After buying a house, the next thing Miri and Anne did with their money was to stock up on equipment and supplies in order to be better prepared for their next job. While the amount of money they had left was still plentiful, it would eventually run out. Best to keep on working in order to maintain a stable income. Besides, there’s a certain amount of fun to be had with these types of jobs—a sense of adventure awaiting them at every quest they partake in.

  The first order of business was to get some new runes. While both Miri and Anne had acquired quite a number of runes from their last job—in addition to the precious runes they were tasked to obtain—a large number of them had affinity requirements that were too high for them to use effectively. So instead, they decided to sell off all the runes they deemed were unusable to them and used that money to buy brand new runes that were more compatible with their respective affinities.

  And since they’d already frequented Laveau’s Runes and Wares for many of their jobs, they thought it’d only be fitting to buy and sell their new runes from there as well. Plus, it’d be nice to check on Isaiah once in a while to see how well he’s been adjusting to being Madame Laveau’s new apprentice and assistant shopkeeper.

  Currently, Isaiah was presenting Miri and Anne with a vast selection of runes from a large display case, each gleaming with luster as though they were carved out of valuable gems.

  “Ooh, look at all these runes…” Miri said, gazing at all the shiny new runes in front of her with an enamored expression. With the amount of money she had and all the runes available to her for purchase, she felt almost like a kid in a candy store. “Man, I can spend hours just picking the right one. There’s just so many to choose from…”

  “Miri, calm yourself. You’re practically drooling…” Anne pointed out with an awkward smile. “If you don’t show any restraint, you might turn into another Hugo Victorstein.”

  “Oh, please. I’ve seen you drool over potions and medicinal herbs when we were at that apothecary shop,” Miri retorted. “You’re just as obsessed as I am.”

  “That’s different!” Anne replied with a slight blush of embarrassment. “What I’m obsessed over are things that’ll keep us alive—things like potions and such.”

  “Well, same here,” Miri said. “Runes are just as important in keeping us alive as potions. Better runes means better spells, which allows us to take on bigger, tougher baddies.”

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  “This here is a selection of some of the most popular runes our customers have purchased from this shop,” Isaiah said, presenting himself under the guise of an attentive shopkeeper in front of the two women even though they already knew each other as friends.

  As the boy was doing so, Madame Laveau was meticulously observing his performance while sitting beside him. The shopkeeper wanted her apprentice to practice facing other customers, something that the naturally bashful boy initially had trouble getting used to. While Isaiah may be naturally adept in learning and memorizing new information he read from books, his social skills left much to be desired. Hopefully, as he continued practicing, those skills would improve as well.

  “It’s not enough to simply show people which runes are the most popular,” Madame Laveau advised, giving guidance to her young apprentice. “You need to ask each customer what their affinities are in order to offer them runes that best match their specific preferences.”

  “Oh, uhh, right,” Isaiah nodded to his mentor before returning to Miri and Anne. “What affinities do each of you have, misses?”

  “Oh, come on. You’ve seen us use our magic before,” Miri said with a smirk. “I think you can take a guess.”

  “Umm…I’ve seen Miri use mainly offensive spells—Starlight Bolt, Crescent Arc, Meteor Impact. She must have a very high Fire affinity. She also uses Traversing Wind, which is a mobility-based spell, so she must have a decently high Air affinity as well,” Isaiah inferred. “As for Anne, since she’s a cleric, she’ll mainly be using healing spells, which means she must have a high Water affinity. I’ve also seen her use Protective Ward, a defensive spell, which means her Earth affinity is above average as well.”

  “Damn, you’re pretty much spot-on! Way to go, kiddo!” Miri praised with a thumbs-up.

  “You did very well, Isaiah!” Anne added with a proud smile.

  “Umm…thank you,” Isaiah replied with a shy blush. He was not used to taking compliments and so was quite flustered when he got praised to such a degree.

  “Don’t forget that, in addition to selling customers runes, you can also offer to upgrade their existing runes,” Madame Laveau advised the boy.

  “Right, right…umm, would you two like to upgrade your runes as well?” Isaiah asked the two women.

  Miri had recognized this mechanic quite well when she’d played the game. Each rune came in different ranks—the higher the rank, the more powerful it was and also the higher affinity requirement it had. So far, both Miri and Anne’s runes were only Rank 1, the lowest rank of them all.

  They had the option to increase the rank of any one of their runes by upgrading them through a special magical procedure known only to runesmiths. Since they were of an adequate enough level, they’d figured it’d be best to upgrade some of their runes to match their current affinities while they’re here.

  “Sure, why not?” Miri answered with a casual shrug.

  “Lead the way, assistant shopkeeper,” Anne replied with a friendly smile.