Ariellia and her maids took the knights to the market three terraces down from the mayor's residence. It's uncertain which experience was worse, riding over the skybridges or crossing them by foot. Internally she was crawling in her skin but externally she had to play the part of a brave heiress, confidently leading the party. Following the game map from memory, she finds her way to a familiar item shop tucked away in the corner of the market square.
[Allba's Item shop] the sign reads.
"Clad wait for us outside." At the last minute she has to remind herself not to end with 'please' since that would be out of character.
"Yes, my lady." Clad takes no offense, bows his head, and motions for the other knights to stand guard by the door.
Taking a deep breath to settle her excitement, she steps into the quaint little shop. There's the familiar sound of jingling bells as soon as the door opens. Inside, she is welcomed to the sight of dazzling necklaces, wands, rings, and elaborate headdresses on display around the crowded space. Despite being one of the early shops a player encounters in the game, Allba's store is well stocked. In fact, much later in the game players have no choice but to return to this part of the world map to retrieve key story items.
Looking around, her amethyst eyes freely roam the shelves, seeing many familiar accessories she once owned. Walking forward, she picks up a light pearl hairpin. Looking at it, she can't help but feel a bit disappointed. If this were like the game, she could see the stats for this item through the status window and compare it to her current equipment. Up till now, she never realized how helpful such a simple skill could be. At this point how is this any different from randomly pulling something out of a hat, who's to say this hairpin is worth anything. This is one of the early shops available in the game, the developers intentionally mixed in a bunch of useless items to torment novice players.
[Skill Status can be upgraded to Appraiser for 5 AP, do you wish to continue?]
[Yes/No]
Of course she picks yes, thankful she was too stingy to part with her AP points too soon after leveling up.
[Appraiser skill acquired. You are now able to see the status of both people and items below your current level.] How unfortunate, she was hoping to use the new upgraded skill to spy on Jasper's stats. Happy for her sudden change in fortune, she glances back at the hairpin. This time a familiar blue window appears before her.
[moon pearl hairpin]
[restriction: Level 5+. Use: increases agility by 5 points. Price: 150] Not bad, for a lightweight like her with a weak physique, being light on her feet at critical moments is a definite plus.
"Look at this necklace miss, I know it will look so lovely on you!" Sena approaches her with an exquisite silver necklace embellished with violet gemstones.
[Norman's Necklace]
[restriction: Level 1. Use: increases social standing among other nobles. Price: 500]
Ugh, what a waste of precious stones and skill. If she hadn't acquired the appraiser skill, she'd likely have fallen prey to such a scam as well. Any regular customer would take one look at the excellent craftsmanship, gorgeous expensive looking jewels, and expect it to be some god tier item in combat, just to find out later it's only useful at social gatherings among nobles.
"That's a good eye you've got there little miss." A boisterous voice booms from behind the counter, causing Sena to jump in fright.
Ariellia turns around to see the store owner, Allba lifting a heavy jewel box onto the counter. He's just like she remembers, standing taller than the average dwarf at a height of 170 cm due to his mixed heritage. It's not hard to spot the grin beneath his prominent long red beard. He sits behind the counter in a lazy manner with a smoke pipe between his white teeth, his hazel eyes watching their every move. Arie feels a chill travel down her spine at his blatant lecherous stare.
"Perhaps" she pretends to agree, discreetly setting aside the flashy accessory. "Do you have any good items to ward against mental afflictions?"
He blows a smoke ring, his eyes flashing with a bit of interest. "Hmm, it doesn't seem to me that the lady is under any external influence."
She nods, "my mind may be sound at the moment, but one can never be too careful. Show me your best goods."
Allba, like most dwarves, can't restrain his inner greed. His merchant's eye already pegged her party as rich from the moment they walked in, tallying up their entire wardrobe in seconds. He's eager to please such customers so he doesn't ask any more questions, simply slides the box from before aside and retrieves another heavy one from behind the counter to replace it. He fiddles with the complex lock at the front, before propping it open for her to see. Inside a variety of accessories are lined up, each unique in its own right, with appealing designs. Ariellia's eyes light up in delight, familiar with several of these items in the box. In fact, she spots the brooch she had in mind all along to deal with Anya.
Smiling, she picks up the jade scorpion, lightly caressing its smooth surface in satisfaction. [Jaded scorpion]
[restriction: Level 10. Use: reflects mental status ailment attacks back onto the caster. Price: 350]
"Excellent, this will do nicely." It's not enough just to negate Anya's provocation spell. It's always been her policy to pay back everything she is given two folds. If Anya is truly sinister enough to intentionally provoke negative emotions in Ariellia to drive a wedge between her and Rei, let's see how the wolf girl reacts when the tables are turned back on her. For once, she is grateful for her family background. Money isn't a thing of concern for a member of the Garrod family. She could probably clear out this entire store without even breaking the bank.
"Glorious! Please feel free to look around some more while I wrap this up for you." Allba rubs his two large meaty hands together in glee, finally a big, beautiful spender is here!
"Of course, I'm far from done."
Why go through all that trouble of coming back here for key story items if she can get what she needs right now. She picks out a few more items from the box, setting them aside, before wandering around the store a bit more. She keeps getting this nagging feeling that she's forgetting something important, but no matter how hard she tries, nothing comes to mind. She clearly remembers all the items that were useful early on in the game when she first started playing...but why can't she remember anything she needs for later stages. Each time she tries to recall her mind goes blank.
'I've decided. 27, 26, and 24. You can have these years of my life'
'Shit!'
She suddenly remembers her traded memories with the real Ariellia in their shared subconscious. She's been casually playing 'The King's return' for 3 years, never finishing the game due to life constraints, work, dating, and the devs adding more storyline quests. It's easy for her to remember the early stages of the game because she started playing at 25, but what of 26, or 27? She'd been so eager to rid herself of the events of those years for some reason, totally forgetting the importance of keeping her game knowledge intact. Now when she tries to recall anything from that time, her head aches and her thoughts become sluggish. It's like an eraser is slowly wiping these events before she can fully recall them. In the end, she is left with the impression that something should be there but isn't anymore.
'I'm an idiot.'
Dumbfounded, she stares at the rows of items lining the walls of the small shop. She feels slightly helpless knowing her new appraiser skill likely won't help because these end game items are likely higher than her current level. She knows there's something she'll need here but for the life of her, she can't remember what it is! At this rate she may really have to purchase the whole store just to be safe.
'That's why I told you to pick wisely.'