Ch.15Shen’s Dungeon (2)

Morning.

We woke up to the sound of birds chirping and prostitutes hanging laundry on the lines.

“Damn… it’s cold.”

“Can’t be helped. There weren’t any other rooms available.”

The inn had only one room left, and since I paid, I slept on the bed while she slept on the floor.

The bed was far too narrow for us to sleep tangled together.

It felt cramped even to me, who wasn’t yet an adult, so they probably had shrunk the rooms to create more of them.

“Since we’re up, let’s get some food first.”

“Are you paying today too?”

“Of course.”

We gathered our belongings and headed downstairs to the dining hall.

Though there weren’t many people this early in the morning, the noise they made was enough to make the dining hall feel bustling.

After ordering our meal, we began discussing how to tackle the dungeon.

“Do you know anything about Shen’s dungeon?”

“I have the basic information. Numerous goblins. A few orcs. Some parties have reportedly encountered slimes or mimics.”

“Slimes, huh…”

Goblins, orcs, and mimics can be dealt with simply.

Stab and slash them with a blade, and they die.

But slimes… I’ve never seen one before, let alone fought one…

“How do you kill a slime?”

“They should have a core. Damage that and they die.”

“Anything else?”

“You can’t kill them otherwise. Unless you use powerful magic to melt or burn them completely.”

“I see. So they’re gimmick-type monsters.”

“Well, you don’t need to worry too much. Slimes are basically territorial monsters, so they mostly stay put. We can just walk past them.”

“I understand. Then there’s not much to worry about.”

“That’s right. Countless parties have already cleared this place. Apart from what I mentioned, there shouldn’t be any other dangers except for traps.”

“What kind of traps are there?”

“The usual kinds. Collapsing floors, walls closing in, spikes shooting out from walls, ground, or ceiling.”

“Hmm.”

That explained why Shen’s dungeon was considered low difficulty.

While there were certainly dangers, there weren’t any irregular elements, so with proper preparation, even low-ranked adventurers could easily clear it.

“How long does it take to clear?”

“A day at most? The fastest party finished in about 9 hours.”

“Then we should plan for a full day to be safe.”

We finished our meal, and I went to the stable and mounted my horse.

“…Are you going to walk?”

“Uh… can I ride too?”

“The seat behind me is empty.”

“Well, if that’s the case.”

She didn’t hesitate to climb up behind me, and her chest pressed against my back.

*

Clop, clop, clop, clop…

“By the way, can horses enter dungeons?”

“Probably not? They could enter, but with ongoing battles, horses would just get in the way.”

“Then what should we do with the horse?”

“There are probably people nearby who will look after horses and other animals for a fee. If not, we can just tie it up somewhere.”

“That makes sense.”

We discussed what to do with our pack horse, and meanwhile, we entered the bustling weapons district.

Seriya and I dismounted and slowly browsed the shops, and soon Seriya spoke up.

“How much money do you have left?”

“About 700 silver coins. Why?”

“You’re loaded… Are you storing it in a spatial pocket?”

“Something like that. But don’t go for anything too expensive. Keep it under 100 silver coins.”

“Got it…”

In truth, being able to access my spatial storage only once a day for just five minutes was more troublesome than I had expected.

When we visit another city, I’ll need to upgrade my spatial storage to something better.

While I was thinking about this, Seriya had dashed over to a bow shop and was selecting a decent-looking longbow.

“You know how to use a bow too?”

“Well, there are often times when daggers alone are too risky.”

“I suppose that’s true… So how much is it?”

“20 silver coins… With 30 arrows and a quiver, it’s 30 silver.”

“That’s reasonable. Let’s get it.”

I handed 30 silver coins to the shop owner and helped Seriya strap the quiver of arrows to her back.

“Here’s your bow.”

Seriya stared at me with a blank expression, seemingly confused.

“C-can you just buy it like that? There might be cheaper and better bows elsewhere!”

“I’m paying, so would you shut up?”

Seriya promptly closed her mouth.

I took the tight-lipped Seriya to a sword shop.

“Can you recommend a pair of daggers for this woman?”

As I pointed to Seriya, the shop owner glanced at her with the bow on her back and began rummaging through the dagger section.

“What’s your profession?”

“Scoundrel.”

Seriya answered.

“In that case… you’ll want something with decent length and weight… let’s see… ah, how about these?”

The owner showed Seriya a pair of daggers about 30cm long, roughly 20cm shorter than my medium sword. Seriya took them and began swinging them around.

Her dagger-handling form was impressive, suggesting she had considerable combat experience.

“What do you think?”

“They seem good. I’ll take these.”

“10 silver coins.”

“Here.”

I paid for the daggers and left the shop, heading next to an armor shop…

“Wait a moment.”

“What?”

“I just realized. I’m wearing leather armor right now, right?”

“And?”

“What if we have it altered for you to wear, and I get chain mail instead? That seems like a good price balance.”

“Uh…”

There was a slight difference in our builds, but we were similar in height, and converting men’s armor to women’s shouldn’t be too difficult.

Besides, I was feeling a bit uneasy about facing goblins and orcs—who were more numerous and stronger than humans—while wearing only leather armor.

“Well, that sounds fine. Let’s go in and ask.”

“Alright.”

*

“…so that’s what we’d like to do. Is it possible?”

“Hmm…”

I showed my removed leather armor to the tailor and asked.

“Yes, it should be possible. However, there will inevitably be some openings around the hip area. Would that be acceptable?”

Oh, I hadn’t thought about the hip area.

Women’s hips are wider than men’s, so even with stretchy leather, there would need to be some openings.

“What do you think?”

“I don’t mind. Anything that hits the hip is dangerous anyway. It’s just an opening, not a gap.”

“If that’s fine with you, we’ll proceed that way… And you mentioned looking for chain mail?”

“Do you have something suitable?”

“The ones that would fit a young man like yourself are a bit expensive. Would that be alright?”

“Wait, shouldn’t it be cheaper if it’s smaller? Less chain material needed, right?”

“Well… usually those buying armor at your age are aspiring knights. They tend to look for premium items, so the price range is a bit higher.”

“Fine. So how much is it?”

“Including the alteration of the leather armor, it would be 50 silver coins.”

“That’s expensive!”

Seriya stuck out her tongue, but I didn’t bother haggling over the price.

The reason was simple.

I had no intention of doing so.

When I handed over the 50 silver coins, the armor shop owner was visibly delighted and promptly brought me chain mail that would fit me.

“This can be worn with a coat, right?”

“Of course. A coat goes perfectly with chain mail.”

I put on the chain mail and wore my coat over it, and Seriya commented.

“It suits you well. That coat looks quite expensive too…”

“Of course. It’s custom-made.”

“Hmm… you must make good money.”

Seriya said, narrowing her eyes.

I couldn’t blame her for thinking that.

She was a wood elf, a minority even among elves, and due to her distinctive skin color, she was probably used to being mocked as a “tall goblin.”

“I’ve been working 240 hours a week in a port city since I was eight. Because of that, I’m quite skilled at making money. Surely it’s thanks to the protection of the Blood God Karil.”

“Ha. 240 hours of labor. If what you say is true, you might indeed have Karil’s blessing.”

The blessings of gods are invisible but definitely exist.

How do I know? Because the gods themselves said so.

At least, that’s what the priests say, so I had no choice but to believe it.

“When will the alterations be done?”

“Around evening, I believe. Our tailor is quite skilled.”

“Then we’ll come back after dinner.”

“Yes, please take care.”

We returned to the inn and began detailed discussions about what formation to take in the dungeon, which rooms to skip, and which to enter.

She wanted to take as many treasures as possible, even at the risk of danger, and while I wasn’t desperate for money, having more was certainly beneficial, so her opinions were generally incorporated into our plan.

As evening approached after lunch, we stopped by the armor shop to pick up the altered leather armor and returned to the inn, had dinner, and went to sleep.

Of course, once again, Seriya slept on the floor rather than the bed.