put it here?”

“Yes, of course. As long as you haven’t bought anything that could get ruined.”

Alexis grinned at me, but I didn’t really pay attention to him as I reached my hand into my bag and took out the items I had purchased from the “Stranger Box” that I had secretly activated.

“The first thing we need is food. According to Tia, we won’t be leaving town any time soon, so we’ve only purchased preserved food this time. We have enough food that lasts for three months, and another batch of food that would last us a year.”

A pile of food accumulated on the fluffy carpet. For four people, including me, this was a considerable amount of food.

“Hmm, well packed.”

“I did my research carefully. It was a bit expensive, but I bought it from a big store I trust.”

Cheap was not always good. The only people who would buy food, something that was directly related to life, at a stall for a pile of money would be naive monks or people with strong stomachs who wouldn’t die even if they ate rocks. Not that I didn’t have that kind of banishment skill but I was not going to use it because I’d seriously cry if I was the only one chomping on a rock while everyone else was eating normally.

“So, next is … this!”

Avoiding the pile of food, I took out a large magic tool, this time, with a thud. It was a large, chunky, waist-high device that was not intended to be carried, of course.

“… … Let’s not dwell on the fact that it’s obviously huge, and bigger than the mouth of the bag. But what is this? It looks like some kind of magic tool?”

“Fufufu, This… is a magic tool that produces water!”

“Water?”

I said with a smug look on my face, but Alexis blatantly frowned at me.

“What do you mean? Tia provides the water for our party, so we don’t need it, right? Didn’t Tia tell you?”

“No, I did! I said so many times, but Ed insisted on buying it! It cost us fifty pieces of silver!”

“… Why did you buy it then?”

“Of course. First of all, since you probably don’t know this, let me explain. 50 silver coins for this magic tool, even though it is used, is unbelievable. If you buy a new one, it usually costs ten times as much.”

“What!? It’s that expensive!?”

“That’s right. As long as you have enough mana, you can produce water infinitely. I hate to say it, but even Tia, who works the same way as this tool, realizes how useful her powers are, don’t you?”

“That’s… well … yeah. Water is heavy.”

Yes, the water was heavy. In spite of this, people needed a lot of water to survive, and that was why before these things became popular, large scale human living areas were limited to the waterside.

“But if it’s the same as Tia’s magic, then we don’t need it, do we? You’re not going to tell me that you bought … to resell it and make up the difference, are you?”

“No, it’s not! It is true that this thing also consumes magic power, but there is no problem if you put the required amount into a magic stone beforehand. This means that by imbuing the magic stone with mana while we are in a safe place, we can reduce the consumption of mana when we are in a dangerous place. In addition, if Tia-san were to get injured or if the party were to be split up for any reason, we could secure a certain amount of water in any location with this. I think it’s quite fortuitous that I was able to get this for only fifty pieces of silver if we plan to be away from the city for a long time.”

“… … I see. You certainly have a point.”

Alexis nodded after hearing my explanation, and I inwardly made a victory pose. Although it was hard to tell from the outside, his expression meant that I got a very high evaluation.

Well, this was a serious bargain. When I found this in that shady store where I happened to get lost the first time around, I bit my teeth at the thought of having only one silver coin in my hand.

Even then, I’d come back here and tell Alexis, “That was definitely a useful tool.” But at the time, he was like, “Why do we need it when we have Tia?” I couldn’t refute those words and as a result, I couldn’t buy it. And that led to a tragedy later on. … But that was a long time ago.

Incidentally, in case they didn’t sell this, I was thinking of buying a large number of water bottles and filling them with water to carry around as an alternative, but I honestly didn’t want to do that because it would be extremely complicated to maintain and manage the water bottles. It wouldn’t be funny if I mistook the old one for the new one, and drank a year old water bottle and had a stomach ache.

“The rest are small consumables. I was told that everyone already had their own camping gear, so I refrained from buying it this time. If you want to buy a new one because it’s getting worn out, I can prepare a new one after hearing your requirements, though.”

“No, we don’t need to go that far. I don’t do day-trip adventures all the time, you know.”

“That’s good to know. And finally, …”

Then I took out an iron sword with a dull shine. I traded in my beloved sword, which had been broken, for … five copper coins, and got … a new partner.

“Oh, you bought a sword as well?”

“That’s right. It would be foolish to leave a warrior of my caliber idle.”

Even though I just joined today, I was already a member of the hero’s party. Then, my strength was the party’s strength, and the expenditures for the weapons I needed to fight should come out of the party’s funds.

If I hadn’t procured a weapon out of unnecessary modesty, saying, “I can’t buy my own weapon with the money I’ve been given…”  Alexis would probably have cursed me for it.

“But from the looks of it, it’s not a very good quality sword. I honestly thought you were going to pour most of the money I gave you into buying your sword. …”

“I’ve been thinking about that, but I have a better method this time, so it’s just a makeshift for now.”

“Better way?”

“Yes. I have a great offer for you to practice your expedition, learn to fight along with me, and get some great armor as well. …”

“… Let’s hear it. What is it?”

I grinned at him like a crooked merchant, and Alexis said with a slight twitch.

“Why don’t we go to Atorumtein ? There’s a great treasure there.”

Yes, but this was a trick. I won’t pull my weight. Since It was my 2nd time, I was six months ahead of the … world.