"The testing fee is twenty silver coins per person, sixty silver coins in total. Thank you." The magic shop owner quoted the fee to Chuan Wenwu with a warm expression, though it brought him no warmth whatsoever.
Chuan Wenwu's eyes widened in disbelief. "Sixty silver coins?! That much!"
"Not expensive at all, not at all," the old woman said with a smile. "It is a magic-related test, after all. Such tests are rare to begin with, so naturally they cost more. Using a magic item to assess someone's aptitude causes wear and tear, too!"
"..."
Chuan Wenwu silently paid. The old woman accepted the money with a radiant smile, then asked cheerfully, "Dear customers, since you came specifically to have your aptitude tested today, are you interested in learning magic?"
"Of course."
"Ho ho ho, then I happen to have a batch of crystal balls here. Would you like to take a look? They're all quite valuable!" the old woman pitched enthusiastically.
"Crystal balls?" Somewhat puzzled, Chuan Wenwu looked at the crystal ball she still held, the one she had used to test their aptitude. What would they want that thing for?
The old woman put the crystal ball behind the counter and laughed. "Ha ha, not this crystal ball! I mean special crystal balls with magic sealed inside. Once you release the seal, you can instantly learn the magic recorded in the crystal ball. They're single-use, too... In short, they're very precious magic items! Would you like a look? They're very beginner-friendly for apprentices just getting into magic!"
Sounds like skill books in a game.
Chuan Wenwu nodded. Since he wanted to learn magic, he certainly would not pass up magical items like these.
The old woman led the group into a heavily secured room, only opening its door after casting an incantation to remove the seal outside. The interior was dim, with only a small magical lantern floating in the center of the room, giving off a light like the starry sky.
Two shelving units stood on either side of the room, lined with soft animal-fur rugs. Crystal balls glowing with a subdued radiance had been carefully placed on them. Each was about the size of a fist, and they looked impressive even if he had no idea what they did.
"Young man, your magical aptitude is for earth and wood, which means earth- and wood-element magic suit you best. The more basic spells of that kind would be those that create pits, create rocks, accelerate plant growth, or summon thorns... Hmm, you could also learn support magic that strengthens defenses or provides healing. Those fit the nature of earth and wood elements, after all."
"This young P 묘ro fellow has quite a good aptitude for fire. He might be a natural at learning Fireball or Flame Attachment!"
"As for the little raccoon girl, hmm, I'm sorry, but I don't have any magic crystals that really suit you here. There's only this [Disguise Technique] crystal ball. It's very useful for evading enemies, but it doesn't offer much in the way of offense... Well, everyone, does anything catch your eye? This batch only arrived recently. Otherwise, the lords would have reserved them all, and you'd have a hard time buying any even if you wanted to!"
Looking at the dazzling array of "skill books," Chuan Wenwu's eyes lit up. Of course they all caught his eye. He wanted every one of them-who would complain about having too many skills?
He eagerly asked, "How much do these crystal balls cost?"
"Ho ho ho, the price might be just a little high, but they're absolutely worth every coin. These crystal balls containing beginner magic are five gold coins apiece. How many would you like, young man?"
The old woman's price doused Chuan Wenwu's burning enthusiasm like a bucket of cold water.
Everyone fell silent.
"Oh my, are you a little short on funds at the moment?" Seeing their embarrassment, the old woman chuckled and waved her hand. "Well, that can't be helped. Knowledge is power, after all, and knowledge is priceless. All the more so for an item that lets someone instantly learn a spell. Even if they can be made, doing so takes time and effort. There's simply no way to lower the price."
She ushered the three of them out of the room where the magic crystal balls were stored and back into the main shop.
"If you don't have much money at the moment, this old woman does have something affordable and good value that would suit you."
She turned and took a rather old-looking book from the bookshelf behind her. "This is a spellbook containing the vast majority of beginner spells. Learning them yourself will be quite difficult, but once you successfully decipher the incantations inside, you'll be able to learn quite a lot of magic."
Chuan Wenwu took the spellbook and briefly flipped through it... He could not read it. It looked like meaningless scribbles.
The old woman noticed his confusion. Smiling, she took another book from the shelf and told him, "Since this book records magical incantations, naturally the script used for them differs from our everyday writing. You'll need this Magic Incantation Guide alongside it to learn them."
Another book landed in Chuan Wenwu's hands. He opened it and took a look-Fuck! I still can't read it.
In fact, the Shield Hero could not read this world's writing at all, so naturally he could not decipher explanations of magical symbols written in that same script.
With an expression he could barely keep composed, he asked, "...Do you sell dictionaries here?"
After all that, he still had to start learning from scratch.
The old woman looked surprised. "Young man... Can you not read?"
"Yep," Chuan Wenwu admitted frankly. "I only arrived in this world recently, after all. I can only understand what you're saying thanks to this shield's translation. As for your writing, I really can't read much of it. I'll have to learn it from scratch."
"Only arrived in this world recently... A shield..." The old woman's eyes slowly widened. "Could you be the Shield Hero who was summoned not long ago?"
She had recognized Chuan Wenwu's identity. After all, he had made no particular effort to hide where he came from.
"That's right. I'm the Shield Hero. Why, have you heard the rumors about me, too?"
Previously, the Kingdom had tried to pin a charge of molesting a woman on him, spreading the accusation before they had succeeded, while the verdict was still being decided. Unfortunately for them, Chuan Wenwu had not played along. All they had managed to pin on him were the relatively minor charges of disrespecting the Kingdom and showing contempt for royal authority.
Afterward, those higher-ups had not dared keep fanning the flames and spreading what was already a false story-the other three heroes had heard Chuan Wenwu's official verdict with their own ears. So they simply left the rumor alone.
After a week without any new scandal about the Shield Hero, he gradually faded from public attention. People focused more on the three heroes active in the various dangerous monster territories. At least now, when Chuan Wenwu walked down the street, hardly anyone went out of their way to give him strange looks.
Except for those merchants.
"I have heard them, but this old woman never believed them. After all, how could a summoned hero do something like that? It must have been some trick by those royals and nobles." Perhaps the longer someone lived, the more they saw. The magic shop owner had a clear grasp of the situation.
"But if you're the hero, then it's perfectly normal for you not to know our world's language. Let me look for you... Found it! The Basic Lexical Dictionary. It's a book for teaching young children. I'm very happy that you're willing to learn our writing, Sir Hero. I'll give you twenty percent off these three books and charge you just three hundred silver coins."
She took out a dictionary a full finger-width thick, placed it in Chuan Wenwu's hands, and quoted a heart-stopping price.
"Three hundred?!"
"Knowledge is priceless, after all. Please understand, Sir Hero. This old woman still has a shop to run. If I set my prices too low, I wouldn't be able to stay in business!" The magic shop owner looked utterly sincere.
Although Chuan Wenwu had heard that books in ancient and medieval times were expensive, he had never imagined they could cost this much.
But compared with a magic crystal ball worth five gold coins apiece, three books for only three hundred silver coins did not sound quite so hard to accept, did it?
Chuan Wenwu paid with a pained expression. Now his savings really were close to being drained dry.
"Thank you for your business! Do come again!"
Then you can take your sweet time waiting, old lady!