After their breakfast, Saki went outside to train again, only to be met by her neighbor and friend standing just by their fence as she made her way to her dummy. "A fine morning, Saki" She greeted, her emerald green eyes shining upon her greetings, partially hidden behind her bangs, her silky dark green hair gently swaying behind her as a subtle wind passed by, and a beautiful smile on her face. Her name was Abigail. When Saki turned to her, she noticed her carrying two baskets covered in stripe-red cloth.
"Abby" Saki nods with a smile. "It's another peaceful day, isn't it?" Abigail smiles back. "I was hoping you could accompany me to Kanna to deliver these freshly baked breads" She shook the baskets lightly as she asked for Saki's company.
To the north of their village is a stretch of forest that eventually leads to the center of the continent. Kanna village is just on the other side, bordering the forest just like Shigure.
"I will go, but why me?" Saki asked, curious about Abigail's request. "Out of all the boys in this village, you seem to be the best to have in the forest. Some of them might look capable and talk big, but that's all for a show! I bet you none of them even swung a sword! I can only guess what they would do if they saw an actual monster" Abigail rolled her eyes as she explained. "Besides, you're training hard to be an adventurer, right? A dummy wouldn't hit back, you know?" She giggled.
"Well, yeah, I know that" Saki scratched her head then continued "And our boys can fight, even their fathers too... You're being mean" Abigail just giggled and ignored her reply. "If you want real training, you should fight against a real enemy, the ones that hit back. The slimes and bugs in the forest don't even have a monster rank, so they should be harmless to someone who likes swinging swords like you" Abigail winks at her, clearly teasing her slightly. "I don't know about that... But, of course, I wouldn't let you down" Saki had more or less confidence in her tone, as it was more like guarding her friend from harm than actual training.
Abigail shrugs enthusiastically with a smile. "Wonderful! I will wait for you here" She said before facing away. With that, Saki went back inside her home and got into her room. She strapped in her cheap sword sheath she got from a wandering merchant visiting her village and sheathes her wooden sword. "Mother! I will be with Abigail for a while!" She called out before walking outside. "Take care!" Her mother replied. She saw Saki walking out with her sword sheath and sighed with a smile.
Walking outside, she approached Abigail with a readied expression. "Let's go" She said to Abigail. As they proceeded to walk, Abigail gave her a studying gaze and then saw her sword sheath. "That sheath looks like a toy for the boys, don't you think?" Abigail gave a hearty giggle. "Be quiet... I'm not permitted to wear adventurer-class equipment, so this would do" Saki frowns with an annoyed tone in her voice. With a little bickering, the two head out to the forest.
The forest was already made accessible to both villages by dirt road and most of the monsters dwelling inside were already reduced. However, it was not completely safe as reports of attacks from slimes and bugs were still present from time to time. The two ladies walked the straight dirt path that directly led to Kanna village.
"Do you think the slimes would attack right now?" Abigail asked Saki while looking around the forest. "We don't know that" Saki replied as she did the same. "The bugs also appear here, you know? They could attack us any moment, and Kanna is still a bit far" Abigail spoke with her usual tone.
Saki raised a brow and glanced at her. "You're raising concerns but you don't exactly sound like it" She told Abigail, then Abigail quickly leaned to her, bumping arms with her. With a cheeky smile, she replied. "That's because I have Saki with me. A very reliable Shigure adventurer" Her words cause Saki to be flushed. "Oh, be quiet, you silly! I'm nowhere near an adventurer right now" She muttered.
"I was sure you would be proud to be hearing that. You would be like 'Hah! That's right! Rely on me!' or something like that, since you were so determined to be one". Abigail smiles gently now and moves away from her. Saki narrows her eyes slightly on her. "I'm determined, not reckless. Even I know that a normal villager like me wouldn't be able to properly fight slimes and bugs. Determination alone wouldn't make me strong" She stated.
"It would make you feel strong, right?" Abigail kept her smile and asked. "Well, yeah, but feeling strong isn't enough" Saki replied and looked at Abigail's face, who was still smiling. Upon closer look, she was smirking. Saki noticed this and became annoyed a little. "You're awfully energetic today" She told Abigail with a grumpy voice. "What do you mean?" Abigail chuckles slightly but Saki doesn't bother answering.
About fifteen minutes later, they got out of the forest without any trouble and entered Kanna village. It is a small village, its roads were dirt and filled with villagers talking and passing by, some carrying tools in their hands and some with haystacks over their shoulders. It was an ordinary working day for Kanna, just like any other small village in the Karagi continent. As they proceeded to the village, Abigail smiled once more. "Here we are! Too bad there weren't any slimes or bugs you could play sword fight with" She teased Saki. "Enough with you, Abby, seriously..." Saki sighed and Abigail felt a small sense of victory and giggles.
"Mister Takebe requested these breads. He has been our shop's regular recently, so I put an extra effort today into delivering his order" She explains, shaking the baskets lightly. "Extra effort? All you did was walk here" Saki raised a brow at her. "Making a young maiden walk through a forest to deliver his bread is a bit too much, you know?" Abigail grins at her in response.
"Now you're blaming him for putting in an 'extra effort' that he probably didn't ask for" Saki shook her head and Abigail just went ahead to go to her customer's house while humming. "Good grief, this woman..." She watched Abigail as she disappeared in the distance towards the houses ahead. Her gaze then wandered around and landed on the equipment shop sign. Her eyes lightened and began to trot ahead to the equipment sign.
"Excuse me..." She muttered under her breath as she opened the door of the shop and emerged inside. Numerous pieces of equipment are neatly placed throughout the shop, the armor stands, the sword racks, and the shelves filled with accessories with various effects on the user. Her gaze traveled around the shop.
"Welcome!" The bearded man enthusiastically greeted behind the counter. As Saki walks further into the store taking in the sight of the equipment, the shopkeeper can't help but stare at her. As she got closer to the counter, he spoke up. "Aren't you Saki Nisshin from Shigure? Words of your desire to become an adventurer reach up here for sure. It seems like your choice of path puts an uproar among the villages around here" He said, his voice filled with intrigue. Saki gave her an annoyed glance as she heard her name from him.
"That's me, and yes, I aspire to be an adventurer" She confirmed with a sigh. The shopkeeper chuckles and crosses his arms. "Is that a toy sheath you have? You're too old for playing hero!" He began to laugh at his joke, and of course, Saki just glared at him and didn't say anything else. After moving on from his laughter, the shopkeeper spoke once again. "Not only an adventurer, but you chose to pick up a sword as well. Aren't you full of rainbows?!" He laughs again, and this time, Saki turns to face him as she maintains her glare.
The shopkeeper was quick to notice this and stumbled over his words. "I-I mean, if you're going to be a female adventurer, y-you could at least become a Healer class o-or that new Mage class, yes that Mage class! Fits for every gender!" Despite his attempts to clear himself up, Saki kept her silent glare. "A-all I'm saying is that a young lady like you shouldn't be straining her arms to carry swords!" He added. After a few seconds of silence under her persisting glare, he gave in and cleared his throat. "Right... I will keep my words to myself from now on" He then returned to his usual demeanor as the shopkeeper with a slightly uneased expression.
Saki sighed and continued looking through his items. On one of the shelves, she found accessories relating to slimes. She opened the shop's item list and went through the items to look for the accessory. "Slime Bracelet..." She began to read the accessory's effects as soon as she found it. "...Five percent plus damage to Slimes... 20 Gold..." She mutters as she reads.
"It may not do much for villagers, but it helps to defend oneself from slimes. Take a look at the other bracelets too, I have Insect Bracelets that let you increase your damage to Insect monsters instead!" Saki ignores the shopkeeper's sales talk and keeps looking through the shelves. "Monster Warding Bracelet... Prevents monsters from approaching you?" Saki reads the accessory's effects and then turns to the shopkeeper. "If you wanted to protect the villagers, why not sell a lot of these?" She asks.
"Didn't you see the price, Miss Nisshin? It costs 3,000 gold. I was only able to buy one from a merchant coming from Yamatai and I was planning on selling it to wealthy adventurers instead" The shopkeeper explains. "But hey, if any villagers can afford it, they're more than welcome" He added. Saki then looked back to the bracelet. "Adventurers wouldn't buy this. Why would they travel the world without encountering monsters? They wouldn't rank up" She asks.
"I heard it's useful when they have to go to one place or another without having to deal with monsters, usually when they're on an urgency" The shopkeeper briefly replies. Saki goes on to look through the equipment for a while.