“Store manager, I’ve brought a customer!”
“No, really, it’s no problem”
“They don’t seem to be at the counter… Okay, I hope that you’ll be fine waiting here.”
“Ah, don’t worry about it, it’s fine, no,”
Once the sign was down, propped up against the door, Ms. Body Armor walked away with a “Gachagacha”, and it disappeared into the back of the store.
Sora began to look around the shop they had been brought into forcefully, scared. The inside of the store is large, but it was completely empty of people.
More important than the shop itself would be the artifacts and treasures inside it, but there did not seem to be any.
There seemed to be a wide variety of items instead. Hanging from the ceiling was a guideplate, which could be read to say “Cane”, “Shield”, “Books”, “Potion”, “Ring”, “Brush”, and so on, lined with more products such as “Gla.s.ses”.
This was a bit different than what Sora expected from an antique shop.
“This is more close to a miscellaneous goods store.”
A dagger which was in display in a gla.s.s case caught Sora’s eye.
The sheath had a strange twisty shape, and was faintly cracked and singed. A true antique, maybe?
The dagger’s tag was bound by a thin thread.
『Good Quality Cursed Dagger.｜From the time of great magician’s later period. It’s a tool used for magic, but it can also work as a physical weapon if needed, as it is tinged with magical power. No conditions required, the price is five hundred, fifty five drops of blood.』And so on and so forth, written in small letters.
Is this the store owner’s commit? When looking around, Sora saw that all of the other items were tagged in the same way, with each having a lengthy explanation.
It was quite interesting.
Sora continued to kill time by looking at all of the odd items, rudely flouncing about, since he was unattended in the store.
“Anyway…”
Sora looked up, inhaling through the nose to check something. Most antique stores have a moldy, dusty smell particular to the store, however this one smelled rather fresh.
“Sniff, what is this smell?”
“The smell is like a Cypress Tree!”
“Cypress?”
“Yes. It’s an essential oil from the Far East; it’s efficient as an insect repellent.”
“It certainly smells like I’m in a forest.”
“It also acts as a relaxant!”
“I, eh!?”
Although Soarer thought Whole Body Armor came back, the voice was different. A man with black hair was behind the counter where no one had been prior, and Sora did not notice his entrance.
“Uh, who are you?”
Sora asked autonomously, but when thinking calmly, he is likely the store manager or staff here.
His age is in his twenties, lean, and he seems gentle. He wears black rimmed gla.s.ses. (tl: finally a use of ‘he’ that doesn’t feel inaccurate)
“I’m the owner. I’m called Fujiwara.”
“Ah, I’m called Sora. Somehow.”
“Welcome to the Good Old Mage’s Antique Shop”
“And that Whole Body Armor?”
“Because it’s rusting, it could be said that Ms. Anemone is changing clothes.”
“Why would they be wearing such heavy armor in the first place…”
“She was originally a seeker, but in this place it’s essentially a uniform. You have to be a hard worker to work here, since you can’t take it off no matter what.” (tl: sorry for so many notes, but it’s confirmed for real- it’s a girl. Store Manager finally used ‘kanojo’, a third person way to refer to a girl or girlfriend. No more p.r.o.noun swapping.)
Black Ap.r.o.n wore a wry smile.
“Is she a girl, as expected?”
“You can seldom look at her face. … Here, have a towel.”
While Sora talked with Mr. Black Ap.r.o.n, he held out a towel.
“Well…”
Sora was lost at what to say, unable to comprehend this unaccustomed treatment.
Sora had seen many stores up until now, but this was the first that had treated him as a respected customer, as a newbie Seeker. He glanced about, thinking about how other stores treated him as a thief until he started putting coins on the counter.
Sora eventually grabbed the towel with a “Thank you very much”.
“He lent me a towel since I was wet from the rain, and above all it’s a favor- I should receive it obediently” Sora thought.
“Now, what are your orders for today?”
“There is something… which I want to get appraised…”
“One Appraisal Request, then?”
Mr. Black Ap.r.o.n is still wearing a bright face.
“That, but… long ago it was got by my teacher in the dungeon…”
“Our shop will look at anything retrieved from the dungeon.”
“Is that true? Isn’t this an antique shop?”
“It’s often misunderstood, but this is a Magic Item specialty shop.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Such an unexpected reason astonished Sora.
“Of course, antique can mean furniture or art, but it can also mean something old and valuable, sometimes even things collected from the dungeon under Labyrinth City”
“I see.”
“Granting Tool” is the general term for magical instruments.
Things like lamps that never go out, like in fairytales, or a good example is a cane that makes meteorites rain down.
Although Granting Tools are convenient, they can’t do everything themselves, therefore generally only Magicians use, and horde, them and they are quite rare.
I would have to dive deep into the dungeon to get those.
The areas deep enough to have them are protected by many monsters, so rarely anyone can get near them.
Granting Tools are an ideal for Seekers to find. But, of course, it’s something you need to gain experience to get, as you have to overcome numerous dangers, and it is not intended for fledglings to have on hand.
Only Sora had something like that.
“Hmm, apparently your sword is quite the antique.”
Black Ap.r.o.n was smiling, pointing his long, thin fingers at the short sword on Sora’s waist. Sora, for a moment, thought he was hallucinating.
Surely it’s just a mediocre sword with a strange shape.
It’s stored in a cheap skin sheath as a robbery prevention measure.
However, without even unsheathing it, the clerk still noticed it was a Granting Tool.
At the same time, Sora began to see through his real character.
“This child’s master said that this was a sharp sword he got during his younger days, in the dungeon.”
“Hmm”
He put his hand on his chin, considering something, staring at Sora like a predator stares at his prey.
If anything, he looks like how it looks after the hunt ends, when it’s divided up and the bone is visible.
“The thing, is made in the ‘Time of the Supreme Magicians’, latter period, and it’s a… Fire Sword?”
“…”
Black Ap.r.o.n sees Sora’s astonished face, and seems to be convinced it’s the correct answer.
“Yes, that seems to be true.”
“How do you understand such a thing without even touching it?”
“It’s simple reasoning. This sword with only a simple sheathe is not at all wet with rain. It’s probably because the heat disperses it. And part of the handle, the material looks like blue stone. It’s a metal called “Shizukutetsu”, which has very strong thermal insulation. Since the heat damages the handle the most, it’s most often used as material. I determined it was a fire sword due to these two points.”
When you have knowledge, you can see.
Although he explained it to me like so, until investigated by professionals with tools, most had no idea what this Granting Tool was until an hour into the work and most even then lacked an answer.
In this store though, he judged it accurately. When Sora determined this, he removed the sword and placed it on the nearest counter, lowering his head.
“Thank you, somehow please appraise this child.”