Grail Was Delighted To Get His Hands On A Used High-Quality Large Shield

“Damn those pieces of shit…!”

Grail muttered in displeasure as he walked through the streets of Piptat.

Although he had risen to his long-awaited E-rank, the three newcomers he had gone to the trouble of adding had left, causing his combat strength to drop.

Thanks to that, his combat strength was questionable for earning money on the E Layer. He had ended up returning to days of steadily earning money on the F Layer again.

(…Those three bastards…! They were able to rise to E-rank because I had Swordsmanship! And they repaid kindness with betrayal! I’m a man who climbs the ranks! They made me waste time!)

The irritated Grail turned his feet toward Milmas Weapon Shop.

Grail was a warrior.

When he saw strong weapons and armor, his heart pounded. When he imagined himself clad in those weapons and armor, mowing down everything in his path, he felt exhilarated.

Hellwolf Broadsword and Blue Firebird Chain Mail—

How good would it feel to go wild while clad in B-rank equipment!

Of course, there was no way such a dream would become reality.

That was why he at least daydreamed.

When stress built up and he became irritated, he looked at expensive weapons and armor and thought about his own infinitely expanding possibilities.

(…That’s right! I’ll still get stronger and stronger! I need to train my eyes by looking at good weapons and armor!)

He entered the shop.

“Welcome.”

He had no intention of buying anything from the start anyway. Without paying any attention to the clerk, Grail wandered around the shop.

Strong weapons.

Strong armor.

That sight made Grail feel good.

At that moment—

“Fabulas Weapon and Armor Recycling here. I came to pick up the ‘high-quality large shield.’”

He heard such a voice from around the counter.

“Hm? A new person? That is troubling. Vendors should please use the back entrance.”

“Ah! Sorry!”

After reacting in a flustered manner, the vendor man left the shop.

(Hey, hey, this is…)

Grail smiled broadly and stickily, then chased after the man’s back.

The man was receiving a shield from a staff member at the back entrance of Milmas Weapon Shop.

“Thanks as always~”

Saying that, when the man tried to return the way he had come, Grail stood in his way.

“Yo.”

“Who are you?”

“You just picked up a high-quality large shield here, right?”

After glancing at the large shield he was carrying, the man answered bluntly like this.

“…That’s none of your business.”

He tried to pass by Grail just like that, but—

“No! It’s not unrelated!”

Grail held out his arm and blocked the man’s path.

“…That, you know, will you sell it to me?”

“Huh!? What do you mean?”

Though surprised, the man stopped and looked at Grail.

His expression was stern, but—

(There’s an opening…!)

Grail licked his lips inwardly.

The man was probably someone from a store that dealt in used weapons and armor. Milmas Weapon Shop was a top-class store even in Piptat. The products it handled were only new goods. It could not very well deal in used items taken from customers.

Therefore, they were likely wholesaling them to outside business partners in this form.

From this man’s perspective, he only needed to put a margin on the product and pass it from right to left. The sooner he disposed of the stock, the better.

(A high-quality large shield—if it were new, it’d be around 150,000 gold.)

Grail instantly calculated the price.

“…Let’s see. How about 70,000 gold?”

“Huh!? 70,000!? That’s not even worth discussing! This is something I’m planning to sell in-store for 110,000. Move!”

“…Is that thing really something that’ll sell for 110,000?”

“What did you say?”

“That shield—it’s been through some pretty fierce battles, hasn’t it? It’s dented all over, right? Even if you reinforce it, you can’t fully cover it up. I’d say that’ll definitely hurt its value.”

Grail continued speaking further.

“And then there’s repair. If you’re selling it, you’ll have to maintain it and guarantee its quality. Even if it sells, will it be 100,000 at most? How much will the expenses be?”

Grail placed a hand on the man’s shoulder with a pon.

“No reinforcement or repair needed. I’m saying I’ll buy it from you right now for 70,000. You make a profit without doing anything. Easy business, huh? Right?”

The man seemed to be thinking intently. After a while, he murmured this.

“…If it’s 80,000.”

“All right! I’ll buy it!”

Grail shoved 80,000 gold at him and snatched the high-quality large shield away.

“…See ya. If there’s any problem with it, I don’t know anything about it.”

After saying that, the man quickly left.

Holding the high-quality large shield, Grail laughed loudly.

“Ahahahahahaha! As expected, as expected of me! Even in pointless days, I power up without missing a chance! Compared to buying it new, I saved 70,000 gold!”

He had thought he would be stalled for a while—

And yet.

To think he had become stronger this quickly!

Grail was intoxicated by his own shrewdness.

Then he shouted from the pit of his stomach.

“Iiiiiiooooooos! I got my hands on a high-quality large shield! High! Qual! Ity! It probably has nothing to do with you, though! If you’re fine with my hand-me-downs, I’ll let you use it!”

As Grail became intoxicated by his own words, he continued further.

“I’ll keep walking! I’ll keep moving forward! If we meet again, you can look at my back, which has become far smaller in the distance, and feel frustrated! I’ve already become far stronger than you!”

That was an obvious declaration of victory toward his childhood friend.

The large shield he swung around made an unpleasant creaking sound, but Grail did not care in the slightest.

“Hm?”

I unintentionally stopped walking.

“What’s wrong, Ios?”

Misha looked back at me.

“No, I felt like someone called my name—”

A faint, small voice had—

Come from far away.

Was it my imagination?

“It’s your imagination, your imagination. Come on, come on, let’s hurry up and go!”

Misha waved her hand flutteringly and turned her gaze forward.

Toward Piptat Dungeon.

With my wounds healed and our preparations complete, starting today, we would finally begin our attack on the D Layer.

“The D Layer, huh…”

I trembled. It was probably still within the safe zone, but the fact that it was my first time going there forced tension onto me.

“Nishishishi! Let’s earn tons and tons!”

“I wonder if we’ll earn quite a lot…?”

“Even on the E Layer, we made 250,000 in one run, right? Won’t it be more?”

More, huh…

On top of that, 110,000 gold would be added from the daily alchemy stone bonus.

…My sense of money getting a little loose lately was seriously bad. There were times I ended up thinking, well, about 70,000 gold is fine!

That was no good…

I should not forget the feelings from my poor days, when I had been grateful for 70,000 gold.

“Let’s go, Ios!”

“Yeah. Let’s do that.”

We entered the dungeon.