Chapter 8: Clothes and Equipment

Despite the unassuming appearance of the weapon shop, it was clear from the numerous garments Lena had brought over that Master DeVein’s household was quite prosperous.

From my observations of the hunters’ lives in the village over the past few days, their living conditions weren’t great. Even Kaiding, who was always preening and liked to charm the ladies, didn’t own many outfits. But the sheer amount of clothing that Lena had since childhood suggested that Master DeVein was already quite successful by the time she was born.

“Most of these clothes were ones that I and Ilya outgrew and passed down to Lena. The good thing is that there’s a lot of it, and many items are made from ghoul skin, so they’re really durable,” Reim reminisced as he looked at the old clothes his sister had brought.

Curiously, Yulia also leaned in, eager to help me rummage through the pile.

I quickly picked out three outfits, all of them long pants and sturdy shirts. I flatly refused all the frilly dresses Reim suggested; I could see the disappointment on his face, but who cares?

Thinking that since I was just a kid, I didn’t need to worry about being modest, I started to strip off the ill-fitting clothes right there in front of everyone and planned to put on the old garments Lena had brought.

However, for some reason, both Eleanor and Lena seemed thoroughly displeased with my actions. As I began to change, the two rushed over, using their bodies as shields to block the view from the other men in the room. Eleanor even scolded me for it!

What’s the big deal? I’m just a four or five-year-old kid; there’s nothing to be shy about! I wanted to counter that thought, but I figured, in this world, there’s likely some weird lolicon thing going on, so I eventually complied and admitted my fault.

Yet, Yulia, upon seeing me in the well-fitting clothes, got super excited and clung to Eleanor, saying she wanted to wear something more convenient like mine. She even tried to imitate me and started to remove her clothes to change into Lena’s old outfits, but Eleanor firmly stopped her.

In the end, Eleanor couldn’t resist Yulia’s pleading and promised that she would make her some easy-to-move-in clothes later, instead of forcing her to wear those ridiculous long dresses.

Speaking of which, I didn’t know Eleanor could sew clothes, and Reim was also quite skilled at it. Is there a class for tailoring at the Magic Academy or something?

No way, no way. Let’s just hurry up and buy the rest of the stuff. With that thought, I informed Master DeVein that I wanted weapons suitable for hunting rabbits and deer.

“I thought you would be asking for a spear to hunt ghouls,” Master DeVein chuckled.

Uh, no way! I wouldn’t think of fighting such gigantic monsters at my age! I silently scoffed as I followed DeVein to the main hall of the weapon shop.

“This dagger is made from the horns of an adult angle rabbit; it’s very convenient and useful for butchering game and other tasks. Eleanor and Yulia, would you like to buy one too? It’s useful for cooking or even sewing!”

True to his merchant nature, Master DeVein was quick to market his wares to Eleanor and Yulia while demonstrating.

“How much is it?” I asked him.

“Two silver coins each,” Reim chimed in before his father could.

“Come on, kid, that’s an ancient price! The current price is three silver coins each!”

“I’ll take five for one gold coin, then,” I pretended to ignore Master DeVein’s quote and picked up a dagger.

“Me too! If it’s five for one gold coin, I’ll buy,” Eleanor echoed.

“You guys are something else! Lena, come help with the accounting!” Master DeVein quickly caved in to our haggling—having Reim around sure made it easier!

From my observations these past few days, people around here generally used a type of currency called Numma Gold Coins, which happened to be the highest denomination I knew of.

As for silver coins, the most common ones in this border region were the Gudlena and Treeni silver coins, with the Treeni coins being minted by the Dwarven nation and containing the least impurities. One gold coin is roughly equivalent to five or six silver coins.

However, when we mention silver coins here, we refer to the Gudlena silver coins issued by the Os Kingdom. This currency may not have a stable exchange rate with gold coins, but it maintains a high usage rate within the Os Kingdom itself, currently valued at about ten Gudlena silver coins per gold coin.

Below silver coins, there exist copper coins, the most prevalent being those minted by the neighboring Gauss Empire. The value of these copper coins typically aligns with the Treeni silver coins, maintaining a value of about one-tenth of a Treeni coin.

Since one gold coin equals ten Gudlena silver coins, we saved quite a bit during our purchase of the rabbit horn daggers by haggling!

During my shopping spree, the weapon shop’s staff had finished preparing the magic items and protective gear that Eleanor had ordered. Thus, she took Yulia along to check the goods.

I continued shopping alone, picking up a bear skin hunter’s cloak, a ghoul skin belt, a backpack, and various other items.

Finally, I spotted an enormous long knife taller than me and, feeling nostalgic about the days I hunted in the forest with a ghoul bone club, I picked it up and asked Master DeVein, “What’s this?”

“Ah, that’s a large blade used for cutting up long-horned ghouls and other monsters. Interested?” he replied.

“Mm-hmm,” I nodded and gave the blade a test swing, noticing it emanated an unusual green light that clashed with its bone appearance.

The weight of the knife seemed about equal to my own, making it probably difficult to wield in human form, but I should manage just fine in my ghoul form.

“This is a premium item processed from blue iron ore,” Master DeVein explained. “Since you’ve bought so much today, I can let it go for four gold coins.”

What?! This knife costs as much as a whole giant ghoul corpse?

“Is it durable?” I inquired.

“I’m confident it can withstand being stepped on by a ghoul without breaking,” Master DeVein replied.

I clenched my teeth, ultimately disregarding Reim’s advice and bought it anyway. After all, it’s my money; I can spend it however I like!

So, by the end of my shopping at Master DeVein’s shop, I had spent a total of ten gold coins. Though I did ruin one Fire Bear Crystal, since that was something I had hidden away, I still had three left, planning to keep one for myself and potentially selling the others with other materials for around twenty more gold coins. That meant I still had over ten gold coins remaining!

Thinking about that, I approached Reim to help me with the checkout, ready to leave.

“Oh, by the way, do you want to buy a magic item made from a Fire Bear Crystal?” Master DeVein asked me, his merchant instincts igniting at the sight of the remaining crystal.