Harriet seemed to be more sad than angry because she was unable to help us. She was dismissed by her family because she was still a kid, but she felt even more sad because even we seemed to dismiss her.
So what she felt was slightly different from being angry.
Eventually, Harriet seemed to feel better because of my words that time around.
She and I talked a bit more on the terrace. Harriet wore the pair of earrings I had given herâthey werenât that fancy; they were simple button-type earrings with an emerald half the size of a babyâs fingernail embedded in them. They didnât really stand out much, so they felt just right as jewelry for a girl.
âTh-this⊠Thanks⊠I feel a little weird.â
The corners of Harrietâs mouth twitched slightly. She had a slightly blank look in her eyes.
âWhat do you mean, weird?â
âHow should I describe it⊠If I had to put it into words⊠I feel a little nauseousâŠ?â
I definitely felt that it was a magical artifact, but it seemed like she felt a little weird because the tranquilizing magic was stabilizing her mind.
Was it because the spell kind of forced Harriet, who had always been rather high strung, to seem more like Ellen? That might actually feel really strange to her.
I believd one could think of those earrings as an automatic tranquilizer administrator.
âYou donât have to wear them all the time, got it? Only when itâs necessary.â
âO-okay⊠Sorry.â
I gave them to her as a gift, but she felt sorry that she couldnât wear them all the time. No, I actually gave them to her while thinking that she should only wear them when it was absolutely necessary.
âBut I donât know how valuable these things are, so just how rare were these things? If itâs your family, you probably have a warehouse full of much better items, right?â
That was what I was worried about before giving her that gift.
The Duchy of Saint-Owan was a territory famous for its magic. The Grand Duke of Saint Owan, whom I had seen before, was an Archmage, so there was a good chance that there were hundreds of better magic artifacts in their warehouse, even if Harriet would hang onto my gift.
So I was debating whether I should give the earrings to her or not. However, I felt a lot better after giving them to her. Harriet took off the weird earrings and held them to her chest, thinking for a moment.
âThere are three main categories for determining the rarity and price of magical artifacts. One: the number of uses. Two: what type of magic it could evoke. And three: the object that got enchanted.â
âIs that so?â
âYeah. A single-use magic scroll is also deemed as a magic artifact, you know?â
Magic scrolls were disposable items. Harriet told me to wait for a moment and then went into her room, bringing something back with herâit was a wand about thirty centimeters long.
âWhatâs that? A magic wand or something?â
âItâs a self-defense weapon. I took it with me in case something unexpected happened. There are usually two types of magic wands and staffs. Some help to stabilize or control the userâs mana flow, and others are charged with magic spells. The difference between those and magic scrolls is that only people who know how to use magic can use them.â
A wand or staff might help one in the use of magic or may be charged with magic spells.
âThere are ten charges of Chain Lightning stored in here.â
âThen itâs a lot more valuable than a scroll, right?â
âThatâs right. In some cases, these items become useless as soon as the number of spells stored in them had been used up, and there are some that can be recharged. Of course, the rechargeable kind is more difficult and expensive to make. This oneâs a rechargeable artifact.â
Using that artifact enabled one to use the high-ranking destruction magic spell called Chain Lightning 10 times, and one could recharge itâit probably was a very powerful magic artifact.
âŠThere was a reason that she felt so confident in being able to follow us, as she had something like that she could place her trust in.
âHowever, there are exceptions. These earrings are a little similar to my wand. The magic spell was permanently engraved into the artifact itself, so if you pour in your own magical power, the magic spell imprinted on it gets activated.â
ââŠI see.â
âThese types are the rarest. Because one could cast the engraved spell directly without having to cast it. Things like these are incredibly rare. As far as I know, it takes every technology and practice I know of to make something like these earrings.â
In other words, artifacts with permanently imprinted magic spells were incredibly rare. I realized then what a ridiculous item the Flame of Tuesday hanging around my neck was.
Even a wand or staff with a single spell permanently engraved in it was treated as an ancient relic, but to use the Flame of Tuesday, one didnât even need to be a wizardâit could create fire just by oneâs will. It was an item that enabled one to use one type of element and not only one type of spell.
I already thought it was a great treasure, but hearing those things from Harriet made me realize just how powerful a magical artifact it was. It was probably one of the greatest treasures one could find on the continent.
âHowever, thatâs only the case for destruction magic. Things like defensive and support magic are often engraved permanently. Engraving destruction magic that can be triggered is really difficult after all.â
Harriet showed me the earrings I had given her, holding them between her index finger and her thumb.
âThey are small.â
ââŠ?â
âDo you think itâs easy to permanently engrave spells on such small objects? Itâs not even a low-level spell like Lightweightâitâs a spell to stabilize oneâs mind. Although Tranquility isnât a spell of the highest order, itâs a mid-to-high-ranking mental spell. Just by wearing these little things on oneâs ears, one could enjoy their effects. It couldnât have been easy to make these.â
The third way to determine the rarity of a magical artifact was to look at the item itself.
In other words, the size mattered. Large items such as armor and swords were easy to enchant. However, in the case of ornaments and jewelry, it seemed like a very high level of skill was required to enchant them.
And the earrings I had given Harriet were half the size of a babyâs fingernail.
âSo⊠they are very valuable..â
Harriet looked at me and smiled.
There was only one reason why Harriet would give me such a long explanation to my question of how valuable they were.
âThank you, Reinhardt.â
She was trying to explain to me the worth of my gift that I was completely oblivious about and thank me.
âErm⊠esteemed guests?â
And as we were chatting away on the terrace, someone suddenly came to us.
It was the mansionâs head maid.
âWhat?â
In response to my words, she muttered something in a slightly perplexed tone of voice.
âThere⊠There has been a problem.â
âA problem?â
ââŠThe young lady left her wallet behind.â
âAh. That clutz idiot.â
She would forget her own head if it wasnât attached.
* * *
Being a clutz idiot was a bit different from being an idiot.
Although one seemed to be doing quite well for themselves, one would make unexpected mistakes at weird times.
That was what applied to Liana de Grantz.
She planned and prepared everything before she left to shop, but when she arrived and wanted to pay for something⊠she couldnât seem to find where she put her wallet.
That was what kind of situation she was in.
The servants probably were incredibly surprised when they saw a bag of gold coins just lying on Lianaâs bedside table when they were cleaning her room.
Of course, since she was a great noble, her name held more than enough credits, so she could just act like that with Duke Grantz as her shield.
However, that wasnât the Imperial Capital.
Even though she was a noble, I wasnât sure if the prestige of Duke Grantz would suffice on those distant southern islands across the sea.
She didnât even take any attendants, except one coachman, with her.
ââŠAdelia didnât take her wallet with her either.â
ââŠI think the same goes for Ellen.â
We looked through everyoneâs luggage. While we couldnât confirm whether Heinrich took some with him or not, we ascertained that Adelia and Ellen didnât take any money with them.
Although we were sure, we didnât believe that Heinrich actually took it with him. He didnât go with them to buy something. He just wanted to follow Liana.
Duke Grantzâs wizard could teleport those things to them, but the guy seemed to be busy until the day we would return to Templeâthat seemed to be the reason why the servants tried asking us, as they didnât have much of a choice.
At that rate, something like the Grand Duchyâs young lady, excited to treat her friends to something, unable to pay for anything because she stupidly forgot her money, would happen. They would have to wash dishes because they didnât have enough money after eatingâthat would be a huge disgrace.
âWell⊠Now that I think of it, they should have already reached Rajak, so how are we even going to get there if we wanted to take their wallets to them?â
Wouldnât it be better to wait for them to come back after they were done with whatever they were doing?
I didnât think weâd be able to find them if we just went there. Harriet nodded silently.
âDid one of them take their student ID with them?â
What Harriet said, that one of them might have taken their student ID with them, was quite plausible. Well, although Ellen might not have taken it with her, one of the others might have. Our Temple student ID could be treated as a regular ID card. One never knew when one might need something like that.
âCan you locate their student IDs?â
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âYes.â
Harriet nodded her head.
âI now know how to access the tracking magic placed on the student IDs.â
That seemed to be a result of my sudden disappearance a while back.
During that incident, Harriet seemed to have studied how to access the tracking magic placed on our student IDs. Of course, I had actually artificially blocked the spell at that time.
How should I put it?
I felt proud, sad, and grateful.
That was it.
*Â *Â *
The servant requested our help as if grasping at straws in case that girl would suffer from humiliation, but that somehow seemed to have been the correct decision.
Harriet and I borrowed a horse from the mansion to catch up to them as fast as possible
ââŠDo you know how to ride a horse?â
ââŠI learned how to do it a while ago.â
Harrietâs eyes widened at the fact that I knew how to ride a horse. Obviously, Harriet knew how to do it, as it was a basic skill for any great noble.
Of course, it would have been a rather big problem if we fell off the horse while in a hurry to get to Rajak, so Harriet and I only rode at a slightly faster pace.
We werenât too far away from Rajak. We also rode a horse there, so, soon we reached the outskirts of the city where horses and wagons were placed.
âLook, that carriage⊠It has Duke Grantzâs crest.â
We left our horse with the waiting coachman and entered the city of Rajak.
ââŠThis feels like a port city.â
âYeah.â
Although the sea was pretty far from the place, I could still smell the scent of the sea wafting over it. However, the smell was more refreshing than unpleasantly fishy.
Rajak was a very busy city, however not as much as the Capital. Placed on a hilltop and a steep cliff some distance away, I could see a building that seemed to be the Royal Castle of the Edina Kingdom.
When we went into the city, it went slightly downhill, like a slope, giving us a panoramic view of the city.
There were numerous ships coming and going at the great harbor and docks.
âThis place hasnât implemented Warp Gates yet.â
Harriet was staring at the moving ships in amazement. Due to the Warp Gate technology, trade routes had been drastically shortened, so that way of transportation seemed to be a thing of the past.
Overall, there were many white buildings, so the city looked rather clean than eye-catching. I could see then why Liana said that the place was only a lesser-known tourist destination.
Looking at those huge ships sailing back and forth in the transparent sea made me feel kind of good for some reason. The port town was like out of a painting, not dirty or filled with an oily and watery smell about it.
âLetâs go look for those guys.â
âYes.â
Harriet closed her eyes and fell silent for a short moment as she casted the tracking magic. After some time, Harriet opened her eyes again.
âUhm, over there.â
Harriet pointed her finger in one direction, but I couldnât quite tell where exactly she was pointing.
Harriet took the lead, and I followed after her.
âMagic really is fascinating.â
Harriet wore a strange smile as we walked.
âWhat?â
âTo be honest, I learned that student ID tracking magic because of what happened last time⊠However, even if itâs not you, someone might disappear again, so thatâs why I tried hard to learn this.â
It seemed that Harriet studied such magic because she held regrets like, âI wish I knew more, I wish I knew magic that I could have used in that situation.â
âBut I canât believe Iâm using this spell just to return someoneâs money bagâŠâ
She had studied that spell in case someone went missing again, but she would have never imagined that her first application for it was to return a friendâs money bag to them. She ended up using it in a way completely different from its original purpose. Harriet found that quite curious.
âWell, the same happened with the underwater breathing spell as well.â
âSo you just learn some magic because you think itâs interesting and just use it right away, huh?â
She would completely skip all the middle steps.
If you want to learn a spell, just learn it. Whatâs so hard about it?
I wasnât a magic major, but I had a feeling that if her major classmates heard her talking like that, they might hit her. A genius was still a genius.
âWell, I always said that I was smart. Why are you acting as if you just found that out?â
âWhen did I ever say that you werenât smart? I just said that youâre a bit of an idiot.â
âThere it is! Y-y-you called me i-idiot again!â
Harriet blushed as she complained to me.
I liked that girlâs tension way better. It had been a long time since I saw her angry, so I instantly felt better.
Ah.
It seemed like I really was a sadist. Only limited to her, through.
âAnyway, letâs hurry up and find the others, idiot.â
âAre you doing this on purpose to make me angry when I was just about to forget about that?! You act all nice to me, but you always do this to me! It always ends up like this!â
Sorry.
To be honest, it felt like I was doing a daily quest.
I didnât really have to do it, but if I broke my chain, I would feel kind of upset.
âHow did you know? Rather, why did you notice that only now?â
âYouâre so annoying!â
-Hit!
She huffed and clenched her fist in anger, then hit my chest.
âWhat? Did you hit me just now?â
âAnd youâre not even hurt! My hand hurts even more!â
The situation was rather embarrassing, as I couldnât even feel that punch of hers.
*Â *Â *
Just where were those kids, and what were they doing?
After we wandered around the city for quite a long time, Harriet suddenly sighed.
âWhatâs the matter?â
ââŠThis situation seems to be more complicated than we expected.â
Well, there might be more to it than we first thought, but how did she know that something was clearly amiss?
âWhy do you think so?â
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âTheir location hasnât changed. They are still in the same place.â
I believed that I vaguely knew what she was talking about. The location of the others Harriet sensed was exactly the same even after we walked around for such a long timeâthat was why we could make some guesses.
Maybe they were stranded somewhere, or maybe they realized that they didnât have any money on them. That would mean that Heinrich, our last hope, didnât have any money on him either.
âWeâre almost there. Itâs over that way.â
The place Harriet was pointing towards was a pretty big restaurant.
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