The three of them had just arrived in front of a big shop that had a lot of different types of armors. The building was constructed like a lot of the buildings in the city. It was a wooden structure where the bottom was the smallest of the three floors and the second was a bit wider. The top and widest floor being supported on all corners by columns that went into the ground. The bottom floor of the building was little more than a pair of parallel walls with a staircase attached to one of the walls. The bottom was left purposely open to display all of the goods of the shop and allow traffic to enter from either the street or the plaza on the opposite side.
This design was still ridiculous to Ryuji and would be to anyone from Japan or anywhere that ever experienced an earthquake. He tried to avoid thinking about a possible collapse of the structure as the conversation with the women continued. “I already told you; I don’t care how much it costs. If you want the armor that has crushed gems on it, get it. If you would prefer the one that is flat black, get that one instead. I tell you what, get them both! If the one will help with the hunting quests but the other one will be better for fighting, then why not?”
Ryuji looked over to Miyako, having answered Kyarako’s question it was her turn. He didn’t notice the woman walking up behind him. “As for your question, I don’t know what master smith Brogan has that you would like. I suppose we could go there first and get any weapons you want before coming here to get a suit of armor fitted to them but I suspect that it actually works the other way around. I would say, get the armor you like and then we will fit any scabbards or cases to the armor later.”
He sighed as the dark-elven woman squealed and ran over to a set of fire-red armor with crushed yellow-orange gems crusting the lacquer. He was just about to step further into the shop when he both felt and heard a presence behind him. He turned to find Karen there crying with her hands balled into fists and she had her head down refusing to look at him. “It’s not fair.” She whispered.
Ryuji’s heart dropped and he just about wanted to commit seppuku with his sword when he saw that face. He had done this. She was accusing him of cheating on her or so he thought. “It’s not fair! Why? If you were forming a party, why didn’t you ask me? Am I not good enough? Why?”
Her words shocked him to numbness as he tried to process what she meant. “K-Karen are you a Mercenary? Can you even fight? Is that what you mean? Please, tell me what’s going on?”
He supposed that he did see a set of armor in her room but he had simply assumed that it was the set her father had worn. His musings were interrupted and his questions answered but not by Karen as both Miyako and Kyarako rushed up to Karen. “Oh wow! Karen, it’s been almost a year since I’ve seen you! Wait, is that Karen the lightning spear? How do you both know Karen the lightning spear?”
Karen fixed Ryuji with an angry and hurt look as she explained. “Almost four seasons ago, I was out on a quest to kill a mountain serpent. I was winning but I lost my footing during a strike and twisted my leg the wrong way. I finished off the serpent but by the time I got it back to the city, I could barely walk. The next day I couldn’t walk at all.”
“I thought it was just a minor thing and I would be back in the guildhall in a week or so but it didn’t get better. I went to see a healer priest and he told me that it was too late for it to heal right but he healed it as best he could. So, I took a lesser job.”
Kyarako looked over at Ryuji and explained. “Karen is one of the few tier three mercenaries in the city. She’s pretty famous for being a tier three and even a very low rank at that.”
While Karen was glaring at Kyarako, Miyako leaned in and whispered into Ryuji’s ear. “It would take a tier three at the least to take down a werewolf. Is it safe to have her near you?”
Having silenced the distraction from her story, Karen continued. “Yes, I took on tier-two work. Unfortunately, I couldn’t even handle that. I considered forming a party but I knew that everyone would want to party up with me. Most of them would be useless and if the worst were to happen, it might get someone killed. I had to grit my teeth and take on tier-one work.”
Karen had begun crying again while she continued to tell her story. Ryuji moved to embrace her and at first, she resisted but then she let him hug her while she continued to speak. “It wasn’t long that I realized that there were a lot of tier-one mercenaries and I was taking money from them. Worse, it wasn’t even that much money compared to what I was used to living on.”
“I had to look long and hard at my life and make a lot of hard choices. I had to let my parent’s home go and that would mean that I would need to find someplace for my siblings and me to live. I also needed to find some kind of work that would put less strain on my leg. As luck would have it, I found a sign posted by Teresa that she needed help. I made a deal with her for room and board in exchange for whatever work my siblings and I could do for her. It didn’t start well but I don’t think we do too bad and she started paying me a little a couple seasons ago.”
Karen looked up at Ryuji with tears still in her eyes but she wasn’t crying anymore. “I had just about decided that I would give up on being a mercenary. Teresa has been so kind to me but I… I… *Karen sniffled then she started crying again* I want to go with you! It’s not fair for you to go and leave me behind!”
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Ryuji looked up from her tear-streaked face at the others. He was struck speechless for a moment as he looked from Kyarako to Miyako. Both women were crying and nodded to him. “I really didn’t try to leave you behind. I didn’t know that you were a mercenary. Sweet, you don’t tell me enough about yourself. It took you forever to let me know that you even had a family.”
Ryuji looked over his shoulder at the shop and then back to the girl in his arms. “I guess you have a set of armor. You don’t need any, do you? I mean, You know I can afford it even if you just want it without needing it.”
Karen blushed a bit before replying. “I actually do. I told you that I was considering just staying with Teresa? Part of the reason is I couldn’t afford to take care of my equipment and my armor is all cracked from dryness. I’m afraid I will have to ask Brogan to repair my spear too because the shaft of mine bent from sitting in the corner too long. Sorry to ask you to go paying for me when I’m the one demanding to join your party.”
Ryuji tipped her face up and after wiping the tears out of her beautiful black eyes, gave her a long kiss but on the lips only. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Shall we?” Both of the other women present felt a pang in their hearts and determination kindle the next instant.
A little over half an hour later, the three women walked out of the shop all admiring their own and each other’s new sets of armor. The only downside to new armor is it’s too stiff and it smells of the newly set resins and leather. Now armored, they made their way to the shop of one very surprised dwarf.
The ever-jovial Brogan got over his stupor at seeing the sun-elf’s return. This time, it wasn’t with a warband of beastfolk but three very attractive women on his arm and all three were sporting brand-new armor. “Aye m’fellow I be a havin what ye be a wantin. I didna think ye was a formin an army though?” He bellowed with laughter at his own joke and Ryuji was forced to explain about the family of cat beastfolk.
Kyarako was a bit bemused by this since she knew Gato and his family very well. She had even had a crush on the husband of the younger sister before they got married. Then the whole family just up and moved in a couple days. It was all very mysterious to her but she hadn’t really asked around because she was too busy trying to find a certain sun-elf. Imagine the coincidence.
Brogan was admiring all the new armors. The dark-elf with her fiery-looking red and orange armor. The cat-girl with her shiny black armor with green crystal chips. Then he looked closer at the human girl with the blue and green armor and had to do a double-take! “Karen? Be that ye lass? I didna be a thinkin ye was doin mercenary work now. Didna ye say as much last time ye was here? Well rust me toes! It be good ta have ye back! An now ye be a watchin the rear of thissin elf lord eh?”
It took a few minutes for them to explain that they were forming a party together. It took a demonstration of Ryuji’s proficiency in fire magic to convince brogan that Karen was safe with him. apparently, he did have a soft spot for her even if it wasn’t in a romantic way. Mollified and curious about the nature of a blue-white flame, they managed to transition into talk of the weapons they needed.
Miyako discovered that, despite wishing for a long time that she had a better or more professional-looking set of weapons, she couldn’t bring herself to part with the pair of meat cleavers. It turns out that they were a present from her parents when she told them that she was moving away. they were butchers but rarely ever had need of the huge cleavers as they were reserved for massive monsters but those had become very scarce.
Brogan had a look at them and told her to take special care of them as they were actually very valuable banded steel and even had an enchantment that had simply gotten buried in the rust and grime on the tools. He cleaned them up for her and then offered to replace the simple wood handles with something a bit more stylish that would make them both easier to use and look more like actual weapons. While brogan was working on the handle of one Ryuji looked over the enchantment engraving on the other and fixed it a bit. With brogan’s help in filling the missing silver back into the enchantment, they were able to activate the enchantment which would double the force of a swing. She was ecstatic!
Kyarako pulled out her set of tekko kagi, and Ryuji just about lost it. The idea of a cat-girl using cat claws as a weapon was just too funny to him. Brogan took it very seriously and was impressed that she hadn’t died from how shoddy the weapons were made. Once Ryuji looked closer, he saw why. One of the claws was snapped off of one of the weapons and Ryuji could see the grain of the metal. It was cast iron. The pair that brogan sold her was made of regular steel but they were still far superior to the ones she was using. Ryuji bought them and commissioned a pair to be made of banded steel. She was ecstatic!
Brogan had already made a new spear for Karen but she looked to be retiring from the mercenary trade so brogan had set it aside and thought he might sell it to another promising young warrior one day. Then she came back to his shop in new armor and as part of a party, something that he was very happy about. He got to sell the spear to the one it was intended for and even sold a bunch more on top. They were both ecstatic!
Ryuji checked and found that there were any number of implements that they could use for their adventuring. He bought skinning knives, throwing knives, and even kitchen knives. The last was a new set as a present for Teresa because they were going to have to break it to her that Karen would be returning to mercenary work. Ryuji had been paying for everything with his infinite pouch. After his transformation, he was able to pull two small silvers at a time. After the purchases of the day, he was pulling three at a time. Ryuji was ecstatic!
Ryuji took everyone to the bakery and Lizbet just about had a panic attack. He told her that he would be sure to write up an addendum to the contracts in his possession. He would file it with the tax office so that even if he got himself killed, the property would revert to those who resided there and the debt would be dropped. Teresa looked at him as if he were an imbecile and explained that the tax office would always collect on any debts and pay the estate. Ryuji explained that he had no known estate. After the details were settled, they had a bit of fresh baked bagel bread with a jelly that she’d bought.
Lunch over, they made their way to the mercenary’s guild and Karen reregistered but was told that her old rank and tier had yet to lapse so she was officially the ranking member of the party. Ryuji only thought that he had gotten scowls before. Now that he had a party of four, with three beauties in it and one of them being Karen the lightning spear on top of everything. Oh, he could feel the glares. He could really feel the glares now! How did he end up as some manga protagonist again?