Chapter 10 : 《Mithril’s Cane》

I, having lost track of that magician, returned to rejoin Pomera and Philia.

Philia was leaning on Pomera. It seems that the effects of that magician’s counter attack were still affecting her.

「What’s the matter, Kanata-san?」

Pomera asked me.

I shook my head.

「I failed to pursue that magician. Well, let’s just say that it’s good that things didn’t escalate into a fight since the other party is most likely far more powerful than me.」

Pomera’s face paled upon hearing my remark.

「E-Eh!? S-Stronger than Kanata-san!? D-Does that kind of person exist in this world?」

Pomera asked with an extremely loud exclamation.

Philia’s still tightly shut eyes opened wide due to Pomera close-to-a-scream questioning.

… Just what kind of existence am I in Pomera’s mind?

「You can find a lot of people more powerful than me, you know. I mean, the level gap between the strongest and the weakest human in this world can be quite extreme, you know. Lunaire-san went as far as to warn me to not let my guard down since I don’t know when those hostile and powerful beings might come to kill me.」

Though the majority of normal adventurer’s level was under 100, I mustn’t let my guard down since people whose level is as high as me like that magician or Philia might exist somewhere in this world.

Especially a transferee like me would be easily recognized by a dangerous man.

The reason why I learned the 《Twin Mind Model》 was to put up a good fight against those people, but nothing can beat peace. Peace is the best.

「E-Even if you say that… such…. Uuhm…」

Pomera was tilting her head. It seems she has a hard time finding the suitable words to describe this situation.

「I don’t know what kind of being Lunaire-san described as hostile and powerful, but… there’s nothing wrong with keeping my guard up all time. In the meantime, I’ll gather information about that hostile and powerful being she mentioned.」

Philia ended up overreacting and went to attack that magician.

Well, it’s not like I never thought I’d get caught in one trouble after another due to that accident as the trigger.

I might as well be able to solve Philia’s misunderstanding before it goes too far.

Depending on the information that I get about that magician, we might have to leave this magic city before they target us.

Well, whatever the case, such a powerful magician must be quite famous in this city. That’s why gaining the information about them shouldn’t be that difficult.

Moreover… for some reason, I couldn’t help but think of that magician as Lunaire.

It might be just my imagination but I really wanted to make sure of that.

In fact, that person shouldn’t be Lunaire, but I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic upon seeing that magician’s figure.

「Should we… give up on gathering the ingredients?」

「Yeah… honestly, it feels like a waste of time looking for the necessary materials in this magic city…」

I mean, even that 《Witch Ring》 only handles up to D-rank items.

To get our hand on items which rank higher than D-rank would require connections with high level adventurers or going to look for them directly in dungeons.

That moment, my ears caught upon the conversation of passersby.

「It seems there’s another breakthrough in the alchemy field. It’s rumored that it’ll affect the price of 《Mithril’s Cane》 by large margin.」

「Even so, that’s the problem with those riches right? It has nothing to do with us.」

「C’mon man, dream big.」

I stopped in my tracks upon hearing that remark.

""

I quickly turned around and caught up to those people.

「Uhm, excuse me! can I ask one or two things about that 《Mithril’s Cane》?」

「What? You came to this city without even know about 《Mithril’s Cane》?」

The man was laughing coldly.

He has a tall and slender frame.

I got this feeling that the natives of Manarak had a tendency to look down on anyone who was unfamiliar with this city.

Maybe I shouldn’t ask them.

「Listen carefully, 《Mithril’s Cane》 is the highest alchemist division of this city and they manage the price of their goods with a positive mindset. Since there’s no need to compete with them in terms of pricing, they’ve got no enemies in this city. Meaning that they sell parts of their item or crafting skill in order to help the other alchemist divisions to flourish.」

The man spoke proudly.

Before, I only half-expected him to tell me properly about Mithril’s Cane, but it turned out they’re good people who taught me properly about what I wanted to know.

「There’s such a place huh…」

「Your information about this city is lacking way too much, lad. Your information is way too insufficient. Let me tell you, lad, there’s a lot of people who come to Manarak in order to enter 《Mithril’s Cane》. C’mon lad, I know from your robe, you’re a mage right?」

「Sorry, I’m ignorant of the ways of the world…」

I replied with a wry smile to the man.

「… You also have no proper connection, right. It’s a good thing that you’re not speaking about it proudly.」

The short woman who stood by the man’s side heaved a sigh as she grumbled on the man’s remark.

The man glared angrily at the short woman.

Magic city Manarak’s highest alchemy division, 《Mithril’s Cane》… It seems to be a cut above the rest of the alchemist division outside of Manarak.

Unlike those simple stores, I might be able to directly purchase their research results there, so there’s a possibility that I might be able to get a high ranking item.

… But then, even if we found the items we’re looking for, its price might be too much for my current savings, but… I’ve confirmed that the price and the existence of the item that could become material for the miracle drug aren’t unreachable.

「Excuse me… can you tell me where they sell their goods?」

「… No, that place i-」

The short woman cut in again, replied with an extremely surprised look on her face.

But, the man stopped her before she finished her words.

「Can’t be helped…. follow me, I’m gonna led you to their place.」

「Really? Please lead me there then. We’re a bit troubled since there’s too many streets in this city…」

「Yeah, leave it to me.」

The man replied politely.

「Oi Gred! I hate this hobby of yours you know.」

The short woman spoke to the man.

The man was grinning as he shook his hand to the woman behind his back.

「Oioi, I’m not lying to them in this regard, right? All I did was show the way to this lost guy. You can leave first.」

Though the woman was looking at the man with a dumbfounded look on her face, she averted her gaze when her gaze met mine, and walked in another direction.

「…?」

For some reason, I got this feeling that their conversation just now held extremely deep meaning.

「Are those two your companion?」

The man then looked at Pomera and Philia.

It seems he realized that they’re my companions since Pomera was looking at me with an anxious look on her face.

「Yes. But, uhm…」

「Well, what are you waiting for? Call them since it’s not like I’ve got so much free time either.」

「Y-YES!」

I bowed to the man, feeling sorry for my negligence in his situation.