For a shop owned by a cat, the merchandise was surprisingly ordinary. Ian left the grooming cat alone and scanned the items displayed on the shelves.
Beast’s blood. Organs of mystery. Sahara Desert sand and Antarctic glaciers, lava, sandstone, cow testicles, human wrists, eyeballs, hearts, and so on…….
A wide variety of items were lined up in glass bottles.
It was a list that would make any ordinary person faint, but to mages, they were materials so familiar and frequently used that they were almost tedious. Ian stared at a candy made primarily from the eyeball of a male deer, then turned his head toward the cat.
“Are you the owner?”
“Then would I be a thief cat, nya?”
The cat immediately retorted.
“I am called Pleas, nya. I am the owner of this shop, nya.”
“……I heard this was a chain store. Do you manage them all personally?”
“Naturally, nya. This body is my familiar. He is called Leopold General August the Fifth, nya. The one in charge of the Korean branch, nya.”
It was a name that had simply crammed every fancy word imaginable into it. A naming sense so grandiose that some Roman emperor would have had a fit hearing it. Just from this, he felt he could already tell what kind of person the mage named Pleas was.
“Over there in Japan is the Seventh, in China is the Sixth, and in Russia is the Eighth, nya. I control them all, nya.”
“So that means that body is a real cat, and you’re the one speaking? That, uh, Pleas?”
“That’s right, nya.”
Pleas washed her face like a cat and sharpened her claws on the wall-mounted scratcher. Then, looking at her sharpened claws, she curled the corners of her mouth up in satisfaction.
“Perfect, nya…….”
“…….”
Ian let out a hollow laugh and shook his head.
He hadn’t expected to meet a crazy woman even worse than Dolores here, but a single cat that popped out of nowhere had changed his mind.
Still, well, as long as they could communicate, it didn’t matter much. If he had planned to build a friendship, that would be different, but he had no such intentions.
And where else in life would he get the chance to converse with a cat in human language? Ian decided to simply enjoy the situation.
“I’m looking for a goat’s heart, thread woven from virgin’s blood, and a plant that grew drinking virgin’s blood. Do you have them here?”
“Common things, nya. Follow me, nya.”
Pleas answered Ian and jumped down from the counter. Then she pointed at a display case in the corner with her front paw.
“First of all, everything in that display case over there is a beast’s organ, nya. In the case of a goat’s heart, there are two—a male and a female—which one do you want?”
“The female.”
“Then take the one on the left, nya. The price is fifty million, nya.”
“……It’s just a beast’s heart, and it’s that expensive? Aren’t you ripping me off too much?”
“Nyanyanya.”
Pleas laughed. Her green serpentine eyes turned toward Ian.
“Are you a newbie who hasn’t been a mage for long, nya? Seeing you surprised at the price, this is quite funny since it’s been a while since I’ve seen such a case, nya.”
“…….”
“Removing a beast’s organ is easy, but processing it so it can be used in magic and preventing it from rotting over time requires a rather tricky refinement process, nya. Naturally, the price includes that labor cost, nya.”
Pat.
Pleas jumped onto the display case and sat in a loaf position.
“Do you want lower quality materials, nya? Then order from the Cartel, nya. They sell items that can be used in various places, including offerings, nya. But we only handle materials usable exclusively for magic, nya. If you think it’s expensive, go somewhere else, nya.”
“……Haah.”
Ian, who had been listening quietly to her explanation, let out a deep sigh.
His godmother wouldn’t have requested something also sold at the Cartel for no reason. She must have done so because the quality of goods sold here was far superior.
And though the prices were quite absurd, it didn’t matter much since his godmother would reimburse him anyway. He could sufficiently endure a temporary financial bleed. If his account lacked funds, he could simply contact his godmother right here and receive more.
“I hope it boasts performance worthy of the price.”
In the end, Ian picked up the glass bottle containing the heart. Pleas smiled widely. Though it was but a cat’s smile.
“A wise choice, nya. Did I open a chain store for nothing, nya? Trust me and leave it to me, nya!”
“I’ll purchase the virgin-spun thread and the plant now as well. Please guide me.”
“Got it, nya. Follow me, nya.”
Pleas hummed a tune under her breath, dropped to the floor, and trotted along on all four legs. Yuna, who had been silent until now, watched the sight with her mouth agape.
“I-It’s cute, unlike its foul mouth when it talks…….”
“Nyanyanya. All my familiars are originally cute, nya. It’s because they take after me, nya.”
“S-Suddenly it seems kind of ugly though…….”
“What did you say, nya?”
The approximately two-meter thread spun by a virgin and the plant grown drinking virgin’s blood each boasted a price of roughly twenty million won.
Thus, including the heart, a total expenditure of ninety million was spent. With roughly three hundred million in his account, a third of it had vanished in an instant.
‘It’s nothing less than a department store that only sells luxury goods.’
As if to prove that it was indeed a closed-off mage society, the prices were unreservedly wicked. Ian let out a deep sigh and swiped his card.
“Nyanyanyanya! Thanks for the cool transaction, nya!”
“……Yeah.”
After placing the items for his godmother separately into a box, Ian toured the rest of the shop with Yuna. He needed to buy materials for alchemy as well, and if possible, he intended to acquire items for contract magic.
The Blue Shackles and the Tome of Contracts were fundamentally more focused on contracts.
Though numerous stealth and defense-type magics were recorded as well, the volume dedicated to contract magic was far greater. And a portion of summoning formulas for spirits and mysteries related to contracts were also recorded. There even existed rituals to call upon cosmic entities.
Of course, it was impossible to summon an entity with an absurdly high weight class out of nowhere. Such beings were not recorded in the grimoire.
Instead, summoning something like a cosmic cat was possible.
A cosmic cat’s appearance wasn’t much different from a real cat. The breed resembled a Persian, and its size was ordinary. However, as a creature that swam through the universe, it possessed abilities befitting that nature.
It didn’t need to breathe, didn’t feel hunger, wasn’t affected by temperature, and so on.
Aside from survival abilities developed for extreme environments, it lacked other aggressive traits, but even so, it was a species with overwhelmingly superior defense. That was the cosmic cat. Its lifespan was also far longer than a human’s.
However, even if summoned, it was nothing more than a pet with no other use, so he had no intention of contracting with a cosmic cat in particular. He’d be better off just raising an ordinary cat.
Anyway.
Apart from such cosmic entities, it was also possible to summon spirits like gnomes, salamanders, sylphs, and undines.
The four elemental spirits commonly handled by elementalists.
Some might think that due to their high affinity with the four elements, they could project firepower like four-element magic, but spirits had absolutely no aptitude for combat. At best, all they could do was provide support.
Thanks to this, there were almost no elementalists who fought directly; most frequently acted as supporters who aided other mages. It wasn’t the “do-it-for-me” clicker job commonly seen in fiction.
Because of these traits, Ian had no intention of summoning spirits either. The magic he used was not of the earth but of the cosmos. The four elemental spirits had no capacity to assist him. He’d be lucky if they didn’t explode and die trying to help.
So, spirits were rejected. It would be far better to put shackles on a mystery and handle it as he pleased.
Demons or angels wouldn’t be bad either. And if they seemed lackluster, he could just as well put a chain around a mage or esper’s neck. Unlike ordinary contract magic, contracts with Outer Gods could be forcibly fulfilled unilaterally regardless of the other party.
‘First, neutralize them, then put them in shackles and dominate them. That would be quite a sight,’
Ian thought as he carefully examined the shelves.
“Hmm…… maybe I’ll just buy, buy this…… anyway, my magic doesn’t really need materials……”
Behind Ian, Yuna muttered as she lifted a blue pendant. Ian turned his head.
“What is that?”
“I-It’s nothing special…… it’s a jewel made by collecting and mixing the blood of mages who donated their organs, then solidifying it. I-It reduces the risk of magic……”
“That’s not bad? Would your efficiency increase if you used it? You said your blood decreases every time you use magic.”
“Y-Yeah. I could probably use magic a few more times than usual……”
Yuna casually hung the pendant around her neck.
“How is it……?”
She slightly raised her head to look up at Ian. His face was reflected clearly in her cloudy black eyes.
Ian burst into a laugh and answered.
“It’s nice. It suits you.”
“R-Really……? Ehehe…… then I have to buy it……”
At Ian’s praise, Yuna giggled and went to pay for the pendant. He faintly heard the mention of three hundred million and Yuna’s surprised voice.
Ian turned his attention away from her and picked up a few necessary items.
Things for contract magic, and things for alchemy.
Carrying almost ten items in his arms, he set them down on the counter, and Pleas informed him of the price while sitting in a loaf position.
“Altogether it was originally a little over two hundred million, but I’ll give you a special discount, nya. Give me one hundred fifty million, nya.”
“If you’re going to discount, cut it down more.”
“You wanna die, nya?”
He didn’t want to die. Ian smiled faintly and swiped his card through the reader. With a ding, one hundred fifty million disappeared from his account.
His account had emptied in an instant, but since he could earn it back quickly anyway, he decided not to be too attached to it.
Ian put only the items he would take immediately into his bag, and sent larger items like bulky candlesticks or heavy chains by parcel delivery. An additional cost of one hundred thousand won was incurred.
“The delivery will arrive roughly three days later, nya. Since it’s being sent through the Magic Postal Service, your address won’t be leaked, nya. I don’t know the address either, nya.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Nyanyanyanya. Then, customer? Thanks for the transaction, nya. Let’s meet again if the opportunity arises, nya.”
“Yeah, got it.”
Ian nodded and lightly stroked Pleas’s head. She closed her eyes and purred.
After a brief moment of this, Ian opened his mouth with an “Ah” as a thought suddenly came to mind.
“Just one thing. Is there a shop around here that handles this cigarette?”
He pulled out a small bit of tobacco from his pocket. Pleas sniffed the lemon scent wafting from the cigarette and nodded.
“They sell it at the shop across the street, nya. Probably about five hundred thousand won per pack, nya.”
“Much cheaper than the Cartel…….”
“Did you buy it there? Don’t do that, nya. The mage specialty items sold at the Cartel are marked up several times more, nya. They’re just money-sucking demons, nya, demons.”
Ian smiled bitterly. He stroked Pleas’s head a few more times, then entered the shop across the street with Yuna and purchased ten packs of cigarettes.
The shopkeeper was an old man with a shiny bald head; perhaps because he had formally studied alchemy, he produced five packs of cigarettes on the spot. The remaining five packs were pre-made ones he handed over.
“Five million. Pay up.”
So he did. Ian coolly swiped his card, held the heavy bundle of cigarettes, and chuckled. Yuna, standing beside him, stared at him with a displeased expression.
“C-chain smoker…….”
“These are quit-smoking cigarettes. I’m not a chain smoker anymore.”
“A-A lie with your soul in it…….”
The corners of Yuna’s lips trembled. Ian flicked her forehead and took out his phone to contact his godmother.
‘There were a few messages…….’
Messages he hadn’t checked because he’d set it to silent. Ian quickly skimmed through his texts before contacting his godmother.
[Kim Iseo: Mr. Sin Ian, I am leaving this message because you did not answer my call. To get straight to the point, I would like to request your support in an Administration Bureau operation. It is a place called the Five Senses Museum; most of the personnel who returned from a recent operation died—]
[Cecilia: What are you doing? Wanna play a game?]
[I Seoa: I’m preparing to move. I’m coming up to Seoul soon. The Seoul mages should be trembling at the appearance of a national-power-grade mage.]
[Kim Yul: (photo)]
[Kim Yul: This is the new swimsuit I bought. How is it?]
He quickly filtered out the messages with little substance from those that had come in. After that, all that remained were Kim Yul’s swimsuit photo and Kim Iseo’s message.
“Hmm.”
Ian quickly replied [Don’t send me stuff like this.] to Kim Yul’s message, saved the photo, and then checked Kim Iseo’s message.
Roughly summarized, it said that a response team had been deployed to a place called the Five Senses Museum, but most of them had died and only about five personnel had returned. It also mentioned that a painting drawn by a mage named Irene of Laplace had been discovered inside.
‘Laplace again.’
It was a damned place he frequently got entangled with. Ian clicked his tongue, left a message saying they’d talk face-to-face later, and then called his godmother.
She answered before the ringtone even sounded twice.
[Hello?]
“Yes, Ms. Eunha. I’ve finished purchasing all the items you requested. May I come deliver them right away?”
[Ah, yes. You can come right away. And it’s about time to repair the magic cast on your bike, so bring that too. I’ll take care of it.]
“Understood. Then…….”
Ian was about to end the call, but seeing Yuna standing blankly beside him, he spoke again.
“I think I’ll bring one more person with me, would that be alright?”
[Uh…… who?]
The godmother’s voice lowered instantly. Ian answered with a smile.
“It’s Strawberry Yogurt Smoothie.”
[Ah. That troublemaker.]
Ian burst out laughing at the immediate answer that returned without hesitation.