LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 74
“Sir Atanitas, I will follow you.”
“Alright. Now then, curator! Please guide us.”
Catherine waved her hand as if urging him to hurry along.
Her attention was already directed at the treasures of the treasure vault, boasting a history of thousands of years.
Karem cheerfully accepted Catherine’s excited proposal, leaving Elder Iona behind.
The boy followed the house fairy, who had vanished like the wind just moments ago.
“Huh, they said these were just trivial magic tools, huh?”
The items stored in the room where Iona kept minor magical tools really were modest in functionality.
From forks and knives to drinking cups and finger bowls, from small pots for sauces to massive pots that could hold several adults, and even luxurious handkerchiefs displayed in frames.
Of course, since all of these were enchanted, they were far from trivial.
No, given the materials, decorations, and patterns, they were anything but.
Items crafted entirely or adorned with gold, silver, and various gemstones of all sizes.
That wasn’t all.
The framed handkerchiefs and paintings, various garments hanging on armor racks—all adorned with lavish decorations and images, rich deep blue and purple dyes were used generously.
“Wait, with magic and alchemy, wouldn’t they be cheaper, or not?”
Ultimately, in medieval Europe, the reason blue and purple were expensive was that even extracting the materials in ton units would yield only a few dozen grams.
But here, with the existence of supernatural studies like alchemy and magic, wouldn’t it be different? Still, they shouldn’t be able to escape the level of cottage industry.
And among such precious items, Karem could spot the house fairy that had dashed out just a moment ago, with her eyes wide.
“Brooms and dustpans, mops, transforming into gold, silver, and animal hair dusters, oh my goodness! I never thought such dream-like items would actually exist!”
Mary, with her expression unchanged, was now exclaiming in excitement.
“Hm!? This rag doesn’t get dirty no matter how much you wipe! That’s a point deduction—Karem, junior?”
“Yes, yes. I’m Karem, junior.”
“…Since when have you been here?”
“Brooms and dustpans, mops, transforming into gold, silver, copper, and feather dusters, oh my goodness! I never thought such dream-like items would actually exist!”
Karem dramatized Mary’s earlier exclamation with unrestrained enthusiasm.
Mary, watching him closely, flinched.
After radiating doubt, disbelief, anger, and confusion, she regained her composure and cleared her throat.
“Karem, junior. Did you come to look around here as well?”
“Mary, I’ve already seen it all, but I’m embarrassed—”
“Karem, junior. Did you come to look around here as well?”
“No, I mean, it’s just that I got so excited my eyes—”
“Karem, junior. Did you come to look around here as well?”
Mary started to act as if the previous scene had never happened.
Raising her tone and repeating like a parrot, she confronted him.
Ugh, just a little more poking and she’ll blow her top.
The boy stepped back slightly and pointed at the luxurious rag that had been a duster moments before, now in her hand.
“So, is that the cleaning tool?”
“That’s right. Just take a look!”
Mary excitedly shook the rag once more.
The rag quickly transformed from the cleaning tools Karem had initially seen into a bucket, a brush, a mop, a scraper, and a sponge in rapid succession.
“A cleaning tool that’s ridiculously luxurious.”
“It’s not just that it transforms into other tools, but they don’t get dirty even if you sweep and clean. Isn’t that just a dream-like item?”
“Hmm. Well then, isn’t that bad for you, Mary?”
“What do you mean by that?”
Karem was puzzled by Mary’s question.
But it was understandable.
“If a cleaning tool doesn’t get dirty, doesn’t that mean you have less cleaning to do?”
Of course, for normal cleaners or housewives, it would be a treasure.
Just like cooking, people tend to avoid cleaning more because of the mess afterward, so if such problems could be eliminated from the start…
It was practically a masterpiece in the daily necessities industry.
“Uh-oh! That’s a serious problem!?”
But for Mary, overflowing with work, it wasn’t.
Given that the majority of the increased staff in the tower, except for that annoying elf (Narque), were overly dedicated to research and magic, it hadn’t been bad until now, but any reduction in workload…
“Oh, wait! It means I can clean even more quickly!”
“Then wouldn’t the workload decrease even faster?”
“Disappear! You evil tool that shouldn’t exist, the fact of your very birth is a sin!!!”
Mary flailed her hands as if she might throw it away like a cockroach at any moment.
Then, with meticulous and cautious movements, she set down the cleaning tool that had transformed into a copper duster.
Her hands darted away.
Yet her eyes couldn’t part from the duster.
“Alright then. Let’s rejoin Sir Atanitas.”
“…Just one last look.”
“Ah, looking only makes you more attached. Hurry up.”
“Ah. Ahh….”
Karem, even amidst all this, was pulling on Mary’s unnecessarily soft hand.
Under his pull, Mary shut her eyes tight and moved her heavy steps that wouldn’t budge.
The treasure vault was vast and complicated with many rooms, and the Catherine they had seen earlier was nowhere to be found, yet Karem wasn’t worried.
He just headed in the direction where Catherine’s voice could be heard.
“Oh my! The adamantium engraving of the wolf and laurel on this entire staff is in the style of the long-lost Ancient Palatino Empire! The overall finish is done in gold, known for its good magical conductivity, but what about the orange pumpkin at the end of the staff…?”
“They say it’s the sap crystal of the oldest world tree from the long-burned and vanished Bersengzeto.”
“Then this must definitely be the magic staff commemorating the complete conquest of the Palatino Empire’s Bersengzeto!!!”
“The name of that staff is the Third Glory of Palatino.”
Karem felt déjà vu as he looked at her, like a luxury addict witnessing a limited-edition masterpiece being wasted.
Mary, forcibly shaking off her fascination, was horrified.
“Karem, junior. Did I act like a contractor just now?”
“Oh, so you remember!”
*
*
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A short stick,
A medium-length cane,
A staff the height of an adult or taller,
All collectively known as a wand, were essential tools for a wizard to cast stable magic.
In comparison, they were like a knight’s full armor or a steed, or a beast suitable for riding.
A wizard without a wand only happens in three cases.
Either they’ve died and no longer need one,
Haven’t yet received permission for a wand from their master,
Or they’re so skilled that they don’t need one anymore.
And those represented by Katherine and the grand wizards were typical examples of the third case.
“Sir Atanitas, you cast magic well without a wand, right?”
“That’s obvious!”
“Then why do you still need a wand?”
“That’s obvious!”
“Then why haven’t you been using a wand all this time?”
Karem wasn’t very knowledgeable about magic, but he could grasp some general facts.
Wands were excellent magical safety devices and amplifiers.
He knew that grand wizards like Katherine were capable of casting stable and amplified magic without a wand, hence avoiding the need for one.
Katherine swept aside the ‘Bersengzeto Commemorative Ancient Palatino Empire-style Wand’, commonly known as the Third Glory of Palatino, with merely a glance.
“I, Catherine Marigold Atanitas, cannot wield a cheap wand. But what’s this? Just the right wand for my stature is right here.”
“That doesn’t seem like the only reason, does it?”
“Huh? That’s all there is!”
Katherine tilted her head in confusion, as if pondering whether there could be a more important reason.
Karem wiped his face absentmindedly at her unnecessarily innocent and foolish behavior.
It had been ten, no, eleven years since his reincarnation, yet she still hadn’t fully let go of her modern sensibilities.
Iceland definitely gave more recognition than other regions.
But the Kingdom of Seophone was, after all, a kingdom.
Bloodlines and classes were rampant, and that was true for other nations as well.
In such a nation, failing to maintain an appropriate dignity according to one’s status would earn them scorn.
A grand wizard and the chief magic consultant of the Felwinter Family, she couldn’t be seen wielding just any wand. Honestly, Karem himself couldn’t wrap his head around it either.
He merely understood it in a vague sense.
“Hey, kid. So, have you picked out your own?”
“I just started looking around. It feels like there’s so much that it’s hard to choose.”
Karem contemplated for a moment.
Definitely, magical swords and armor were incredibly enticing.
But at this moment, they held no practicality for him, so those were out.
Moreover, the weapons in the treasure vault appeared to be made only for adults.
There were comparatively smaller weapons seemingly made with dwarfs in mind, but while they fit in height, they were too bulky in volume. He was still just an eleven-year-old boy, after all.
In that case…
Karem asked Elder Iona.
“Is there any cooking tools available, Elder Iona?”
“Haha, considering Felwinter’s history, it would be odd if there weren’t. Come this way. ”
With that said, Iona led the way.
And soon after, Karem’s expression transformed unexpectedly.
The place where Iona guided him was the room where Mary had just caused a scene—a ‘room storing minor magical tools’.
“Hm? Mary, why the sudden change?”
“Huh, Contractor. I am desperately holding onto my wavering heart.”
“Eh? Why all of a sudden?”
Unlike the puzzled Catherine, Karem, who had witnessed the reason firsthand, tried to stifle a laugh.
In the meantime, Iona entered the room leading the group and picked up a chef’s knife.
The gold vine pattern extending from the handle to the blade of the knife was striking, and unlike an ordinary chef’s knife, it shone even more distinctly with its surroundings.
“This is the silver chef’s knife belonging to Gustus, famous for his culinary skills in Servianus. It was made of silver, blessed by the goddess of beauty, and yet, you can cut cow bones without chipping a single tooth.”
“This knife has magic cast upon it?”
“Not outside, but at least everything in this room is imbued with some minor magic. This knife has a magic that prevents food from sticking to its blade.”
“Pfft!”
Karem barely contained his laughter this time.
A convenient function, but so trivial. It was so trivial it was almost mind-boggling.
Understanding the rudeness, Iona nodded, seeming to get the idea, and began pulling out items one by one, demonstrating their features to the boy.
As they passed ten tools and reached twenty,
Iona finally brought out something that would catch Karem’s interest.
The knife resembled a dagger more than a chef’s knife, with a slightly curved ivory handle fixed to a long rectangular triangle blade, the sides engraved with spider web-like cracks and flame patterns, sharp enough to match the traded swords hanging on the outer wall.
“This chef’s knife is called the Lies of Felwinter.”
Karem flinched for a moment.
…A chef’s knife, no, having the Duke’s family name attached to it?
“Elder Iona, is it alright if I take this?”
“Hm? What reason would there be not to?”
“Uh, but you said it’s called ‘the Lies of Felwinter’.”
“Oh, don’t worry. All the treasures revealed so far are available for selection.”
Karem felt uneasy but couldn’t deny her.
By the way.
“For starters, it doesn’t look at all like a chef’s knife, does it?”
“That’s one reason it bears the name ‘lie’. It’s both a chef’s knife and a dagger. And of course, this item is enchanted too.”
Hearing about the enchantments and added effects, Karem marked it as a candidate and continued searching the treasure vault.