Chapter 185 – New Shop In Town.

“P-please send our regards to the master blacksmith.”

“We will, please come again!”

“You finally look like a proper adventurer, Oliver. Even your boots fit!”

“Hey, what is that supposed to mean!”

One of the girls laughed and gave the young spearman a playful shove as they left the store. The other girl turned back, bowed slightly, and then skipped away to catch up.

“This gear was much cheaper than in the other shops. Maybe we should come back later.”

“Definitely, just a shame that they didn’t have any enchanted weapons.”

“The young shop clerk said that they should have some in stock in a week or two. Maybe we should check it out then?”

Rusty looked at Rolo, who waved at the group of three as they left the store. These were their very first customers, and on the first day, they had already managed to sell a suit of armor. That success made him realize a few problems within both his business and his system, as well as the need to make some adjustments.

First, he needed to craft a few bows, which required a special type of ironwood. Many adventurers seemed to prefer throwing weapons, and smaller items such as daggers or even needles would also be in demand, so that line of products needed to be expanded. The greater challenge, however, was armor. He could only copy his own, and not every size suited every customer. The young man named Oliver was not the same build as Rusty, and because of that, several pieces had to be exchanged. In the end, Oliver left with something closer to a half-plate set rather than the full suit Rusty had intended to sell.

Up to this point, all the armor he had made was fitted for his own body type. The monster variants could not be sold without exposing his identity, so he would need to craft suits in a variety of sizes before copying them. From his observations, other blacksmiths dealt with this problem by using belts and straps. They produced a few general sizes and then adjusted the fit afterward.

‘Small, medium, large, and perhaps extra large. I will need to create different variations of each suit if I want to sell them properly.’

His system storage was capable of many things. It could break metals down into ingots, which he could then reshape into armor parts. However, it also had its limits. For now, creating suits in different sizes was impossible unless he crafted each variation by hand first.

He had even tried a few tricks, such as summoning different armor pieces while wearing others in hopes of forcing them to adjust in size, but nothing worked. Swapping to a smaller helmet and then calling up a larger suit only resulted in a comical mismatch, leaving him with a tiny head and an oversized body. If he wanted to produce armor sets in multiple sizes, he would have to take the difficult route and forge them himself.

“How much did we make?”

“It’s a lot, Mr. Edmund, look!”

Rolo was happy to show Rusty the hand filled with copper and silver coins. To a young lad like him who was used as an errand boy by the mercenaries such a sum looked like a lot but to Rusty who was now a D-rank adventurer this wasn’t much. If he really wanted to make more money he would need to get those enchanted weapons out, otherwise this shop would probably fail.

“Gleam. We’re going to the dungeon!”

“( • ̀ω•́ ) “

Gleam instantly perked up and perched herself on Rusty’s shoulder, her tiny antennae twitching with eagerness. The prospect of new battles and treasures always caused excitement in the little ant.

“Wait, today? But the shop…”

Rolo started, worry flashing across his face. Rusty turned his helm slightly and pondered. It was true that leaving the children unattended was troublesome. This place had no guards, and the only adults were the carpenters still working on the roof upstairs.

“Don’t worry. I’ve paid the city fee. The guards should start patrolling here now. If something happens, just call them.”

“T-the guards?”

Rolo’s voice quivered, and his fingers curled tightly around the coins in his hand. For him, even holding that amount of money was stressful.

“Yes.”

Rusty confirmed, tilting his helm downward at the boy.

“They will pass by often enough. If anything goes wrong, run outside and shout. Do not try to be a hero.”

“But… what if…”

“The city guard may not be perfect, but they will deter common thieves. It should be enough for now. If there is real trouble, remember who it was. I will deal with them later.”

“O-okay, Mr. Edmund. I’ll do as you say.”

Rusty nodded and noticed Rolo glancing at his personal dagger behind the counter. Although the boy was a thief, his level was still one, since he had never killed a single monster. Rusty did not want the young man to risk his life. Even if every sword in the shop was stolen, the system would allow him to remake them without much difficulty.

“Good. Do not try to use that. Just hide in the safe room if anything happens. Do you understand?”

Rusty pointed to the door behind them. It had a lock on the inside and led down into the basement. The children could secure themselves in there if trouble arose. The smithy inside also allowed them to escape through a hole in the wall that had been concealed.

“Yes, Mr. Edmund.”

“I don’t feel comfortable leaving those four here without adult supervison…”

Said Alexander but was instantly refuted by Aburdon.

“Hah, that’s why you of the lower races are weak. I wasn’t even ten years old and had to fend for myself, only the strong survive! If they can’t even take care of something like a shop, what value do they have?”

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“What nonsense are you talking about? They are still young, kids like them should be playing outside and…”

“And what Hero? Have fun with their families? This world is not a fairy tale, it’s cruel and disgusting, you know better than me!”

Rusty listened to the two while looking around. It was clear to him that Aburdon was bringing up memories of the past and reminding Alexander of how he had been betrayed by his most trusted aides. One of Alexander’s old acquaintances was also in this city, but at the moment, he was not someone Rusty could contend with.

“Be quiet, you two. I have a reputation to build! Now let’s go!”