Chapter 274 : Terms Of Exchange
「A Portal Stone, huh…?」(Mark)
「Yup! A Portal Stone, a part of Schultria Village’s greatest treasure, Portal Crystal! It will be a wonderful souvenir to bring home, don’t you think?」(Deel)
Deel answered while spreading his arms exaggeratingly.
He was open to attack, but Celine didn’t seem to want to attack him, so I guess I should listen to him for now.
「You won’t be leaving Schultria Village without a Portal Stone, right? It would be a shame if you miss this rare opportunity!」(Deel)
Deel canceled his wind magic, landed on the ground, and took a few steps toward me.
He was looking at me with full confidence as if he didn’t think that I would refuse at all.
Aa-aah, I want to say, “No thanks”, so badly and see his disappointed face, but… I think it will be wise to accept his offer.
As he said, if I have a Portal Stone, I can come back to this village anytime in an instant. I can’t use teleportation magic, so it’s good to have one.
Besides, it can be used as an emergency escape method from a dangerous situation.
This world is full of dangers. You never know when you will die. I may get into a death-or-life accident in the future like when Nicola, Celine, and I almost got buried alive in the collapsing mine in Sadola.
I don’t know if I will go on a dangerous adventure in the future, but if I have a Portal Stone, I will definitely feel safer.
I once tried to refine my own Portal Stone, but I couldn’t even inject my mana into a branch of Portal Crystal as if the Portal Crystal was rejecting my mana.
I asked Celine about it and she told me that you need to be registered first so that the Portal Crystal recognizes your mana, and the person in charge of registration is Deel.
Normally, only the villagers are allowed to register, but Deel, the person in charge himself, offered me to refine my own Portal Stone even though I’m an outsider.
This is indeed a rare opportunity. However, I shouldn’t be too impatient. I need to keep my cool.
「Hmm… I think it would be great if I have a Portal Stone, and I do want one.」(Mark)
「Fwahaha! I know you want it! Marvelous! As the one in charge of registration, I will register you so that you can refine a Portal Stone!」(Deel)
「Thank you, but…」(Mark)
I turned my face to Tori-san, who was approaching us with Signa, and asked him.
「Is it okay if he decides it by himself?」(Mark)
「Normally, it’s not okay, but I know you’re not a bad person, so I don’t think it will be a problem if you have a Portal Stone. You can make one if you want. You don’t need to worry about the other elders.」(Tori)
Even though Deel is the person in charge of registration, I’m not sure if I can have the right to refine one of the most valuable items in this village with Deel’s permission alone, so I asked Tori-san since he is one of the village elders.
「Fwahaha! He’s right! Don’t worry about the other geezers. We know you’re a good guy, and that’s enough. But, before you can refine your Portal Stone, you have to promise me that you and your sister won’t leave this village until you complete your Portal Stone!」(Deel)
I knew it… He allowed me to refine a Portal Stone just to make Celine stay longer. If we can’t leave, Celine has no reason to leave either after all.
「So, Mark, what do you say? You don’t want to miss this rare opportunity, right? Right!?」(Deel)
「Mark, you shouldn’t listen to him! You don’t want a Portal Stone. What you want is to see your parents as soon as possible, right? ーPfft!」(Celine)
Celine turned her face away from Deel and tried to persuade me to not listen to him, but Celine’s face said something else.
She clearly looked like she was desperately trying not to burst into laughter. She knew that things wouldn’t go Deel’s way, and I bet that she just wanted to see Deel’s flabbergasted face.
『Khu… Khu khu!! No, I can’t laugh yet! I can’t laugh yet…!!』(Nicola)
Nicola seemed to have the same thoughts as Celine.
I’m glad that the two of them understand me very well.
I turned to Deel and answered him while looking at him with determined eyes.
「Alright, Deel-san, I accept the condition. I won’t leave this village with Nicola before I finish my Portal Stone.」(Mark)
「That’s great! Marvelous! Fwahaha!」(Deel)
「I’m sorry, Celine, but I might never have a Portal Stone if I miss this chance.」(Mark)
「No way… Mark, please reconsider it! ーPfft!」(Celine)
Again, Celine said that as if she was trying to stop me, but she looked so excited somehow.
「Oi, oi, seriously? I thought I had travel companions this time, but in the end, I will be going by myself like usual, huh?」(Kazuul)
Kazuul-san looked disappointed. He probably thought that we would stay for months here until I finished my Portal Stone.
Seeing Kazuul-san’s face, Celine approached him and whispered to him.
「Don’t worry, it won’t take Mark an entire day. You should stay and wait for him.」(Celine)
「Huh? What do you mean by it won’t take an entire day? He wants to create his Portal Stone, right?」(Kazuul)
「Fufu. You’ll see~」(Celine)
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Pfft~
I wonder what colour will it be… Rainbow?
Plot twist : rainbow is legendary and top elder know and bow to him
He’s probably already been working on one…
So this waste of time still continues on… Another baffling question: why had that village decided to entrust any official duties to that irritating buffoon? I guess labor shortage and maybe nepotism?