Chapter 20
"T-that only took like five seconds didn't it? Just what kind of trick did you use? Did you maybe prepare a magic sword beforehand and secretly swap them?"
After checking the magic sword augment out, Alma asked me .
What do you want me to say . . . .
"I just augmented it like the usual though?"
"You can't call that 'the usual' . I can assert that . "
"No no . It's usually like this you know . . . . Don't you think so Storekeeper-san?"
The magic swords sold in this store have skipped a process in their creation after all, I'm sure it only took them two seconds to complete one depending on its creation .
You might call it slow, but calling it fast is just--
"I'm in agreement with the young lady here . It's just impossible . . . . But the truly sword has been augmented . I've made that sword myself so it's impossible for me to mistake it, nor for it to get swapped . And the conclusion we can gather from those facts is . . . . "
"The conclusion is?"
At Alma's question, the storekeeper replies with a serious expression .
"Lad, won't you be a magic augmenter?"
"I won't!"
I replied instantly . I went all the trouble of even reincarnating myself to get a crest suited for combat, like I would take a job to do these poor augments .
Ask that to someone with the First Crest please .
"Then please do it for today! Augment my swords! Of course I'll pay ya handsomely! How does 300 gold coin for one sword sound!"
However, the storekeeper keeps on hounding me .
I'm only here to buy a sword, why did this happen .
"Hold on, it's true that it was very fast, but isn't 300 gold coins a bit too much? An augmentation that's the same price as the magic sword itself, that's not gonna be profitable at all isn't it?"
It seems Alma found it hard to believe too .
"That's normally the case, but . . . . The augmentation of that sword looks different than the usual somehow . Young lady, would you like to test the sword?"
"Let me do it!"
With that flow, we went to the back of the store to test the new sword .
The object of the test is a scrap wood . She's holding the sword on the side, ready to swing it vertically down . It'd be harder to fail here .
I'm worried about the test object instead, it's just too fragile . . . .
"Here I go!"
Ruli greatly swung the sword while saying that .
No wait . If you put that much force against mere lumber-- .
"Huh?"
SWISH, the lumber cut in two along with that sound, and the sword plunged down into the ground with most of its force intact .
Then it hit the ground and stopped after sinking a bit .
"W-what's with that sharpness . . . . "
"Hold on there, that's just weird . . . . "
The two were surprised at the result of the test .
And the girl who wielded the sword herself is dumbfounded .
" . . . . Eh . . . . ? I felt no resistance at all, so I ended up swinging the sword to the ground . . . . Ah, the sword's!"
Ruli pulled the sword off the ground while shouting and checked the sword's condition .
"The sword would be chipped if I used it like that . . . . There's none!"
"On the contrary, the stone looks like it's been cut a bit . . . . "
Alma picked up a stone on the ground and muttered .
"500 gold coins, no 1000! Please augment my sword, just one is enough!"
"Just what kind of augments did you put on this!?"
"Don't you think it cutting stones is just weird!?"
And before I knew it, the three inched on me without giving me a chance to cope .
I'm only here to get a sword, why'd it come this, really .
"For now, calm down! Don't talk all at once! First, I augmented it with 【Iron Slash】 and 【Toughening】 magic . It's not unusual for a sword to cut stones with these two augments . "
"It is unusual! Isn't multiple augments the national treasure-grade! How would I ever pay back such an augmentation . . . . "
And Ruli was extremely shaken .
This, national treasure-grade? That's really weird . If a magic sword created in five seconds by a Fourth Crest is national treasure-grade, then this world would have been full of national treasures .
"Please calm down . There's no way this thing is a national treasure . It's just two augments you know? A proper magic augmenter would laugh this one out . . . . "
"Mathi-kun, are you being serious?"
Alma interrupted my explanation with a serious look on her face . Of course I'm serious .
"Of course I am . Augments from this crest don't worth much . A magic augmenter with the proper First Crest . . . I mean, Glory Crest, should be able to pull off 10 to 20 magic augments right?"
Judging from the ambiance of Ruli's mana, she's most likely a First Crest . As long as she trains properly, she can probably do this much in just a few years .
10 augments should be possible in 30 years, 20 should be attainable in just 200 years .
"No, that's impossible . "
"This kid's off the deep end . Someone gotta do something about him fast . . . . "
"10 and 20, that's a tale from the world of myth . . . . "
Why . Why do they react like this .
Is this also an adverse effect of chant magic? Is it due to that thing that this world now treats a mere dual augment as national treasures?
Now that I see it's gone this far, I feel like this is a malicious act by someone .
Right now, I won't be surprised even if you tell me that the demon or such has infiltrated the country and made it so magic declined .
"OK I got it . It's useless to preach common sense to the lad . We should talk about something more productive now . "
The storekeeper put the second chaotic situation into order . As expected of a storekeeper . As an adult, he's reliable--
"That being the case, I'm beggin' ya for an augment . Your reward will be the whole property I own . . . . "
Or not . He just went back to the beginning . Only that the amount of money being offered rose astronomically .
Un .
Just do whatever you want .
◇
In the end, the magic augment cost 1000 gold coins and I only did it to one sword .
All this money of which I've no aim to spend at is piling up inside the Storing magic . Well, gold coins aren't too heavy so it's not like it troubles me even if they pointlessly multiply .
At first I wasn't really going to ask for that much money from the storekeeper either, but I decided to after recalling the price of magic swords in his store .
An eye for an eye, a rip-off for a rip-off .
I'm gonna look for a motivated First Crest user, and teach them the art of augmentation . In this present world, it appears that I have to raise a craftsman myself if I want to obtain a strong weapon .
While getting rolled up in such an affair (?) along the way, I got to the day of the exam .