Of Course, There Were Exceptions.

“So, Kikori. Did you come to buy something?”

“Huh. If you knew that, then what was that whole thing earlier?”

“I wanted to show you off a little.”

“How am I supposed to respond to that…?”

“I think it’d be nice if you just quietly hugged me.”

Aria spread her arms wide like, Come on, and Kikori clutched his head.

“I can’t win…”

No matter what he said or did, he could only see a future where he lost.

So, with no choice, he tried to steer the conversation back on track.

“Um… well, yes. Like you guessed, I came to buy something.”

“Oh my, you’re such a shy one. That’s one of the things I like about you, though.”

“Um, seriously, that’s enough… Kuon is trying to slip away and go home…”

“Oh, it’s fine. See you tomorrow, Kikori.”

“Enough—wait. Don’t leave.”

Kuon came back, but he was fully in spectator mode now.

Seeing Kuon like that, Aria nodded and laughed.

“Alright, then. Let’s talk business. What are you looking for today?”

“I was thinking of buying a weapon.”

“A weapon?”

Aria glanced at the axe on Kikori’s back and tilted her head.

“It still looks like it can be used for a while.”

“I ran into an anomalously evolved goblin. This axe didn’t work at all, and I barely managed to win using magic, but that ended up causing more trouble.”

“Oh, so that’s why it was noisy upstairs. Congratulations, Kikori. And Kuon-san too.”

After saying that, Aria went, “Hmm.”

“Magic, you mean that thing, right? The one Kikori mentioned before—‘Break.’”

“Yes. Because I don’t have enough mana, it left no external wounds. And that became a problem.”

“Ahh, I see? But in that case, it gets a bit complicated.”

“It does?”

“It does. The difference in materials is basically the difference in sturdiness and ease of use—not the difference in attack power.”

“Of course, there are exceptions,” Aria added.

“For example, even if you switch to a steel axe, Kikori’s attack power won’t dramatically increase. The price will, though.”

“Hmm… so changing weapons has no meaning?”

“No. Materials don’t affect attack power much, but if you add something on top of that, it’s a different story.”

With that, Aria brought over a sword displayed carefully in the back of the space.

“For example, this. The material is steel, but… can you tell what’s different?”

“Hm? Uhh…”

At a glance, Kikori thought it was a sword with a lot of ornamentation.

The gem set into it looked insanely expensive.

But… somehow, it felt familiar?

“This gem…?”

“Close. It’s a mana stone. It uses the mana stone’s power to raise the weapon’s inherent capabilities. In other words… it’s a magic item sword.”