The boy’s clothing was lavish, and even though he was working as the shop’s greeter, one look at him made it clear that his background was no ordinary one.
The shop’s layout was almost identical to a modern snack store: display cases along both walls stocked with all manner of books, staves, and scrolls; a heap of miscellaneous goods piled in the middle; and at the far end a dark-red counter, set with a potted plant for decoration.
A few days earlier, when Lara had passed by this place, 83 had taken the opportunity to appraise the shop’s owner — his magical power was the second-highest of anyone Lara had ever encountered, lower only than Aura’s.
From that staggering quantity of mana alone, Lara could tell that the man’s strength was out of the ordinary, and that perhaps she might be able to skim a little something off this shop.
After all, magic was a thing of knowledge — so long as she could lay eyes on something relevant, like a scroll that recorded a spell, or witness a spell being cast in person, she could try to have 83 copy it down.
“Mind if I just have a look around first?” Lara pointed at the various items on the shelves as she asked.
She wanted first to see if there was anything useful to be had.
Hearing her, the boy made a help-yourself gesture, then sat back down at the counter and went back to his book.
Lara had 83 appraise the book in the boy’s hands, figuring that since the boy was an apprentice, perhaps what he was holding was something the shopkeeper had given him to study.
Unfortunately, once 83 finished its appraisal, it informed her that the book was nothing more than a romance novel.
‘So young and already slacking off — not putting in any work to study.
When he grows up, all he’ll be good for is marrying into some other noble family and living off his wife.’ Watching someone who actually had the ability to study magic loafing about here, while she herself was still scrambling for any chance to learn, left Lara feeling unbalanced inside, and she promptly started running her mouth in her head.
Lara could only turn her attention to the goods on the central shelves, with 83’s help in appraising what each item did.
The very first thing in front of her was a staff carved from naturally lightning-struck wood.
If she could have brought up a status panel, the staff’s attribute would surely have read [Lightning Magic Casting Speed +].
Unfortunately, to someone like her who hadn’t even crossed the threshold, it was of no use whatsoever.
She worked her way through the items on the shelves piece by piece — most of them were intended for use by mages, which meant her hopes now lay solely with the pieces displayed in the showcase.
The quality of the items in the display case really was a great deal better than what was on the shelves.
The first one she saw was a magical necklace, infused with a piece of Goddess magic — anyone who wore it would have their chances of falling ill reduced.
It wasn’t especially practical, but in terms of rarity, it already counted as high-grade merchandise.
Before she could move on to the next piece, the boy behind the counter — who up until then had been happily absorbed in his book — suddenly paused, as if he’d heard something, and reluctantly got to his feet and walked over to stand in front of Lara.
“Was there a particular item the customer was looking for?
Tell me and I can give you a proper rundown.” The boy spoke with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, wanting only to get this troublesome customer sorted out as quickly as possible so he could go back to his novel.
Lara, who had been about to look at the next piece, hesitated.
Her gaze swept across the display case before settling on the boy in front of her — he was standing right in her way, blocking her so that she couldn’t keep appraising the goods one by one.
“…” Lara felt a little exasperated.
She thought it over for a moment, then voiced what she had in mind.
“I’d like to find some books related to magic — ideally the kind that can guide a person from the very basics.” “Uh, customer, this is a magical-items shop, not a magic-book shop.
How could we possibly have books written for ordinary people?” Having heard Lara’s request, the boy started scratching his head instead.
It was the first time he’d ever come across someone walking into a magical-items shop looking for an introductory text on magic.
Just as the boy was caught in his quandary, an adult dressed in a white cloak came walking down the staircase.
The newcomer was a young man with brown hair and blue eyes, a monocle perched on the bridge of his nose.
Lara, having had him appraised before, of course knew exactly who he was — this was the owner of the shop.
“Bordeaux, go fetch a copy of the Chronicle of Magic and read it at the counter.” The very first thing the shopkeeper did upon coming down the stairs was to send the slacking boy off to do what he was supposed to be doing, and only then did he walk over to Lara.
Although Lara had said she was looking for an introductory magic book, she had nonetheless gone over every single thing in the shop that could be looked at, one by one.
The shopkeeper did not regard this as an unconscious habit.
Either she had actually come into the shop searching for something else entirely, or this child who claimed to be untrained was able to see the true value of the merchandise — or else she was casing the place.
But no matter which possibility it was, he had reason enough to want to meet her face to face.
“Do you want to learn magic, child?” The man’s gaze rested on Lara, those crimson pupils of his — Lara hadn’t expected her good fortune to come so abruptly.
She had still been trying to figure out how she could possibly get a meeting with the shopkeeper, and now here he was, coming over to her of his own accord.
There was no need to belabor it — if she didn’t agree to this, she’d regret it for the rest of her life.
And so Lara took on the look of a prodigal child returning to the fold: shoulders relaxed, head tilted slightly upward, brows knitted, a flicker of hope shining through her weary eyes, as she said to the shopkeeper: “Shopkeeper, I want to learn magic.” …
Lara’s sudden burst of theatrics left the shopkeeper rather at a loss.
In his eyes, Lara was wrapped in a thin layer of pale white mist, like a wisp of cooking smoke drifting toward the horizon and dissipating.
If what she had said earlier was true, then this child still had hope.
In this world, not everyone was able to learn magic — both talent and luck were indispensable.
Not everyone possessed the talent to learn magic, and even fewer of those who did possess such talent were able to receive the proper education for it.
Among people who had never trained, the differences in mana capacity were generally not great; as a person aged, their mana would grow proportionately.
Lara was already past the optimal age for beginning to learn magic, and yet her mana capacity far exceeded that of others her age.
That was the sign of talent.
Starting late was not the end of the road — she was still young.
“You have great talent.” The shopkeeper looked into Lara’s eyes, his tone carrying a faint trace of regret.
It wasn’t the first time Lara had heard this line, but this time it felt somewhat different from the last.
“Most magicians who go on to achieve anything begin their contact with magic from a very young age.
Whether or not they undergo systematic study, the earlier in one’s growth one begins to use magic, the faster one’s mana capacity will increase.
Once adulthood is reached, the growth tends to level off.” “Which is to say: starting late means your mana capacity will be lower than that of others your age — even if your innate gift is markedly higher than theirs.” “You are very unfortunate.
And yet you are also more fortunate than the vast majority of people.” “I will do everything in my power to bring your gift into its full bloom.
For the coming stretch of time, I will be the one to impart to you the knowledge of magic.
My name is Eilan Lim — you may call me Eilan.” …And then another stretch of silence.
Regret could not mask the fervor in the shopkeeper’s eyes — it was as if he were looking at a precious gemstone.
Talent is treated with privilege.
The events of the past while had taught Lara this truth.
Otherwise she would have had no way to understand why the people of this world were so kind to strangers.
Even the boy standing off to one side had been thoroughly startled by the scene unfolding in front of him.
The chronicle he had only just gotten into his hands slipped unnoticed from his grip and fell to the floor, the sound of its impact breaking the silence that had settled over them.
Before Lara could offer her thanks, the shopkeeper had already made his decision first.
“Go and rest for now.
Today may well be the only chance for a while.” With that, he turned and started back up the stairs.
“Master Eilan!” Watching Eilan about to go back upstairs, Lara finally snapped back to herself and called out to the shopkeeper, her tone turned earnest: “Thank you.” Eilan gave a slight nod and went back upstairs, leaving the boy beside her dumbstruck — the normally aloof and cold Master had a side as warm as this?
He walked over to Lara’s side and looked carefully over this somewhat-older prodigy.
“My name is Bordeaux Lim.
Like you, I’m a student of Master’s.” “It’s really something — this is the first time I’ve ever seen Master treat anyone this enthusiastically.” The boy struck up conversation with Lara as if it were the most natural thing in the world, his tone full of admiration for her.
Lara didn’t know Eilan.
“Why?” “Because normally he’s incredibly aloof.
Master is actually my uncle, but most of the time he just tosses me off to the side and pays me no mind at all.” Bordeaux spread his hands helplessly, indicating that Eilan was a purely hypocritical double-standards hound.
“But just how good is your talent, exactly, that it could make Master take to you like this at a single glance?” “Your luck is really something.” As he spoke, Bordeaux’s expression turned openly envious.
That was the second time.
She had now heard, within a short stretch of time, two separate comments about how lucky she was — did that mean she possessed exceptional talent?
Lara had a vague idea that her gift was on the better side, but she had no concrete sense of just how good.
Was it really to the degree that a single glance from someone could draw out exclamations of how lucky she was?
“After all, Master is the one and only first-rank mage in this port.” ____ ________________________________________ 🌸 Help Love Bloom!
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