"I didn't agree to it.."
"C'mon, we are already a couple minutes away from that building anyway."
Satoya and Kohayuki walked through the empty streets. Well, to be precise they aren't fully empty, there are still some people still working, but they are taking precautions anyway. They walked past a hotel, and Satoya saw a glimpse of a receptionist cautiously looking out into the streets, even exchanging a glance with Satoya while she was holding a broom for either cleaning or to defend herself.
"The streets are still empty, but they said the Jurisdiction Court activities are halted, which is just another way of them saying it's safe to go outside." Kohayuki commented. Of course she knew people are fearful of them, but sometimes people have to live anyway despite that fear, or at the very least that's what her mindset was.
She took out her crowbar, letting it rest on her shoulder as they both walked through the streets. Time by time, some people felt comfortable enough to get out into the open, with some street vendors preparing to sell goods again like normal.
"Why did you pick a crowbar as a weapon? Did you buy it from somewhere?"
"Ahah.. I knew I'd be asked that, but I didn't expect it to be from you."
"Everyone else has a weapon, you know, or at least a practical way of fighting, Rayna has a dagger, Isaac.. As you know, he punches things and people, Edward uses his Verity to grant himself weapons, which he also gives to Johnathan.. So have you always been using a crowbar?"
Kohayuki started fidgeting with the crowbar as they walked, or by fidgeting, just scratching the red paint off with her nails. "Just felt like it, when you were off doing that first Contract in what? Mt. Kazoris mall or whatever it was called, getting your ass handled, me and the others decided to buy weapons to help you."
"And you picked a crowbar out of anything else? How much did it even cost?"
"I found it in an alleyway."
"Isn't that stealing?"
"Satoya, it's just a crowbar, no way someone would file a case for a stolen crowbar."
Satoya looked around, and at the topic of weapons, he had gotten used to carrying a sheathed katana on one hand. Initially he wasn't aware of how one secures a scabbard on their hip, but Satoya gradually grew accustomed to holding it. It even grew his confidence a little more, as he felt cool holding it, although it can be a bit of a nuisance.
"Why didn't you ask Rayna to buy you an actual weapon? Considering you are able to swing a crowbar around one handed normally, wouldn't an actual weapon make you even stronger?"
"Heh." She giggled after Satoya spoke.
"I got too lazy, and a crowbar isn't that bad of a weapon don't you think?"
"Yeah right, isn't it awkward to swing around though?"
Kohayuki shrugged, little did Satoya know, they were heading toward an armory store. The moment they walked in front of it, Kohayuki paused, prompting Satoya to stop in his tracks as well.
"If you want me to use an actual weapon, why don't you buy one for me?"
She said with a smug grin.
Satoya covered his face with a hand, mumbling, "fine, better pay me back later you prick."
"Haha, don't worry!"
They walked inside. The armory shop was somewhat old, there were weapons of all sorts of variety. Despite the existence of guns, guns are pretty useless when most of the stronger opponents one would face have the aptitude to dodge, deflect, or even catch a bullet, so logically, using a melee weapon was much better in the long run. Satoya remembered Hayate Seo's advice on picking a firearm as the first weapon as Regulator Contracts for those of C rank aren't too hard, and any firearm should suffice as long as the person using the firearm was competent enough to have good aim.
After what felt like ages, Kohayuki picked a sword, the sword had a pretty fancy blade on it, the scabbard was the more elegant one as well, and had golden maple leaves and some silver flowers all over it. "This reminds me of that lady who sliced the rental car."
"Are you trying to look like her?"
"Not really.. Someone like you would've probably thought of her as hot if you even saw her from the trunk."
"Excuse me, I was focusing on Executioner Argoreas and didn't care too much about whoever that lady was."
Kohayuki out of curiosity checked the signature of the blade. Typically weapons sold in an armory store would be sold with a signature somewhere on the scabbard, for instance Satoya's Regulator Licensed Katana he's using right now, had a Regulator Licensed signature on the scabbard, although for any weapon that was Regulator licensed, would have a huge REGULATOR LICENSED label on the scabbard or handle.
The moment Kohayuki found the signature of the weapon, she coughed awkwardly.
"What is it?"
"Check what signature it has." She said while pointing at where the signature was, it was engraved on the end of the scabbard, and was written pretty small and hard to see.
Semi-Elite Grade Autumn Cutter.
"Semi-elite grade? Then how much does it cost?" Satoya asked in disbelief. Typically weapons that aren't Regulator licensed, are required to have a grading, and coincidently, they are the same as the Regulator Rankings, the way the grading worked was primarily the way it was manufactured, and the exclusiveness of it.
"Got a pretty cool name as well, but how much does it cost though?"
Satoya didn't really care too much about the name of a weapon, as he considered them rather cliche if that's the right word, he was worried most about the cost, as he agreed to buy her a weapon like an idiot.
"860,000..?"
Satoya felt his soul drop upon seeing the price. He wasn't even sure if he had that much to be honest.. But the way Kohayuki was looking at the sword made him feel even more obliged to buy it. So they both went to the seller and bought it, or well, Satoya bought it, with the hopes of Kohayuki paying him back later. He also bought a buckle so Kohayuki can clip her crowbar to it so she doesn't have to hold it, and there was enough room to where she can buckle her sword.
Outside the shop, Kohayuki was practically glaring at the sword with gleaming eyes. Satoya was indeed happy for her, but he was also looking at his wallet in a gloomy expression. Kohayuki noticed Satoya, telling him, "It doesn't really feel right to be honest."
"What do you mean?"
"You've been using that basic ass katana for a while, wanna trade?"
"N-no.. It's fine, just pay me back later.."
She felt a little embarrassed, but sighed before she remembered something.
"Did you know you can imbue your weapon with your influx?"
"Huh? You can? How'd you know?"
"I don't know, that asshole Ludwig said some vague bullshit about it to me and the others while you were getting interrogated for an hour."
Knowing how powerful Ludwig was, Satoya believed her, but it also gave him a question.
"If he knew how to do that, why didn't he use it at all when he was with us?"
Immediately after asking that, Kohayuki struck a pose, slicking back her hair before speaking in the most edgy, dark voice Satoya had ever heard.
"I refuse to be seen as a show off."
This was obviously her doing her best Ludwig impression, yet it also made Satoya cringe which was probably the intention.
"Please don't do that again."
"Oops, anyway let me try it."
Kohayuki unsheathed the sword, and held it up. She began gripping the hilt with all her might, and the sword began trembling.
Surprisingly, Satoya began seeing an aura around the sword, however it was so faint it didn't mind as well not be there, so he watched with interest.
Until well..
"Why'd you stop?"
"I felt like a… huff… A vein was going to pop.."
Kohayuki was on the ground, clearly exhausted as she was desperately gasping for air. "Do you even know what your Verity does?" Satoya asked.
"I forgot I can do that.. I'm too tired, I'll figure that out later.."
"Let's just head back to where the others are, I think people are going to start flooding back into the streets because the Evacuation Effect will end in like a couple minutes."
Kohayuki held her breath upon that realization.
A moment later.
They arrived back at the building after running as fast as they could back. Oddly enough Kohayuki had more stamina than Satoya, as Kohayuki began sprinting along with him despite her running out of breath at first.
"Oh there they are." Rayna said, slightly confused on why Satoya and Kohayuki are panting, and also pointing at the new sword Kohayuki had.
"Where the fuck did you buy a cool ass weapon like that?" Isaac asked, feeling jealous toward her.
"He bought it for me, hehe."
"It doesn't look Regulator Licensed, what grade is it?" Edward was curious, Regulator Licensed was mostly seen as an "excluded" grade, as well, it was cheap and manufactured in bulk by the Regulator's Committee, but any weapon that wasn't Regulator's Committee Licensed, are usually much more durable, and depending on who manufactured them, might have powers, but it actually isn't that powerful compared to just buying a Merit Revelator.
"Semi-Elite grade."
"You're kidding! Let me check!"
Kohayuki held out the sword, and Edward snatched it, and began searching for the signature until he found it. Out of denial of her having a semi-elite grade sword, he scratched the signature with his thumb's nail, until paint came off, revealing instead of a semi-elite grade sword, the sword ended up being S grade, which isn't that bad.
"WHAT!!!" Kohayuki yelled out loud in dismay.
"That means Satoya spent 860,000 Alikurs on a scam!" She continued, behind her, Satoya was quietly trying to calm her down. He even started coping by trying to look optimistic.
"Hey at least it's better than my katana.."