After facing life-threatening situations countless times since becoming an adventurer, Ur understood.
Trying to use magic that requires high concentration in the face of an enemy trying to kill you, just like you would with a sword or spear, is extremely difficult.
Limiting the spells you use and repeating them until they become second nature is the survival tactic of an “adventurer mage.”
But Shizuku doesn’t need that kind of “selection and concentration.” She can appropriately use a wide variety of options on the spot. It’s a glimpse of her genius.
“In the heat of life-or-death combat, she can use countless spells without hesitation, even including 【Advanced Magic: Second Stage】. She’s practically a monster. Why is she even an adventurer?”
“It’s her own wish”
When Ur said this, Shizuku smiled and nodded in agreement. Faced with that smile, Lenden fell silent, swallowed something, and then nodded vigorously as if to brush it off.
“…Well, fine! So, what kind of equipment are you looking for? Tell me anything!!”
“Is there any equipment or tool that makes using 【Advanced Magic: Second Stage】 easier?”
“Sorry, hold on a second.”
“Your momentum came to a screeching halt”
Then Lenden shouted, “What else can I do?!
There aren’t many who can handle 【Advanced Magic: Second Stage】 alone! There’s no convenient equipment for that!”
“Like that interesting relic you showed earlier?”
“Unique artifacts like that don’t just appear all the time!”
Well, that’s true. Relics like that don’t just show up often.
“In a previous battle, I also tried using a magic tool called 【The Verdant magic book】, which has a chant-assistance effect…”
“Hmm… This is definitely done for. It’s almost completely burnt out.”
Lenden’s expression grew even more troubled as he examined the tattered, scorched magic book Shizuku handed him.
“Hmm…”
Faced with the fact that half-baked solutions wouldn’t work, Lenden furrowed his brow even deeper and groaned. Then, he slapped his knee.
“Alright, first, the 【Azure Crystal Staff】 you’re wearing—you bought it from Golden Hammer, right?”
“You can tell?”
“Of course. The staff itself isn’t bad… Ah, it’s made by Dron. But the crystal used is mediocre. I’ll replace it with a higher-quality one.”
He touched the magic orb attached to the staff and found a similar one. While they looked the same, the one Lenden produced had a deeper blue hue with a faint purple tint.
“Comparing them, the base mana capacity should increase by about one full tier. And…”
His sharp gaze fell on Shizuku again, lingering on her head.
“What’s that?”
He pointed to the hair ornament Shizuku was wearing. Ur shrugged.
“It’s a cheap thing I bought from a stall. No effects.”
It was practically given to him for free. Though it had no magical properties, Shizuku had kept it close ever since receiving it from Ur. Lenden examined it closely.
“Hmm… But the material isn’t bad. With some work, I could add one enchantment to it.”
“Really?”
“It’s made of 【Creation Metal】. It’s an alchemical product, but depending on the quality, it can fetch a good price.”
Ur groaned as he recalled the face of the merchant who’d sold it to him for a single copper coin. Maybe he should’ve thanked them more properly. Ignoring Ur’s distress, Lenden carefully touched the hair ornament.
“If the young lady allows it, I’ll make some adjustments. It should reduce the burden during heavy mana consumption.”
“Then, please go ahead. But—”
Shizuku nodded, then gently touched the hair ornament.
“Please keep the shape as it is. It’s very important to me.”
“Got it. Leave it to me.”
For some reason, Lenden smirked at Ur, but Ur tried not to react.
Memo: Budget Calculation
Remaining funds after travel expenses: 11 gold coins, 5 silver coins.
Purchases:
[Magic Equipment Shop – Under the Star Lamp]
- 【Scorching magic book】: 20 silver coins × 3
- 【Guardian magic book】: 20 silver coins × 1
- 【Fresh Snow’s Footsteps】: 10 silver coins × 1
[Golden Hammer]
-Full equipment maintenance: 5 silver coins
-Artifact 【Hawk’s Talon】: 20 silver coins
- 【Azure Crystal Staff】 enhancement
→ 【Azure-Violet Crystal Staff】: 10 silver coins
- 【Empty Hair Ornament】 modification
→ 【Serene Hair Ornament】: 5 silver coins
Total: 4 gold coins, 10 silver coins spent.
Remaining: 7 gold coins, 15 silver coins.
It was a good shopping trip! (Shizuku)
Honestly, the way the gold coins just vanished is terrifying. (Ur)
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
After finishing the preparations ordered by Diz, Ur and the others headed to an inn called 【The Shaded Bench】. Given that Alto, the port of the mobile fortress, was nearby, the building was quite impressive, and Diz had reserved a VIP room there.
Here, Ur and the others were supposed to receive Diz’s “secret method” for restoring stamina. Half wary and half curious, they opened the unusually large door compared to the other guest rooms.
“Ah, you’ve finished your shopping. Ur, Shizuku, come in. Akane, light the incense.”
[Yes~]
“……”
Upon entering the room, Ur made a subtle face at the sight before him.
“…Diz, Diz.”
“Hm? What?”
“How do I put this… what is this?”
He hesitated to point it out. As he pondered how to phrase it, Shizuku beside him said bluntly,
“It feels kind of… indecent, doesn’t it?”
“Shizuku.”
She’d said what was hard to say. But really, the atmosphere was unmistakably suggestive.
Even though it was broad daylight, all the curtains were tightly closed. The light from the magic lamps was soft, bathing the entire room in a faint red-purple glow. The room was filled with a subtle, not overpowering, scent of incense—it was undeniably indecent.
If you didn’t know better, you’d think it was that kind of place.
“It seems like you’re making some kind of huge misunderstanding, but that’s not it, okay?”
Diz seemed to have noticed too, as she waved her hand with a mix of embarrassment and exasperation.
“It’s not?”
“What I’m about to teach you is a sleep technique. I call it 【Meditative Sleep】.”
“Sleep technique…?”
“Tonight, we’re launching a surprise attack on Canaan’s fortress.”
Ur understood the meaning behind those words. If their base of operations was outside the city-state, then the terror of the night would be deeply ingrained in them. That’s why the enemy attacked the Island Devouring Turtle in the middle of the night. But that also means they believe that “no one would dare attack them outside the human habitation zone at night.”
A night raid is the right move. But there’s a problem.
“The execution time is midnight. Even if we make Dal and Sul run at full speed, we’ll only have a little over two hours to spare. During that time, we need to rest our bodies as much as possible.”
Diz said this while glancing at her pocket watch. Ur frowned at the time she presented.
“…To be honest, if I lie down in bed, I’ll probably sleep until tomorrow morning.”
“I’m not sure if I can recover my magical energy in just two hours either.”
Ur, Shizuku, and even Diz hadn’t gotten proper rest since late last night until now.
It was clear their stamina was at its limit. No matter how they looked at it, going into battle like this wasn’t a good idea.
In response to Ur and Shizuku’s concerns, Diz nodded and said, “I know.”
“That’s why I’m going to teach you this technique. It compresses sleep into a short period and rapidly restores your stamina.”
“Is it magic?”
“It’s closer to a physical technique. It’s similar to the training methods priests use to communicate with spirits. First, you need to learn to control the magical energy within your body.”
It seemed to be a technique that could be mastered if someone had a body strengthened by absorbing a certain amount of magical energy. It didn’t consume the magical energy itself; rather, it even helped with absorption.
“Once you learn it, your regular sleep will become more efficient too. You’ll fall asleep faster, sleep deeper, and wake up feeling refreshed.”
“Just that alone sounds like an incredible technique.”
In Greed, the cycle of training and labyrinth exploration often left them too exhausted to sleep. As a result, their sleep became shallow, and they’d end up battered the next day, only to get beaten up by Glenn again for no good reason.
And it wasn’t just that. When camping outside the city-state, the cold ground and night breeze, along with the need to stay alert for monsters, made peaceful sleep hard to come by. Ur was used to it, but he could tell Shizuku was struggling, even if she didn’t show it.
Controlling sleep was surprisingly difficult. If this technique could solve that, then it truly was remarkable.
“I take back what I said earlier. Teach us, Diz.”
“Please, we’d greatly appreciate it.”
Both Ur and Shizuku bowed their heads in unison, asking for her guidance. Diz nodded with satisfaction and then said,
“Alright, first, take off your clothes.”
[As expected, this is pretty suspicious, isn’t it?]
“Akane.”
No matter how important or significant the technique was, it didn’t change the fact that this felt suspicious.
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