I hardly got any sleep the night before, as I had been drawing up some pns for our first excavation quest, but I woke up full of energy that morning. I guess it's the excitement, or... could it be an effect of higher stats? I wondered for a moment before dismissing the thought. I had more important things to think about now, so I grabbed my bow, walked down the stairs, and stepped out of the inn.

  Outside, the streets were bustling with activity as usual. Merchants were hawking their wares on the streets, selling food by the road, and driving horse-drawn carriages with adventurer escorts. That's a lot of merchants!

  "Hey, little girl! Would you be interested in buying some Rujii?" One of them called out to me. "These were imported fresh from the Bazaar Empire. They are in season, so I can vouch for their quality!" Bazaar Empire? It must be a neighboring country... The Rujii resembled an eggpnt, but it was yellow with rge blue dots on its surface. Is this thing safe to eat? I wondered as I stared at it, but I was hungry, so I decided to give it a try.

  "How much for one?" I asked.

  "50 bronze coins, but for you, I'll give you a special deal!"

  "No thanks," I answered as I handed him a silver coin. This was already taking up too much time, and I didn't want to get to the armory te. I would be meeting the party there, after all.

  "Tch!" He clicked his tongue as he handed me the fruit and returned the change. Is that any way to treat a customer? I wondered as I accepted the fruit with a smile. On my way to the inn, I inspected it carefully and wondered whether I had made the right choice. I hope I don't get poisoned. It was all I could hope for as I tentatively opened my mouth to take a bite. I expected the worst as my teeth sunk into the fleshy fruit, only to be surprised by the explosion of fvor that hit my taste buds.

  It's so good! I thought with tears in my eyes. It was extremely sweet, almost like a cake, yet it retained a strange blend of different fvors that worked well together. It was spicy, salty, sour, and sweet all at the same time! I could get addicted to this! I thought as I devoured the fruit until there was nothing left. Uuu, I want another one... But as I didn't want to be te, I resisted the temptation and eventually got to the armory I was familiar with. The old dy was still behind the counter with an absent-minded look on her face, so I went up to her and greeted her.

  "Good morning!"

  "Oh! I didn't see you there! How have you been doing?" She always had an absent-minded look on her face. It made me want to ask about her concerns, but I felt like now was not the time. I'll definitely repay you, I swore to myself again, and that was when I heard the door open. I turned to see Kimmel and Sarde walking in with the others in tow.

  "Guys, you came!"

  "You're not mad at us for being te?" Kimmel asked as he tilted his head slightly. I would usually drill them about our training times, so I could get where he was coming from, but... Oh, what a terrible fate! They already see me as a mean coach!

  "Well, I just got here too, so I'm not mad," I said while scratching my cheek with a nervous ugh.

  "Is this your party?" The old dy asked me.

  "Yes, we're here to buy some new weapons, but before that..." I turned to the party and asked, "May I know your weapon ranks?" It was very important for me to learn this, as I could then decide the appropriate weapon to buy from the information. They each came forward and told me their ranks one by one, and in summary, it looked like this:

  NameWeapon TypeRankKimmelSwords, LancesC, DSardeSwords, LancesD, CBattiAxesDPhildinaLancesAHertzKnivesCLuciaTomesDMatildaStavesBPhildina was Phildina, but hearing Matilda's rank sure came as a shock to me. B?! She was approaching the rank where she could use the Aura staff, a powerful staff that could heal several allies from a distance. I was surprised, yet it was also expected for priests, who gained EXP differently. They couldn't fight, so they could only level up by using staves on the battlefield. She must have used them a lot, huh? I'm gonna get her to use them more, I thought with an evil smile. She hid behind Batti, and I couldn't even bme her. My face was probably looking quite evil right now. You won't escape from me!

  "Stop scaring Matilda like that!" Phildina bonked my head softly with the handle of her nce. "You always get some funny ideas when you start looking like that."

  "Y-you lie! Anyway, now that I know your ranks, I'll go ahead and buy the weapons for you."

  "How cute," Phildina said as I walked up to the counter. I bought a bronze sword and steel nce for Kimmel, a bronze nce and steel sword for Sarde, a steel axe for Batti, and a hunter knife for Hertz. I told Phildina to sort herself out, but she wasn't too happy to hear that. "Hey, buy me one as well!" She protested. It was annoying, but I didn't want to bully her too much, as it wouldn't look good on my part, so I bought an iron nce and handed it to her.

  "Thank you, Daphne!" They were cheap, E-rank weapons, but she accepted it gdly. Why? Weapon weight. Essentially, Phildina had to carry lighter weapons because she was a flier. Steel, bronze, silver, and gold weapons would only weigh her down, reducing both her speed and utility as a flier. A high enough Con stat could remedy it, but fliers weren't blessed with such an advantage, especially at lower levels.

  As for me, I also stuck to lighter weapons because weapon weight was a rule that applied to all csses. My weapon rank had gone up to D, but I kept on using my iron bow. I just bought a couple more arrows, and I was good to go.

  "Do we need to visit the magic shop as well?" I asked Lucia and Matilda.

  "Our weapons are in good condition," Lucia spoke for the two of them confidently, so I nodded and thought, Suit yourself. You can never be too careful. Our preparations were complete, and we would be going to the town's Adventurer Guild after this to pick a quest from the mission list. As we all walked out of the armory, I silently prayed, Developer, please let this mission go smoothly. It could have been my imagination, but I could almost hear a faint voice's reply say to me, It will.