Chapter 51 A Polite Refusal

The moment the words left his mouth, Barn realized he had let a little too much slip again and immediately shut up.

When Xia Nan asked about the price, a trace of hesitation crossed the Dwarf’s heavily bearded face.

Then, with admirable tact, Barn shifted his gaze away from the black-haired young man and toward the very back of a nearby display rack.

There stood a full suit of heavy plate armor.

Price: 1,500 gold.

Only then did Barn slowly speak.

“Personally, I’d recommend doing some basic work on this scale first. As long as we preserve the scale itself as the main material, I can turn it into a temporary arm shield.”

“You’d have something usable right away, and later, when you can afford stronger, more advanced equipment, the scale can be removed without much trouble.”

“What do you think?”

Barn had phrased it as delicately as he possibly could.

Xia Nan understood him perfectly.

Four words summed it up nicely:

No money, don’t touch.

Xia Nan was a perfectly ordinary person. He wasn’t going to hear a few tactful words, decide Barn was looking down on him, and immediately start fighting to the death over wounded pride.

Objectively speaking, his current savings would probably count as a huge fortune to an ordinary person in this world, enough to cover years of living expenses.

But among adventurers, people who dealt with supernatural powers for a living?

It was enough for a few bottles of potions.

Still, the conversation hadn’t been pointless.

At the very least, Barn’s reaction gave Xia Nan a rough sense of the market.

Magic equipment of green grade or above, especially pieces with special effects like [Deathline] and [Green Pine], probably sold in the same price range as that 1,500-gold suit of full plate armor.

Possibly even higher.

“Then let’s go with a temporary arm shield first. One that keeps the main material intact.”

“Uh… About how much would that cost?”

After that little exchange, Xia Nan’s confidence in his supposedly healthy savings had taken a serious hit.

Even his voice came out a little weaker.

Fortunately, ordinary white-tier equipment was still within the financial reach of low-level adventurers.

Barn turned the snake scale over in his hands, studying its shape while calculating.

“Temporary or not, I can’t use cheap secondary materials. Combat equipment needs to be sturdy.”

“Your scale has an unusual shape, and this is custom work. I don’t have a matching mold in the shop, so the labor will cost a little more.”

“All together…”

Barn paused.

“Thirty-five gold. I’ll give you a small discount.”

Xia Nan immediately relaxed.

A little more expensive than he had expected, but still within his budget.

He nodded, paid the deposit, and finalized the order.

Barn immediately switched into professional mode. He carefully discussed the arm shield’s details with Xia Nan, then took a full set of measurements from his arm.

Perhaps Barn felt that his earlier comments about magic equipment had been a little tactless.

After all, the customer standing in front of him had just spent close to 100 gold in his shop.

While measuring Xia Nan’s forearm, the Rockhammer shopkeeper, whose reputation in the [Adventurer’s Handbook] was exceptionally good, hesitated for a moment.

Then he said, “I’ve got a shipment that needs to go to Kalanfor soon. A round trip from Rivervale Town takes about four or five days.”

“The caravan is resting in town right now, and they’re recruiting guards.”

“If you’re free, you could go with them. I’ll knock some of the labor cost off the shield and give you another discount.”

“By the time you get back, the arm shield should be almost finished.”

Barn looked up.

“Interested?”

Xia Nan didn’t accept.

In his own opinion, someone like him, a bottom-rung adventurer who hadn’t even obtained a class level yet, really should be killing Goblins and doing these classic beginner jobs.

But he had only just come back from Misty Forest.

He hadn’t even enjoyed more than a few proper hot meals yet, and now he was supposed to head straight out on another mission?

That felt a little too rushed.

The last time, he had thought he was simply going to gather a few herbs around the outer forest.

Instead, the half-elf and the others had dragged him around Misty Forest for days, and he’d nearly lost his life.

Now someone was telling him this was “just” a caravan guard job.

Who knew what the hell might happen?

He had finally escaped the glorious blessing of working nine to nine, six days a week, only to transmigrate into another world.

Couldn’t he enjoy a few days off?

More importantly, Xia Nan was still waiting for the half-elf’s reply.

At the very least, he wanted to know when the combat technique instructor Hai’an had contacted would be free, and when that person might arrive in Rivervale Town.

Only after he knew that would he make further plans.

In the meantime, Xia Nan also intended to work on the two “suspected” combat techniques he had on hand.

If he could actually learn a move or two from them, then add the proper combat technique that class holder would teach him later, along with his already maxed-out [Spinning Slash]…

Wouldn’t that give him all three conditions required to become a class holder?

The thought alone was tempting.

Even so, Xia Nan turned Barn down for now.

Barn didn’t take offense. He only smiled and patted Xia Nan on the shoulder.

“No problem. The caravan will be staying in town for several more days anyway.”

“If you change your mind, come find me. It won’t be too late.”

…

Wearing his brand-new chain shirt, Xia Nan left the blacksmith shop with two swords strapped across his back.

With that, nearly all the spoils from his latest mission had been dealt with.

Invisible improvements like the [Bronze Sinews and Iron Bones] feat and the 3-point increase in constitution went without saying.

His equipment had improved as well.

The wooden sword [Green Pine], which dealt additional damage to undead and enemies such as snakes and scorpions, was now joined by a set of highly protective fine chainmail.

Taken together, his overall combat strength had climbed another step.

His formerly bulging purse had slimmed down considerably after a round of spending at the blacksmith shop, but he still had more than 140 gold left.

A ridiculous amount of money.

Even if he did absolutely nothing from now on except eat and sleep, he could stay at the inn for more than half a year while maintaining a fairly comfortable standard of living.

Standing in the street, Xia Nan felt something loosen inside him.

His loot had been handled. His backpack was lighter. Even the pressure that had been sitting at the back of his mind seemed to ease with it.

A long, busy day had finally come to an end.

[I’ll take a few days off first.]

If he had the chance, he could also look around for somewhere selling incendiary bombs or similar throwables.

The Oil-Powder Bomb Wood had tossed into the scorpion swarm during their previous mission had left a deep impression on him.

Tools like that could be surprisingly useful during an adventure.

He also needed to practice the two combat techniques.

And he couldn’t neglect [Spinning Slash], either.

It was already at max level, sure, but who knew whether this world had concepts like breakthroughs or advancement?

There was no downside to practicing more.

As for supplies, there was no hurry.

He could restock shortly before his next mission.

The sky slowly darkened.

Deep within the purple-red glow of sunset, wisps of cooking smoke curled above the town.

Xia Nan let out a long, slow breath.

“Mushroom soup again for dinner, I guess.”

He thought about it.

“Actually… it’s pretty damn good.”