We had breakfast at the inn. I didn’t expect much, but it wasn’t bad. They properly considered the nutritional value, and it was filling. [Hmmhmmhmm. ♪] (Dia) Dia was in a good mood. Probably because we made love last night. She was rarely in the mood for that kind of thing, but once her switch was flipped on, she would spoil me as much as she could. Tarte was enviously looking at Dia. It’s not that we told her about yesterday, she just somehow figured it out herself. [Um, are we leaving now?] (Tarte) [Yeah, as soon as I’ve sent my letter.] (Lugh) I couldn’t help but feel concerned about the Fruit of Life. At worst, there was a risk that it could destroy the Leather Crane Bag from the inside, so I couldn’t afford to be easygoing about it.
There was no way to safely carry the Fruit of Life without using the Leather Crane Bag. I did wrap it in a special alloy, but that was merely for peace of mind. [Then, what do you say we buy souvenirs? I mean, I think it’s good to show some filial piety once in a while.] (Dia) [In this town? I wouldn’t recommend it. …For the time being, I’ll go send my letter, then I guess we can take the opportunity to look around the stalls.] (Lugh) [Let’s do that. If we don’t find anything that would work, we’re not obligated to buy anything.] (Dia) We made our plans and finished breakfast. Time to get ready to leave. We walked down the main street and headed for the post office. As I suspected, considering the lack of security of the best inn around, the town itself wasn’t safe. To give you a better idea of how bad it was, I’d say that I strongly advise against some walking alone unless they were confident in their skills. Those who were naive enough to think that they would be safe on the main street would then regret it. I was acquainted with the feudal lord of this land, but he was a very uninhibited individual. His policy for the town was very rough. He welcomed every newcomer, be they criminals or expatriates. And there were no decent laws. Whatever happened to you here was your own responsibility. Even if you were robbed, killed, or raped, you would have no choice but to grit your teeth and deal with it. No one in their right mind would want to be anywhere around this town. Most of the people here were those who had nowhere else to go, or those who were running businesses that were only allowed in a place like this. Here, goods that would be illegal in other cities were lined up like it was normal, and the market of stolen goods was the main industry of this town. And because it was such a lawless area, some pests had been approaching Dia and Tarte one after another for the past few minutes. And that despite the fact that I was there too. They probably had their own ulterior motives, but they knew that two beautiful girls like them would be worth a fortune, and no one could blame them for trying to abduct the girls. Even human beings were seen as merchandise here. And pretty girls could fetch a very good price. To those vermin, kidnapping and selling the girls off would be like picking up gold left on the street. [Um, Lugh-sama, you have been really merciless against them.] (Tarte) [Whoa…! You blew away another one. Nice parabola he’s tracing.] (Dia) [If words won’t get the point across, then only actions will.] (Lugh) Dealing with every pest that came our way was tiring, so I decided to use the wind to land an uppercut on every scumbag that had ulterior motives before they could even utter a sound, putting them all to sleep. Dia and Tarte were powerful enough to easily exterminate those worms, but they seemed to be afraid of the lust coming from adult men, and clung to me. Those bastards were guilty the moment they scared them both, so I didn’t go easy on them. Then, after a short walk, Dia stopped on the spot. [Wow…! They’ve got a really superb necklace on sale. The jewel it was adorned with looks nice too, and the workmanship is really detailed and in good taste. And it’s cheap! It should be worth three times as much. Maybe you should buy this for your mother.] (Dia) In a plain old stall, there was a necklace that made even Dia, who had a first-class sense of beauty, gasp in admiration. With an accessory like that, not only would the owner not be ashamed to wear it to aristocratic social gatherings, but she would also make the others acknowledge her superiority. That’s how valuable it was. [I don’t recommend buying it.] (Lugh) [Hm? But that’s definitely a good bargain. If you suspect it’s a fake, then I assure you it’s not.] (Dia) [It’s precisely because they’re selling such a high-grade accessory at such a low price that it’s a bad idea. It was probably stolen. And I told you what kind of place this town is, right?] (Lugh) [Ah…! Right. …Yeah, a necklace this elegant would be easily identifiable to anyone who has seen it before.] (Dia) In this era, very few items were mass-produced, especially first-grade jewelries, which were usually one-of-a-kind pieces made by renowned craftsmen. That’s why it was easy to get busted and become a laughingstock for wearing stolen jewelry to social gatherings. Normally, the gems would be detached and sold separately. However, although this necklace was made of fine gemstones, it was even more valuable because of the quality of the design and the superb craftsmanship, meaning that its value would be drastically reduced if its parts were sold separately. That’s why the necklace was sold as it was at a discount price.
Whoever purchased these things were either in a position where they didn’t care if anyone found out they were wearing stolen goods, or they just wanted to own them. This market was a balance between the thieves who wanted to safely trade their stolen merchandise for cash, and those who wanted to buy good quality stuff at a cheap price. For example, people like rural aristocrats who didn’t live in the center of the country had a low risk of being accused of owning stolen goods, and some of them went to the flea market and claimed to have made a smart purchase. [Well… That’s too bad. I was thinking that your mother could wear one of these.] (Dia) [My mom isn’t interested in fancy jewelry.] (Lugh) Tuatha Dé may be a barony, but we made more money than most other barons with our medical expertise and our secret assassination business. [And that’s exactly why. She won’t dress up unless someone else compels her to. And I thought this could be a good opportunity. She would definitely love to receive a present from you.] (Dia) She might have a point. Even though Mom didn’t care about it, there were still people who laughed at her for not wearing jewelry to social gatherings. I wanted to get back at them. […Got it. I’ll ask Maha to send me some high-grade jewels from Milteu. If I simply buy her a necklace, she’ll most likely feel guilty about it and refuse it, but if I give her a necklace I’ve made myself, I’m sure she’ll happily wear it.] (Lugh) Now that I had made my plans, we quickly walked away from the stalls. [You’re not gonna buy them here? Look, they’re selling the jewels they removed from their accessories cheap. You could get those, right?] (Dia) [Sure, they’re cheaper here, and no one would figure out that they were stolen goods. But I hate the idea of my mother wearing something with such a background. But first and foremost, I wanted to craft our engagement rings at the same time. You wouldn’t want yours to be adorned with a jewel like that either, right?] (Lugh) [Ugh, good point. …Wait. Just now… Did you just drop a massive bombshell like it was nothing!? What was that about engagement rings!? That’s the first I’ve heard of it!] (Dia) [All this talk about jewelry, and seeing all those guys approaching you, made me remember about our engagement rings. I really meant to make them sooner, but with everything that’s been happening, I forgot about them.] (Lugh) Dia and I were engaged. In this country, this was nothing abnormal between siblings, so there was no need to hide it. In fact, an engagement ring would be a good way to keep the vermin away. [I’m so glad… Knowing that this’ll make our relationship visible to all makes my heart race.] (Dia) Dia grabbed me by the hem and casted her eyes down. [Look forward to it. I’ll make you a nice one.] (Lugh) This would be our engagement ring. I have no intention of half-assing it. First, I’ll need to think of the materials. I’ll make use of Orna’s network to make sure they’re of the highest quality. And while I was at it, I planned to make it so she could cast offensive spells with it in case of emergency. Some gemstones, like the Fahr Stones, were compatible with mana, could store mana, and be engraved with magic formulas. [Congratulations, Dia-sama.] (Tarte) Tarte congratulated Dia with a smile. However, there was a hint of sadness and envy in her expression that no one other than me would’ve noticed. I smiled bitterly and put my hand on Tarte’s head. [Why’re you treating it like it’s someone else’s business? Obviously, I’m gonna make one for you too, Tarte.] (Lugh) Tarte looked up at me with her hands over her mouth. Her eyes turned moist, and she cried uncontrollably. [Um…! I…! I’m extremely, extremely happy to hear that, but… I mean… I’m a servant, and a commoner… Are you fine with that?] (Tarte) [Of course I am. Or do you hate the idea of being engaged with me?] (Lugh) [I would never!] (Tarte) She looked really menacing there. Like a child who was about to have her toy taken away. [That part of Tarte is both annoying and endearing.] (Dia) [Yeah, I agree.] (Lugh) [Ugh… You two are so mean.] (Tarte) The three of us laughed at each other. They were both so cute and adorable. I would do anything for them. I sent the report I wrote yesterday to the royal capital by carrier pigeon. After making sure that it was on its way, we returned to the Tuatha Dé residence. And then, I used the communication device in my domain to tell Maha my budget and what kind of gems I wanted, then ask her to order them for me, and I went to the back of the mountain. That area was off-limits even to the residents, and I told Tarte and Dia to stay away from it no matter what. Which meant that should anything happen, only I would suffer the damage. [Well then, only the gods know what may happen from now.] (Lugh) I finally pulled out the Fruit of Life from my Leather Crane Bag. Both the feelings of anticipation and anxiety ran wild in my heart. Now, let’s see how much power it takes exactly to summon the Demon King.
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