In the end, the shopkeep-turned-adventurer Meera is really insistent, to the point where I'm honestly beginning to question if I've fallen into a fantasy dream romance simulation game or something. Truthfully, somehow ending up in a stealth dating game, or this all being a terrible lucid nightmare would explain a lot about this world I've found myself in. But given how my luck has been so far, that feels like it's far too good of a possibility to be true.
This is insane. This is nonsense. How do I extricate myself from this absurd situation? Apparently the one overpowered thing I don't get in this world is choice.
I've always hated railroading in games. The demon king better be truly challenging, to make up for this chaos.
At least when the strange woman gets what she wants, she still sells us things. And she does so at a 30% discount, but I have no idea if that means what she's selling is at a good price or not.
But it's fine no matter what. At least she's charging something. Making the shop free would just be insulting. We already got a discount for letting her join, anyway. Of course she equips herself for free, but that isn't me, so I don't really care. And it's probably a good thing she's not so diabolical that she charges the party she forced herself into for the armor she wears from her own stock.
It also makes sense. That she equip herself with what she thinks is the most expensive gear in the shop, I mean. That's basic logic, if you're trying not to die. Which is a relief, because it means at least something about her makes sense. Unfortunately, that is currently the only thing that makes any sort of logical sense about her.
Meera selects two matching daggers from her display and attaches them to her belt. She then proceeds to pull down from the wall a set of incredibly vibrant red scale mail and starts pulling it onto her body.
While. Talking at me. It's an incredibly uncomfortable situation for me.
"So I already know these three, of course." She looks at them with a big grin, and then back at me. "What I don't know about you, is anything! Like what's your name, where'd you come from, do you have any friends, any family, any. thing?"
Thing...?
"Ryo." I respond, because there's no way to avoid at least some of those questions in the short term without seeming like a massive dick. Which I'm really not. Going out of my way to be a dick is inefficient, anyway, unless there's some personal reason for it.
Meera is...bizarre. But I have nothing personally against her yet. Aside from the fact that she just attached herself to my party. A party that feels like people are treating like it's Elara's party instead.
"Ryo? Well, I guess I can accept that." Meera continues on with her prattling, unbothered by my lukewarm response. She turns in a full spin in front of me and then stands there, with her arms out. "Isn't it great?"
"...What?"
"The armor!"
Elara rolls her eyes. "He can't just see stats like you can, Meera."
So stats are a thing in this world after all, huh. Not just as some kind of unseen thing, but a system people recognize and can see.
"Of course they are, Master!" That ever chipper System Helper rings in my head, almost startling me with her sudden voice after her relatively long silence. "But don't worry, even though you can't see them natively, I'll always be able to tell you the stats of anyone, if you want~!"
Thank you, I don't want.
Meera's cheeks puff out a moment and then she shakes her head. "But how does it look? Pretty good, right?"
It looks...like she's wearing armor made for her grandfather, especially combined with the other bits and bobs she's already put on. Mismatched - likely the most powerful items in her shop all slapped together without concern for set bonuses or aesthetics, which I can appreciate - and oversized.
I get the feeling she'll fall over in it.
"You will alert our enemies a mile away." Arin gently chastises. "Light armor would be better."
Meera stomps her foot, glaring at him. "It's for protection! It doesn't matter how much it stinks or how loud it is when it's protecting your life!"
It does look ugly, it's bulky, and it will no doubt slow her down, if not knock her right over. But she's not wrong that the important part is how well it protects her.
"See! See!" She points at me. "Ryo understands what I'm saying!"
Wha-?
Does she just know what I'm thinking?
"Answer: Meera has divination magic!" System Helper chirps. "But that was just your expression she was reading, Master, not your thoughts."
Divination magic, huh. I can respect that. Probably useless in battle, but that's better for me. I'm not looking for help or back up, I was planning to do this solo anyway, so if I have to have party members, making them useless suits my purposes.
I'm just...not the leader of the party. Apparently. Which is really throwing me off, because I definitely never signed up to permanently be part of Elara's team.
"Stop silently judging me and answer me, Ryo." Meera demands, crossing her arms. "Am I cool?"
"No."
She flinches and then goes rigid. "You are supposed to lie and tell me I'm very cool!"
I roll my eyes and shake my head. "Didn't got enough of a discount for that."
Her eyes light up and she points at me. "Ah! AH! He can be playful, see!! He's just shy is all! Don't be scared, Ryo, I won't bite."
That makes me more worried than I was before. Not about my safety, obviously, but...this is getting out of hand.
Elara glances between Meera and I and finally sighs. "Well. You seem to be getting along, so..."
What. Where are the objections? Where is my rescue? I'm being harassed!
"Can we get to shopping now?" Kael deadpans.
...Good, yes. Kael is being sensible. As he usually is.
Meera looks back to him, and then at me, and then to Elara, and sighs. "Fine, fine. Boring shop things first, then adventure."
She then...promptly scurries off calling for Miss Meowkins?? Because that somehow has something to do with shopping?
"...Is she always like that?" I ask, once she disappears into another room.
"She's...unique. A little hapless." Elara shrugs. "But she has a good heart. She's one of my closest friends."
"Miss Meowkins OW!" Meera shouts in the other room. "I am not food! No!"
"The cat?" I point in the general direction of the chaotic sounds.
Kael waves a hand and begins to explain. "She rescued the cat. Ahem. Or. Was the rescuee. There's a lot of disagreement over which one. Primarily between herself and the cat. But they're inseparable, and she'd probably die before leaving it behind, so she takes it with her wherever she goes."
So. I'm also putting up with a cat in the party. Excellent. Well, as long as it's not a talking mascot, I guess it's fine.
...It's not, right?
"Animals don't talk, Master!" The voice speaks as if I'm the one being absurd. That is very unhelpful.
Elara clears her throat. "Let's just focus on shopping. Okay?"
...Focus. Yes.
"I have no idea what I'm doing." I mean. I have an idea. But the equipment system is wildly different in almost every game, and this isn't strictly speaking a game at all. There's no guarantee there's any balance or sense to any of it. My absurd and unfair list of ridiculous abilities speaks to that.
Elara gives a curt nod and then begins to talk. "Luckily for you, I was raised by a blacksmith, so I can help you out with getting the best armor you can get for your build and fighting style."
"And price." Kael adds from across the room.
I eye the equipment and weapons scattered around the store. "No point in a shield. I picked one up in the dungeon and it did me no good at all."
It isn't as if I need it, apparently, given Absolute Defense. Objectively, it's a waste of money.
Elara purses her lips. "Well. Considering your fighting style and...hardiness. Maybe some light armor?"
Actually, given Absolute Defense, it's possible that armor itself isn't necessary at all. That thought is irksome, however, and the weight of armor might actually slow me down a bit and increase the challenge. That's a thought.
I give a short nod. "Sure."
"Alright. Arin is getting our practical things," Elara walks toward some of the armors on stands. "And you....want to use swords, right?"
Did I say that out loud, or is she just recognizing it's what I've used so far? The absolute logic bomb that was Meera has scattered my memories enough that I'm not sure.
"Uh. Yeah." I make my way toward a rack of swords, glancing between the assorted ones.
Of course, since I can apparently just flawlessly wield any weapon I pick up instantly, I don't need to worry about the quality or weight of the swords. Just the raw stats. And none of them look like anything but standard beginner shop fare. At least it seems that the powerful stuff is in dungeons or something. If better equipment is locked behind challenges and dungeons, then at least there's that. Though, with these damn abilities, there's no guarantee any dungeon will ever be a threat or challenge to me, so...
Eh. It's not worth thinking about. It'll only piss me off and get me nowhere. I just don't have enough mental bandwidth go get angry when that strange Meera is signal-jamming my processing power with rampant confusion and discomfort. At least while she's in the other room the latter part is decreased.
"Here we go, here we go!" Meera appears in the doorway, as if summoned by my thoughts.
That cat is once more on her head. It's wearing an...armor helmet. Not a real helmet, I think, but...what seems to be a handcrafted leather helmet for a cat. Just the helmet, nothing else.
I have no words.
"Miss Meowkins has elected to only wear her helmet in a sign of trust!!"
I think I know why her cat seems determined to abuse her.