CH 52

Chapter 52: New Armor

Dannan: “Hey! Don’t you see how weird all of this is?! Why aren’t you stopping him?!”

Eliz: “Mr. Yuto is the Party Leader, yes. That’s why we’ll follow his directives, yes. I would stop him if he was wrong, but Mr. Yuto is never wrong, yes.”

Dannan: “Your share of the Dungeon raids will go down!!”

Eliz: “Well, I may not look it, but I have plenty of money, yes. I’m a C-Rank Adventurer after all!”

And with that Eliz puffs her chest out.

It’s too bad that there was nothing there that would have pushed out her clothes, but still, the stance was full of confidence and pride.

Eliz: “Besides, I also grew up in the slums, yes. I understand how Mr. Dannan feels, yes!”

Dannan: “That’s right...you’re the ‘Downtown Saint’....crud…!”

Dannan remembered why Eliz was called the Downtown Saint in the first place.

Dannan kicks the ground in frustration.

And Yuto takes Dannan’s hands once again.

Yuto: “Okay, Mr. Dannan. Let’s go!”

Dannan: “....ugh, fine. Where to? The 16th Floor?”

Yuto: “No, first we’ll begin with an Insta-D.”

When Yuto defeated the 10th Floor boss, Yuto received a D-Rank Instant Dungeon Key as a Quest Clear Reward.

Today, he was planning on using that to clear some Quests along with the Instant Dungeon.

Dannan: “Wait, if we’re going to a Insta-Dーー”

Dannan turns to Yuto.

Yuto: (Is there something about Insta-D’s that I don’t know?)

Perceiving how serious Dannan looked, Yuto braces for his next words.

Dannan: “You need to do something about your armor.”

Yuto: “......huh?”

What came out of Dannan was completely unexpected.

For a moment, Yuto’s thoughts came to a complete halt,

Yuto: “....my...armor?”

Dannan: “Yeah, in the Insta-D’s, you’ll encounter monsters who use Spells. C’mon, you can’t go in there wearing what you have on right now.”

Yuto: “.....but we’re trying to save money…”

Dannan: “Look, you make my heart stop every time you get hit by a Spell! I’ve had enough of that!”

Eliz: “That’s right! That’s right! Mr. Yuto, it’s high time you bought new armor, yes!”

Eliz fully supported Dannan’s words.

If they use money now, they’ll be starting at a negative balance.

Besides that, Yuto currently did not have any savings to make such a large purchase.

Yuto: “IーI don’t….I don’t have any money!!”

Dannan: “I’ll hear you out at the Armor Shop.”

Eliz: “You’re coming with us, yes.”

Yuto resisted with all his might.

But before Dannan and Eliz’s determination, he could not avoid being dragged away against his will.

<<<<>>>>

Inside the Pluto's Weapons and Armor Shop, Yuto sat hunched over in a small corner.

Eliz and Dannan are choosing his armor for him right now.

Watching them do so was in a sense, humiliating.

If Yuto was footing the bill, he wouldn’t have felt so ashamed, but it was Eliz who was paying out of pocket.

Yuto will finally have his equipment bought by a 12 year old girl.

Thinking about it only made him want to cry even more.

Yuto: “OーOh! Look at this, guys! Why not this armor? It’s Pluto’s made and only costs 50,000 gards! What a deal〜”

Eliz: “Definitely not, yes.”

Dannan: “You can’t go into an Instant-D with just that thin piece of cloth〜”

Yuto’s desperate efforts of resistance are effortlessly shot down just like that.

Dannan: “Why not this one?”

Eliz: “Hmmmm, isn’t it a little flimsy, yes?”

Dannan: “Yuto is an evasion-type so this should be fine.”

Eliz: “Hmmmmmm….”

“ “..............” ”

Yuto: “Eek?!”

The two were having a discussion over one particular piece of equipment, and suddenly stopped to stare at Yuto.

Their eyes were that of a hunter measuring up their prey and caused Yuto to flinch.

Eliz: “Mr. Yuto, you should choose this one, yes.”

And in Eliz' hand was a black coat.

Yuto cautiously picked it up, and he immediately felt how light it was.

Yuto: “Whoa….”

It felt no heavier than a feather.

Yuto unfolded the coat to take a look at the whole thing.

Mari: “That is a coat meant for Spellcasters.”

As Yuto examined the coat further, Mari walked up to him to explain.

Mari: “It has some close-combat defense, but it doesn’t compare to any chain mail’s defenses. In exchange, it has incomparable Anti-Spell Defense and Resistance. At that price, it’s a fair deal, but would it really be fitting for a swordsman like you?”

Yuto: “Hmmmmmmmmmmm….”

Yuto considers Mari’s concerns carefully.

Yes, this coat would not have as much physical impact defenses as a chain mail armor would, but Yuto is not a armored, defensive-type swordsman trying to soak in physical punishment. He’s an evasion-centered swordsman.

Then in that case, rather than equipping the standard swordsman armor, prioritizing Spell Defense which he will incur as he approaches enemies is not mistake.

Yuto did think that this was suitable for him...

ーーuntil he saw the price tag.

Yuto: “300…?!”

Mari: “A single coat sells at 300,000 gards. You should be able to use this up to B-Rank battles.”

Yuto: “Ummmmmmmm…….”

Yuto: (300,000 gards would be how many meals…….?)

Yuto tries to calculate it mentally and immediately, the calculator in his brain smokes and sparks out of commission.

Yuto: (Ugh, well….IT’S A LOT! YOU CAN EAT A LOT WITH THAT MUCH MONEY!!)

Yuto is not an Adventurer who has the gall to purchase something that expensive.

His hands holding the coat shook visibly as he tried to place the coat back to where it was.

But before he could do so, Eliz intervened.

Eliz: “I’ll pay for this, yes.”

Yuto: “Bーbut….”

Eliz: “It’s okay, so please let me buy this for you, yes. You’ll of course pay me back, yes. I’m not giving you this money. You are borrowing, yes.”

Yuto: “Borrow….”

Eliz: “You can pay me back in installments or all at once. You can even not pay me back at all, yes.”

Yuto: “What?!”

Eliz: “But in return……”

Eliz begins to laugh creepily at the thought.

And for whatever reason, Mari mumbled quietly, “You think I’ll allow that to happen?” and sparks flew as the two met eyes.

Eliz was finalizing the purchase and payments with Mari as Yuto headed to the dressing room to try on the coat.

When he passed his arms through the sleeves, it was so light that he could forget that he had it on.

Yuto: “Can I really wear such expensive equipment?”

A thought crossed his mind, and Yuto pulled out his Skill Board.