Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – Event and Stalls

School after classes were over. Numerous students were leaving back home with just some remaining behind because of cleaning duty or for their clubs, people who had various affairs to deal with. Among them, I walked right next to a single female student.

“Endo-san, I’ll help you carry half.”

“Thank you, that’s a great help.”

Endo-san from the class committee collected notes submitted from entire class, but after it was all gathered it had become quite heavy. Since she was someone I managed to get a step closer among our classmates, I somehow got worried and offered to help.

“It’s easy when Shun-kun helps out. How about you do some work for the class committee like this?”

“I hate work like this. It’s tedious.”

“Should you really call it tedious in front of me?”

“Sorry.”

In response Endo-san chuckled and said “it’s a joke”.

“Since you’re taking initiative to help with work you hate, don’t you have something you want to talk about then? Something about me you don’t want Takumi-kun to hear.”

“Yup. Well…”

I was seen through, I thought. Then I nodded confirming Endo-san’s words.

My connection with Endo-san was that of fellow OSO players. Endo-san knew that Takumi and I were playing OSO. I had no idea that she was playing it as well and learned it just recently.

At first, she hid her identity from me as well, but now she interacts with me openly. Though, it seemed like she was still hiding it from Takumi.

“So, what you want to ask, is it about those two?”

“Yeah, I’ve left it all to Endo-san so, I wondered how was it going.”

The two in question was about Raina and Al, after whom Endo-san was looking after recently. When asked by me, Endo-san raised a slightly worried voice and gave her evaluation.

“Let’s see. To a certain extent they seem to understand their Senses, so there’s no problems. Level-wise, if they work hard for a little bit longer they’ll leave the newbie zone. Also, if they join some party they should be able to hunt Big Boars. Still, they’re not good enough to hunt them solo yet.”

“I see. So no problems.”

I was relieved hearing Endo-san’s evaluation.

By chance, together with Endo-san we have encountered and saved the twin novice players from a strong mob, a Treant. With that as a trigger, we have made a connection with them, I was relieved to hear they are steadily growing.

“Since they are about to leave beginner levels, I wonder if we should give them a present as senior players.”

“In that case, let’s decide on it before the weekend’s event. You’re participating too, aren’t you, Shun-kun?”

“Yeah, let’s decide on it then.”

The participation Endo-san was talking about referred to the Crafting Guild-sponsored event.

There, the crafters will provide a richer assortment than usual in their stalls and stores, there will be also stage shows and PVP events.

While I originally came to talk with Endo-san to ask about the novice players duo Raina and Al, while at it, I decided to consult her about gifts.

“What should I give them? I’m not too knowledgeable on what items are in fashion.”

“How about you pay for something they like on the day itself? Rather, I don’t think there’s a need to concern yourself that much.”

As Endo-san smiled wryly, I thought it was the most reliable method. Convinced.

While talking about how much should we spend on it, we passed the class notes to the teacher in charge and returned to the classroom.

“Shun. Where did you go?”

“Taku

mi, you were waiting? I helped out Endo-san. The notes seemed heavy.”

“Thank you. See you.”

When Takumi had shown his face, to avoid being found out that she was an OSO player, Endo-san returned back to her seat.

Takumi squinted seeing our exchange of words, starting intently.

“W-what is it with that look.”

“No, I just wondered when did you become friends.”

Damn you, aren’t you strangely sharp with weird stuff like this. Still, it was Takumi. It would be seen through were I to spit out a strange lie.

“We just met during the shopping and chatted for a while. She recommended me some sweets… well, lots of stuff.”

“Hmm. Oh well. By the way, want to walk around the event together on this weekend? Or are you with Miu-chan and Shizuka-san?”

“Umm… I’ve got a prior engagement. I guess Miu and Sei-nee are doing something separately from me? But, probably, we’ll pass through by each other.”

“Well, there are also times like this. Got it.”

Probably convinced by my answer, he grasped the bag and saying “I’ll be going” Takumi went home.

What, so he just wanted to know my plans for the weekend. I heaved a sigh and looked towards Endo-san.

“Cheers for good work.”

“Well, it’s just the usual. Rather than that, let’s go home.

I prompted Endo-san and the two of us went to the exit, leaving to the outside.

From how low the sun was and the falling temperature, I felt the autumn come day by day. Talking about silly things we have headed towards the school gate to go home.

On the other side of the school gate I found a familiar back and called out to it.

“Miu. You going back now?”

“Eh? Onii-chan. Yup, I was on cleaning duty. And… a friend?”

“Hello. I’m Shun-kun’s classmate, Endo.”

“Okay. There’s no need to speak politely. I’m the little sister from middle school, Miu. So, what’s your relationship with my Onii-chan?”

“Hey, Miu.”

What rude questions you’re suddenly spouting, geez. When I squinted and stared at Miu, she said “it’s a joke” and took a step back.

“Let’s see. A classmate and a friend, I guess.”

“Endo-san, you don’t need to answer her seriously.”

“Then, Miu-san, won’t you become my friend?”

“Yes! Endo-senpai!”

When Miu made a broad smile, Endo-san also smiled and the two walked side by side.

Naturally, I moved slightly behind the two and listened in to the conversation but… sorry. What, just what is this parade of unknown terminology.

Was it about games? I think it was, but to me the two’s conversation sounded like casting spells. Something about avoiding, attack timing, game-making staff’s previous works, field type increases, move variations based on colours, mutants and abnormal species, download content… I understand nothing.

As they spoke about it, Miu made a sparkly and joyful expression that had resonated with Endo-san’s. So Endo-san is a gamer on Miu’s level, huh. I pondered.

“Onii-chan! It’s amazing! Endo-senpai really knows a lot of stuff!”

“Is that so. Good for you.”

The brother who couldn’t keep up with their conversation had started speaking monotonously out of loneliness.

“Are you sulking because I took lil’ sister? I wonder.”

As Endo-san started giggling, I said that’s not it. I was just overwhelmed by you two, I relayed with my gaze but it wasn’t noticed at all.

“In the end, I just have knowledge. Certainly I love games, but out of all of it I enjoy reading the walkthroughs, configurations and other information. I’m someone who enjoys staring at data.”

“Ehh, I wanted to play a game with Endo-senpai…”

“I’m sorry. Probably, I’m not that good at games.”

Can you really say that? I stared at Endo-san with half-opened eyes, but I was ignored.

“All right, this is as far as I go. See you, Shun-kun. Lil’ Sister too, thank you for the time spent fun.”

We’ve seen off Endo-san who went in her own direction. As compared to the first time where Endo-san called Miu per “Miu-san”, imperceptibly it had become a familiar “Lil’ Sister”.

Miu called her “senpai” too, so their relationship wasn’t too bad.

“To think there was one more person who loves games so much! She was very knowledgeable, it was fun to talk to her.”

“That’s great.”

“Yup! Still, it’s a pity she’s more of a hidden gamer than one that moves aggressively. But…”

“But?”

“I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before.”

…as usual, this little sister of mine has a good intuition. But, this is where I divert the topic.

“Want to buy a cake before going home?”

“Eh?!! Can we?”

“Once in a while, it’s fine.”

Honestly, part of this proposal was because of the lemon cheese cake I couldn’t forget, but let’s not mind it. Diverting the main topic, diverting Miu’s thinking, I exhaled.

Endo-san, it’s probably just a matter of time until you’re found out to be an OSO player.

●

Thirty minutes before the start of the event, I confirmed the cleaning and laundry was finished, deciding to log in early. Thinking of that, I headed to my own room.

I put on the VR Gear, lied on the bed and like usual, my consciousness submerged.

The place I appeared in, was the 【Atelier】’s workshop that was set as the login point. Myu was already logged in and should be somewhere in the town.

Curious about the outside, I opened the door to the store part. When I looked outside from the store’s entrance, I immediately heard a cheerful music and the front was bustling.

I could see more people than usual in the town. The only times during which this many people gather, was when the OSO officially started and during the official events.

“That’s a lot of people. With so many gathered, it feels like it’s going to start already instead of waiting for the official opening.”

I smiled wryly alone, returned to the counter seat, then summoned Ryui and Zakuro.

As the 【Atelier】 was the meeting place and Emily-san will bring Raina and Al, I waited for them leisurely.

Although there were several major meeting points in the town, on a day like this there weren’t many we could use considering the amount of people out there, so it ended up being my store.

As I brushed Ryui’s and Zakuro’s fur, a shadow had appeared at the entrance to the store and certain people have peeked inside, interested.

“Welcome. Well, that’s a little strange to say. You’re just on time.”

“I brought the two.”

Today, Emily-san had a mask and a voice changer on, moreover she was wearing the equipment for changing her name to Emilio.

“Emily-san. Why that appearance again?”

“There’s Taku-kun and Lil’ Sister right? If possible, I don’t want them to see my face.”

Convinced by what she said, I invited Raina and Al into the store.

The interest of Raina who had entered the store was directed towards the transparent shallow pot with synthetic mob of three different colours inside. Al looked towards the MP Potions, Enchant Stones and items useful for mages like Boost Tablets.

“Hee, so there are items like this too. Look at this, Rai-chan.”

“…hey, won’t this squishy thing escape? Like that fox or unicorn.”

Al was analysing the 【Atelier】 and Raina was seriously staring at the gels with a serious expression.

With part of their bodies inside the pot, the gels were confirming the situation around them.

The two are really distracted. Both Emily-san and I thought, making wry smiles.

“It’s fine to touch them.”

“Eh?! Really?! Waii! The blue one’s cool! The red one’s warm, and this one, is moist!”

Seeing Raina excited about something like that, Al had calmed down.

“Come on, it’s time for the opening.”

It was the time and I urged the two. Together with Emily-san we went to the city’s centre and looked up at the sky above the guild hall.

There, spread a dense black fog, just that part of the sky looked as if it was in the middle of the night.

“W-what’s that.”

“It’s all right. That’s darkness magic’s 《Smog》. It’s a smokescreen that doesn’t deal damage.”

Emily explained to surprised Raina.

In darkness element magic, there’s an auxiliary magic like that of earth element’s 《Mud Pool》, the smokescreen magic 《Smog》. Normally, it’s used for blinding the enemy and escaping which is its main use, but it was easily cleared out with light from magic or torches, a disappointing magic.

“But, this time that’s not the purpose for it.”

Something was thrown into the fog from the guild hall below and——burst.

Along with a dry sound of explosion, the gunpowder inside it had become a colourful ball of fire and on the black 《Smog》’s background the fireworks bloomed.

“Woah… That’s the 【Gunpowder】 Yun-san was making earlier, right?!”

“That’s right. Though, I only passed the gunpowder balls and left the design to them.”

It wasn’t like I made all of it. Other crafters participated in it and I shared the information on the way to craft them.

After that, the black had been stretched in the sky to produce an effect of the night sky for the exploding fireworks, causing cheers to erupt in various places in the town.

This staging was made so that people could see beautiful fireworks in the daytime, thought of by 【Darkness Element Talent】 users centred on Cloude. In the end, the ones that were most flashy were the attack magic’s illusions that cut through the darkness magic’s fog.

A diffused voice had spread throughout the town.

『”Thank you for coming to the event planned by us for today! How was the opening ceremony?! There are various events hosted so please look forward to it! Well then——I declare the event’s opening!”』

“That voice’s Magi-san’s, huh. Since it begun in the earnest, we should go too.”

“Indeed. Well, let’s hang around the stalls buy something, eat something and ask for prices.”

The two behind me and Emily-san made somewhat lonely expressions.

“What is it? You two.”

At the same time I noticed, Emily-san asked. Even despite the fact the upper half of her face was hidden behind a mask, I could tell she was worried from her soft tone of voice.

“We’re beginners, we don’t have money. I wonder if we have enough money even despite selling the items that dropped from mobs.”

“And we can’t splurge because we’re gathering money for new equipment…”

When I looked towards Emily-san, it seemed like she didn’t talk with them about the equipment presents. I guess it’s fine to tell them beforehand, but they’d be happier with a surprise present.

“Umm, let’s say that for today’s goal, in addition to buying and eating from the stalls, there’s one more. We want to give you some equipment as a gift.”

“Somehow, since you were with us the entire time you ended up still being in beginner’s equipment, right? That’s why after talking with Yun-kun we decided to pay for the equipment you two purchase, is how it ended up. Of course, there’s a limit to how much we’ll pay.”

So that’s that, Emily-san had supplemented my words. We planned 200kG for the two together. What we can find in that price range is a 60kG weapon and 40kG armour piece. However, embarrassment had welled up from my belly and I couldn’t put it that way.

“W-well, that’s why it’s fine if you use the money you earned as planned. Yup.”

Because of embarrassment I ended up talking sloppily. Still, even as I thought that, the two’s gazes felt itchy so I looked away from them.

“Um, that’s, I don’t know what to say. Thank you very much.”

“Uh, in order to answer your expectations we shall devote ourselves from now on as well.”

“You two sure are dutiful. It’s a game so it’s fine to play as you want.”

Even though Emily-san said that, as if they didn’t heard it at all, they directed sparkly and pure gazes towards us.

“It’s something my little sister said, but at first it seems like someone’s expecting something of you. But don’t think about it so deeply. Also, if you two get stronger, you’ll just purchase consumables in my store. If that happens, I’ll get it back. You must lose a fly to catch a trout.”

With that said, the conversation on the topic ended. Then, I took Zakuro and Ryui and walked forward as if to run away.

Behind me and Emily-san who walked by my side, Raina and Al discussed something happily. While watching the two with a sidelong glance, Emily-san whispered quietly to me.

“Yun-kun, you sure aren’t honest. To say you’ll get it back if they get strong.”

“W-what is it.”

“If you were a person like that, you wouldn’t set a limit on the prices so low that you don’t break the market and didn’t put a purchase limit in the shop.”

“Geez… all right, I’m just not honest, okay.”

I was completely seen through by Emily-san and pouted displeased.

In order to calm myself, I pat the two tails of Zakuro who had entered my hood, healing myself. Because I brushed it, there was a very smooth feel to it.

Little by little I calmed myself and corrected Emily-san’s misunderstanding.

“But, even with that price I’ve got enough methods of making profit.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, because I grow materials on the field beside the 【Atelier】, the costs are smaller than those of other players.”

When I said that, she asked “You prepared it yourself?”. I told her that story items can be used to do some gardening even in a planter inside of a small room. However, the efficiency was lower than that of a field and seeds were also required. Since Emily-san had the 【Alchemy】 Sense, it wasn’t a problem.

And then, we headed towards the stalls. Since they were supported by Emily-san and me without entering the town, Raina and Al looked at everything as if it was unusual, distracted by one thing after another.

What was ahead of their line of sight, was a food stall.

It was a stall that sold both things for eating and ones that shouldn’t be eaten.

“Welcome! It’s Mill Bird’s meat with poison removed! It’ delicious! The effect it gives is ATK increase!” “How about a kebab from a Big Boar! It’s tasty!” “Here, we’re selling fresh (laughs) vegetable sticks straight from the second town!”

I’ve heard lively voices like that and on the opposite side, I’ve heard jokes targeted at gamers.

“Come, it’s Russian roulette! One out of six has poison inside! It’s a trial of luck for the parties. While at it, we also sell antidotes!” “It tastes bad, but you can increase experience with bad statuses! It’s weak enough not to make you vomit, you can easily level up!” “The material’s taste remains as is, certainly an uniquely strange taste! Now, let’s start the party, the poison cuisine this way!”

Poison cuisine aimed at people leveling up the poison resistance-type senses. A Russian roulette play for the party lined up together with that. In order not to let beginners try it out of curiosity, the price was high enough to make them think it over twice.

Despite of that, those who have purchased it influenced by the atmosphere continued to suicide in front of the store.

“Well, let’s find a normal stall.”

Hearing my words, the other three nodded repeatedly and we resumed our tour at the stalls.

We got dizzy just looking for a stall with something delicious. Then suddenly, one section of the street had vacated itself.

“I wonder what’s that. Just there alone people aren’t lined up for the stall, instead they gathered… is it a performance? Let’s go look!’

“Ah, Rai-chan. Wait!”

Raina broke into a run and Al had followed her. I heaved a sigh and looked at the unnatural corner of the street with stalls.

“Did something happen?”

“We’ll learn once we go there.”

The two of us chased after Raina and Al in normal walking pace, moving through between people. And, what we saw after making it to the scene was——

“Excuse me. Please give me all the food in the stall.”

“P-please spare me! Letia-chan! There won’t be any food for anyone else!”

The players who were the owners of the three stalls lined up together and lowered their heads so desperately, it seemed like they would prostrate any time.

The girl made a mystified expression and said “what to do?”. Then looked at her own tamed beast, it had tilted its small head, tweeted and shook its ears.

“It can’t be helped then. Give me ten servings for a take-away.”

Since it seemed like the storekeepers would scream hearing these words, I took a step forward.

“What are you doing, Letia.”

“Oh, Yun-san? Hello.”

“Yun-kun, your acquaintance?”

“Well, you can tell just by looking, but she has 【Taming】 Sense just like me.”

Currently, while Letia should have had two tamed mobs which are the herbivorous animal Haru and Mill Bird Natsu, but now there were two other with her. One of them was a Will-O’-Wisp, a ball of fire that appears in the wetlands at the south. The other, was a Fairy Panther that appears on the road to Horia Cave.

“It’s the first time Yun-san sees them, right? The wisp is Aki and the Fairy Panther is Fuyu. Since there’s a lot of people today, that with conjunction with the consumption of MP made it impossible for Mutsu to be here, so it’s just us four.”

As Letia introduced them, the four tamed beasts have come closer to them acting like spoiled children. As Raina’s eyes sparkled seeing that, Letia allowed her to touch them saying it’s no problem.

Since they received food from people as they walked through the city, the four animals were more accustomed to humans than Ryui and Zakuro and didn’t show any reluctance at all when touched.

“Hee, tamed mobs huh. A different type of mob-user from me.”

“Umm… this person is?”

“My acquaintance, Emily-san.”

When I said “Emily-san” I felt a chill, but it was too late to rephrase. Since I already said it, I looked away to escape from Emily-san’s cold smile.

I recalled that now, with mask and impersonation equipment she was Emilio.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Emily, I use mobs made with 【Synthesis】 and 【Alchemy】.”

“I see. Emily? Or is it Emilio?”

Since she identified herself as Emily yet the character’s name was disguised as Emilio, Letia made a puzzled expression.

“Then, since it’s Emily and Emilio…let’s make it ‘Lio’…”

Certainly, it was all right as a nickname, but since it was very different from Emily-san’s original name, the person herself made a difficult expression.

“Um… if possible, use Emily.”

“…? Understood. Then, Emily. Since I use 【Taming】 to tame mobs, I think it’s quite different. How about we talk as we eat?”

“You’re right… I really look forward to it.”

Feeling something connecting them, Emily-san and Letia started happily talk with each other.

Raina and Al were having fun feeding food bought at nearby stall to Letia’s tamed mobs. I alone felt a little bit alienated.

“Heey. Let’s go and buy Raina’s and Al’s weapo——”They’re doing a stage show there! Let’s go!”…”

After coming here, Raina had thoughtlessly descended away again. While I was accustomed to it with Miu, it reminded me of the first time I met Raina and Al. I sighed lightly and followed them with Emily-san and Letia.

The outdoor stage was several floors high and currently, distinctive players made a show utilizing their Senses.

“Woaa! What! Is! That! Can such a thing really be done?!”

Currently, a martial arts-focused player did pseudo-walking in the air with continuous use of arts. The same type of a fighter as Gantz had a very short delay time for the arts. Once again, he used a shortened waiting time for arts to do a pseudo-uppercut, continuing to walk in the air.

But, with that said——

“He’s moving forward, but only one step at a time.”

It was more like with each usage of art he rose vertically until he reached high enough to receive damage after fall.

Then, distracted by something he failed the timing and falling to the bottom he made a hole in the stage.

He seemed to be alive, waving his hand from the hole but soon enough he was dragged out from under the stage. The hole was closed with a wooden plate and without any problems, the show was moved to the next performer.

“What to say. There’s lots of stuff here.”

A dance performance of sword enthusiasts where they slashed on the venue excitedly, a throwing knives performance with apples placed on the collaborator’s head and beautifully hit right on target. Moreover, the apple was turned into apple juice using the grip of a petite ATK specialized player who performed. The staff member drank it with gusto.

●

“Haa, I’m satisfied.”

“That’s great. Well then, let’s go to the next place.”

“Next place?”

“Looking for equipment, right.”

“I-I didn’t forget.”

After that, Raina and Al enjoyed the stage performance, but we headed to achieve one of today’s goals which was purchasing weapon and armour for the two.

On the way we have joined together with Letia to watch performance, but it was about the time to go buy it.

“Look! There’s a lot of people gathered there! Surely they must be selling amazing weapons!”

To hide the fact she forgot, Raina had assaulted the stall at which people had gathered.

“Such powerful weapons would be sold at the auction. Or rather, I don’t think you can buy that with just 200kG.”

“If possible, I’d like to buy it at the store of an acquaintance crafter.”

“Rai-chan won’t listen any more.”

Hearing mine and Emily-san’s words, Al bowed.

And before anyone noticed, Letia disappeared and on top of Ryui’s head stood the Mill Bird Haru.

“Where did Letia go?”

“Earlier she said she’s going to buy more food at the stalls. It seems she left Mill Bird to act as a mark.”

“Haa, Letia’s a free spirit too.”

I held my temple and spat out a sigh. However, we had to chase after Raina now.

We moved through the crowd chasing after Raina and approached a stall not knowing what was being sold there.

After approaching I felt the scent of familiar plants, consumables like potions and pills. The person at the stall was a crafter with 【Mixing】 Sense.

“What I have prepared today is a 【Revival Medicine】 that allows resurrecting a dead player! One of them for 4mG! Other than that I have highly-effective potions!”

“A 【Revival Medicine】 huh…”

I already knew that other players made Revival Medicine before me. That’s why I moved closer to Raina to see Revival Medicine made by someone else.

“Revival Medicine, where is it…”

“What is it, Yun-kun?”

After catching up to Raina, I saw the colour of the 【Revival Medicine】 made by the male player and was disappointed.

As pale pink as possible——it was a 【Degraded Revival Medicine】.

Suddenly, I sighed inside my mind. The owner, looked towards me. Why me?

“Isn’t it the 【Nanny】, Yun-san over there!”

“I don’t like that nickname.”

I furrowed my eyebrows slightly as the 【Mixing】 owner had called me 【Nanny】.

Hearing his loud dramatic voice, I got annoyed.

“Yun-san’s the owner of the famous 【Atelier】 that sells highly-effective potions! How is it! My Revival Medicine!”

“Eh, yeah, yup. It’s fine, I guess?”

It was clearly different from the Revival Medicine I completed, a degraded product, but it was still usable.

“Is that so, is that so! With this it can be said that I might be OSO’s best 【Mixing】 user, right! How is it! My potion!”

With that said, asking 4mG for a Degraded Revival Medicine wasn’t a fitting price. Unless he goes down with the price, no one will buy it.

“What’s with this potion. The effect is much lower than what Yun-san makes. Acting all important with just this much.”

“Stop it Raina. Come on, let’s go.”

“Is it really fine?! He’s saying whatever he wants! Aren’t you frustrated by that?!”

Honestly speaking, I couldn’t care less. I wasn’t really interested in the title of the best crafter.

“And he put on an impossible price like that! It’s strange!”

“But, just this time that’s not a strange price.”

Saying so, Emily explained to Raina. Probably, he was trying to make up for the cost of failures.

“When selling crafted items, the crafter should profit, right?”

“Even so, that’s profiteering.”

“It seems like he continued to purchase 【Wisteria Peach Petals】 that’s material for Revival Medicine from others and researched them, making that.”

Just as Emily-san said, if the study is prolonged, the maker has to cover the development cost by selling the potion high.

In my case, although I did an initial investment into the field, by mixing manually I was able to decrease the costs and make high quality potions.

It wasn’t that the potions at this stall had the effect and price unbalanced. He was a skilled crafter, but he must have been thinking about recovering the development cost of Revival Medicine.

In this case, that’s the result of accumulated development costs.

When explained that, Raina went silent slightly frustrated.

“What’s with it. It’s unfair. Even if he fails, that’s way too high a price to put on.”

“Having a high price doesn’t mean it’ll sell. If someone makes one cheaper than that, it won’t sell. Like that the price is going to go down naturally.”

“Somehow, hearing that I feel Yun-san who can make it cheap is an amazing player. I didn’t understand what you’re doing at first though. You have an image of a person versed in survival.”

“Al. I’m not amazing, but I do feel like cross-examining your recognition of me for the next hour.”

“Oh, that’s right. There was the talk about our equipment! Emily-san, please guide us to the store that sells weapons.”

“Got it.”

Being able to change the topic immediately was Raina’s strong point. I was able to escape well, heaved a sigh and smiled wryly.

Imperceptibly, we have rejoined with Letia who held a large amount of food. Eating while walking we arrived at Emily-san’s acquaintance’s store.

“Oh, miss 【Material Merchant】! What’s up?”

“We thought of giving some equipment as a present to beginners we were looking after.”

The people Emily-san had called out to was a slim woman, a tall girl and a plump man’s trio of crafters.

Each of them had items made with a different crafting beside them, selling them on the stall.

“That’s a lot of joke weapons.”

“Right?! Missy over there.”

The plump man in his latter twenties gave a thumbs up and raised some food from the paper bag in his hand. Letia returned the same gesture with her empty hand.

The lined up items had no sense of unity, but after being told the budget and the rough fighting style, the Male storekeeper started to consult with Raina and Al to decide.

“It seems like this stall will take some time. I’ll pass 100kG ahead of time then.”

“Yeah, it might be difficult for Yun-kun.”

Most likely implying, the girls’ shopping takes long. Certainly, my little sister Myu and Sei-nee always took time to try things, but thanks to that I had free time meanwhile.

And when I looked at the items at the stall, it seemed like half of them were based on owner’s hobbies.

“These sure are wonderful weapons.”

“Is that so? No matter how you look at it…”

It looked like a bar. There was a lot of convenient weapons whose application was beating to death, stabbing and hanging, but because of their strange length and curvature they seemed hard to use. Also, they were strangely graphic as their tips were covered in red paint.

Other than that there was a things like a yellow helmet, it was packed with broken fantasy equipment.

While that was the male player’s hobby, the slim woman and the tall girl were dealing with normal items. And in the corner of the store, there were Emily-san’s materials lined up and sold in consignment.

In there, were six stones——Elemental Stones.

They were consumable items that temporarily increased magic power of the corresponding element, but I had another application for them.

The skill capable of enchanting a weapon or armour with a corresponding element, 【Element Enchant】. There were still many unknowns about it and I used it in combat only once.

“Excuse me. Can you sell me 20 of each Elemental Stones?”

I said, purchasing them.

“Sure. Grade 5 Elemental Stones 20 each. Here you go.”

When I bartered with Emily-san before, it must have been Grade 4 stones, Grade 5 were considerably cheaper than that.

It must have been able to use 【Alchemy】’s 《Higher Matter Conversion》 to make them into Grade 4. Or maybe, to use 《Lower Matter Conversion》 to examine the original materials. While I pondered about it, I noticed Letia’s stare as she was continuing to eat fruits.

” “…staaare.” “

“……”

“…sta-sta-staaaare.”

“…w-what is it, Letia.”

“No, it seems like the two’s equipment was already decided on.”

“Eh?”

Letia pointed her finger in another direction, I turned around and saw Raina make a happy expression and a wryly smiling Al.

They have completed registering the crafter as their friend.

Their equipments changed into new one and the impression they gave off was largely different. From uncool beginners, they seemed to have transformed into competent adventurers.

“You two, your equipment changed a lot. It looks quite splendid.”

“Hmph, isn’t it! Yun-san and Emily-san paid for us, but the missing money we have recompensed with what we diligently gathered!”

Saying so, Raina happily pat the buckler attached to her arm. Her weapon was replaced with a short spear good for manoeuvring, for defence, she was wearing leather armour dyed in indigo colour. Design-wise it was somewhat clunky, but with the functionality as a priority the person herself was satisfied.

As for Al, he completely postponed purchase of the armour, equipping a staff made of aged wood and INT correction-type accessories.

It seemed like the combination of a light-armoured vanguard with spear and a standard mage was devised based on the two’s cooperation and sense of distance.

“You can’t call us beginners any more with this.”

“Rai-chan, you’re getting full of yourself again.”

Again, Al smiled wryly. But, it did seem like he too was agitated wanting to try the equipment of his own.

And then the two’s eyes sparkled when they heard a voice echoing throughout the entire town.

『”Now, to start the secret plan for those participating in today’s event! We will now release mobs into the town, make sure to hunt them down——start the hunt!”』

It was Lyly’s voice that had resounded. So the event Lyly was planning and proceeded with in secret was this, I realized.