[ Time / Location ]: Evening / Somara Village.
[ Pov ]: Theo Mercer.
Life returned to it's usual rhythm in Somara village, the villagers and farmers went back to doing their back bending field work while their wives either took care of the children or house chores.
It was like nothing had happened the day before, even the traces of battle were sweeped clean.
While the villagers were tending to their fields, they were oblivious to what was happening in the small horse stable... Aka shed.
A dark void black colored door suddenly appeared on one of the wooden walls, it had an uncanny resemblance to a Labyrinth's entrance.
The next second, I entered the shed. " Hah, I knew it. I don't have any sudden negative feelings, my MP didn't even drop a fraction from this distance. "
From now on, Warp will be one of my greatest tump cards. The tactical ability to be anywhere and anytime... If I know said places.
Seeing the shed empty, no sign of the horse that I first woke next to, I thought. ' Hmm, so Bikka hasn't returned to the village yet. It's kind of ironic I said I would never come back to this place and here I am, hahaha. '
Taking a peak outside, I made sure not to be spotted by the villagers. " Damn, it's like they haven't been attacked at all. Guess their priorities force them to move on quickly. "
While looking at the scenery that I didn't have the time to appreciate much when I was here. My eyes drifted to the sky, particularly to the slowly descending evening sun. That's when it hit me. " Shit, I have to end my labyrinth exploration for now before all the stalls close up. "
I had to buy some essential supplies for the night, a couple of towels so I could clean my self, backing soda or as it's known in this world as shell powder ( a monster drop from the labyrinth ) I was thinking of trying it on my bloodied clothes that I got reincarnated with.
And finally, a simple cloak, I needed it to do some bounty hunting... Funds extraction, and the best way was in the dark of the night. Although I already had the one gifted to me by Adolf and Tirihi, it was too good to ruin it with blood like my clothes have been before.
" If those scum were hated so much to begin with, I might as well use some of them as an extra source of spending money. " I coldly thought, already painting a target on the bandits of the slums area of Vale.
Returning back to the labyrinth, I promptly exited and started making my way back to town.
But I wasn't going to walk the hole way on foot. I first warped back to my room in the hotel, I had no money at the moment.
Picking a couple of silver coins, I next warped to a deserted alleyway that was both close to the stalls and away from the public eye. It'd be a disaster if it got discovered that I could use movement magic on a shield cement wall.
Entering the ally, I breathed a sigh of relief, there was no one around. " *Exhale*... Thank God. Now, it's time to do some shopping. "
Whenever I bought something, I'd buy either in bulk or in at least two pairs of the same thing. A necessary move to trigger my Discount Negotiation 35% lv 6 skill.
That ment I had bought more than I had thought I would, the list being like this.
[ Shopping list ]
- Big towels x4
- Small towels x4
- Cloaks x2
- Water container x2
- Shukure branch x2 ( Used for cleaning teath, like miswak on earth )
- Shell powder 300 g ( A/N: it was originally 1kg, but as someone commented, that was a lot of nuts 😅)
- Plain-white socks x4
- A mixed bag of nuts 1kg
- Big backpack x1
- Small backpack x2
The total came to an affordable price of 1150 Nars, a complete difference to the original price of 2300 Nars.
My big backpack full with supplies and another bag to the side, I decided to walk back to the inn instead of warping there. I wanted to have a leisure moment of normalcy at the moment.
Since I was reincarnated, I've been rushing my way over everything, so I thought of taking a stroll.
I was particularly fascinated by the social and race diversity in the market, Dwarves were haggling their wares, elves were only a few here and there but still looked like super models.
What dominated were the humans and different species of beastkin, also known as demi-humans.
There were more kinds than the actual Manga/light novel showed, I could see Catkin, Rabbitkin, Foxkin and those like Roxanne, wolfkin.
Another hint for me not to rely too much on the meta knowledge I had of this world.
Cutting my sight seeing stroll short after 15 minutes of casually walking around, I made my way to the slums area of the town.
A necessary step in my plan to turn some of the local bandit infestation as a fuel for my future living expenses, a win-win scenario for both me and the inhabitants of Vale.
While I was mapping the area around, I noticed something new about myself after I unlocked the Warp spell, it was that I had acquired the ability to perfectly and vividly remember the locations and places I once saw.
This made it easier for me to quickly complete my scouting/mapping endeavor, making it so I didn't have to go back to a place I had already mapped in my head for confirmation.
' Hmm, I think this is good enough. ' I thought, there were still a lot of places that I haven't seen. Still, I started feeling a lot of hidden looks from inside ruined buildings.
A sign that I overstayed my welcome, staying would only make them suspect I'm from the order of knights.
Searching around and finding a place with no eyes around, I warped to an ally close to the inn I was staying at.
After walking the rest of the way, I finally reached the inn, entering from the front door, I was again met with belno at the counter.
" Ahh, it's you. Did you get to see the labyrinth that appeared, I lot of adventures and explorers are steadily coming to Vale because of it. " He asked, when I went out I mentioned I would check out the labyrinth to him.
" Yup, but I didn't do much progress. Just saw what kind of monsters are there in the first floor. " I replied, gestureing for him to give me the key to my room.
" Even that is good enough, that way there won't be any monster appearances in the town itself. Ohh, before you go, don't forget that dinner would be served in 10 minutes. " Belno said, giving me my key.
Simply nodding to him, I went up to my room. Not before telling him to bring me a bucket of hot water and another empty one.
First thing I checked on when I entered was my money. Finding no missing funds, I sighed in relief. That one bag literally contained every cent I owned... Or as I should say, coin.
Untill I got my own home, I'll have to be careful where I keep it.
Done with my little inspection, I next brought out my clothes that I came to this world with.
They were smeared with blood, the aftermath of killing all the bandits in somara village.
Belno eventually came with the bucket of hot water and an empty one that I asked him of, it cost me 50 Nars.
I was going to test if my theory about Shell powder was right or not. In the manga, the MC proved that it's just baking soda.
And if it is indeed baking soda, it would easily remove the blood stains from my clothes. Hydrogen peroxide would have been better, but I don't think the world is advanced enough to make something like that.
" Okay, moment of truth. " I first used a small container to mix in a bit of shell powder and cold water from one of my new water containers, which was just a water skin holder.
What i was essentially making was a paste to put on the stain spots for maximum effectiveness. Making sure to be thorough, I covered evey blood stain from both sides of the fabric.
Leaving it like that to do it's part, I went to have dinner. It was a simple porridge with different vegetables paired with freshly baked bread.
After filling my self up, I went back to my room and checked the progress of the stains. Using a bit of water, I scrubbed the spots I had to covered in Shell powder and just like magic, the stains got removed.
I repeated this process on spots that had too much concentrated blood on them and finally soaked the clothes in hot water and strained them dry. " Ouff, washing clothes by hand is a chore and a half. "
I hung them up in the clothes cabinet. Finished with my laundry, i laid back on the bed.
" *Sigh*... Wonder who'll greet me when i bring the intelligence cards to the order of knights, hopefully it's the same guy, he seemed cool. " I thought out loud, not even doubting the fact that I will get said bounties.
Till than, I laid on one of the beds and took a small nap. It was approximately 7 and 1/2 in the evening, the bandits won't show up till 11~12 at midnight.
My plan is to stalk a couple of them at midnight and see if I could find their higher-ups locations.
Closing my eyes slowly, my breathing eventually evened out and I fell asleep.
---<>---
Waking up, I refreshed myself with water from my container and promptly confirmed it was still night time from the room's side window.
Gearing up, I wore one of the cloaks that I bought. A necessary measure I took so I wouldn't get blood on my clothes this time around.
Deciding to just use warp from my room directly, I warped to a place that bandits were known to visit and was close to their territories, the brothels.
Entering the ally way where woman displayed themselves in these rooms that had metal Caging from the outside, I started the slow process of identifying bandits from other people using my Analysis skill.
[ Explorer ] [ Warrior ] [ Explorer ] [ Explorer ] [ Merchant ] [ Villager ] [ Villager ] [ Merchant ]
' *Sigh*... This is gonna take a while isn't it? Well, I chose to do this to myself, got to live with the consequences. ' I thought.
It wasn't until the brothels were closing down for the night that I saw a sign of them.
[ Bandit lv 6 ]
' Gotcha. ' I thought, happy to finally see one.
Based from his level, he was a low level henchman for sure.
There were others that started appearing as well, but i decided to follow this one first to see if he could bring me to a place that has higher leveled bandits.
And just like that, I spent the next 10 minutes following the same bandit. While I was sneaking around, I made sure to blend in the darkness so as to not be spotted by him or the occasional bandits that he passed.
A peculiar thing that kept happening was the fact that he didn't interact with any of the bandits that we had passed in the time I was tailing him.
It eventually made sense why that was the case, the bandit I was following was patrolling the same area. A clear evidence of that was that we circled back to the same place I started following him from.
' Interesting, so it's like what was written in the story, each territory of different bandit groups keep to themselves, not even interacting with each other. '
' That means I wouldn't have to deal with multiple groups of bandits at once, I could pluck them one by one from their territories. ' I thought, getting a good idea about how the bandits of this town operated.
Done with my assessment, I thought about what my next move would be. ' I could wait for this guy to change shifts with another bandit and follow him to their hideout. '
' But that could take god knows how long, and I would need to scout out other areas for Bounties. ' I thought, not knowing how to proceed.
Looking at the area I was in, something suddenly clicked. It was an area I scouted before this, it took me some time to recognise it as it was really dark out. ' Now i remember this place, it's the area that has 2 houses that looked less damaged than the rest. '
' There's a high possibility that either of those buildings is the hideout for the higher-ups of this bandit territory. Well, time to do some more sneaking then. ' I thought, a plan starting to form in my mind.
First building i thought of checking was the the smaller one of the two, leaving the bigger one for last. I had a hunch that the later would be the one housing the high level bandits of this territory.
Proceeding with my plan, I carefully and cautiously sneaked to the place I remembered from my memory, making sure not to alert any bandits I passed by.
Along the way, I noticed that there were more bandits roaming around, an indicator that I was going the right direction.
Eventually, before even reaching my destination, I started hearing the sounds of multiple people talking aloud.
Random bandit 1: " Hahah, xxx xxxx xx. "
Random bandit 2: " Xxx xx! Xxxx xx "
Silently walking a bit more, I saw what was making the commotion, it was a group of bandits that were gathered around a campfire close to the small house that I remembered.
Quickly looking around, I found a dilapidated building that could both give me enough cover so as not to be spotted, and a vantage point that could allow me to spay on said group. ' Hmm, that's quite a few of them. Counting them and the the few that I passed by, that's 16 bandits. '
[ Bandit lv 8 ] [ Thief lv 7] [ Bandit lv 4 ] [ Bandit lv 3 ] [ Bandit lv 6 ][ Bandit lv 6 ] [ Thief lv 5 ] [ Thief lv 4 ] [ Bandit lv 3 ] [ Bandit lv 5 ] [ Bandit lv 15 ]
That number was just an estimate based on what I've seen so far. I haven't scouted the other building, no less this entire bandit territory, so I wouldn't know for sure Thier exact number... Not like that was my purpose of being here in the first place.
My plan was to simply locate buildings where higher-up bandits that more than likely had a high level, this made it so there was a high probability of them having a bounty on their heads so I could cash it in... A big one hopefully.
Looking back at the group of bandits, I paid a special attention to one of them, Thinking. ' Hmmm, that guy's the only one with a two digit number level bandit in this place, wonder if he has a bounty on his head. '
' Nevermind that, my purpose here is done. This place doesn't appear to be a higher-ups hideout as these guys don't seem like they're guarding this place, it's more like a place for them to hangout. ' I thought, more than sure of my hypothesis.
Now, all that was left was to check the second building. Swiftly leaving without alerting the bandits, I went to the big building that I remembered from the evening stroll, my movement's now faster after my eyes adapted to the darkness of the night.
Easily reaching the place, I cautiously scouted the area. To my shock, there was only one bandit there, he was guarding the front door of the building. ' Did I guess wrong... No, this must be the place, it wouldn't make sense otherwise for this guy to stand here as a guard. '
Making sure to stay hidden, I used Analysis on the bandit. The result spoke for itself, this guy was definitely guarding this place and just standing there doing nothing.
[ Bandit lv 15 ]
He was one level lower than the guy from the place I was at before. Still, he could be guarding thier supplies or weapons for example.
' If I remember correctly, this building has two windows at each side. I can't get close to the one close to the front door as it might alert the guy, I'll check the one at the left side. ' I thought, doing a quick search to see if this was what I was looking for.
Slowly creeping to that window, I noticed that there was a light coming from it along with some faint noises.
The window was closed yet it still had a small crack I could look through. ' Jackpot, time to do some snooping. ' Is what I thought at the time, completely oblivious and not ready for what I was about to witness.
Putting my eye to the crack, my vision slowly but surely adjusted to the light from the room. What graced my vision afterward was the sight of a guy having sex with a woman, but that wasn't what crushed my spirit... No! it was the sight of the guy's hairy asshole directly aimed at the window.
' Ugh, motherfucker!? ' I internally exclaimed, quickly ripping my vision from that horror show.
I felt like puking from seeing that abyss of a sight. Even the sight of blood didn't cause me this much nausea, it felt like I took damage directly to the soul with that one.
' Ugh, I didn't sign up for this shit... Oh no. ' I kept grumbling to my self, that's when it dawned on me that I didn't check for their levels.
I had to look again to use analysis on them... What a predicament I was in.
Taking a deep breath, I steeld myself for the inevitable. ' *Sigh*... He better have a high level or I'll slaughter every fucking bandit in this place just cause. ' I thought, promising to unleash death on these bandits... More so than I was already gonna do.
Peeking again, I promptly used my Analysis on the two who were embracing their monkey nature.
[ Status ]
< Male* Age 39 >
Bandit lv 47
Equipment:
[ Status ]
< Female* Age 22 >
Bandit lv 4
Equipment:
Looking at the two's status bars, i breathed I sigh of relief knowing that my sacrifice of seeing that horrid site was partially rewarded with the high possibility of the guy having a bounty seeing as he was a high level bandit.
' Count yourself lucky you scum, your boss has a high level, otherwise you would've been all dead this night. ' I thought, referencing the bandits of this territory.
Done with the scouting of this territory, I thought of two other bandits hideouts I could check for other high level higher-ups.
Leaving the area I was in, I spent the next 30 minutes scouting the other two bandit territorys, my search coming up 2wpositive in the form of spotting two other potential hideouts that might have high level bandits in them.
By the time I completed my preparations for what came next, the overall bandit activity dropped considerably. Although I already had experience fighting bandits, I would rather end Thier lives when they are sleeping just to make the whole process less of a death match and more of a silent execution.
Using my warp skill, I teleported to the first area that I scouted. I was gonna I start my killing spree from that place just because that LV 47 bandit unintentionally showed me his crack.
But as they always say, life is unpredictable. When reached the big building guarded by that one lv 15 guy, I saw another one chatting with him, it was the LV 16 bandit from the first small building where those low level bandits were hanging out.
' Why the fuck is he here, is there others guarding the place? ' I thought, doing a quick scouting around the big building for any more bandits. Thankfully, there wasn't any, it was just those two at the front door.
At first, I was gonna come up to the guy guarding the door and use my hero skill overwhelming to kill him before he could react. Infact, I didn't even need to use said skill, I had just redistributed my bonus points in character settings to turn my physical attributes back to 99 each, meaning I was already ultra fast.
So I changed my mind as I thought of a cool way to use my warp skill. ' Hmm, let's see... This could actually work, and there's no better time and place to test it than this. ' I thought, nodding to myself as I felt my lips stretching up into a wicked grin.
Bringing out my sword Durandal, I fixed myself into a stance, both my left hand and leg facing forward. I had my palm horizontal to the wall I was going to use warp on, as for my right hand holding the sword, I had it drawn back, ready to thrust my Durandal forward.
What I was essentially going to do was the moment I opened the portal leading to the back of the bandit Andy's chatting friend, I'd thrust my sword.
Just for good measure, I activated my hero skill overwhelming just incase the sword misses the second bandit and I would need to cut him down before he makes any noise.
' *Inhale*...*Exhale*... Here goes nothing, warp. ' The moment my warp appeared, I thrust my sword with approximately half of my force.
On the other side, the LV 16 barley had the time to think as to what he was seeing before his vision turned into darkness.
He was chatting with his friend that was responsible for guarding the two higher-ups building, holding a lamp in his right hand. That's when he saw a rectangular shadow appear behind his friend, before he could think as to what it was, he was no more.
Entering the portal, I kept my sword held in place. Two corpses both pierced through the head hanging off of it, I didn't want to retract and accidentally cause a noise that might wake whoever is inside the building.
' It worked, it actually worked. This is another advantage warp has, this makes it more valuable as a spell. ' I thought, happy to find a new way to use warp.
I didn't dwell on the fact that killing these two bandits didn't cause me any discomfort, they were scum to begin with, and the less of them that exist the better for society.
It also meant that I was adapting fairly well to this world's norms, a big advantage for me that will lead me to truly prosper in this new world.
Getting back to reality, I carefully removed my sword from the bandits skulls making sure not to make a sound.
Next, I proceeded to cut both of their left hands and dump them into the bag I was carrying with me. I needed thier left hands because that was where thier intelligence cards are stored, something you would need to show to the order of knights to see if said bandits had any bounty on them.
Taking the lamp that the bandit was still tightly holding in his hand even after his death, I entered the building like I owned it.
The moment I was in, I started clearing every room I entered like I was a black ops operative, it did bring good results in the form of scattered sliver coins that I kept in a separate small bag. I did find copper coins but ignored them.
I eventually reached the door of the room that I looked inside of using the outside window... The abyss room.
Opening the door, I heard someone snoring. Looking at that direction and using Analysis, I found my target.
[ Bandit lv 47] [ Bandit lv 4 ]
' Found you motherfucker, time for you to pay for flashing me with your exterior. ' I thought.
Without any ceremony, I dispatched him and his women. Taking his left hand and leaving the female's one as she had a really low level, I searched the room for any valuables.
I found 2 gold coins and bunch of silver coins, again not paying attention to the copper ones.
" *Sigh*... Guess this place is done, two more to go. " I said, glad that I could finally speak outloud in this whole night operation.
Fast forward 30 more minutes later, I was walking to a secluded area to dump all the left hands from the three bandit territorys I had raided, the intelligence cards had been extracted.
The two more bandit territorys had thier fair share of surprises, the second one apparently had a group going through some conference of some sorts.
I got lucky by encountering three bandits that had high levels.
As for the last place, I found a hidden box that had some jewelry and a hefty amount of money.
After all that had happened in the night, I was mentally exhausted. The moment I entered my room through warp, I thew my self on the bed and drifted slowly into dreamland.
---<>---
[ Time / Location ]: Early-morning/ Vale pavilion.
[ Pov ]: Theo Mercer.
Waking in a bed that didn't give me back pain was an upgrade compared to my time in Somara village. My mental exhaustion from yesterday was nothing but a dream after a good night's sleep.
My physical exhaustion was non-existent in the first place, my super high attributes made sure of that.
" Now, should I first go to the order of knights or Allen's store? " I asked myself, my plan at the start was to see if any of the 19 bandits I killed had any bounties on them before going to Allen's store.
But, after thoroughly thinking it over, I found it would be better to wait until I actually needed the money. I had extracted quite the funds from the Bandit territories I had raided.
Thinking about what was gonna happen next, I got a little bit nervous.
" To Allen's store it is, wonder what Roxanne is thinking about now. I would be terrified if I was a slave and was about to be bought... " Thinking out loud, it dawned on me that I didn't have any right to be nervous.
Well, all I could do for now was treat her with respect and not as an object. Pretty basic human ethics.
Before leaving, I filled one bag with the exact amount of money I needed to buy Roxanne with. And the rest, I used the new space in my item box after leveling up to store it.
Saying hi to Belno, I grabbed a quick breakfast before going to Allen's store.
When I reached it and went inside, I was shown to a different room I haven't seen before. It had the same setup as my first visit with Bikka but with more fancy decor, there was a rose vase and everything.
" Ahh, dear customer. Did you bring the money? " Allen asked, he said it so professionally it didn't feel like he was doubting me. But it still felt like he insinuated that I might have fled after our agreement yesterday.
" Sure did, here it is. Feel free to count it. " I said, firing my own comeback. Practically telling him to do his own job and count the money Already.
He smiled at me and started counting like nothing happened, either his skin was too thick for my retaliation to land on him or I was reading too much into the conversation.
" I've confirmed it, it's the full amount. If sir could wait for me, I'll bring Roxanne out for the contract binding. " Allen said, disappearing inside.
After a couple of minutes of waiting, he came back with Roxanne who was carrying a large suitcase. Probably the one holding her maid outfit.
" T-thank you again for choosing me, please take care of me. " Roxanne said, still looking nervous.
" Likewise, please take care of me too. " I smiled and said naturally, trying to sound reassuring.
" Y-yes. "
" Roxanne, please go to the customer's side so we can begin the contract. " Allen said, sounding way too tired about it.
I mean, I too would be if I had to sell people however long he has in his 51 years of age.
" Do you consent to the intelligence card check? It is needed for the contract. " Allen asked.
I simply nodded and raised my hand to him, Roxanne by my side did the same.
Uttering the incantation for the intelligence card to reveal itself from our wrists, once that was done he used a skill that allowed him to configure the parameters of the cards, a skill all those with the Slave Merchant job have.
Looking at my intelligence card I saw the exact moment a new section of writing suddenly appeared.
It read: Slaves owned: Roxanne.
And in Roxanne's case, her title of slave changed and said: Slave to Theo Mercer.
This indicated that the contract was done and from now on I owned Roxanne, a cringy and slightly edgy thing to think about.
Than Allen started with his over-practiced speach that is both a cautionary tale and a thing that most slave owners of this world probably won't adhere to.
" The customer is now Roxanne's master/owner, the owner possesses the responsibility of providing food and home for the slave as well as paying relevant taxes. "
A pretty basic and common Sense thing, but they have to clarify it for situations where Masters are special in a way.
" In the event these responsibilities are neglected or the slave is treated extremely poorly, the contract will be rendered void. "
This I'm having a hard time believing, there were plethora of unsavory type of people back on Earth. On this World, there might be more. So it's a far fetched tale to believe there aren't slave owners who like to... For lack of better words, torture their slaves.
And there's no way in hell they would get scared of an vocal warning to do otherwise.
" Finally, creation and production of wills also falls to us. When that time comes, do please use this establishment. "
" You may check your intelligence cards. " Allen said, finally done with the speech that he himself looks tired of repeating.
Turning to Roxanne, I showed her my intelligence card as she too did. " Here. "
" I-is that fine? " She anxiously asked.
This part I didn't get, is it the norm for a slave owner not to show their intelligence card to their slaves. Taking a glance at Allen, he didn't look surprised one bit. So it must be something rare but not entirely uncommon to do.
" It's fine, there's nothing there I don't want you to see. " Well there is, but thankfully it won't be shown in the intelligence card.
Nodding to that, she gave my intelligence card a thorough look.
Her's on the other hand looked like this:
[ Intelligence Card ]
Roxanne.
Slave to Theo Mercer
Beast Warrior
---<>---
" It was a pleasure doing business with you customer, we hope you come back next time. " Now outside, Allen gave us a final goodbye and went inside.
Looking at Roxanne standing there awkwardly while holding her maid outfit suitcase, reminded me that I wasn't the only one feeling nervous in the situation.
My eyes finally spotted her bare feet. ' Right, she wasn't wearing anything. What kind of logic is this, they gave her clothes to wear but not a simple shoe... Eehh whatever. '
" Roxanne, would you hand me that suitcase for a second. " I said.
When she heard that, she looked slightly sad and did as I told her, clearly misunderstanding my intentions.
" Don't misunderstand, I'm just holding it for you while you wear these. Your feet will be injured if you walk around barefoot. " I quickly clarified and pulled out the leather sandals I was keeping in my item box along with a pair of white socks.
At first she looked embarrassed for the misunderstanding and even blushed as well. Next she was surprised when I pulled the sandals and socks out of my item box without even calling out to it.
" I- I didn't mean to, and eahh? " She was like a broken cassette, trying hard to rewind the correct way.
Seeing her reaction I couldn't hold back. " Hahah, it's alright. When you're done wearing them, let's go. "
Saying that, i started walking in the direction of the inn.
" Wait, I will carry that. " Catching up to me, she said.
" Don't worry about it. " Even after saying that, she still looked worried.
Walking the rest of the way in silence, we reached the inn and promptly went to our room. " Well, here it is. Our temporary home before going for something more actually home sized. "
" Hmhem. " Roxanne nodded, holding her hands together.
Wanting to dispel the awkward atmosphere, I called out to her. " Ahem, Take a seat. " I sat in one the chairs in the rooms table, inviting her too.
" Yes. "
" Well, first off... My name is Theo, I'm 17 years old and I came to this town about... Two days ago. " I introduced myself, pointing to her to do the same.
" Ah yes. My name is Roxanne, I'm 16 years old and ahh... I stayed at the slave establishment for more than 5 months. " Said her part.
" Before asking anything else, I do want to clarify that we are going to occasionally enter the Labyrinth, is that okay with you. " I asked.
" Yes, I believe I will be useful in the labyrinth. Please leave it to me. " Roxanne said, determination radiating from her.
And it seemed like i won the gamble by asking that question. Her whole demeanor changed the second I asked about the labyrinth and her participating in going to it.
Taking advantage of that momentum, I asked about what kind of equipment she might need. " And what kind of equipment do you need? "
" Hmm, a sword and a small hand shield, wooden would be fine. As for armor, I'll wait for Master to complete his set first. " She said, even being considerate and thinking of me first.
She was exactly as the story depicted her, a hard working person who's both kind and disciplined at the same time. A rarity in any world.
" Here, take this Iron Sword for know. I hope you won't get disappointed with it's maintenance, I haven't used it or looked after it, after taking it from a bandit two days ago. As for the shield, we'll go to the market to pick something for you along with other necessities that you might need. "
She held the sword, looked at it and the space that i just pulled it from. A bewildered look on her face.
After a few seconds of that, she mustard up the courage and said. " Umm, Can I ask you something? "
Curious about what she wanted to ask, I said. " Sure go ahead. "
" Is it possible that you don't have to say the incantation for your item box to appear? " She asked.
' Ohhh, so that's what was in her mind the whole time, even when we walked back to the inn. ' It mentally clicked as to why she was looking at me with questioning in her eyes.
" Yup, not just the item box though, this too. " I confirmed her curiosity by using the second skill of my Explorer job on her ' Party formation. '
In her eyes, she would be seeing a message like this.
[ Party Invitation ]
Do you accept the invite.
[ Yes ] [ No ]
She stood there with her mouth open, shock written all over her face.
' Ugh, I think I broke her. I did kinda break a lot of norms in the few minutes that we were together. ' I thought, scratching my neck in embarrassment.
To be continued...
***
Thank you for reading.