Magic Tools Are Selling Too Well

For the first time in a while, I put loose tobacco in my mouth instead of a pipe and looked at the sign in front of me.

Maybe because business has been so good lately, the department spent quite a bit of money to change the alchemy shop’s sign.
It doesn’t look particularly expensive, but there are a few sparkling gems attached, and it’s hung at the top of the shop in large letters that passersby can recognize at a glance.

The once shabby-looking exterior of the alchemy shop now exudes the feel of a neat private alchemy shop.

“Ow, my bones…”

My whole body was screaming, probably from repeatedly standing and sitting.

It was a much-needed break time after a long while.
Now that the Swordsmanship Department’s practice season has taken a break, the alchemy shop is no longer crowded with muscleheads like before.
Instead, word has spread that my magic tools perform better compared to those purchased privately, so not only the Swordsmanship Department but students from other departments often visit the alchemy shop out of curiosity.

The main products are three items: [Low-grade Health Potion], [Low-grade Mana Potion], and [Low-grade Antidote].
The remaining two slots are sometimes filled with stone-type items like [Explosion Stone], and sometimes with magic tools I’m trying for the first time.
Regardless of the type, all items sell out every day.

Thanks to this, for about two hours from the start of my shift, I was inevitably stuck with customers.

“Senior! I’m here!!”

As I was absentmindedly looking at the sign with a cigarette in my mouth, a familiar voice was heard from somewhere.

Brown hair sticking out like a sea urchin was waving from afar.
It was Morphine, the damn junior who runs a tab at the alchemy shop almost every other day.

The petite girl next to him who came along had light green hair and green eyes.
She was also a familiar face.

“Morphine. And… Foxtail?”
“I-it’s Delia!”

Goodness. I thought my ears would fall off.
Indeed, that voice that could focus everyone in the lecture hall hasn’t gone anywhere.
Plus, she has good hearing.
I deliberately spoke quietly when they were at a distance, but she heard that?

I first put out my cigarette and entered the shop with them.

“What’s this combination? Do you two know each other?”

With a tinkling sound, the door of the alchemy shop opened.

“Ah, we’re taking a class together this time and got paired up for a group project. But Senior, do you know Delia too?”
“Yeah. I got hit by her once before.”

Morphine looked at Delia with a shocked “What?!”

Unable to hold it in, Delia’s face turned red.
A red foxtail.

“That’s because you wouldn’t wake up, Senior…”

Her voice gets smaller as she lowers her head timidly.
Now she’s back to the foxtail I knew.

“So why are you here? If you’ve come to run another tab, you’re really dead this time.”

Excluding Delia whom he recently met, Morphine is the only junior I know in the Alchemy Department.

I’ve never been to a freshman welcome party or peer training camp, so I originally didn’t know anyone in the department.
Even for meals, unless I’m eating with Ruen or Shunika, I almost always eat alone because I have no friends.

Freshman welcome party?
I wanted to go too.
Really.
I even signed up to go.
It’s just that I overslept that day and couldn’t participate.

So I had no acquaintances in the department, regardless of whether they were seniors or juniors, but Morphine was a junior I got to know by chance and became friendly with.
The reason wasn’t anything special.
We became smoking buddies after meeting while smoking on the rooftop.
I approached him because it was interesting to see him crouched in a corner smoking cheap tobacco.

Only after we became closer over time did I realize that this junior talks excessively.

“No, no, no. This time I really came for the group project, I’m telling you. You see, the liberal arts class I’m taking this time is ‘Understanding Magic Circuits’, and for the midterm replacement, they gave us a task to find magic circuits embedded in everyday life or something like that. So I thought, ah! When it comes to magic circuits in everyday life, it’s definitely magic tools! And when it comes to magic tools, it’s the alchemy shop! And when it comes to the alchemy shop, of course it’s Senior’s…”

Fuck.
It feels like my ears are bleeding.
But as I listened, a familiar story came up and I became interested.

“Understanding Magic Circuits?”
“Ah, yes! Come to think of it, Professor Welter Bluecliff praised you a lot! He said you’re a genius undergraduate who has reached the professor level in understanding magic circuits! As expected, Senior, you’re amazing. So, about that, Senior, could I possibly get one low-grade health potion on tab…”
“Do you want to die?”
“I’m sorry.”

After dismissing Morphine’s attempt to run a tab in the midst of confusion, I looked at Delia.

Now I remembered.

The familiar name, Welter Bluecliff. The professor of the ‘Understanding Magic Circuits’ class.
And Delia Bluecliff.
They were father and daughter.
Delia was the daughter of the professor who gave me my first A grade in my life.
I had vaguely heard from Shunika that the professor’s daughter was entering as a freshman this time, but when I actually met her, I couldn’t remember.

Only then did I understand Delia’s words about respecting me.
Because I could roughly picture it now.
The man who made such a fuss over one of my reports, wouldn’t he have done the same at home?
I was probably constantly preached about as a great hero aspirant or a promising professor candidate.

Delia was a victim of indoctrination-style character education.

“Foxtail. Don’t believe your dad’s words too much. I’m not that great of a person.”

Somehow sighing as I said this, Delia, who had been quiet until now, quickly shook her head.

“N-no…! Senior, you really are great! Making potions in your second year… You make other magic tools really well too… That’s why the alchemy shop is doing so well now…!”

Making magic tools directly was like a dream for Alchemy Department freshmen.
Because they focus on handling mana and alchemy magic in the 1st and 2nd years, the magic tools that they can only start making in earnest in the 3rd year seemed too far away.
Especially since skilled alchemists can easily make money with magic tools, there were many students in the Alchemy Department who dreamed of getting rich quick.

“And I’m not Foxtail…”

Although she seemed timid, Delia was someone who always said what needed to be said.
This is why it makes me want to call her Foxtail even more.

Smiling slightly, I turned to Morphine and asked.

“So? What does coming here have to do with your assignment? Is it like a field trip or something?”
“Yes! After all, aren’t magic tools the most integrated with magic circuits in everyday life, Senior? So Delia and I thought, this is it! We have to research magic tools! So we rushed straight to the alchemy shop. The alchemy shop has the most magic tools in the academy, right? Hahaha.”

Magic tools are objects that exert magical effects.
Naturally, they each have magic circuits embedded in them.
Although they’re not visible unless you use appraisal magic.

Even if they observe and see this directly, they probably won’t make any surprising discoveries, but just roughly writing down their impressions should be enough to whip up a report.
After all, it’s a lecture that falls under first-year liberal arts subjects.

If he had thought and intended this far, Morphine was surprisingly smart, unlike his appearance.

“Well, alright. Just look around for a bit and go. If customers start crowding in, leave on your own accord. You know, do it neatly and cleanly, right?”
“Yes, understood!”
“Alright. Foxtail, good luck too.”
“It’s Delia!”

I smiled and put my pipe tobacco in my mouth.
Originally, smoking was prohibited inside the shop as it was considered part of the school grounds, but it should be fine now since there are no customers and only juniors who came for observation.
If they don’t like it, they can become seniors themselves.

After a little while, customers started to crowd in gradually.

There might be people who came to buy my magic tools, but there were also many who came purely to look at the magic tools in the alchemy shop.
Actually, even if I want to sell my magic tools, I can’t because they’re already sold out.
Still, it wasn’t as crowded as before to the point of forming lines, so I gestured to Morphine and Delia that it was okay.

But while everyone was looking at the items, one strange person caught my eye.
He was sneakily looking around, then pretending to examine an antidote placed at the outermost part, suddenly put it inside his clothes.
Then he acted as if nothing happened and continued looking at other items.

Having witnessed this very clearly, I was momentarily dumbfounded.
How can you steal so obviously?

“Excuse me. The person wearing the beanie. Come over here. You shouldn’t steal items.”

At my words, the man flinched and looked around with a surprised expression for a moment.
Then, realizing I was pointing at him, he approached me with a fierce expression, pointing his finger at me.

“W-what, you bastard.”
“You shouldn’t steal items.”

When did this guy ever see me to curse at me?
It was funny that he was being brazen after getting caught stealing, but I was dumbfounded that he suddenly approached cursing.

This man wearing a beanie and glasses kept making an expression as if he was wronged.

“You, you, don’t you read the newspaper? Don’t you read the newspaper? You, how poor are you?”
“What are you talking about? If you want to buy something, you need to pay for it. You were just trying to steal and leave just now.”
“D-do you not know about the financial crisis? D-don’t you know about the financial crisis now? You, you poor bastard?”
“Financial crisis?”

The man was suddenly saying nonsensical things.
What financial crisis?

As the argument seemed to be getting longer, customers in the shop and my juniors approached to mediate.

“Excuse me, mister. Just put the item back and leave. Don’t do this here.”
“There are people waiting behind, please come out quickly.”
“Senior… are you okay…?”

The man, seeing that no one was on his side, turned his body and pointed his finger in all directions.

It was like a struggle overcome by anger.

“W-why are you only doing this to me? Why are you only picking on me, you b-bastards.”

By this point, I thought he might be a person lacking social skills.
Otherwise, there’s no way he could behave like this in this situation.

Cornered, the man finally put down the antidote he had stolen on the counter and left the shop with an expression full of resentment.
And he didn’t forget to add one last thing.

“Y-you poor-looking bastard. I-it must be hard for you to make a living. You, you must find it hard to make a living.”

Everyone in the shop, including the juniors, had a dazed expression at the sight of the man who just said what he wanted to say until the end and left.
It was truly a type of person they had never seen before in their lives.

I scratched my head.
Is he really an idiot?