Well, well, well...a chapter?! Didn't see that coming.
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-Sora-
To be honest, he wasn't sure what to feel right now, as everyone's gaze was into his place, or specifically in their location, where chefs and waiters were tending whatever they needed as long as they requested it.
He was sure that this was the most high-profile, awkward lunch in his entire life, his sister was reacting no better than him.
As this arrangement is just too excessive for him and his sister, looking at the suspect of this entire thing, he said. "Hey, isn't this a bit too much…"
Alexander blinked at him, like he was confused at his question. "What do you mean too much? Isn't this normal?"
Sora was speechless, is this normal?? Normal?! What was beyond normal then?!
"This isn't normal! None of this is normal!" Sora let out a frustrated shout.
"Really?" Alexander looks actually surprised by this revelation, then looks at Wakaba Hiiro, his girlfriend.
"This isn't normal?"
"No, it isn't…" Wakaba-san answered to his relief at least she agreed with his statement, however that relief was gone after her next sentence.
"In fact that this is too lacking to be normal, there should be more!" Wakaba-san said with a serious look.
Oh no! They're both insane! They don't know what common sense is!
Is it really alright for us to befriend these crazy people?
Looking back at his experience with normal people in general, he thought. 'Nevermind, I prefer insane people over normal ones, I'm sure my sister agrees with this.'
Sora realized that they are incapable of befriending normal people because they're not normal to begin with, as they're geniuses and bound to be different.
Looking at the appetizing food in front of him, he thought. 'Who knows when is the next time I'm going to eat this kind of luxurious food, I'm just going to enjoy this.'
He decided to simply stop questioning about it.
—
After the lunch time event, I became popular alongside the rest of my party who ate at the very table that noon.
Although, I'm quite confused as to why the students of this school made a big deal out of it.
It wasn't that our meal was luxurious, while I admit it's fancy, it's not luxurious at all, either way these people literally got hyped for no reason at all.
Or maybe I'm in the wrong here…maybe it wasn't a normal meal…
If it wasn't then.. maybe I should take therapy because if it is truly the case then, I'm beginning to get infected by my family illness that was deeply rooted in our ancestry.
The normal-but-not-really-common-sense.
As the Barthomeloi tend to think that this particular thing is normal despite it's not, for example my uncle bought a mansion because he thought that it was normal for peasants to have something like that.
He claimed that if he'd lived in such a house, he would only feel like a peasant.
Which he didn't, because it wasn't a peasant house!
What peasant has dozens of maids and butlers to serve you?!
Not to mention having different kinds of supercars at the garage that can't be normal!
Or is it..?
Ahhhhh!
I'm really getting infected by my family ancestral illness!
At the moment I was having an existential crisis.
But only to be stopped when I noticed that there's a customer right now in the shop, seeing that I got nothing to do. I decided to go and take a look at the customer.
—
(A/N: A bit of a warning, I wrote this way before Serie got introduced, so I didn't really know the relationship between Serie and Flamme back then.)
Inside the shop, I went to the counter and saw a familiar brunette woman. "Oh, it's you. I didn't expect you to be back so soon."
The woman looked in my direction and smiled. "Well, I've gathered enough materials that are considered valuable in my world, so maybe I could convert it into credits."
Looking at the leather pouch that she brought with her, it was filled with scrolls and magical items.
For me, it may not be worth mentioning, but for ordinary people it could be a life saving item.
I smiled at her and replied. "Let me guess, for more magic?"
The brunette smirked and answered. "You guessed it right."
"I suppose, you like what you like. Flamme." The woman who is now known as Flamme sat right next to the counter while her hand was on her chin and elbow in the counter.
"You can't blame me, I love magic. It fascinates me that there are infinite, infinite magics out there waiting to be discovered by yours truly." Her eyes were shining as she mentioned that.
"Too bad, I lacked credits to buy them all." Flamme sighs in regret.
"And here I thought I was greedy." I sat right next to her and then converted the things she brought into credits.
"I got 2,000 credits this time, better than the first time I suppose." Flamme then checked the catalog immediately looking for magic that she could learn.
When I mean a magic to learn, I meant literally, like she wanted to learn them from scratch, from a book with instructions and not directly.
Because of it, she gets a really powerful spell cheaper because she learns them manually rather than directly making it into a skill.
Although, whether she learns it or not is based on her comprehension, I have no doubt she would learn it, since she was pretty confident of it.
Either way, it seems that she's alone this time. I wonder where's the other one she went with the first time. "Say, Flamme, where's your elf apprentice though?"
"Oh, Frieren? She's back home practicing how to limit her mana, I didn't want to disturb her so I left her." Flamme said as she continued to look for a Grimoire.
I couldn't help but sweat a bit at her reply and thought. 'Isn't that a bit irresponsible..? Like, what if she wanted to come in the end?'
"I see…."
"You don't sound convinced." Flamme quickly noticed.
Well, I don't naturally. "What if she wanted to come here? You know, since your apprentice is the same as you." I still could remember that little elf excitedly looking around, like a kid in Disneyland.
Though, I don't know if she's a kid since elves have a long lifespan who knows she might be a century old despite looking like a middle schooler.
Flamme just shrugged, and I smiled wryly at her. "Truly irresponsible."
—
-Flamme-
She ignored the shop owner's words, she wasn't irresponsible, she was just excited to go back to this heaven for mages like her.
As every single scrap of knowledge, in magic, and the creation of the universe itself is here, with enough money she would know its secrets and would harness it for herself after she understood its properties.
Although she could learn some magic without learning from books and directly use it as a skill, as the owner told her the first time.
While she admits it's convenient, however it felt wrong to receive such power without working for it, at one time she might be tempted to try using such a convenient way but she stopped when she realized that she could learn the same spell easily and with less cost.
And it was the same for the majority of the magic spell that was available in the catalog, it could learn as long as she could understand its mechanics.
That's why she didn't bother buying those spells as a skill, but as a grimoire to learn from, so what if it takes time?
That's the point of learning, not to mention she noticed a major flaw in buying spells into skills, is that you can't improve it.
A massive drawback for her, considering some of the spells are simply limitless in potential, that's why it's better if she learns it by herself, it's more fulfilling and fun that way.
Still, she can't believe that little trip, that her apprentice and she, would encounter something groundbreaking, even more than when she discovered heaven.
The discovery is nothing compared to the existence of the shop. Because they discovered this place, she felt like a frog in a well, not knowing that there's a vast place outside the well.
She thought she knew everything the world has to offer, she was greatly mistaken.
With a determined look, Flamme thought. 'At this rate, it might not take a thousand years to defeat the demon lord, because this place is a treasure trove of knowledge and power, with its assistance maybe, just maybe I would be able to beat the demon king in this era.'
While thinking that, she can't help but recall the time she first discovered this place.
—
A/N: So yeah, I've finally watched Frieren and it was honestly good, it was the definition of a great anime, one without fan-service. It's definitely a breath of fresh air compared to repetitive isekai anime nowadays.