It’s Pretty Expensive.

“A mana stone… this is one?”

“Yep. This sword uses a relatively large mana stone, but there are also magic items that work by embedding multiple small mana stones.”

He imagined it—a sword embedded with lots of small, glittering mana stones.

…That would be very…

“How do I put it… flashy.”

“It’s actually flashy. They disguise it as decoration, so it really is.”

“Wouldn’t it be better not to do that…?”

“If you don’t, it looks lame and people hate it.”

“I see…”

As she spoke, Aria put the magic item sword back.

“Well, just being a magic item makes the price jump, but… this sword would be around fifty thousand yen.”

“Ugh… it’s pretty expensive.”

“It includes the processing cost for the mana stone. If it’s a weapon that uses special mana stones, it gets even more expensive, you know?”

“Ah, I’ve seen those. Fire swords are pretty common, right?”

“Yeah. Those sell well because they look flashy. We’re out of stock here too.”

‘I see,’ Kikori thought.

But he probably didn’t need a weapon that flashy yet.

More than anything, it sounded absurdly expensive.

“For that fire sword, for example—”

“Minimum five hundred thousand and up.”

“And something like that sells out…”

It was a world too far removed for Kikori to really grasp.

Still, would he someday be able to compete to buy things like that?

“Anyway, putting that aside—Kikori wants a magic item axe, and Kuon-san wants a staff, right?”

“Yes.”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm… first, for Kikori… let’s see.”

Aria wandered around the back of the shop, then came back hugging an axe.

It looked like the same single-bladed battle axe Kikori was carrying now… but he could see a mana stone gleaming in the handle.

“Better to stick with the same type as what you have now. In a pinch, you can also use it two-handed.”

“I-I see.”

When he tried holding it, he could tell immediately how naturally it fit.

It probably felt almost identical to the axe on his back.

“Thirty thousand yen. What do you think? With where you are now, you can afford it, right?”

“I can, but… huh? Isn’t it cheaper than that sword earlier?”

“Axes are basically unpopular. People say they’re not cool.”

“What…? Shouldn’t strength matter more than looking cool…?”

“Honestly, even in terms of strength—there are swordsmanship dojos in this city, but no axemanship dojos…”

“Oh, but there’s staff technique training. Priests need it as a core skill.”

Kikori felt a little sad, but changing his battle style now didn’t feel right either… and he had his own attachment to axes.

“Then I’ll… buy this.”

“Okaaay, thank you so much! Oh, by the way—when your mana runs out, make sure you recharge it into the mana stone properly!”

So that was how it worked.

Kikori nodded and placed the payment on the counter.