We took turns napping, and morning arrived.
Then, around midday that same day, the problem occurred.
While hunting a group of Usapills we'd encountered—
"Ahh..."
The knife I'd given Raphtalia snapped with a dull crack.
"Here, take this."
With no other choice, I handed her my work knife and let the last Usapill that had been biting into me finish me off.
"Sorry."
"Everything has a lifespan. If it breaks, it breaks."
It was a cheap knife to begin with, and I'd never bothered to properly sharpen it.
"For now, let's call it here and head back to the castle town."
"Okay."
We split the considerably heavy load between us and carried it back.
For reference, my level had gone up to 11, and Raphtalia's was now 11 as well.
Along the way, we ran into some monsters, but the knife I'd given her managed to hold together—barely.
Now then, after selling off various medicines and goods, I'd managed to save up a total of seventy Silver Coins.
Ching, ching...
"What should I do..."
"A knife?"
While feeding Raphtalia lunch at a street stall, I murmured to myself.
Living expenses could be managed by roughing it outdoors.
Food costs shouldn't be a problem either—I could butcher Usapills and such for meat. That should hold us over for a while.
I had no idea where to go, but at some point I wanted to buy the best equipment I could afford and start grinding for experience.
"Well, let's head to the Weapon Shop."
"Yeah."
Grrr...
A growling sound came from behind me.
"I'm hungry."
"You just ate!"
Growth spurt, maybe!?
How many times a day was she planning to eat!?
"Sigh..."
My Engel coefficient was about to skyrocket. I needed to go hunting soon, or I'd be completely consumed by food costs.
"So here's the deal, old man—give me the best weapons and armor you've got within sixty-five Silver Coins. The work knife counts too."
The old man pressed a hand to his forehead and groaned.
"Well... I'm partly to blame for giving you that cheap thing in the first place, but you really should maintain your equipment properly."
"My bad. I was letting her use it thinking it had a Blood Clean Coating or something on it."
Right—Balloons, Mash, and Egggreggs all looked like inorganic creatures. Egggreggs would spill body fluid if you cracked them open, but you could just wipe it clean. No issue.
But once you got up to Usapill-class creatures, you were dealing with actual blood.
And since I hadn't maintained the knife at all, the deterioration would've been that much faster.
"Still, it's only been three days, but her complexion looks a lot better. Has she put on a little weight, maybe?"
Raphtalia answered with a practiced smile. What was he even saying?
"Oh? Her expression's good too."
"Yeah!"
Alright, she wasn't going to haggle.
"Old man, prioritize weapons as much as you can when selling."
"What about you?"
"I don't need anything."
"You don't need anything?"
Raphtalia looked up at me and asked.
"Did it look like I needed something?"
I hadn't taken a single hit from a monster so far.
Even those rotten Heroes had said it, hadn't they? That shield jobs were easy at the start but brutal in the late game.
So until I reached a point where I'd actually be taking damage, I didn't need equipment.
"Hmm..."
Raphtalia frowned, clearly not fully convinced. She was clutching the ball protectably in her arms.
"Well, this is fate of some kind. I'll throw in a little something extra."
"If it's expensive, I'll just haggle."
"I'm selling to you at practically cost. If I jacked up the prices, you'd just try to offload Balloons on me again, right?"
So the rumors had spread after all—though I'd intentionally let that happen.
"I'm just returning unreasonable treatment with a little of my own."
"...That doesn't bother me, but knowing you, you'd probably find some other way to retaliate."
"You know me well."
"Hard not to when I watch. You're the most commercially savvy of all the Heroes, you know."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"Now then..."
The old man rubbed his chin while studying Raphtalia.
"Maybe it's time to put a sword in this girl's hands instead of a knife."
"Is she ready for that?"
"She looks eager enough. A short sword would be good for a beginner."
The old man rummaged through a corner of the Weapon Shop.
"Right."
"She's going to use a sword?"
"Apparently."
"Let me give her a quick lesson while we're at it."
Then he went to the back of the shop and brought out a leather breastplate that had been tanned smooth.
"It's an iron short sword and a leather breastplate. They're a little old, but bear with me. I'll adjust the sizing too."
The old man placed the sword in Raphtalia's hands and had her put on the leather breastplate over her cloth tunic.
Grrr...
"Again!?"
"Hey, she's a demi-human, right? A kid, no less—of course her level's going to shoot up."
What? Was that just common knowledge? I didn't really understand, but what standards did this world operate on, anyway?
Come to think of it, I'd once heard that crow chicks would die if you didn't keep feeding them.
"I see... Fine. Just stay put while he teaches you, and I'll go buy some things."
"Okaaay!"
Watching her like that, the Weapon Shop owner let out a hearty guffaw.
"Go on, then. I'll have the basics down by the time you get back."
I left the Weapon Shop and hurried toward the market.
Seriously—leveling up came with the cost of hunger? What a weird species, demi-humans.
My stats seemed to be growing steadily, and I could tell I was getting a little stronger with each step.
But that didn't make food costs any less brutal.
When I returned with meals bought from a street stall, the old man was in the middle of coaching Raphtalia on sword technique.
"Here!"
"Thank you!"
Munch, munch. While she ate, the old man enthusiastically taught her swinging motions and evasion.
He was starting to actually look the part of a proper instructor.
"What about you?"
"I'll learn evasion by watching."
"Well, you seem like the tanking type anyway. Throwing off your balance too much could be dangerous."
And with that, the Weapon Shop owner's sword lecture came to an end, and we settled the bill.
Then the old man handed me a chunk of white stone.
"What's this?"
"A whetstone. None of the weapons from this batch have any coating on them. If you don't perform regular maintenance, they'll break in no time."
"Hmm..."
The moment I touched it gently, my shield responded.
So I let it absorb.
"Hey, hey!?"
The Whetstone Shield's conditions were unlocked.
Oh? A piece of equipment that didn't add a shield shape. Well, it was still a shield, technically.
A lot of these came from ore-type derivations, huh... Ah, not from the original derivation tree—it was connected through the barely-nearby Sky Egg Shield and Usa Meat Shield, linked by a composite chain.
Was it because cooking required a kitchen knife, maybe?
Its defense was barely above the Egg Shield. Not much to write home about.
The Usapill Shield, made by absorbing Usapill corpses without butchering them first, had higher defense.
Whetstone Shield Ability Unlocked: None — Equipment Bonus, Ore Appraisal 1 Special Effect: Auto-Sharpen (8 hours) High Consumption Special Effect?
I checked the help menu.
"Special Effects"
A Special Effect is a bonus that only activates while the weapon retains its current form. This type of bonus cannot be learned like Ability Unlocked skills, so if you need it, transform into this weapon.
So that was it?
Like the type of skill in games that gave bonuses when equipped against a specific enemy type.
I hurriedly transformed my shield.
"Wha—!?"
The Whetstone Shield—its shape was slightly larger than the Small Shield. A large white stone shield.
However, the shield had several holes in it. Thin ones, thick ones, ones paper could pass through—various sizes.
"Hey, you! Listen to me!"
Hmm... Auto-Sharpen (8 hours) High Consumption—what did that mean exactly?
If it did what the name suggested, there was some reason for hope, but...
"Hey!"
"Hm? What is it, old man?"
"What the hell is that shield!?"
"You've seen it before. It's the Legendary Shield."
"No, I haven't seen it and I haven't heard of it!"
"You saw it before—when it was the Small Shield."
"Huh!? Why'd it turn into a whetstone!?"
"Because I had it absorb a whetstone, obviously."
"..."
The Weapon Shop owner was wearing a face that said this conversation was going absolutely nowhere.
"I've heard that Legendary Weapons have mysterious powers, but so this is what they mean?"
"You never heard about this from the other Heroes?"
"I haven't seen them around lately. Besides, you're the first one I've seen actually do it in person."
Given that a powerful enemy was now barely over a week away, information really should've been shared more freely. But in the end, those people were just self-centered secrecy addicts who wouldn't even tell their own allies.
At the very least, I wouldn't trust anyone like that.
...Well, it wasn't like there was any need to go out of my way to show them off anyway.
What a pointless bunch.
"So what are you worrying about?"
"Oh, it seems to have this effect called Auto-Sharpen (8 hours) High Consumption. Going by the name, it should sharpen the weapon automatically, but..."
I had no idea what was being consumed.
"Hmm..."
The Weapon Shop owner pulled a rusted sword from behind the counter and inserted it into the groove of my shield.
"I'll throw in a disposal-grade weapon as a bonus. Use that to test it."
"Sure, much appreciated."
In the corner of my vision, a status icon displayed "Sharpening."
It was subtly heavy.
Also, something felt like it was weighing on my shoulder.
Glancing at the icon, I noticed that my SP—a stat that had never changed until now—was gradually decreasing.
I'd assumed that value was used for skills and the like, but apparently it could be drained by something like this too.
"Well, time to get going."
"You're leaving?"
"Yeah."
I patted Raphtalia on the head—she was looking rather presentable now—and left the Weapon Shop behind.
From here on, I'd be setting out to raise levels and procure food for Raphtalia, who was perpetually starving during her growth spurt.
"Oh, right, old man."
"...You still need something?"
His tone made it clear he was thoroughly fed up as he glared at me.
"Do you know of any place where monsters on par with the dungeon past the village beyond the forest can be found?"
I spread out a cheap map and pointed toward the direction the rotten woman had recommended for the dungeon.
It would serve as a rough reference at least. Whether I'd actually believe it was another story.
"I hear there's a village further down the main road, past the forest, where similar monsters can be found."
"Got it. Maybe I'll head that way, then."
For now, it all came down to how much I could grow my shield before the deadline, and how much money I could earn.