Since I am still a beginner when it comes to using magic, I think a simple wand with a single Skill Slot might be the best for me for now, price-wise, so let's buy it.
「This one looks good enough.」
I said to Roxanne out loud, indicating that I have made my choice.
「I have no idea what separates a good wand from a bad one, so I will put my trust entirely in your judgement. But, just as I expected, you have a very keen eye when it comes to appraising the value of things, master.」
My dear, sweet Roxanne, I have no idea when it comes to discerning those things as well. All I did was to use Identify on those weapons, so all the credit should go to that Skill instead of me, really.
The other side of the isle was dedicated entirely to canes, and there were many different types of them: Wooden Canes, Iron Canes, Steel Canes and so on and so forth, but as to what was the difference between them and why was there so much variety, I do not know. Maybe I could ask the shop clerk about that, but if at all possible then I would like to refrain from doing that, because it would be strange for an Explorer or an Adventurer to be buying a wand meant for Mages, so he would probably give me the suspicious look, and even worse, he might start asking all sorts of uncomfortable questions.
However, when we went to pay for the wand the clerk at the counter didn't give me as much as a passing glance, perhaps because there were so many customers in the shop on that particular day. Ultimately I have decided to buy one of the cheapest wands with a single empty Skill Slot, and the Wooden Cane with 2 empty Skill Slots as well, but even then the price was lower than what I was expecting, maybe because my usual 30% discount worked because I bought only multiple items instead of just one. Now that our business there was pretty much concluded, we booked it out of there on the double so as to not attract any more unnecessary attention, and even after stepping out the shop's door I decided it would be vest if we go a fair distance away from the weapons store in the unlikely case that someone saw what I was buying and decided to follow me. While we were passing the stores, a certain thought occurred to me: there is not that big of a variety when it comes to the types of the shops. We have general stores, weapon stores, armor stores, bakeries, fishmongers, clothing stores, but that's probably my 21st century-living ass who could have bought everything he ever needed without even needing to leave the house due to haow many different stores we had back on earth. Putting that little digression aside, we probably moved a fair distance away from the weapons shop now, so this might be a good time to stop and put the items I bought into the Item Box.
Unfortunately for me, the wand and the cane didn't want to fit in the same item slot in the item box, meaning that I would be forced to keep them in the separate ones, taking twice as much of my free holding space. That's a bummer, but not a one I could do anything about, unfortunately. Even if I won't be able to use one of them now then that's fine, because it can act as a spare I will be able to bust out once my Stats will be sufficiently improved. That being said, I know it can't be helped, but that is one of the many little things that start to seriously irritate me. Technically speaking, wands and canes should be more or less the same type of item with only small differences between them, so in my opinion it should be possible to place them in the same slot in the Item Box, and the same should be possible with Leather Gloves and Leather Mittens, but no, for some reason beyond my understanding, they are treated as separate types of items, leading to the unnecessary wasting of the storage space just so that I could store them in the Item Box instead of the backpack.
It might sound like nitpicking, but it's a legitimate concern over a possible flaw in the game's design that should be patched as soon as possible (yeah, like that will ever happen.).
Now that we were done with our shopping business, we walked to the suburbs part of the town to check how the houses which were located there looked like.
「This is a nice neighberhood, even though it's a little walk away from the city's center. The houses look neat and quiet, and the shopping district is just a short distance away. I like it here, if I am to be honest.」
「I think so as well. The atmosphere here is quite serene.」
Yes, with how this residential area was located away from all the hustle and bustle of the main part of the city, it would definitely be a good place to live a nice, quiet life, and since the other houses are not crammed together next to one another like someone wanted to fit as many of them on the limited amount of land available, we probably wouldn't even have to worry about getting robbed or being jumped at in the middle of the night. And more importantly, all of the stores are perpetually opened here, unlike Veil where we would have to wait with the shopping every five days for the bazaar day to commence.
You know what? I think it's settled. This might very well be our new home.
With my mind firmly settled, I turned back and walked the way we came here, heading to the hardware store ran by that sincere lady Merchant, Honesta, who was so helpful to us even though she didn't have to. Taking a quick look down the nearby roads, it has an armor store, a tailor, and a general store all pretty close to one another, and I think I even saw something that looked like a diary store around one of the corner, so if we're lucky, then maybe we could buy things like milk, cheese or eggs there. I just wonder if there is a ranch or a farm somewhere nearby that supplies them with cows, chickens and the like? But anyway, this is much more than enough for me.
After taking a light turn around the next intersection we have arrived back at the hardware store Honesta ran.
「Oh, you're those two from earlier. Did you manage to find the weapons shop without any difficulties?」
「We were, thanks to you providing us with directions. Once again, thank you for your help with that.」
「Don't mention it. I'm glad that I could be of help.」
「By the way, do you mind if I asked you something?」
「Yes? What is it?」
「When it comes to renting a house, is anyone allowed to live in this city? Or are there some additional requirements that have to be fulfilled in order to do so?」
I asked Honesta the Merchant after we exchanged greetings and some small talk.
「There are no additional requirements aside from the one where your Intelligence Card needs to be checked by the authorities, so to answer your question: yes, pretty much anyone is allowed to buy or rent property here in Quratar as long as they are a law-abiding citizen.」
Yeah, that's understandable. The authorities would want to check your Intelligence Card to make sure that you are not a Bandit or a Thief… which I am, but I should be in the clear because only the First Job gets displayed on the Intelligence Card as your main one. But aside from your name and the main Job, there are not that many information that can be aquired from the Intelligence Cards, so I wonder if there are any other potential pitfall that I would have to look out for?
「So I won't run into any problems?」
「No, because there are many types of people who come live here, and in this city trying to obtain information about somebody's background without their permission is considered to be a strict taboo.」
「I see.」
Roxanne said that most of the Explorers tends to live either in Quratar or the Imperial City. So if we compare those two places to one another, then obviously Imperial City should be the one with more restrictions, but that would also mean that the folks running the shots there consider themselves to be better than Quratar simply because their city is the kingdom's capital, and that reeks of superiority complex to me.