"Books?" Quintina Longman shook her head. "How could there be a place like that? Paper is expensive, and only nobles collect books."
"I see. Never mind, then." Hades was a little disappointed.
As expected, no matter the world, knowledge was firmly held in the hands of the upper classes. When Hades heard Quintina Longman mention five hundred years ago, he realized that if he wanted to learn more about this world, he would have to start with its history.
But he didn't dare ask too many detailed questions yet. Perhaps this was all common knowledge to the people of this world. If someone suddenly came along asking questions as if he knew nothing, he would certainly leave a deep impression.
And he had already thought of coming to a place like the Magic Caster Guild to investigate. There was a chance Momonga might come here too.
Hades expected Momonga would probably ask questions much like his own. There was nothing he could do about their earlier conversation, but from now on, he couldn't let the two girls form an even stronger impression of him.
Otherwise, it would be bad if the two girls let something slip because he had made such a deep impression on them.
For now, he had no better ideas about Nazarick. He had already done everything he could. If he had hidden himself this well and Nazarick still managed to find him, then he would just have to fight. If he couldn't win, he could always run.
Even if they used Dimensional Lock to seal off space, his two legs weren't just for show. With a monk's speed and stats nearing level 190, if he ran flat out, they might not be able to catch him.
Unless a large group surrounded and pursued him. But judging by the current situation, Nazarick would have to find him first.
The most important thing now was to learn more about this world as quickly as possible. Although he had just received the bad news that this world's power ceiling was rather low, there was good news too: dragons existed here.
Dragons were one source of all kinds of high-grade materials. With dragons around, he had a way to replenish his supplies.
He had nearly despaired when he heard that the highest magic in this world was only Tier Six. He'd been about to return to the inn and figure out how to allocate the materials in his bag, only to unexpectedly learn that dragons existed here. In YGGDRASIL, dragons were high-level bosses. Humans here only reached level 42 at most. He still didn't know about the other races, but Hades wasn't holding out much hope.
Even if they weren't human, if the world had Tier Ten magic, why would these two girls say that Tier Ten magic didn't exist?
Dragons were at least level 90. Hades had thought it impossible for creatures to exist at such vastly different levels, or the natural ecosystem would collapse.
In the game, monsters whose levels gradually increased weren't just there to make it easier for players to level up. They also reflected a simulated version of the natural ecosystem.
But it seemed the New World couldn't be judged by common sense. Or perhaps he simply didn't know enough about it. Hades sighed again. He was afraid that if he asked questions that seemed stupid to the locals, he would leave a deep impression and expose himself.
That was why he had planned to buy some books and learn the basic common knowledge of this world. But it seemed there wasn't even anywhere to buy books. If he wanted to learn anything, he could only ask the locals.
As Hades thought, he absently flipped through the scroll catalog. It was impossible not to feel dejected. Unwilling to give up, he looked through it again. Perhaps magic in the New World was different from what he knew. After all, he couldn't judge this world by common sense.
Catherine Longman and Quintina Longman didn't disturb him. Although his earlier words had sounded like he was picking a fight, they wouldn't drive him away as long as he was buying something.
Perhaps because he was now looking through the catalog with the aim of finding differences, Hades really did spot several spells he hadn't seen in YGGDRASIL.
"What spell is this?" Hades pointed to a spell in the catalog and asked Quintina Longman. He had a good impression of the girl who had laughed at him. At least she wasn't the sort to seem warm while being cold inside.
"This one? 'Tier One: Create Paper.' It lets you create paper with magic. Are you planning to buy this scroll? It's fairly cheap, but I wouldn't recommend buying it," Quintina Longman said.
"What kind of spell is it?" Hades asked.
"As the name suggests, it creates paper. But it isn't very practical. Using this scroll creates two sheets of paper, which means you're paying five silver coins for two sheets. People usually buy this kind of scroll only for research. If you really want to buy paper, I recommend the Bruno Item Workshop. They sell paper as well as other items."
Quintina Longman explained that this scroll was one of the few items not priced in gold coins. If a Magic Caster cast the spell themselves, they could control their mana consumption to increase the amount of paper produced. But when made into a scroll, it could only create two sheets.
Lord Laxil had said that scrolls only produced the minimum effect of their spells. So if they set a high price for a spell like this, it would never sell.
Even at such a low price, few people bought these scrolls. It made more sense to buy paper directly than to make it this way.
"Oh, thank you. Please give me two," Hades said, taking a gold coin from his pocket and handing it over. One scroll cost five silver coins, so two cost ten, but he didn't have enough silver coins in his pocket.
"You really want to buy these scrolls?" Quintina Longman asked in surprise. She had explained quite clearly that these scrolls offered terrible value and were usually bought for research. Yet this man still wanted to buy them.
She noticed the adventurer's copper plate hanging from Hades and didn't think he looked like someone who studied magic.
"Mm." Hades nodded.
He didn't have much money, at least not right now. Most of the scrolls here cost at least one gold coin, with only a few priced in silver. If he had more money, he would have bought all the scrolls for spells he hadn't seen before and studied them.
But his purse wouldn't allow it. The Create Paper spell was the cheapest. Besides, in YGGDRASIL, making scrolls also required paper. Of course, that was only for low-tier spells. In the game, paper could be bought directly and didn't need to be gathered separately.
If paper created by this spell could be used to make low-tier scrolls, then it would be somewhat practical. He wasn't interested in low-tier offensive magic, but some low-tier utility spells were useful.
After taking the ten silver coins Quintina Longman gave him in change, Hades left the Magic Caster Guild. He gazed at the guild's shabby two-story building, pondered for a moment, then found an empty alley.
"Number One."
Hades called for Hanzo, who was hidden in his shadow. Ever since they had returned from that village, all five Hanzos had stayed hidden in his shadow, ready to obey his orders at any time.
"Lord Hades, what are your orders?" Number One Hanzo appeared soundlessly before Hades.
"Keep an eye on this place for me. Record who comes and goes, and don't let anyone notice you," Hades said.
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