A few days after hearing about Krone from Chris.
Ain was going down to the castle town. Since he shouldn’t be walking outside on his own, Chris came together with him as an escort.
“May I ask you one question? ”
“Sure, what is it?”
Chris had her face unusually hidden under a helmet while in this escort.
This was a measure to ensure that Chris’s ident.i.ty wouldn’t be found out as she was doing this.
“You want to go to a place that sells magic stones, right? ”
“That’s right.”
There was a reason why Ain had come to the castle town today. It was about magic stones, he wanted to find a magic stone he hadn’t seen before. Silvird had given Ain some pocket money for this. So, he was thinking of buying something that might catch his eye.
“Would you prefer a place that sells high-end products? Each one would cost about 50,000 G.”
“Yes, let’s go with that. Up until now, I’ve only seen Big Bees’ and Ripplemodoki’s, so why not search for a luxury store?”
Ain wanted to go to a luxury magic stone store.
High-end magic stone had several uses.
For example, ornamental use. They were safe so long and people didn’t mess with them, but some enjoyed displaying them on a special pedestal made out of Sea Crystals. These high-end magic stones were not suitable for selling in places like street stalls because of their strong magic. The small and weak magic stones that were sold in those stalls were safe because they didn’t become poisonous unless they were active.
Another use was as fuel. The high-end magic stones that weren’t pleasant for viewing were mainly used as fuel. They were quite handy since they were able to produce a high output.
And finally, the other use was in the magic tools of n.o.bles. The magic tools the n.o.bles used were different since they regarded highly their appearance, so they had gold engraving. For that very reason, the magic stones used were also selected by their appearance.
“When we left the castle, His Majesty gave you some pocket money, but is that enough? ”
“I think it should be okay. Ojii-sama told me to buy myself the ones I liked, and Okaa-sama told me that if it came to it, just to leave Chris behind and run back home.”
“U-Uhh……Why me……?”
The last part was, of course, a joke. However, Olivia loved to tease Chris. This could be even called her daily routine.
By the way, Ain called Silvird Ojii-sama because Silvird himself wanted to be called that. Despite his rowdy appearance, he was quite sweet to his family, and since he didn’t like being called ‘Your Majesty’ by Ain, he told him he should only call him that in public places.
“Is it here? ”
“Yes……indeed……”
Magic stone store, Majorca. A specialized magic stone store, just like what Ain was aiming to find. It was one of the few shops that specialized in selling high-quality magic stones.
While hurrying the still slightly depressed Chris, he opened the door.
“Ara, welcome.”
Dooon.
Immediately after, Ain closed the door. The reason why he closed it was that he found something strange.
“Say, Chris-san. You know I wanted to go to a magic stone store (maseki no mise), but you brought me to a s.e.xual fetishes shop (seiheki no mise).”
“Yo-Yo-Yo……You’re wrong! This is a famous and renowned high-cla.s.s magic stone shop! ”
Chris denied those words with tremendous momentum. However, it was only natural that Ain would have thought so, since the person who welcomed him was a muscular man with waxed blond hair, wearing shirtless suspenders and his nipples hidden behind magic stones.
“Sorry for, intruding.”
Just as Ain opened the door again, he noticed it wasn’t his imagination as the man welcomed him again.
“I wondered what was wrong for the door to shut so suddenly, welcome again, my small customer.”
“Y-Yes, nice to meet you.”
“It’s been a while, Majorca-dono.”
After making sure n.o.body else was inside the store, Chris took off her helmet.
“Ara, isn’t this Chris? What’s wrong? ……Could it be because of this boy you’re accompanying?”
“Well, sort of. It would be great if you’re not prying too much on this.”
Although Ain had been acknowledged as the Crown Prince, his appearance had yet to be shown to the people of Ishtalika. His name, on the other hand, had been made public, so there was the possibility of him being exposed because of that.
“Hmph…… well, fine, I won’t ask who this boy is or what’s his name.”
“I appreciate it.”
“So, what can I do for you?” Do you need some magic stones? ”
Majorca wondered what they wanted. At that time, the magic stone attached to the suspender glowed. Ain couldn’t understand how it glowed, or why was it necessary for it to glow.
“Yes, actually I wanted to see some magic stones.”
“Eh, you did? ”
“Me TOO, you know.”
“Is that so? Understood, please look around as much as you like. Ahh, that’s right, I always say it but please don’t touch them, okay? Also, don’t try to take them off the pedestals because it might be dangerous.”
“I know that. Uhmm……You heard him? ”
“Alright. I’ll be careful.”
Chris’s words felt a little weird because she couldn’t use Ain’s name in front of Majorca. But Ain paid no attention to that and replied.
“I wonder what will I find?”
At first, Ain thought he would feel weary by just going to a place filled with the smell of various magic stones. He certainly perceived a lot of smells, but perhaps because he could now control the Absorb skill, it wasn’t that hard on him anymore.
『……』
Majorca’s shop had many magic stones in it.
Gold-colored magic stones that looked like pure gold, magic stones with something like thunder crackling inside them, even a reddish-black magic stone in a carved gla.s.s case. And then……
“Steak……? ”
What gave Ain the sense it was stake was a magic stone about 30 cms in size that glowed in a greyish color.
“Ara, boy, you sure are sharp. That one is from a White Bison, so you can certainly call it steak, I’m surprised you could tell.”
“It’s because I’m studying magic stones.”
“Is that so? What an amazing thing, after all, magic stones are wonderful! It isn’t an exaggeration to say they’re existences that are like a testament to their lives, the best jewel! ”
Ain couldn’t keep up with the sudden rise in tension, but he did agree that they were like a testament to their lives.
Given how the Big Bee is a sort of giant bee but its magic stone has a sweet taste, you can guess what sort of existence it was. Such an element might be a factor related to it.
“Certainly. As a testament to their existence indeed, and most likely this White Bison was delicious when cooked.”
“Ara, you sure know how to talk, boy……That’s correct. I believe the White Bison is a high-quality ingredient, and for a bison which can make such a big magic stone, it surely was delicious.”
“Will you be buying it? ”
Ain decided he wanted it, so he bought it following Chris’s words. Despite there were many delicacies he could eat at the castle, the taste that came out from the magic stone was, after all, incomparable to anything else.
And in that situation, he had now found a magic stone that tasted like steak. It was a bit pitiful for the White Bison to be spoke of as only a steak magic stone, but Ain could no longer see it as anything else than a steak.
“I will. How much would it be? ”
“White Bisons are rare in their own way, but their magic stones aren’t worth that much…… since you’re Chris’ companion, I’ll sell it for only 30,000 G.”
“Uhmm……Okay. This should be enough, right? ”
With that said, he took out 30,000 G. Chris worried there for a moment that he wouldn’t have enough money, but it seemed he had some leeway after seeing him pay the money. This made Chris wonder how much he had been given.
“Yes, thank you for your purchase. I’ll wrap it up for you to take it home. The White Bison’s don’t have any special strength, so I’ll just pack it like normal.”
What Majorca was talking about was about the magic in the magic stone. Magic stones, like those found in high-end stores, could leak some magic even when they weren’t being used, so it was essential to use a special pedestal to avoid this.
In the case of the White Bison’s one, despite it being rare, it wasn’t particularly strong, so there was no problem even with boxing it normally.
“Yes, please do.”
“Is there anything else you want, boy? ”
“I’ll keep looking around.”
After Majorca asked Ain this, he went back to the counter to pack the White Bison magic stone.
“Ain-sama. Don’t let the fact that you can smell the magic stone be known, okay……?”
“I’m sorry, I’ll be careful.”
Chris spoke to Ain in secret and urged him to keep his abilities under wraps. The reason being, currently, this matter was treated as confidential information.