Chapter 41: Rip-off Store and Reunion at Dusk

When it was close to evening, I left the inn.

Before I go to the dungeon, I will be selling the Spirit Stones.

My meeting with Alex was a mistake.

Even though I am the Chosen that should take the most care, I entered the bathhouse carelessly, so that ended up happening.

I fortunately came out alive -I should think of it that way.

If I want to take it up a notch, I should switch lodgings at irregular intervals, but that would be overthinking. There’s no real merit for the Chosen to listen to the messages and kill me.

However, there’s humans who take action even when the merits are unknown, just like the idiot that killed Nanami, her family, and me. I do need to be careful.

While I was thinking that, I crossed the back alley at dusk and arrived at the black market.

The black market old man buys everything without poking his head into it.

No matter how I live in this world, what I need in this world the most right now is money.

“Hooh, these are 2nd Floor stones. There’s quite a lot. Were you accumulating them?”

I lined up the Spirit Stones on the counter, and the old man raised an eyebrow.

It is around 40 in total.

More than half of them are transparent, but there’s also color ones.

“Something like that.” (Hikaru)

“I see… An unsociable brat as always.”

The old man said this as he placed 4 silver coins and 7 small silver coins in the small plate on the counter.

“You are a great customer, so I have added a little extra.”

“Thanks.” (Hikaru)

4 silver coins are around 32 small silver coins.

I don’t know what the conversion rate to yens would be, but it is at least enough to stay for more than half a month in that cheap inn.

This is a pretty nice earning for a single day of monster hunting.

It is a job that explorers risk their life in, so the pay must be proportional to the risks.

I came out from the back alley and into the main street, and entered a store aimed for explorers.

A big store that has weapons, armor, and tools that explorers use were placed around. My dagger and clothes were bought here.

I think the line-up is good, but it is not a specialized store, so the quality is only average.

I can’t buy the quality stuff anyways, so the products in this store should be plenty enough for a newbie.

(I want a spear…) (Hikaru)

A dagger is convenient and all, but with my fighting style, I feel like I would be able to fight more safely if I were to stab the enemy from afar. The range of Darkness Fog is pretty wide, so there’s no need to take the risky choice of approaching the enemy in dagger range.

Well, I have never used a spear, so I only have an image about it, but I won’t be able to know for sure without buying it and trying it out.

(So expensive. Spears cost this much?) (Hikaru)

Even though it is basically like a dagger being glued to the tip of a wood stick, it costs as much as 12 silver coins.

It isn’t impossible to buy it, but if I were to be asked if the necessity merits the price, I wouldn’t be able to say.

Now that I look at the actual product, a spear isn’t giving me that much confidence.

(If this is the competition, a dagger is fine.) (Hikaru)

Daggers have their own pros. One of them is that you can swing or stab too. There will be a variety of situations where I can attack, so being able to adapt depending on the situation is important.

Also, in the 2nd Floor, there’s a lot of battles that happen in cramped places. A dagger wouldn’t be inhibited by this.

And, most of all, the fact that I can protect myself with it if need be. A spear is a wooden stick. If I were to use it for defense, I am sure it would break pretty quick. A broken spear would degrade into less than a knife.

The priority for buying a spear is low.

(What about armor.) (Hikaru)

I don’t have any armor aside from the gauntlet that came out from the gem orb.

The boots I bought with points when I was transferred here are still fine and kicking, but that’s all they are.

No matter how hidden in the darkness I am, they would be paper against an unexpected attack.

Having armor would be better.

(Even leather armor is at this price, huh…) (Hikaru)

Chest armor made of tanned black tea leather is going for 15 silver coins.

Even a leather breastplate is 10 silver coins.

A chainmail is 35 silver coins. An iron breastplate is 42 silver coins.

This might be a rip-off store, but at any rate, they are all at prices I can’t buy.

When it comes to proper armor like steel, they would need gold.

I don’t know the rate of gold, but I heard from the black market old man that it is around 50 silver coins.

I don’t know the difference in the worth of gold and silver, but at any rate, money is important.

That’s what it must mean.

(…There’s strangely a lot of neck protectors being sold.) (Hikaru)

Even within the armor types, this protective armor that goes from the shoulder to the neck has a corner expressly made for it.

The price depends on the material, but are there many monsters who aim for the neck?

There’s a lot made of leather, but there’s also a lot made of iron.

Whichever the case, it is not a price I can afford.

For the tools, there’s canteens, torches, fire starting tools, and stuff like that.

Also, there’s smoke bombs that are most likely used to run away, stink bags, dried meat -no, dried meat is simply preserved food.

I was looking at the lined up products and ended up thinking, I wanted a backpack when I was walking through the forest.

Now that I have the Shadow Bag, I don’t really need it that much, but it might be better to have one for camouflage.

(Hmm, interesting.) (Hikaru)

Maybe because I have gotten a bit used to this world compared to the last time I came here, it is fun checking out the stores selling miscellaneous items.

Comparing it to the products sold in Japan, the miscellaneous items aren’t made that well and it doesn’t make me want to buy them, but leaving that aside, the things lined up here I haven’t seen before were stimulating my curiosity.

There’s some leeway in my heart most likely because the viewers have decreased.

Alex, who is a Chosen like me, is in the same city, so I do need to be careful, but as long as we are not expressly looking for each other, I shouldn’t be encountering him that often.

In the end, I bought a change of black clothes.

I would like underwear too, but there’s issues with the quality, so it would be better to buy them with Crystals.

The cheap ones in this world are tied up by strings for use, so it is honestly not practical.

“Ah, found you!”

When I left the store, I heard a clear voice like that of a bell.

I looked at the direction where that voice came from, and there it was, Rifreya dyed in the red of the evening sun running my way.

With a flushed face and her waving platinum blonde hair shining with the light, she came running here with a soft smile.

It caught me completely off-guard.

I couldn’t run away, and ended up standing in the middle of this crowded place, dazed.

“What a relief… You weren’t showing up the whole time in the dungeon entrance, so…I was worried I wouldn’t be able to see you anymore.” (Rifreya)

Rifreya walks over to me with her breathing a bit ragged.

I did think for a moment that maybe she was waiting for me in front of the dungeon.

But to think that really was the case.

—A beauty raised her voice loudly and ran to a man.

That event has made the gazes of almost all the people around gather on me.

That made me feel more uncomfortable than the woman in front of me.

I could feel my feet were growing colder.

Cold sweat ran down my back and I decided to run away.

However, I can’t go activating my Dark Spirit Abilities here, so I ignored Rifreya and ran to a back alley.

It is a shameless act, but right now I want to prioritize protecting my own heart.

I don’t think that noble-looking Rifreya is acquainted with back alleys.

I have the confidence of losing her here.

(Haah haah…now that I have come this far…) (Hikaru)

“Done?”

I was surprised and looked back, and there she was, Rifreya standing there with a completely fine look.

Even though I was running left and right in these complicated back alleys, I couldn’t run away from her at all.

“Despite my looks, I am pretty high in tier. I finally found you, so I won’t be letting you escape, you know?” (Rifreya)

“Damn it! Shadow Bind!” (Hikaru)

Even if it is a back alley, there’s still the eye of people.

I have finally reached the point of being able to fight monsters, and my viewers have also decreased.

Finally…finally I have begun to walk.

I don’t want that to crumble.

The Spirits sympathized with my words, and the tentacles coming out from the shadows tied her up.

She raised a faint scream, but I used that opening to use Darkness Fog and run.

The bind only lasts for a few seconds, but it is enough to scamper.

I ran in the back alley with my all, and this time around, succeeded in escaping from her.

With this, she should give up.

l