MEIKYUU TOSHI NO ANTIQUE SHOP// CHAPTER 5: SHORT SWORD WITH LOW GRADE FEVER (5)

Eventually the words were deciphered little by little as it kept accumulating, the composition which said

‘Offer three hundred and twenty five drops of the descent of the people except unclean criminals with ashy eyes, an oxidization changing the world, like a bonfire in a traditional garden’

The original text was much longer, but summarized it says this abstract.
It’s like a synopsis of a novel.
At first glance it looks like it’s easy to understand, but in reality it’s quite the puzzle.
Fujiwara will continue to determine the meaning of this.

In the first place there is the ‘Qualification’, anyone who is not unclean and an ashy eyed barbarian.
This is easy, it’s likely because the magician created it while at war with barbarians called the Ash Eye Group, but they were annihilated.

The downstream is “Compensation”, three hundred twenty five drops of blood. It is to ask for the magic contained in that much blood, not the blood itself.
There is, of course, a difference in magic power between races, however for humans it should be on-par. However, this blade should be about 500 drops of blood, because in the past the maker likely had more magic power concentration. 500 is a standard amount for a beginner’s Granting Tool.
(But, aside from that, human beings with more than half of their blood left should have enough to let out forty thousand drops without being seriously impaired)

Finally, the “Reward”, that the world would light on fire like a bonfire in the garden.
It should be pretty self-explanatory.

However, the second half referring to the bonfire is the key.
That denotes the quality and scale of the fire, that of a bonfire that burned in the festivals of old.
Something with that strength would be to the degree of three torches piled upon each other, which is plenty to light up the Dungeon or strengthen the weapon.

★

“Coming to a conclusion, this sword is now ‘Useless’ at all.”
Fujiwara removed the monocle, putting it in his pocket.
He then placed the sword back into the sheath, handing it back to its owner with both hands so as not to drop it.
“Soarer, do you understand the quality of items?”

“Yeah, I do.”
Quality is a system that the commercial Continental Federation created, to justify consumer confidence, so that ignorant buyers can understand the difference between qualities.

“Luxury”, “Good”, “Off the Mark”, “Bastardized”, and “Useless”.

Needless to say, the grade is a huge difference on the buying and selling price of the item. This is a rough rule about good or bad, but it depends on the merchant’s small discretions in the end. When buying something good, it may be haggled about when trying to sell it. It can’t be said to be a perfect system, but since it’s spread past the Federation stores now, most stores care about it.

“It can be used by almost anyone, it barely uses any magic, it has the power of fire, and so on. The only issue is a performance problem, but I can say this is a Good ranked weapon.”
“…”
“The Circuit itself is very crude and therefore circulation is inhibited. That’s likely why you did not handle it.”

“So, it’s defective…”
“Eh, it is possible to handle, but treatment is more difficult than usual. At least elementary magic must be acquired.”
“How long does it take to learn?”
“At the very least it will take six months of magic training.”
“…”
Soarer’s head was down, staring at the sword in his hands.
Certainly the value was not as bad as he thought, in fact it was rather good overall.
An evaluation of “Hard nut to crack” is probably the most reasonable, thought.
Soarer wasn’t too familiar with it, but he knew that it was roughly equivalent to ‘Off The Mark’, but it was still a big difference from ‘Bastardized’.
But it wasn’t something like that Soarer wanted.
It wasn’t the value it was after, it was whether or not he could manage using the sword.
★

“I’ll send him a good bye present.”

For Soarer to become a Seeker on the very day his master was set to leave the town, the master decided to help his disciple. Picking his nose, he sent Soarer the blade he loved. Soarer was set to receive an unexpected gift.
“Ah, I know, here is the sword I got during my active days. Because you’re a shrew, I know you can handle it, so I’ll come to see you later.”

Being moved to tears, “It’s important to me “, and then quickly selling it would not be unexpected when the fist fell.

But, with watery eyes, the master said “Don’t you sell it because I’ll look back”, to which he retorted “I’ll master old man’s shit absolutely”.
The master felt paint for the first time, which he will never forget.

Of course, it was because he was happy.
★
Soarer never got depressed until now.
Before visiting here, it was appraised by many stores, and it was always “The flame may or may not be defective” there.
But Soarer was never satisfied with that result, and because there was nowhere that treated Soarer like a respectable customer, no one really inspected it.
Even though it wasn’t the result he wanted, he was happy to have it truly appraised by the “Good Old Mage’s Shop”.
But the sword “Might be handled as soon as you’re done training”, so in fact it was possible for him to use the sword after all.
“Manager, I have a request!”
Soarer was decided, clutching the sword strongly, and again he placed it atop the counter.

“This child, can it be sold here?”

“It can, but why?”

“I do not have enough money to spare for magical training.”

The money he had prepared before leaving the house was at rock bottom, exhausted. If you don’t earn anything, a seeker like him would be forced to wander about, unable to continue life in Labyrinth City.
“With the money from selling this, I will capture the third floor with a new Granting Weapon.”
This was likely the best way, the correct way.
Of course, Soarer didn’t want to sell his teacher’s important sword. He wanted to hold onto it. But, it’s the only thing he owns now. Without it, he could get to the next floor and stop looping.
It was the only thing Soarer could think of.

If it wasn’t done now, he would be unable to do anything, with the severity of the situation.
“I see.”

Fujiwara nodded, picking up the sword on the counter.

“With the money from this, let’s get a weapon suitable for you.”

“Yes, thank you, that’s right.”

There wasn’t much hope. This was more than he wanted to ask, here.

Soarer thought it was good he came here. It was sad to let go of an important sword, but it isn’t possible to be ambitious after death. This is as best a result as could be hoped for.

-But.

“…Is the answer I would give as a good merchant.”
Fujiwara said, pushing up his glasses.
“Unfortunately, however, since I am an unsolicited appraisal teacher who owns this shop, I refuse.”

MEIKYUU TOSHI NO ANTIQUE SHOP// CHAPTER 4: SHORT SWORD WITH LOW GRADE FEVER (4)

Removing the glasses, Fujiwara puts them in his fore pocket and pulls out the usual tools.
First, a rubber-band.
To tie his hair, of course.

Next, a short tube monocle.
It magnifies the details so you can see the essentials.

Furthermore, white gloves. To avoid leaving excess fingerprints on the client’s treasures.
This is the full outfit of an appraiser.
After he was done, he lied out a dyed chamois cloth to set it on top of, and the workshop is set up.
“Now, please have a look.”
Fujiwara removed the fire sword from its sheath, giving Soarer the sheath, placing the drawn sword on the workbench.
First, Fujiwara traced the sword slowly with his index finger so that he could explore toward the gutter.
Fujiwara reached a carved seal where the body of the sword rises and murmurs something. It was an elementary incantation to release the magic from the blood to the outside, one that a magician uses.
He added the effect to make something that was concealed visible in addition to the magic he released outside.

“This is…”
“This technique is for generating a magic phenomenon without using magic.”

After saying this, the sword rang out with a small echo, and a pale streak to the center of the design looks like a blood vessel as it forms, floating, branching, spreading, and repeating. They look like an abstract line painting, but also like a myriad of magical characters.

“This is called a magical circuit.”

Some scholars say it’s like a mechanical contrivance that creates magical effects, such as the complicated and inscrutable gear that intertwined this blade.
A poet has also said it to be a complete form of poetry, with every word play packed in.
But the contract’s resemblance to anything is best to something a magician or appraiser would contract, such as Fujiwara.
After all, with magic and the world, nothing is free. It’s a contract.
The principle is that the contract is a conversation with the world by the intervention of the “Language” by a spell, gesture, or curse, and we get approval with the currency of magic, and that forms a magical phenomenon.
It is a magical circuit made on the behalf of this principle.
This is constituted by three provisions.
Qualification. Price. Reward.

“Qualification”, because it is party to the agreement. Who is qualified to use the tool? An example is “handle only if you fight in the battlefield” or “only thieves can use”. This is tied to the will of the creator, and lineage or age are also possible.

The “Price” is what you pay for the ability to be used. Rarely, money or even hair can be used, but typically users must pay magic in most cases.

If the magic phenomenon can be obtained, you must set up a “Reward”. The higher the degree of difficulty, the higher the “Reward”, needless to say.

In other words-

“What should you spend, can you spend it, and what power are you borrowing?”
“How does it know whether a flame can be taken out of the sword when paying?”
“It’s such a thing.”
Fujiwara continued talking while analyzing.
While looking through the Magical pattern, he scribbled down something using a feather pen occasionally.
It seems monotonous and unspectacular, but you need to use intelligence and nerve, despite the appearance.
It’s not easy to capture the intricate language of this labyrinth to an extent that you do not harm the item.

Fujiwara definitely didn’t hate his work.

The secret mark and jargon of the artifact are found and changed…

The conversion and replacement are done in accordance with an algorithm…
The word is relaxed, and the puzzle is cut and pasted and joined…
Deleting unnecessary modifications or the junction…

This repetition of tasks would drive Fujiwara mad, if he were a normal human, but instead a smile spills from his mouth.
He’s the type who enjoys these maddening things- “And that’s why he’s a monster!” cries Anemone.

 

MEIKYUU TOSHI NO ANTIQUE SHOP// CHAPTER 3: SHORT SWORD WITH LOW GRADE FEVER (3)

“Fufufu…”
Fujiwara gloats, glasses flashing.
Since customers can’t come due to the rain, Anemone did the closing job. Clearly, Black Apron was bored. All of the other seekers had already dispersed.

“Ahn, glasses…”
The joint Fujiwara is holding is a clutch, with it ringing ‘Gokyu yugokyu’. While the shop owner was immersed in that, Sora began to crawl away, with a “Ha~tsu…”.
“…”
When appraising, there are times where other people shouldn’t be allowed to see more, so you must be careful about others seeing. Causing funny misunderstandings for new customers is bad, especially if they think glasses get you aroused.
Fujiwara coughed, stopping his caress, and strived to return to his smiling ‘operating mode’.
“Well, can you appraise it?”
“Yes, of course.”
The child known as Sora gave off a relieved look.
From the unrefined look, you could guess a mid-teen. Sora has no real friends, and with little bruises he’s reluctant to get new ones over his antique, ready to bolt at any moment. While everything seems nice at first, it’s easy to stumble into trouble while inexperienced in the Seeker occupation. You can suffer many hardships.
“Now, let me ask one question first before I appraise it.”
Since they were very important to Fujiwara, Sora lifted the small mountain of glasses with only the middle and index finger. (tl: this entire segment was confusing as hell)

“How will you get a Discrimination Card?”
“Ah, well, what is it?”
Sora had no idea what that was. Fujiwara, to explain, brought over a container of pills and showed the card enclosed by string to the bottle lid.
“This is a Discrimination Card. It has the item name, application, capacity, quality, as well as who made it, as I have noted the contents of the appraised item.”
“An ingredient list is also written on it.”
“For pills such as these, there’s dosage, usage, caution, and so on as well.”

This was because in the first place all items from the dungeon are unidentified goods.
For example, an item called Healing Potion. It has varied potency to increase healing, closing shallow wounds. It’s relatively easy to get near the surface of the dungeon.
However, it’s not possible to use it until it’s brought to the surface.

Until it’s appraised, it’s impossible to determine what type of drug it is. Most remain unlabeled, and there’s a high possibility of it not being a health potion. The containers vary too, from a vial to a test tube to a thermos, a wide variety. The color and smell vary greatly too. You can’t carelessly drink it without risking it being a poison mix.

So, back in Labyrinth City, professional knowledge, technology, and an ‘expert’ with professional tools are needed to appraise it.

“After the appraisal, I need this Discrimination Card for when you sell the item.  Even if you buy it at the store that way you don’t need to re-appraise it, and you can get the assessment very easily.
“I see.”
“It also prevents people from haggling the price.”
“Well, thank you.”

“Certainly, you must be humbled.”

“-Excuse me?”
★

If you look behind the person Sora is talking to, you will see a figure approaching from the back. She, while wrapped in heavy equipment, was gracefully walking in a beautiful posture, carrying three to two, with a thermos cup as a bonus, holding it carefully.
Ah, it is the person who brought Sora to the shop, the wildflower. (tl: Anemone, pun on her name)
Since she had been soaked in rain, Sora hoped he could see her true face, but the armor and apron are the very same as earlier, though the color changed from gray to a reddened purple, with cute flowers on the apron.
“I have cups of tea.”
“Hey, it’s a nice copper full armor.”

“It was dusty at the depot so I felt like taking it out.”

“Please don’t put on stock so selfishly, yes?”
While ignoring the smiling Black Apron, Anemone began to prepare tea.
After pouring a thermos of contents into the mug, tossing in three sugars, mixing in a teaspoon, she gently put it on the counter near Sora. It’s a mug covered in small illustrations of cats, glancing up at the steam coming out of the mug.
“Please try this Sora, here is a café au lait with a lot of milk. It’s bitter otherwise and I drink even bad coffee.
“Wow, thank you”
“I only have my coffee black.”

“Of course, the store manager is a fucking bitter black… Please.”
Mr Black Apron’s liquid is poured into the mug, confirmed to be jet black, as he received it with a joyful face. Apparently it seems to love that bitter drink…
Even just sniffing the mugs, everyone was ‘Healed’, or felt ‘If I don’t have this I wouldn’t be able to work’. Anemone has no response, so only Sora showed any reaction.
Heat showed through the fingertip, which had become cold.
“Thank you for the meal!”
Sora lifted it with both hands, putting it to his mouth. The smell off coffee, sugar, and milk all spread. It was really delicious and warm. Sora recalled that he had barely even drank water while in the Dungeon.
“…Fu”

Sigh. Sora realized that his body was becoming loose as the cold stiffness faded. Almost like magic, the mug was emptied to about half.
Sora noticed Fujiwara, still smiling, and became somewhat embarrassed.
“I’m sure it’s good, I like this coffee by far the most. It’s an original blend in the pub as ‘Mole Bowel’, and it’s in the neighborhood.
“I can also prepare a second helping, so please have more without reserve.”

“Thank you very much…”

Seeing the regretful Sora, Anemone poured a shower fall more into the mug right away.
★
“What kind of appraisal do you want, Mr. Sora?”
After Sora downed two cups, Fujiwara decided to advance the story.
Sora thought that the appraisal would be a different type, since the normal ‘verification’, wouldn’t capture the abilities of the sword properly.
The appraisal needed would probably have to be in-depth. Authenticity, survey of materials, and so forth to determine the producer if possible.

Which will you take, you’re itching to try, right? Fujiwara was waiting expectantly.

“I want to know how to use this sword.”
Sora removed the belt, again placing the sword that Fujiwara visually appraised earlier on the counter.
It had already become old, having been created at least 1500 year prior, but it must be understood that it is a Granting Tool.
Undeniably it is from the ‘Age of Ancient Supreme Mages’ that the Granted Tool was built in.
“This was the sword I’ve used for three months or more, but I cannot master it.”

“Have not mastered it?”
“There have been cases where I haven’t even been able to put out a spark.”

The Fire Sword strengthens its attack with fire. It can give damage by burning in addition to slashing, and it’s effective against things that burn like zombies. If not even a spark comes out, it’s as good as useless.

“Hmm. Do you understand basic handling?”
“Yea, I should cut my palm lightly and use it to grasp the sword?”
Fujiwara nodded.

In order to start a Granting Tool, the user must have a magic supply. It is possible to release this magic in the blood simply by touching it if one is a mage, but for untrained people they must cut themselves to apply it directly.
“I tried my best, but no matter what even while saying ‘I’ll do it one day’, I could not manage it. I think I do not have enough magic.”
“Hmm.”
“Actually, it’s delaying my dungeon capturing.”
“What floor have you progressed to?”

Anemone asked with interest. She was with a Fighter faction and originally a seeker. Despite working for the Good Old now, she had the nickname the ‘Footsteps of Death’ until a little while ago.
“To the third underground floor, and never further.”

“That place has Metalmordos, a slime monster with the hardness of metal and elasticity of a slime, which eat scrap iron as a staple food.”
“Yes, they’re the problem. I can’t match them at all when slashing or hitting.”
To beat these hard monsters you require magic attacks, so it’s a natural enemy of the thief, swordsman, and hunter.
Generally to beat them you need a weapon or Grant Tool that has been coated in magic.
“I see, so you came here.”
“Yes. I absolutely cannot ignore how important the power of the flame sword is.”

Sora dropped his line of site. Its hands that held a sword were covered in bandages on both, meaning he ‘tried hard’ earlier with them. For the magic power supply, Sora must have had to make deep gauges with a knife, trying to Customize the sword desperately.
“Perhaps it requires other conditions.”
“Conditions, ha?”
“Eh, ’Qualification’ or ‘Compensation’ may be the issue, anyway… enough small talk, it’s necessary to check.”
Fujiwara finished his coffee, replacing the cup.

“Let’s start the Appraisal.”

(TL: New readers, it’s only to this point that I’ve replaced ‘Soarer’ with the intended ‘Sora’. Beware.)

Meikyuu Toshi no Antique Shop// Chapter 2: Short Sword with Low Grade Fever (2)

“Store manager, I’ve brought a customer!”
“No, really, it’s no problem”
“They don’t seem to be at the counter… Okay, I hope that you’ll be fine waiting here.”
“Ah, don’t worry about it, it’s fine, no,”

Once the sign was down, propped up against the door, Ms. Body Armor walked away with a “Gachagacha”, and it disappeared into the back of the store.

Sora began to look around the shop they had been brought into forcefully, scared.　The inside of the store is large, but it was completely empty of people.
More important than the shop itself would be the artifacts and treasures inside it, but there did not seem to be any.
There seemed to be a wide variety of items instead. Hanging from the ceiling was a guideplate, which could be read to say “Cane”, “Shield”, “Books”, “Potion”, “Ring”, “Brush”, and so on, lined with more products such as “Glasses”.
This was a bit different than what Sora expected from an antique shop.
“This is more close to a miscellaneous goods store.”

A dagger which was in display in a glass case caught Sora’s eye.
The sheath had a strange twisty shape, and was faintly cracked and singed. A true antique, maybe?
The dagger’s tag was bound by a thin thread.

『Good Quality Cursed Dagger.｜From the time of great magician’s later period. It’s a tool used for magic, but it can also work as a physical weapon if needed, as it is tinged with magical power. No conditions required, the price is five hundred, fifty five drops of blood.』And so on and so forth, written in small letters.

Is this the store owner’s commit? When looking around, Sora saw that all of the other items were tagged in the same way, with each having a lengthy explanation.
It was quite interesting.
Sora continued to kill time by looking at all of the odd items, rudely flouncing about, since he was unattended in the store.
“Anyway…”

Sora looked up, inhaling through the nose to check something. Most antique stores have a moldy, dusty smell particular to the store, however this one smelled rather fresh.
“Sniff, what is this smell?”
“The smell is like a Cypress Tree!”
“Cypress?”
“Yes. It’s an essential oil from the Far East; it’s efficient as an insect repellent.”
“It certainly smells like I’m in a forest.”

“It also acts as a relaxant!”
“I, eh!?”

Although Soarer thought Whole Body Armor came back, the voice was different. A man with black hair was behind the counter where no one had been prior, and Sora did not notice his entrance.

“Uh, who are you?”

Sora asked autonomously, but when thinking calmly, he is likely the store manager or staff here.
His age is in his twenties, lean, and he seems gentle. He wears black rimmed glasses. (tl: finally a use of ‘he’ that doesn’t feel inaccurate)
“I’m the owner. I’m called Fujiwara.”
“Ah, I’m called Sora. Somehow.”
“Welcome to the Good Old Mage’s Antique Shop”
“And that Whole Body Armor?”
“Because it’s rusting, it could be said that Ms. Anemone is changing clothes.”
“Why would they be wearing such heavy armor in the first place…”
“She was originally a seeker, but in this place it’s essentially a uniform. You have to be a hard worker to work here, since you can’t take it off no matter what.” (tl: sorry for so many notes, but it’s confirmed for real- it’s a girl. Store Manager finally used ‘kanojo’, a third person way to refer to a girl or girlfriend. No more pronoun swapping.)
Black Apron wore a wry smile.
“Is she a girl, as expected?”
“You can seldom look at her face. … Here, have a towel.”
While Sora talked with Mr. Black Apron, he held out a towel.
“Well…”
Sora was lost at what to say, unable to comprehend this unaccustomed treatment.
Sora had seen many stores up until now, but this was the first that had treated him as a respected customer, as a newbie Seeker. He glanced about, thinking about how other stores treated him as a thief until he started putting coins on the counter.
Sora eventually grabbed the towel with a “Thank you very much”.
“He lent me a towel since I was wet from the rain, and above all it’s a favor- I should receive it obediently” Sora thought.
“Now, what are your orders for today?”
“There is something… which I want to get appraised…”
“One Appraisal Request, then?”

Mr. Black Apron is still wearing a bright face.
“That, but… long ago it was got by my teacher in the dungeon…”
“Our shop will look at anything retrieved from the dungeon.”
“Is that true? Isn’t this an antique shop?”
“It’s often misunderstood, but this is a Magic Item specialty shop.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Such an unexpected reason astonished Sora.
“Of course, antique can mean furniture or art, but it can also mean something old and valuable, sometimes even things collected from the dungeon under Labyrinth City”
“I see.”
“Granting Tool” is the general term for magical instruments.
Things like lamps that never go out, like in fairytales, or a good example is a cane that makes meteorites rain down.
Although Granting Tools are convenient, they can’t do everything themselves, therefore generally only Magicians use, and horde, them and they are quite rare.
I would have to dive deep into the dungeon to get those.
The areas deep enough to have them are protected by many monsters, so rarely anyone can get near them.
Granting Tools are an ideal for Seekers to find. But, of course, it’s something you need to gain experience to get, as you have to overcome numerous dangers, and it is not intended for fledglings to have on hand.
Only Sora had something like that.
“Hmm, apparently your sword is quite the antique.”
Black Apron was smiling, pointing his long, thin fingers at the short sword on Sora’s waist. Sora, for a moment, thought he was hallucinating.
Surely it’s just a mediocre sword with a strange shape.
It’s stored in a cheap skin sheath as a robbery prevention measure.

However, without even unsheathing it, the clerk still noticed it was a Granting Tool.
At the same time, Sora began to see through his real character.

“This child’s master said that this was a sharp sword he got during his younger days, in the dungeon.”
“Hmm”
He put his hand on his chin, considering something, staring at Sora like a predator stares at his prey.
If anything, he looks like how it looks after the hunt ends, when it’s divided up and the bone is visible.
“The thing, is made in the ‘Time of the Supreme Magicians’, latter period, and it’s a… Fire Sword?”
“…”
Black Apron sees Sora’s astonished face, and seems to be convinced it’s the correct answer.
“Yes, that seems to be true.”
“How do you understand such a thing without even touching it?”
“It’s simple reasoning. This sword with only a simple sheathe is not at all wet with rain. It’s probably because the heat disperses it. And part of the handle, the material looks like blue stone. It’s a metal called “Shizukutetsu”, which has very strong thermal insulation. Since the heat damages the handle the most, it’s most often used as material. I determined it was a fire sword due to these two points.”
When you have knowledge, you can  see.
Although he explained it to me like so, until investigated by professionals with tools, most had no idea what this Granting Tool was until an hour into the work and most even then lacked an answer.
In this store though, he judged it accurately. When Sora determined this, he removed the sword and placed it on the nearest counter, lowering his head.
“Thank you, somehow please appraise this child.”

 

Meikyuu Toshi no Antique Shop// Chapter 1: Short Sword with Low Grade Fever (1)

Sora let out a small sigh.
When he left the dungeon, going to Labyrinth City, it was raining.
The color of the sidewalk was immediately being painted blue, from their usual black, and puddles were forming here or there.
Pelted by the water, Sora could not run to the Inn, instead walking in a plodding, wobbly gait, and hiding under the eaves nearby as the rain got stronger.
It had already been seventy-five times Sora had searched the Dungeon. Again, the result was failure. It proceeded smoothly until the middle, but Sora absolutely could not advance past the third floor.

If you were to sit in the same place, many people would sound a lively voice in the direction Sora came walking from.
They’re Dungeon Seekers, those who are skilled in the art of treasure hunting.
A boy in a black robe with a staff, A lively young warrior with a huge hammer, And a short girl, probably a thief.
Hearing their gleeful voices, you know without even checking their knapsacks that they were successful.
Sora fell into a Dogeza in dismay, letting them pass.
It was a miserable feeling.

“What’s the difference between me and them?” He thought.
“What don’t I have enough of that they have?” He thought.
Motivation. One must endure in their efforts to become a seeker. Sora knew he had plenty; he wasn’t defeated by them in that.

Motivation alone just wasn’t enough. Courage couldn’t knock down the monsters that the floors are infested with. Reality isn’t so sweet.

“What do I do?”
The answer was already in Sora’s hands.
All he didn’t know was how to use it.
Sora remained downcast even while the other Seekers drew further away, he stopped holding the short sword and put it in the sheathe around his waist.

“You……Who is this child?……”

“Is your condition bad?”

Sora heard a feminine voice to his side. “Who are you”, he thought, and when he looked up he saw a large steel helmet.

“…!?”
“Are you alright, boy? Are you injured anywhere?” A loud voice called.　(tl: ambiguous pronouns)

“They seem rather suspicious”, Sora thought. Sora looked up at the person, starting from the whorl of their boots to the tip of their helm. Everything was enclosed by firm steel, showing no humanity. Normally it had a frilly apron covering its inner legs, but since its waist was bent, it was easy to see past
Sora was surprised but couldn’t utter a word. To disagree, he simply shook his head.

“If you’re fine, that’s good. Sorry to suddenly have raised my voice.”
Leaking from the helmet was the cool, young feminine voice that wholly contradicted the appearance. Sora could not believe his ears.
“You’re a dungeon seeker too, right?”
“Oh, well, yes.”
“Often, people in our profession will get injured before leaving the dungeon and collapse here, so when I saw you I had to be sure you were alright.”
Sora was convinced by this explanation.
After all, he was only a short distance from the dungeon entrance hall he came out of earlier.
It wasn’t uncommon for people to fall to the ground, dying of exhaustion or poison or even disease, before reaching the clinic.

By the way, the Dungeon exists under Labyrinth City, underground. A supreme mage built it a long time ago, but no one knows why as of yet. With the many monsters and traps you’d expect, inside a mix of wheat and chaff of items drop from them.
Dungeon Seekers live by harvesting and selling them as treasure hunters, but Sora was an amateur who could not get any good results yet.

“By the way, can you move over a little? The store is closed, so I’d like to close that down too.”

Ms. Whole Body Armor showed the back of her index finger, which had a symbol on it. Hotels such as this place had been rented to set up shops, but since the rain came, she’s trying to close down the shopfront.
“Er,” Sora wondered if that person was staff of the shop. He did regret disturbing the place, though.
“I’ll leave immediately.”
“No, no, you don’t need to refrain from taking shelter from the rain.”

Ms. Whole Body Armor and I looked up at the sky. Only a small part of the helmet was open, and from them I could see two eyes gently shining in the dark. At first he wondered if it was a Golem, but it seemed to be a flesh and blood… woman was inside.
“Well, here’s what I’ve thought up.”
Ms. Body Armor clashed his fists together, gauntlets striking.
“What about it. Take shelter in the store. There will be a lot of time to kill before the rain will cease.”
“Ah, no, it’s-“
“You’ll have some coffee now, and don’t try to say no.”

“I don’t like bitter coffee.”
“Why don’t you try Café Au Lait. Will you need sugar?
“Three… It probably won’t go down easy. (?)”

Ms. Whole Body Armor jerkily walks away.
“Is this a scheme to make me buy something, or are you just a really nosy person?” Sora thought.
“I couldn’t afford to buy anything anyway.” Sora decided to grasp this opportunity to lift himself up properly. He had no intention of catching a cold, and he needed to visit an appraiser tomorrow before diving back into the dungeon.
After attempting to rise from his spot, and get away quickly, one of Ms. Body Armor’s large arm came into view.
“『The Good Old Magician’s shop』？”
“Yes, it’s an antique shop.”
“Is it really an antique shop?”
“Even the dust is moldy and everything estimated here is trash. Is it so interesting?”

Ms. She Whole Body Armor said in a joyful voice.
Sora wondered if they liked antiques, regardless of their appearance. I thought it wouldn’t be interesting in the talk, but it sounded very interested.
But there was a reason Sora stopped moving. It was written in the lower corner『Appraisals Being Done』Sora was interested in the note which said so.
“Is this where you can get things appraised?”
“The store manager, the monster freak, is being troubled right now.”
“Mo, monster is?”
“So, I’m the one being troubled by appraisal, but I’d rather focus on breakfast, lunch, and then supper.”
Ms. Body Armor shook her head in disapproval, left and right, and sighed. Now that they’ve said such a thing, Sora decided to be more considerate.
They clearly didn’t want to deal with the person referred to as Monster, but so far, they don’t seem incompetent.
“Well, there’s something I want a skillful appraiser to judge, actually.”
“Well, show it to me.”
Ms. Body Armor suddenly grasped Sora by the nape of the neck.
Ms. Body Armor is definitely the opposite of their voice. Their arm is very strong. Sora, despite 10 years of sword training, was caught completely off guard.

“I can guarantee the appraisal will be good.”
“That, ah, just a little, hold on.”
“Because it’ll be good, because it’ll good.” The monotonous voice spoke with forcefulness, and Sora was dragged along.
“Awawawawawawa!”
“One person, to the store.”

Thus, Sora was forced to visit 『The Good Old Magician’s Shop』in a rather aggressive manner

 

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Meikyuu Toshi no Antique Shop (Start TL)

If ANYONE wants this novel, you are free to have it. I’m just doing this to see if I can get a decent approximation of a MTL going.

The TL quality will be bad, likely, and I have no set translation schedule just yet. Anyone reading this on Friday (26th of June), you’ll have to wait awhile before you get more as I’m going out of town.

Raws are here:

http://ncode.syosetu.com/n6750cg/