My reward for winning was a Rank Two grimoire - and when I saw what it was, I realized why it was rated so highly to be considered the prize for second place.

  It was a grimoire documenting the properties of axolotl. Axolotls are known for their regenerative properties even back on Earth - being able to regrow limbs and even some internal organs when damaged. This grimoire as such gave the passive ability - [Regeneration].

  It would regenerate your wounds over time - even things such as lost limbs or eyes, for example, could be healed over time back to new if you had this kind of ability.

  Essentially, it gave you the healing properties of an axolotl! And since it was entirely a passive ability, it required no mana usage.

  There were drawbacks, of course.

  For one, as it was a passive ability, you couldn’t use it to heal any ally.

  Secondly, it was extremely slow. It could take a few weeks for something like, say, a limb to grow back, and during that time it would just be more convenient to pay for a healer to get it stitched back up.

  Third, if you took more damage than it healed, which was easy given how slowly it worked, it wouldn’t stop you from dying.

  Fourth, it did nothing against disease or poisons.

  Still, despite these drawbacks, it was something that was entirely free. Well, not exactly - you were still sacrificing a Rank Two slot for it, and there was hence the opportunity cost to learning it, but it was well worth it to have this ability.

  As you can imagine it was highly in demand and would’ve been hard for me to buy if I wanted to normally even if I had the Denarii needed, so it was quite fortunate I had gotten it in this way. It was written in the language the humans in Arconia used, but I was going to get a way around that soon.

  Stella, tragically, had lost her round and was in fourth place. She already had a translating item, so I bought this prize off of her. “I’ll drop by your stall tomorrow!” I told her.

  “Alright, I’ll be waiting for you!” she said. “And… you know what? I’ll see if I can prepare a little present for you!”

  I spent what was left of the evening trying to see if I could get another glimpse of the other girl I’d seen earlier who had bought my grimoires, but to no avail.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  The next day, festivities were winding up. The Book Fair would be leaving tomorrow, and some people were already packing up and heading out.

  “You had something for me?” I asked when I finally found Stella’s stall.

  “Yes - I thought you might appreciate this,” she said. She pulled out a Rank One grimoire, one that raised mana. “I wrote this myself- and they’re all sold out, but for a small fee…”

  It was well worth the money I spent on it. I deleted the slot that gave me the [Green Thumb] power and overwrote it with this grimoire.

  Stella worked with a group of scribes in a shop, much like I did with Lauren - though their shop was mobile and had a lot more scribes.

  They had actually been able to rent out a real building in Arconia during their time here which spoke to their affluence, and all of the scribes still seemed to be quite busy - but that might’ve been because they were in a hurry as they would be leaving soon and wanted to seal some last-minute deals.

  Stella had been given some time off for the tournament, but she was working today, though she seemed to be able to spare a few minutes as I ordered a round of tea for both of us.

  “So, say, I supposedly wanted to join the merchant caravan, how would I?” I asked her as we began talking. The tea was bitter and watery, but that was just how most people in Arconia preferred it.

  “Ah - what Rank are you again?”

  “Rank One but I’ve filled out all of my Rank One slots - I’m going to be Rank Two soon…” I just had to read my prize, and I would ‘officially’ be a Rank Two Liberomancer.

  “Hmm… we don’t really have that many openings… though if you’d like, I could put in a word with my boss,” she offered.

  “Ah? No, sorry, I think you misunderstood, I didn’t want to join like, today,” I told her. She seemed a bit disappointed at that for some reason. “I meant, possibly next year?”

  If I was still in this world and hadn’t managed to find a way back by then I’d probably just have to come to terms with the fact that there was likely no such pathway back to Earth in Arconia, and the doorway that I’d come through was never going to open up again.

  You’d think the easiest way to go back would be through the same way that I came in - but the area where I’d first appeared had shown no abnormal activity despite all my time here and frequently asking around about that place.

  I was still determined to stay within Arconia for another year for a couple of reasons, but beyond that, I’d probably have to move to seek the answer somewhere else.

  The place I wanted to visit the most was Hansini, and hitching a ride on the merchant caravan seemed the best way to do so. Not to mention I might accidentally run into someone from my world or who would know what I was supposed to do somewhere else.

  “Well again, you’d need to find someone who is recruiting,” she said. “Either that or speak to the manager of the caravan and set up your own shop - but usually only Rank Three Liberomancers can do that.”

  “I see,” I said. I then remembered something. “I was looking for a girl, and I was wondering if you’d seen her.”

  She seemed rather annoyed now. “A girl? What for?”

  I couldn’t exactly tell people exactly why, and ‘she comes from my country’ wasn’t much of an explanation. “Um, she has something I want. She had blonde hair - blue eyes, ring a bell? No?”

  Stella’s attitude had turned frosty after that and she said she had to deal with work, which I understood.

  Still, it felt like I had upset her in some way which I couldn’t figure out.

  I spent some time looking for the girl on my own, but I had no luck.