kscans

Chapter 265 - Inba's Magic Tool Shop 1. An Unexpected Connection

The day after his meeting with Magam, Yuri visited Inba's Magic Tool Shop. He had received word that the magic tools he had ordered were complete, and he had come to pick them up. Beside Yuri were the familiar faces of Dona and Old Man Audel, and... unusually for this day, Nagara was with them.

In truth, Yuri's small-group escort, or rather, his chaperone, had continued even after the Great Spring Market ended. Although the crowds of the market had dispersed, Yuri's own problematic nature, or rather, his dangerousness, remained unchanged. There was no telling what he might do if left to his own devices. Yuri himself seemed to have protested that his reputation was unfair, but in light of his spectacular track record, there was no way such an argument would hold water. As it happened, the "Lucky Footsteps" party often took on Yuri’s escort duty. On this particular day, however, Adon's wife and daughter were going out, and Katra and Dalia, who were on Yuri-duty, were mobilized on the grounds that a female escort was preferable. As a result, Nagara had come to accompany Yuri in their place.

Just as the group stepped into Inba’s shop...

"Huh? Oji-san?"

"Don’t call me Oji-san!"

...an exchange like that was quick to unfold.


"Oh... so Silica-san is Nagara-san’s niece. Is she a half-elf?"

"Yes... my older sister married a man here in Laurenzen, and this is their daughter..."

"Then shouldn’t she call you her uncle?"

"I get the feeling the ‘Oji-san’ this girl uses has other nuances packed into it!"

Nagara replied to Dona’s simple question with some vexation. He was still young, by elf standards, and he’d be damned if he let himself be called an old man.

Yuri, perhaps thanks to the experiences of his previous life, was somehow able to grasp the situation. At the same time, he intuitively sensed it was best not to delve any deeper into the topic.

And so...

"Silica-san, what are you doing here?"

...he feigned ignorance and changed the subject. Fortunately, Inba seemed to have been concerned about a fruitless argument as well, and she immediately latched onto the new topic.

"Ah, this girl, you see, is an apprentice magic tool craftsman. She’s the one who took on your order, lad."

"Oh..."

Yuri turned his gaze to Silica with a look of surprise, but it seemed Silica was just as surprised. To think that the person who had conceived of and ordered such an outstanding magic tool was a child not even old enough to be called a youth. The two exchanged glances, as if sizing each other up, but Inba, paying no mind to the atmosphere, brought out the "prototype" in question.

"Here, this is it. I think it’ll meet your standards, lad, but give it a look just in case."

"Ah, yes."

Yuri looked at the Automatic Sprinkler and the Automatic Window Opener/Closer he had ordered, but he couldn't tell how well-made the magic tools were just by looking. That meant he had no choice but to try operating them...

"...I can’t exactly sprinkle water in here... can I?"

"Of course not. Take that and follow me."

The shopkeeper, an old woman, had the client, a child, and the artisan, a young girl, carry the prototypes and headed briskly for the courtyard with a stride that was surprisingly steady for her age. Yuri wondered what would happen to the storefront, but seeing that no one else was concerned, perhaps this was the standard in this world.

"No, it's not like that. We hardly ever get customers in this shop. The ones that do come by occasionally understand the situation."

...According to Faren, it seemed this was the standard for this 'shop' only.

At any rate, they started by testing the automatic opener on a window facing the courtyard.

"...Hmph, seems to be working properly."

"Yes, it doesn’t look like any extra force is being applied to the window frame either."

The shopkeeper, Inba, and the client, Yuri, gave their reviews after a thorough inspection.

"Of course not. Do you have any idea how much work I put into this?"

The one who answered, half proud and half vexed, was the artisan, Silica. The basic mechanism itself had come together relatively quickly, though it took some trial and error. But the part about ‘opening and closing the window with just enough force not to break the frame’ had turned out to be a major challenge, contrary to Silica’s expectations.