"Up there?"
Roy looked puzzled as Ryuu pulled him along. As far as he remembered, the upper levels of Babel Tower housed the Guild's temporary offices, the commercial district, and places where gods gathered.
Ryuu couldn't help rubbing her forehead. Why was he so dense about this kind of thing?
"You're planning to enter the Dungeon like this? With just a bracer?"
Hearing that, Roy looked down at himself. His equipment really did look rather shabby.
Following Ryuu's gaze, he realized what he was missing—armor, especially chest armor. If his internal organs were hit, that wouldn't be a joke.
"And then?" he asked.
"There are armor shops run by the Hephaistos Familia on the upper levels of Babel Tower," Ryuu replied.
They took the magic-stone-powered escalator up to the floor that sold weapons and armor. Looking around, nearly all the shops belonged to the Hephaistos Familia.
Founded by the forging goddess Hephaistos, this familia boasted countless craftsmen skilled in forging techniques. Their weapons and armor were of excellent quality, second to none in Orario—naturally, their prices were correspondingly high.
The shop Ryuu brought Roy into also belonged to the Hephaistos Familia, but unlike others that charged millions of valis at the drop of a hat, this one was relatively affordable.
Most of the items here were made by novice smiths. Their experience and techniques couldn't compare to veteran craftsmen, so even new adventurers could grit their teeth and afford them.
Even so, with the Hephaistos Familia name attached, nothing outright trash could be put on display. Compared to the shady workshops of unknown small familias, the quality here was clearly far better.
As soon as they entered, a dazzling array of weapons and armor came into view, priced between 5,000 and 50,000 valis. Higher-priced items were sold in other shops, creating differentiation between stores.
This business model felt oddly familiar to Roy—strict hierarchies among products. As expected, no one was stupid. His advantage lay in having access to vast information, but when it came to sharp minds, there was always someone better.
With a clear goal in mind, Roy and Ryuu headed straight for the armor section.
With Ryuu's experience guiding him, Roy received advice on materials and forging techniques. In this area, she completely outclassed him as a newcomer.
Throughout the process, Roy also learned how to judge equipment quality, absorbing Ryuu's experience like a sponge and rapidly growing toward becoming a competent adventurer.
After about ten minutes of browsing, they still hadn't found suitable armor.
It wasn't that there was none—it was that Roy's standards were too high.
If these pieces were placed into his system, they wouldn't even qualify as "low-grade." Someone who started out with several high-quality items simply couldn't bring himself to value this "scrap metal."
Better armor certainly existed—in other Hephaistos Familia shops, at much higher prices…
"Is there any other armor?" Roy asked as they approached the shop clerk.
The brown-haired catman's eyes flickered with surprise. He had been observing them for a while now—the girl clearly knew her stuff. Unfortunately, she wore a cloak, hiding her appearance.
"There is one more piece," the catman said carefully. "Take a look at this."
He cautiously pulled out a gray steel-colored piece of armor from beneath the counter. It was an inverted triangle shape, its edges smoothly polished and gleaming faintly.
Roy touched it, applying the method Ryuu had taught him—feeling the hardness of the refined steel, almost seeing each hammer strike from the smith's work in the fine details.
This armor was high-grade?!
Roy was startled, but upon closer inspection, he noticed something off. Perhaps the smith had been interrupted—one corner was missing, and the subsequent quenching wasn't done well. It hadn't quite reached true high-grade quality, making it a near–high-grade piece.
Moreover, no matter how he checked, there was no signature. Suspicion arose in Roy's mind—could this be from some back-alley workshop? The materials used were way too good.
Still, if the price was right, it could be worth buying. This was the highest-quality armor in the shop.
At that moment, Roy noticed Ryuu was also studying the armor, subtly giving him a look.
"How much?" Roy asked.
The catman smiled knowingly. He could tell Roy had seen through the armor's quality, unlike rookies who would dismiss it just because a corner was missing.
Holding up three fingers, he said, "Three hundred thousand valis. It's yours."
"Thirty thousand valis," Roy replied firmly.
The catman's face darkened. Who haggled like this—cutting straight to the jugular? He snorted and prepared to take the armor back.
Roy said meaningfully, "You wouldn't want others to find out about this, especially…"
The catman stiffened, looking at Roy with uncertainty.
Roy pressed the armor onto the counter and smiled. "Relax. Bargaining is part of doing business."
After gritting his teeth and several rounds of back-and-forth, they finally settled on a price of eighty-five thousand valis.
"I said I'd pay it back," Ryuu said seriously. She took out a money pouch and placed valis on the table one by one—no more, no less, exactly eighty-five thousand.
Roy caught a trace of pain in her eyes. The Astraea Familia was short on money as it was, wishing they could split one valis into two.
If they didn't make a big profit soon, they'd be drinking the northwest wind together in a few days.
With the armor in hand, the two left the shop.
"Now you can tell me about this piece," Roy said, looking at Ryuu.
She looked surprised. "You didn't know?"
Roy smiled. "I was just bluffing him."
Ryuu pressed her lips together, holding back a laugh. She had thought Roy knew the truth because of how he both haggled and threatened the clerk. Turns out, he had simply picked up on her look and the lack of a signature on the armor.
Yet it had scared the man anyway.
Ryuu shifted her gaze to the armor. "If I'm not mistaken, this is a piece by the 'One-Eyed Giant Smith.'"
"The One-Eyed Giant Smith… Tsubaki Collbrande?!" Roy exclaimed.
Tsubaki Collbrande, the captain of the Hephaistos Familia—a LV.5 adventurer bestowed by the gods with the title "One-Eyed Giant Smith."
In Orario, almost no one was unfamiliar with that name. Setting gods aside, Tsubaki Collbrande was among the greatest forging smiths in the world.
Her works started at tens of millions of valis—how could something like this appear here?
Ryuu reminded him calmly, "It's a failed piece."
"I see," Roy said, his mind racing as he quickly understood.
Most likely, something had gone wrong during Tsubaki Collbrande's forging process, resulting in a failure. Someone had been ordered to dispose of it, but instead secretly put it up for sale.
Because it bore no signature, and because most people in Orario had never seen or used Tsubaki Collbrande's armor, the matter had never been exposed—even until now.
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