Adventurer's Equipment 1

Grace's senses had grown razor-sharp thanks to her passive skill, but by the next day she seemed to have adjusted—she barely reacted at all. Getting hammered by that sensory overload all night must have forced her to adapt faster than expected. Of course, the clip of her making those embarrassing little sounds had already been circulating online for ages.

…Well, Grace couldn't open an internet window the way I could, so it didn't really matter.

These people were impressive in every sense of the word.

Anyway, with the newly upgraded Grace leading the way, our forest exploration was going smoothly. We kept steadily working through commissions for mana stones and materials, and we found the passage without much trouble—putting the twentieth floor right within reach.

"There's a moss wolf ambushing up ahead. If we swing a little wide, there's a goblin pack too. What do you want to do?"

"Our current commission is for mid-sized monster mana stones, so let's take the moss wolf and avoid the goblins. Once those things start running, they're a pain."

"Alright, wolf it is."

"Thanks, Unni."

Grace's scouting ability had changed dramatically since her promotion ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from a 3★ Apprentice Ranger to a 4★ Forest Pursuer. Before, she might have noticed a moss wolf right before it pounced, or picked up the racket of a small monster pack. Now she was sensing them from a distance—good enough that we could ambush the moss wolf instead.

The moss wolf was holding its breath in the dark of the forest, but with Grace already locking down its exact position, the hunt was going to be far easier than usual.

"Roland takes point, I'll prep a spell. Unni, jump in if we don't finish it clean. Kayden, watch Irene's back."

"Got it."

"Understood."

Han Se-ah put Grace's expanded detection range to good use. While I loitered in front of the moss wolf, the rest of the party swung around behind it—a little stunt only possible because we knew exactly where the hidden wolf was.

Kayden took position with Irene just in case, but nothing in this forest was going to threaten us.

Fwoooosh—

I wandered around the spot Grace had marked, and an arrow cut through the air with a sharp whistle. Right as the moss wolf tensed to leap at me, the arrow punched cleanly into its slightly parted jaws—the exact moment it drew a breath.

Stealthy or not, no monster stays fine with a powerful arrow buried in the back of its throat. It immediately coughed up blood, whimpering and thrashing across the ground. As if to put it out of its misery, a Magic Missile slammed into its chest a second later.

"It really was right there. I couldn't see a thing. Sister Grace, your instincts are incredible."

"I-It's not like I'm seeing with my eyes, exactly."

Irene clasped her hands together, watching with open admiration. Her job was protecting Grace and Han Se-ah during chaotic fights. In a clean takedown like this, there was no need for a barrier, so she naturally became a spectator.

Of course, thanks to Han Se-ah's constant buttering-up, Irene wasn't harboring any complaints. If a 5★ priestess casually walked out of the party, any gamer would be coughing up blood and wailing—so Han Se-ah was putting in serious effort on that front.

We pushed through the forest, hunting moss wolves as we went. Hours ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of walking forest trails in heavy gear left sweat slowly beading up. The kind of trek that would make most people scowl—and yet the party members trudged the rough path without a word of complaint. They'd long since shed the novice-adventurer label and become proper Intermediate-grade adventurers. At last, they stood before the gate to the twentieth floor.

"Ha… finally found it."

"So this is the passage to the twentieth floor…"

"Roland. You already knew, didn't you?"

Looking thoroughly bedraggled, the party members gazed up at the towering passage with voices full of emotion. Mana stone fragments spun slowly inside the lantern. Sweat and dirt streaked their faces. And from among them, Han Se-ah fixed me with a sharp, accusing stare.

The passage from the nineteenth floor to the twentieth was in a genuinely nasty spot. Just as some floors could be fully scouted in a day or two, the two passages here weren't just far apart—they were half-hidden by the forest's brutal terrain.

"Of course I knew. Doesn't mean I could just tell you."

"Yeah, fair enough…. We'll start exploring the twentieth floor tomorrow. If the gate still won't open there, we'll probably have to spend the night inside the Tower."

Han Se-ah glared at me like my smug little smile was personally offensive. Unlike the grasslands, where you could just walk in a straight line, the forest was full of obstacles and slowed travel considerably. That was why the time from the first floor to the tenth and the time from the tenth to the nineteenth weren't as similar as you'd expect.

Even with a lantern, the distance was annoying enough—and they'd been brute-forcing it without one for a while. No wonder she wasn't looking at me fondly. The others didn't seem to care much, but Han Se-ah was staring at me with her cheeks puffed out.

"Originally, you'd start preparing for overnight stays in the Tower the moment you passed the fifteenth floor. Now that the gate exists, camping prep starts from the twentieth. Rest up today, and tomorrow everyone should come ready to discuss. If we're factoring in camping, the current schedule of leaving every morning and coming back every evening won't work—so each of you, bring one idea."

"Is this homework?"

"Yeah, it's homework. Let's head back."

I brushed off Han Se-ah's grumbling with a laugh and addressed the party. If we were content to live like day laborers on the lower floors—earning just enough to eat each day—we could stop here. But our party was seriously aiming to conquer the Tower.

Han Se-ah, as both a player and a streamer, obviously couldn't stop. Neither could the Candidate Saint, who needed to spread the Goddess's will. I'd be following Han Se-ah for the quests anyway, so that left Grace and Kayden.

Grace would follow if I went. Kayden… I wasn't sure. I didn't even know why she was cross-dressing in the first place, so how was I supposed to know if she planned to climb all the way to the top? Her character quest would probably unlock as we ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠went along.

The silver lining was that Kayden, as an offensive frontliner, wasn't essential. If Irene the priestess left, I'd have to camp outside a temple until I could recruit another one—but if one sword-swinger dropped out, I could just pick up a replacement on a higher floor.

"Ugh, I just want to get back and wash up."

"We wandered around pretty long today, so it'll be late evening by the time we leave the Tower."

Still, after all that hardship, the narrow brush with achievement left the party members bright and cheerful. If they'd spent the day lost in the forest like castaways and come back empty-handed, the mood would have been pretty grim—but today they'd actually found the passage, and it showed on their faces.

Just as the tenth floor was the dividing line between novice and Intermediate-grade adventurers, the twentieth floor carried a quiet symbolism of its own. It was the place where Intermediate-grade climbers who could push even higher set their feet. …In other words, a filter.

Sweaty and dirt-streaked as they were, they were still star-rated beauties and handsome faces at their core. Walking back to the tenth floor with sunny smiles and stepping out of the Tower, they drew jealous looks from every direction. Pretty, good-looking people in expensive gear, laughing happily—of course everyone assumed they'd hit some kind of jackpot.

"The money from settling the mana stones is… this much. It's nothing like when I was a mercenary."

"That's why everyone comes here wanting to be an adventurer. Why else would that crazy bitch Rebecca have entered the Tower?"

"…Crazy bitch."

After setting aside the mana stones the client had requested and selling off the remaining foraged materials and stones at the guild counter, a pouch of silver coins settled into our hands. Kayden murmured at the solid weight of it, clearly impressed.

"Save that money carefully. Once we start climbing higher, we'll need to swap gear again—and from that point on, equipment prices run about as high as a decent manor."

"A manor? That much?!"

She jumped at my words. Fitting for someone with the title of Sword Princess—she clearly knew what a manor was worth.

I didn't know the exact structure of manors in my original world, but I had a decent grasp of them in this one. I'd looked into all sorts of things while planning to eventually buy my own mansion stocked with magic tools, so the knowledge had piled up.

In this fantasy world, a "manor" meant a territory you could buy with money. Farmland, the serfs to work it, the mansion for the landowner, and the temple that tended the domain—all packaged together in a single transaction.

"One piece of gear for one whole manor…"

"I'm not talking about a golden wheat field with a luxurious mansion attached. Just a small manor that grows some grapes or whatever."

"That's still expensive, isn't it?"

Farmland, a fancy mansion, and serfs all rolled into a single enchanted suit of armor. The moment you crossed from Intermediate-grade to Upper-grade, equipment prices went completely insane—like power inflation in a comic book.

Spinning magical ore into thread to weave mithril cloth armor, or having a Highest-grade alchemist work the occasional dragon hide—the materials alone rivaled noble luxury goods, so of course the prices were absurd. And you needed that gear for the helmet, breastplate, greaves, boots, and the weapon…

"Is Sir Roland's armor and equipment in that range as well?"

"More than that, actually."

Truth was, this armor was the default skin I'd started with as a game character. No money had changed hands, but purely by value it was probably even more expensive. It had no special abilities, but it boasted durability that hadn't taken a single scratch so far.

I was thinking about gear that had shrugged off giants and wyverns without a mark ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠when Kayden sidled up to me.

"Sir Roland, there's something I'd like to ask of you."

Not Han Se-ah—me?