CHAPTER 19: PRELIMINARY ARRANGEMENTS・INFORMATION EXCHANGE

The next day, Thursday, I logged to TB at 10 pm.

The previous day we had fought turtles for a bit but the experience gain was quite lacking.

Incidentally, the western part of the Homa plains had become an instanced dungeon for a limited time.

This was probably done to prevent people from stealing event monsters from others.

…When they hear about things being up for a limited time, there are players that breach the usual etiquette after all so I believe it was a good choice.

Today I have an appointment with my blacksmithing master Selene-san so I returned to 「Altrowa village」.

She said in the in-game mail that she was currently in the blacksmith workshop we first met in but…

「Selene-san, why are you in that corner?」 (Hind)

In the furthest corner of the workshop…she was currently curled into a ball.

When she noticed me, she started to look around her restlessly like a small animal that had its guard up.

「Hind-kun, it’s only you? You came alone?」 (Selene)

「I came alone as you stated but…」 (Hind)

「Oh…last time I told you right? That I was quite shy when it came to strangers」 (Selene)

「You did say that」 (Hind)

For some reason, she’s talking as if she knows that I’m usually with other people.

The moment I tried to ask her about it…

「Was it the day before yesterday? I saw you with two extraordinarily cute girls and…I was wondering what I would do if you came together with them」 (Selene)

「I see. I’ll admit that their looks are superb but deep down they are pretty normal, you know?」 (Hind)

「Really? However, I’ll feel shy when I meet a beauty…be it a man or a woman」 (Selene)

I wonder if there’s really that much difference between them and Selene-san…

If she combed her hair and changed the frames of her glasses to a more stylish one, I believe she would attract the eyes of those around her.

It’s like she’s not making the best use of what she has.

Even though she’s using the materials in the game really well…I wonder why.

「Well, you are right in saying that I’m not particularly handsome. If that makes it easier for you to talk to me so be it…」 (Hind)

「Y-You are wrong! At that time I was really happy that I found someone I could talk about minor weapons with and I suddenly…and the way you talk is kind of calming and gives me peace of mind…」 (Selene)

「I’m happy to hear that. Though I often mix in some rough sentences here and there, you don’t mind that?」 (Hind)

「No, not at all. Because the feeling I get from you is gentleness…maybe?」 (Selene)

Gan! Gan!

「「！？」」

Just when we thought we had heard a very loud noise suddenly, we saw the player in the workshop next to us hit the iron with all his might with a hammer.

When our line of sight met his, this time he glared at us like an asura.
Somehow I could feel strong thoughts like…go do that somewhere else! or…get lost!…

「S-So…since it seems like we’ll get in the way of those working if we talk here, shall we go outside?」 (Hind)

「Y-You are right. Excuse us…」 (Selene)

We decided to move somewhere else.

When we did so, the guy next to us kept smiling while veins were popping in his head.

I did really feel killing intent from him…were we that noisy? So scary.

I did pay 300G to enter the workshop, but since there was no problem for them to return it to me if I didn’t use it, it was fine.

After that, because Selene-san disliked crowded places, I led her to the watchtower since it didn’t have many people.

It was the place where I last made our defensive gear.

「It’s a quiet and nice place. Well then, let’s start our information exchange」 (Selene)

「Yeah, guess I’ll start. I have understood various things about the behavior of NPCs」 (Hind)

「Is it really OK? For you to give the information first」 (Selene)

「Last time you did teach me about blacksmithing without asking me to pay anything, I trust you Selene-san」 (Hind)

「That does make me kind of happy. In that case, go ahead」 (Selene)

「Right. As a matter of fact…」 (Hind)

With Claris-san as the base and with the information I gathered from the BBS, I put everything in order and told Selene-san.

She was particularly surprised when I told her about when Claris-san became a peddler…

「I knew that the second-hand shop’s shopkeeper had switched to an old lady, but to think that it was because Hind-kun and the rest took a quest…」 (Selene)

「Please, don’t tell anyone, OK? There are more fans of Claris-san than I thought after all…if this information gets out, I might get PK’d everywhere」 (Hind)

When I reminded her, Selene-san made an impish expression.

I have a bad feeling about this.

「I wonder what I should do…」 (Selene)

「No no, it’s really not a joke!」 (Hind)

「Don’t press the button! Don’t press the button! Is it that kind of situation?」 (Selene)

「You are wrong!」 (Hind)

「Fufu, dear me, I was just joking. To begin with, when it comes to stuff like BBS and things like that, I’m fundamentally a lurker」 (Selene)

「Don’t scare me like that…」 (Hind)

I had told her pretty much everything I knew.

The information that Selene-san told me about was fundamentally complementary to the information I currently had and also about the previous 「First-rate」 series of items I managed to craft last time.

I was particularly interested in the latter and Selene-san had information about it so…

「Regarding those first rate equipment, they seem to be affected by the rarity of the materials」 (Selene)

「Uwah, so it was that! I see…」 (Hind)

Since the answer was far more simple than I thought, I was quite annoyed at it.

I thought it would have something to do with the degree of difficulty of the crafting or the time taken to do it…

「From that reaction, you have been thinking about various theories, right? However, it can’t be helped. The rarity of the materials are hidden in TB after all」 (Selene)

「In that case, the Al-Miraj armour and the tricorne I made…」 (Hind)

「For the armor it was probably the Al-Miraj skin and for the hat it was probably the wool and the felt」 (Selene)

Ah…now that I think about it, I had less of those items.

However, I don’t think there was that much of a difference between them, even if we talk about them being rarer, it was probably about 1 or 2 ranks higher at most.

This means that for someone that has made a lot of gear like Selene-san, she’s able to understand the rarity of the ingredients.

She single-mindlessly goes from the trading BBS to the workshop and vice-versa after all…when it comes to things like crafting, there’s no comparison in the difference between our experience.

There’s no way I can do the same thing as her.

「However, you are amazing, especially when it comes to the armor. You had not that much experience with leather crafting and it’s true that it’s made so that the precision judgement is quite lax. Even then, to hear that you were able to make a first-rate armor +8 on your first try」 (Selene)

「To sum it up, making gear from high quality ingredients make it so that the gear is of higher quality?」 (Hind)

「That’s right. Of course, if you are not skilled you won’t be able to make first-rate items so you can be proud of yourself. You are quite skilled at sewing, huh?」 (Selene)

「It’s probably been around 5 years since I started maybe? If you want to, should I make something for you?」 (Hind)

When I said so nonchalantly, Selene-san face turned like that of a bird.

Did I say something that weird?

Even though she had made lots of gear up to this point, Selene-san was still wearing the beginner gear.

That had bothered me.

「…A gift…from a guy…? To me…? Am I dreaming…?」 (Selene)

「Selene-san? Hey」 (Hind)

「Ah!? I-It’s nothing! Please do so!」 (Selene)

「What would you like? From how you look something like a white gown…or a padded kimono would suit you. Selene-san gives the feeling of an indoor person after all」 (Hind)

「Eh!? How do you know what I’m wearing in the real world!?」 (Selene)

「Eh?」 (Hind)

「Eh?…Ah!」 (Selene)

She self destructed.

That being said, she wears a padded kimono, huh…? Those are convenient to wear at home after all.

Anyhow, since it wasn’t something that you would wear in-game, I was planning to say it would be weird but…I didn’t expect it to go like this.

Selene-san revealed private information by mistake after all, for some time the atmosphere turned delicate, but in the end we were able to continue exchanging information.

Especially information that was useful for the event…the current level cap, what she thought was probably the strongest weapon at the moment and the most efficient hunting grounds. I was really grateful for this information.

It’s not like she’s part of the people that put effort into fighting, why is she so well informed?

When I asked her, she told me that she had a knack for finding information but wouldn’t tell me more.

「Well then, I’ll excuse myself here」 (Selene)

「Got it, thanks for everything. Next time, I’ll bring some gear as thanks」 (Hind)

「O-Ok. I’m looking forward to it…See you, Hind-kun」 (Selene)

Leaving with a bashful smile, Selene-san logged out right there.

Well then, guess I should group up with those 2 and start leveling up.