"I wouldn't say that. With the Nobles investing so much in the area and the renewed support of the Adventurer's Guild, there are plenty of new opportunities to be found. And let's not forget the fairies. I've been hearing about them helping people recently. They even saved Ironhead and a class full of rookies recently."
"That's true."
"Ya know, I've always believed in this town. That's why I haven't left. I've always felt like there's more to be found in that mysterious forest, like some kind of untapped well. This time, it feels different. It's as if nothing can stop us from finally breaking through to the other side. This is what I've always dreamed of."
"Why don't you go look for yourself?"
"You must be pulling my leg, son. I'm much too old for adventuring. I've never had much of a stomach for danger. I just want to protect those that do."
"Are you just saying that so we'll buy your armor?"
"Ho ho, maybe so, kid, maybe so."
"Very well, let's have a look around."
The aisles are packed with all different kinds of weapons and armor. Marshall is known for his armor selection, but he has some good weapons in stock as well. I peruse the selection slowly while Sakura and Shinobu dash back and forth across the store. I glance at Marshall to see if they're bothering him, but he just chuckles softly to himself. I don't see anything that catches my eye, so I walk toward Josh to see what he's looking at. As the 'tank' of our team, he should be getting the best equipment, so we'll probably give him priority when it comes to selection.
"What are you looking at, Josh?" He points to the softly glowing blue armor directly in front of him.
"You've got a good eye," Marshall says as he walks up behind us. "That's the best set of armor I have; it's a little outside your price range, though."
"Oh really, how much is it?"
[Jezabel made it seem like Richter was opening up the vault for us, but maybe that's not the case.]
"About two million Denarii."
"Holy shit."
[Holy shit!]
"So what's our budget?"
"The Count asked me to try and keep it under one million."
"Wow, okay. That's a lot more than I thought. What makes this armor so expensive?"
"I'm glad you asked." Marshall puffs up his chest as if to boast. "That set is made from a mythril alloy and buffs your strength by eighty points when you wear all the pieces."
"What's so good about mythril?" I know it can have magic added to it, but I've never understood what's so special about the material.
"What's so good about it?" Marshall looks offended as he repeats my question. "Pick it up and tell me."
I oblige and remove the chest plate from the wall.
"Light!" Although it looks similar to a solid piece of steel, the plate armor only weighs a few pounds. I notice something else while holding it. "Will it still protect you when the armor is so thin?"
From what I can tell, the metal is only about half as thick as the one Josh wears now.
"Absolutely! Even at that thickness, that armor is almost three times stronger than steel. It's also much easier to repair if it's damaged. If you make mythril armor as thick as a standard steel set, it'd be almost impossible to fix."
"Hmm, what would you recommend?"
"That depends on your roles."
"He's a tank, I'm kind of an all-rounder, the pink-haired girl is an archer, and the blond is a mage," I explain as I place the very expensive breastplate back on the wall.
"Well, he's obviously gonna want steel armor; I've got a set that buffs agility a bit. You're gonna need composite along with the archer, and the mage girl would probably want to go with leather armor or a padded robe."
"Why do mages wear robes?"
"Usually for comfort. Pure mages are uncommon. Usually, only scholars or nobility would consider themselves pure mages. Some robes also come with storage sleeves to hold potions and scrolls."
"Like parchment?"
"Scroll is shorthand for magic scroll. By constructing a magic circle on a piece of parchment and infusing it with mana, you can create a one-time use spell. They normally only come with attack or buff spells."
"Interesting. Shinobu, Sakura, what kind of armor do you want?" The girls skip over to our position, full of energy.
"I want something cute!" Sakura responds.
"I don't know if that's what you should be focusing on when–"
"I SAID I WANT SOMETHING CUTE!"
"Alright, I'm sorry." I flinch as Sakura screams at me.
"We have plenty of outfits that are both tough and fashionable." Marshall throws me a line. His smile changes slightly. I think I see a small glint in his eye.
[I have a feeling they're going to be unreasonably expensive.]
Marshall walks us over to the back wall, where the best-looking equipment is on display. Two mannequins are fully equipped with fancy-looking mail that extenuates the figure.
[I guess sex sells, even when it comes to adventuring.]
"What do you think of this?" Marshall pulls out a set of leather armor that's small enough for a child to wear. It's light but fully covers the body. There are several colors of leather and chain mail around the abdomen, so it looks good. That being said, it looks thin compared to the other armor in the shop, and I'm hesitant to buy a set that looks so flimsy.
"I love it!" Despite my misgivings, Sakura immediately gives her approval. Before anyone agrees to anything, I cut in.
"That armor looks a little thin. Will it be able to protect her from the monsters in the forest?"
"Of course!" Marshall says, a bit too enthusiastically. I'm immediately suspicious that he's lying. "Although it looks thin, it's actually stronger than traditional leather armor. The bottom layer is made from Punctastar hides and covered in a thin layer of leather, so you don't see the scales. As you can see, the midsection has some adjustable chain mail over some darker leather to add some color, and the shoulders, arms, and legs have an extra plate of chitin made from an insect monster carapace. Lastly, it has an embedded Talistone that increases the agility stat by forty points."
It's hard to deny that the ensemble is both stylish and effective. I'm just worried about the price now.
"How much is it?"
"One hundred fifty thousand Denarii."
"That's what I was worried about. What's the budget Count Richter mentioned?"
"About one million. He said you could go over a little but try to keep it under."
"So we can afford it, right?"
"I'm not sure, if we each get an even share, then it won't be a problem, but I wanted to spend a lot more on Josh's weapons and armor. If we spend half our budget on his equipment like I was planning, it might not work."
"Oh…" Sakura's shoulders drop as she deflates.
"Let's leave it aside for now. We can always get it at the end if we can spare it."
"Okay…" Sakura agrees, but I can hear the disappointment in her voice. Shinobu was looking at the set intently, so we would likely have to get one for her as well. Two sets would make it three hundred thousand plus five hundred for Josh would come to eight hundred thousand, leaving only two hundred thousand for my armor and then we still need three weapons. I can take a hit on the cost of my armor as I have the Ironflesh skill, but I don't want to skimp on my weapon.