NOVEL NEXT Chapter 15.1
15.1. Equipment Procurement
Even if the brilliance of the guild card held against the chest changed into a slippery gem, Nord’s daily life remained unchanged.
In other words, it was about making money.
Two months had passed since the deadly battle (or rather, the massacre) with the Rockwolves. Nord was living his days as a Gemstone Adventurer, fulfilling his tasks.
If there was a subjugation request to the east, he would go there; if there was a gathering request to the west, he would head there. He deposited half of the rewards into the household finances and saved the rest. While he wanted to save for emergencies, he felt that the leather armor was becoming insufficient, so he was contemplating updating his equipment soon.
“Well, for now, at least, you’ll be taking on a rank-up quest for promotion in the near future. It would be best to prepare early, don’t you think?”
This was the response from Elsa, a member of his party.
She was enjoying her meal at the tavern attached to the guild after completing a quest.
With her rich crimson hair flowing down, she skillfully brushed it away from the stewed dish at dinner to prevent it from falling in, as she eagerly ate the food she scooped with her spoon.
Her outfit was a sturdy one, fitting for an adventurer after work. She wore glossy black armor made of interlocking plates.
That armor was made from the fur of the Armor Wolf, the boss of the Rockwolf, which Nord and Elsa had fought two months ago during their rank-up quest to become Gemstone Adventurer.
While the Rockwolf armor was generally a dirty gray, Elsa’s armor had an impressive appearance, indistinguishable from forged black iron.
Its defensive power was considerable; compared to the leather armor of the Rockwolf, the Armor Wolf’s armor had the strength of a light metal armor. Yet, it was as light as the leather armor.
Looking at Elsa’s shining black armor, Nord slightly regretted selling her some materials from the Armor Wolf.
Perhaps sensing this, Elsa wore a smug smile, placed her spoon down on the dish, and puffed out her chest to show off the armor to Nord.
Elsa’s crimson hair fell in soft curves.
“So, what are you going to do?”
After finishing her meal, Elsa asked again, holding a mug of ale.
Nord shared his thoughts.
“Honestly, I still need to save money. I want to avoid buying store-bought armor.”
“Then that means ‘bringing in’ your own materials.”
To purchase armor—or rather, weapons—there are two methods.
One is to buy ready-made armor from a weapons shop. The other is to place a custom order for the armor you want to create.
The former is referred to as ‘store-bought’ armor, while the latter is known as custom-made armor. Generally, store-bought armor is cheaper than ordering it, but there’s a way to get custom armor at a lower price.
This is commonly called ‘bringing in’ materials.
Simply put, you bring the materials you want for the armor, and they make it for free based on those materials. Elsa’s black wolf armor was made using this method.
However, the cheap option is generally limited to armor that the store is used to making. If you try to add unique specifications or bring in rare materials, the production costs skyrocket. Nevertheless, if you want to use rare materials, they typically aren’t sold in stores, so there’s not much difference from placing a custom order.
The materials for Elsa’s black wolf armor, made from the Armor Wolf’s fur and its plates, were indeed rare, but the crafting method was the same as the ordinary Rockwolf armor.
Elsa had it tailored as light armor to suit her fighting style, which added a small amount to the cost, but it was still much cheaper than buying a full set of armor.
As Elsa sipped her post-meal ale, Nord revealed his thoughts.
“I’m thinking of making scale armor.”
“Scale armor? That sounds good. But isn’t that made of metal… are you mining?”
At Elsa’s reaction, Nord prefaced with, “No,” before continuing to explain.
What Elsa imagined was metal armor. Armor made by sewing small metal plates onto fabric, which looks like scales, is called scale armor.
However, what Nord was planning to make was actually scale armor. The only difference between the two with the same name is the material: metal plates or actual scales.
When talking about scale armor, the first thing that comes to mind is armor made from the scales of dragon species, which falls under the category known as dragon mail. Next, you might think of scale armor made from the scales of wyverns or lesser dragons, which is indeed a type of scale armor but is distinct from dragon scale armor.
Nord explained this passionately to Elsa, but unfortunately, she seemed uninterested in such topics.
As if she didn’t care, she sipped her ale and shot an exasperated glance at Nord, urging him to continue.
“So.”
Nord continued,
what he aimed to create was scale armor made from the materials of lower-tier monsters.
The materials he needed were mainly from reptilian or fish-like monsters, which Nord, as a lower-tier adventurer, could manage to gather.
Moreover, processed monster scales could provide strength rivaling that of metal.
If he wore the scale armor over chain mail, he would end up with an (relatively) affordable and durable piece of equipment.
This was what Nord conveyed to Elsa.
He learned this information from the owner of the weapons shop when he consulted about materials and armor. Nord had found the details about the materials and armor quite fascinating, but unfortunately, it seemed that Elsa did not share that enthusiasm.
Having explained all that, Elsa set down her empty ale cup on the wooden table and reached out her palm upward, as if to say, “Give me something.”
“You must have a plan now, so you know what materials you’ll need.”
It was a gesture demanding the information about the materials.
Nord nodded and, taking a notebook out of his pocket, opened a page and handed it to Elsa.
She leaned closer to peer into the contents of the notebook with a slightly flushed face from the alcohol.
It contained:
Scales of Water Fish
Hide of Great Serpent
Large Scale of Great Serpent
Scales of Poisonous Snake
Carapace of Fish Dragon (can be substituted with metal)
And so on.
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