A newly washed serf and the extremely calm Hariot were standing infront of a shopkeep current unable to stop themselves from smiling "What do you need good sir?"
"The full assortment for this brat," Hariot pointed at the seemingly on edge Seria while speaking "And a... brown cloak for me."
"Right away!" He quickly said while taking the silver coin for themselves, Beyern had totally overestimated the price of clothing here in the city.
Back in the village, where he actually had the free time to scour the market for clothes, articles of cloths and other materials were a good bit more expensive.
But it didn't matter too much, money was just a number, a number that could be exchanged for power!
Hariot wallowed silently at his idiocy for a moment, then looked at his servant "Scared kiddo?"
"I-I just feel out of place..." She said, seemingly trying to down play her obvious nervousness.
He gave out a puff of his air in mock hilarity "That's soon to change, as they say; 'Clothes make the man', or woman in this case."
The one with unsatisfactory clothes, Seria, forced a nervous smile as she tried to afirm him "Y-Yes, I'm sure it will. Hehe..."
Looking at the quite less unnerved Seria, Hariot, proudly smiled- Mentally of course- It had worked! He had so many tests to perform, not on her, but with her.
He was not some super master manipulator that could have someone wrapped around his fingers, he was good at acting, not manipulation.
Of course; It was still secondary to his build up of mana, and properly cultivating his masteries- Oh, and maybe also making the newly indentured servant not betray him at the first chance she got.
And then there was also the Zankret church that he was planning to suck up to for divine artifacts, and all those other churches too.
The times of just relaxing while training his masteries were gone, so while waiting, he started to plot his course of action roughly.
'I'll need to look into all the new magical knowledge in the guild, beat the girl into submission- Though the form of beating, whether physical or mental has yet to be decided- And then start to curry favour with the churches after everything has been stabilized, practicing all the while.'
His eyes shifted, landing on the back of Seria's head, who was currently looking around somewhat listlessly 'Now, how do I tame her? Beating her till her last breath would be probably be good.'
Feeling a dreadful chill crawling up her spine, she looked back with slight fright, seeing the somehow always smiling Hariot with a small, subtle frown.
She couldn't help herself from shuddering, fear obvious in her eyes.
Realizing his small mistake, Hariot put his hand to his mouth, and chuckled slightly, using the moment of his obscured face to properly nurture a neutral smile that wouldn't drop at the slightest change of his mental state.
It was honestly surprising to him that just looking at him had just caused such an intense reaction, and it would be noted for future endeavors.
"Don't be scared, little one, I won't hurt you- Probably." He said, a somewhat callous laugh softly reaching her ear.
Hariot saw the merchant coming back, and he put his open hand forwards with a slight smirk "Come now, time to move up the social ladder."
He saw Seria not take the que- Well more like nervously twitching her hand upwards- And not wanting to wast time, he just took her shoulder and used the power of being an adult to put her on the right path.
-----
"Hmmm... I don't think this is what I was picturing." Hariot said, giving another slight chuckle.
To be honest, it looked ridiculous. A dress of all things? That could fly, since it might help Hariot sell her if this whole 'Nuturing the future generation (Making meat-shields)' went awry.
But it could only writhe beneath the eyes of god, he obviously wanted something more... Combat worthy.
This was about making meat-shields, not concubines.
He didn't have the money for one of those even if he wanted one!
So, obviously, the current thing Seria was wearing- Some trendy new wear, which was absolute garbage really, vibrant, exagerated and restrictive for movement. With Hariot being able to spot the problem from a mile away, even with his lack of care about fashion- Was never going to escape from the claws of the abyss.
"Yea... So... Little Seria here is a dredge, so no fancy clothes for her. Might make her a bit arrogant, won't it?" He implied to his conduit into the realm of fashion, a simple fact; Don't give me this garbage.
The guy smiled wryly and scratched his neck "Sorry sir, but when faced with such a natural beauty, I could bare to just put her in a pair of average duds."
Hariot chuckled it off "No worries, you may do so if you wish, but please be more restrained. As a dredge, she is not to be a mistress, she is to be a... Guard, yes, that'd be an applicable term."
Hariot looked at the face of his newly, dredged out of the slums, companion 'So, she's got a good face? It's not like she's ugly. But who knows, this is the first time I took the chance to examine her facial features.
Well, if the guy says he mistook her for a concubine candidate, I could probably sell her for a good price- Or I could curry favour with some big boy in the political world, maybe even a priest or something.'
Still Hariot doubted her value as a concubine or mistress, even if she had the face and potential body currently- Which he was still uncertain about in all truth- She lacked all the seduction techniques, or any other skill that'd increase value.
And he was certain not to train her in those things, since he held no expertise in them.
-----
Hariot was holding Seria's cheeks with one hand, moving and rotating her head about as he examined her 'I guess she does have the makings of a good looker, there aren't any blemishes on her face that can't be hidden with a slight bit of effort.
-But fate cannot be seen by human eyes, she might become some ugly bald woman when she's all grown up. Unlikely, but possible.'
He had accepted the third set shown to him by the shop keep, it even had cloak too! Though it sadly wasn't brown like his own, the most...
...Hariot didn't actually have a reason for wanting it to be brown beyond it usually being cheaper like that.
He also got his own cloak, pretty good quality.
But most importantly, she had a pouch attached to her right thigh! That's so effective, just think of all the poisons and other miscellaneous objects could be hidden there!
Hariot certainly could; Throwing knifes, black powder bombs, a protective artifact, ectera.
Sadly, Hariot was not going to be getting that for himself. Why? Because; It wouldn't really make a difference, for him.
There was quite a good sign actually; Her not shaking in her boots, while also not refuting him for what some might see as slightly pedofilic.
Or maybe she just didn't know what pedofilia is, who knows. He wasn't an inhabitant of the slums himself, so how could he possibly care to relate?
He released his grip and stood up from his genuflection, nodding slighty with his still neutral smile "Good, good, I can see you as the child of a well-off family."
'Now it's time to replace my sword, and buy a better dagger... I'll see if I wriggle out a short sword to end up in the rat's hands after I can be assured of her not killing me on the first chance.'
He turned his head, and walked took a moment to plot out the course from where he stood 'I'll take a right out of the alley, then the twelfth building on the north side.'
He twitched slightly, as he snapped into proper posture; Chest forwards slightly, head a bit back, shoulders slightly lower, and knees straight.
He snapped his fingers, and started to walk. Just a little test for if she had the ability to read a cue without needing to be purposefully taught it.
He looked behind himself, as if casually, and saw her hesitatingly walk behind "Stop dwadling, walk beside me."
"Y-yes!"
Seria quickly reached his side, and matched his walking speed. But seeing her willingness to comform to his actions, he slowled down his pace as to make it normal walking speed for someone her size.
Though there were still thoughts whirling in his mind 'I'll need to get that stutter out of her, it isn't the most pleasant to the ears of others. It'd probably get in the way of my plans, if my companion constantly stuttered and was obviously fearful, how could my relations with the churches be good?
I'll also need her to get used to a few commands, so that I don't need to constantly tell her to do something with my voice. I wouldn't dare to even slightly threaten the health of my vocal chords!'
He kept a small smirk mentally for just a moment, before returning back to usual, since the two of them stood before the blacksmith of this town.
There was a weapon's shop, but they basically just bought their goods from blacksmiths, and made some of the smaller stuff- Like throwing daggers and the like- By hiring Novice blacksmiths trying to not die of starvation.
But their prices were worse, for the 'Guarantee of quality'. Since buying directly from a smithy can't always be a good sword. Yes, some blacksmithies were reliable, but in a city like this, who knows what will happen.
He just opened the door, since there was just a sign hanging on the door knob saying 'Open'.
Hariot confidently entered, and a- For some reason- Nervous Seria in tow. Him whistling while looking around, getting a feel for the place.
Seeing the sleeping teen at the front desk in full blacksmith's clothes, he could easily see that few actually came here to buy something in person.
Hearing from the cacophony of metal clashing against hotter metal, it still meant the place hadn't become a rundown facade barely hanging on.
Hariot walked up to the boy, and snapped his fingers in front of him, instantly bursting him out of his half-asleep stupor.
"Hello, I would like to buy a good sword and dagger." Hariot stated while reaching for his coin pouch, which was currently hidden under his cloak.
"-Huh?" The teen voiced while not properly awake "What did you say?"
"I would like a good sword and dagger." Hariot said once more, adding a little bit of irritance on top. Taking a quickly glance at Seria, assuring that she had yet to run away.
Before he could refute, the teen looked at the clothing of Seria, worth a bit less than a silver, then his thought process being stopped by the two silver pieces put on the counter "I'm sure you won't refuse my kindness, yes?"
"Of course not!-" He instantly said in response, before calming down a slight bit "B-but I need to talk to the boss about it first."
Hariot chuckled again "No worries, take your time."
Taking the que to leave, the teen rapidly got the gears of motion going, and seemed to go towards the forge.
Hariot, not one to leave his money out of his grasp, pocketed the silver without hesitation. Then took out a copper and started do a few basic tricks with it, mostly to waste time as he still increased the mana he had built up.
Though he did note that Seria seemed a bit fixated on it, probably the coin.
-----
Hariot examined the sword- He was honestly pretty happy with it, it seemed to have gone through some rudimentary mana-forging. Which he could see from it's slight glimmer of light-blue mana piercing through the steel- But, why would he not try to get something extra?
He released a slight 'Hum', as he put down the sword, a slight frown he had synthesised on full display "It is... Acceptable. This seems to have been an experiment of your new skill, yes?"
"Well... It is... But it's one of the best swords you can get your hands on!" The bald man said, some pride shining through.
What he said was probably true, nobles never liked commoners having anything above average. Of course, that's only through normal channels, like those weapon shops.
"Yes, it could've been," He said with a slightly dissapointed tone "But the experimental mana forging technique has been put to the forefront instead of the basics; Steelwork."
The beardless man with a leather apron said in response, trying to play down the problem "Yes, yes, that's true, but mana forging makes it very tough."
"-And harder to sharpen."
"It also makes it more resistant to wear and tear."
Hariot smiled slightly "True, but that's disregarding the fact that the sword hasn't been tempered."
"It's iron! Tempering makes almost no difference!" The smith suddenly burst out, it obvious he had a problem with this.
"Almost no difference and no difference are completely different things, skipping it could decide one's life and death." Hariot instantly pushed back.
Hariot and the blacksmith glared at each other intently.
Hariot right away took a step back "Fine, add on a short sword and two throwing knives made with mana forging, and I'll put in an extra twenty bronze; Deal?"
The smith laughed for just a moment "A mana forged throwing knife? Why would I waste {Mana-forging} on that!? Even then, twenty bronze for a mana forged short sword? Don't make me laugh."
"You certainly made me laugh, I don't want a mana forged short sword, I want something actually reliable. And those twenty bronze is generous, considering what you put before me wasn't worth the two silver I offered. So now; fifteen bronze." He instantly rebuked, a tone of mocking following closely behind.
"The hell do you mean it's not worth the silver!? They're mana forged!"
"Something being mana forged doesn't automatically make it super expensive, if you didn't know. This is made of iron, a pretty good mana forge material, but not that good. If this was made of mithril or something, then even if the sword was garbage, it'd be worth a few gold.
An iron sword that's properly balanced, sharpened, tempered, and formed could easily be better. Since, even if it'd be easier to break against some giant force, it'd still be more consistant, easier to use and overall more useful." Hariot said matter of factly, taking a glance at Seria, who was currently standing to his side.
Just checking if she had run away- In case he may have lost consideration of her while getting in the groove of haggling.
The blacksmith seethed for a moment, before making a new offer "How about this; 2 silver and 25 bronze for this sword and dagger, a test short sword which will be my attempt at putting {Mana-forging} along with normal {Blacksmithing} properly- Seeing as how you've put it to my attention.
Though it'll take a day or two to make, I can make the throwing knives in an hour."
Hariot smiled slightly more than normal, just one more step and he'd be happy "Ah, better to make a larger batch of knives. Since I'll have to wait for at least twenty-four hours to get a possibly unusable short sword, I'll need ten of them."
"Fine, but that will make it 30 bronze!"
"Deal!" Hariot put his arms forwards along with an advancing step.
The blacksmith did the same in term, the two locking their elbows together as according to common etiquette.
Hariot released his arm at great speed, having practiced "It's great that we can agree, could I have a stool for me and my little friend while we wait?"
"...Fine," The baldy said "Dack, get two stools over here right now!"
Some time later another blacksmith ran over with two- Obviously made in-house, shown from the somewhat good quality metal cut nails and the rough wooden form kept together by the former- stools, setting them down with a frown before rushing back to the forge.
Hariot carefully took a seat while "Sit, can't be standing for the next hour or two."
The bald blacksmith had already left, with the two of them sitting next to the wall, and the previous teen having returned to the forge. Hariot concluding that he had sat there to take a quick break before returning to work.
Seeing as there was no one else, he started to laugh. Softly at first, for a few seconds, getting slightly louder over it's duration.
That was such a good deal; What he was getting would normally be around 4 silver- Not counting the short sword, which was just a Faelian rampart. It was just an extra that wasn't actually crucial and would be given to Seria if he found he could somewhat trust her.
What he wanted was simple; A sword, dagger, and a few throwing knives that could pierce the flesh and bone of stronger beasts. If his current sword met a prime Carnis Lupus or another beast of such a level on the off chance, it was probably going to shatter or deform.
It would also become the spearhead for his ascension into an Apprentice in the future, more like a back-up if his magic failed and he needs to get close and personal, but it would still be a good help.
"Uh... How can you tell it's mana forged?" Seria asked.
Suprised at the question, Hariot started to play with a copper coin "Lower quality mana-forging makes an item give off an almost unperceptable light-blue sheen, it takes a bit of practice to recognize it."
"Then how did you see it?"
Hariot smiled slightly, and gave a lie prepared long ago "I used to be a intern by a weapon's merchant, just to be prepared for if I ended up as a merchant."
"Oh."