Chapter 141.2

“Once again, from the beginning. Start over from the beginning!”

“Why do we have to go through such a hassle…? Come on, now… Tell me how much this gear will cost me.”

“So you’re buying, huh!?”

The moment Haruki asked about the price, Akane’s expression changed completely.

Well, I’ve asked for the price, but have I said I’m buying them?

Haruki had almost decided to buy these armor pieces and the scabbard, though he was still arguing with himself deep inside.

The only thing left for him to know was whether the price would exceed Haruki’s budget.

Akane was punching numbers in the calculator with an ecstatic expression on her face.

She looked like a little girl thinking about her biggest dream. Any sound man would fall in love with her with just a glance.

But her intense drooling was ruining the entire scene for her.

“Everything adds up to exactly 500,000 yen. The breakdown is–”

“Is that all?”

Haruki thought it was going to be more expensive than that because the items that Akane prepared for him were middle-level gear.

As a result, Haruki was thrown off by the fact that it was only going to cost him 500,000 yen.

“The equipment for hands and feet aren’t like weapons. No one would buy them if they were too expensive, right?”

“Ah, I see.”

For most adventurers, weapons were more important than armor.

The armor for the hands and feet wasn’t regarded to be that important, so many adventurers would cut corners.

Of course, it was different for those who were supposed to tank monsters.

If they were too expensive, no one would buy them.

If no one bought it, it would hardly be a business.

That’s why arm and leg guards were cheap.

“So, what do you think about that armor I prepared for you?”

After returning Haruki’s card and finishing the checkout, Akane changed her expression, and asked him that question.

Her face seemed to be moody at first glance, but her eyes were shaking slightly.

Although she was keeping up with appearances, Akane seemed to be worried about how Haruki felt about the armor she had prepared for him.

She must have tried to make that provocation look natural, but Haruki knew better.

“They’re great. They seem to be very well done.”

He was being honest. Those pieces of armor prepared by Akane were wonderful, and he had no complaints about the scabbard either.

In particular, the gloves and boots were wonderful, since he could pour energy into them.

It was unclear how that could be used for at that time.

However, this had opened up a new dimension in his adventure.

She always provided the right armor at the right time.

There was no doubt about Akane’s ability, and if he didn’t recognize it (even despite her usual provocation), he would only reveal his intolerance to her aloof behavior.

“…Kuhuuhhhh!!”

Akane clasped both fists with all her might in response to Haruki’s words.

She seemed to be very happy.

Her hands were shaking and tears were floating around her eyes.

Her gestures were by no means an exaggeration.

When someone goes out into society, no matter how seriously they do their work, they would rarely get any compliments.

Because it is commonplace in society to work seriously.

Scoring 100/100 is the norm.

In this world, having a score of 80 is a matter for complaints.

That’s why the products that one would work hard for and present with confidence are under heavy scrutiny.

The results of actually being good at what one does are hardly noticed by others.

It was no wonder that Akane would express her joy with her entire body.

“Ooohohoh~ That’s me, alright! I guess I’m just that wonderful of a clerk. I’m on a godlike level. Godlike. You should be thankful that a goddess like me decided to come to this rural town and set up a shop! Ohoho~!”

“Shut up.”

But that didn’t mean she should start acting so stuck-up.

Haruki started treating the merry Akane with coldness.

“–Ah, that’s right! Those Werewolf materials you submitted for a detailed appraisal are back!”

The materials that Akane was speaking of were those of the purple werewolves brought about by that rare-species deer.

It wouldn’t have been a problem if he had obtained a small amount of materials, but it had actually been quite a large amount.

Had they been careless with their valuation, either Haruki or Akane could have suffered tremendous losses.

This is a material that I had a hard time getting my hands on –through a life-threatening battle. I would like you to buy it at a high price even if the evaluation method is a little rough.

–That was the true intention of an adventurer.

However, if Akane were to lose too much out on that purchase, she could go out of business.

And Akane wouldn’t be the only one in trouble if her store was to go out of business.

Therefore, in order to get an appropriate valuation, Haruki decided to have the materials sent for a detailed appraisal.

“Has it really been so long ago…?”

Haruki sighed, deeply moved.

It had been a month since the rare-species deer appeared in the garage dungeon.

However, Haruki didn’t feel that an entire month had passed.

The more he was absorbed in the adventure, the more he would forget about time.

It was like an elementary school student on summer vacation.

“Well?”

“Here are the results of the detailed appraisal.”

Akane handed an envelope to Haruki.

He carefully opened it and checked its contents.

Name: A – Alternate Colored Werewolf’s Fang Type: Fang

B – Alternate Colored Werewolf’s Hide Type: Skin

C – Alternate Colored Werewolf’s Talon Type: Claw

Grade: Unique Quality: Average

Details: Since the quality is lower than that of its normal variant, these materials are not suitable for making strong weapons through regular processing.

“Hmm…”

After reading the appraisal’s results, Haruki slightly dropped his shoulders.

Looking at this paper, it could be said that the materials from purple werewolves were inferior to their normal variant counterparts.

In that case, their price would be lower than that of regular werewolves.

The dream to sell ​​a large amount of materials and get rich quickly had disappeared.

Depending on the price, he may end up completely broke after paying Kagemitsu for the request fee.

“So how much would I get if I were to sell them all?”

“The purchase price is 1.5 times that of regular species.”

“W-What? 1.5 times!? But weren’t they weaker materials than those of the regular species?”

“These materials may be weak, but they’re also very interesting, don’t you think?”

With that said, Akane took out a sword from under the counter.

The sword didn’t have the same logo that Ichibishi gear would usually have.

“What about this weapon?”

“It’s a prototype I’ve been working on. I came around some materials from the same type of monster as these in Tokyo, so I decided to use them, and started working on this. What do you think?”

As he asked, Haruki took the weapon, which was a short sword about 40 centimeters long.

The short sword easily adapted to Haruki’s hand, without offering any kind of resistance.

When he pulled it out of its scabbard, a pure white blade appeared out of it.

It looked like ceramic, but weighed more than ceramic.

Since Haruki could handle it, it was obviously not a high-level weapon.

However, it wasn’t as low as an entry-level weapon either.

“It feels about the same as the Werewolf Short Sword I’m using.”

“Well done! To be precise, it’s less powerful than a regular Werewolf Short Sword, but instead it has a special ability.”

“Special ability? …Like some kind of magic weapon?”

“That’s right.”

“But…”

It was said that magic weapons had various special abilities.

For example, making it hard to overflow the blade of a magic weapon would be one of such abilities.

However, Haruki had never heard of human-made weapons that had special abilities.

Haruki tilted his head in confusion.

“This short sword has the ability to cut through stone.”

“Cut through stone?”