I finished shopping in preparation for attending the Knights Academy and decided to stay overnight to get ready for work. I will have to prepare myself well so that Talt and Dia can enjoy sightseeing.
This time, I stayed at the inn instead of Ilg's house.
The inn was the same one I got familiar with while I was working for a trading company.
It is said that Murteu is top-class in entertaining guests from outside the city.
Their service and food are excellent. That's also what inspired me to entertain Dia.
They finished their meal and entered the room.
The interior was exquisite and pretty clean. The sheets were nice and crispy too.
"The meal I ate earlier was delicious! I was so excited that I didn't even know that they had sake. I thought that I was already accustomed to eating extravagant dishes, but I was thrilled to eat a lot of things I've never tried before!"
"Murteu is a port city. Delicious things get ported from all over the world. The fun thing about Murteu is that you can even enjoy the local cuisine, even though there aren't many of them."
In fact, Murteu is the only city serving dishes with such a wide variety of spices and seasonings.
Generally speaking, unless it's a port town like this you won't get that much variety.
"Well, I will look forward to sightseeing tomorrow!"
"Please do. This city will never bore its visitors."
I'm going to have a lot of fun with Dia tomorrow.
Usually, Talt would join the conversation, but today she looked a bit uncomfortable.
"….Mister Lugh, was it good for me, a servant, to be allowed to experience such luxury? I also feel uncomfortable that I'm always indebted to you. It makes me feel uneasy."
The current Talt is not in a servant's, but in a fashionable get-up that I bought for her before coming to this inn.
Tuatha Dé's servant clothes are also cute. But once in a while when mother wants to see Talt in stylish clothing, she and Dia only look for clothes that look good on her.
Talt was dressed like a beautiful, young lady. She attracted quite a bit of attention too.
"Sometimes you have to stretch your wings. If you keep working as a servant every day, you'll suffocate."
"I can't get tired of taking care of Mister Lugh."
"I'm happy you say that, but I think we need some time for ourselves. And the opportunity to dine with you is rare. I think it would be more fun to eat together."
Talt is hardworking, but she's trying too hard.
I have to force myself to rest like this once in a while too.
"Ah~ I'm envious. I feel like it's a natural thing for the two of you to be together."
"You see, Lugh and I have a long relationship."
Talt's face becomes flushed.
As usual, this child is weak against teasing.
As we were in the middle of our chat, I saw that she was unaware that her mouth was stained from the sweets she was eating.
How will she react if I wipe her mouth at this moment?
I grabbed a napkin while realizing that I had a little mischievous heart.
◇
The next morning I told the two of them that I was going to do something different.
I disguised myself along the way.
When I walked around the city after I became IIg, I was able to call out to citizens one after another. It was fun talking to people I know, but thanks to that, I was slightly ahead of the schedule.
I came to the main store of Orna, the cosmetics brand of the Balor Corporation.
I entered from the back, greeted the security staff, and headed in.
I went up the stairs and knocked on the door of the office where Macha was in.
"You can come in."
I heard Macha's reply as I stepped inside.
"I'm back, Macha."
"Welcome back, IIg. I've been waiting for the day when I'd be able to see you, brother.
It's Macha who used to be an orphan until I picked her up. She's a talented woman who is capable of managing the make-up brand, Orna, while Ilg Balor is absent.
With a firm look she emanated charm and intellect.
Like Talt, she is fourteen years old but her appearance is unchallenged. It's probably because she's been building up experience as a merchant.
"As usual, Macha is beautiful."
Talt is cute, Macha is beautiful. I've been thinking about it for a long time, but lately, it's been getting more and more intense.
"I'm glad you think that. IIg nii-san, don't you want to make me a woman? I don't mind if you put your hand up at any time."
"I'll keep that in mind."
With a wry smile I sit on the sofa in the center of the room. Unlike Talt, Macha always sits straight.
After Macha brews tea, she comes over and sits next to me.
It had an unfamiliar fragrance. Curiosity followed as the fluid flowed into my mouth.
"Interesting taste."
"I bought it from the south where the new sea route was newly developed. The balance between the sweetness and the astringency is good, it also helps you relax. If you like it, I'll send it to Tuatha Dé."
"That sounds good. Recently, there are a lot of projects that I worry about in the direction of Tuatha Dé so I'd appreciate this kind of tea."
Tea leaves from exotic countries are a precious commodity. You can not only enjoy it yourself, but also use it to entertain guests.
I enjoy the tea while chatting with Macha about reports on recent events.
"I heard that you got the sample, but can you show me the real thing right away?"
"You're impatient. I wanted to enjoy the conversation a little more. Wait a minute."
Macha went to a safe and took it out of the box.
Wrapped in an old, dusty cloth, I felt the magic power, which indicated how special it was.
When Macha unwrapped the package, there was a leather bag dyed in red and blue. The size was just right to hang around the waist.
"This is the artifact?"
"Yeah, it's called [Fionn's Bag]. It is said to be a sacred artifact, but it seems that there is no way to use it, so it's just sitting there. "
It didn't look like a weapon.
In addition to weapons, there are sacred artifacts that are tools, and this is one of them.
"Is there any use? As far as I've heard from the explanation, it seems like nothing is more wonderful than this?"
"The best thing you can do is admire its features."
With that said, Macha stored all the tea utensils in the bag.
A teapot, a teapot with tea leaves, a cup, a basket with tea sweets, a sugar pot, a milk pitcher.
It is not enough to get tired of it alone. It's a bundle of thick materials with a chair at the end of the line.
"By pouring magic you can store as much as you like. The capacity increases with the amount of magic as well. Its weight stays the same regardless of the amount of items you put in."
"That's right. It's what merchants around the world want to obtain for any price."
"….Functionally. But there are fatal flaws. Think calmly, brother IIg. Do you think I can buy that much with the amount of money that doesn't affect Orna's business?"
I shake my head.
Orna is large and the amount of money that Macha can manage is enormous.
Still, it is not enough.
"I don't think so. For example, if it is Balor, even if it pays three times the budget limit here, it would still need two years to get the original. If you compete with the Balor class trade association, there's no chance of winning."
"That's right. The fatal drawback of this is that if you don't keep putting a lot of magic into it, you won't have much capacity and the moment you stop supplying it with magic, it's going to become like this."
In an instant, all the contents of the bag were thrown out.
"…I see, this is not a good use. You can't use it if you don't have the magic power… Can I borrow it?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
I put magic into the crane-skin leather bag.
Somehow, it's possible to see how much the capacity was inflated by putting in magic.
If I were to put in my magic with full force, it would amount to the space of one carriage. An average person can't compare.
Even if I release magic with full force, I wouldn't even last thirty minutes. I prefer the feeling of fatigue rather than the feeling of magic piercing the bottom.
If a normal magic holder would try to operate this properly, the best they would achieve would be around one backpack's worth.
In that case, it would just be better to carry a regular backpack of your own.
"I understand. It's not convenient for others as it is for me."
"That's right. As an assassin, you can bring in weapons without being bulky, and as a thief, I think you can do serious things."
Nevertheless, I can use this. I'll use it with gratitude.
For me who has more than a thousand times the magic capacity of ordinary people, this level of burden is no problem at all.
However, since the amount of magic emission itself has only grown to about eight times that of ordinary people, it is difficult to continue to pour magical power for just a single person.
I'm afraid that I might unconsciously have a break for a moment and have its content be thrown out. I'm training to release the magic when I sleep, but even so, it can happen for a split second.
No, wait.
This magic bag, no matter whose magic it is, it can be used.
If that is the case, it may be usable.
I remove the Foul Stone from the pochette.
It is a jewel with magic imbued of three-hundredths of a person who is always carrying it as a weapon.
I pour magic into the Foul Stone I have in my hand, so that I can continue to release the magic, and put it in a bag of crane leather.
"I knew it. If it's like this then it won't drain my magic storage."
As you can see, the crane leather bag slowly absorbs the Magic Power released from the Foul Stone and increases its capacity.
"I wonder how much space will this contain?"
At first glance, it's about half a carriage. This is the most long-lasting output of the Foul stone with one foul stone lasting for a couple of weeks.
...I was always releasing magic to increase the magic capacity, along with training instantaneous magic release.
It's a waste of magic, so we're imbuing a foul stone and filling it with it.
Thanks to that, a cage filled with foul stones was rolling around in the warehouse.
Of course, all that magic was filled to the max.
"Wow, is it okay to leave Orna with foul stones?"
"This way, it would be more profitable, but you'll reject it. I want to examine the sacred artifact thoroughly. If we find something in common in the sacred instrument, it may lead to a generation of other sacred artifact measures or sacred instruments. And it's purely convenient. They make effective use of it."
I couldn't feel the weight of what I put in about half the carriage.
It could even be used as one of the trump cards by the hero.
"Thank you, Macha, you got a really good one."
"Just a word of thanks?"
"What were you hoping for?"
"Well, like a kiss or something."
She smiled and looked at me.
Macha may be teasing me as usual.
"Well, if you can't then it's fine."
"Yeah, I'll do it."
"Huh, eeeeeeeee~!"
Macha, who thought she would be turned down, was in dismay.
Holding Macha… I kissed her on the cheek.
Her face flushed and went stiff.
The usual cool on her figure could not be seen.
"Is this all right?"
There is no reply to my question.
"…What should I do."
When Macha looked at her hands, she finally twisted out her words.
"…What to do, I'm so happy and embarrassed, I don't think I'll be able to finish any work today."
She's so cute.
Unconsciously, I kissed her cheek again.
"Fue~?!"
Macha has been completely frozen after making a strange cry.
I'll keep watching until you get back to sanity.
I'm always being teased so it won't be bad to do the same to others occasionally as well.