Shut-in Magician - Chapter 48-49
Chapter 048: Parting with Friends
Shiu’s days returned to normal after the business at the Merchant Guild and the auction had finished.
But, he would be parting with Kiahi and his party the next day.
Early in the morning, Shiu went to 『Hawk Eye Inn』 in order to see them off. After the group packed and got ready to leave, they walked together to the central gate.
There were stops for stagecoaches everywhere at the central gate and the party went to find one that suited their needs. Kiahi and his party were going to Kixelao town and will be taking requests from the guild there. Apparently, it was 『all the rage』to subjugate at the Elnoix mountain range right now. They also wanted to take an escort quest on their way there, but they couldn’t find any good ones. Laetitia complained the whole time about how narrow the stagecoach was.
There was still time left before they departed, so Shiu took out his farewell gift to them.
“This lets you know how much MP you have left, so it would be useful.”
It was a pendant magic tool which let the user know their total and remaining MP. Shiu had a 《MP MEASURING INSTRUMENT》in his head and this was the magic tool version.
“…… You’re showing us another amazing thing,” Kiahi was so amazed that he was speechless, but he eventually smiled and rubbed Shiu’s head.
“Well, whatever. I can’t wait until we meet again.”
“Me too. Ah, I want to apply user authority properly. Everyone, please hold my hand.”
“Even if it isn’t for that, I’ll hold you!” Kiahi said and hugged him instead.
“Woah, wow!”
“See, you’re high up!”
“I’m not a baby!”
He was strangely pumped up and Feles who was riding on his shoulder cried in a panic, “Fugya.”
Gladius nudged Kiahi who then let Shiu down. He quickly approached Kirch and said, “Parting is such sweet sorrow.”
“Seems like Shiu’s come to like us. Although, I’ve also come to like him.”
Shiu smiled and got embarrassed.
He scratched his head and grabbed Kirch’s hand.
“Grant user authority to Kirch Degallo,” He muttered and Kirch gripped Shiu’s hand tightly.
“Thanks Shiu.”
“…… Kirch.”
“I’m glad I met you. It was fun and I made new discoveries. Above all, Kiahi seems really happy. Let’s meet again.”
“…… Ok.”
“Shiu’s also cute when he’s being shy.”
Kirch gently patted his head.
Gladius lifted him onto his shoulders.
He received a storm of hugs after he got down from there. Shiu was a little overwhelmed because a large man was rubbing his cheeks against his, but it was probably a display of affection towards a child.
“Take good care of Tony.”
“Of course!”
He was the type of man to attach a name to his most important sword. He was somewhat charming and it was hard to hate this airheaded swordsman.
“Contact us on the communication tool if anything happens, alright? We’ll come rushing back!”
“Right, yes. You too Gladius.”
“Yeah! I will!”
“You sure you will!?”
Kiahi gave a loud and hearty laugh beside them.
Laetitia smiled wryly and held Shiu’s hand.
“You’ll probably be fine, but you have to contact us if anything happens, okay? Let’s party together someday.”
“Someday, huh?”
He had a hunch that he would meet them again somewhere, someday.
If they are in this world, then he would meet them again someday.
As he was now, he didn’t even have to strain himself to meet them.
Therefore, he wasn’t lonely.
Shiu sent his friends off with a smile.
He kept waving at them and they returned his wave with a smile.
The first time he realised that they were his friends was when he couldn’t see the stagecoach anymore.
They weren’t his acquaintances, nor were they somebody’s grandchild, no, they were his first friends.
“Let’s meet again,” he whispered before going home while constantly petting Feles.
Emina was standing outside when he returned to Bariado Tool Shop.
“Weren’t you resting today?”
“I am. But I had something to do.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Emina approached him and then pulled him into a gentle hug.
Dmitr slowly came out of the courtyard while he was surprised.
“Ah, no, it’s not what it looks like! Mm.”
He panicked and Dmitr came behind Emina to hug them both.
“Eh, huh?”
“You can cry, you know?”
“…… Eminsan.”
“It’s fine for you to call me Emina! No, call me it. I’ll also call you Shiu. Hey, we’re already friends, aren’t we?”
She hugged him tightly.
“He also, Dmitr also wants to get along with you. Hey, we’re friends, right?’
“…… Yes.”
“Aqela is also a friend!”
“Yes.”
“Grandpa also said that you two are friends! He was boasting about how cool it was to have a friend that’s a lot younger than him.”
“Ahaha.”
“You’ll see them again, I’m sure of it.”
“I know.”
It finally seemed like he was going to cry. The tears flowed freely from his eyes. Shiu finally realised that tears could be a mixture of happiness and sadness.
It got too cramp and Feles climbed to his head from his shoulder. Then, he crossed over onto Emina and Dmitr.
“Kyu,”
“Oops, oh, oh.”
The two started laughing. Shiu moved away from them because he was being shaken by the laugher.
“Ah, you cried?”
“I did.”
“Yeeaaaah! Seriously, this kid is so obedient, or well cute!”
She rubbed his head and laughed at his crying face.
Then, Shiu finally realised why they were acting so strangely.
Kiahi probably said something to them. He was sure of it when she said, “I’ll give you hugs anytime.”
Emina was a gentle person and she was probably worried about Shiu since she declared something that sounded like affection for a little brother. Her husband too. He was an artisan of few words, but he was also gentle.
This place was a gathering of gentle people and Shiu loved it.
Translator: Blushy
Editor: HSM
Chapter 049: Royal Loire Magic Academy
Shiu did rank 10 requests at the Adventurer Guild as usual during the busy period at the end of the year. Doran’s store was completed during this period and the Adrid House’s first café was opening, so he became very busy.
He would have felt bad if he’d only passed them the recipe.
He thought that he also had to test-taste the food, so he went to the café many times.
The discussions of how to treat the customers at this store had also reached its climax and it was decided that as a store in the central district, the customers would be treated with top service. Even so, it seemed like it would be a really popular café if they also extended the service to the masses.
Doran’s store was built in the central district, close to the commoners block.
Therefore, commoners will also visit his shop and it will catch the eyes of merchants who go in and out of the central district.
The Adrid House, who was financing them, recommended this location because Doran was fine with places that had less security. Since the Adrid house did this on a whim, Doran didn’t need to return the money right away, but he agreed to return the money back in full after he made a profit.
Having the pre-opening at the end of the year was great.
The problems will start from the beginning of the new year.
Shiu started magic academy on the day of the shop opening, so he couldn’t attend, but he hoped that they would work hard.
Loire was grand at the start of the year, but it didn’t get noisy like when people visited shrines in Shiu’s previous world.
Everyone prayed silently at temples with candles, but Shiu secretly thought they looked a bit dreary and scary.
The first week of the new year was quiet everywhere. Most of the stores were closed, so they must have sold a lot of merchandise during the end of the year.
There weren’t many people on the streets either and Ana, who he’d met while walking, was complaining, “I’ll die. I’ll definitely die.” She looked very pitiful, so he gave her a potion he’d made. When he did, she became motivated and started running so he got scared.
This potion was too effective, so he’d have to hold back a little.
This wasn’t from a manga, but he remembered a hero who became strong from eating spinach. 1)Popeye
This wasn’t an effect that would show up in his previous life even if someone took a high-quality drug.
There was mana in this world, and it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the living beings in this world were alive because of this mana. So Shiu thought of mana as energy and potions which put this energy directly into a body was like a magical drug.
This potion was made from the most basic ingredients, so Shiu muttered, “It could probably heal injuries too.”
Incidentally, the current Shiu could even make advanced medicine. The highest grade medicine and the special grade above that couldn’t be made right now because he didn’t have the ingredients, but if he did then he could probably make those too. But his succession rate would definitely decrease.
Even so, having level five in production magic was no joke, and he was sure he could make them without problems if he just tried a few times.
Skills were sneaky things.
However, if he thought of it as 「talent」, then he could understand it. Talent wasn’t something everyone had and even if they did have it but couldn’t use it then that talent would be useless. And even if you had talent and remembered things better than others, you wouldn’t get anywhere without effort.
He’d been scared of the world of magic at first, but when he thought of skills and gifts as talents then he could see how it 「exists」.
Right now, he had fun by doing his best to make things with his talents.
The first step towards that might be entering the magic academy.
The entrance ceremony to Royal Loire Magic Academy was on fire day on the second week of the new year, so he put on the uniform he’d made and walked towards the academy.
Royal Loire Academy was located in the upper east district along with the Royal Loire Knight Training Academy. It was also called the Merchant Block, but the heart of the central district was also called the Merchant Block, so it was confusing.
Also located in the upper east district were: the school library, mansions owned by wealthy merchants and villas owned by nobles. The central district was full of wealthy merchant mansions, shops and middle-class homes. Both districts were the same size, but the number of people living there were different. The upper east district was even more extravagant.
Further east from the upper east district was the noble block.
Shiu had never been there, but he didn’t think he would want to.
He had a hunch that he would get involved in something troublesome if he did.
Carriages constantly run through the noble block.
Students were required to enter the dormitory if their house wasn’t in walking distance of the academy, so students who couldn’t 「walk」to school were probably returning from their visit home.
There were even merchant students who didn’t 「walk」to the academy and used the carriage instead, even though they live in the same upper east district as the academy.
There were also nobles who had villas in the upper east district and would commute from there.
All this information came from Emina and Aqela.
To be more exact, it was from their customers.
Merchants would frequent Wurst restaurant, which Aqela’s parents ran and they seemed to know the ins and outs of town very well.
Shiu entered the magic academy while enjoying the scenery.
The entrance ceremony was long and boring, so he wasted the time by reading books inside of his mind.
Therefore, he didn’t hear half of what the principal nor the student president said.
Emina and Aqela had both said that the entrance ceremonies weren’t interesting and hardly anyone listened to them and that seemed to be true.
Shiu took Feles to the classroom with him.
If size wasn’t a problem, then students could bring young rare beasts with them to school, to avoid them getting lonely. And this being a magic academy also seemed to have something to do with that reasoning.
This was a school where magicians get trained, so rare beasts, who would become their partners, were important.
Students can always stay with their rare beasts since they would become important later on, as long as it wasn’t a problem child.
Was what he was told, but he was still worried so he entrusted Feles with the animal barn during the entrance ceremony.
Feles was loved by the horses and the adult rare beasts also didn’t give him any trouble.
Shiu had dressed Feles up in a scarf made from the same material as his uniform.
He had gotten considerably bigger than when he was the size of a kitten, and the colours of his pupils had also changed a lot. At first, it had been a light yellow colour, then amber and now it was a beautiful transparent emerald.
Feles had suddenly grew big at the end of the year and could no longer ride on Shiu’s shoulders.
It seemed like he acted like an adult not because he was lonely, but because he wanted to give Shiu a ride as soon as possible.
Of course, he would act spoiled at night, so he was still a kitten.
Shiu had to keep him on a leash because it was the rules, but Feles would never harm anyone or disobey Shiu.
However, Shiu was going to train him in the future so a leash was necessary.
Well he had put a leash on Feles when they got to the Royal Capital as an anti-theft method, so Feles didn’t seem to mind.
There were about 30 students in the classroom.
Most schools decided classes by class result, and the magic academy divided their classes from 1 to 10.
The system seemed to be the same as the Guild. Shiu was in class 1, which meant that he had high results.
He didn’t look around but instead used EVERY DIRECTION SEARCH and was surprised to see that he knew some of the students.
The other people looked at Shiu and was also surprised.
“Shiu, over here!”
“Shiu-kun!”
They called out to him at the same time and everyone stared at him. But, he pretended that he didn’t notice those glances and headed towards the two.
“Morning.”
He greeted and the two faced each other before greeting him.
“Good ‘morning’.”
The two laughed at their timing.
They didn’t seem to know each other so Shiu said.
“She’s Alice Bessol-san. He’s Riegdole Adrid-san.”
“That’s too simple…… Mm, nice to meet you. I am the second son of the Adrid merchant house located in the upper east district, Reigdole.”
He bowed politely and Alice smiled.
“Wow, thank you for being polite. I am the 3rd child of Earl Bethole, Alice. Since we are both students here, please get along with me.”
She curtsied lightly.
It was a greeting for an unmarried woman like her to people of the same rank or subordinates. A deeper curtsy was needed for those of higher rank, so Shiu recalled when he saw it for the first time and called it “stretchy movement”.
Incidentally, married woman can curtsy on either leg and they only nodded as greeting to subordinates so they seem a bit self-important. It might actually be that way.
They finished their greetings and Shiu briefly explained how he met each of them.
“I got acquainted with Alice-san because she’s a customer at Bariado Tool Shop. I originally knew her father, Daniel-san.”
“…… Being close with a girl or calling a noble by their name. Both are impossible, you know?”
Reigdole whispered.
As for him, “I know Reig’s father because he runs a café. I came to their café to consult them on the recipe and covered for Reig when his father got angry and that’s how we know each other ―――.”
“Don’t say that. You can’t say that!”
“I’m sorry,” Shiu hugged Reig.
References [ + ]
1. ↑ Popeye
Translator: Blushy
Editor: HSM
