“What’s for dinner tonight?”

The master blacksmith in this country was a rare dwarf.

Contrary to his silent and seemingly difficult appearance, he had a cheerful and friendly personality. However, due to his extremely loud voice, he wasn't suitable for casual conversations.

"Alright, alright, alright! Well then, I'll get started right away! Wait around here! It won't take long… well, I can't promise it'll be done today, but it will be finished by the end of the day!"

Saying that, he gathered all the metal chunks and Wayne's current equipment and disappeared into the workshop.

"…Are we supposed to just wait around for a whole day?"

"Hey, I can hear you, Gil. But yeah, you're right. With our current equipment taken for measurements, we can't go hunting either. What should we do?"

"I don't know. Well, maybe it's a good time to stroll around the town. Maybe check out a bookstore. There might be things of interest."

MentaList has been active in the verification thread. He wrote various things in the event summary thread, and he might be researching the country's history.

"A bookstore, huh? I'm not really good with that stuff… What about you, Wayne?"

"I think I'll join MentaList. I haven't been to a bookstore or anything in the game, so I'm curious about what's there."

If the information obtained at the bookstore is anything, it could be considered generally known. The talk about the Six… or rather Seven Great Calamities that they heard from the Prime Minister was new to them. However, it's possible that it's information known at a general level.

They usually don't talk about such things with the city's NPCs. Not just because it's a game, but in reality, people wouldn't casually discuss disasters or accidents with neighbors they aren't close to unless there's recent news.

"What about you, Gil?"

"There's nothing I can do alone, so I'll tag along. But, I've sold all the old equipment that became obsolete so far, but with custom-made stuff, things like this can happen. It might be better to keep them from now on."

They all agreed on that.

Players have inventories anyway, so there's no concern about them being bulky.

"I mean, it might be risky if we get attacked by thugs or PKs while waiting, but this area is close to the city center. It's probably safer to kill time here than going back to the inn. Besides, my equipment hasn't been confiscated, and I can use magic to defend myself if needed."

They asked the female clerk at the blacksmith about the location of the bookstore and headed there. She seemed to have oveRarerd their conversation and kindly directed them to the main street, a clear and crowded path.

The bookstore was quite large, with a sturdy-looking door. There were no windows, and it looked like a warehouse at first glance. If not for the sign, they probably wouldn't have known.

"I wonder if there are no windows to avoid sunlight?"

"Come to think of it, do we have to buy books at a bookstore? Honestly, I'm not really in the mood to buy them."

"Surely, it's not necessary. Well, since we're here, let's go in and see."

MentaList led the way into the bookstore.

The door was as heavy as it looked, and MentaList, who hadn't allocated points to STR, seemed to struggle a bit. Considering his slender arms, it was impressive that he managed to retrieve that metal chunk.

The interior was unexpectedly bright, contrary to their imagination of a dimly lit space. Magical lights seemed to shine everywhere.

"…The price isn't… that high, huh? They must have printing technology."

Wayne also noticed the same thing and nodded in agreement with MentaList's words.

They were aware that paper and such circulated to some extent, and with the existence of the Mercenary Association's bulletin board, they knew that the literacy rate was reasonably high. This indicated that books or similar items were readily available, and the bottleneck in production, which would presumably be printing technology, was already in place.

"…What, are books rare? Country bumpkins? Those on display are books replicated with [Replication Magic]. If you want to see the originals, go to the grand library in the capital."

The elderly man, who seemed to be the shopkeeper, with glasses spoke with a twisted expression.

Unlike the dwarf blacksmith from earlier, he appeared eccentric at first glance, and his words confirmed that impression.

Gil seemed incompatible with him, and as he turned back, it seemed he had no intention of engaging with them from the beginning, ignoring them and picking up random books.

"[Replication Magic]! Is such a thing possible? Shopkeeper, could you please tell me more?"

On the other hand, MentaList had forgotten his original purpose and was pressing the shopkeeper for information.

In a sense, their original purpose was just to kill time, so in that sense, he wasn't wrong.

Reluctantly, Wayne decided to do some research on his own. Well, Gil seemed to be doing something similar as well.

As they strolled around the store, it seemed the books were organized by content, and it was more orderly than they had anticipated.

Wayne was somewhat interested in legends and traditions related to disasters, but he wondered how they were classified.

"Maybe around here…?"

He picked up a book from a shelf that seemed to contain books related to legends and traditions.

The title read, "Great Discovery! The Calamities are not just Six!? The Legend of the Dragon Buried in Darkness!"

As he flipped through the pages, there were pages with clear, large headings and subtle illustrations depicting the six creatures that seemed to be calamities. The illustrations were so subtle that their credibility was questionable. The text was also subtly difficult to read, and if the shopkeeper's claim about replication was true, perhaps the original author's writing and drawing skills were initially subtle.

Despite the lack of information on dragons, even in the illustrations or imagination, Wayne tried to read through it just for the sake of it. However, there was no information about dragons or anything related.

"What is this…"

It was entirely useless as a reference, but if there was any harvest, it was apparent that the information about calamities seemed to be a generally known fact. Otherwise, such books wouldn't be written.

"Well, there were people preaching in the streets, like in Portree, right? So, everyone probably knows."

However, did this mean that the original versions of such books were stored in the grand library in the capital? Perhaps there was a rule that required the original version of any book to be deposited upon publication.

"Hey! If you're going to read for too long, you better buy it!"

The shopkeeper scolded, so Wayne hastily returned the book to the shelf.

That was understandable. If everyone read for leisure without buying anything, it wouldn't be good for business. It was probably something like Tachiyomi, he vaguely recalled. Now, a bookstore only existed in fiction, so he was a bit hazy on the details.

"Did you find any useful information?"

It was MentaList. If the shopkeeper was reprimanding Wayne, it meant that MentaList's conversation with him had ended.

"How about you?"

"I found out an interesting fact."

What MentaList extracted from the shopkeeper was the details of Replication Magic.

First, one needed to prepare all the materials required to replicate the existing item and create it from scratch. For a book, this would include the necessary number of papers, strings for binding, and, if leather or metal fittings were used for the cover, those as well. And of course, ink.

Activate Replication Magic on the target item, consuming MP and the prepared items as a cost, and the effect would be obtained, creating a replica of the desired item.

However, Replication Magic couldn't create an exact copy, and at best, it could only produce an item one rank lower in quality. In game terms, it meant a drop in quality.

"The quality drops, huh. Oh, could that be why the writing and illustrations were subtle!"

If the writing and illustrations were inferior to the original, it was reasonable to say that the quality had deteriorated. While the value of a book might not necessarily lie in such things, if the game system determined it that way, then so be it.

"Well, for that reason, it's often not worth the cost… or rather, if you have the skill, production time is shortened, so if you have the materials, it's usually better to make it normally. Seems like it's a technique used mostly for books."

It seemed well-crafted… yet, it also seemed like they failed in creating a good system.

"I see… Oh, by the way, did that result in the writing and illustrations being subtle?"

"If the originals had poor quality, then yes, that's likely. It's a technique mostly used for books that aren't used for much else."

"Got it, thanks for the information. Well, let's look for the 'Reincarnation Item' then."

With that information in hand, MentaList focused on his initial purpose.

For the next few hours, they stayed in the bookstore until the angry shopkeeper chased them out.

They couldn't find out how to obtain such items, but they did find books with descriptions hinting at the existence of such items.

The only harvest of the day was that MentaList's hypothesis was reinforced.

"…In the end, I was forced to buy it… this subtle book."

The shopkeeper's anger was quite intense, and pushed by the momentum, Wayne ended up buying the book with the subtle content, the one about calamities and dragons. Since Tachiyomi had only checked the illustrations, it wasn't a complete waste.

MentaList purchased a book with information about reincarnation-related items. Since he hadn't read it all, there might be information related to acquisition in the details.

Surprisingly, Gil bought a cookbook. It didn't match his appearance at all, but it seemed he was skilled in cooking. Without a skill, he couldn't obtain special effects, but it meant he could still make regular meals that would replenish hunger.

"A man's home-cooked meals, huh…"

"Yeah, who cares? It's all the same no matter who makes it."

Wayne didn't have such preferences as MentaList did. Moreover, many food items sold at stalls were often made by men.

"Anyway, it might be almost done by now, so should we head back? Considering the time spent at the bookstore and the travel time, it wouldn't be surprising if it's already finished."

Even if it wasn't finished, it would be late afternoon. It would be difficult to kill more time somewhere, and all that was left was to wait at the blacksmith.