Chapter 14: Adventurer Party

When we entered the store, a bulldog-like storekeeper is puffing smoke. The puffed out white smoke changes its shape and disappears as it reached near the ceiling.

Looking at his figure, I remember my father.

My father was a heavy smoker. My father was an employee of a small company, but he used to come to the office without rest every day and as he comes home, he smokes. When I was young, I thought that my father’s smoke was magical. One day, my father was diagnosed with lung cancer, and a few years later he breathed his last at the hospital.

I didn’t smoke as I didn’t want to end up like my father, even so, my father’s image was still imprinted on my mind. That’s why I feel nostalgic seeing the owner.

When the shopkeeper noticed our arrival, he smiled at us.

“Oh! Isn’t this Tanaka-kun! Did you bring some weapon again?”

“Um, I would like to ask you to buy it.”

I place the weapons collected at the disposal site at the counter. This is a weapon store, a place we have visited many times over the past four days. It’s a great place that buys the weapons and armors that we collected, albeit at a low price.

As the shopkeeper begins to identify the weapons, he writes down the price on paper one after another. I’m used to this process.

The owner’s name is Rodman. He seems to be the third owner of this Rodman weapon store. He looks like a bulldog as he has a lot of wrinkles on his cheeks and his head is turning bald. The only hairs left are on both sides of the head and occipital region. He wore loose light blue clothes and according to him, he has about 10 the same clothes.

Me and Erna decided to sit on a chair in the store as we wait, at the same time, I’m observing Rodman’s appraisal.

“As I see it, Rodman is looking at prices using appraisal skill?”

“Na? Well, I have it, but I can’t see the price. It’s something I decide by my experience.”

“Oh… By the way, what is the rank of your appraisal skill?”

When I curiously asked, Rodman shook his finger gently indicating his refusal.

“The content of the skill is a trade secret. And don’t ask other people about their skill. It’s better to be careful because not everyone would want to be asked about it.”

“Is that so? I didn’t know that. I’m still ignorant about this country, I can learn from this.”

 “Uhaha, don’t worry about it. Ask me anything if you like it. Ah-, If you want to know the skills of others, I’ve heard that you can see it by raising the rank of your appraisal skill.”

I pondered to Rodman’s words. What does it mean to see the skills of others?

He then keeps talking.

“I don’t like it but, it seems that Great Mage Moore-sama was able to see through someone’s stats thru his appraisal skill. Well it’ll be easier to handle humans if their status is known. I think that it is only natural for him to be called a wise man.”

“It’s possible to see others status using appraisal skill huh….isn’t it bad if valuable information is known?”

“That’s a good point. More than that, I just finished the appraisal, look at the price.”

I receive the paper from Rodman. There was a list of weapon types and prices. Each one seems cheap, but the total price is not bad.

“This is fine. By the way, can I ask why it is so cheap?”

“Oh, these are all iron weapons. They are of poor quality and are a not suitable to be used as second-hand goods. So, these cheap iron scraps will be melted and processed into new weapons. If you aim for a high price, I recommend steel or magic steel.”

“Magic steel?”

“Magic steel is a metal that absorbs a large amount of magical power during the manufacturing of steel. It looks red and has a higher hardness than steel. It is number one for its magic efficiency, it has small amount of magical power and it also boosts up power.”

Rodman brought a sword from the back of the store. The design is simple, but it looks strange.This is translated by Yume Neiji (yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com)

“This is a magic steel sword.”

After I received the sword, I try to pull it out of the sheath. The crimson blade reflected like a mirror, it’s red like blood and hot like a flame, it was a clear reminder of the enemies killed. It was as if it was showing me the concept of a real weapon.

“I can see that this as a great item. Is it okay to show it to me?”

I return the sword to Rodman.

“This is my best weapon. But that’s not a big deal. There are more and more awesome weapons in the world. With such weapons that wield murderous aura, wouldn’t the enemy run away?”

I was satisfied with Rodman’s words. The sword he was talking about was definitely murderous.This is translated by Yume Neiji (yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com)

It’s not strange to feel murderous aura in a sword but it’s more proper to say that it exists not to protect the owner but to kill his opponents. In other words, it’s that kind of sword. I appraised the sword that Rodman was holding.

【Appraisal Result: Pedro’s sword: A demon’s sword that the hero Pedro did not release until his death. It is said that the number of swords clashed with this sword is about the same as the number of stars, and Pedro’s son who betrayed him was also killed using this sword. 】

Uh, yeah… As expected of a sword with such history…

Rodman owned such ridiculous item. It seems to have a high historical value.

“What happened? Perhaps…did you identify this sword?”

“I’m sorry. I just thought of appraising it and it turned out to be a gem more than I expected.”

“You don’t need to apologize. For anyone who has appraisal skill, it’s something they can do. Do you want to know why I have this sword?”

“Was it given to you by someone?”

When I asked him, Rodman snickered, “Nishihi” and he had that haughty and nasty smile for a while.

“I’m shocked hearing that, you are a descendant of the hero Pedro, right? Isn’t that impressive?”

I couldn’t fully understand how amazing it was but Erna, who was next to me, start yelling, “Eh-!? Amazing!”

What is a hero in the first place?

“Shinichi! He’s a descendant of that Pedro! He was a legend during the war, he killed thousands!”This is translated by Yume Neiji (yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com)

“Uh, um… you worked hard during the war…”

At this moment, I’m having a cold sweat. It’s depressing that I don’t know the story about the war. If I knew the history, I would have been able to join in their conversation. For the time being, I decided to change the conversation.

“Well then, can I have the money?”

“Oh-, wait a minute.”

Rodman takes out a leather bag, takes out some silver and copper coins and hands them to me. It’s worth about 50,000 yen. It’s a pretty good income for a day.

“Oh, yeah. Since you’re collecting equipments in the dungeon, didn’t you also find some magic stones? I’m also buying magic stones, so if you like, you can bring it with you next time.”

“Magic stone?”

When I inclined my head in doubt, Erna took out a red stone from her bosom.

“Shinichi, this is a magic stone. Magic stones grow in the place where magical power accumulates and is used in our daily lives. It sometimes grows in dungeons, so we adventurers collect this magic stones and make money through it.”

“Hoh, Magic stone huh. I’ve always been wondering, how do you use it?”

“Eh? It’s pretty easy. Just pour your magic into the stones with the same attribute as yours.”

Erna focused her attention to the red magic stone and a small fire appeared on the stone. At the same time, I’m shocked. If it’s like this, many people have fire attribute and they could easily use magic stones as lighters. On the other hand, I have no attributes so it was natural that I couldn’t use it.This is translated by Yume Neiji (yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com)

Somehow it’s regrettable.

“Kuu, this topic is ok now. Rodman, I have a magic stones so I will bring it next time.”

“Thank you. Since magic stones are consumable items, it’s great to have more suppliers.”

After we bid goodbye to Rodman, I go out with Erna.

“Hey, Shinichi why are you angry?”

“I’m not angry. By the way, are there magic stones with no attributes?”

“Hmm… There are things like that but… the effect may change depending on the stone. Those that cannot be identified were also grouped together with those no attributes, there are many special things here you see.”

“Oh, I see… so there are magic stones with no attributes huh.”

I’m relieved inside. I also want to use magic. It’s depressing that people around me can use such useful powers, but I can’t use it at all. In addition, the incompetent label is something that is difficult to remove once it is known.

“Hey, what are we going to do now? You got some money, we’re shopping right?”

“… you can’t buy clothes. Rather than that, we’re going to show up in the guild today.”

“Yehey! You finally got the motivation to form a party with me!”

“………”

I have already registered an adventurer in the guild. However, the party application with Erna was put on hold. There is no merit being registered as a party in the guild in the first place. According to the guild rules, adventurers can get equal evaluation by forming a party. If you get a certain degree of evaluation, you will be given priority to work, and some reward will be added.

But it’s also something you can do even without a party. Besides, I’m not asking for more work. It’s enough that I get rewarded of this life. So I wasn’t attracted to forming party.

“What should I name the party~ Hmm, thunder dragon claws is cool after all, right~”

Erna is grinning while thinking of a party name. It’s a bit pitiful to betray her expectations. Nowadays, it feels more like I have a daughter, so it’s okay to be selfish once in a while.

“Alright, I understand. We’ll form a party. But I’ll name it instead.”

“Eh !? Fine then! Thank you!”

She hugged me and her plump chest is pressed against me. My cheeks relaxed feeling that softness. Mufufu.

“I don’t like Shinichi’s eyes! What are you thinking about?”

“I’m sorry. I’m not that kind of man.”

Erna who jumps aside, stared at my eyes. I tried to make excuses for the time being, but because of my excitement, my breathing was rough. I’m troubled that my body is just this honest.This is translated by Yume Neiji (yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com)

As we went near the guild, the axe and cane sign appeared in my view. The building retains its dignity like a temple, and is known as an authoritative organization in this country.

“Adventurer’s Guild”, it’s the name of an organization that confronts every challenge. Once inside the guild, many people are talking in front of the bulletin board. The bulletin board is filled with requests, and you can see a wide variety of content such as subjugating monsters and collecting herbs.

It’s interesting because there are even requests to find cat, etc. I turn at the side of the bulletin board and head to the counter.

“I want to apply for a party, is it alright?”

“Yes. Alright, please fill in here.”

The receptionist smiles at me and presents a document. I smoothly wrote down my name and Erna’s name, and after a little thought, I wrote down the party name. The receptionist who received it bows his head.

“Uhm… this…?”

“Register with that. Anyhow, it’s our party. Though I don’t know how long it will last.”

“Alright then…”

After the registration was completed, I left the counter. Soon after, Erna caught me and asked a question.

“What did you name it?”

“What you say, I just use our current name as it is.”

“What’s with that!? Don’t put on airs, tell me!”

“Our party name is “Homeless”.”

Erna freak out.

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