Volume 1 - CH 3.2

Chapter 1-3 : My First Luxury (part 2)

「But still, I can’t believe that you are really saving up your money until it reaches 5,000,000 reas…」(Sarasa)

Master looked at me with a surprised look.

Well, I’m also surprised at myself for making that much money in these five years.

Ahh~ I even always held myself back from buying luxury items for five years.

Un! Atta girl! Me!

「I can go with you to buy it, but… how are you going to take the books home?」(Ophelia)

「Eh? Of course I’ll put them in my bag」(Sarasa)

As I said that, I turned around to show Master my bag.

There were only a small amount of clothes, some study tools and cash inside my bag.

This was all I had since I never bought anything other than essentials.

Although it wasn’t fancy at all, my bag was sturdy and large.

It still had plenty of space, so I was sure I could put in several books.

I thought so and showed it with confidence, but Master just sighed after seeing my bag.

「Haa…. Come」(Ophelia)

「O, Okay…?」(Sarasa)

Master took me to a room on the second floor.

When I was working here, I rarely went up to the second floor, so I didn’t know about this room.

It was a little dim inside the room, and there were a lot of books lined up.

There was a large desk in the center of the room, but it was kinda messy and not very tidy.

「Wait」(Ophelia)

I waited obediently while Master was bringing some books from the back of the room and piling them up on the desk.

「These are the Encyclopedia of Alchemy from vol 3 to 10. You’ve read vol 1 and 2, right?」(Ophelia)

「Yes, but….. Hm? Why do these books look a lot thicker?」(Sarasa)

There were eight books piled up on the desk.

……..Eight volumes? This thick?

The first and second volumes of the Encyclopedia of Alchemy that I read at Master’s workplace were only about two centimeters thick.

But, the height of the books that were currently piled on the desk was more than 50 cm in total.

「The higher the number of the volume is, the thicker the book. Try to lift them」(Ophelia)

「Okay」(Sarasa)

I tried to lift the tower of the books as Master told me.

「Ghh! Gnununununu! This is so heavy!」(Sarasa)

「You see now?」(Ophelia)

It’s not that I can’t lift them at all.

I can also put them in my bag…… maybe?

But, thinking that I had to find a place to train, and move to that place after this, it would be tough if I had to carry these heavy books.

And that place is more likely not in this royal capital.

Uhh… so it seems I have to endure a painful trip with a heavy load on my back…

「And? You still wanna go find a place to train by yourself? Are you sure you don’t wanna work at my place anymore? If you are working here, you don’t have to buy the encyclopedias, you know? I’ll let you borrow these books. Also, you don’t have to take trouble finding a place to train. So?」(Ophelia)

「Ukh…… Mumumumu…… That’s a tempting offer. But, I’m sorry, Master」(Sarasa)

While grinning at me, Master gave me such an offer, but I refused it with a heavy heart.

Honestly, I was very very lucky to be Master’s disciple.

If I continued to be her disciple while working at her shop, I’m sure I’ll be able to improve my skills smoothly.

Since I worked part-time at her shop, Master seemed to really like my skills, and she kept asking me if I wanted to keep working at her shop after I graduated.

But, the reason I never nodded to her offer, was because I realized that my world was very small.

I had been studying since I entered the orphanage.

Even when I entered school, all I did was work part-time and study.

My world only revolved between school and Master’s shop for five years.

I was worried that if I accepted Master’s offer to continue working at her shop, I would never know the world except this shop.

Besides, I didn’t want to depend too much on Master and wanted to be independent.

「I see. Well, that’s too bad. But, going out and seeking a new place on your own would become a good experience. And… actually, I have a present for your graduation」(Ophelia)

Because I had refused her several times before, she probably had guessed that I would refuse again this time, so she just nodded lightly, and then… she handed me a backpack.

Compared to the backpack I was using, this one was about twice as small, but it looked a little fancy.

It was a cute backpack dyed in a red color.

It might be good for a little outing around the city, but it wasn’t big enough for a long trip.

「By the way, this bag has effects such as capacity expansion and weight reduction. So, if you put the encyclopedias in here, you can travel with ease」(Ophelia)

「….Eh!? Really!? But, Master… this must be very expensive, right? Are you sure you want to give it to me?」(Sarasa)

「Well, the price would be expensive if I bought it, but I didn’t. I crafted it myself just for you, so you don’t need to worry about price」(Ophelia)

「Master… Thank you very much!」(Sarasa)

I thought it was just a fancy cute backpack, but apparently it was an artifact.

Considering my current situation, I’m really happy to have such a useful backpack.

Without this, I wouldn’t be able to carry the encyclopedias.

…….. I wonder just how much this backpack, that was made by a master-class alchemist, would cost.

No, let’s just stop thinking about the price. It makes me scared.

「Ah, it also had an anti-theft function. It can only be used by you, so if you wanna give it to someone, do your best on your training until you reach the level where you can modify that function」(Ophelia)

「Well, of course I’ll do my best, but! I won’t do that! It’s a precious farewell gift I got from you! I won’t give it to anyone!………….. Okay then, let’s see… mufufufu~」(Sarasa)

I made an excited face as I opened the backpack and put my hand inside it.

「Hohooooo~~~」(Sarasa)

From outside, it looked like a normal backpack that the size fit on my back, but the inside was very spacious.

I tried putting my old, big backpack inside it, and boom, it even still had plenty of room inside even though my old backpack was obviously a lot larger than this cute backpack.

「As expected from Master! You made an amazing item!」(Sarasa)

「Well, yeah. More importantly, you wanna buy the Encyclopedia of Alchemy, right? Let’s go before the school store closes」(Ophelia)

I looked up at her with shining eyes, but Master turned her gaze with a calm expression and changed the topic.

「Ah, that’s right. I have to buy it today and then find a place to train because I can’t stay in the dormitory anymore!」(Sarasa)

I visited the orphanage where I grew up sometimes, and I planned to go there today to report my graduation, but since I’m an adult now, I can’t just ask if I could stay at the orphanage for a while.

Maybe I have no choice but to stay at an inn for a while as I look for a job.

But… the inn here in the royal capital is quite expensive…

Of course there are some cheap inns, but according to what I’ve heard, it seems those inns were a dangerous place for a girl like me to stay.

「You can stay at my place for a while if you want」(Ophelia)

「No, Master. I can’t keep depending on you」(Sarasa)

I’m an adult once I graduate from school, so I have to be independent!

Besides, if I keep relying on Master, I feel like I’ll be a good-for-nothing girl who can’t do anything by herself.