arc03 · 075-ep69

Episode 69: This Is How I Should've Done It

Sakurai-san led me up to the guild's second floor.

I'd been so sure we were headed for that apparel shop I visited before—instead, the destination turned out to be 『Takumi Arms』, of all places.

Huh? This place mainly sells weapons, doesn't it……?

"They carry a proper armor selection here as well, you know. Besides, an apparel shop basically just stocks the clothes you wear under your armor. The garments' own defense and durability aren't all that different from ordinary store-bought goods. Of course, as everyday wear they're exceptionally tough, and for a lower-rank adventurer they're plenty durable enough."

Huh, so that's how it is?

Apparently, to begin with, a C-rank not wearing armor isn't even an option—it's just plain abnormal.

Wait, but aren't there speed-type adventurers out there like me? They'd be going light on gear too, surely?

Maybe that doubt was written all over my face, because Sakurai-san answered before I even asked.

"For the record, even among the speed-focused crowd—scout types, evasion-oriented tanks, and the like—going armorless is basically unheard of. The standard practice is wearing armor fitted with weight-reduction effects. Granted, wearing nothing is technically lighter, but measured against an adventurer's stats, that difference should amount to a rounding error."

True enough—with my stats, I probably couldn't even tell a little extra weight anymore.

Not wanting heavy things on your body—that's the instinct of an ordinary civilian, from before I ever became an adventurer. Damn. My awareness on this front still hasn't fully caught up. Barely a month in or not, I've already been properly living the adventurer life—I should have caught this one myself. Ah, well. Improving from here on out is plenty good enough. And if the armor ends up cramping my movement, I can always just take it off. Worst case, eating a hit is already part of the plan.

Still, how had I never noticed until now? Was it because the other adventurers I'd seen all looked dressed pretty casual?

"And this here is the most important part. Jackets and coats—anything worn over everything else. These have by far the largest surface area, so 【Enchantment】 can grant them the greatest number of effects. That drives the price up enormously, but in return, they contribute directly to an adventurer's safety and strength."

Whoa—yeah, I HAVE been seeing these everywhere since Floor 11.

Gotcha—so for C-rank adventurers, this is just the standard loadout.

Back in my E-rank and D-rank days, nobody ran gear like this, and the net never made any particular mention of it either. Probably because at those ranks, the price puts it well out of buying range. In fact, even the pieces hanging on display here comfortably clear 10,000,000 yen. Yeah—no lower-rank adventurer is reaching that deep into their pockets.

"I'm sure this causes some confusion, but these are pieces even C-rank adventurers only finally buy once they've put in a proper career's worth of activity……? Still, I judged that you already need one, Takeru-san, which is why I brought you here today."

"Oh, is that how it is. I probably never would have noticed on my own, so this is a big help."

"It's the price of charging ahead solo all at once, I'm afraid…… Most people learn all sorts of things gradually as they work, but that entire process simply never happened for you, Takeru-san—so perhaps it can't be helped."

"I do try to keep up with the net and such, though."

"With C-rank information and above, a great deal of it simply isn't on the net. That's the difficult part."

"Fair enough."

As I browsed the shop listening to Sakurai-san's explanations, the clerk who'd taken such good care of me before came on over.

"Oh? If it isn't……"

"Ah, hey there! You really helped me out with the 【Iron Demon】. It's been performing insanely well for me."

"Just as I thought! Well, well—wonderful to hear. And this young lady appears to be guild staff…… What brings you both today?"

"I made C-rank, but my jersey gets shredded in no time, so I came to buy armor. Only I don't really know the first thing about any of that, so Sakurai-san's been teaching me."

"A j-jersey……? Don't tell me you've been exploring with no armor at all……?"

"Huh? W-well, yeah, that's right……"

"Good grief. I knew a kid who falls in love at first sight with the 【Iron Demon】 wasn't ordinary—but I never dreamed it went this far."

"Ha-ha, hahaha……"

The clerk and Sakurai-san both wore expressions best left indescribable.

Laughing it off was the only move I had.

"So then? Anything in particular catch your eye?"

"Yeah. I'm thinking I'll start with a coat. Outerwear seems to be the single most important piece."

"Well, it's true that when it comes to C-rank armor, that's where the priciest pieces are—and they pack the strongest effects, too. Technically I could sell you one of the items hanging over there, but those are essentially display samples; the standard route is made-to-order. Will that be alright?"

"Oh, gotcha. Well, it's not like I need it this very second, so that's fine by me."

"Takeru-san—no recklessness until your armor arrives, understood?"

"I know, I know. For a while I figure I'll just be shuttling between Floor 14 and Floor 11, so it's fine."

"F-Floor 14!? ……What an outrageous kid……"

"He certainly is……"

Even from a weapons-shop clerk's standpoint, apparently, my pace of conquest borders on impossible. Time to keep turning common sense on its head.

"Now then, let's see…… If that's the case, the coat's material may be better off at B-rank grade. Naturally, the price rises to match…… How does anything that stays within 20,000,000 yen sound to you?"

"B-rank grade, you say…… Would that be something like Catoblepas leather?"

"Oho—as expected of guild staff. That's about the sound choice, I'd say."

"Catoblepas……? That's looking a bit shaky with what I've got on hand right now, but there are some other things I want to order too, so I'll go line my pockets like I did back then."

"A drop item of the Catoblepas, a monster found on Floor 20 and beyond—that is to say, the B-rank domain. It's harder than the hide of any C-rank monster, yet at the same time rich in stretch. Moreover, by its inherent nature it bears a resistance to the evil eye, so it offers a measure of protection against petrification attacks and the like."

"I see. Sounds promising."

"By the way, young man—what else was it you wanted to order?"

"Um, would you be able to make my school uniform as a custom order?"

"Huh?"

"See, changing clothes every single time is a pain, so if I could head straight here from school as-is, that seemed like the best option…… And in the end, the outer layer is what matters most anyway."

"……I see. No, that's genuinely interesting."

"That idea never even crossed my mind……"

"I'll have a word with the production workers we have under contract. I can't promise anything, but it's a novel enough idea that they may well jump at it. Getting the school's approval will be necessary too, so it could take some time…… Though, mind you, made-to-order clothing isn't normally something we offer in the first place."

"Haha, sorry about that. If it's possible, I'd love it enchanted, too."

"Hahaha, talk about luxurious tastes! Sure, sure—absolutely! Let's at least go ask!"

"This isn't quite what I had in mind, but a school uniform would indeed look out of place in no situation, I suppose……"

Call it thinking in reverse—or rather: if you've got no fashion sense, then clothes that don't require any are just fine, no? Besides, I've worn a uniform every single day for years, so it's easy to move in, too. Defense can be left entirely to the coat. And a coat pulls double duty as everyday wear anyway. Yep—this is perfect.

The plan had been to have Sakurai-san walk me through everything from scratch, but in the end, everything except the coat turned into this mess of my own invention.

The 【Enchanter】 under contract with 『Takumi Arms』 looked to be first-rate, so I decided to have self-repair and self-cleaning functions added to the uniform as well. If every request came true, the grand total would likely sail well past 20,000,000 yen—but this way, at least, I'd be spared any agonizing over clothes or armor for a good while.

To start, they had me try on the hanging samples and get a feel for the Catoblepas leather as well. It all seemed fine, so they took my measurements, and it was settled: my own personal coat would be made first. We crammed in a hefty lineup of grantable effects, and the coat alone just barely squeezed in under 20,000,000 yen.

For now I put down 5,000,000 yen as a deposit, and apparently the guild will front the remainder for the time being—another dedicated-contact privilege, supposedly. Well, I'll pay it back as fast as I can. A single dive has been clearing over 1,000,000 yen lately, so that shouldn't take long.

No telling yet how the uniform will pan out, but it seemed promising enough that now it's a matter of waiting on their call. If there's progress, they'll report every last development to me, apparently.

And with that, big purchase complete, I stepped out of the shop.

"Sorry about that, Sakurai-san. You were supposed to be suggesting all sorts of things that would suit me……"

"Not at all—if the end result leaves you satisfied, Takeru-san, then all is well. My concern was simply that you had no armor."

"Thank you. With this, I can push even further ahead."

"No overdoing it before then, now. Only once your armor has arrived."

Sakurai-san really is the worrying sort.

From where she stands, I suppose I must look like I'm being reckless every time she sees me.

But why does she fuss over me to this degree, every single time? We were never close to begin with—true, we gradually got to talking and she became my dedicated contact, but for her to be this personally invested on just that feels off somehow.

Honestly, might as well just come out and ask.

"Um, I've been wondering about this for a while now. Why are you so good to me?"