Sora let out a small sigh.
When he left the dungeon, going to Labyrinth City, it was raining.
The color of the sidewalk was immediately being painted blue, from their usual black, and puddles were forming here or there.
Pelted by the water, Sora could not run to the Inn, instead walking in a plodding, wobbly gait, and hiding under the eaves nearby as the rain got stronger.
It had already been seventy-five times Sora had searched the Dungeon. Again, the result was failure. It proceeded smoothly until the middle, but Sora absolutely could not advance past the third floor.
If you were to sit in the same place, many people would sound a lively voice in the direction Sora came walking from.
They’re Dungeon Seekers, those who are skilled in the art of treasure hunting.
A boy in a black robe with a staff, A lively young warrior with a huge hammer, And a short girl, probably a thief.
Hearing their gleeful voices, you know without even checking their knapsacks that they were successful.
Sora fell into a Dogeza in dismay, letting them pa.s.s.
It was a miserable feeling.
“What’s the difference between me and them?” He thought.
“What don’t I have enough of that they have?” He thought.
Motivation. One must endure in their efforts to become a seeker. Sora knew he had plenty; he wasn’t defeated by them in that.
Motivation alone just wasn’t enough. Courage couldn’t knock down the monsters that the floors are infested with. Reality isn’t so sweet.
“What do I do?”
The answer was already in Sora’s hands.
All he didn’t know was how to use it.
Sora remained downcast even while the other Seekers drew further away, he stopped holding the short sword and put it in the sheathe around his waist.
“You……Who is this child?……”
“Is your condition bad?”
Sora heard a feminine voice to his side. “Who are you”, he thought, and when he looked up he saw a large steel helmet.
“…!?”
“Are you alright, boy? Are you injured anywhere?” A loud voice called. (tl: ambiguous p.r.o.nouns)
“They seem rather suspicious”, Sora thought. Sora looked up at the person, starting from the whorl of their boots to the tip of their helm. Everything was enclosed by firm steel, showing no humanity. Normally it had a frilly ap.r.o.n covering its inner legs, but since its waist was bent, it was easy to see past
Sora was surprised but couldn’t utter a word. To disagree, he simply shook his head.
“If you’re fine, that’s good. Sorry to suddenly have raised my voice.”
Leaking from the helmet was the cool, young feminine voice that wholly contradicted the appearance. Sora could not believe his ears.
“You’re a dungeon seeker too, right?”
“Oh, well, yes.”
“Often, people in our profession will get injured before leaving the dungeon and collapse here, so when I saw you I had to be sure you were alright.”
Sora was convinced by this explanation.
After all, he was only a short distance from the dungeon entrance hall he came out of earlier.
It wasn’t uncommon for people to fall to the ground, dying of exhaustion or poison or even disease, before reaching the clinic.
By the way, the Dungeon exists under Labyrinth City, underground. A supreme mage built it a long time ago, but no one knows why as of yet. With the many monsters and traps you’d expect, inside a mix of wheat and chaff of items drop from them.
Dungeon Seekers live by harvesting and selling them as treasure hunters, but Sora was an amateur who could not get any good results yet.
“By the way, can you move over a little? The store is closed, so I’d like to close that down too.”
Ms. Whole Body Armor showed the back of her index finger, which had a symbol on it. Hotels such as this place had been rented to set up shops, but since the rain came, she’s trying to close down the shopfront.
“Er,” Sora wondered if that person was staff of the shop. He did regret disturbing the place, though.
“I’ll leave immediately.”
“No, no, you don’t need to refrain from taking shelter from the rain.”
Ms. Whole Body Armor and I looked up at the sky. Only a small part of the helmet was open, and from them I could see two eyes gently shining in the dark. At first he wondered if it was a Golem, but it seemed to be a flesh and blood… woman was inside.
“Well, here’s what I’ve thought up.”
Ms. Body Armor clashed his fists together, gauntlets striking.
“What about it. Take shelter in the store. There will be a lot of time to kill before the rain will cease.”
“Ah, no, it’s-“
“You’ll have some coffee now, and don’t try to say no.”
“I don’t like bitter coffee.”
“Why don’t you try Café Au Lait. Will you need sugar?
“Three… It probably won’t go down easy. (?)”
Ms. Whole Body Armor jerkily walks away.
“Is this a scheme to make me buy something, or are you just a really nosy person?” Sora thought.
“I couldn’t afford to buy anything anyway.” Sora decided to grasp this opportunity to lift himself up properly. He had no intention of catching a cold, and he needed to visit an appraiser tomorrow before diving back into the dungeon.
After attempting to rise from his spot, and get away quickly, one of Ms. Body Armor’s large arm came into view.
“『The Good Old Magician’s shop』？”
“Yes, it’s an antique shop.”
“Is it really an antique shop?”
“Even the dust is moldy and everything estimated here is trash. Is it so interesting?”
Ms. She Whole Body Armor said in a joyful voice.
Sora wondered if they liked antiques, regardless of their appearance. I thought it wouldn’t be interesting in the talk, but it sounded very interested.
But there was a reason Sora stopped moving. It was written in the lower corner『Appraisals Being Done』Sora was interested in the note which said so.
“Is this where you can get things appraised?”
“The store manager, the monster freak, is being troubled right now.”
“Mo, monster is?”
“So, I’m the one being troubled by appraisal, but I’d rather focus on breakfast, lunch, and then supper.”
Ms. Body Armor shook her head in disapproval, left and right, and sighed. Now that they’ve said such a thing, Sora decided to be more considerate.
They clearly didn’t want to deal with the person referred to as Monster, but so far, they don’t seem incompetent.
“Well, there’s something I want a skillful appraiser to judge, actually.”
“Well, show it to me.”
Ms. Body Armor suddenly grasped Sora by the nape of the neck.
Ms. Body Armor is definitely the opposite of their voice. Their arm is very strong. Sora, despite 10 years of sword training, was caught completely off guard.
“I can guarantee the appraisal will be good.”
“That, ah, just a little, hold on.”
“Because it’ll be good, because it’ll good.” The monotonous voice spoke with forcefulness, and Sora was dragged along.
“Awawawawawawa!”
“One person, to the store.”
Thus, Sora was forced to visit 『The Good Old Magician’s Shop』in a rather aggressive manner