Chapter 15 – City Stroll
05-15 City Stroll
The following day, after breakfast. Jin and the others finally got around to touring the city.
The capital, Bolgia, was built to have three districts. The royal castle is of course in the center. The residence of king of Elias, Blitzen Scala Elias XII and his ministers. It’s where the government affairs take place.
Surrounding the royal castle’s outer solid walls is the first district, the noble district. In addition to nobles’ villas, it has multiple high-class shops. It also has its own walls surrounding it.
The second district, outside the nobles’ walls is the commoners’ district. Prosperous merchants, skillful artisans, and small stores aimed for the general public are there.
The third district is farmland spread around the commoners’ district. Among other things, the homes of agricultural workers and people who can’t live in the commoners’ district are there.
Presently, Jin, Reiko, Elsa and Reinhardt are outside the royal castle, traversing the noble district in a roofless carriage. The view is fine, with the only fault being that it’s a little dusty.
“How do you like it, Jin?”
Aside from all the dust, for a while now Jin has been restlessly looking around as if everything was new. A country bumpkin, by all appearances.
Well, it’s understandable, this being his first time in a noble district since being summoned.
“Oh, uh, there’s a lot of noteworthy sights to be sure.”
“Is that so? The buildings here, many of them date back to before the Great Magic War. The population declined due to the war, but in the parts of the country that weren’t involved in the destruction, many aged buildings like these still remain.”
Comparing to Earth, should it be called a gothic style? Countless stone towers with distinctive sharp tips. The ornamentation seems to be a bit over the top.
However, it could be said that at the second glance the buildings’ age gives them an overall balanced outlook.
Jin expressed his thoughts to Reinhardt who responded with admiration,
“Yep, you’ve hit the heart of the matter. I agree. I think the post-war architecture’s functionalism is rather dull. The old buildings have a certain beauty in form, while these new ones are just…”
Prattling on and on like that, Reinhardt eventually noticed Eliza glaring at him, and he soon shut up.
“First, shall we go to a tailor?”,
Reinhardt said and gave orders to the coachman. The coachman skillfully maneuvered the carriage off the main street and around the corner, arriving in front of a tailor shop.
“Come on Jin, get out of the carriage. Miss Reiko too.”
“Eh? But I don’t have any business at the tailor shop.”
Even so, Reinhardt brought Jin into the shop.
“Welcome, Reinhardt-sama.”
Immediately the owner turned up and offered greetings.
“Ah, I’m one day late. Is it done?”
“Yes, it has been completed. Is the order perhaps for this gentleman?”,
The owner said and looked at Jin who was next to Reinhardt. Reinhardt nodded.
“Then, please step this way.”
The owner took Jin to the back of the shop.
“Um. Uh, Reinhardt.”
“Oh well, I guess I’ll go with him.”,
Jin said and went to the back of the store, unsure of what was going on.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Hey. This is…”
After a while, Jin came back wearing an extravagant coat.
Originally Jin’s attire had been like an average commoner’s: black trousers, a white shirt, and a beige vest.
Actually, since the material was thread woven from a Ground Spider’s silk, if you told someone it was commoner’s clothing, they’d retort by asking where on earth that’d be common.
Nitpicking aside, Jin was now wearing the fancy coat on top of his commoner’s clothing.
“Father, it fits you well.”
Reiko complimented. The coat was slightly purplish deep grey in color, length to just above his knees, and had a large lapel. It had decorated silver buttons, and a fancy ornamental “J” embroidered on the chest.
“It’s a gift. It’s the standardized coatwear for a Magi Craftsman. As long as you wear it, even other nobles wouldn’t act impolite in front of you.
Seems like it’ll be useful on the journey after this.
“Even though it’ll be spring soon, since you’re headed north it’ll get colder, right?”
With that Reinhardt finished his speech. Him having thought it that far, Jin had to obediently accept the gift.
“Understood. Thanks, Reinhardt. It fits my size well, huh.”
Jin said, but it really could’ve been left unsaid. Reinhardt is a first-class Magi Craftsman too. Obviously he’s able to estimate the size by just looking.
“Now that’s taken care of, let’s finally start the real tour around town!”
Led by Reinhardt, without getting on the carriage they entered a jewelry shop two houses away.
In the jewelry store, in addition to the ever-popular precious gems the store carried jewelry with Magi Crystals, so both Jin and Elsa had something they were able to enjoy.
“Oh?”
Unlike in the modern Earth, there were no showcases. Instead, there were lavish shelves where raw ore, unset jewels, and finished goods were lined up on display.
Jin, who was poor at designing memorized the interesting designs, and also stealthily asked Reiko to memorize them in case he forgot.
“Ah, this gem has a nice color to it. It’s just like Elsa’s eye color, isn’t it?”
A light blue unset jewel alongside the other ones had caught Jin’s eye. A small distance away, Elsa, who was looking at another shelf turned around to look.
It was a thumb-sized light blue stone, but when viewed in a different angle it looked a deep blue. It was of an elliptical shape, the so-called cabochon cut, which seemed suited for a pendant head.
“Let me see. Oh, this is excellent.”
Reinhardt murmured while peeking over Jin’s shoulder, and called for the shopkeeper to purchase the stone.
“Oh my, Mr. customer has a discerning eye. This Aquamarine is an import from Leonard Kingdom.”
While talking, the shopkeeper put on a glove with a Magi Formula written on it and picked up the gem.
So that’s how it is, Jin comprehended the lack of showcases. Using a magical barrier any member of the public won’t know how to get their hands on the goods.
Without the glove with the Magi Formula on it, there’s no way to touch the gems on top of the shelves.
Well, if one had enough Magic Energy to overwhelm the barrier applied to the shelves, that would be different. That’s to say, at least Jin and Reiko could theoretically do it. But they won’t.
The price was 120 thousand Torr. Reinhardt took out the full sum and said,
“Elsa’s birthday is soon, so.”
Afterwards he carefully put the wrapped gem in his coat’s inside pocket.
The next place to visit was a Magi Tool store.
Jin was concerned about Elsa looking sullen, but whether it was because of the Aquamarine Reinhardt bought while talking about her birthday or not, she stayed silent about it.
“Uh-huh. There’s some very exquisite products here, aren’t there?”
Jin was viewing an illuminating Magi Tool. Then suddenly he remembered the Magi Craftsman girl he met in Blue Land, Beana.
“There’s some similarities in the way they use Magi Formulas.”
While thinking about it, Jin saw that the manufacturer’s name Gladia Hampton had been written on it.
If I’m not mistaken that’s the Magi Craftsman Beana was studying under, Jin thought. From beside him Reinhardt asked,
“Do you know this Magi Craftsman?”
“Gladia Hampton? Umm, they make Tools fairly well, but there doesn’t seem to be anything particularly striking about them.”
Jin replied with a harsh evaluation.
“Rather than that, look at this. What do you think about it?”
Reinhardt pointed at the Tool and Jin immediately recognized it. It was the refrigerator.
“…”
While Jin was considering how to reply, Reinhardt gave his own opinion on it first.
“I think it’s a very good idea. Having a Magi Stone instead of a Magi Crystal function as a sufficient source of Magic Energy is a large achievement.”
“I guess so.”
“What the? Why the unusually half-hearted response? Look, it probably makes ice in this portion, which cools down the contents. When it’s done making the ice, it doesn’t have to run again until the ice has melted. How well-thought-out indeed. I’d like to buy it and take it home with me.”
“Ah, okay.”
“Really, what’s wrong? Anyway, why is the Magi Device installed on the top, I wonder? If it was on the bottom it would be much easier to increase the size if needed.”
“Oh, cold air is heavier, so it sinks to the bottom. That’s why the refrigerator is on the top.”
Jin immediately responded, and Reinhardt was taken aback with a surprised look on his face.
“Jin. Is this, by any chance, your work?”
Jin, realizing the jig was up, replied affirmatively.