After arranging the study and guidance for the new members of the Familia, Ronan still had other things to do.
Taking his loot with him, he said goodbye to Jeanne and the others. He changed into plain clothes, grabbed an umbrella, and headed out. His destination was Tsubaki's workshop.
The Seventh District was full of green, tree-lined paths.
The rain still had not stopped. There were fewer people on the street than usual, but it was far from empty.
After all, most people still had to work to make a living. And for adventurers, a change in weather did little to stop them from entering the Dungeon.
An hour later,
Ronan stepped into Tsubaki's workshop again as if he were already used to the place.
"Tsubaki, are you busy?"
Standing at the entrance, he casually greeted the owner while closing his umbrella.
"You're here? This time... forget it, you probably didn't get anything that special."
Tsubaki had felt a little hopeful at first. But after thinking about it, she gave up on the idea. Ronan was only Level 1, just a small adventurer. What kind of rare materials could he really have? Last time, that anti-magic material had just been ridiculous luck.
To her, something that rare was only enough to make a single weapon. It was not worth making a big deal over.
Ronan's mouth twitched, and a vein on his forehead throbbed slightly.
"I'm really sorry for being such a small Level 1 adventurer."
"Oh, everyone starts at Level 1. You'll be fine."
Tsubaki laughed and brushed it off right away.
Ronan had no interest in arguing with her. He quickly pulled the loot from his bag and lined it up neatly on Tsubaki's workbench.
"Here. Give me a price."
"Oh, Killer Ant shells? You actually went deeper? Now that's new. What happened to you?"
Glancing at the materials, Tsubaki looked at Ronan with real surprise.
She knew his personality too well. If she had to sum him up in one sentence, it would be this: Ronan was the kind of man who took "adventurers should never take risks" to the limit.
Being teased by her again, Ronan rubbed his nose awkwardly.
"Well, people change. I'm no exception. It's not that shocking."
Tsubaki gave him a long look but said nothing more. She turned back to the materials and started checking their quality and value.
...
"The quality is good this time. They're all in pretty decent condition. I'll give you ten percent above market price. It comes to 340,000, but I'll round it up to 380,000. How's that?"
After checking everything carefully and confirming the condition and completeness, Tsubaki thought for a moment and gave Ronan a very fair price.
Of course, that did not include the Blue Papilio Wings, which were used for making medicine.
"That works. As expected of the Hephaestus Familia. You people really do have money. If I sold these through the Guild, I'd be lucky to get 300,000."
Thinking back to the losses he had suffered before, Ronan felt disgusted by that Guild pig all over again.
Tsubaki laughed.
"Haha, Royman Mardeel? Squeezing adventurers is one of his oldest habits. Who in Orario hasn't been taken advantage of by him? Forget a small Level 1 like you. Even Finn got burned by that pig when he first came to Orario. I still remember how angry Goddess Loki got. She ran straight to Guild Headquarters and cursed Lord Ouranos in public. The whole city knew about it back then."
Something like that had happened before?
Hearing old gossip from Tsubaki immediately caught Ronan's interest.
"Tell me more."
Tsubaki had been living in Orario for more than ten years. During that time, she had seen plenty of major events.
For example, seven years ago, the Zeus Familia and Hera Familia had once challenged the Three Great Quests: Behemoth, Leviathan, and the One Eyed Black Dragon.
And later, after their failure against the One Eyed Black Dragon, the Loki Familia and Freya Familia rose to replace them as Orario's leading powers.
Once the two of them started talking, time passed quickly. Before he knew it, it was almost noon.
Ronan took out his brass pocket watch and checked the time. Even though he still wanted to hear more, he had no choice but to stand up and say goodbye to Tsubaki.
"It's getting late. I still need to go to the Dian Cecht Pharmacy. I'm heading out."
"Alright, I won't walk you out. If you get anything good next time, sell it to me first," Tsubaki called after him while watching him leave with his umbrella.
"Okay."
After selling the materials meant for forging weapons and armor to Tsubaki, Ronan hurried through the rain toward the Dian Cecht Pharmacy.
He still had a pair of Blue Papilio Wings. Since he had brought them down with an arrow, they were in perfect condition.
No matter how careful Airmid was with prices, there was no way she could push the price down on these. He was sure of that.
Rain tapped softly against the umbrella. Ronan held it steady in his right hand while walking slowly with his left hand in his pocket. A faint smile rested on his face as he enjoyed the quiet of walking in the rain.
Unlike most people, he never cared much for bright sunny days. If anything, he liked rainy days and snowy days more. Maybe it was just his personality. Ronan could handle loneliness just fine, but noise and excitement did nothing for him.
That was why he always seemed a little out of place in a crowd.
As he passed through the market street, he stopped in front of a food stall.
"Boss, give me a small meat bun. I'll eat it on the way."
"Coming right up! That'll be 140 Valis."
Taking the hot bun, Ronan stepped under the eaves of a nearby shop and started eating there.
"Young man, grab a stool and sit down. Why eat standing there?"
An older vendor at the next stall waved at him and pointed to an empty stool beside him.
"I'm fine. I like it like this," Ronan replied with a smile.
The older vendor raised an eyebrow.
"What's there to like about a gloomy rainy day like this? Business is already getting worse for us vendors, and now it's raining too... sigh."
He let out a heavy sigh.
Business was getting worse?
Ronan was a little surprised. When he had been shopping at the open market before, it had not looked deserted at all.
"How so?" he asked.
The older vendor immediately opened up the moment he was asked.
"It was fine a few years ago. Sure, prices in Orario were always high, but things were stable. There were lots of adventurers, and because the city was famous, there were always travelers too. Business was good. But ever since those two big Familias collapsed, this city hasn't been the same."
"We ordinary people all know that those madmen from Evilus are getting bolder every day. And the wealthier customers and well-informed merchants have already started spending less. The number of customers who can actually afford to buy things has dropped too much. Sigh, just look at what this city has turned into. Prices change every single day now."
"Do you know how much rice and wheat cost these days? More than double what they used to. Even potatoes have gone up by fifty percent. We're not like those big merchant houses. We don't have the ability to absorb risks like that. Doing small business in Orario now is harder than ever."
"If we go bankrupt, maybe we can still start over. But if we get caught in an attack by those lunatics, we might not even survive. We live on edge every day. I don't know when these days will finally end."
After listening to the older vendor complain, Ronan fell into thought.
This was Orario's current situation. It was the worry sitting in the hearts of most ordinary citizens.
Evilus caused trouble every few days, and the entire city lived under that pressure.
In an environment like this, how could anyone run a steady business? Everyone was waiting for the day peace finally returned to Orario.
"I hope this dark period ends soon."