Chapter 25: Mages Guild Branch: Purchasing Magic Scrolls

In the evening, a cool breeze blew in through the window.

Tang Zheng, who had been sleeping on the bed, suddenly opened his eyes and sat up.

Haa~

"Was that a nightmare?"

Tang Zheng raised his hand to wipe the beads of sweat from his forehead, let out a breath, and murmured softly to himself.

He had dreamed of the Bone King, standing right before him, a pair of scarlet eyes staring coldly at him!

"Damn it!"

Tang Zheng curled his lips and cursed under his breath.

The Bone King was a transmigrator, and so was Tang Zheng. The Bone King was a player, and so was Tang Zheng!

"So, why should I be afraid of you!" Tang Zheng took a deep breath, reached out to pat his cheeks to wake himself up, then got off the bed and looked out the window.

The sky outside had already darkened.

Tang Zheng walked to the guest room window and pushed it open; the cool breeze rushed into the room, blowing away much of his restless mood.

He hadn't expected to sleep until evening.

This small inn was a two-story European-style building; he was staying on the second floor, and through the window, he could see a small alley below and the neighboring street.

Outside the window, there were several connected wooden railings extending outward, though they looked rather old and clearly not sturdy.

A thief with even a little skill could easily use the walls on either side of the alley to climb up to the second floor.

Tang Zheng observed this, shook his head slightly, and closed the window again.

A small inn like this couldn't keep out any real thieves anyway.

Tang Zheng washed his face to refresh himself before leaving the guest room.

On the street.

Compared to the daytime, the flow of people was significantly less, with only groups of adventurers carrying weapons walking leisurely along the street.

Tang Zheng had already asked the innkeeper about the locations of shops selling various goods nearby.

He headed first to a clothing store.

The clothes Tang Zheng was wearing had been on for over ten days and already had a sour smell; he would need to prepare a few more sets of clothes for his upcoming trip to the Tob Forest.

When he walked out of the shop.

Tang Zheng held a full parcel in his hand and wore a black robe that covered his entire body.

It had cost him a total of three silver coins.

The most expensive item was the black robe he was wearing, which cost one silver and seven copper coins; the other clothes filling the parcel were the cheap, coarse linen type he had been wearing before.

The reason he bought this better-quality black robe.

Was because Tang Zheng was about to head to the Mages Guild, and it clearly wouldn't be appropriate to go there to buy things looking too destitute.

Within the kingdom, major cities all had branches of the Adventurers Guild and the Mages Guild.

However!

Unlike the Mages Guild headquarters in the Royal Capital, the branches in other cities did not have much of a function for training magic-type magic casters.

Generally, if someone with the talent for magic-type magic casting appeared, the Mages Guild branch in that city would send them to the headquarters in the Royal Capital for training.

The reason for this situation was, naturally, a lack of money!

The relatively traditional social customs of the Re-Estize Kingdom meant that the country's upper echelons did not place much importance on the Mages Guild, which led to the guild finding it almost impossible to receive financial aid from the top.

Therefore!

The Mages Guild branches in various cities became places dedicated to crafting and selling magic items and magic scrolls.

The Mages Guild here was a three-story building with an unremarkable exterior; if Tang Zheng hadn't specifically asked a passerby, he probably wouldn't have guessed this was the Mages Guild branch.

Unlike the bustling Adventurers Guild, it was extremely deserted.

There were no guards at the entrance either.

But thinking about it, that made sense; no one would dare to force their way into the Mages Guild.

Tang Zheng arrived before the dark brown wooden door and was just about to raise his hand to push it open.

Ding~

A light chime of a bell came from the upper left side of the wooden door.

Tang Zheng looked up and only then noticed a fist-sized bell hanging above the dark brown wooden door.

He could faintly see a pale red light flickering on the bell from time to time.

A magic item?

This thought flashed through Tang Zheng's mind.

Click!

The dark brown wooden door opened automatically.

So that's how it is.

A flash of realization crossed Tang Zheng's eyes; it was certainly convenient, though that bell magic item likely had more than just this simple function.

Thinking this, Tang Zheng stepped into the Mages Guild; a soft light poured in through the door gap, and the interior of the guild was exceptionally bright.

Compared to the rough and simple Adventurers Guild, the interior of the Mages Guild was a world of difference from its plain exterior.

The entire hall was dominated by red and black tones, with the surrounding walls covered in a layer of red wooden panels, only the area near the floor painted black.

The hall didn't look large, probably around a hundred square meters.

Judging from the exterior, the building's area should be much larger than this; the interior was clearly partitioned off.

There were six wall lamps hanging on the left and right walls, and a cylindrical chandelier on the ceiling, which emitted a soft white light that illuminated the entire hall.

At this moment.

Perhaps because it was evening, there was no one inside the Mages Guild.

Only two middle-aged men wearing robes were sitting at the counter; one was resting his chin on his hand, dozing off, and did not open his eyes at Tang Zheng's arrival.

The other one was younger.

=9+Shu_ba

When Tang Zheng entered the Mages Guild hall, the younger one had already looked over.

"I would like to buy some magic scrolls," Tang Zheng walked forward and spoke softly.

Unlike magic items, which were expensive and could easily cost around 1,000 gold coins, magic scrolls were consumables and had relatively well-established production techniques, so their prices were not too high.

But precisely because they were consumables!

Even some slightly wealthy adventurers would not buy them easily.

"My name is Vala. What kind of magic scrolls do you need?"

This younger mage named Vala looked Tang Zheng up and down, his tone carrying a hint of laziness.

Pure black hair was quite rare.

"Do you have a catalog? I'd like to take a look," Tang Zheng bowed slightly and spoke with some embarrassment.

Bang!

As if he had expected this.

Vala casually pulled a thin book from below and placed it on the table, then became somewhat distracted.

Facing this attitude.

Tang Zheng didn't mind; instead, he picked up the book on the table with slight awkwardness and began to flip through it. He had forgotten that he didn't actually know the language of this world.

The first thing that caught his eye was the introduction to zero-tier magic scrolls.

Tang Zheng's initial embarrassment eased; there were illustrations, so even if he couldn't read the text, he could tell the function of the scrolls through the pictures.

The number of zero-tier scrolls was even higher than he had imagined.

For example: "Ignite," "Everlasting Light," "Clean," and other magic scrolls used entirely for daily life with no offensive capabilities; these zero-tier spells were optional for adventurers.

He had heard someone in the "Rock" party mention it.

Some merchant caravans or nobles would keep zero-tier magic scrolls on hand when traveling to improve the quality of their journey.

Tang Zheng flipped through and soon found the zero-tier magic scroll for "Papermaking."

However, he didn't immediately announce a purchase, but continued to flip through the contents of the book; next were the first-tier spells.

The quantity was much lower, but their practicality and utility were greatly improved!

"Repair (1st Tier)": Can repair damaged objects.

"Odorless (1st Tier)": Can remove one's own scent.

"Floating Board (1st Tier)": Can create a translucent floating board to carry items.

…………

"Magic Arrow (1st Tier)": Releases three magic arrows to attack.

Tang Zheng looked at the information in the book; offensive magic scrolls were very rare, totaling only three, while most of the other scrolls were for support.

Hm?

Tang Zheng flipped to the last page and found there were no more.

Are there no second-tier magic scrolls?

Tang Zheng was briefly stunned; if he remembered correctly, with the scroll-making technology mastered by humans in this other world, they should have the ability to create third-tier magic scrolls.

And in the Slane Theocracy, there even existed the technology to create the incredibly precious fourth-tier magic scrolls!

Third-tier magic scrolls should be relatively precious resources even for the Mages Guild, but second-tier scrolls shouldn't count as such.

Therefore.

It is not that they do not exist, but rather that they are not sold to the public?

Or perhaps ordinary buyers lack the qualifications to purchase them.

(End of chapter)