In the three days since his rebirth, besides fully mastering the magic knowledge Hammerhead had left behind, Ye Chui had gone back over all the information about this world stored in Hammerhead's mind. Some of the useless bits he hadn't paid much heed to—for instance, the good-for-nothing Hammerhead had quietly treated the City Lord's daughter, Aifeiya, as his dream girl, and had even hidden a portrait of her under his bed.
There were also a few rather sordid memories that interested Ye Chui even less...
Debbie, for her part, plainly didn't care in the least that Ye Chui had suddenly failed to recognize his own dream girl. As mentioned before, the girl might be small in stature, but her nerves were thick enough for anything—a perfect match for the whirlwind style of a greatswordsman...
Likewise, she just laughed off the business of Hammerhead secretly hiding Aifeiya's portrait under his bed to fantasize over: practically every man in Stan City—and a few women too—idolized Aifeiya. Her popularity ran so high that ordinary girls couldn't even muster any jealousy; and besides, Aifeiya was a rank-five swordswoman prodigy, so Debbie felt a faint admiration for her as well.
A future husband secretly admiring the girl a little was only understandable.
In fact, there were several portraits of Aifeiya hidden under Debbie's bed too...
Outside the restaurant window, watching Aifeiya's imposing figure walk slowly past, Ye Chui reined in his strange feelings. As far as his present identity was concerned, Aifeiya was far beyond his reach; more importantly, after what he had been through in his last life, his immunity to pretty girls had risen considerably. Setting aside Hammerhead's influence, his feelings for Miss Aifeiya came down to no more than what most men felt on seeing a pretty girl—idolizing her as a dream girl and fantasizing a little...
Hmm, I wonder if that portrait Hammerhead hid is still findable.
After a hearty feast at the Molan Flower Restaurant that set them back eight silver coins, Ye Chui and Debbie left wearing satisfied looks and headed for the magic cottage.
Along the way Debbie carried her greatsword on her shoulder and chattered on without pause about the glorious future ahead: "Those magic scrolls—did you really inscribe them yourself, Hammerhead? That's better than my dad! At your speed we'll be rich. Forty copper coins clear on one scroll, ten scrolls makes four silver, a hundred scrolls makes forty silver, a thousand scrolls makes four gold... Life's about to be too good to be true."
"Magic scrolls have always sold poorly. Even if I can inscribe them, whether they'll sell is another matter entirely," Ye Chui said, sweating a little.
"Nothing happens unless you make it happen—and we've got a hundred gold coins in hand, don't we?" Debbie said airily, in a wonderful mood. "Oh, right—Hammerhead, is there anything you want? You did a great deed today, so I'll make an exception and buy it for you."
"..." Ye Chui was speechless. The hundred gold coins in your hand right now—I swindled... no, earned those back myself. Doesn't saying that feel a little shameless?
Still, Ye Chui had no ulterior thoughts. Whether it was because of three days of constant company through good times and bad, or because of the memories Hammerhead had left in him, he instinctively thought of this little girl as his own family, his own little sister—and that feeling was comfortable and warm.
He looked over the assorted shops lining both sides of Stardust Avenue, and when he spotted a certain one, his eyes lit up. "Debbie, buy me a few magic books."
Magic is just too interesting!
The trouble was that Ye Chui had so far mastered only five of the thirty-two magic runes, and he was dying to learn the rest. It felt exactly like the first time he'd come across a programming language, when he couldn't wait to get every language there was into his hands.
With his hacker abilities, he was confident that once he mastered all the magic runes, he could cast any spell in existence.
He might even invent spells of his own!
Ye Chui could hardly wait another moment.
"You want magic books? Fine, then we'll go buy magic books—however many you want, I'll buy them for you!" Debbie said with great magnanimity.
Ye Chui was taken aback. Debbie—thrifty and good at managing the household, to put it kindly; stingy, to put it unkindly—was being this generous today? Was this really the same little junior sister who, when she cooked plain noodle soup, begrudged even a few extra drops of sesame oil?
"Hehe..." Debbie suddenly smiled a rather fishy smile. "Hammerhead, seems you've got real talent for inscribing magic scrolls. In a bit we'll buy a few more books and study how the other kinds of scrolls are made—our little magic shop's business is going to be booming."
Ye Chui: "..."
Right. This was his little junior sister, the one who, if she cooked too many noodles, would stuff herself silly to finish every last bite rather than waste any...
The bookstore Ye Chui had spotted was called Kara's Magic Bookstore. From Hammerhead's original memories, Ye Chui knew it was probably the largest bookstore in all of Stan City, and the only one where magic books could be bought.
Walking into the shop with Debbie, Ye Chui was at once drawn to several rows of bookshelves. It was noon, and there wasn't a single customer in the restaurant—nor a clerk, either. The owner seemed untroubled by the idea of anyone sneaking off with something. In truth, the store stood on Stardust Avenue and was the only shop in Stan City selling magic books, which said plenty about the restaurant owner's clout; anyone with the nerve to steal from it probably didn't exist.
Ye Chui scanned row after row of shelves, crammed with every sort of book. The big shelves were divided into categories like "Travels of Bards," "Swordsmen's Biographies," and "Ancient History." He browsed his way along until his gaze suddenly fixed on a thick tome on the Ancient History shelf titled An Encyclopedia of the Aigendas Continent.
Without the slightest hesitation, he pulled the heavy volume down.
The book weighed at least two jin, with a gilded leather cover and over a thousand densely packed pages, and it covered the history, culture, races, geography, species and so on of the Aigendas Continent—all sorts of odds and ends.
With this book, Ye Chui would at least gain a direct understanding of the continent he had been reborn into.
"An encyclopedia?" Debbie had followed along behind him, and was startled to see him take down such a huge volume. "Hammerhead, aren't you the least bit interested in this kind of stuff?"
If Hammerhead were interested in this stuff, I wouldn't have to buy books to read for myself...
Ye Chui cursed him silently, then explained with a smile, "I've taken a bit of an interest lately. I'll buy it and read it at home."
"Oh... all right."
Debbie glanced at the price printed on the back of the tome. In the past she would never have agreed so readily, but weren't they rich now? She even looked at Ye Chui and asked, "Hammerhead, do you want any other books?"
"I'm going to take a look at that shelf in the very back," Ye Chui said, pointing deeper into the shop. There was a small bookshelf there, but it was absolutely the most precious spot in the whole store, because the books on that shelf were magic books.
"All right then, you go look. I'll have a look at the swordsmen's biographies over there." As she spoke, Debbie took the thick volume out of Ye Chui's hands—which just showed how considerate the girl was: she was afraid the heavy book would tire Hammerhead out...
Watching the girl stroll off with a greatsword weighing a hundred-odd jin on her shoulder and a two-jin book tucked under her arm, Ye Chui silently sighed, The tough girls of my last life are utter weaklings by comparison, then turned and walked toward the shelf at the very back.
The shelf stood against the shop's innermost wall, and beside it a staircase led up to the floor above—no telling whether that was also crammed with books or something else.
An Analysis of Magical Principles
Casual Notes on the Wind Element
The Mysterious Connections Between the Basic Magical Elements
The Origin of Magic
A Compendium of Basic Offensive Spells
Book after book on magic dazzled the eye. Ye Chui worked through them earnestly, and at last his gaze came to rest on two books on the bottom shelf.
Intermediate Magic Language
Advanced Magic Language
"These are exactly the two I was looking for!" Face bright with delight, Ye Chui pulled both books out from the bottom. Who knew how long it had been since anyone touched them; they were covered in dust. He had just wiped the dust from the pages when he suddenly heard footsteps coming down the staircase nearby.
Turning his head, Ye Chui saw a pair of long, shapely legs descending.
Those legs were beautiful, giving an impression of springy, firm strength—you could almost picture a tall, slender, sexy beauty walking gracefully down, so lithe and alluring, except...
Those legs were green.
This was a female orc.