Shopping

It was late September, about half a year later. Today was Allen's day off.

Normally, he would be running near Granvelle City, but today he was in town. He'd decided to go shopping with the money he'd saved over the past ten months.

At the end of April, the butler had called him to the butler's office. They'd talked about the results of Mash's Appraisal Ceremony.

Mash had the talent of a spearman.

Viscount Carnel had been delighted that his own child had no talent, but Allen was overjoyed to hear that Mash did.

The butler had also told Allen that he'd sent word through a messenger that Allen was doing well in Granvelle City. Allen thanked him profusely.

Allen was walking through town.

"Well, well! Fancy meeting you here!"

(Hm?)

"Oh, hello."

Someone with a familiar face called out to him as he walked through town.

"Thank you for your help the other day."

"Not at all. I'm glad you made it back safely."

It seemed to be the merchant he'd helped outside the city before. The man bowed deeply to him. Seeing a grown man bow to a boy drew the attention of passersby.

Since becoming a gamekeeper, Allen had rescued several merchants and travelers like this one. Adventurers weren't very active in winter, but they got busier in spring. Allen had rescued several of them, too.

About once a month, while his Bird E Summons were scouting, one of them would find someone calling for help.

Since it was part of his gamekeeper duties, Allen went to their aid without hesitation. If they needed Life Grass, he would use it by squeezing the leaves in his hand. It cost him five E-rank Magic Stones, but he didn't begrudge them.

"Oh, there you are, Allen!"

While a merchant was thanking him in town, someone called out to him.

It was an adventurer with a sword at his waist. Two female adventurers stood beside him.

"Oh, Raven-san. Hello. Hello to you, too, Rita-san and Milsy-san."

"All right, let's grab a bite first."

"Yes."

It was just before noon. Allen accepted the invitation to eat. The four of them went into a restaurant on the main street.

(Come to think of it, this might be my first time eating at a restaurant in town.)

Allen had spent all his time working as a footman and hunting, leaving little time for anything else. He'd never gone out around town for fun. He'd been in the city for almost a year, but there were still plenty of shops he'd never visited and places he'd never been.

"Here, you're still collecting these, right?"

While they waited for the food, Raven handed him a small pouch.

"Huh? Are you sure?"

"Of course."

Allen opened the pouch. Inside were about a hundred E-rank Magic Stones. Raven always gave him exactly one hundred, so this time was probably no different. That brought his total to five hundred. Thanks to Raven, his stock of E-rank Magic Stones had grown considerably. He put them away in a burlap sack.

Raven had found out a little while ago that Allen belonged to the Granvelle household. Somehow, he'd figured it out. Allen had rescued several adventurers, so word had probably gotten around that way.

Even after Raven found out, they still met whenever they had something to discuss, as they were doing today.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

Allen hadn't told him what he wanted yet. When he'd gone to the inn where Raven was staying, Raven hadn't been there, so Allen had asked the inn's front desk to pass along a message asking him to come to the plaza in the center of town today.

"Actually, I'm thinking of hunting farther from the city. I'd like to hear about the traits of C-rank monsters, and how many tend to appear at once."

"!"

The three of them were surprised. Their food arrived: a delicious-looking meat dish that must have cost a few silver coins.

"Do you understand what you're saying? Even C-rank adventurers can die if they're unlucky."

"I know. That's why I'd like you to tell me about the monsters."

At their previous meeting, Raven had explained that adventurers had ranks. They started at E rank, the same rank as the lowest-ranked monsters, and went all the way up to S rank. Monsters of the same rank were generally difficult to defeat, and an adventurer could die if they were unlucky.

Allen was only eight and still too young to become an adventurer, but he thought that if he ever quit being a footman, he might become one. The information wasn't urgent, but he figured it was worth hearing just in case.

Raven and the other two were C-rank adventurers, too. The previous December, when they'd been injured, they'd been attacked by an Armored Ant, a C-rank monster. They said Armored Ants sometimes formed swarms, making them extremely dangerous.

Allen decided to change his hunting grounds from D-rank to C-rank monsters.

The reasons were:

• The number of goblins had dropped dramatically.

• He'd leveled up, and it was becoming difficult to gain levels by hunting goblins.

• He'd turn nine next month, loosening the stat suppression a little (from 0.8 to 0.9 times his base stats).

• He had a stock of E-rank Magic Stones from gifts and hunting, so he could afford to hunt somewhat less after changing hunting grounds.

• His Enhancement Skill had increased from level four to level five.

A little while ago, during dinner, Allen had heard the captain of the knights report to Baron Granvelle that the number of people harmed by goblins had fallen by half over the past six months.

Goblins weren't found only in the area between the city and the White Dragon Mountains. There could have been other factors, but Allen had hunted over ten thousand goblins in nine months.

Lately, it had been taking longer to find goblins. Now that he'd built up a stock of Magic Stones, he figured it was time to try the next rank.

He asked about C-rank monsters while eating at the restaurant, making notes in his magic tome.

After the meal, it was time to shop. Nine months in, he was finally going to buy some protective gear.

"Welcome!"

He wanted Raven's recommendations, too, so the four of them went into a shop. The shopkeeper seemed to regard them as a group of adults out with a child, but Allen ignored it and started browsing.

"What kind of thing are you looking for?"

"Something I can move around in without it getting in the way."

(Come to think of it, Raven thought, Allen had run off at a sprint the first time they'd met, too.)

"In that case, you'd be better off without armor. Something light but durable..."

While Raven was advising him...

"For Allen-kun, maybe something like this would work? What do you think, Milsy-san?"

"Y-yeah."

Rita brought over a pair of shorts and checked the size against Allen. He felt as if she were an older sister picking out clothes for her nephew.

(Hmm. They look like the shorts little kids wear as part of their kindergarten or elementary school uniforms, even in winter.)

"How much does this cost?"

He cared more about performance than looks. In fact, performance was all he cared about.

Back when Allen was Kenichi, all he cared about in equipment was its defense. Some games had things like resistances to certain effects—resistance to magic or debuffs, for example. He'd never wanted anything from his armor beyond defense and resistances, and he'd never cared about its appearance. Online games in particular often offered services to customize the look of your gear, but of course, he'd never used them.

If a mascot costume were the strongest equipment, he'd have no hesitation about wearing it.

Since he planned to keep hunting on the move, mobility was important, too. He considered it even more important than defense. What mattered more than defense was EXP efficiency.

"Um, this one is two gold coins."

"I'm thinking of something like this, not armor, for around five gold coins."

He planned to spend more than half his money on equipment.

"Ooh, look at Mr. Moneybags!"

"Then these should be about right."

Death Spider Cloak: 5 gold coins

Light brown; low breath resistance, moderate increase to various resistances

White Bat Hood: 6 gold coins

White; moderate breath resistance

(So, these were the prices to expect.)

"Breath attacks... C-rank monsters don't use those, right?"

"Well, that's right. There aren't any among the monsters you'll encounter on the way to the White Dragon Mountains. Considering the cold and having to camp out, wouldn't a cloak be better?"

Raven gave him some sound advice. The cloak seemed like a better choice than worrying about resistances. Allen thought the more expensive item would offer better defense, but agreed that functionality mattered, too, and took Raven's advice.

"Then I'll take this cloak."

And so, Allen continued making preparations to take on C-rank monsters.