“By lord, do you mean Grand Duke Ilestone?”
"Sure! Yes! Who else could be the lord of this village other than Grand Duke Illeston? So even though they are sold in small stores like this, they are very high-quality items. This means that our noble ladies can use it with confidence. It’s not just that.”
The owner stretched out his hands as if in a play.
“The silk of this place! Cloth! Everything, even the colored paper, is part of the Grand Duke family.”
"Oh oh."
The owner spoke even more excitedly when Simone seemed to be listening.
“No matter what you choose, you will be satisfied, satisfied, very satisfied!”
When she wondered why they brought such expensive fabric and silk to this village, she realized that it was a place that handled orders from the Grand Duke and a few nobles.
He pointed to the display case, which was very excited about the arrival of a long-awaited guest.
“Now, what color do you want? If you wish, you can also order it in the color you want. I guess the colors here are all neutral to suit the tastes of our regular customers.”
“I like something plain.”
"Oh oh! Then, the ones we have now will probably suit your taste! Then, take your time and look around leisurely-”
The owner guided Simone to the place where the hair dye was and then disappeared. Simone said as she linked arms with Anna and looked around at the dyes.
“I heard it’s expensive and rare, so there’s quite a lot of it, right?”
“He doesn’t get a lot of orders, but that’s probably because there are a lot of people who visit once and buy in bulk. It would be quite difficult to come back to such a dangerous place.”
“Unless you go all the way to the capital, there aren’t many places that sell magic dye, so it is said that quite a few people order it from here.”
Bam added an explanation. Simone nodded her head and quickly stretched out her hand to pick up a random dye.
“If the color is okay, there’s no need to choose.”
It was full of commonly seen colors, such as orange and brown, which could easily be used in the temple of Grand Duke Illeston, the only customer. Since the colors don't stand out, you can probably buy them all.
“Once I dye my hair, how long does it last?”
The owner, who was far away, answered Simone’s question.
“If you take good care of it, it will last a week! I heard that wizards who can handle some mana can maintain it for up to a month?”
Simone, who was preparing to sing 'Give me everything from here to there' with excitement, thinking that she would like the color, stopped.
“...What’s different about wizards?”
"Yes? Hehe, Miss, is this your first time buying magic hair dye?”
When the owner reacted as if hearing something absurd, Anna explained in a small way.
“Magic dye is also made using mana. It is said that wizards who are good at mana can keep the color from fading longer.”
"Oh yeah?"
Simone's eyes rolled back and forth.
Then I probably don’t need much, right?
The medicine she had been using so far had slowly lost its effectiveness in half a day, so she thought it would be the same for other hair dyes and planned to store them in large quantities.
However, if wizards can manage color through mana, since Simone also has an abundance of mana, wouldn't it be possible to maintain this type of dyeing with simple research?
“Two of each color.”
"Yes!"
As the guard brought out the basket, Anna began carefully putting the dye in the display case.
“Huh! Miss! So many!”
Then the owner, who had only given a polite greeting and was quietly sitting at the counter doing something else, came up to them in a huff.
“Miss, are you buying this much? Oh my God!"
Simone was very embarrassed to see the owner bowing down with an incongruously bright smile.
How about buying six of them? Was this really that expensive?
'Thank you.'
Simone turned my gaze away from the owner who kept repeating 'Thank you' and looked at Anna and Bam, and they both nodded urgently at the same time.
‘It’s terribly expensive. It's very expensive. It's crazy expensive.'
Behind Anna, Bam spoke urgently.
If you really asked me to go from here to there, it would have been a mess, right?
Simone asked with a grin.
“Are you short of money?”
“It’s not that I don’t have enough money, but...”
“Then buy it. I can’t come often anyway.”
“... Yes!"
“I-I don’t know. I’m going out.”
Anna headed to the counter carrying a basket full of chestnuts, and chestnuts walked out of the store looking even paler.
After leaving the store after purchasing hair dye with Simone, Anna naturally asked about her next destination.
“Where should we go next?”
Simone looked around in confusion at Anna's question.
“I want to buy a book... Hmm.”
Is there a bookstore?
Simone never thought that this village would be so devastated.
Even though it is a village ruled by a Grand Duke, no matter how ruined it is, I thought it would still be a well-organized village...
The Grand Duke's mansion was living without any shortages, so she had no idea that the village would be this poor.
How many people in this town can afford to purchase and read books?
Simone heard that Grand Duke Illestone had been increasing sales at the dye store for a while.
"Bookstore.. There is no one here, right? There is a book I want to buy.”
"Bookstore... There is!"
“There is?”
"Yes!"
Is there a bookstore in a place like this?
Simone looked where Anna pointed. And after a while, her expression became ambiguous.
“Is that a bookstore?”
Anna smiled shyly.
“Haha, of course... It looks a little shabby at first glance, but... There are so many books! Well, they don’t have any new books.”
A tent roughly erected with wooden planks. Below, two carts are piled high with books.
Bam slowly approached and he added an explanation.
“For your information, they don’t just sell books. Selling all sorts of things-”
“All things?”
“Well, something like that.”
“...Shall we go first?”
‘It’s terribly expensive. It's very expensive. It's crazy expensive.'
Behind Anna, Bam spoke urgently.
If you really asked me to go from here to there, it would have been a mess, right?
Simone asked with a grin.
“Are you short of money?”
“It’s not that I don’t have enough money, but...”
“Then buy it. I can’t come often anyway.”
“... Yes!"
“I-I don’t know. I’m going out.”
Anna headed to the counter carrying a basket full of chestnuts, and chestnuts walked out of the store looking even paler.
After leaving the store after purchasing hair dye with Simone, Anna naturally asked about her next destination.
“Where should we go next?”
Simone looked around in confusion at Anna's question.
“I want to buy a book... Hmm.”
Is there a bookstore?
Simone never thought that this village would be so devastated.
Even though it is a village ruled by a Grand Duke, no matter how ruined it is, I thought it would still be a well-organized village...
The Grand Duke's mansion was living without any shortages, so she had no idea that the village would be this poor.
How many people in this town can afford to purchase and read books?
Simone heard that Grand Duke Illestone had been increasing sales at the dye store for a while.
"Bookstore.. There is no one here, right? There is a book I want to buy.”
"Bookstore... There is!"
“There is?”
"Yes!"
Is there a bookstore in a place like this?
Simone looked where Anna pointed. And after a while, her expression became ambiguous.
“Is that a bookstore?”
Anna smiled shyly.
“Haha, of course... It looks a little shabby at first glance, but... There are so many books! Well, they don’t have any new books.”
A tent roughly erected with wooden planks. Below, two carts are piled high with books.
Bam slowly approached and he added an explanation.
“For your information, they don’t just sell books. Selling all sorts of things-”
“All things?”
“Well, something like that.”
“...Shall we go first?”
Don't have high expectations, Simone walked in front of the general store.
Books and objects piled high on a cart like playing Tetris. When she craned her head and looked beyond it, she could barely see a single matted head.
“Hmm, are you there?”
Anna pretended to be popular instead of Simone. Then the man with messy hair, the owner of the general store, craned his head and looked at them, just like Simone. Then he frowned.
"What, nobility? What the..."
...Anyway, the first impression wasn't that good.
“I don’t think you are the promised guest.”
“I didn’t make any appointments.”
“Then get out.”
...What?
The store owner glanced at Simone as if he was annoyed and then turned his head away.
At the owner's words, Simone, Anna, and the guards froze and could not move.
If you don't have an appointment, should you go?
“Isn’t this a general store?”
“Uh, that’... That would be right... Actually, I’ve never been there before...”
Anna glanced at the guards. Then the knight spoke.
“It’s true that he’s a jack-of-all-trades, but he’s probably also doing other things.”
“Something else?”
Bam smiled silently.
“That’s not what I’m going to say here. For now, don't worry about what the owner says, just read the book. He wouldn’t be the type of person to reject someone who lives.”
“Why aren’t they going?”
Instead of going back, they were whispering among themselves, and the owner stuck his head out again in annoyance.
Then he flinched and asked subtly with a slightly brighter expression.
“Or do you have something to do?”
“I came to buy a book.”
"Alright."
The owner immediately lost interest in Simone's answer.
“Just take a quick look and then leave. Is there a book here for you to read?”
“I’ll figure it out.”
“Why does a noblewoman come here? There were many fancy bookstores. Just go to the city.”
The owner continued to complain, but Simone paid no attention and looked around at the books.
Rather than collecting it for a specific purpose or consistency, it seemed as if they had just gathered everything they saw without making any distinctions.
From children's fairy tales to old cookbooks, someone's diary or books that you don't know where they came from, etc.
In fact, as the owner said, it seemed like there really wasn't a book that Simone wanted here.
'What if I don't have a choice?'
“By the way, Simone, what book are you looking for?”
“A book written about the Illeston family and the necromancer. I thought there would be at least a book about the family since it is Duke Illeston’s territory.”
Of course, she mostly remembers Simone's memories and the information she read in the book, but honestly, who would read a book so thoroughly, word by word?
She's sure there are things she missed, and she came here to find out what she didn't know.
The owner, who had stopped paying attention to Simone's words, stuck his head out again and looked at Simone.
“Well, I don’t know if you are a nobleman or the precious daughter of a wealthy man, but I was wondering why you would come to this dangerous place and search for books in such a noble manner. What you're looking for is a very ominous book.”
Simone smiled at the owner’s words.
"There is?"
“Hey, Simone.”
The knight crept closer and whispered.
“In the Luan Empire, books about necromancers are banned. You probably won’t find it anywhere-”
“If you’re looking for books like that, take a look. It may or may not exist.”
Simone and Bam's heads quickly turned to him at the words the owner spoke indifferently.
“There is? Forbidden book?”
When Bam asked in a suspicious tone, the owner laughed.
“You guys came here without even knowing where it was and said you were looking for a book about necromancers? I thought I knew.”
At his words, Anna tilted her head as if she didn't know what he was talking about, and the guards seemed nervous and gave Simone a nervous look telling her to go back.
Even if something was suspicious, it was too suspicious. It didn't seem like a general store that simply picked up and sold anything useful.
Comments
Post a Comment