" ": You talking

' ': You thinking

* *: narrator/Voice-off

Slave-trader: there. That should do it.

Naofumi: Hey... Are you really okay with this ?

Raphtalia: really ? What are you saying after all that ?!

Naofumi: No... it's just that...

Slave-trader: Nonetheless, I'm quite surprised. To think that slave would grow up to be such a pretty woman... You didn't killed her, and made her value go up. This is how a true slave master should be, don't you think ?

Naofumi: Hey now... What kind of person do you see me as ?

Slave-trader: I'm quite amazed ! Such a beautiful piece could go for at least 20 gold pieces, even if she's not a virgin !

Raphtalia: What ?! Right now I'm Naofumi's slave... besides, I'm still a virgin !!

Slave-trader: Really ?! How about 35 gold coins then ?!

Naofumi: 35 gold coins, you say ?!

Raphtalia: NAOFUMI ?!!

Naofumi: S-Sorry... I just didn't expect you to be so highly valued...

Slave-trader: Of course ! My judgment is absolutely accurate !

"Hey, what are those ?"

"They weren't here last time..."

Slave-trader: Oh, you have a good eye ! Those are the "front" merchandise of this store.

Raphtalia: These are monster eggs, Y/n.

"Monster eggs ? Are there actually people interested in such a thing ?"

Raphtalia: Well, those birds pulling carriages are monsters, aren't they ? You must have seen them at least once.

Slave-trader: these are 100 silver coins per try ! it's a monster egg lottery ! If you get a winning one, you might get a dragon ! that's quite the profit ! And if you buy 10, You get a chance to draw once from a box of eggs worth at least 300 coins each.

Naofumi: ... So this is like a compgacha, isn't it ? How can we know if there's a winning one in the lot to begin with ?

Slave-trader: That's unthinkable ! We'd never trick our customers or lie about our products !!

Naofumi: What's with that...

Raphtalia: Considering how much of the support money we have left, right now 100 silver coins would be a bit... What do you say ?

"I'll take one."

Slave-trader: thanks for your purchase !

Naofumi: Y/n, are you sure about that ? We don't know what will come out of this egg...

"I know, it's one of those birds."

Raphtalia: What ? How ?!

"While he wasn't looking, I used Hermit Purple to analyze all the eggs, and picked the one I wanted."

Naofumi: You sly little...

"I know, I know, I'm really proud of myself too. While we're at it, want to go eat ? Now would be a good time."

Raphtalia: Ah, about that... here !

Raphtalia: I asked the castle kitchen for their leftovers, there was so much food at the banquet, so...

Naofumi: That was very thoughtful of you.

Raphtalia: It's been a while since they were made, so the taste might have dropped a bit...

Naofumi: I don't care, it's not like they have any taste... ... ...

"Naofumi ?"

Naofumi: ... It has flavor ? Up until now, nothing I've eaten in this world has had any taste... Delicious...

Raphtalia: I'm glad... I've always been worried. Naofumi, from now on, please share your pain with me ! I'm sure, together, we can overcome it !

Naofumi: Raphtalia...

Raphtalia: ... Yes ?

Raphtalia: AH... !! AAAHHH.. !!!

Naofumi: Sorry, did you dislike that ?

Raphtalia: No no no no noooo !!

Naofumi: It's fine if you're mad, that was rude of me. I won't do it again.

Raphtalia: I-I-It's... It's fine !!

'Heh... The sky really looks beautiful today.'

Naofumi: Forty-five days and fourteen hours until the next wave ?! That's more than a month !

"Oh well, what should we do until then ?"

Naofumi: Why don't we upgrade your weapons a bit, Raphtalia ?

Raphtalia: Naofumi, don't you think you're going through your funds a bit too quickly ? My current equipment is fine, spending that much money is just asking for trouble, isn't it ?

Naofumi: Well, then...

Apothecary: Welcome.

Naofumi: Would you buy this medicine from me ?

Apothecary: Very well.

Raphtalia: I think you should hold on to the medicine you made for a little longer...

Naofumi: Well, I made a lot when I was preparing for the wave. There shouldn't be any problem with selling them before they go bad. 'Though with my current crafting skills, I won't even get that much for them. I definitely have room for improvement...'

Apothecary: Ah, just a minute. You're the shield and staff heroes, aren't you ?

Naofumi: Huh ? What's that for ?

Apothecary: it's a recipe book for medium-level medicines.

Naofumi: No, that's not what I meant... Why are you giving it to us ?

Apothecary: Well, you saved a relative of mine in Ryute village. Consider this my thanks. I was asked to help you if you happened to come by here. It's second-hand, so you can have it for free.

Raphtalia: Wow ! Thank you so much !! Isn't that great, Naofumi ?!

Naofumi: Ye... yeah...

'Just as I thought, he can't read a word of it... In his defense, no one told us our weapons could only translate their language when it's spoken, and not written.'

Apothecary: Well ? It should be helpful to you now, right ?

Naofumi: Y... yeah.

Apothecary: That reminds me, the magic shop owner told me she wanted to thank you as well ?

"Magic shop ? There's a magic shop here ? Why didn't you tell me sooner ?!"

And so I sped off the shop.

Magician: My, my ! So you are the shield and staff heroes ! It seems our staff owes you a great debt !!

Naofumi: O-okay...

Magician: Now please, sit, sit ! My, my ! It seems you have a natural talent for recovery and protection magic !

"I guess that's to be expected from the Shield hero."

Magician: And for you, miss, it's light and dark magic.

Naofumi: H.. hey... I heard you wanted to thank us. Could you be...

Magician: Yes, I'm a magic dealer ! Here, these grimoires are all novice level, but they're packed with lots of spells ! Please, take them !

'More books... Poor Naofumi.'

Magician: Grimoires are imposing, but with serious effort, you should be able to learn suitable magic from them. I would really love to teach you myself, but I assume you will have to leave town sooner or later.

"Don't worry about it, I'll teach him, even if he don't want it, I'll make those spells enter his mind by force."

Magician: Are you sure you don't need some for yourself ? As the staff hero, you must always be needing new spells to learn, right ?

"And while it's the case, if I need a spell, I can simply create it. The very laws of time and space are already at my will. But don't worry, I'll make sure that they learn to wield magic.

Naofumi: Yeah, that's right... You have my thanks.

Naofumi: Say, can you read, Raphtalia ?

Raphtalia: As long as it's not too difficult, yes...

Naofumi: Right, I see... I managed to dodge the issue until now, but I guess now I have to learn it. This world's alphabet, I mean...

"Yeah, me too. Using a spell each time I need to read something is troublesome."

Naofumi: You can't read ?

"I don't remember saying I could. My spell translates everything for me, but learning to read by myself will definitely be worth it."

Raphtalia: I will learn it together with you !

"That'll be helpful."

Naofumi: You've been looking really happy for a while now, Raphtalia. Did something good happen ?

Raphtalia: Honestly ! Don't you have any feelings about what we've done here ? Everything we did was correct ! W weren't able to save everyone, but the people of Ryute village are grateful for the ones we did protect. I'm really happy, and proud of you.

Naofumi: Raphtalia...

'She was a victim of the waves too, after all. Seeing the disaster in Ryute village must have reminded her of that...'

A few days later:

Raphtalia: -Uys... Guys !!

Naofumi: Mnn ? What ? Hey, wake up, Y/n...

"Mmm... ? Mh ? Gah ! My finals !! They're today !! Why didn't my damn alarm... Oh, hey guys... Wait..."

Raphtalia: Look at the egg ! It's hatching !!

As soon as it saw us, that... Bird... Immediately jumped on top of my head, chirping happily.

"It sure is lively."

Raphtalia: It must think you're its parents !

Naofumi: it really was a bird after all, but what kind of monster is this ?

Raphtalia: I don't know... Let's go ask a villager.

Villager: Ah, that's a filolial.

"A filolial ?"

Villager: Most of ours died during the wave. Look over there. They like pulling carts, and if you don't let them pull carts from time to time, they'll become restless. It's in their nature.

Naofumi: For living beings to behave like that...

Villager: Is something wrong ?

"Nothing. What do they eat ?"

Villager: At first, it's best to feed them warm bean paste, but when they're big, they'll eat whatever you give them. If you level it up, it'll become big that much faster.

"So it's kinda like Semi-humans, I see. Let's go level it up then."

Villager: Ah, Staff hero ! Please, take these beans. You don't have anything to feed it, do you ?

"Sorry, how much for those ?"

Villager: Oh, take them for free. It's fine, really. The villagers are truly grateful to you, heroes. If you won't take it as gratitude for defending the village, at least take it as a gift because you fixed it up all by yourself.

"Why can't I say no when people offer me stuff... ?"

Raphtalia: It would be great if we could earn money and benefit the villagers at the same time.

Naofumi: yeah, now that the wave's influence's is gone, we should be able to get some medicinal herbs down there.

"Leveling up, retrieving ingredients, learning to read, studying magic... I guess that's all we can do for now."

Naofumi: If we manage to create good medicine, there will be lots of demand, and we'll make money if we sell enough of it.

Raphtalia: ... Right. That's probably the best course of action.

Raphtalia: Amazing !! We managed to level it so much today !

"12 levels in just one day, that's surely something."

Naofumi: yeah, but... Don't you think... It's growing up a little TOO fast ?

The fact is, we leveled it up so much, that it was now almost bigger than my head, even though it was still sitting on top of it, chirping happily.

"That being said, I have to admit... It's starting to be really heavy."