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n~Side Ryouma~

nI was so into the training that I lost track of time… Fortunately, Sebasu-san reminded me of the time and we went to were the others were through his Warp.

nApparently, the ojousama was training in an area a lot further from me than I’d thought.

n“Welcome back, Ryouma-san.” Elialia

n“You sure took your time. How much did you learn today?” Elize

n“Did you learn any new spells?” Reinhart

nOjousama and Co. immediately noticed us when we arrived.

n“Yes, Camil-san and Sebasu-san taught me a lot.” Ryouma

n“That’s good to hear. You look like you still have mana to spare. Won’t you show us what you’ve learned?” Reinbach

nI first showed the spells I learned from Camil-san, then I showed off my Dimension Home. Unfortunately, I needed 10 seconds just to invoke it. Looks like I still need lots of practice.

n“Dimension Home.” Ryouma

nFortunately, it was a success.

nWhen the entrance to my Dimension Home opened, it occurred to me that everyone else except for Sebasu-san was frozen solid.

nOh, yeah… Using Item Box at my age is already an achievement. I forgot.

nOh, well. Sebasu-san knew anyway, so even if I hid it, they’d find out sooner or later. In fact, four of them are already pestering Sebasu-san.

nThey praised me almost immediately after, though.

nI know it was an amazing feat, but having my head patted is so embarrassing.

nLater.

nThe sun was already about to set, so we decided to go back.

nDimension Magic was best improved by repetition, so I went back with my Warp.

nJust to be safe, though, Sebasu-san also accompanied me.

nAlong the way, Sebasu-san suddenly remembered something.

n“Ryouma-sama, we plan to go to the abandoned mine tomorrow to give the ojousama a chance to fight a monster. How about it? Would you like to come too?” Sebasu

n“As long as it’s no trouble.” Ryouma

n“Of course, it’s not. The ojousama will be delighted to have your company. Can you use weapons other than the bow? The abandoned mine is fairly small inside, so it’s a difficult weapon to recommend. You should also wear some armor.” Sebasu

n“How about a short sword? I can fight with my martial arts and magic, but I don’t have any armor.” Ryouma

n“That takes care of the weapons then, not that you would have any problems on that end, anyhow. After all, the monsters are weak, there will be guards accompanying you, and the main purpose is to give the ojousama experience, so…” Sebasu

n“Right. Anyway, I’ll go with the short sword. As for the armor…” Ryouma

nI could make the weapons with earth magic to some extent, but a poorly made armor will hinder my movements.

n…Oh, now that I think about it, didn’t I have a letter of introduction from the guild master?

nLet’s use that then.

n“I think I’ll go shopping when we get back to town. I got a letter of introduction from the guild master of the adventurers guild, so I think I’ll use it for our little trip tomorrow.” Ryouma

n“I see. That sounds wonderful.” Sebasu

nAfter that we arrived in town and went our separate ways at the gate. Sebasu-san went back to the inn while I looked for the weapon store.

nWhen I found the store, I entered it, and a rough-looking man greeted me with a ghastly smile.

n“Welcome, dear customer. Is there anything that interests you?” Rough-Looking Man With a Ghastly Smile

n“E-Erm… I’m looking for a weapon to use in a confined area like the abandoned mines. I think a short sword will do. I also need some armor.” Ryouma

n“If you need a short sword, then please refer to this shelf here.” Rough-Looking Man With a Ghastly Smile

n“…Umm, not to be rude or anything, but aren’t you forcing yourself?” Ryouma

n“……You can tell?” Rough-Looking Man With a Ghastly Smile

n“…It’s obvious.” Ryouma

nThe smile plastered on his face kept breaking every few seconds, resulting in a very weird face.

nAfter I told him that, the man dropped the act and wore a completely unsociable face.

n“ARGH! I give! I give! Sorry, kid, but an acquaintance of mine told me I’m unsociable, so I was trying to fix it, but it looks like it’s just no good with my personality.” Rough-Looking Man

n“I see. By the way, is this Digger Arms Shop?” Ryouma

n“Yep, that’s the place. What about it?” Rough-Looking Man

n“I got a letter of introduction from the guild master of the adventurers guild. I was told to bring it here.” Ryouma

nI handed the letter of introduction.

n“From Wogan? Strange things do happen… You a new recruit? My store’s expensive, you know? I can guarantee the quality, but do you have coin on you?” Rough-Looking Man

n“Yes. I don’t know the market price of weapons, but I can pay up to 30 small gold coins.” Ryouma

n“That’s more than enough. What have you been using until now?” Rough-Looking Man

n“I usually use a bow, but I’m going to the abandoned mines, so…” Ryouma

n“I see… Then in that case, let’s go with that short sword you mentioned earlier. You can also go with a short spear or a one-handed sword if you’d like.” Rough-Looking Man

n“Give me two short swords then. Oh, and would you happen to have throwing knives here?” Ryouma

nI have the Throwing Weapons Mastery skill, but I’ve only thrown stones until now. Might as well use this chance to buy something.

n“10 knives for one small gold coin. Pricey, yes, but I guarantee the quality. So long as you retrieve them after throwing, they’ll last you a long long time.” Rough-Looking Man

n“Give me ten throwing knives and those two short sword from before then.” Ryouma

n“It’s 2 small gold coins per short sword, so adding the 10 throwing knives on top, that’ll net you 5 small gold coins all in all. You’ll be needing armor too, right?” Rough-Looking Man

n“Yes. I’d like something easy to move in. What do you have?” Ryouma

n“Something easy to move in? Then you’ll want leather armor. Armor made with monster hide can be even stronger than metal, and if you enchant them with magic, you can keep your mobility even with a full-body leather armor. Unfortunately, the latter type isn’t in circulation. I don’t have any in my store.” Rough-Looking Man

n“Let’s go with the monster hide then.” Ryouma

n“Alright. I only have two sets that’ll fit your size, though. A day will be needed for adjustment if you want the other sets. Are you going to look through everything?” Rough-Looking Man

nI need it for tomorrow, so I’ll just get what I can buy now.

n“I’ll be going to the mines tomorrow, so just show me the ones I can buy now.” Ryouma

n“Alright.” Rough-Looking Man

nThe man went inside, and when he came back, he had two armor sets with him.

n“Both armor sets are made from monster hide. One is made with Grellfrog Hide, making it flexible and easy to move in. Ah, but don’t be fooled, it might be flexible, but it’s plenty tough. It costs 4 medium silver coins.” Rough-Looking Man

nIt’s like rubber. Frog hide, huh.

n“The other one’s made from Hard Lizard Hide. This one’s more expensive, costing 5 small gold coins.” Rough-Looking Man

n“That’s a pretty big difference, no?” Ryouma

n“It’s because of the material. Hard lizards live in the wasteland, so it’s rare to find one. On top of that, they like to use the neutral magic, Harden, so hunting them is a pain.

nHalf-hearted attack can’t get through their skin, and using magic risks destroying their skin.

nI know it’s expensive, but this is actually already cheaper than it would normally go for.” Rough-Looking Man

nHarden covers the body with a layer of mana. It’s a defensive spell that prevents the body from getting wounded. A monster that uses that would certainly be difficult to hunt.

n“Taking one down takes luck and skill, but Hard Lizard Hide is not only light, it can also invoke the Harden spell when mana is passed through it.

nHarden increases the defensive prowess of the armor while leaving it as flexible as it were. It’s already plenty tough without it, but after invocation, it gets even harder.

nBecause of that it’s a hit among people with no stamina like mages.

nUnfortunately, this was made from the leftovers of another set. And because there weren’t enough materials left, only an armor big enough for a kid could be made. But then it’s not like there’s any kid adventurer out there who could purchase something this expensive. Can’t change the size either since there’s no material. In the end, it’s been left rotting in the shelves for these past 2 years.

nIf you can afford it, it’d really be a load off my back if you could purchase it. This one’s a lot better quality-wise too than the other armor.” Desperate Salesman

nJust as he mentioned, this does seem better.

nThis store was recommended by the guild master, so I doubt he’s just trying to make extra coin.

n“Alright, I’ll go with this then.” Ryouma

n“Thanks, kid. That’ll be 10 small gold coins in total.” Rough-Looking Man

nI took out a pouch of small gold coins from my Item Box and paid the man.

nAfter confirming the payment, the man handed over the equipment, and I stored them into my Item Box.

n“Thank you.

nA bit late for introductions, but my name is Ryouma Takebayashi.

nI’ll come back if I need anything again.” Ryouma

n“Come back anytime. Name’s Darson Digger. I own this store.

nThat armor should serve you well, so long as you don’t push yourself too hard.

nCome back and get a new set once you’ve grown out of it. I’ll give you something nice then.” Darson

nI thanked him, left the store, and went back to my lodging.

nThe next day.

nToday we rode the carriage to the abandoned mine. The road became worse as we traveled along, but the weather was great.

nAfter 3 hours of traveling, I thought we’d finally reached our destination, but…

n“…” Elialia

nFor some reason, the ojousama was acting weird beside me.

nShe didn’t say much during breakfast either. I wonder if there’s something on her mind.

n“Ojousama? Are you alright?”

n“Yes, I’m fine.” Elialia

nWell, at least she doesn’t seem to be sick. Maybe she’s nervous?

n“Is this your first time hunting monsters?” Ryouma

n“Not at all. I may not have a lot of experience, but…” Elialia

n“Relax a bit more, Elia.” Reinbach

n“Grandfather.” Elialia

n“You won’t be convincing anyone like that.” Elize

n“Mother too…” Elialia

n“Ha ha ha, well at least you seem to be thinking straight today. We’ll be arriving soon, so let’s review our objectives.” Reinhart

nThinking it better than doing nothing, Reinhart-san started a topic to divert Elialia’s attention.

n“The place we’re headed to is Gimuru’s Northern Mine. As the name implies, it’s located to the north. It’s already been declared abandoned, so why is that we’re going there?” Reinhart

n“We need to investigate the mine before we can send a request to the adventurers guild to clean up the monsters that have taken root in the mines. We have to go anyway, so we’re taking this opportunity to let me gain some experience.” Elialia

n“Exactly. Normally, we’d just refer to the regular reports given to the management, but after the investigation on the recent incident, it’s looking likely that the government office might have messed with the management of the northern mines too.

nSo we’re personally going to check the mines out and gather information on the beasts lurking in it. The request to the adventurers guild will depend on the contents of our investigation today.” Reinhart

nIt’s still unknown how many monsters are lurking within the mines, but it’s already been assumed that it would take at least several days to wipe everything out, so today we’re really just going to investigate the mine and train at the same time.

nThe reports of the government office aren’t exactly credible, but according to them, there haven’t been any sightings of high-ranked monsters, so it should the northern mines should be safe enough for a child to train at.

nAs the nervous ojousama watched the blue skies through the windows, I leisurely allowed myself to sway with the rocking of the carriage.

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