Edo and Leni walked calmly down the street, where the morning light gently reflected off the polished stones of the road. The city was slowly waking up, and the distant sounds hinted at the approaching bustle.
"Magical crystals?" Edo asked, glancing at his companion, who walked beside him. Her robe flowed with each step, and her eyes sparkled as she looked ahead.
"Yes, they're very useful for a mage," Leni replied with a smile. "They can enhance our magic, and they're also helpful in many other situations. Unfortunately, they're incredibly expensive..."
Leni nodded, smiling slightly, though there was a hint of disappointment in her expression.
"I commissioned someone to acquire them, knowing it was the best way to get the resource. But when I came to collect the crystals, a young man showed up... and accidentally destroyed my entire supply. In the end, I left with nothing," she sighed and looked meaningfully at Edo, who blushed slightly.
"I'm sorry..." Edo said, clearly embarrassed. "You know it was an accident..."
Leni looked at him with a gentle smile, her gaze full of understanding.
"I know, I know. Don't worry about it," she said calmly.
Yet Edo couldn't shake a certain thought that troubled him.
"Leni, actually... why do you need me?" he asked after a moment of thought, intrigued by her presence.
Leni glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and smiled mysteriously.
"It's simple. You're going to help me negotiate a better price."
Edo looked at her in disbelief, raising his eyebrows.
"You want me to go with you to a shop and... haggle for a discount?"
Leni shrugged, her eyes gleaming with amusement.
"It just so happens that I usually pay more than other customers," she said, her voice almost ironic. She narrowed her eyes, smiling slightly.
Edo raised an eyebrow at her.
"Isn't that because you're a demon?" he asked with detectable skepticism.
But Leni immediately dismissed the idea.
"No, it's not that. True, demons using magic have caused fear since the war ended, but there's a certain tolerance among mages. The seller we're going to, Emil, is a well-known mage respected for his skills. Long ago, a mage from the country of Rugora challenged him – he wanted to fight the best but faced the wrong opponent. Emil, without even moving, crushed him with immense magic. He used such an amount of energy without any wand, meaning he relied only on his core – a normal mage's magic would've been depleted ten times over. It was a spectacle; his opponent fled in tears, cursing the world, only solidifying Emil's legend. There were even rumors that he was born with two elements, though he's never confirmed it."
Edo listened in disbelief.
"Who is he? Why would someone so powerful run a shop?" He frowned, trying to understand the unusual situation.
After a moment of silence, Edo asked another question.
"So, why do you pay more?" he asked impatiently.
Leni shrugged.
"Honestly, I don't know. For a long time, I thought it was because I'm a court mage – we're not highly regarded by other mages. They think we sold our knowledge to strengthen the kingdom. But even other court mages pay less at his shop. Maybe you'll be able to negotiate something. If you manage to lower the price a bit, I'll consider it as repayment for your debt."
She smiled at him, and Edo fell silent for a moment. He was reminded of Leni's beauty but quickly shifted his thoughts from her appearance, recalling what else he wanted to say.
"Leni, I really wanted to thank you for looking after me that night. It meant a lot to me."
Leni looked at him, a bit flustered, then replied modestly:
"It was nothing. No need to thank me for that."
"But… you must be tired after a sleepless night," Edo added with concern.
Leni shrugged, as if to downplay the matter.
"It was just one night. It's really nothing for me."
Edo suddenly began to wonder about something else.
"Wait, could it be that demons need less sleep? And if so, maybe they live longer?" he pondered, looking at her with interest.
"Leni… how old are you?" he finally asked.
Leni looked at him, slightly annoyed.
"You know it's rude to ask a woman her age, right?"
Edo quickly looked embarrassed and apologized, but to his surprise, Leni burst into laughter.
"I'm sixty-eight," she admitted, smiling genuinely.
"Sixty-eight?! So my guess was right... demons really do live longer!"
As they reached the shop, the crowd on the streets grew, and the sun's rays illuminated the colorful cityscape. Edo looked at the building Leni pointed out – an unusual, massive structure, different from the rest. From every angle, it seemed to blend different elements, creating what looked like an architectural work of art. Above the entrance there was a sentence in large gold letters carved on a board, but Edo could not read this language.
They entered, and their eyes took in a sight Edo recognized well from countless video games and anime. The shop was filled with magical accessories, from glowing potions to decorative wands with a glowing orb at the tip. Initially, it resembled a crystal, but Edo had seen crystals before, once when he accidentally caused a man with a sackful of them to spill them all over the floor. They were shards, bigger or smaller, in various shapes, like shattered glass. But the objects on the wand tips looked like orbs that displayed swirling energy inside.
Hypnotized by the appearance of the wands, Edo asked the sorceress a question that had been on his mind.
"You should have a wand, right? And what is that at the tip of each one? It doesn't look like a crystal," Edo asked.
Leni smiled, took a small wand out of one of her pockets, then tucked it back away.
"I have one, but I left the stronger one in my quarters at the castle. I thought this would be a short trip," she smiled, then continued. "You might not know this because demons typically aren't interested in magic because of the events that took place in the war. They have natural fighting abilities and rarely need additional enhancements. But what's on the tip of each wand isn't an ordinary crystal; it's a magic core. Most people think wands are mainly for strengthening magic – and yes, that's one of their aspects. But their true function is to allow mages to use magic for a longer time. While regular magic crystals are single-use and deplete their energy after one or several uses, cores regenerate on their own, drawing energy from the surroundings. This way, after a while, you can use them again.
"This ability makes cores incredibly valuable and desirable, but obtaining them is challenging. Most monsters have magical cores in a spiritual form located within their bodies – much like humans and all smart races. The difference is that monster cores are far more unstable. When a monster dies, its core takes on a physical form, then shatters, forming crystal fragments that lose the ability to draw energy from the surroundings but retain remnants of energy they had before breaking. Physical cores used for wands are only found in certain, very rare and dangerous monsters. These monsters have the core located on the surface of their body, for instance, on the forehead or another visible spot. Such monsters are not only rare, but they also surpass regular monsters in intelligence and strength. Some of them, according to legend, even resemble humans."
Edo thought about Leni's words. "So wands are mainly for extending the time you can use magic... that makes sense. But the matter of those cores worries me. Monsters with a physical core must be truly terrifying."
Edo suddenly remembered the small core that the sorceress carried in her small wand.
"Where does the core on your wand come from?" Edo asked curiously.
Leni looked at him, then answered.
"These small cores are collected from rare monsters that look like caterpillars, and they have such a core at the top. Wands like the one I carry are made from these cores," Leni replied.
Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by a voice coming from behind the shelves.
"Hello, can I help you?"
Before them stood Emil – a man with a certain strong aura, though somewhat short by this world's standards he was more or less the same height as Edo. His eyes held a mysterious gleam.
When Edo and Leni stepped out from behind the shelves, Emil immediately lit up at the sight of the black-haired sorceress.
"Ah, hello, Leni. How can I help the court mage today?" he said in a teasing tone from behind the counter, as if he were up to something.
"Hello, Emil," Leni began with a smile. "I need magical crystals, price doesn't matter."
Edo's mouth fell open as he realized why Leni always paid more.
"I have no idea why I always pay more she said? The reason is glaringly obvious!" he thought, observing Leni's bargaining skills with dismay.