Chapter 72: “You’re embarrassed, right?”
Seeing her twinkling gaze, Adrian couldn’t help but ask.
"Did something catch your eye?"
"Oh, no, it’s not that." She hurriedly shook her head. "Seeing this shop, I thought we could buy some magical equipment with special abilities. Like maybe a wand with an inbuilt spell that casts fireballs when infused with mana, or something like that."
Adrian shook his head.
"It’s a utility shop; there are no weapons here. Besides, Fragment relic weapons are too rare and too valuable; you wouldn’t find them in such shops."
Since Fragment relics came into existence naturally and couldn’t be artificially created, they were incredibly rare. And the ones that could be used as weapons were even rarer. Such objects would be bought the moment they appeared in a shop.
And the buyer would, of course, be nobles.
Evangeline hung her head low, looking deflated as her excitement was suddenly drained.
"But," Adrian continued speaking. "There could be things here that could be of use to you. I am also somewhat interested in looking around and might buy something if it catches my eye."
Evangeline raised her head back up as a smile slowly returned to her face.
After a bit of discussion, they both decided to buy one item and thus went looking around. While Adrian could theoretically buy this whole shop if he used his status as the child of House Ravenshade and sent the bill to his mother, doing so was probably not a good idea.
He had experienced enough of her to know that his mother was not the kind to pamper him. She would probably make him pay for those actions by giving him some absurd test or forcing him into some extremely undesirable situation.
So Adrian decided to buy only two things, since that was the most he would be able to get away with.
After about an hour, the two of them met up once again. They were both carrying an item in their hands.
Adrian glanced at the object in his palm. It was a small, bronze nail covered in thick black rust, about as long as his index finger—which wasn’t too big considering that he was only a child no older than ten.
He remembered the contents of the paper below this nail.
{Name: Curse of Nortos
Type: Fragment Relic
Fragment Relic Grade: Grade two
Fragment Relic Age: One hundred three years
Price: 1,85,000 lux
Description: All life ends in death. It is the most absolute law of this world. Alchemy and forbidden magic may artificially create life, but none could create artificial death. So Praise Death! Worship Death! Bow before Death!!!
Function: If this nail is stabbed into a being’s flesh and isn’t removed within twenty-four hours, then that being shall die. This effect is not absolute and may fail to trigger if the target is too powerful.}
This was the closest thing to a weapon he had been able to find, something that could kill. There were several other Fragment relics with much more practical effects—that painting would be a good example.
But Adrian chose this bronze nail in the end because of how small and easy to carry it was. Although he didn’t think he would ever have a use for this, having more options was always a good thing.
"Adi, Adi, what did you choose? Show me!"
An excited Evangeline pulled on his clothes, rushing him. But as her eyes paused at the nail in his palm, her excitement slowly turned into confusion.
"A rusted nail? It looks kinda old as well. Adi, what does it do?"
"What does it do?" He thought for a bit. "If I stab someone with this nail, they will die. That’s the gist of it."
Of course, there was a one-day time delay between stabbing and death, but there was no need to explain that to her. It wasn’t like she was the one he would stab with this nail.
She made a strange face, but he ignored it, moving his gaze to the thing she was carrying in her own hands. But as he tried to take a closer look, she closed her fist and hid it behind her back.
"No! It’s a secret, you can’t look!"
Adrian furrowed his brows.
’What’s with her?’
Her sudden actions had somehow made him more curious about what she had chosen for herself. All he had been able to see before she hid it was that the object wasn’t much bigger in size than the rusted nail in his hand.
But in the end, he simply decided to ignore it all, since it was none of his business.
The two of them returned to the shop’s reception. The shopkeeper seemed to have fallen asleep once again. Adrian wondered how this shop hadn’t been robbed yet with a shopkeeper like this.
This time, Evangeline was the one who woke the shopkeeper. The woman sat up straight and yawned.
"Are the two of you done looking around? Anything caught your eye?"
Adrian held out the nail in front of her.
"I would like to buy this."
"Oh! Me too! I would like to buy this!"
Evangeline followed up, showing the woman the object she had been hiding from him. Though she made sure not to let him get a glimpse of it by hiding it from his sight with her other hand.
The woman pulled something from her drawer and looked at it for a while before putting it back.
"Two Fragment Relics, both Grade Two. That will be four hundred and twenty thousand lux." Then the shopkeeper pierced them with her sharp gaze. "You do have the money, right, kids? I hope you two aren’t playing around."
Her words were sharp, and the meaning was clear.
She didn’t think the two of them would have nearly enough money to pay. Well, any sane person would think this way, so he couldn’t blame her.
According to what Adrian knew, even rich people didn’t earn more than fifty thousand lux a month. Only wealthy merchants would have hundreds of thousands in their pockets like that.
’She had probably assumed we’d only buy cheap magitools worth no more than ten thousand lux. That’s probably why she had allowed us to browse through the shop.’
"Well?" the shopkeeper asked once again, her tone becoming sharper. "Can you pay or not? It’s better for you to put those Fragment relics here and leave instead of wasting my time like—"
Adrian pulled out something from his pocket, and the results were instant. The woman instantly shut her mouth the moment her gaze fell on what he was holding. Her eyes went wide as she instinctively spoke.
"H-house Ravenshade!"
What Adrian was holding in his hand was the insignia of House Ravenshade. It was something only the direct line of the family could possess. This insignia was essentially proof of Adrian’s authority as a member of the Ravenshade family.
He took a step closer and locked eyes with the woman as he spoke in his usual dull manner.
"You should come and collect the money by tomorrow evening. Use my name if you face any problems. It’s Adrian Caelis Ravenshade."
The woman seemed too shocked to utter a reply, not that he waited for one. He turned away as soon as he finished speaking and walked out of the shop as Evangeline followed behind.
For a while, they both walked quietly, feeling the gentle warmth of the morning sunlight on their skin. The air carried a faint scent of wood and coal.
After a while, Adrian looked over his shoulder.
"Is there anywhere else you want to go, or should we return to the mansion now? I personally think it’s time to end this ’adventure’ now and save further exploration for later."
The girl suddenly puffed out her cheeks, pouting.
"First of all, we decided to call each other by our nicknames, but I’m the only one actually doing that! Adi, forget the nickname; you don’t even use my name. So I’m not gonna listen to you until you call me using my nickname, humph."
Saying that, she turned away.
Adrian tilted his head.
’What kind of childish behavior is this? Is she throwing a tantrum?’
At least it seemed that way, and she was doing so in the middle of the streets. More than that, her reason for throwing the tantrum was also unreasonable.
"First of all, I never agreed to using nicknames; it was something you decided by yourself—"
She suddenly turned to him and cut him off before he could even finish.
"I finally understand. Adi, you’re embarrassed, aren’t you?"
’...Huh?’
"What are you—?"
"You’re embarrassed, right?"
He shut his mouth. She moved closer, pushing her face in front of him as a pair of violet eyes locked with his.
"I’m right, aren’t I?"
"...."
"Why are you quiet, Adi? Answer me~."
It felt as though he was talking to a wall, so he decided to give up, and a heavy sigh escaped his lips.
"Evangel. Here, I did what you asked, so can we move on now?"
"Hehe"
She giggled cheerfully, bouncing around with him at the center. Then she suddenly pointed somewhere far into the distance. The direction she pointed at was one of the few districts he didn’t mention while he was telling her about the districts of this city.
"There, I wanna go there next!"
