Chapter 9: Coffee and Tending the Shop

Chapter 9:
Coffee and Tending the Shop

 

CHOTOS’S MANA TOOL SHOP was, just as the name implied, the shop where Mr. Chotos sold mana tools. Two days after the large-scale dispute that unfolded on that very spot between Gol and the debt collectors, business resumed. Even so, there hadn’t been a single customer.

As usual, there was a certain lack of goods within the shop, but the interior did feel a bit different. For one, a pale young girl, a white Greek statue of a beautiful elf goddess, and a man wearing an olive-brown robe hung around a large table inside. Of course, their true identities were Teru, Gol, and me.

Teru and I ate baked snacks while Gol sat quietly beside me. The snacks were like sweet cookies with a light, crunchy texture, and they tasted faintly of milk. How delicious. It was quite a popular snack in these parts, and it was sold at a neighborhood stand.

As I chewed, I turned to find Mr. Chotos standing behind me. “Hey, mister, even though you have no customers or employees, you’ve still got chairs and tables prepared. It really lets you relax.”

“Well, before business turned bad, I had plenty of regulars—customers, guards, and so forth. I tell you, this place was bustling.”

“Eh, are you serious? It doesn’t look like that to me.”

Mr. Chotos pouted grumpily.

Like I said, what’s with that face? Even if a middle-aged man could pout, absolutely no one would be asking for it.

The pouting old man planned to leave the shop this afternoon. He got really into putting his outfit together that morning, so I admit he looked a little neater than usual. Well, no matter how he dressed up, there was honestly a lot of room for improvement.

He was putting so much effort into his appearance because apparently he had found a buyer for those sorcery cores. It was truly reason to celebrate.

There did seem to be a steady demand for sorcery cores. But what exactly did buyers do with those weird rocks? Make them into women’s accessories?

“Hey… So, what exactly are sorcery cores used for?” I asked Mr. Chotos as I placed a handkerchief on Teru’s lap. She was dropping cookie crumbs all over herself.

I didn’t put much thought into the question, but Mr. Chotos’s reaction was more astonished than I had expected. His mouth was fully agape, and at length he frowned at me, doubtful. “Huh…? What are they used for? Are you mocking me?”

“No, not at all. I really don’t know.”

“It’s obvious. Golems! They’re for golems! Of course, there are other uses, but a sorcery core’s most valuable function is as the core of a golem.” As Mr. Chotos spoke, he looked over at Gol sitting next to me. “I mean, you have a sorcery core inserted in your Goretaru’s chest, right?”

“Wh-what…? Is that so? I really had no idea.”

Had I put such a thing inside Gol? I had absolutely no memory of such.

“Wait. You’re a spellcaster, yet you didn’t know something this basic?” he asked. Seeing my eyes widen at this revelation, Mr. Chotos’s eyes also widened at me. Suddenly, he looked like he understood what was going on. “Ahh. Could it be you inherited the right to control Goretaru? So you didn’t create it after all. You really are a fortunate young master born to a good family. Hm, but then again, it’s strange to see how well you control it while knowing so little…”

Mr. Chotos took a hard look at my face, as if he were gazing at a pitiful person. Eventually, he put on a pained, sympathetic smile as he plopped a hand on my shoulder. “Nemaki, I thought you were only ignorant about market prices and lacked street smarts because you were an aristocrat raised in a foreign country, but…you’re actually more that kind of man than you look.”

“Hey, what do you mean by ‘that’?!”

You bastard, if you’ve got something to say, say it to my face!

In any case, sorcery cores were used for golems, huh? Could it be this was the secret to creating a golem that wouldn’t crumble like the ones I used for training?

But no matter how I tried to recall, I couldn’t remember inserting such a thing into Gol. In the first place, I had picked up my first sorcery core long after I created her. In fact, Gol had been there with me to help me pick it up.

Could it be I hadn’t been paying attention during her creation and had mistakenly mixed a sorcery core into her raw materials? I tilted my head, puzzled.

Mr. Chotos gave me a concerned side-eye and began to explain as if he were lecturing a small child. “Listen, Nemaki. Golems use the sorcery core inside their chest to move the mana inside their base body like blood. This is what we call ‘mana circulation.’”

“Mana circulation…” I sat up in my seat and obediently listened to the lecture. He’s already realized I’m totally ignorant, so I might as well make use of this. This is only a fleeting embarrassment.

“Simply put, mana circulation operates on the same principle mana beasts use to control their mana flow via their sorcery core. As a creation of an Earth spell, a golem’s base should crumble into particulate matter upon the cessation of the spell; it only doesn’t because the circulating mana strengthens the spell binding the particles.”

“Huh, so that’s the mechanism…”

That had to be the reason the monkeys could wear stone armor, too. Their stones were just like a golem’s base.

“Mana circulation has a secondary advantage in that it prevents foreign mana from interfering with a golem. This is more technical stuff, so I’m not too versed in it… But as I understand it, the flow of circulating mana repels and disperses external spells, rendering foreign spells to their original particulate.”

“Ah, I know that! I learned it in Master Speria’s class.”

“Master Speria?”

“Ah, my bad. Just talking to myself.”

Anyway, as I listened to Mr. Chotos’s explanation, it became clear Master Speria had used extremely simple language in his explanation for his beginner pupil.

Could it be that from the start my teacher had already figured out I was below kindergarten level…? I rested my elbow on the table and thought about that for a while. Gol sat beside me and kindly observed my pensive state. She never did seem to get bored of watching me.

At this time, Mr. Chotos walked to the back of the shop. He returned carrying a tray of drinks, and a cup of steaming coffee was placed before me. “How about a cup?”

“Oh, thanks.” How tasteful for this man. Since I’d been eating sweet cookies with a young girl, I was craving a bitter drink.

Teru, meanwhile, got a cup of warm milk. Smart thinking, mister. I totally understand your concern about the effects of caffeine on a youth of her age.

Even though Teru was five years old, she was small enough to look three. I also wanted her to drink plenty of milk to grow big and strong.

As I mulled over this child’s future, I tried the coffee. However, halfway to my lips, my hand stopped. Was this strange drink from another world really coffee? What I actually held was a ceramic cup of unknown, steaming black liquid. Appearance-wise, it was completely coffee. However…

Although I remained vigilant, I sniffed it and cautiously took a sip.

“Oh…?”

Ah, now that was just fine. It really was like coffee, although its taste was slightly different. It was somewhat rustic compared to the drink I knew from my original world, but if I thought of it as this world’s version of coffee, it just worked. Not bad at all.

I drank more of this world’s coffee with a cheerful smile.

On the other side of the table, Mr. Chotos relaxed with his own cup. Then he opened his mouth suddenly as if he had just remembered something. “Ah, right, right. Another interesting thing about sorcery cores. They allow golems to have an ‘artificial personality’ of sorts.”

“Artificial personality?”

“In layman’s terms, the sorcery core functions as the golem’s brain.”

Ah, so it was like artificial intelligence in computers, right? Since this world didn’t seem to have any sophisticated electronic machines, maybe similar effects could be reproduced with spells. Perhaps I could liken the difference between my beginner golems and Gol to the difference between a toy with voice recognition and a super high-tech android.

“I see. That’s why she’s so much cleverer than a training golem…” I muttered. But had I really put such a core in Gol? Hmm…

“Yup, you’ve got it,” Mr. Chotos said and gave an exaggerated nod to my muttering. “Also, a golem’s base can be repaired, but once damaged or destroyed, a sorcery core can’t be fixed. You must take good care of Goretaru’s sorcery core.”

“O-oh. I see… Thanks.”

Mr. Chotos looked slightly dissatisfied with my vague and hesitant response. “Listen, Nemaki, a golem’s artificial personality is formed from their accumulation of individual memories and experiences. It’s completely unique. In short, you could say it’s almost like the golem’s heart as well.”

He tilted his chin to my side to bring my attention to Gol. She was presently occupied with delicately wiping cookie crumbs from my mouth with a handkerchief.

“Your Goretaru is incredibly clever even in this baseline autonomous state. I’m sure your ancestors put a great deal of time and care into it throughout the years.”

“I-I see.”

Is that so? Th-thank you, my ancestors… As I expressed my gratitude to some unknown ancestors, I frowned at Gol’s chest, where she supposedly contained a sorcery core.

Yeah, her chest is as elegant and graceful as usual. As I studied the refined twin hills of my partner, another thought occurred. Even though she was categorized as a shrine golem, for some reason, she lacked the bombastic bosom those other golems possessed. If she really wanted to manifest some eye candy for me, I would’ve preferred a magnificent bust over elf ears—

Ah! No, that’s wrong. I refuse to judge anyone by the size of their chest!

In any case, a lot of Mr. Chotos’s explanation made sense.

During the fight with the shrine golems, I had noticed that if a golem’s head was destroyed or they were decapitated, they ceased to function. At the same time, I had become suspicious that something like a fatal weak point was housed in their chests. Even though the shrine golems’ vulnerable heads had ultimately sealed their fates, they had left their skulls completely exposed. However, they all wore additional armor of a special stone material over their chests. Furthermore, even in the middle of combat, none of the busty golems ever aimed for Gol’s chest.

It was as if this chest avoidance was an unspoken rule of honorable combat.

However, given the way Gol always killed monkeys, it seemed her default instinct was to crush heads. Ah, that might have been the prime motivating factor on her end…

I suddenly came up with a new theory. Maybe the voluptuous bodies of the shrine golems weren’t a matter of dubious creator taste, but a safety feature for the sorcery core inside their chests.

Huh, if so, that might also explain the long hair that trailed down the shrine golems’ backs. That stony hairstyle protected the span of their necks to the weak point in their chests from surprise attacks.

“Golem design is surprisingly complex…”

However, if this was the case, was it accurate to call my modestly busted Gol a shrine golem? I wouldn’t get scolded by the fans of true shrine golems, right?

Deep in thought, my eyes fixed on Gol’s chest. When I finally raised my eyes, Gol returned my earnest gaze with a passionate stare. Her crimson eyes shone as if filled with joyful expectation, and her long ears fluttered. What was she so happy about…?

You know what? It didn’t matter whether Gol had some accidental foreign element mixed inside of her. And it didn’t matter if I had to face an army of shrine golem fanatics hurling abuse at me about the size of her chest. I’d risk my life to refute them. My partner, Gol, was the very best, and she could puff out her slim chest as proudly as she liked. No matter her measurements, she’d always be number one to me.

Having reached this magnificent conclusion, I returned to Mr. Chotos. “You know, mister, I think you’re actually quite knowledgeable about golems.”

In fact, I’d go so far as to say he had knowledge in abundance. At least, it easily exceeded the explanation written in my introductory book. Although Mr. Chotos wasn’t on the level of that great scholar—the talented, cultured Master Speria—he did pretty well for an evil, powerless merchant.

“Well, I need to be able to handle sorcery cores in my line of work,” Mr. Chotos replied as if he were speaking to a clueless toddler. “I at least have to know about those. It seems to me more like you’re the one who should be embarrassed for being such an ignorant spellcaster.”

“Wha…?”

Hey! Stop looking at me with those pitying eyes!

 

***

 

Roughly thirty minutes later, Mr. Chotos went to meet the trader. He left Teru, Gol, and I to tend the shop.

It seemed to be the first time in a while that tiny, fragile Teru had been allowed to stay in the shop. Her father hated leaving her home alone all day, but the constant threat of those punks had meant he couldn’t bring her with him anymore.

Though the shopfront now was warm and bright, it was empty as usual. Customers passed it by, but since traders might drop in, someone needed to be present to receive goods. Mr. Chotos had been troubled because he needed to leave to meet his contact, but I was free and nonchalantly suggested that I mind the shop for him.

I had actually planned on going to the bookstore, but I could go another time. I couldn’t leave Teru and Gol alone while I went shopping by myself.

For the time being, I had decided to stay in Tibar until Mr. Chotos paid back his debt. I was in no rush to set off on another journey. If that man crawled his way out of debt only for the Company to send another pack of embezzling punks, my heart would break with pity. I at least needed to stick around long enough to make sure any such miscreants wrote a proper receipt.

……

N-no, that wasn’t right. This was a matter of frugality; I was only doing this for the free room and board. There was absolutely, definitely no way in hell I was doing anything out of pity for that wretched old man. I really don’t want you to misunderstand!

 

For a while now, Teru had been sitting on my lap and drawing a picture. She giggled as she colored in a yellow lemon. Ah, so this world has lemons as well.

“This is, um…it’s Mr. Nemaki’s Thunder Grizzly!”

“Heh, it looks just like it. You’re a great artist.”

So this ovoid yellow shape was a Thunder Grizzly, the strange animal on my pajamas. Of course, I had known this from the beginning.

“And this one here. It’s a Flame Bicorn. And here’s a flower.”

“They’re really cute. You really are good at drawing.”

Of course, as I was such an uneducated rube, I had no idea what these red and black squiggles were meant to resemble. However, you must praise a child to promote their growth. That’s very important.

Delighted by my compliments, Teru hugged me, rocking back and forth. I was about to hug her back when Gol’s white hands abruptly encircled the innocent girl. Gol snatched Teru from my lap and hoisted her up.

“Eh?” I blinked in surprise as Gol made Teru sit on her own lap and roughly mussed Teru’s hair. “Ah, what…? You wanted to hold Teru, huh? Okay. Just don’t surprise me like that.”

My partner really did like children. Teru squealed happily at Gol’s gentle roughhousing. It was a truly charming scene.

“You’ll definitely make a good mother, Gol—whoa, close much?!”

Gol leaned in so near she could surely smell every note of my breath as she continued to skillfully pat Teru. What exactly was she trying to tell me…?

Teru obediently continued drawing from her new position on Gol’s lap. Meanwhile, I rested my elbow on the table and let out a yawn. Because of Gol’s maternal instincts, I no longer had to watch the child, but at the same time, I now had no work to do.

“I’m afraid I’m diagnosing myself with a severe case of boredom…”

Even the traders who were supposed to show up hadn’t popped in. We hadn’t seen a single customer, either. However, I think the lack of the latter couldn’t be helped. Mr. Chotos’s shop had a perfectly decent reputation, but currently, there were hardly any goods. You could see the empty shelves from the street. The only customers who would enter such a dismal shop would have to be…

“A clueless person from another world, huh?”

Well, to be fair, if anyone actually did show up, there’d be no end to the customer service issues, given that the staff consisted of a golem, a young girl, and a Sorcerer King who lacked the common sense of a kindergartener.

Let’s pray we don’t see a single customer until the proprietor comes back.

“Oof.” I leisurely stood from the chair and made my way to the shelves, where I picked up one of the many brown dice that remained unsold. This dull cube was most likely a mana tool. Of all the slim pickings left of the merchandise, there were actually a fair amount of these.

“Hey, Teru?” I turned and called out.

“Yes?”

“Do you happen to know how to use these mana tools?” I asked. When in doubt, ask Little Girl-senpai.

Teru leapt out of Gol’s lap and waved her hand as she ran over to me. “Pick me! Pick me! I know! Um, um, this goes like this!”

She grabbed a round, white mana tool from the shelf and clutched it in her small hand. “Like this and go ‘Ah!’”

When she did that, the mana tool in her hand dimly lit up.

Ah, amazing as ever, senpai! But your explanation was a bit unclear!

However, I did notice small flashing particles converging inside the mana tool. Those shining motes were most likely Lightning particles. This unique phenomenon—where particles containing the power of attributes danced through the air—occurred whenever spells were cast in this world.

“Could it be…you imbue mana into the tool just like when you cast a spell?”

I knew how to do that! I could even be called adept. I had needed to keep my mana flowing for quite a while to create golems. Even my simple Earth Spear’s surface-to-air missile attack required a constant flow of mana to maintain its shape and prevent dissolution. I had to concentrate, but as long as I could imagine the flow, it wasn’t difficult.

As such, I focused my mind and imbued the brown die with my mana. As I did, a puff of Earth particles gathered within the brown mana tool.

Then, for some reason, I had an extremely bad feeling.

Images of my previous failures popped up in the back of my mind, one after another: the Grand Stone Gate in the basin that burst into a repulsive black lily; the Mentos Geyser explosion that shattered the binding on the stone book; and the environmental disaster of a pebble that destroyed the garden by Zairein’s hideout.

Ah, this was bad. I was doing something bad.

Seconds after my premonition, the die in my palm began to swell like a puffed mochi.

“Th-this is—”

Suddenly, the swelling die burst with an explosive bang! Brown shards shot through the air and Earth particles flew everywhere like brown fireworks.

Aauuugh! I did it agaaaiinnn!