CH 31

31  Never Let Go of A Chance

The next day, I decided to take a stroll in the royal capital for a change of pace, something that both Father and Mother were also telling me to do since it seemed they had another business to do here.

Since that was the case, I ended up deciding to follow their advice since I did not have any desire to stay inside. Moreover, I would have worried them even more if I did not abide by their advice.

Honestly, I had no intention of giving up, but at the moment, there was nothing I could do to change the current situation. And, truthfully speaking, I was at a loss as to what I can do to change the situation.

Thus, as I mentioned before, I decided to stroll around the royal capital with Kevin and Richard. With this, not only did I assuage my parent’s worries, but I would also be able to clear my mind. Besides, I had been thinking about Muriel since yesterday, but still did not manage to find a solution. So, I might as well use this chance to think about another matter.

“Come to think of it, the magic tools I often see are those home appliances… is there any other form of magic tool that I have never seen before? Where can we find such tools?”

In the first place, what exactly made a tool counted as a magic tool? I meant… home appliances and legendary items that had a game-like name such as the ‘Saint’s Ornaments’ were included in the magic tools category. Truly, their definition of the things that fell under the purview of magic tools was wa~y too extensive.

There must be a classification for what type of magic tools they were, right?

I meant… Using the term ‘Magic tool’ for every enchanted item ranging from home appliances to legendary artifacts without any classification was simply too much, wasn’t it?

It was not only that, but I was also still oblivious about the Court Mage Department and Magic Tool Research Institute in detail.

I meant, I knew that Magic Tool Research Institute’s duty was just as their name suggested. They’re responsible for magic tools’ research and at the same time creating new magic tools that would be useful for the masses. For example, home appliances.

Meanwhile, as far as I knew, the Court Mage Department’s duty was to regulate the human resources. In other words, their main duty was to regulate the people who could use magic. In fact, I think the healer who was dispatched to heal Kevin and I two years ago also belonged to this department.

Yet… why were they involved with something like researching the ‘Saint’s Ornament’, which should be the responsibility of the Magic Tool Research Institute?

Then again, the book I was learning from didn’t have much details about magic tools aside from the general name… Moreover, my tutor also did not know about it either, ergo I was completely in the dark about this matter. And I had to understand the precise definition of magic tools in order for me to know the reason behind the Court Mage Department’s research on the ‘Saint’s Ornament’.

Still, this matter seemed to be very complicated considering one side was a famous research institute, while the other side was the department whose main responsibility was to regulate the mages and magic’s use. Yes, this matter was definitely not something as simple as company secrets. There must be more to this. The problem was, what exactly was it?

Alas, the chance of there being many things that I wouldn’t understand unless I was working in those two places was very high. In fact, it could be said that there was no chance, but absolute certainty.

That was, thinking about such things right now was useless. There was no chance for me to get in there right now to resolve the matter. There was simply too much-advanced knowledge I needed to understand to enter there.

In this regard, I had to – once again – realize that Muriel’s big brother was truly an amazing person. I meant, how could I not? He got an unofficial offer to work from the bureaucrat with his own skills and power.

However, if his future workplace found out later on that his family was related to my father, who was basically their enemy… his job offer might just be cancelled. And even if he entered the department, he would become his workplace’s public enemy. It might not stop at just becoming his workplace’s public enemy. In that sort of situation, he might become a good-for-nothing who only received payroll without doing anything noteworthy until he died.

Thinking up to this point, I suddenly realized that this might be the reason why Muriel’s father chose to reject the plan to engage Muriel and me.

Will he at least allow me to play with Muriel if I sell a favour to the Court Mage Department? I thought before sighing to myself.

… What a difficult problem. It’s so complicated to the point I don’t even know where to begin to solve it or even HOW I should solve it.

“Are you interested in magic tools? Then, let’s go to the bulk seller’s vendor. Or, if you want to find magic tools that are not home appliances, shall we go to the specialist shop?” Richard, who already had the map of the royal capital firmly etched in his head, asked as he led the way.

How reliable. He must have put so much effort to reach this stage… Yosha, I must not lose too!

“I see. Then, our destination will be the specialist shop. In the first place, I want to know just what kind of magic tools are available there.”

“That place is really amusing, you know. We can have fun just by looking around in that place. Additionally, even if we may be unable to understand the theory, we are still going to know what is going to happen just by looking at the base of the magic circuit. It’s a fun place, really.” Kevin commented happily, expression eager as if he was ready to explore right then right there.

I see… isn’t that the same as that junk shop that sold PC parts or base back then? I mused, understanding the gist of the shop by comparing it with my previous life’s knowledge. And as expected, when we entered the specialist’s shop area, the stores that lined up along the street did give the same feeling as those junk shops in Japan.

Not only were various parts of magic tools displayed on the shelf for the customer’s perusal, but the majority of their guests were also young teen boys who gave off an air that just told people that they were magic tools maniacs. This impression was further strengthened by the fact that, sometimes, they were speaking some sort of jargon that I had no idea about.

Yup, this was definitely Akiba, only this one was in another world. In short, this was the rumored Akiba that I had heard of so many times in my previous life. Anyway, I had never expected that I’m going to visit an Akiba-like place in another world when I had never gone to the original Akiba in my previous life.

Still… Kevin was right. This place is really interesting. I thought as I took in the atmosphere and sight.

“Uhm… my apologies, Theodore-sama, but may I ask which specialized shop you want to go to right now…?”

Ah. At this time, I realized that he was right, but I completely had no idea which one I should go to. Perhaps, I should ask someone about which shop is the best place to go to? I mean, I’m a complete amateur in this regard after all, so seeking others with more experiences is a matter of course, right? Then, perhaps we could focus on our objectives after we have asked the bulk vendor… 

While I was looking around, my eyes caught a familiar figure walking with his two attendants.

“That’s…”

There’s no doubt about it. From the way they walk in this place, those guys are definitely familiar with this kind of place. I thought, an idea forming in my mind. Although in a normal situation I would try to stay as far away as possible from them, this time was an exception.

I mean, look at the way those guys are walking! They are practically screaming that they are very familiar with this place, their experienced gait. As if this place is their second home! It’s decided! I’m gonna drag them to help me with any means possible.

“Oh, if it isn’t Luke-dono. Are you, by any chance, in the middle of shopping in this place? If it’s fine with you, may I have the honor to go with you?”

I called out to him, then forcefully shook his hand, using the brute force method I had learned from Katrina to great effect.

“You… let go of me.”

The one who tried to shake off my hand right now was the green-haired boy, the son of Count Greenwell, Luke Greenwell.

“Oh my, quite unfriendly, aren’t you? Even though our meeting in this place could be called some sort of fate tying us together. Anyway, since it’s fate and all, let’s go together. I’m rather troubled since this is the first time I come to this place. That’s why, I’m going to be extremely grateful if you’re willing to help me.”

“You… I always have this feeling that you’re that kind of person, but.” Luke started, looking at me with a helpless gaze, “Can you – at the very least – please hide your real intention a little bit? Although, in all honesty, you’re not supposed to hear this kind of advice from someone of lower status like me.”

Luke’s face as he said the last part showed how dumbfounded he was feeling. However, I myself was astonished and my eyes widened as I couldn’t help but exclaim in my heart.

Uwoo, the green ranger turns out to be a nice guy! Well, though part of it might be because he is a count’s son, so that’s why he was showing some restraint in front of me. After all, I am a marquis’ son. One whose social status is higher than him. Still… I used to think that you hate me since you only ever directed sarcasm at me whenever we talked… 

“Thanks for the advice. But, please teach me, since I have no idea about what I should do.” I asked as I bowed to him. However when I did so, I heard him groaning in agony. I wondered why.

“Anyhow, let’s change the place for now.” One of Luke’s attendants said. So, following their suggestion, we went into the closest diner to us.

◇

“First, I want to talk like the commoners here, using casual language. But well, that might be a tad impossible for you, who know nothing about their speech style.”

That was the first thing Luke told me as soon as we took our seats. However, he was destined to be disappointed.

“Ah, no problem.”

As expected, Luke immediately made a displeased expression when I replied using casual language that commoners here used without hesitation or pause.

“Come to think of it, what are you doing here, Luke? Anyway, we’re here looking for someone to teach us about magic tools, but since you’re here, I’ll be extremely grateful if you can teach me about it.”

“… Just how in the hell are you able to become overly-friendly like that? Wait, rather than that, why should I teach you about it?”

“Why? Coz we’re friends, right? Teach me, plea~se.”

“? Eh? Since when did we become friends?!”

“Since just a while ago when you gave me advice. You turned out to be such a nice guy. Thanks buddy.”

“Dammit, this guy is a tough nut.” Luke whispered, looking like he was at his wits end. However, I overheard his words and had to hold in my pout.

What a rude fella. I just don’t want to miss this chance to wring more information from you, ya know. Oh well.