"Ummm…Benimaru." Ravenna called him with some hesitation. They were expecting it would be a heavy task from the very beginning, given how good their weapons were, but it looks like her perception of such things was wrong.
Fiain, who didn't talk much, finally spoke out, as even she couldn't hold back her confusion. "Lord, did we fail?"
"Huh~" Letting out a sigh, Benimaru said with a tired expression. "We didn't. This is how the world works. You don't become successful just by having the best items. You need advertising, popularity, and trust before you can settle down properly."
"So, we have to wait?" Ravenna's face became downcast as Benimaru's words were still not enough.
Benimaru nodded his head and quickly brought his smile back to his face. "It's okay. We can just wait. Our main goal isn't earning money anyway. This is just a cover up."
Just as Benimaru said, having a successful business wasn't their main goal but a subgoal. Still, it would hurt Benimaru's heart if, in the end, they weren't able to earn any money, which he is in very desperate need of. He might have many resources, but he couldn't use them properly to make anything. By spending the money he got from rewards, he was able to get the essential stuff to make buildings and bring the tools that could help in alchemy and blacksmithing. Also, if his business becomes successful, it will be much easier for him to accomplish his goals.
Ravenna and Fiain looked at each other before stopping to question Benimaru further. They didn't know Benimaru's true goal for this mission, but if the main goal isn't to start a successful business, then they could just spend their time leisurely and peacefully.
Time started to move forward without waiting for anyone, eventually announcing the arrival of evening.
Benimaru was standing with his eyes closed, cultivating the mana around him. It would be a waste of time to not do anything, so he decided he might as well cultivate and have more assurance.
Ravenna and Fiain were also cultivating after seeing Benimaru, not wanting to feel left out.
At that moment, a doorbell rang, waking everyone up.
'Someone, finally.' Benimaru opened his eyes with expectation, and so did others.
Their expectations didn't go down as they saw three people with armor entering the shop. There were two men and one woman; the man leading the two indicated the leader of this group. Benimaru noticed something strange about them. 'This is the smell of blood. I can see the blood stain on their armor too. It looks like they came right here after fighting.'
"Welcome to Heaven's High, dear customers. How can we help you?" Ravenna quickly came forward and greeted them with a big smile on her face.
The leader of this group, the man in front, had a large build and a bald head, but he didn't have any scars on his face or even on his body. The man said it shyly, looking a bit embarrassed. "Miss, I am Belal, and it is nice to meet you. We are he-"
Belal wasn't able to finish his sentence when the girl behind him cut him off.
"Boss, I told you not to tell your name to anyone you meet." The girl warned Belal, glaring at him. She has red hair that was tied into a bun. She had an average height for a woman, but her hourglass-like figure made people think otherwise. She was Bailey, the main attacker in their group.
"Uh…sorry about that, but I feel like this miss isn't someone who can harm anyone." Belal said to Bailey, trying to show his innocence.
However, at that moment, a chuckle escaped from Benimaru unconsciously. He knew what Ravenna was capable of, so it felt very funny to him to see someone paint Ravenna with their own innocence.
The groups heard Benimaru's chuckle and got curious. Belal expressed their curiosity on others behalf. "Sir, what is funny?"
"Nothing." Benimaru shook his head, still with a smile on his face. He covered up the reason for not letting them know. "It is just that I have never seen anyone with such a strong build be so gullible."
Belal became too embarrassed to even speak now. Bailey decided to speak out for him after seeing her boss be like that. "Sir, this is how our boss is. He was very innocent from the start. He can't even kill livestock properly."
"Oh." Benimaru's eyes widened in surprise, not expecting Belal to be so kind hearted. However, something bugged him about this. "If I am not wrong, you guys are adventurers. So you have to kill to make a living. How can he do this job if he is so afraid to kill a…chicken?"
"He doesn't kill." This time the boy, who was quiet the entire time, spoke. Benimaru shifted his focus to him and saw a boy with black hair and a mage-like robe on. He had a deadpan expression, as if nothing seemed to interest him. He was Tanaka, the mage on this team.
"What do you mean by that?" Benimaru asked, raising the corner of his eyebrow.
"Belal's class is a tank, which he chose despite having the strength of berserkers. The reason for that is that he didn't want to kill, so just by being a tank, he could help his teammates kill by defending them and don't have to worry about having his hands get dirty. But he still can't stop the urge to puke after seeing a fleshly-being get mutilated before him." Tanaka said with a sigh, shaking his head.
"Ahhhh…let's forget these. We should do what we came here for." Belal quickly changed the topic, not wanting to get embarrassed anymore by his own people. He looked at Ravenna and asked. "Miss, from the looks of it, you guys mostly sell weapons and some armors. So, are there more than the ones on display?"
"It feels sad to say this, but we only have the ones on display. But don't be discouraged; the ones we have are top quality items for their own ranking, which you will hardly find, and we will bring more and better items in the future." Ravenna said it firmly, making them feel calm and, at the same time, believable.
Belal and others went to check out the weapons, first trying out the basic longsword. Bailey was the main attacker on this team, so she carefully inspected it while others waited. Giving it a swing or two, surprise appeared on Bailey's face. She looked at Ravenna and said. "So, you are telling me this is a 1-star weapon?"
"Yes." Nodding her head, Ravenna started to sing praise of the weapons and the armors in their shop. "As you can see this is a top quality 1-Star weapon but is no way close to being a 2-Star. That is the specialty of our shop. Every item we have in our shop is top-tier in its own ranking."
With surprise and doubt in their eyes, they gave a short glance to the shop, but their eyes couldn't judge the items that easily, and they were doubtful if these shopkeepers were doing their best to scam them later.
So, with a calm and collective mind, Tanaka picked up another sword randomly and felt its weight and fluidity in his hands. He might be a mage, but he had practiced with a sword, so he had some knowledge about it. 'This feels so good to use.'
He turned around and asked the other shopkeeper, Fiain. "Miss, care to show me some guards that can protect my vital points."
Just like Tanaka, Fiain spoke to him with a calm yet icy face. "This way, please."
Tanaka didn't mind her behavior that much. He followed behind her enthusiastically, showing his interest in guards.
Belal and Bailey knew the items in this shop were good, as not many things could catch Tanaka's interest easily.
So, Bailey decided to see if she could buy this sword. "How is this?"
Ravenna didn't say much; instead, she pointed at the price tag before them. They turned their heads to look at the price tag and were left dumbfounded. Not because of it being with a very absurd price but how cheap it was.
They were locals, so they had knowledge about the prices of things that were sold in this city. 1-star weapons mostly cost around fifty to sixty gold coins, not custom made. But that is already too pricy, as common people didn't have much gold coin in their savings, only the adventurers and royals were able to get those in hefty amounts. Except adventurers had to earn their way the hard way, and they would still get less than what they deserved. So, one could guess how ludacris the job related to adventurers was, where only the royals benefitted the most.
Now, they saw a top-quality 1-star weapon in Benimaru's shop that cost only thirty-five gold coins, which made them feel what a reasonable price it was to begin with.
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