But It Doesn’t Sell, Right?

“Wow… this is incredible.”

The basement of the Adventurers’ Guild looked like a full-blown exposition of weapons and armor.

No—calling it an exposition might be a bit generous. It was somewhat chaotic.

If there were no staff at the counter, one could easily believe it was just a warehouse.

“Welcome. Do you have money?”

“I have around six thousand yen.”

When Kikori answered with the maximum amount he could spare, including the remainder of his travel funds, the staff member nodded.

“Well, with that amount, as long as you don’t go for anything expensive, you should be fine. Take your time and look around.”

“…Have there been shoplifting incidents or something?”

“If you think you can do it, be my guest.”

As the staff member casually touched a spear resting on the counter, Kikori almost raised both hands reflexively.

At the very least, security seemed solid.

“This is… a helmet.”

It was what one would call a bucket helm, with a price tag of three thousand yen.

Not cheap, but not overly expensive either.

“Um… may I touch this helmet?”

“Sure. It’s secondhand, after all.”

When he touched it, it felt reasonably heavy.

Trying it on… it was a bit too large.

It did not seem usable for Kikori.

He put the helmet back and continued looking at the other items.

Swords, shields, armor… factoring in differences in materials and shapes, there really was an incredible variety.

But figuring out which of them he actually needed was not easy.

He had an axe as a weapon, but having a knife would certainly make dismantling monsters more efficient.

Still, it was not something he urgently needed right now.

Then what about armor?

Armor might be good. If he wore something like chainmail, the chance of getting injured would be significantly reduced.

Leather armor would also work. The difference between wearing it and not wearing it was substantial.

“…And this is a shield.”

There were many kinds of shields as well. Round shields, kite shields, in various sizes and materials.

Fully metal shields were, as expected, fairly expensive. A round shield about the size of a pot lid was priced at four thousand yen, but at that size, its ability to actually “block” attacks felt a bit questionable.

“That shield is the kind you deflect with. It takes quite a bit of skill.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Yes. It’s meant to deflect attacks and let you slip into the enemy’s guard. You could say it’s a shield meant for offense.”

…In some ways, that actually seemed to suit him.

But as armor, how was it?

“It’s also good for shield bashes. It’s easy to handle.”

“…Are you, by any chance, recommending it?”

“It doesn’t sell very well, you see. It’s hard to block arrows with it.”

“That… doesn’t sound great for armor.”

“That’s why it’s an issue of how you use it as a shield.”

“But it doesn’t sell, right?”

“It doesn’t.”

“Does the price ever go down?”

“It doesn’t.”

The tone carried a firm resolve—an absolute refusal to ever discount it.