This world had all eighty-eight constellations in the sky, exactly the same as Earth.
Aibo had found that surprising at first, but then he thought about it: if even transmigration was possible, there was no point in scrutinizing the details.
The eighty-eight constellations naturally corresponded to eighty-eight Celestial Spirits.
The twelve Zodiac constellations had twelve unique Gold Keys, while the remaining seventy-six types had Silver Keys that existed in multiples.
These keys linked to the spirits living in the Celestial Spirit World, forming the system of Celestial Spirit Magic.
Because of their uniqueness, the Zodiac Keys were relatively rare.
The remaining seventy-six types of Silver Keys, however, were not worth much, since their spirits’ abilities varied greatly in quality.
Sometimes you could even buy them in a magic shop.
Aibo planned to try his luck at the shops in town, so after a long while, he accompanied Cana on a shopping trip.
As for Magnolia Town, it was also one of the better-known cities in the Fiore Kingdom, famous because it was home to Fairy Tail.
But Fairy Tail was both the making and the undoing of the town.
The people willing to stay in this city were basically those with hearts big enough to tolerate the guild’s constant chaos; those who couldn’t stand it naturally moved away.
Though the city had a long history, only a little over sixty thousand people had settled here permanently by now.
To Aibo, that seemed pitifully few.
He had actually been considering ways to develop Magnolia Town.
Once the city prospered, the guild would profit along with it—but for now, he wasn’t yet in a position to do so, and he hadn’t figured out how to go about it.
Still, he had plenty of time to think it over.
“Aibo, Aibo, how about your big sister buys you a few new clothes? You’ve grown quite a bit taller over the past year.”
“Huh? Whatever. I’m not very concerned about it…”
“Hee hee. Then let me pick them out for you~ Leave it all to your big sister!”
“Okay, thanks, Sis Cana.”
Aibo was a person with few material wants.
He cared more about inner fulfillment, and he was generally lazy about things he didn’t care much about.
Food only had to be edible, and clothes only had to be wearable.
He knew he could learn cooking as a skill, but he couldn’t be bothered to cook.
His clothes were mostly the ones he’d bought when he first arrived, and he wore the same ones over and over.
The only thing he was a little more particular about was his home.
Sleep quality affected his mood, and he cared a great deal about that, so his sleeping quarters had to be comfortable.
Compared with the new clothes themselves, Aibo was happier about the fact that “someone was willing to buy him clothes.”
After making several rounds of the shopping street, they bought quite a few bags of all sizes.
If not for his LV2 Spatial Magic, which could open a small portable space, neither of them could have carried it all.
Finally, Cana led Aibo to the town’s largest magic-item shop:
“Shopkeeper! Shopkeeper! Do you sell Celestial Spirit Keys?”
“Oh, it’s Cana. Are you switching to Celestial Spirit Magic?”
“No, no! My little brother wants to buy some. Look! This is my little brother, Aibo. Isn’t he adorable!”
Cana knew the shopkeeper very well.
Magic Cards, because of their Holder-type nature, were a unique magical craft.
In this world’s magical ecosystem, they occupied much the same niche as magic scrolls and were often used by mages as a medium of exchange.
In other words, Cana was essentially a talisman maker.
A large part of the reason she had chosen to learn Card Magic was that she could sell the Magic Cards for money.
After all, someone so stubborn that she wouldn’t even allow her own biological father to trouble himself over her naturally wouldn’t accept the church’s help without qualms.
When Cana came to Fairy Tail, she was six, just like Aibo.
At that age, she couldn’t take on any assignments, so from the moment she chose what magic to learn, her main consideration was how to support herself as quickly as possible.
Over the years, Cana had done very well.
She had not only paid off her debts, but also often donated money to the church and bought food for the children at the orphanage.
Now she even had enough money left over to buy Aibo new clothes…
These little secrets had been pieced together from bits of information Cana had casually let slip in conversation.
She herself didn’t think there had been anything wrong with her choice back then, but Aibo felt quite sorry for his big sister.
Card Magic really didn’t do justice to her talent.
It was all that damn Gildarts’s fault!
“We do have Celestial Spirit Keys in stock, and we have three kinds: [Canis Minor], [Lepus], and [Pegasus]. The first two are very popular pet-type Celestial Spirits, while Pegasus is a mount-type Celestial Spirit capable of flight. These keys are in high demand~”
“What are the prices?”
“The Canis Minor Key is 20,000 J, the Lepus Key is 50,000 J, and the Pegasus Key is 200,000 J. For Cana’s sake, I can give you ten percent off.”
When Aibo heard how cheap they were, he waved his hand grandly:
“I’ll buy all three!”
“Thank you for your patronage~”
Aibo flipped through the shopkeeper’s gift, the Celestial Spirit Contract Guide, as he walked toward the guild with Cana. This chapter was copied from novelping.com without permission.
Though anywhere in Magnolia was only a thought away for him—and his teleportation could even carry other people—Aibo would never use magic merely to save a little time while strolling with a girl.
“Celestial Spirit Magic is surprisingly interesting. It involves combining several kinds of magic—it’s much more impressive than I imagined…”
“Hee hee, little Aibo really does love learning all kinds of magic. You’ve got a scholar’s air about you at such a young age. You’ll definitely become a great mage someday!”
“Don’t you think researching magic is fun, Cana?”
“Emmmm, magic is interesting, but it’s also hard to learn. For an ordinary person, mastering even one kind of magic is already quite difficult. And most mages approach magic with a ‘as long as I can use it, that’s enough’ attitude. Very few people investigate it as thoroughly as you do, Aibo.”
Well, that’s because I have a cheat.
As long as I read books and study magic, I gain experience.
No matter how difficult the magic is, a little experience is enough for me to learn it instantly through “flash of inspiration.” I’ve never experienced the pain of studying magic only to fail to learn it.
And once you’ve learned a magic, looking back at its basic principles gives you the illusion that it had all been simple from the start.
So Aibo, having learned a vast number of spells, had an astonishing depth of magical theory—and this wealth of knowledge in turn sped up the experience he gained while learning magic.
It was precisely because he had this “left foot stepping on right foot, spiraling into the sky, snowballing” method of learning that Aibo always found studying magic a joyful thing.
The positive feedback was simply too abundant.
“Huh? I always thought everyone learned only one or two kinds of magic because they lacked the energy. So learning magic is actually difficult?”
The expression (angry face) popped up above Cana’s head:
“…Even you, Aibo—if you say something that outrageous, you’d better be prepared to get smacked!”
“Sorry, my fault… Since that’s the case, I’ll create a summoning magic that even you can learn easily, Cana.”
Cana froze, then suddenly grabbed Aibo by the shoulders in surprise:
“Huh? Wait! Do you mean that you’re learning Celestial Spirit Magic because you want to create a new kind of summoning magic for me?”
Aibo nodded:
“Yeah. I’m not sure whether I can succeed, but that’s genuinely what I’m thinking. A lot of magic in this world isn’t actually complicated—as long as you understand the principles, creating magic isn’t that difficult…”
But Cana’s eyes were sparkling, and she seemed to be focused on something else entirely:
“Only for me? You’re creating a spell just for me!?”
“Uh… yeah.”
“Wah! Mwah!! I love you most, Aibo! I must be the happiest big sister in the world!”
“…”
Held in Cana’s arms like a rag doll, Aibo smiled a little helplessly, feeling that he still didn’t quite understand a young girl’s heart.
Oh, well.
As long as Cana was happy.