The Goddess Granted Me the [Hatching] Skill and Somehow I Became the Strongest Tamer, Commanding Mythical and Divine Beasts - 161

Chapter 161: Legendary Wine

I followed Edward into the shop, and right away, the stylish space caught me off guard.

Along the walls stood suits of armor, swords, and shields, all polished to a gleaming shine.

In a typical store, they’d cram the space with tons of goods to fill it up, but here, the items were spaced out generously—probably to draw your eye to each one individually.

It was the kind of setup that made you pause and get lost in their beauty without realizing it, so it made perfect sense for a business catering to the wealthy.

“All these items have anti-theft magic applied. You can’t touch them without disabling the barrier, so if you’d like to handle anything, just let me know.”

As I stood there staring, Edward spoke up.

Since they dealt in such high-end stuff, he personally guided tours like this, but they couldn’t rule out the chance of some slip-up.

To be extra safe, nothing could be moved without permission.

“I notice there’s no price tags?”

It suddenly struck me, so I asked.

Under each item sat a fancy plaque with its name and description, but no sign of the price.

It felt more like wandering through a museum exhibit than a shop, which made me wonder if these were really for sale.

“Having price tags out front keeps you from truly connecting with what you want. So we have you ask about anything that catches your eye, and we tell you the details then.”

Sure enough, if something sparked your interest but the price was right there staring back as way out of reach, you’d skip it without a second thought.

Better to hook them on the item first, build up that urge to buy, and only then drop the price—smart way to go about it.

“If you’d like, I could explain more about the swords and shields?”

I’d stopped to think it over while eyeing the weapons, so he must’ve figured I was into them and offered kindly.

“No, I’m good on the swords and shields.”

I’d only glanced at the sword to wonder how it stacked up against my Sun Sword.

The displayed blade was top-shelf for sure, but the plaque called it an A-rank item, and my Sun Sword had nicer decorations anyway.

For now, my weapons were holding up fine, so I got curious about the other rare stuff instead.

“Could you show me that room over there, then?”

I pointed to one that caught my eye, and we headed that way with Edward.

“This is the room for alcohol-related items.”

Unlike the last one, it was dimly lit with the temperature kept cool.

Shelves lined the walls, packed with all sorts of bottles and goblets, which reminded me of the ones in Douglas’s or Xavier’s estate offices.

“Drinking’s one of the hobbies nobles indulge in. We carry vintage wines and whiskeys here, along with magic-tool goblets and such.”

Lately, I’d started sipping a bit myself.

It happened at dinners after guard jobs with Nicholas or Xavier, or back at Douglas’s place after study sessions, or even at the castle parties.

Yeah, nobles seemed to reach for a drink at every turn.

Back in the day, the only times I’d touched alcohol were during New Year’s celebrations in my hometown.

Dad would buy a whole barrel of wine and pour us some from it.

Most everyday booze came in barrels like that, but these luxury kinds used bottles to keep the quality from going off.

They had magic arrays etched in to preserve it, and you had to recharge the mana every so often…

Edward stepped up to the pedestal in the room’s center, disabled the barrier, and lifted down one of the bottles.

“Among wines, the ones made by the ancient magic civilization—Bahamut, Apocalypse, Leviathan—are the rarest confirmed today. There aren’t even a hundred bottles left worldwide, and we’re the only place that handles every last one.”

He said that and handed me the bottle.

The label featured a drawing of a mythical beast that pulled me right in just looking at it.

“How much for one of these?”

From the way he talked, it sounded like seriously rare stuff, so I asked about the price, and Edward hit me with a number I could hardly believe.

“Well, the Bahamut you’re holding there would run five thousand gold coins.”

“Huh?”

I let out a dumb noise, thinking I’d misheard.

“Wait… five thousand? For a single bottle of wine?”

I figured he had to be pulling my leg, but he just nodded without cracking a smile.

“That’s just the last auction price, mind you—so it might fetch even more now.”

Five thousand gold coins was basically what I’d paid for the house I lived in now. And even that, I was still paying off in installments, so hearing the wine matched it made sweat break out on my palms all of a sudden.

For the record, the house was the biggest purchase of my life. It took real guts to commit, and I scraped it together by selling off Feni’s and Purple’s materials to keep the payments going.

“Um… could I hand this back now?”

No way could I risk dropping and shattering it, so I gave the wine bottle back to Edward.

Deep down, I was so glad I hadn’t brought any familiars along.

If Feni or Neige had gone fluttering around in here, I’d have been a nervous wreck.

Edward wiped the Bahamut bottle clean with a silk handkerchief and set it back in its spot.