"Ahem, ahem..."
Leon once again rolled out his stiff but reliably effective "cough-and-change-the-subject technique."
Under everyone's curious gazes, he pointed across the room at the parchment in Lydia's hands and said with a light chuckle:
"Am I really the only one who noticed? Compared to the rest of us, who slogged our way up the hard road, Lydia got a way more glamorous start."
At his prompting, the others, whose attention had been wholly captured by her skills and magic, finally shifted their eyes back to the equipment section of the parchment, and slowly began to grasp what he meant.
True enough, Lydia's magic and skills were excellent, but in this household they weren't exactly unique. With a "spec-breaker (cheat user)" like Leon out front setting the bar, no matter how outlandish someone's magic or skills were, everyone could take it in stride.
What actually made every single person, Leon included, go instantly hot-eyed with envy were those few lines describing her [Armament].
Scepter: [Mel Elsiolu]
Dagger: [Goddess's Blade]
Cloak: [Royal Cloak]
Three items, all first-class adventurer equipment. The value of each one was a dreamlike figure measured in the hundreds of millions.
The latter two were enviable in their own right, but next to the first, in the eyes of anyone who knew their stuff, they were almost trivial by comparison.
Aura especially, as a member of the elven mage tradition, understood the weight of the name [Mel Elsiolu] better than anyone.
"When Lydia introduced herself earlier, it sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it at the time."
"...One of the [Five Supreme Staves]," she murmured softly, her gaze complicated as it rested on the staff's name, which had yet to materialize. "I never imagined it was a national treasure of the Kingdom of Chulz."
"Ehh? No way!"
At her words, Laurier's eyes went round, her small face filling with surprise.
"That super~ expensive-looking scepter is actually one of the legendary [Five Supreme Staves]? I... I'm lucky enough to have seen two of them!"
She pumped her fist excitedly, her voice brimming with delight:
"That's incredibly lucky!"
Irisviel and Margaret, both being mages, had a natural fondness and affinity for staves, rods, and the like. Iri blinked and looked over at Laurier curiously:
"Laurier, you said you've seen two of the [Five Supreme Staves]?"
"One is the [Mel Elsiolu] in Lydia's hands, so what's the other?"
This time it was Jeanne who answered her question.
"[Magna Alfs]. In Elvish, it means 'great spirit,' which is why that long staff is also called the Great Spirit."
"From the name, you can all probably guess who its owner is, right?"
After hearing Jeanne's explanation, who present didn't know the answer?
Margaret murmured under her breath:
"The Great Spirit... it's in the hands of that elven royal princess in the [Loki Familia], the [Nine Hell], Riveria Ljos Alf."
Irisviel tapped the corner of her mouth thoughtfully with a fingertip and tilted her head cutely:
"That doesn't surprise me, actually. The [Nine Hell] is the city's foremost mage. It only makes sense she'd hold one of the [Five Supreme Staves]..."
Then she smiled playfully:
"And didn't Leon say once... that the so-called great magic nation [Altena] doesn't actually possess the world's strongest mage, which has basically become an international joke?"
Leon grinned, his tone half teasing and half amused:
"Well... the nation of [Altena]... let me put it this way. It's a bit like Orario's neighbor, [Rakia], the one ruled by the [War God]. The whole country is essentially a single god's familia. Their strength, though... pretty unremarkable. Compared to Orario, which sits at the center of the world and is the city of adventure, the city of heroes, and home to one of the world's three great secret realms, the Dungeon, it's lagging by who knows how many tiers."
He paused, then shifted slightly:
"But that nation does have its own unique strengths when it comes to researching and applying magical technology. For instance... a good chunk of Orario's [magic item shops] and [sorcerer workshops] are run by sorcerers or factions out of Altena. Even the Sage who, 800 years ago, created the [Philosopher's Stone] that grants immortality came from Altena. So that faction is absolutely not to be underestimated."
"After all... that's the realm of the great god Odin."
With that, Leon looked at Lydia with naked envy. That was one of the [Five Supreme Staves]! In all the lower world, there were only five such treasures! For a man who'd set his heart on becoming a grand mage, who wouldn't want a flashy, presentable, cool-looking, ego-satisfying, show-off-worthy perfect staff?
Leon was no exception, naturally.
Especially the price, which was what stirred him most...
The [Mel Elsiolu], one of the [Five Supreme Staves] alongside [Magna Alfs].
The latter's staff body alone (not even counting the astronomically priced magic crystals set into it) was valued at 340 million Valis. So the former, being a treasure of the same caliber, was unlikely to come any cheaper...
Setting aside performance, the number by itself was enough to command real respect when spoken aloud.
"Hmm... I'm already Lv.4," Leon mused to himself. "Unless I can pull an upgrade blueprint out of a treasure chest down the line, the [Scholar's Staff] is going to fall behind my growth before long."
Then his thoughts turned... and the idea of actually shelling out hundreds of millions in cold hard cash to forge a single weapon made him wince. It hurt too much to go through with.
With that kind of money, wouldn't it be sweeter to pour it into his Basic Abilities? Or, splurging a little more, why not invest it in his Development Ability instead?
"Haah..."
He clicked his tongue lightly.
Torn.
...
The crowd gathered around Lydia, chattering away, didn't pick up on Leon's quiet inner conflict. Only Rose, sharp-eyed as ever, caught the complicated look that flashed across his face.
The corner of her mouth curved up. She quietly stepped forward, hooked her arm through his, and pressed her body gently against him:
"Darling, what are you standing here agonizing over all by yourself? Hmm, let me guess... has a certain someone come down with his old 'want it, want it, still want it' affliction again?"
Leon: "..."
The corner of his mouth twitched. Sometimes, having the people around you understand you a little too well wasn't entirely a good thing.
In that case, he'd drop the act and lay his cards on the table.
"You got it."
He admitted it openly, lowering his voice:
"I really am thinking about commissioning a better staff. But you know how it is... anything touching mages or magic always comes with a ridiculous price tag. The familia's finances are good these days, but nowhere near good enough for me to casually throw away hundreds of millions."
He paused, the head that the [Five Supreme Staves] had gotten worked up cooling back down:
"For me, purely in terms of combat-power value for money, putting the same funds into strengthening my own Basic Abilities works out far more worthwhile than upgrading a single piece of gear, no matter how you do the math."
Rose smiled gracefully at that:
"Ahh... our Mr. Leon really is one of a kind."
Then her tone shifted abruptly. She narrowed her eyes, and with a smile on her face, breathed softly into his ear:
"That said, darling... mind explaining to me exactly what Lydia's Holy Royal Family skill's 'mana-replenishing healing' is supposed to mean?"
"Uh..."
Leon's smile froze. He had walked straight into that one.
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