Chapter 94: Getting brand new equipment

Chapter 94: Getting brand new equipment

I thought there would be no common topic between us but it seems that lively conversation pops up unexpectedly when dining together.

When I noticed, I found myself inadvertently deep in conversation with Answerer. What was the impetus again?

「By the way, what part of a woman do you find attractive?」

「Breast.」

「………I am amazed by your immediate answer」

What an awkward break in conversation to get caught in.

Incidentally, Answerer seems to be a nape fetishist.

Ours is like a conversation between two scoundrels. But it causes Answerer’s favorability within me to rise just for a teeny bit. After all, ero is capable of breaking through any wall and form a connection over it.

That said, not all of our conversation ended up being indecent.

「Speaking of which, your equipment has not changed since you took the E-rank registration exam.」

「Didn’t feel the need to especially buy a replacement.」

My equipment consist of a cheap clothing covered by a breastplate for the top and protectors for both arms and legs. Those are what I bought in the town where I first met Faima and I have been using it as it is ever since.

Although the breastplate has one small hole due to a certain circumstance, there isn’t any other particularly noticeable distortion or damage. Same could be said to all four of my limb protectors. Real taught me how to maintain my equipment, so there’s no rust on them.

In my case, most of my attacks and defenses utilize ice spirit art, so unless I’m hit with a very powerful attack, it’s unlikely to reach my armor directly. As a result, my equipment’s wear and tear are kept to a minimum compared to the others.

「Those equipments might have posed no problem so far but now that you have been promoted to C-rank, you might want to make a complete overhaul.」

Requests up to D-rank mostly consist of the type that designate magic beasts. Same can also be said for C-rank and onwards, except for the fact that requests involving human opponents shows up frequently.

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In particular are escort type requests. There is the possibility of fighting against ruffians targetting the person being escorted.

「Depending too much on high quality equipment is certainly a problem but being overly neglectful is also an issue. An equipment displaying its efficacy regardless of its owner’s intention will be an invaluable asset in unforeseen situation. There is no disadvantage in spending money for good equipment.」

Surviving a fatal surprise attack due to good equipment is a fairly common story.

If there’s anything to be added, having good equipment means being on guard against knaves and the like but if one gets thrashed by someone of that level, that would signify their equipment is out of their league. So says the chuckling Answerer.

「Either way, I know nothing bout appraising or whatnot for my own gears. Even my current equipment was chosen by a travel companion who was with me at that time.」

「I see, a negative effect of being promoted too fast. For a rookie adventurer to rise up to C-rank, no matter how fast they get, it would take nearly a year’s worth of track record accumulation at the earliest. In the meantime, they naturally learn about equipment selection and its quality, whether good or bad. In your case, your lack of knowledge was due to skipping all those process and ranked up directly.」

「Even a speedy promotion is also problematic huh.」

As the rank goes up, the strength of magic beasts and the request’s difficulty also increases. In accordance to the rise, it would only be natural that the weapons used in the lower ranks won’t be able to cope. For that reason, I’m going to an equipment store and hold a new weapon in my hand to increase my knowledge on how to determine its quality.

I look down on my breastplate. It got a small hole the size of a thumb. I won’t find fault with Ruks anymore but I’m really horrified at the thought of not having the ice barrier at that time. I don’t think such occurrence will happen time and againーーnein, this is where I should seriously assume the worst possible outcome.

Upon reaching that conclusion, Answerer’s words as the more experienced person left a deep impression. Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

「…………But the real question is, what am I supposed to do? To be honest, I can only evaluate based on the price, y’know.」

「That on its own is good enough as any to make the right decision. If you choose a decent weapon store, that is.」

It seems that fraudulent merchant are ever present, no matter the world. A natural development, I guess.

A certain villager living in the village at the foot of the sacred mountain told me a story.

It was about him going to the city with his hard earned savings to climb the stairs to adulthood. He entered a certain shop in the red light district after being enticed by a voluptuous girl and when the [real thing] came out, the person’s peculiar appearance made him involuntarily question, [a woman?].

Fearing that he would [be eaten!?] by the fugly woman(?), the man said he fled back to the village without getting any refund. Since then, he was afflicted with a double distrust issue, against other person and against women.

By the way, he is now a daddy of three children with a homely wife in the village. She’s an amiable aunty with a round body and breasts.

His horror story aside, if this is an RPG, [damage] would be displayed on the status screen just by looking at the weapon but in this real fantasy world, that is merely wishful thinking.

Conclusion, I have to rely on dependable helper after all.

「Well, on that point, you can have a peace of mind. I’ve been based in this city for a fair amount of time. I can show you a store with a guarantee on both quality and price. Just a little while ago, I left my equipment in their hands. With my referral, at least you will not be sent away coldly………What’s with the eyes?」

I’m probably giving him the stink eye at this moment.

Answerer frowns, and then sigh as if giving up.

「Even one such as I think it is worth the effort to advise promising youth.」

I wonder who was it that chopped off a certain something from the promising young man…

…is what I wanted to say but it didn’t exit my mouth.

I’m hesitant to dredge up and complain further about an incident that I had scratched off in my mind.

「………I do not intend to make an excuse for that matter. Although there was an assurance against injuries, the worst that could happen was the possibility the future prospect of a promising adventurer being severed. You can also think of me being meddlesome as part of my apology.」

Did the words appear on my face even though I didn’t vocalize it?

Answerer gives me a serious look and lowers his head.

「What the–oi oi. Isn’t it little problematic for an esteemed A-rank lowering his head to a greenhorn C-rank?」

There are a lot of adventurers around us eating in the diner. Answerer’s presence is already garnering a lot of attention, and his bowing made a commotion break out.

「Precisely because A-rankers should be a role model for other adventurers that I believe I should draw a clear line regarding yourself and against myself. As a formal apology for that incident, I am sorry for putting you in a trial by fire.」

ーーーThus, I became more and more famous as the young adventurer [Shiroyasha] who landed a blow to [One Who Answers the Future (Fragarach)] and further made him bow afterward.

I didn’t know that at this point.

They don’t have any wooden sword there, do they?

Thirty minutes later~

After parting with Answerer at the diner, I head to store he mentioned.

When we split up, he went and…

「If you have any problem, you can rely on me. I will assist to the best of my ability.」

…left these words. I took those words at face value. If there’s anything really troubling, I’ll definitely let him know.

When I replied…

「When the time comes, do take care of me.」

…with a smile, Answerer’s face was stiff for some reason.

Setting aside the chance to receive his care for another time, I’m now facing the store. Should I say, as expected of a purveyor for an A-rank? Compared to the previous store where I bought my equipment, this one is impressive and even by eyeballing it, the lot is probably twice as big.

「Welcome.」

The one greeting me is a dandy uncle with a fine beard. His appearance is practically screaming [weapons store!] just by looking at the darkish and burnt arm jutting out of his short sleeve.

It seems that this store is often frequented by B-rank adventurers and above because when he enquired my rank and I honestly answered [C-rank], he raised a brow and when I said Answerer recommended me to come here, he accepted it easily.

「Cause Answerer’s eye for judging people is trustworthy. The one with his approval is someone with a promising future.」

I thought he’d be a standard obstinate old man. Surprisingly, he isn’t.

Since I’m not one to put on airs, I also tell him that I’m an amateur when it comes to appraising equipment. The old man nods pleasantly hearing this.

「ーーーAnd that’s the gist of it.」

「Got it. I’ll get just the right equipment for you, lad. For the time being, why don’t ya take off what you’re wearing and leave it here. I wanna know the dimensions. Also, how much is your budget?」

「Let’s see……… How much is the best equipment befitting a C-rank?」

「About twenty to thirty gold coins.」

「Then, within thirty pieces please.」

「Oh, ya spending big eh.」

That much could be covered by my guild earnings without touching any of the savings I borrowed from the [castle].

And then as a supplement, I also tell him that I use the protectors on both arms and legs in close combat. The shopkeeper acquiesced without changing his expression. He presumed as much from the minor scratches on my tekkou.

Can this old man handle it?

After a while, the shopkeeper returns while carrying a set of light armor. The same type as I wore previously. However, it has a strange hue for something made of iron. Only once have I ever encountered that familiar color.

「………Can it be, mithril alloy?」

「That’s right. With 30 gold coins, this set fits perfectly within your budget. Certainly, it’s somewhat expensive but I can guarantee its quality.」

Urged by the shopkeeper, I equip the set and the first thing that surprised me is the lightness. Wearing the iron equipment felt somewhat heavy yet I can’t feel any of it from wearing this mithril alloy set. Perhaps the expression clad in feathers meant something similar to this sensation.

「Though I’ve heard about it, it’s still surprising.」

「Right? All the guys who wore equipment made of mithril alloy roughly showed the same reaction as you did.」

I try to move my body lightly. There’s no sense of discomfort from the shopkeeper’s selection. It might be attributed to the characteristic of light armor that reduces obstruction to movement as much as possible but I’m convinced that it’s probably augmented by its quality.

「If ya feel something out of place, even for a tiny bit, tell me right away. I’ll do adjustment for free this time but I’ll charge ya some gold coins later on.」

「Nope. Can’t feel a thing.」

At this point, I’m already 90% sold.

However, just before it fully reaches 100%, my eyes caught [something] in the corner of the store while I’m doing a pretend shadow boxing, If I had to say, it feels similar to spotting a conspicuous person in the middle of a crowd.

I found [it] buried under the displayed weapons with a casual glance. I stop what I’m doing, walk up to it and pull out a pair of tekkou that radiates with a deep indigo luster.

「Old man storekeeper.」

「Hn? …………Oh, that thing. So that’s where it was hidden.」

The storekeeper frowns looking at the tekkou in my hand.

「It doesn’t look like it’s made from mithril alloy.」

「It’s made from a material called [heavy magic ore].」

「Heavy magic ore?」

Quite the unsophisticated name there.

「It’s an ore with a much lower yield than mithril. If you consider only in terms of sturdiness, it’s better than mithril alloy.」

I can already imagine a lot at this point.

「As you suspected lad, equipment made from heavy magic ore has a fatal flaw. For a period of time, it received a lot of attention as a new material.」

Heavy magic ore has the property of increasing its weight by absorbing mana around it. As an ore, it doesn’t pose much of a problem. However, when its purity is increased through refining process, the ore’s characteristic shows a tremendous boost.

Moreover, its compatibility with other metals are very poor, resulting in the loss of its main advantage -sturdiness- when alloyed with the same constituents used with mithril.

「Hmm? But I’m holding this thing right now and it weighs no different than a tekkou made from mithril alloy, y’know? It’s surprisingly light.」

「That equipment was made by an eccentric blacksmith who studied the heavy magic ore. A normally refined heavy magic ore sucks up the mana floating in the air to its limit but that tekkou was specially processed. Leaving it alone won’t add to its weight.」

「Whaddaya know, the problem was completely solved after all.」

Or so I thought. The storekeeper continues with a sigh.

「Listen to the end. Sure, it no longer absorbs ambient mana but in exchange, it will completely drain the wielder’s mana.」

On top being deprived of mana, its weight increases. Now that’s a perfect description of a cursed equipment if I ever heard one.

「For a magician, it’s out of the question. Even for a warrior type, they need all the mana they can use to strengthen their body. To be frank, it has no merit as an equipment, none whatsoever.」

There’s also the issue with mana affinity huh. Warrior types that can’t use magical formation augment their physical ability using their excess mana. If the fuel for that augment aka mana is lost, high mana affinity doesn’t mean a thing. The only thing that would remain is a body burdened by a heavier equipment.

「Why the heck do you keep this in the store?」

「If it was just an ordinary piece of equipment, it would be disposed of without delay. However, that is something with a bit of a circumstances that has been around since the previous generation.」

「Did every buyer encountered untimely death?」

「What kinda disturbing nonsense are you talking about, kiddo. There are no buyers in the first place. I was told that this equipment was passed down from a generation before my predecessor along with an epithet, [bestow it to someone worthy in the future]. As the one who inherited this store, I can’t easily dispose it off.」

A cursed gear or so I thought but it’s a legendary equipment. Ah, the legendary part isn’t set in stone yet.

How the hell do you handle an armor packaged with an overweight curse that goes out in full force against the wielder.

「How do you even decide the [worthy person]?」

「Beats me.………But I’ve been told by my predecessor that the absorption will not work on a [particular mana].」

「What’s up with the particular mana. Sounds more like a double standard to me.」

「Like I said, don’t ask me. The one who told me this said he heard it from his predecessor. Truthfully, neither my predecessor and I have ever met this [worthy person]. If we had, this deadstock would’ve been long gone.」

Distant generation guy… at the very least, you could’ve provided a little more information about this [worthy person] of yours. Specifically, what kinda particular [mana] is it. 　

………………………………。 　

………………。

……。

Mana?

「Ah.」

「ーーQuite the meaningful [ah] you got there lad.」

I look down at the [cursed tekkou (provisionary)] in my hand and then raise my head to look at the storekeeper.

「………Maybe it’ll work.」

「Lad, what are you sayinーー」

「Gonna hand this over for a bit.」

I remove the mithril alloy tekkou I’m wearing on my left hand and pass it to the storekeeper together with the right tekkou made from heavy magic ore. Anticipating my action, the storekeeper receives the two tekkou albeit with a great deal of fluster.

「W-Wait lad! Sure, it’s lighter than mithril alloy in your hands but as soon as you equip it, it’ll become terribly heavy! I tried it a long time ago but I can’t support it even though I tempered myself! Your thin arms will break, lad!」

Paying no heed to the storekeeper’s warning, I nimbly put it on my arm and fasten the clasp.

「……」

「……」　

…………………………………………。

………………………。

………。

About ten seconds elapsed.

「Iyay」

「Eeeeeeeeee!?」

The former is me. The latter is the storekeeper.

My lackadaisical delighted voice followed by a scream of astonishment echoes inside the store.

「Iyay yay」

Cheering lackadaisically, I raise my left arm high into the ceiling.

「Wow!? Is this real!? Hang on, I need to make sure this is truly the tekkou made from heavy magic oreーーー」

Saying so, the storekeeper equips the one I gave him to ascertain if the tekkou is genuine.

「ーーーnuguuoooo!!!!???」

Immediately following the disappearance of the storekeeper from my sight, a loud boom reverberates.

………Eh, where did the storekeeper go?

I immediately find out the whereabouts of the missing storekeeper. I hear a moaning from my feet and when I look down there, the storekeeper who has his right arm buried in the floor is groaning painfully.

To my surprise, there’s a crack on cobblestone floor originating from where the tekkou sunk. This is proof that the characteristic of the heavy magic ore as explained by the storekeeper is undeniably true.

「L-Lad. I’m sorry but can you lend me a hand. My mana was sucked empty and I can’t gather my strength.」

I hurriedly untie the clasp binding his right arm, seeing that he doesn’t seem to be joking around.

「Fuu………Ya saved me lad. Anyhow, it’s exactly the same as when I was testing it out of curiosity in the past. I remember that my predecessor also grumbled [I was once like that too] at the time.」

The storekeeper takes a deep breath of relief now that he escaped the super heavy tekkou and stares at me wearing the same [tekkou] on my left hand like he’s watching a rare beast.

「Lad. Do you really feel nothing?」

「Iyay」

「Stop that strange reply of yours.………But that really doesn’t look like the weight has increased.」

The storekeeper lifts the tekkou (still attached to my left arm) to make sure that the weight hasn’t change.

「This is really surprising. Can it be that laddie is the [worthy person] we’ve been waiting from generation to generation………?」

「Welp, that’s definitely not true.」

Before anymore misunderstanding pops up, I call time out.

ーーーExplanation in progressーーー

「N-no mana………you say?」

「Yep. As I don’t have any mana to be sucked in the first place, the negative side of the heavy magic ore has nothing to do with me. Oh yeah, this is my trade secret, so don’t talk about it carelessly, okay?」

「Ah, okay. I understand that but………」

From his reaction, I’m positive that the existence of zero mana like me is as expected, outside the common sense. That might be reasonable given that even the long-lived Lydeal baa-san has never come across any existence similar to me.

「ーーーOkay, I’ve decided! I’ll sell this heavy magic ore tekkou to you!」

「Eh, is that okay? You’re not selling it just because it seems interesting, are you? Besides, there’s the words from the past generation that you need to consider.」

「The same previous generation also said he was stumped with this tekkou when he handed it over to my predecessor. Even if laddie have no mana, clearly you could equip it. Rather than waiting indefinitely for someone with a [particular mana], I’d be happier to hand the tekkou over to laddie who can actually equip it.」

Saying so, the storekeeper laughs and pats my back. If the storekeeper insist, I have no reason to refuse.

Lightness rivalling mithril alloy and sturdiness exceeding it. As far as I’m concerned, everything is working out just the way I want it.

The shopkeeper’s mana got sucked clean by the tekkou and it’s consuming his strength but even so, he carries out minute adjustment on it. Thanks to his effort, both tekkou which felt just the slightest bit off earlier is now completely snug on my arms.

In addition, although the price is the most important aspect, he surprisingly said the the original budget of 30 gold coins for the mithril alloy set is enough to cover it all. The storekeeper is being considerably magnanimous.

ーーーI don’t know it yet. It turns out that this tekkou‘s [history] is nothing less than outrageous.

ーーーAll in a day’s work! Or so I thought later on.