He Shouldn’t Overtrust His Gear.

As Kikori put on his partial armor over the cloth armor, he could tell a strange sense of reassurance was settling in.

It was probably because he was now protecting areas he hadn’t protected before.

The fact that it didn’t restrict his movement much also left a good impression on Kikori.

“And… how about something like this?”

Next, what Mirgu held out looked like a leather belt attached to a helmet’s brow guard.

Faced with something like a poorly made helmet, Kikori couldn’t help but tilt his head in confusion.

“What is this?”

“A brow guard. Some people call it a visor helm. It’s armor that came about because people needed it.”

Basically, helmets were protective gear that kept fighters safe at the cost of limiting their senses.

Because of that, there was a history of people not liking them unless they were fighting defensively.

Even so, the need for armor that protected the head in emergencies—like sudden arrow attacks—had always been brought up.

Reinforced bandanas with iron, circlets adjusted for combat—various things were created and disappeared… and this visor helm was one of those.

“It protects your forehead without blocking your senses as much as possible. That’s what it is.”

“A helmet protects the head, not the forehead, doesn’t it…?”

“If you’re at the point where your head needs protecting, you’re already screwed. Even so, with this, there are times it can stop a surprise hit.”

“…”

What came to Kikori’s mind was the goblin’s arrow.

If that had hit his head, he would’ve died—literally.

If this had even a chance of stopping something like that, it felt well worth buying…

“By the way, how much is it?”

“3,000 yen.”

“…I-I’ll take it.”

“Well, you don’t understand how thankful you’ll be for something like this until the moment comes.”

After paying 3,000 yen and taking the visor helm, Kikori put it on properly.

The visor helm protected his forehead… or rather, the front of his head, without blocking his view, and it didn’t feel bad to wear.

“Yeah, yeah. You look like a proper adventurer now.”

“D-Do I?”

“Yeah. That said, don’t overtrust your gear. Even if you wear that stuff, you’ll still die when it’s your time.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Good, then. Well, keep this up and become a regular customer.”

Seeing him off with those words, Kikori left the Mirgu Weapon Shop.

The sun was starting to set, and it was getting close to evening.

Heading out on another adventure from here would be a bit reckless.

“…Seriously, what should I do?”

He still had money in his wallet, so he could stay at an inn.

But he didn’t have the nerve to stay at a 1,000-yen inn while wearing his current gear.

And he didn’t know if the 3,000-yen range inns had vacancies.

More than anything, after Aria had said that to him, was it really right to trample on her kindness?

After thinking it over… Kikori turned his steps toward Aria’s home.