The Romance of Full Plate Armor

I collected the bounty at the guard station's reception desk. It was payment for the useful information I'd provided.

"Five gold? Not bad at all."

In modern terms, five gold was worth about five million won. One silver was roughly ten thousand won, and a hundred silver made one gold.

"Adding the goblin subjugation fee on top of this, it'll add up to a decent amount."

I stopped by the mercenary guild as well and collected the subjugation payment. "The number of goblins processed comes to 515."

Ten bronze per goblin ear, ten ears making a hundred bronze. A hundred bronze equaled one silver.

"Fifty-one silver and fifty bronze. I gathered quite a haul."

Combined with what I'd already had, I'd accumulated roughly fifty gold in total.

"Being a mercenary is dangerous, but the pay is excellent. What's not to like?"

High risk, high return. Mercenaries who worked as hard as they suffered could grow their wealth quickly. The problem was that plenty of them blew it all on reckless spending.

"I should be able to outfit myself with some new pieces now."

The equipment I currently owned consisted of my greatsword, chainmail, and the breastplate that covered it. That was all.

"What part should I get?"

A helm to protect my head? Or a backplate for my rear? Poleyns for the lower body might be nice too.

"No. I'd better head to the forge and see for myself first."

Just as people visited the market to inspect goods in person, I decided to do the same.

"In Dorua, there's only one forge worth visiting."

The sole dwarf blacksmith in Dorua with truly exceptional skill.

It had been a while. Time to pay him a visit.

Inside the forge, where the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fires had died, a single dwarf with a face as red as a ripe tomato leaned against the anvil, sipping from a bottle.

"Hic! Has the drink run out already?"

For a dwarf with an insanely high alcohol tolerance to be drunk, it was impossible to guess how much he'd actually consumed.

"Ah, damn it all."

With the alcohol gone, his energy seemed to drain away too. The dwarf was just about to slip into a listless slumber when...

"Hey. Wake up."

"Ah, fuck! You scared the hell out of me!"

The sudden voice in his ear made his heart nearly leap from his chest.

"You... you!"

"Hello? Delgarm. It's been a while."

"You crazy bitch! Why the hell are you startling a dwarf like that? I nearly had a heart attack thanks to you!"

"What? You looked completely drained, so I thought a little surprise might perk you up."

"One more surprise like that and you'll be responsible for a corpse."

"Hehehe. We could call it my special Delgarm-exclusive finishing move."

"Crazy talk."

Delgarm hauled himself up with some effort. He staggered from the drink, but his mind seemed perfectly clear. Saying a drunkard's head was clear sounded strange, but with dwarves it was simply how things worked.

These drunks have a weird constitution where the more they drink, the sharper their minds become.

That was why dwarves were always intoxicated. They wanted to stay clear-headed at all times. Of course, they also just really loved alcohol.

"You said you were sick of this city and left. So why have you come crawling back? Run out of money?"

"No. I've got plenty of gold, actually. Money isn't the reason."

"Then did you... awaken or something?"

"As expected of Delgarm. You really do know me too well."

Along with Marco, Delgarm was one of the people who'd looked after me. He probably understood me better than I understood myself.

"Ha! What other reason would you have to return to this godsforsaken city besides money or an awakening?"

"Fair point."

"Hmm... Now that I'm looking at you properly, you've gotten a lot stronger. The power in your arms and legs is no joke. Just what kind of awakening did you receive to become this strong?"

"Even if I explained it, I doubt you'd understand."

Would people in this world even know about status windows?

"Tsk! Don't underestimate me too much. Anyway, that doesn't matter. Welcome back. Since ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this is a damn city, I can't exactly give you a proper homecoming gift."

"Then give me goods instead of a gift. I have the money."

"What did you leave here? You're awfully bold."

"If I were a beggar maybe not, but a customer has every right to be confident."

I handed over the gold and asked to see his catalog.

"More than I expected. With this much I won't have to worry about running out of drink for a while."

"Don't you ever plan to cut back on the drinking?"

"You might as well kill me."

He really was a hopeless drunk.

"Perfect timing. I actually have something pretty nice on hand."

"Wait, where are you going? Leave the catalog here!"

"So impatient. Just wait. I'll bring you something truly spectacular."

Delgarm headed toward the forge's storage area, boasting all the way. If he brought out something weird, I'd torment him all day by keeping the alcohol away. I waited while thinking up threats that would give him goosebumps if he heard them.

"Ugh, this thing's pretty heavy."

About ten minutes later, I heard grunting from inside.

"Here, try this on."

"This is..."

What he pulled out was enough to completely blow away every thought in my head.

"Old man! Have you lost your mind? I don't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have the money to buy something like that!"

Had this guy been overcome by greed? He'd even brought out magically engraved plate armor.

"Hahaha! It's a truly exceptional piece. Something of this quality would normally cost at least two hundred gold, but for you I'll make an exception."

"...And here you said there was no gift earlier?"

"Truth is, a noble ordered it as a custom piece. But he got wiped out by orcs on the way here and died. Lost the money and ended up with a troublesome item ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on my hands."

"So you're selling it to me cheap?"

"Exactly~! Consider yourself lucky to buy this full plate armor for fifty gold!"

Good gods, I felt like I could kiss those thick dwarf lips right now.

"I'll help you put it on, so go ahead and try it."

"Yes! Yes!"

"Look at you, all excited."

With my heart pounding in anticipation, I donned the full plate armor. The moment it was equipped, the magic circles engraved inside began to glow, triggering various effects.

"This armor comes with automatic cleaning, weight reduction, expanded vision through the helm, noise suppression, enhanced durability, and even self-repair functions!"

"Ooooh!"

The incredible effects made me cheer out loud.

"The mage who engraved all these magic circles grumbled the entire time about how many different effects there were."

Could I really obtain such a precious item this easily? I was so moved that tears threatened to blur my vision.

"The armor's base durability is outstanding too. It can even block aura."

"Everyone knows the skill of a dwarf. Especially you, Delgarm—you even hold the title of Master Meister."

"Enough with the flattery. Take it off. The imprinting is complete, so auto-deployment should work now."

"Imprinting? Auto-deployment?"

Was it what I was thinking?

"I had to put it on you directly the first time to register you as the owner, but that won't be necessary anymore."

The moment I removed the armor, it shone brilliantly and transformed into a small necklace.

"It's a necklace imbued with spatial magic. The instant you think about deploying the armor, the necklace will react and automatically equip it for you."

Wasn't this basically overtechnology? Why did a single set of armor have so many features?

"You can even choose the armor's color. Red, blue, silver, or black are all possible."

"Red for intimidation, black would be good for ambushes."

"I designed it with every possibility in mind. Go ahead and try deploying it."

I hung the necklace around my neck and visualized myself wearing the armor. In the next moment, solid plate armor covered my body.

"The noble who ordered this is probably pounding the ground in regret right about now. To die without even getting to see something this amazing."

"Even if you keep praising me, there's nothing more I can give you."

"I'm being completely sincere. Even if you offered me a castle, I think I'd still choose this armor."

"Hey! In that case you should pick the castle! Sell it and then order another set of armor!"

"That's what I mean."

I quickly pulled Delgarm into a hug.

"W-what's this about?"

"Instead of hanging around here, let's go to the tavern and drink! My treat today."

"You're buying the drinks? I'm in!"

The dwarf, who went crazy for free alcohol, let himself be dragged along obediently.

Hehehe.

"Hehehe."

Just looking at it made me smile.

"How can it be this beautiful?"

I gazed at the necklace around my neck in the mirror with eyes full of affection. It wasn't for nothing that women were so obsessed with accessories.

"Something this cool would tempt even a man."

Of course, nothing like this had existed in my previous life.

"Every time I look at it, I feel so satisfied."

I didn't need anything else now. Just having this one necklace made me feel like I owned the entire world!

"Still, I need to get a grip and go earn some money."

Obtaining the full plate armor was great, but it came with a downside.

"I'm broke."

The only money I had left was one gold—the remainder after buying Delgarm all those drinks yesterday.

"My entire fortune equals about a million won."

I felt like something similar had happened in my previous life too.

"All the unemployed people are crying right now."

Fighting spirit to every jobless person across the country.

"Anyway! Time to go make some money!"

Since I'd obtained such excellent plate armor, I might as well jump straight into real combat.

I headed to the mercenary guild to check the request board. Quite a few promising jobs caught my eye.

"Let's go with this one."

It was a simple merchant escort request heading to Belkan, the city north of Dorua. The distance wasn't too great, but the route was infamous for frequent orc sightings. The previous owner of this armor had probably died somewhere along that road.

"One gold as an advance, plus another gold upon successful completion."

Not a bad amount. Two million won just for the danger pay—one gold now and one later. For a mercenary, that was perfectly normal. If they couldn't even earn that much, no one would take up the profession. Being a mercenary was simply that dangerous.

"Is that the place?"

When I arrived at the location listed in the request, I saw multiple carriages waiting. It must have been a fairly successful trading company—there were ten carriages in total. And among them, I spotted a familiar face.

"Huh? That's Marco."

The familiar face with prominent dark circles beneath his eyes was indeed Marco.