Two weeks had passed since the Night of the Diarrhea Storm (Brown Wild Hunt), and I made the Black Knight Greatsword with [Noble Phantasm], imbuing it with Demon Special Attack. Just as expected, it had Demon Special Attack, but the fact that I had no idea exactly which category of DanMachi monsters it would be effective against made it an infuriatingly inflexible enchantment.
"Meeeeow..."
"Rex, honestly... I told you to stay in the workshop because it's hot. It's a good thing I'd already finished before you came out. If I'd been in the middle of making it, I might not have even noticed you moving around and stepped right on you."
"Meow, meow..."
"Good grief. I'll pour you some milk in the workshop later, so wait a little."
"Meeeow..."
In any case, I stared at the Black Knight Greatsword, which had Demon Special Attack but no other notable additions, and pondered. Since it had only just been completed, it was still possible for an additional ability to awaken. If so, could I charge more? I had said plus or minus five million valis from the outset, so assuming that had been accounted for, could I add something and bring it up to its limit?
The problem was... even if I imbued it with something, it would all be for nothing if the buyer didn't like it. Its current replication rate was around 80%. I had thought the original Demon Special Attack alone would fill its cost, but it had just barely left enough room for a simple additional ability to awaken.
"...In that case."
That night, I completed the Black Knight Greatsword and gave it Demon Special Attack along with one other effect.
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"Yes, I heard through the Guild and came right over. My greatsword is finished?"
"Just as you requested, it follows the blueprint exactly, with a bright orange crossguard and grip. As for its additional abilities, it increases attack power against a particular category of monsters, and..."
"There's more?"
"...It increases poise."
"Poise?"
"Put simply, it makes you harder to push back. When fighting large monsters, there must be times when you get shoved back due to the difference in weight, even if you can hold your ground with sheer strength."
"Hmm, that's true. Having great strength doesn't mean you can't be pushed back. Even when you block an attack, its impact still drives into you, and no matter how strong you are, you get forced back."
"The increased poise I imbued artificially reduces that pushback—knockback."
Kaniel looked stunned. Naturally. The additional effects seen in Orario until now were almost all offensive in nature, with the very rare curse or healing effect thrown in. There had been no support-type effects like this.
"So when you write your report, please include the effects of the poise enhancement as well. Detail how it works, to what extent it works, and if you are still forced back severely despite it, what your opponent's strength and weight were like."
"Hmm, understood. So... how much did the price come to?"
"Since it has an additional effect... the base price of forty-five million remains the same, and with an additional three million valis, that makes forty-eight million valis."
"Urgh..."
"No haggling. No discounts. No installment payments."
"Under...stood..."
With trembling hands, Kaniel pulled a check from his wallet. The original work had never really shown money changing hands in much detail, so I hadn't known, but the Guild also served as a bank.
Of course, it was not developed to the point of modern banking, with interest rates and such. It was more like they held your money and issued a certificate accordingly. It did not seem to have developed to the point where credit itself could be bought and sold.
"I've confirmed thirty-eight million valis, Mr. Ka—Kaniel."
"Ghk..."
"Come on, Kaniel. You need to let go of it."
Kaniel's hand, unable to release the check, moved with great reluctance. I took three slightly crumpled ten-million-valis checks, one five-million-valis check, and three one-million-valis checks from him.
"Then, Kaniel, stay safe on your expedition."
"Tha—"
"You need to come back safely so you can give me that report, don't you?"
"..."
"If you want to recover your precious valis, then obediently hand over that report! Hahahahahaha!"
Now then, 7% of forty-eight million valis was about 3.36 million valis. From what I had heard, he seemed like a diligent man, so I did not need to worry about the contents of his report.
For the record, these were different from the promissory notes used in Rivira Village. Those were contracts made at the Familia level, while checks were brokered by the Guild, a public institution. However, since the minimum value for issuing a check was one million valis, Guild checks were mostly used on the surface, where large sums changed hands, while promissory notes were more common in the Dungeon, where transactions were smaller.
You could simply carry valis around on the surface in the first place, so promissory-note transactions mostly took place in the Dungeon, where carrying money was difficult. In a modern society, they would be copied immediately, leading to fraud, then the development of banks and transactions based on trust—but this was a world with magic stones and gods.
The paper used for checks was made by grinding magic stones into it at a specific ratio during production, and the ink likewise contained magic stones, making duplication impossible. On top of that, in this world where the Guild hired idle gods as lie detectors, committing financial fraud through the Guild was close to impossible. Well, a genius who could crack it might emerge someday, but probably not in this generation.
"Anyway, don't die. Come back safe. You need to get your money, after all."
"Good grief, I suppose I'll have to survive this expedition no matter what, if only to get my money back from you."
He grumbled, but perhaps having someone wish for his survival still felt good. A faint smile appeared on his face.
"There we go. This is complimentary."
I took a small box from the back and set it on the desk, calling out to Kaniel as he prepared to leave.
"...Complimentary?"
He looked baffled, apparently never expecting there to be anything free.
"That greatsword is so large that, even if it has a sheath, you'll be carrying it around all the time, won't you?"
"That's right. I can't be sheathing and unsheathing something this big in the middle of battle."
"That's why I prepared this separately."
"What is it?"
"Nothing special. You can't drag it along the ground, so you'll be carrying it on your shoulder all the time. I made a pauldron and a shoulder guard to support it beneath that. I measured the size roughly by eye, but it fastens with leather straps, so it should fit well enough even if it's a little large."
"Heh... Well, now."
He tried not to show it, but his delight was obvious. He had only come to reinforce his weapon because he was anxious about the expedition, and now he had gotten protective gear for free as well. How could he not be pleased?
"I should have come sooner. I came far too late for nothing."
"Hahaha. If you regret it, then you can recommend that your other friends come here as soon as possible."
"If I make it back alive this time, I'll spread the word everywhere. I've got enough connections in Orario that I'd be hard-pressed to find anyone with a wider network than mine."
"That's excellent news. But among all those friends, who was the person who bet on me again?"
"..."
"..."
"...Don't say I told you."
"Just tell me."
"---."
"Okay. Send that guy over first, no matter what. I'm going to squeeze every last drop out of him."
"Um... well... I..."
"If you don't like it, hand over that pauldron."
"No. Um, it's nothing."
Just let him come. I'll bleed him dry.
"By the way, what's your shop called? I noticed outside that you still haven't decided. If you want to make a name for yourself, shouldn't you settle on one soon? You can't keep calling it the shop of the [Keeper of Illusions] forever."
"Hmm... I do have something in mind."
"What is it?"
"I'll tell you when you return from this expedition. Isn't one reason to come back from the expedition far too little?"
"Good grief, you really know how to draw out a man's motivation. I'll look forward to seeing just how unusual this name is."
Kaniel left with a smile, looking at me as though he had just found something entertaining.
Hmm, a shop name... If I went with the name I had picked, adventurers would be baffled while the gods would clutch their bellies and collapse laughing, wouldn't they? All right, let's do this.
The name of my shop was...
"Meow."
"Yeah, yeah, I haven't forgotten you're here, you little brat."
The name of our shop was...
Noble Phantasm & Cat
"It's NPC!"
This was the day a certain blacksmith's shop received a name that would draw the attention of every god in Orario. And it was a name that would continue to draw attention in the future.