Chapter 103: Clan Founding
Chapter 103: Clan Founding
“Well, since we’re here, shall we stop and say a prayer?”
It was already lunchtime, but a short prayer wouldn’t hurt.
“Oh my. Guwon, are you a follower of the Goddess?” Leia asked, a happy smile on her face.
“Of course. The Goddess is the best.”
There wasn’t a shred of falsehood in those words. If necessary, I was ready to give three cheers for the Goddess right then and there.
“A commendable attitude, but let’s save it for another day. Our ever-so-proper Vanessa is likely waiting in the carriage, not moving an inch.”
Right, I’d forgotten about Vanessa.
I guess we have no choice. I felt bad making her wait any longer.
“Then I’ll be on my way.”
“Wait a moment. Leia, you should come with us.”
“Pardon? But my errand…”
“Actually, we’ve moved from the inn to Diana’s house. You should know where it is. And I wanted to get our gear maintained together.”
“Oh my. I see.”
And so, with Leia joining us, we decided to get something to eat first.
“By the way, Leia, where were you headed?”
“Just to the slums for a bit. I regularly open a free clinic for the people there.”
The slums… In a fantasy world, the word “slums” conjures less an image of a place where poor people gather and more an image of a place like Harlem, teeming with all sorts of dangers.
Would she be okay?
Well, it’s probably not her first or second time. I was likely worrying for nothing.
“You really are amazing, Leia.”
“Oh, no. It’s not me, it’s the temple’s work. I’m just doing what’s expected of me.”
Leia’s face flushed slightly as she spoke.
The fact that she called it “what’s expected” was what made her so amazing in my book.
Looking at her delicate face, Guwon started to feel a little worried.
She was so beautiful; wouldn’t the guys in the slums lose their minds?
“By the way, what kind of gear maintenance were you thinking of? Is there more equipment Leia needs?” Sara asked from beside me.
A good question. To be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure myself, but something had just occurred to me.
“Yeah, about that. Leia, that woman Jane from before—her priestess robe looked a little different. Why is that?”
“Ah, Jane is quite high-level, so she goes into the dungeon often. I heard she had her priestess robe enhanced for dungeon exploration.”
“The design seemed to change quite a bit. Is that allowed?”
“Yes. That much flexibility is necessary for those who frequent the dungeon. And I heard there are certain rules for how the design can change.”
Leia’s answer was similar to what I had expected.
I’d actually thought it was special high-level equipment, but it was just an enhancement, not a newly crafted item.
“There’s a lot of enhancing in this world, huh? You don’t just make new things?”
“Why make something new? If you just add materials to existing equipment and enhance it, the performance is nearly identical. People usually buy new gear only when they need equipment for a completely different purpose.”
Huh? Is that how it worked? What kind of system so thoroughly shatters the principle that you can’t change an item’s fundamental nature?
In any case, if it was enhancing instead of buying new, that was even better. Much, much better.
Guwon desperately suppressed the corner of his mouth from creeping into a smirk.
“But if you’re enhancing, it must require materials, right? What kind do you usually need?”
“With what we have now, leather and fur. And maybe some mana-infused iron made from melting down equipment dropped by monsters. What we have should be enough for a decent enhancement, but let’s buy a few more things at the general store.”
“More materials? Is there something else we need?”
“Mm. We’ll have to go to the 2nd Floor eventually, won’t we? To get around there, enhancing our gear with a Desert Lizard’s windpipe is essential.”
“A Desert Lizard’s windpipe? What’s that?”
“It’s a monster that appears occasionally on the 2nd Floor. It breathes out a cold breath, unsuited for the desert, and if you enhance your gear with its windpipe, you can move around in the heat of the 2nd Floor with relative ease.”
I see. So that’s what Diana meant before when she talked about preparing for the 2nd Floor.
To hunt on the 2nd Floor, we had to enhance our gear with materials from a monster on the 2nd Floor.
It was a rather troublesome system.
Well, it wasn’t a problem for us, since we’d earned more than enough money.
So, we first headed to the general store, Hans & Erina’s, to buy the Desert Lizard windpipes.
“Welco—huh?”
As soon as we entered, Hans let out a strange sound.
“What’s with that reaction? Can’t this shop even greet its customers properly?”
“What’s with you suddenly acting all high and mighty like a noble? No, more importantly, who are these beautiful ladies with you?”
“Can’t you tell by looking? They’re my companions.”
“You called me a thief and whatnot, and all this time you’ve been hanging around with beauties like these?” Hans said, his voice thick with injustice.
Since I always came alone to sell materials, was this his first time seeing anyone besides Sara?
Besides, even Sara must have gotten much prettier than when Hans last saw her. I didn’t really feel it since I saw her every day, but with her level having skyrocketed, her stats must have given her a massive boost.
“Hmph. Jealous?”
“Of course I’m… No. Not jealous at all.”
“Too late. Next time I see Erina, I’m telling her everything.”
“D-Don’t you dare! Who are you trying to get killed?!”
Hans was visibly flustered.
For a man his size, was he really that henpecked by Erina?
“Who am I trying to get killed? You, of course.”
“Ugh… W-What do you want?”
“Hand over the Desert Lizard windpipes, and perhaps there won’t be any bloodshed.”
“I’ll give you a 10… no, a 15 percent discount. Any more than that and you can kill me, but I can’t go lower.”
“Well, I suppose it can’t be helped. I’ll let you off with that.”
Guwon spoke with an air of arrogance.
“Hehe. You’re a funny person,” Leia said with a gentle laugh.
Wait, what are you talking about? What part of that old man is funny?
“It’s not the old man who’s funny, it’s me. He was just getting dragged along by my pace…”
“Why are you defending yourself so desperately? It’s pathetic.”
Ugh. Sara. That one actually stung a little.
In any case, after procuring the Desert Lizard windpipes for cheaper than the list price, the party headed to Hanna’s blacksmith shop to enhance their gear.
“We’re here for some enhancements. And we’re going all out this time. Use as many materials as you need to max out the performance. And we’ve got these Desert Lizard windpipes, so please add the 2nd Floor countermeasures too.”
Guwon took all of the party’s equipment out of his inventory as he spoke.
Since we were enhancing things anyway, we decided to do a full overhaul instead of just adding the windpipes. We’d be moving our hunting grounds to the 2nd Floor soon, so it was better to have solid gear.
“Alright. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to show off my skills. But enhancing this much at once is going to cost you a pretty penny, you know?”
“Don’t worry about the money. Just make it the best you can with these materials.”
“Oh, you’re a big shot, huh? I like that about you.”
“Yeah. I like you too…”
“Guwon.”
As Guwon reflexively started to reply, Sara immediately put a stop to it from the side.
Hey, when a woman like that says she likes you, you can’t help but respond automatically.
I get it, so can you please do something about that expression?
“By the way, what’s with these clothes? We can’t enhance this at our shop.”
While looking over the equipment Guwon had handed her, Hanna pointed at Diana’s wizard robe.
“Oh? Really?”
“Clothes have to be enhanced at a shop that specializes in adventurer’s clothing.”
So it wasn’t like a game where you could enhance everything at one shop.
Can’t be helped.
Leaving the equipment with Hanna, the party followed Diana’s lead into a clothing store.
The clothes displayed here were flashy in a different way from the shop we’d visited yesterday. If the clothes there had a lavish, aristocratic feel, the clothes here were… how should I put it? Like cosplay outfits from a fantasy game? They boasted a different kind of flamboyance.
There were quite a few adventurers inside, browsing the clothes.
“If you want to enhance clothes, this is the place.”
“Welcome.”
Could this girl be the seamstress? A very cute-looking girl greeted us.
She only came up to about Guwon’s waist, so rather than being young, she was probably just from a short-statured race.
“We’re here for some enhancements.”
“Yes, yes. What would you like me to enhance?”
Guwon first handed over Diana’s wizard robe.
“First this, and… Leia. Strip. Gack!”
Of all the attacks to my side I’d endured so far, this was the most powerful one yet.
“What. In the world. Was that.”
“Wait! Sara! That really hurts! I’m sorry! My words were too short!”
I yelled desperately and was finally freed from Sara’s attack on my ribs.
Damn it. Just because your level is a little higher than mine, isn’t it too much for your attack to pierce my defense? That damn Hero bonus.
For the record, I hadn’t managed to close the level gap last night.
“Pant. Pant. Leia. Could you change into these clothes for a moment and hand me your priestess robe?”
“Okay.”
Taking the cloth clothes Guwon handed her from his inventory, Leia disappeared toward the dressing room.
A dressing room… A place of forbidden magic.
Right now, on the other side of that door, a naked Leia was…
Without realizing it, Guwon’s feet began to move toward the dressing room.
“Where are you going?” Sara said, her eyes wide.
“Our dear Leia is defenseless over there. What if some dangerous guys suddenly barge in? I’m going to stand guard in front of the door.”
“I think you’re the most dangerous one here.”
“What? No way. A pure person like me, dangerous?”
“…Ah, that look doesn’t suit you, so please stop.”
As Guwon stared with sparkling eyes, Diana took a step back.
“Here you go.”
In that short time, Leia had already changed and come out.
Damn it. I was hoping I could feign a mistake and get a little peek.
Leia, dressed in Guwon’s cloth clothes, was another sight to behold. Since the clothes were big on her, the cleavage that peeked out from time to time was incredibly sexy.
Such sexiness with such an innocent face. The best. Sister Leia!
“If I’d known, I would have brought more priestess robes.”
Come to think of it, she probably had more than just the one she was wearing.
This was my mistake. There was no point if I didn’t modify all of Sister Leia’s priestess robes.
“Should we go back to the temple one more time?”
“Is there a need for that? Let’s just have Vanessa fetch them.”
Ooh. There was that method. What a noble idea.
“Then for now, please just enhance these two first—Diana’s wizard robe and Leia’s priestess robe.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Ah, wait a moment.”
Guwon glanced furtively at the women and brought his mouth to the seamstress’s ear.
“If possible, please tailor the priestess robe to be form-fitting.”
If she couldn’t do this, then today’s entire enhancement project would be a failure.
“You’re quite something, customer. Yes. Order received. Ma’am, I’ll just need to check your measurements. Please come this way.”
Hearing Guwon’s words, the seamstress gave a playful smile, then took Leia’s hand and led her away.
Nice. This seamstress seems to know what’s up. An excellent shop.
I had a strong feeling I could become a regular here, too.
We decided to wait inside the shop while Diana’s and Leia’s clothes were being enhanced. It would be difficult for Leia to walk around outside dressed like this, anyway.
“Alright, all done.”
As we were killing time in the shop, the seamstress came out with the clothes.
First, Diana’s robe didn’t seem to have changed much, since it was a robe to begin with. Some embroidery had been added, and the material looked a bit smoother.
From a design perspective, the same was true for Leia’s priestess robe, but there was one dramatic change.
“Th-This. Isn’t it a little small?”
“Not at all. I’ve adjusted it to fit your size perfectly.”
That’s right.
The priestess robe, tailored to fit Leia’s body perfectly, revealed her magnificent figure without hiding a thing.
The water flowing down my cheeks right now must be shining with tears of emotion.
“Magnificent! Bravo!”
Guwon found himself clapping without realizing it.
“I-Is that so?” Leia said shyly.
As she spoke, her tail wrapped around her own body as if to cover herself.
That’s right. The seamstress had even made a hole for Leia’s tail to come out. It was an obvious necessity for such a form-fitting outfit, but it was something Guwon hadn’t even thought of.
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant!
Guwon looked at the seamstress and gave her a big thumbs-up.
“You look like you’re about to die of happiness.”
In this moment, not even Sara’s hand pinching his side could inflict any damage on Guwon.