After a while, Robin became somewhat impatient. "Well? Are you finished?"

The two magicians looked up, and realized Robin was still there.

"Ah, yes." Jasmine replied. Then she waved her hand in a shoo-ing motion.

"That's right, you said you had to shop, right? It's going to take us a while to calculate the apt.i.tudes, so you can go ahead while we work on it."

"...well, okay then." Robin went out the door, trying to retrace her steps.

Once Robin was gone, Jasmine crept to the door to make certain she was truly gone, before she shut and locked the door. She even invoked a noise cancellation barrier. Then she turned back to the Court Magician.

"I knew that Heroes usually have a good affinity with magic, but all attributes!?" Jasmine eyed the gleaming colors.

"Moreover, it seems like It's not just the usual simple all-attributes either. Out of all the attributes, his affinity with Light mana is the highest recorded affinity to date! What kind of monster is this man!"

"Hmm...it seems the recorded data for the previous Heroes were not as inspiringly high…" The court magician noted as he flipped through a few records.

"Are you kidding me! I spent ten years getting to where I am, now all of a sudden my nominal cousin easily surpa.s.ses me!? He'll learn everything I know in a few weeks, much less a few months! I'll be a failure of a teacher!"

"Not necessarily." The wizened court wizard disagreed.

"He may have a high affinity, but if he can't sense his mana source then no matter how much affinity he has, it'll be useless. Moreover, we've yet to measure how much mana his source can contain."

"Right, there's still his mana source. Affinities, though high, are not so tough if there's not enough mana to support their more impressive spells." Jasmine nodded, then groaned. "But still! Fifty percent affinity with all attributes, and a hundred percent affinity with light!? This is all kinds of unfair!"

--------------------------------------------

Robin eventually found her way back to ground floor, when she b.u.mped into Keith.

"Keith?...How's the prince doing?" Robin asked, looking away. Now that she remembered the incident, she realized that she may have been a bit harsh.

"Him?" Keith laughed. "Never better! I think your scolding did something for him that his father's punishments never could. Just leave him be for a while longer and He'll be back better than ever, if he can get over his hangover by tomorrow, that is."

"I have a recipe for that, too." Robin laughed.

"It seems that the Prince is more lucky than he supposed. You're not angry anymore?" Keith asked.

"No, I'm still contemplating whether I should return the favor or not…" Robin frowned in mock seriousness.

"In other words, there may or may not be a potion-covered Prince in the near future?" Keith asked.

"Maaaaybe~." Was Robin's answer.

"As long as it's in the harmless category, I won't stop you." Kenmei grinned.

"Heh heh~ Nice to know!" Robin grinned back. "I'll be heading out for shopping now. Is there any other exit that isn't as noticeable as the front?"

Kenmei nodded. "There's the kitchen entrance out back for deliveries. I think Old Mac is about ready to head out on his wagon with the kitchen waste. You could probably hitch a ride with him, If I explained things."

"Would you? I'm getting tired of people staring at me all the time." Robin replied.

"What's wrong? Are you shy?" He asked.

"No." Robin shook her head. "But I'm not a G.o.d. Why do I have to bear with people looking at me like I'm one?"

"Ah, that is something that even the king cannot help." Keith shrugged. "I'm afraid that you'll have to put up with it."

"Either that, or do something to disappoint them." Robin muttered.

"Not possible." Keith shook his head. "You're as popular as a newborn babe, and can do no wrong in their eyes, at this point in time."

"You see, this! This is why I put on a mask! Because if I didn't, then I just know that I'd go crazy!" Robin growled.

-----------------------------------------------

Outside the castle grounds, Robin looked around with interest. If it wasn't for the lack of neon signs and tourist crowds, she'd have thought it was just a large European town.

The more affluent businesses had carved marble decorations on their buildings. But, there were also small side shops and restaurants of several different varieties. Old Mac let her off in the shopping district, which was right near the Adventurers Guild headquarters.

She wanted to take a look at the Adventurers Guild headquarters. However, she decided to save that for last, after she finished shopping. After all, who knew if she would be discovered once her guild card was taken out.

"First things first!" She told herself as she walked over to an impressive-looking mercenary guild. The gold coin that she currently possessed, courtesy of Prince Christian, needed to be changed to silvers. After all, not all stores and merchants could give her change for a gold coin.

Thus, the one gold coin became fifty silvers, and Robin continued merrily on her way.

The first thing she bought was food. Preserved meats, fruits, bread, etc. Those that would last a long time without going bad had priority. Then she bought dry ingredients, seasonings, herbs, barrels of water, and several different varieties of cooking oil.

But, all of this only took up 15 silver. So, she decided to look for camping and hunting gear. A st.u.r.dy cloak, An enchanted unbreakable rope with an attached hook, a lockpick set, a first aid kit, as well as several alchemical solutions and knick knacks later: Robin found herself with just five silver left.

Pa.s.sing by the largest blacksmith shop in town, she decided to take a look.

She had a.s.sumed that the blacksmiths would have swords and s.h.i.+elds and st.u.r.dy armor. But this shop had much more than that. Horseshoes, nails, barrel rails, pots and pans, candlesticks, silverware, chains ranging from very large to extra small, hunting knives, compa.s.ses, belt buckles, etc: anything that was made of metal could be found there.

Robin chuckled at the thought of how this store had so much metal that if a superconducting magnet were waved over the building, It'd probably float.

There was even a corner for metal statues and jewelry, although of the cheaper sort than could be found at the jewellers.

"h.e.l.lo, how can I help you, young'in?" A voice asked from off to her right. Robin turned to see a rather large, bulky man wearing a leather ap.r.o.n.

"I'm just looking for now, thanks." Robin replied. "I'm going on a trip to Port Oracle, and was wondering if I needed to buy anything here before I left."

"Port Oracle, huh?" The man nodded. "That's a fair ways off by horse or carriage. Let me show you a few things and see if you don't already have them."

"Okay, sounds good." Robin nodded.

After looking through the things he brought to the counter, Robin settled on a small steel hunting knife and a cloak pin, which brought her down to four silver.

"Actually, since you're headed down to Port Oracle, I have a small order that I need to get sent out to the local blacksmith, there. Would you mind delivering it for me?" The blacksmith asked. "If you receive the request I put up at the Adventurers Guild, you can even get paid extra for it."

"I don't mind, but why hasn't anyone taken up the quest so far?" Robin asked.

"There aren't that many people headed that way at this time of year." The blacksmith answered. "The n.o.bles have all just returned from the winter vacationing there, so it somewhat of an off season for tourists."

"I see." Robin nodded. "Now, do I have to go to the Adventurers Guild to pick up the order, or do I have to accept the request first, then come back here?"

"Wait here, I'll get it." The blacksmith went to the backroom behind the counter.

"Here it is." He brought it out. Although the bundle wasn't more than two fists large, it weighed more than twenty pounds. Robin felt relieved when the weight disappeared after she placed it in her magic bag.

"I'm off to the guild, then! Oh, that's right. What's your name?" She asked.

"Fievel." The blacksmith replied.

"Nice to meet you, Fievel! See you later!" Robin waved. Her shopping mostly finished, she casually acc.u.mulated a large bunch of street foods and sweets to try later. She was down to three silvers by the time she reached the Adventurers Guild Headquarters.

Inside, she walked over to the request board and looked a bit before discovering Blacksmith Fievel's delivery request. At five silvers, it was quite generous for a simple delivery.

"I'll take this request, please." She said to a receptionist at the nearby counter.

"Then, please show me your guild card." The receptionist said.

Robin nodded and handed over her guild card.