NOVEL NEXT Chapter 15.2
15.2. Equipment Procurement
“Hmm…”
After reading that, Elsa let out a troubled voice.
“Isn’t it going to be tough to collect them all?”
That was something Nord had been thinking too.
The scales of the water fish and the skin of the poisonous snake can still be easily obtained.
The Armor scales of the ichthyosaur are harder to come by, but it’s written that these can be replaced with metal as additional armor for vital parts.
If they can’t be obtained, it’s possible to acquire them, albeit at a cost. (In that case, it wouldn’t align to get armor cheaply.)
However, the remaining materials, the skin and large scales of the giant serpent, were the tricky ones.
The giant serpent is considered a formidable monster among the prey of the Gemstone Adventurer.
While it doesn’t fight in packs, it is said to be stronger than a pack of rock wolves.
What’s most troublesome is that the giant serpent resides deep in the wetlands, a difficult place to fight.
Moreover, the tall grass in the marsh makes it hard to see far, and in the moisture-laden marshy area, heavily Armor adventurers tend to get bogged down.
The giant serpent, being a snake, moves by slithering along the ground, making it difficult to spot despite its large size, complicating the task of locating it even more than its inherent strength.
However, the key to this scale armor lies in the tough hide (meaning strong leather here) and large scales possessed by the giant serpent.
Nord was told by the owner of the weapon shop that the Armor scales of the ichthyosaur would be used for the additional breastplate attached to the scale armor, while the main armor itself would be constructed using the materials from the giant serpent.
When he asked if it would be sufficient to only use the relatively easy-to-obtain scales of the water fish or the venomous viper, he was told that those would provide almost no better defense than a hard leather armor.
Those materials are necessary for parts like the lining and joints, to prevent hindrance in movement, while the main armor parts that absorb frontal attacks require tougher materials.
Nord and Elsa’s party does not have a scout.
They are slowly trying to acquire skills, but those are merely basic skills and fall short of being professional.
In such a situation, fighting the giant serpent would indeed be quite troublesome.
“Why not just save up some money and buy a new armor from the store?”
Elsa, knowing that Nord is short on cash (or rather wants to save money), suggested this anyway.
Although it would be slightly less effective than the scale armor, there are better armors available for sale than the current hard leather armor.
With that armor, they could handle requests at the level of Crystal Adventurers.
It’s quicker to resolve issues with money than to deal with the troublesome hunt.
The problem is that if they choose to resolve the hassle with money, the budget needed would be more than three times as much.
In the end, Nord postponed the decision about the armor and headed home.
§
This is a story from a later date.
“Hey, Nord.”
As Nord went to the adventurers’ guild early in the morning to take on a request, someone called out to him.
Upon reacting and looking at the speaker, he saw a familiar face after a long time.
“Is that you, Genius? Long time no see!”
It was Genius.
Nord had teamed up with Genius and his companions for a long-term herb collection request, and they had maintained their friendship since.
“Where have you been? Out on an expedition?”
“Yeah, I’ve been on another long-term request.”
It turns out all members of Genius’s party had also been promoted to Gemstone Adventurer.
While they had gone on several requests together when they were Slate Adventurer, they hadn’t been able to meet up since their promotion.
Genius and the others had been dispatched to the western part of the kingdom.
They had taken on both monster-hunting and collection requests there.
“…Are you alone today?”
“Yeah, it seems they all have their own matters to attend to. They’ll be inactive for about half a month. Just…”
It’s rare, he laughed, but there were no shadows of his usual party members around Genius.
Genius had a past of coming to the royal capital to become an adventurer with his childhood friends from the countryside.
Those childhood friends, who had known each other for years, formed a typical adventurer party with synchronized teamwork.
However, it’s not always the case that they act together.
Even party members have their own activities.
Among adventurers, some belong to different guilds, and some have side jobs to earn money.
There are even those for whom adventuring is considered a side job.
Moreover, being an adventurer is very tiring.
Life-or-death battles and dangerous collection activities can exhaust the mind more than the body.
It’s not uncommon for adventurers to pause their activities for a while to rest after taking on long-term requests.
In fact, it’s rare to see adventurers taking on requests again after just a brief rest, regardless of whether the requests are short-term or long-term.
Nord falls into the rare category and takes on requests almost daily, even while his party member Elsa was on vacation.
He does take the minimum necessary rest (having his family home in the royal capital is a big help), so Elsa only looks at him with exasperation, but this is not recommended behavior.
Of course, if Nord had the financial means, he wouldn’t be doing such reckless things…
According to what Genius said, the recovery role, Rises, had started training as a priestess in a temple in the royal capital to hone her healing magic skills.
It seems that will take about a month, and the break was planned accordingly.
The spear user, Geigos, is apparently going to dedicate his time to training to improve his skills.
The archer, Almina, had returned home for her brother’s wedding, and the scout and skirmisher, Shino, was on leave in the royal capital.
Genius himself was originally planning to train to improve his sword skills, but,
“I’ve found that training just doesn’t suit me. I thought I’d take on requests alone to get some physical activity.”
And that’s when he happened to see Nord and decided to call out to him.
As Nord listened to the conversation, he casually asked what kind of requests Genius was planning to take on. Genius replied,
“I haven’t decided yet, but actually, there’s something I want from the marsh… I was thinking of going with another party.”
If that’s the case, Nord decided to share his own circumstances—about armor crafting. He suggested that they take on a request in the marsh together.
“I see… If Shino is with us, we can avoid surprise attacks from the giant serpent.”
Genius nodded at Nord’s suggestion.
“So, what is it you need, Genius?”
“Uh… well…”
Genius, who was hesitant with his words, shyly confessed.
“I want a crystal flower… the pink one.”