Alma POV 8/17
I looked at the shocked Elred while raising an eyebrow.
"What's so wrong with helping people I see talented? I want those girls in my castle tomorrow morning! I'll begin training them to become my personal maids and guardians!" I said.
An incredible idea had struck me. Even if I was talentless and weak, I could still use my authority as a princess to raise talented retainers at my side. This way, I can always have strong warriors and magicians covering my back, even from the damn Greenwood!
"N-Nothing's wrong with that! I-I didn't mean to say anything, Alma… I-I am just very surprised… Y-You're so… incredible! I've never seen a royal girl act like this in all my life… Y-You're really… unique for a princess…" said Elred.
"Well? Maybe?" I said rather cheekily, as I decided to move over with the plans.
"My lady, what you've done… I don't know if you have the authority to do such a thing!" said Rose.
"Why not?! I am the princess! I literally own this country after my parents, who are not even here to begin with, so I can do whatever I want! Are you against the will of your princess, Rose?" I asked.
"…No, of course not! Princess-sama, you're my reason to live… I would do anything for you!" she said.
"T-Then relax. Everything will be fine. I just want to make friends and also build up strong retainers, nothing wrong with that, right?" I asked.
"Technically, your parents never said anything against such things… and there isn't anything against friends coming to visit the castle either…" said Rose, realizing the loophole.
"See? That's a loophole I am going to abuse! Now, let's go around, I want to shop some more. Let's make this entire trip be worth it." I said.
"U-Understood, princess-sama." Said Rose.
We walked across the streets and then reached a street with various shops, they showed in the windows all sorts of things, from pastries, fruits, vegetables, clothes, weapon, magical items, and more.
However the one shop that interested me the most was one with Mana Cores! There was a small shop showing all sorts of colorful jewels, they varied in size greatly, but they were emanating a strong magical presence from within them. These were all Mana Cores of various Ranks.
I used Appraisal over all of them, and I found that a big amount of them were just Rank 1, but there were a few at Rank 2, some at Rank 3, and even very rare Rank 4 ones! And atop the entire showing area, there was a massive, red-colored mana core.
This mana core had a big sign saying "Young Red Fire Dragon Mana Core: Rank 5".
"Wow! Rank 5?!" I said, almost exploding in excitement.
"Wow, that's a very big one indeed. Alma-sama, d-do you plan doing… something with mana cores? Are you an alchemist in training?" wondered Elred.
"Nothing like that, but I do like to collect shiny jewels." I said.
So buying a Rank 2 or above Mana Cores, who can last longer, is obviously wise! If I can get a bunch of these high Rank Mana Cores, then Dagger has a lot more fuel to work with.
He quickly spoke to me through telepathy, and I answered him through telepathy as well.
"A-Alma! Are those for me?! You're going to buy them for me? I am so happy!" he cried.
"Indeed, you deserve a lot of batteries to use in the future, we could let you eat a few of them too. You need Mana Cores to grow stronger, right?" I asked.
"Y-Yes! Any kind of Mana Core works, I slowly absorb them and the count increases, if my count reaches a maximum value, I can Rank Up! In fact, absorbing the artifacts had helped me Rank Up once, and I am quite close to Rank Up once more… My current Rank is 2." Said Dagger.
Dagger was a Venerable's creation, a sentient dagger with the power of evolving by absorbing energy and magic from items. He can absorb artifacts and gain their abilities, and also mana cores and perhaps gain the abilities of the monsters they belonged to. He had absorbed a few Rank 1 Mana Cores, but they didn't gave him any Ability though.
Nonetheless, because he was weakened a lot, to go back to his former glory, he has to absorb a lot of magic items and grow stronger through Ranking Up. It is like Experience Points in games, he has to absorb enough quantity of Mana Cores or Artifacts (which also count as a lot of mana cores each), and then when he reaches a threshold, he'll be able to Rank Up to the next Rank and grow stronger. His abilities would become sharper, and his entire piercing power, durability, magic conductivity, swiftness, and so on, would increase too. Because of this, I cannot miss the opportunity to let him grow stronger.
"Let's get inside!" I said, pushing the door open as Elred and Rose followed me from behind worriedly.
"Welcome to my humble shop~ Oh?!"
Suddenly, a beautiful woman greeted our sight, she was a beautiful elven woman with long, purple-colored hair and sharp, pink-colored eyes, she had a slender and beautiful figure, slender legs, and an enchanting smile. She was flat-chested, however, and her hɨps didn't seem so wide, despite her beauty.
She obviously noticed I was the Princess by seeing my crown… I think.
"You're…?" she asked.
"She's the princess of this Kingdom, of course." Said Rose, as she showed the woman a few papers and portraits with me.
"S-She's really the princess…! Unbelievable… What might you need in my humble shop, princess-sama?" she asked.
"I want to buy your best Mana Cores!" I said.
"Oh?"
