Chapter 43 – The Incubus Visits the Church #7

An hour later, I arrived in front of Yoensu’s magic shop.
It is a shop located near the entrance to the underground waterway.
There was no sunlight around the building and it was completely dark.
I made a puzzled expression as I looked at the gloomy atmosphere of the magic shop.

“Is it okay to go in here? If you go inside, won’t even a ghost come out?”

I’ve never seen anyone come in and out of this magic shop.
I didn’t even know if it was working properly.
I’ll try knocking on the door, though.

Smart.
I lightly knocked on the door of the store. However, there was no response, so I opened the door, but fortunately it was not locked.
Excuse me,” I shouted loudly and entered the store.
Of course, there was no answer back.

“Why is it so dark?”

The only thing that can be called lighting is a kerosene lamp hanging on the wall.
I instantly got goosebumps at the sight of a skeleton on a shelf in a illuminated shop.
What is it, is that skeleton really human?
It’s actually not like a dungeon where a killer is hiding, right?

“Ah, fuck… Where is the owner?”

Feeling embarrassed, I tried to find the cash register.
After following the shelves of the store and entering the porridge, I finally found the checkout counter.
However, there was a girl slumped over the counter.
It’s banging her head like she’s dead, with her hair disheveled like a splinter.

‘Could this be a corpse?’

I couldn’t seem to breathe so I instinctively thought it was fucked.
If this is a real corpse, should I report it to the guards first?
I trembled and touched the girl’s shoulder with my hand.

It was then.
The girl’s head shot up into the sky.
With her eyes wide open, the girl opened her mouth.

“…Uh, welcome! Welcome to Magic Shop Wizardry!!”

Saliva was trickling down the corner of the girl’s mouth.
Looking at the girl’s swollen eyes, I finally understood the situation.
It was just a bedtime hit during work hours.
I sighed and opened my mouth.

“Is this business right?”
“Yes! That’s right! What kind of items are you looking for? The items that our magic shop handles…!”

The girl who was eagerly brushing her teeth met her eyes.
At that moment, I had a feeling of deja vu that I had seen this girl somewhere. It seemed that the girl felt the same way.

“Luke?”
“What?”

Do you know my name
I took a close look at her girl’s face, and after a while I was sure she was someone she knew.

“Are you Lily?”

Lily.
He was a student at the Mage Tower who had asked me for a quest the other day. She was a water supply girl who paid 1 silver 50 copper per day. She was the client I had always wanted to remember, but she was so plain that I couldn’t recognize her for a moment.

“That’s right! It’s nice to see you again in a place like this!”

Lily looked at my horns and she clapped her hands happily.
As I stared at Lily at the checkout counter, I couldn’t help but feel her questioning.
If you are a student of the Mage Tower, you must be a son of a wealthy family, but why are you working in such a gloomy store? I heard that magic shops are run by wandering wizards.
I couldn’t contain my curiosity and asked Lily.

“Are you working here?”
“Yes! I’m working part-time at a magic shop!”
“You didn’t seem to be in need of enough money to do a part-time job, right? All the students studying at the Mage Tower are rich.”
“Actually, this shop is run by a relative of mine. He’s a wandering wizard because he’s of collateral lineage, and I owed him a few times when I was young. That’s why I’m helping out while living in Yoensu.”
“Ah, it must have been a relative’s store.”
“Still, it’s not too bad to work. There are many opportunities to see magic tools and things with your own eyes.”
“It’s okay to work? But why take a nap during business hours…?”
“Huh, stop doing the assignments the professor gave until dawn yesterday.”

Lily looked at me as if asking for forgiveness and smiled bashfully. It was so cute that I decided to forgive him this time.
If a man had acted like that, he would have had more than enough to grind a piece of bread.

“I’ll light a fire!”

Lily begged my pardon and she swung the wand that had been rolling under the counter. Then, the inside of the magic shop became bright in an instant. The magic lamp hanging from the ceiling began to emit light.
I felt an absurd feeling as I looked around the inside of the store, which was lit up like broad daylight.
So you’re saying this girl was sleeping with the lights off?
Even if you get sued by the store owner, you won’t have anything to say?
Lily looked at me and she quickly opened her mouth.

“It was only today that I turned off the light. Actually, customers rarely visit this store. It’s almost empty in the morning. I don’t even know why I’m sitting here.”
“I don’t think business is going very well.”
“So what do you need, Luke? Didn’t you come here because you needed magical help?”
“I need a spellbook. Please choose a spellbook of an easy level. I have just learned magic, so anything that is too difficult is difficult.”
“All right!”

Lily began to pick out her spellbook from the bookshelf behind the counter with her cheerful laugh. After her contemplation, Lily laid out the four spell books in order on the counter.
I read the title of the magic book with my eyes.

– Rope trick
– Mage Hand
– Message
– Clean

You can’t tell what kind of magic it is just by looking at the title.
I asked Lily to explain.

“What is all this about?”
“Rope Trick is magic that binds enemies by moving a rope. Mage Hand is magic that creates magical hands. Message is magic that conveys a message to a nearby target, and Clean Magic is literally clean! Magic that removes contaminants from the surroundings. That’s it.”

After that, Lily gave me additional explanations about the four magics.
There are restrictions on the length of the rope that can be moved with rope tricks, and things like the types of dirt that can be washed with clean magic.
I listened to Lily’s talk with interest.
There was nothing more fun than listening to magic stories.

“The hand created with the mage hand shares the sense of touch with the caster! It means that you can feel the touch of the object touched with the magical hand from a distance.”

Do you share a sense of touch?
A strange thought came to my mind at that word.
Doesn’t that mean that even if you touch a woman’s breast from a distance, you can feel it? Maybe I can cast seommantwi with magic.
That is, if you manipulate the hand created with magical power.

There was only one breast in Yoensuu that I wanted to touch the most.
It was the chest of Wendy, my receptionist.
Any male adventurer who visits the adventurer’s guild will think that way.
You won’t be able to take your eyes off her big boob boob.

I imagined playing with Wendy’s big breasts with the mage hand. In broad daylight, when many adventurers roam around, if you massage her breasts with magic from a distance…

‘Oh, fuck-.’

I was so pissed off that I quickly stopped thinking.
You can’t get an erection in front of a young girl.
I just calmly listened to Lily’s explanation with my head empty.
Maybe she could tie her tortoiseshell with the rope trick, but she didn’t have the courage to ask Lily about it.

“…Now, the explanation is over. Which spell will you choose? Each of the spell books here costs 2 silver!”
“Two silver? Are you really selling for that price?”
“It’s all basic level magic. But I chose magic that would be useful enough for adventurers’ work. Most basic magic has a lot of useless things.”

I was relieved that I did not charge a higher price than I thought. Of course, 2 silver was not a small amount of money, but if you think of it as the price of matching equipment, it will be similar. I looked at the four spellbooks and pondered for a while. Which magic book should I choose? All of them are magic that will help adventurers.

After thinking about it, I asked Lily a question.
It was because there was something to check before purchasing the magic book.

“Is there any fire magic here? That’s basic magic, right?”
“Fire magic? Of course there is!”
“Then bring me that too. I think fire magic will be more useful than these magics.”

Lily looked at me with eyes that she hadn’t thought of. She said to me while scratching her cheek.

“Ah, I thought you already learned it…”
“You saw him making fire with his hands in Morris Forest the other day. I don’t know fire magic.”
“Since that happened, I thought, of course, I should have learned it by now.”
“Are you being sarcastic?”
“No!”

Lily hurriedly ran and brought one more of her spellbooks. It was the fire magic book I was looking for so much. I quite liked the fact that a roaring fire was drawn on the cover. To be honest, I wanted to open it right now and check the contents, but all the magic books sold at the store had their covers tied with a tight string. I guess that means you can’t open it until you buy it.

“Fire spell book is also 2 silver. Do you want to buy it?”
“Yes. I’ll buy the fire magic book and the mage hand magic book as well.”

After much thought, I bought two books of magic. The fire magic book was purchased as planned, but the mage hand magic book was purchased impulsively.
It was because the imaginary Wendy being harassed with her breasts was terribly hot.
Even if it’s not necessarily that kind of use, if you learn it, it will be useful someday.

“Come again!”

I walked out of her store with Lily waving her hand behind me.
Lily seemed to want to chat more, but she didn’t want to.
Because I wanted to go home and learn magic.
I really wanted to check how the book with the practitioner was different from the regular magic book.

“Boss bouncing!”

I ran toward the inn with a thrill of excitement.

*

As soon as I arrived at the inn room, I untied the strings that bound the two magic books.
The first thing I opened was the fire magic book.
It seems that learning fire magic first rather than mage hand will be helpful for adventurers.

‘Isn’t there a big difference? The books I’ve read so far.’

I had no choice but to be slightly disappointed as I lightly glanced at the magic book. It wasn’t much different from the books I’ve read so far. It was just a picture of a hand making a hand sign and a commentary on magic.
However, the commentary was unnecessarily extensive.
It feels like a very long exposé of words that could have been summed up in one word.

I hope you guys wrote the book.
Wasn’t it forced to increase the amount to get more money?
There is a good chance of that.
After all, the key to learning magic is to watch and copy beasts.
The long lines around the picture are decorations.
Sometimes, I read it just to pass my time.

The magic book was filled with dozens of pages of forcibly increased texts for pastime. It was completely different from the book, which simply conveyed only the key points in writing. A book I bought from an old man.

“Mommy’s gone, fuck.”

While reading the magic book, I cursed the writer who sold such a conscienceless textbook.
There were many stories in the commentary that had nothing to do with magic.
While learning fire magic, a political story suddenly pops up.
I must have been drinking and writing in the stream of consciousness.

It was a pity that the magic shop ripped off 2 silver.
There are only a few pages that are actually useful for learning magic. But you can’t ask for a refund because it’s a waste of money.
I really wanted to learn the magic of making fire.
Just as there are times when carrying a lighter on Earth is of great help, fire magic is very useful in another world.

Like making a torch on the spot.
Like making a campfire at camp.

It means that it is more beneficial than the 5 silver shield that Rebecca bought.
Before she left for the quest, she thought that if she learned only fire magic, she wouldn’t be outdone by her.

After a while, I opened the magic book and started making hand signs. As I have done so far, I was thinking of memorizing it by spreading it out by hand. I didn’t expect the magic to succeed as soon as I started. It took several hours to make a small drop of water, so it would take a similar amount of time to light a fire.
And my predictions were right.
After half a day, I was able to light a small spark on my finger.

“Oh oh!”

I cheered as I watched the shimmering fireworks.
It was a spark the size of a fingernail, but I couldn’t be happier.
The memory of making a fire by rubbing sticks for 30 minutes in Morris Forest brought tears to my eyes. There is no need to do such reckless things now.
Because I became a walking writer from today.