CH 64

“W-Well, let’s do this again.” (Souma)

After receiving the eaten apples of Ringo, we went around all the major stores, and we checked a variety of things while shopping big. 

The first one we went to was the accessory shop that was by the side of the item shop. 

After we went to the store, I finally noticed that I completely forgot about testing out equipping rings to Ringo.

I did have her try it out, but it seems like Ringo also finds it hard to equip more than 3 rings.

It is not like it would be impossible to force her to, but…

“…It feels uncomfortable. If I had to compare it to something, it wouldn’t be an event flag, but the same as the Lightning Strike. It involves the character’s ability data.

She may be bugged, but it seems like the settings on that front still remain. 

The item shop mistake still remains vividly in my mind. 

There’s a lot of accessory variety and a lot in storage, and they are also decently pricey, so buying it all would be wasting too much money. 

I find whatever looks useful, and decide to buy the max amount Ringo and I can equip. 

It is an important choice, but the first thing to get are the elemental rings that allowed me to defeat the Butcher. 

I couldn’t expect much benefits from the level I rings in Lamurick, but the ones here that go all the way to III are pretty promising. 

The specialization I increases damage by 15% and reduces by 70%, but the specialization III increases damage by 45% and reduces it by 50%. The increase flies off. 

If I use all 10 element specialization rings, the Light Specialization Damage Ring I would have -6 times in the Dark Element Modifier. 

That’s quite the modifier, but the element modifier when using the level III ring goes as high as 5.5 times. 

Also, if it is less than 7 rings, it would normally be better to use specialization III, so against someone you know the elemental weakness of, it would be really effective. 

Well, around midgame, you will have a crazy ton of monsters that are immune to all elements, so it is questionable if I could use them all the way, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared. 

As for Ringo, after consulting with the person herself, in order to increase the power of Lightning Strike, we decided on having her equip rings that mainly increase the physical strength dramatically while decreasing magic power equally as dramatically. 

The specialization items that have demerits like the ones that reduce the opposite element heavily have around 3 times more of an increase than the normal equipment with no downsides. 

The lack of a good sense of balance really is Nekomimi Neko quality, but if you properly utilize this, you win big. 

She already had high stats to begin with, so it should allow her to deal even more powerful attacks. 

After that, we got some random power up ones and bought a stamina up ring from the pick-up items that looked good, and immediately headed to the next store. 

The next place we went to was the weapon store. 

If I were to buy all the weapons, it would be troublesome in another meaning from money, so just like at the time at Lamurick, we bought the best weapon of each category, and bought all the weapons with elements and additional effects. 

But, unfortunately, there aren’t many powerful weapons currently being sold at the store in the capital. 

When speaking of weapon stores, there should be an event like the strongest demonic sword guran-something placed stealthily around, and the player would coincidentally find it… It would be nice if that were the case here, but there’s no way there would be such a convenient thing in Nekomimi Neko of all places. 

The most that would happen would be that you would get deplorable events like ‘if you touch the weapon you get cursed’ or ‘the legendary weapon scam’, but this time around, there weren’t even those events happening. 

The only elemental weapons I got were wind and light. As for attack power, we only found weapons that were below that of the Golden Sakura. 

Looks like I will have to rely on the attack power of the Meat Cleaver-san for now. 

The next one we head to is the armor store. 

The number one objective is of course to update our equipment. 

With this, we can finally solve the close to rock-bottom issue of having beginner equipment and having no equipment. 

First, we check all the armor with additional effects and elemental resistance that could help us in the future, and we buy two of each. 

And then, I decided to begin a careful search of my real objective. 

There wasn’t anything with that high of defense on the pick-up items, so I quickly decided to buy the best store armor in the capital which is the orichalcum type armor. 

However, even if I wrap them all up as orichalcum, there’s a variety in weight and attributes.

I thought it would be better for Ringo to use robes for mages, but her physical strength stat is clearly higher than mine, and Lightning Strike is a physical attack, so there’s no point in magic bonuses. 

In the end, we both bought warrior sets and equipped them immediately.

“Yup, looking good.” (Souma)

The grade of the equipment increased, but the equipment weight barely changed, and the defense increased drastically. 

Orichalcum armor is for around level 90, so with us having increased our levels defeating goldens considered in the equation, we have secured defense on the level of a mid tier adventurer.

Also, I changed my equipment, but I continued placing the paper below the armor. 

I thought for a moment whether to give it to Ringo instead, but the paper would be all crumpled, so I decided not to. 

Ah, the reason is of course because Ringo’s fingers are way too clumsy, so the paper would be messed up. There’s no other reason than that. 

…Yup. 

Different from Ina, I knew from the very beginning that it is not like Ringo doesn’t have ‘that part’, but when I got conscious of it again, I ended up getting a bit flustered. 

A while after that, I couldn’t look at Ringo in the face for a while, but let’s keep that a secret. 

Trying to get rid of that pink feeling, the next place I headed to was the magic store. 

When we arrived at the store, I bought the Healing Staff that was displayed for generations in the center of the store for 1,000,000E.

A single staff being worth 1 million is shocking, but that’s because it is a price that doesn’t take into consideration being bought.

Actually, this Healing Staff is only shown at the store the first time the player visits, and when you go there in the following days, the staff is already gone. 

On your next visit, the store owner will tell you ‘the staff was bought by a rich noble’ even though you didn’t even ask, and ‘if you want the staff, how about negotiating with them personally?’. And when you go to the house of that noble, they will give you a practically impossible task…is how it goes, but as if I care. 

I was upfront with the owner that I would buy it for 1 million E, so sell it to me, and bought it at once before unnecessary events happen. 

After that, we did normal shopping, but well, there wasn’t much to think about in the shopping at the magic store compared to the accessory store. 

The items with magic imbued in them are within the jurisdiction of the item shop, and the only thing that’s being sold at the magic store are the magic books and staff category weapons. 

I bought all the magic books that were not in Lamurick, and there was an earth element staff within the pick-up items, so I bought that only. 

And with this, my shopping at the magic store is over. 

“Alright, with this, we have gone around much of everywhere.” (Souma)

I thought shopping would be fun if you can buy anything, but being able to buy anything has its own set of annoyances. 

Well, this was a necessary step to do. There’s probably no need to do shopping for a while now.

“We used quite a lot there…” (Souma)

When I investigated the crystal, it was now down to 30,300,000.

You could call it quite the expense, but considering there won’t be any need to go to a store for a while, this is within acceptable boundaries. 

(No, that’s not clear yet.) (Souma)

This is not the end of today’s shopping. 

Rather, you could even say we will be doing the biggest purchase of today. 

What we will be going to buy from here on. 

It is going to be the biggest purchase in my life, and what will show the true upstart colors. 

“Now then, Ringo, we are going to be buying a house!” (Souma)

Buying a home.

Just like in many games, you can buy a house and make it your base in this game as well. 

A house can simply be a storage for your collection and a substitute for inns, but depending on the grade of your house, there will be a variety of facilities that will help you out in your adventures. 

The reason why I wasn’t that hung over the Warrior Guild and the Mage Guild was because of this. 

When you buy a high rank house, you can even do the weapon and magic customization without being a member of the Warrior Guild and the Mage Guild. 

In the game, it is not like I lived in the house, and even if I am going to, there’s no need to have a big house because I would be living alone anyways, so I was satisfied with just the 3,000,000E. 

But this time around is different from then. 

I silently turn back.

“…Will there be…split hairs?” (Ringo)

There was my companion who tilted her head at my sudden stare. 

(It really would be better to buy a bigger house.) (Souma)

It is not because of the incident at the armory store, but living in a cramped house together would have its issues. 

We could go for a one rank higher house that costs 5,000,000E. No, might as well just go all the way up and buy the highest ranked house for 20,000,000E. 

When I asked for Ringo’s opinion, she said: “…Hm, wherever’s fine.” 

What a dependable reply. 

Well, I do feel like Ringo would just sit at the corner of any house and just stare into space, so how big it is or what facilities it has might not be of her concern at all. 

Then I will be the one making the final decision.

It is not like I have hopes from a house like that, but…

“Since we can, let’s just buy the most expensive one!!” (Souma)

We decided on our home with my throwaway spirited voice. 

There were no issues with the purchase and the other miscellaneous procedure. 

I paid the 20,000,000E in one go, registered as the owner of the house, and received the key to the house. 

Ringo and I registered as the owners of the house, so there’s no need for a key when entering the house, but it is apparently going to be used between us owners. 

I don’t feel the need for that right now, but we might have to talk about stuff like that later. 

But for now, it is all about this house. 

The house that I bought at a hefty sum of 20 million E is close to the royal castle. In other words, it is a big mansion at the center of the capital, located in the first class district. 

This house costs a ridiculous amount, but quite a lot of players have bought this house, so information about it was posted on the net a lot. 

Its reputation is the best, and it was highly praised as ‘anyways, it is an amazing place’ on the net which has a lot of spicy takes. 

When I saw it with my own eyes, I understood what they were saying. 

I don’t know about location and all that stuff, but not only is it pointlessly big, but it is also 3 floors big. 

There’s more than 20 bedrooms inside, a stupidly big dining room, pool, and bath. There’s also all types of production facilities packed up.

Being this extravagant, it made me worry about theft, but the security in this house is more than perfect. There’s traps to fend off intruders, shoo away thieves, and even contraptions that prevent people from taking away items. 

This game has become reality. 

Living safely is even more important now than it was when it was a game. 

However, what surprised me the most was actually after I entered the building. 

First of all, in order to provide the energy to operate the devices of the facilities, you have to provide mana to the crystal at the entrance; in other words, element. 

Now that it is lit up, the facilities around the place should have begun moving. 

“Now then, let’s both open it together for the first time.” (Souma)

Ringo and I match our breathing and we slowly open the double door that has identified us as the owners of the house. 

“Wa?!” (Souma)

My mouth hung open at the sight deep inside. 

The moment I opened that door, there was an artificial spring and water fountain taking over my view.

“W-Wow…” (Souma)

That leaked out from my mouth. 

What’s so impressive about this is that, despite the size of the water fountain being that big, the size of the spring isn’t enough, so the floor around was all drenched. 

I entered the house and hurriedly stopped the water fountain. 

Being welcomed by the Nekomimi Neko quality at my first step inside! How exciting!