Chapter 8: Excursions (3)

I put the shopping basket down; the next place we arrived at was a weapons shop.

“Hmph? Alright, what can I get for you?”

As I stood in front of the shop, awkwardly looking around, a voice suddenly came from below me.

“Whoa?!”

There stood an old dwarf with a bushy beard and a face covered in soot.

“Oops. I forgot that tall people don’t see me well, huh? Heh heh. From your attire… it looks like you’re heading for a dungeon exploration, aren’t you?”

Her lips twitched, and she turned her body towards me.

With her hands full, it would clearly be difficult for her to do anything.

Before she could even open her mouth, I took the bags from her hands, one by one.

She shook her hands twice, then strode into the shop and bowed slightly.

“We need sturdy gloves, boots, and leather armor.”

The dwarf who took the order—no… by appearance and profession, it was clearly a dwarf, so let’s call him a dwarf.

The dwarf swiftly picked up items from a low shelf, one by one, and held them up.

“Alright… let’s see. These are gloves and boots made from common leather. Although they’re sturdy, they’ll break easily if handled roughly, so you can buy new ones or get them repaired, whatever you prefer.”

She took them and touched them with her hands, then nodded.

“Kobold leather, I see. It’s cheap yet durable. A good item to start with for lower tiers.”

“Heh, you clearly look like newbies, so I gave you those on purpose.”

He wiped his nose once, then stared at her, who was still holding the item and examining it closely, before turning his back and waddling further into the shop.

As I just stood there watching him, he suddenly let out a shout.

“What are you doing? If you want to see the goods, you have to come all the way inside the shop to see them properly, don’t you?!”

Elli showed me a slightly awkward smile and was about to enter the shop, then extended her hand towards me.

“Please give the items here. I’ll take them and put them down.”

“What are you saying? A sturdy young man can’t carry luggage? Don’t just stand there gawking like a tall tree, come in quickly, throw your stuff down anywhere, and come look at the goods. Come on, the lady seems to know her stuff well, so she can come first.”

Although I was disheartened by the scolding for nothing, the warmth that suddenly wrapped around my hand startled me.

That brief, soft touch swiftly took the bags from my grasp and gently placed them in a corner of the shop.

My gaze was stolen by her fluttering ears and flushed cheeks, and then a voice piercing my ear once again ruined the moment.

“What are you doing? You’re really rubbing it in. Did you come to buy goods or to have a picnic? Huh?”

Though annoyed by the booming voice echoing in my head, I could only smile at her still captivating face and follow her.

“These young folks nowadays all bring their partners, sigh… They’re wasting time looking at each other’s faces instead of the goods.”

The grumbling dwarf then tapped, tapped the leather armor on the mannequin.

“This one is made of cowhide. It’s tough, so it’ll be sturdy. This one’s for the lady. Check if it fits before you buy, huh? We have various sizes.”

Taking off her duster coat and handing it to me, she stripped the armor from the mannequin, put it on, tightened the belt to fit her body, and then tapped the armor.

She nodded as if satisfied and was about to loosen the belt, then noticed my gaze and turned towards me.

“…Does it suit me?”

Of course, it suits you, and then some.

I admired her figure, which was still well-defined even in armor.

Her slender waist, especially, was incredibly amazing.

“If you’ve tried it all on, quickly take it off and put it down! You, come over here and try it on quickly too. If you’re going to look at weapons, it’ll take even longer, these brats are really…”

Pushed by his frantic urging, I hurriedly put on the armor and tightened the belt, feeling it cling snugly to my body.

It felt somewhat unfamiliar, but when I tapped my body, it definitely felt sturdy.

“Just a moment…”

Approaching from behind, she took my shoulder and turned my body halfway to face her, then proceeded to touch every part of the armor, checking each seam.

“No problem. These two armors should be fine.”

“Alright, then. Here, your bag is here, put it in and move quickly.”

He, holding a bag as tall as himself with both hands, scurried away to the other side of the shop.

After putting two sets of leather armor into the bag, I followed him, and there were several display racks with weapons haphazardly hung on them.

There, she scrutinized the weapons, then picked up a peculiar-looking weapon and handed it to me.

“Aha. The lady seems to know her stuff well. It’s a ‘war pick.’ One side is like a hammer, the other side can smash like a pickaxe. There’s nothing better for the lower tiers. It’s a blunt weapon that can deliver a fatal blow if you just hit with it, even if you swing it wildly, so it’s perfect for kids like you. Still, once you start moving into proper tiers, you’ll need better weapons, but… for now, that’ll be enough.”

“Would you like to try holding it?”

As she suggested, I picked up the weapon called a war pick, and it was quite interesting.

With one side, I could probably break rocks, and it seemed I could do the same with the other side.

While I was satisfied with the weight, which I could easily hold with one hand, and moved it around, she brought over a warhammer and a shield, and even a small bow and quiver.

Among them, the most impressive was none other than the warhammer.

Compared to the war pick, it was much larger, angular, and looked heavier, yet she was holding it with one hand quite easily.

“…Is that not heavy?”

“No, it’s a familiar weapon to me.”

“If it’s alright, can I buy two daggers too? For emergencies… Is that too many?”

I thought daggers might be too much, but the mention of emergencies made me reconsider.

Ultimately deciding it was better to buy them, I nodded.

“…Buy them if you need them. What about the shield?”

“If you only wield the war pick, you might get hurt by goblins attacking with weapons. You can easily block clumsy attacks with a shield. Would you like to try holding it?”

“Was that an item I would be using?”

“Yes, I will use the hammer and bow on this side. Normally, I’ll be in front, and if needed, I’ll provide support from behind.”

Was it just my imagination, or did her presence suddenly seem to grow much larger?

I stared blankly for a moment at her, holding the hammer and handing over the shield, then picked up the shield.

It didn’t seem too heavy to hold with one hand, but when I imagined wielding the war pick while holding this, I didn’t get a good feel for it.

“You’ll need arrows too, right?”

“Please.”

Clanking and rattling, he waddled while holding bundles of arrows, then quickly laid out the items on a low shelf and busily moved his hands.

“Gloves, boots… war pick…”

When he laid them out, I was surprised by the surprisingly large quantity and looked at her, and she smiled sweetly at me.

The quantity was one thing, but the price was quite concerning.

Of course, she must have had her own reasons for choosing these items, but as I went to help her, who had already put on her duster coat again and was neatly arranging the items she had set aside into the bag—

“Get out your coin purse, you brat. The calculation’s done. One gold coin.”

“One gold coin?!”

“Why, is it expensive? Can’t you pay?”

No, quite the opposite.

It’s too cheap.

Even all of it combined doesn’t come close to the price of that longsword back then.

“Um, is it still a burdening price?”

I was in a daze, then came to my senses at her voice, took out one gold coin from my pocket, and gently placed it in the dwarf’s widely spread hand.

“Heh, isn’t that right? Seems like we’ll be seeing each other often in the future, so nice to deal with you. As long as you don’t die, that is, heh heh.”

“Wait, I have a question!”

I called out to him as he turned his back and was about to go back into the room, stopping him.

“Hmm?”

“By any chance, how much is a longsword?”

“Longsword? If you mean a longsword, fifty silver coins. That’s… five thousand Dikats. A bit expensive, yeah.”

“Uh, why…”

There was absolutely no difference from that longsword, aside from the f*cking decorations, there was no difference at all.

“Why, you say? You, by any chance, were you ripped off?”

“It cost five gold coins…”

At that moment, the dwarf clutched his stomach and rolled on the floor.

“Ughahaha! G-gold, five gold coins? Five gold coins?! And to such a newbie!”

He kept pounding the floor, then wiped away a tear, and instantly his expression turned serious as he dusted off his butt and stood up.

“What kind of scumbag sells goods like that. Do you have that item separately?”

The longsword from back then was lost due to the incident, but when I said it was no different from the longsword on display, he nodded as if he understood.

“Those guys, they must be really ripping off newbies. Yes… you’re talking about the place near the plaza, right? It’s popular only with noble brats. They put on all sorts of elaborate decorations. Utterly useless ones.”

He gave me a firm warning, then waved his hand, telling me to go, and I had no choice but to trudge out of the shop, sharing the luggage, feeling utterly dejected.

As I entered the room, feeling completely drained, her voice finally reached me.

“Um, by any chance… if it’s not rude, could you tell me about what happened back then?”