Chapter 3 : Equipment / Gear

“No, does that even make sense? Please try to do it properly.”

“Th, this… this is not something that can be done just by trying my best…”

The solution I mixed with my blood is said to be a special reagent that only reacts with human blood.

The reagent is colorless, but when it touches human blood, it turns the blood black, they say.

“L, look… it’s still so red…”

“I’m going crazy.”

It’s said that even one drop of the reagent can turn the entire blood black. Despite that, the reason my blood still has a reddish hue…

“It’s, it’s because the blood of a direwolf is mixed in!”

“No, is that even possible? Is it okay for animal blood to enter a human?”

“Of course not! B, but… since there’s an example here…”

It’s a dizzying result. Is this really okay? I haven’t studied life sciences much, but I know that if you transfuse animal blood into a human, it’s bad.

After all, didn’t they fail when they tried to transplant organs from pigs, which are closest to humans? This makes me suspicious.

“By the way, has the heart or lungs changed?”

“I haven’t opened it yet, so I don’t know…”

What do you mean, “opened it”? You’re scaring me with your words.

“No, you also identified the blood through that circuit or whatever. How about it?”

According to Ravi, the difference between an eyeball and blood is big, and their locations are different, so she seems to not know much. The heart of a wolf? That’s really dizzying.

“Now that I think about it, it might not be the case.”

“Hm? Why?”

She was puzzled by my words.

“The parts that have changed so far are all because of defects. My left eye was inoperable, and I was bleeding a lot.”

“Ah, that makes sense. Then, don’t worry! Your lungs and heart are human!”

“Can you be sure of that?”

“No….”

Damn.

Anyway, the ability of the skill has been confirmed. Does this mean I’m done here?

“Then, now I’d like to receive that payment.”

“Ah! The payment, yes…”

Ravi hung the flask with my blood on a stand, then hurriedly entered the curtained part of the shop. After a moment, she came back out and placed a small leather pouch in my palm.

“F-five pieces of silver! I’m sorry it’s so little… but next time you come, I’ll give you more! A lot more…”

“I don’t know if I’ll have another chance to come.”

“I haven’t figured out everything about the skill yet! I want to try more experiments… if I figure things out more clearly, I can give you more payment!”

“Well, okay then.”

Five silver coins? It’s the amount you barely earn after fighting nonstop for a day in a dungeon. I guess being a born magician means that even a beggar can get by for three generations.

“Ah, may I ask your name?”

“My name?”

“Yes! We’ll be seeing each other often… Eh!? I didn’t mean it like that!!”

Ravi is the type to go all out, drumming and shaking cymbals, spinning the gong, and all that.

“Hm.”

Well, I guess it’s better to come here if anything unusual happens.

“In the place I used to live, the family name comes first, and the given name comes last.”

“Oh, really? That’s an interesting way to do it.”

She took a small square piece of paper and used a stick of graphite to write down the information I gave her.

“My family name is Yu, and my first name is Eon. Together, it’s Yu Eon.”

“Yu Eon… is that a pseudonym?”

“No, it’s my real name.”

“I see… I think it’s a witty, cool name…”

“I agree.”

I left Ravi, who was scratching her head, and left the store.

“Five silver coins. This should be enough.”

“Did you bring a hotel blanket or something?”

“This is the gambeson you made last time…”

The gambeson I was wearing had become tattered, and the shop owner looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

“Did you rub it against a stone wall? A sharp stone?”

“No, well… I played a bit roughly with a direwolf. It wasn’t intentional to tear it, though…”

“Ha, amazing.”

It was a gambeson made of 16 layers of canvas. There are 20-layer and 32-layer versions, they say, but compared to the 8 or 12 layers, it’s pretty thick.

It’s impossible to buy a new gambeson for just five silver coins. I think it’s okay to just fix the torn parts. The back, shoulders, and belly are the parts that got torn a little while rolling on the ground.

My right arm is in worse condition, but still, cloth costs a lot considering its area.

“This one’s sleeves need to be completely ripped off and redone. What’s the point of stitching this mess?”

“Can’t you just roll it up, put some cotton inside the torn parts, and cover it with a single layer of canvas?”

“If that one layer tears, it’ll go right back to this state.”

“Ah, right.”

In the end, the shopkeeper’s recommendation was this.

“Cut everything below the elbow. The part above is still in decent condition.”

“Then below that…”

“We’ll add a new one, but make sure to protect the elbow. If the stitching comes off, you’ll be exposed.”

“Got it. Thank you.”

In the end, I handed over one precious silver coin and had the gambeson repaired.

Next was the pouch belt.

“Can you make it a bit thicker than last time?”

“You little rascal. Animal leather, once the fat is removed and tanned, it’s pretty much the same. Except for the thick ones, there are some that are a bit tougher.”

“No, this old man is trying to sell expensive leather again.”

“If you know, then buy.

The pouch belt was bitten and torn by a direwolf, so I got a new one. I swapped the belt buckle and got a wider belt that’s also tougher.”

“Wow, sir. If you ever need a disciple, please call me. Selling a handful of leather for 40 coins each, this tanning business will make you really rich!”

“You don’t know when to stop talking. Go away!”

“Yes, sir.”

In the end, I bought the belt for 40 coins. I bargained from 50, so this was a good deal.

“Next, is it the sword?”

The blade and handle of the one-handed sword had divorced each other. Maybe they were having relationship issues.

“This is because the sword’s tang broke, so I can’t just reattach the grip.”

“Huh, why are there so many merchants in the Labyrinth City? Was it a trade city?”

“Good grief, I haven’t even told you to buy a new one.”

“Then what should I do?”

“Just melt down the forte and remake the tang. The blade might get a bit shorter though.”

The blacksmith dwarf stretched his thick fingers to measure the length of the blade and nodded.

“Speak clearly.”

“I’ll melt the blade near the handle to extend it and reattach the tang.”

“How much shorter will it be?”

“If I thin out the tang, it’ll shorten by about 5 cm. If I keep it thicker, it’ll shorten by about 8 cm.”

It was barely a 70 cm one-handed sword. If it shortens by 8 cm, it’ll just be a long dagger, right? But what can I do?

“Please, just do it well.”

“You brat. I’m the one who should be asking. What did this sword do to deserve all this treatment?”

The dwarf must be very attached to the weapon he made. Isn’t a weapon something that takes the harm instead of a person? If it did its job well, it should be praised.

“It seems like you thrust more than you slash.”

“You can tell that too?”

“Yeah. The blade’s edge is less damaged than the tip.”

Despite being a rough-and-ready blacksmith, the dwarf surely knows his weapons.

“Come back in two days. I’ll deepen the tang, and try to prevent it from getting shorter.”

“Yes, then I’ll take my leave.”

I handed two silver coins, heavier than bones and flesh, to the dwarf and stepped outside.

“Well, that’s one problem solved.”

I felt a bit relieved. The money for healing was saved, and I earned five silver coins just by checking out skill effects. Although I did spit out 3.4 coins, it was still a bargain.

I thought the skill was useless, but surprisingly, there’s a good side to it.

“I’m hungry.”

For now, let’s go back to the inn. I hadn’t paid attention to it, but my muscles ached, and I hadn’t slept properly.

Maybe because I fainted while leaning against a tree in the forest, my neck is stiff, and my back hurts. I should treat myself with something good with the remaining money.

The Rider Goat Inn. It’s the inn where I’ve stayed, and the place where the kind lady who took me in when I fell into this world lives.

It’s been about a month, so I haven’t been there long, but a month is more than enough to get attached.

I’m used to seeing the sign with a goat with a flag stuck in its head. What kind of goat is a rider?

‘I’ve never seen this girl before.’

Since I had stayed at the same inn for about a month and wasn’t spending nights in the labyrinth, I had come to recognize the faces of the people around here.

In front of the Rider Goat Inn, a girl was sweeping the stone-tiled ground with a broom made of dry twigs.

The lady who usually sat on the bench in front, smoking heavily, wasn’t there, so I thought maybe there were guests eating inside, but that wasn’t the case either.

“What happened? Where did the lady go?”

The lady was nowhere to be found, and the girl in front answered in her place.

“Welcome! This is the Rider Goat Inn!”

“What? Where’s the lady?”

“Oh, mom went shopping!”

Mom?

“Huh? Your mom? I didn’t know the lady had a daughter.”

How did such a thin girl come from such a plump lady? Well, body types aren’t always inherited, I guess.

“She usually leaves the shop to me when she goes shopping.”

“Oh, you must be the customer mom talked about!”

“I’ve never seen you before in the past month. Are you really her daughter? Did the lady get kidnapped or something?”

Smack-

“You little brat, you’ve got a lot to say.”

“Wow, I bet the direwolf’s skull would get smashed to bits. When did you arrive?”

“Yeah, I just got here. If you have time, help me organize the veggies.”

The lady, holding a carrot the size of her forearm in her right hand, handed me the basket in her left hand.

“Ma’am, could I eat first? I’m really hungry.”

“Serah, bring me a load of food scraps from the pit.”

“I’ll eat, but you’re paying this time.”

“Ha ha…”