Volume 10 Chapter 9 What I Found
After about 2 hours, Al came to the south entrance where the two were keeping watch, drying his wet hair. They seemed a bit bored, chatting, but they were still keeping a good lookout.
"Good morning, did you get some sleep?"
At Joanna's question, Al scratched his head and took out 2 swords from his magic bag.
"Ms. Joanna, do you want to use this?"
It was a bastard sword he found in the ruins. It was simple, with a matte black leather sheath reinforced with metal. There was no guard, and the grip and pommel were made of rough, matte metal. It looked like it hadn't been decorated yet.
"Did you manage to recover it back safely?"
Joanna's eyes widened in surprise as she took the sword from him.
"Can I draw it?"
"Yeah, it's fine. I tried drawing it once. The blade is not rusty at all; it's really clean. But I'm not good with swords."
Joanna held the shiny black sheath in her left hand and gripped the hilt with her right, slowly drawing the sword. The blade was a pale silver, polished beautifully, reflecting Joanna's face. The edge looked smooth and sharp.
"It looks like it was just made."
Al nodded at Joanna's words.
"Maybe it's protected by spells like 'Packing' or 'Retention.' It looks really sharp, but someone like me who doesn't know much about swords shouldn't have it. If you can use it, Ms. Joanna, please take it."
"Eh?"
Joanna looked surprised. The sword, likely made with ancient technology, could sell for a high price. But...
"It's fine. With a piece like this, I doubt it would sell easily to a random merchant. Even if I honestly tell them where I got it, they might not believe me. And even if they do, it could end up being offered as a tribute. Of course, I might get a decent reward in that case, but it would take time. So, it's better for Ms. Joanna to use it to protect Patricia. I plan to give the other one to Sir Naresh."
"To protect the princess... huh?"
Joanna glanced at Patricia. Al's words made Patricia's cheeks turn a bit red. Joanna smiled lightly and swung the sword gently.
"I see... I understand. I'll keep it as a sword to protect Lady Patricia. The balance is quite good. I want to test its sharpness, but it's already night. Shall we go out together tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I have things I want to do too, so let's all go."
"Is it about the crab?"
Al smiled. It seemed Joanna was quite interested since the crab topic came up first.
"I want to catch some crabs if possible. But for now, I have a few things I want to prepare in case the pursuers come..."
"When that happens, will you just run away? Or will you do something else?"
At Joanna's question, Al crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly.
"Of course, I plan to escape. But I think it's better to pretend I'm moving on something like a raft instead of using the 'Fly' spell right in front of them. That said, I've only seen rafts a little when the village adults made them to ship logs downstream, so I'm not very confident I can make one well."
"Are you planning to put the princess on it?"
Joanna asked anxiously, but Al shook his head lightly to deny it.
"It's okay. I'll use the 'Fly' spell and the 'Carrier' spell just like when we came here. It's just for show."
"Hmm, I see..."
"--By the way, about the spellbook you mentioned, how did that go? Do you think it will work out?"
While talking with Joanna, Patricia asked this. Al nodded but couldn't help but smile a little.
"Yeah, I found that too. There were 5 of them. I thought there was only one at first, but it was buried in the mud."
"Five?!"
"Well, they're all kind of weak. There's the 'Packing' spell, 'Retention' spell, 'Refine' spell, 'Extract' spell, and the 'Analyze' spell. And there was also a protected material that's not a spellbook, but it's like a dictionary called the Substance Index."
The 'Analyze' spell was one that Al had already learned. It could check how closely something matched a sample, like gold or iron, by looking at its shape, material, and color. Al thought it wasn't very useful, mostly just for spotting fake coins.
Also, Al knew that the 'Packing' spell was used to protect things like spellbooks. To learn a new spell, you had to cancel 'Packing', so it might be useful for traveling. Malachi had mentioned using 'Packing' and 'Retention' spells to preserve Tempest's body. They seemed to have similar effects, but there might be some differences in how to use them.
Al had never heard of the 'Refine' and 'Extract' spells. But from their names, they probably had something to do with materials. When Al saw 2 swords that looked brand new because of some spell in another room, he thought this place might be some kind of workshop ruins. Of course, the substance index probably had something to do with that too.
"Looks like you can do something amazing."
"Yeah, these spells might not solve everything at once, but they all seem interesting."
While Al was smiling and talking with Patricia, Joanna sighed.
"First, let's deal with this situation."
Joanna's advice was definitely right. Al realized he had been a bit too excited after finding the spellbook. He scratched his head, and Patricia shrugged lightly.
"Alright then, let's switch the watch."
Al said this, and Joanna shook her head.
"We can switch after a quick nap. It looks like you've been treasure hunting and haven't slept at all, right? Princess, please keep an eye on Mr. Al to make sure he gets some proper sleep. Otherwise, he might stay awake forever."
"Hehe, that's right. Sir Al, let's sleep a little. I'll watch over you."
It seemed like they could see right through him. Al shrugged. Whenever the conversation turned to spellbooks or magic tools, it always ended up like this.
"Got it. I'll take a short nap. Ms. Joanna, please keep watch."
Patricia followed behind Al. It seemed she really intended to see if he would actually sleep. Al felt a bit anxious about whether he could sleep with that going on.
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