I Actually Think It Suits You Pretty Well

“More importantly—shouldn’t you be buying a potion first?”

“Ugh…”

“Do you really think you can properly use armor with a body that’s that obviously beaten up?”

That was true. The exhilaration from fighting goblins one after another was already fading.

His body, struck repeatedly by goblin clubs, throbbed with pain—but since he hadn’t been cut, he had thought it would heal if he just slept.

“I thought… it might heal if I slept.”

“Don’t blame me if you end up unable to move. Even if you say you can’t move the next day and can’t pay for the inn, they’ll throw you out without mercy.”

“Ghk…”

“And then the armor you just bought gets stripped off you by bandits…”

“Are there really bandits?”

“There are.”

Saying it as if it were obvious, the staff member made Kikori fall silent.

He knew this was a kind of sales talk. He knew—but it was also painfully accurate.

“…How much is the cheapest potion?”

“The more expensive ones work better, you know?”

“I don’t have that kind of money.”

“One thousand yen.”

As the staff member shook a potion bottle and held out a hand, Kikori was about to hand over the money—then stopped abruptly.

“Come to think of it, if potions are sold on consignment too, wouldn’t it be cheaper to buy them elsewhere?”

“You notice unnecessary things too, don’t you?”

“…”

Kikori stared at the staff member with a blank expression. Clearing their throat, the staff member raised their voice.

“But! Potions sold here also come with the guild’s guarantee. There’s a reliable standard that filters out anything below a certain quality. Cheap ones that don’t work, expensive ones that don’t work… can you tell the difference?”

“…No. I can’t.”

“Right? Then you should buy it here.”

Indeed, he couldn’t afford to waste money on ineffective potions.

If there was a guild guarantee, then until he gained the confidence to judge for himself, this was clearly the better choice.

“Then… I’ll take one.”

“Thank you kindly.”

He opened the potion and drank it.

Pain faded from inside his body, and he could feel the marks left by the goblins’ blows visibly healing.

“Amazing… so this is a potion.”

“Well, that’s about what they do. Mm-hmm, your complexion’s clearly better now.”

At the staff member’s nod, Kikori found himself thinking, Maybe they’re kinder than they look…

Still, the issue of armor remained completely unresolved.

Maybe it would be fine to think it over slowly overnight, but—

“So, will you be buying anything else?”

“Do you have any recommendations?”

“That shield over there for four thousand yen.”

“Uh… I’ll think about it.”

“I really think it suits you, though.”

Well, Kikori thought so too.

He did—but when it came to a purchase of four thousand yen, he hesitated to buy a shield that wasn’t particularly suited for defense.