The Duke walked over to his desk and reached into one of the wooden drawers, pulling out a badge. He made his way back to the trio and presented them with it. On the badge was a snake coiled in the shape of a tornado. It seemed to be coiling around a massive chunk of floating rock, resembling the floating islands Xavier saw on the map. The insignia was made of silver, while the material it was resting on was made of something akin to plastic.
"This is a badge that represents your close affiliation with me. It will be of much use to you within the Ventus region. I'd say that it may be useful in other regions as well, even if rarely." He moved the badge slightly closer to Xavier.
Xavier closed his eyes and bowed slightly, showing his respect to the Duke.
"Thank you, sir. It's our honor to carry such an important badge." He slowly reached his hands forward and accepted the badge from the Duke.
"That badge isn't all, however..."
The Duke's voice trailed off for a moment as the party all noticed a notification from the G.U.I.D.E. system.
[Elderwood Delivery] (Job Quest)
Description: Having accepted the Duke's request, you must deliver some lumber from the Elderwood to the nearby town of Mesios.
Reward: Reputation with the Kingdom and Windstrom family and a portion of the profits.
Failure: Massive loss of reputation with the Kingdom and Windstrom family.
'A portion of the profits! Yes! Money!' Xavier's eyes shapeshifted into dollar signs.
The Duke continued...
"...Gerald will lead you to the armory. Please, take as much gear as you believe you will need for your journey ahead. When you finalize the transaction and receive the payment for the delivery, you can deposit it at the bank in town. Simply show them your badge and say you're depositing for the Duke."
"Yes, sir." The trio spoke in unison before turning around to begin following Gerald.
"Ah! One more thing..."
━━━
Xavier, Bruce, and Stephan were following Gerald down the grandiose halls of the manor. They came to a stop in front of a double door that was on the first floor. Gerald began to push it open while Bruce leaned over and whispered to Xavier:
"I can't believe he said we can keep a whole third of the profits..."
"Yeah, I know..."
Stephan tilted his head at his friends' murmuring, but decided against prying. The double doors opened into a massive armory. Swords, battleaxes, spears, bows, and armor all lined the walls and racks that were arranged throughout the whole room.
Gerald cleared his throat and spoke, "Feel free to take what you need, young masters."
Xavier jolted, and his posture became stiff.
'Young masters... huh...'
He was brought back to reality by a pat on the back from Bruce.
Xavier walked over to the longswords section, which was parallel to the shortswords section that Stephan had been examining. Bruce was not with either of them, instead off to the left of the room examining simple hammers.
Xavier's eyes gravitated towards a sword with a thin blade. The handle of the sword was perfectly circular in shape, with a cloth grip wrapping around it and hanging from the bottom like a ribbon. The main drawback of the weapon was the lack of protection the guard provided.
Gerald noticed his sight locked onto the sword.
"Young Xavier, yes?"
Xavier's head swiftly turned towards Gerald's voice, "Uh... Yeah."
"I see you have taken an interest in the thin-bladed longsword."
"Yeah. The guard seems to be non-existent, though..."
"This kind of blade is often wielded by swordsmen who are quick on their feet. Since the blade is thin and doesn't provide brute-like destructive power, it's typically used to deliver swift, precise strikes to the target's vital points."
Xavier's hand moved to his chin. For a few moments, he pondered whether this type of weapon would fit him. The conclusion he came to was...
"I'll take it. I think it's perfect for me." The corners of his lips curled upwards ever so slightly to form a miniature smile.
Gerald returned the smile and walked over to a cabinet before grabbing a sheath and providing it to Xavier. The sheath was made of sturdy leather. It came equipped with a strap that he could tie around his waist like a belt, or around his back, similar to the way an archer would carry their bow and quiver.
He decided on the latter. Then, he gave the sword a few swings.
'Much lighter than I imagined... Well, I guess the new and improved physicality of my body after reincarnation plays a part in that as well.'
He sheathed the sword and walked to the armor section.
━━━
20 minutes later, the party was fully equipped to travel to Mesios.
After picking up his weapon, Xavier took sturdy, fingerless leather gauntlets and sturdy leather boots from the armor section. He did not want to entirely avoid wearing armor, but he also didn't want to wear too much, given his knowledge of needing to be swift with his new blade.
Bruce chose a simple carpenter's hammer for his weapon. As for armor, he picked the same as Xavier, the only difference being that he equipped himself with a leather chestplate as well.
Stephan's weapon was a gladius, a type of shortsword. Its shining steel blade was thicker than Xavier's sword, but much shorter. The hilt was made of sturdy iron with high-quality fabric wrapped tightly around it. The guard, similar to Xavier's, might as well not have even been there. And, his armor...
"Stephan... Why are you wearing no armor?" Xavier's eyes widened, his face displaying panic and worry for his friend.
"Armor? Why would I ever need armor? I got this! Don't even worry about me." Stephan gave Xavier a confident thumbs up, a proud smile gleaming from his face.
Xavier and Bruce simultaneously thought:
'What an idiot...'
Gerald escorted the trio to the front door of the manor and opened it. As the sun beat down from above, a calming, cool breeze sounded past.