Volume 2 - CH 311

Chapter 7-31. Side – Houen – About the Magic Crystal

Late in the evening.

After waiting for the crowd to thin out, I was finally able to enter the Irza Magic Tool store.

There were no more people in line, and many of them had made their way to their respective places of residence.

I waited for quite some time.

Still, the store was doing quite well for a place that was thriving all day long.

Since I was bored, I went to a different place to kill time, but I couldn’t get any information at all …….

Well, that’s how information gathering is usually done, I guess.

I finally realized that after running around until today.

Now let’s get down to business.

I went to Irza’s magic tool store just before closing time.

A clanking sound informed them that a customer had arrived at the store.

Then a boy comes running right away.

“Welcome …… huh, you look familiar….”

“I wonder if it’s already time to say good evening. I’m sorry, I’m coming at a time when the store should be closing down.”

“No, no, no, that’s okay. Can I help you find something?”

“Sorry. Actually, I didn’t come here to buy anything today. I’m here to see the owner.”

“Irza-sensei?”

The boy who tilted his head immediately went to the back of the store.

Probably, the boy had gone to call for Irza.

However,…………. there’s a lot of stuff in this store.

Even if I want to looking around, there’s probably hundreds of them.

I wonder what kind of stuff they have here. 

I looked at a necklace, a small box, a ring, and many other things nearby, but I have no idea what kind of magic tools they are.

There are many things that seem to be necessary for daily life, is there anything that suitable for adventurers?

But there were adventurers in line, too.

I guess they have such products as well.

As far as I could tell, there were many potions.

Do adventurers come here to buy them?

There also seemed to be magic tool bags, but they were quite expensive.

I guess the prices are similar to those in other places.

While I was looking at the goods for a while, I heard two footsteps coming from the back.

It was the boy from earlier, walking in front of someone, pointing in my direction and telling someone something.

Coming out from behind him was a witch-like figure.

She seems to be wearing a large hat for her petite body, which she sometimes adjusts.

I wonder if that is Irza.

She looks like a really young man, but …… she has more of a medieval look.

She looks more like a man.

“Oh my? Aren’t you Houen-san?”

“You know who I am?”

“You’re a well-known person, aren’t you? That includes Ouren-san. Oh, it’s nice to meet you. I’m the owner of this store, Irza Matisse.” (イルーザ・マチス= Iruza Machisu)

“It’s not very polite of me to introduce myself to someone who knows my name, is it? I’m Houen. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

Hm, it seems that Ouren was really acquainted with this person.

I didn’t ask what kind of relationship they had, but from this reaction, it seems that they don’t have a bad impression of him.

If this is the case, we can proceed with the story reasonably quickly.

“So, how can I help you?”

“It’s a bit complicated. If possible, I would like to speak with you alone.”

“……. I understand. Please come this way.”

Irza made a little gesture of thinking, and then motioned for me to come to the back of the room.

After asking the children to close up, she asked me to follow her, so I did.

I was taken to a place that looked like a guest room.

There are several magic tools here as well, but …… I still don’t know what they are used for.

I’m going to ask a few questions.

“What is the use of these magic tools? You did all of this?”

“Yes. I’ve always been good at tinkering with small things like this. There was a time when I worked for the Adventurer’s Guild, but …… this suits me better.”

“So dexterous. Your skills …… that’s not it, you seem to be quite good at magic.”

“That’s not true.”

While smiling, Irza laid out sweets and tea on the desk.

After preparing the tea for herself as well, she sat down on the chair.

Following her lead, I sat down as well.

A place where we could talk was ready.

Now, how should I start the conversation?

Can I just ask her directly now ……?

I’m getting pretty frustrated with the lack of information. ……

“Well then, Irza. I’m going to ask you straight out.”

“What is it?”

“Do you know anything about magic crystals?”

Irza listens to that and she really freezes for a moment.

It was so instantaneous that I could not notice it.

But she quickly mended it, put her hand on her chin, and tilted her head as if remembering something.

“…… sorry, I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

…… what?

What does that mean ……?

Do you really not know?

Or are you hiding it from me?

If she’s hiding it, why would she need to hide it?

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down, Houen.

You are always thinking ahead like this and missing the important things.

Don’t think about the later now.

Sort out just this current situation: …….

“Never heard of it? Not even heard of the name?”

“Yes. I don’t even know what it’s like.”

“That’s strange, because a short, dark-haired man with incredibly high defense named Reizen told me that you know about the magic crystal.”

“Even if you say so, ……”

…… was he …… wrong?

However, she matches the look that Reizen described.

There was definitely some children there.

The possibility is very high that this Irza is the person who met with Reizen.

But she said she didn’t know.

Should I ask her more about it here ……, but since she says she doesn’t know, even if she did, she wouldn’t talk about it.

So I looked her in the eye.

For some reason, her eyes were wide open, though her face seemed to say that she didn’t know what I was talking about.

And she doesn’t like defensless.

Though it is a slight change, …… this is …….

“May I ask you to tell me what it looks like? That might be of some help.”

“Uh-huh. The crystal contains monsters. By burying it in the ground, the monster will appear somewhere on land permanently.”

“Is that ….all ?”

“That’s all I know. The only thing we know about it is this. So this is why I visited your place where you might know about the magic crystal,……, but it seems to have been a useless visit…..”

Perhaps it would be better to leave this place for now.

Any further prying will end with a blatant lie.

It would probably change if I brought in Reizen, but he’s inactive at the moment.

He might already be sleeping.

She’s a person who handles this many magic tools.

She should know about magic crystals.

But she doesn’t know.

Whether this is true or a lie, I am not sure at this point.

However, if she is hiding it, then …… the situation will be different.

“Sorry to take up so much of your time.”

“Eh, ah…”

“Thank you for the snacks and refreshments. Good bye.”

It would be better to leave immediately.

It would be troublesome if she realized something.

The moment I got up from my seat and put my hand on the doorknob, Irza called out to me.

“Um! Houen-san!”

“Yea?”

“Where did you get the information about the magic crystal from, ……?”

Where is this information from, you ask ……?

Maybe Reizen heard it from the voice of the earth.

Otherwise, there’s no way anyone would have come up with information about a magic crystal that no one knows about.

However, even if I told her I heard a voice, she would not believe me.

So, here’s my answer.

“The appraiser looked at it. He found it to be dangerous, so he immediately destroyed it. ……”

“I see. I’m sorry I can’t help you.”

“No problem. I’m really at loss. I’ll try the next one. See you later.”

With these words, I left Irza’s magic store this time.

I returned to the inn while thinking about what to do next.

(Change POV)

Irza saw Houen off.

After waiting until he was out of sight, she quickly entered the store.

She rushed upstairs and rushed into her room.

“[Silence.]”

As soon as she snapped her fingers, she lit a flame on her fingertips and multiplied the silence over it.

After transferring the flame to a small candlestick, she opens a cabinet with several locks and picks up a crystal from it.

After carefully placing it on the desk, she places the candlestick next to it.

Next, she pressed the switch on the magic tool that was on the desk, deactivating something.

Lastly, she threw her hat on the bed and spoke to the crystal.

“Dacia-sama, Dacia-sama. Can you hear me?”

Two small, pointed horns sprouted from Irza’s head.