People Living the Ideal Life

While I was lying around on the bed, I must have fallen asleep. Maybe it was thanks to eating a lot of meat and then going back to sleep, but my wounds had improved.

As usual, I stretched to loosen up my body. I washed my face and ate breakfast. Afterward, I relaxed a bit in my room to let the food settle.

My injuries were healing well. Today, I decided to go buy a new leather armor. I left the inn and headed to the armor shop.

I bought the same leather armor as before. I asked the shopkeeper if it was possible to modify the armor and the sleeves of my clothes to hold shuriken.

Since the shop couldn’t do it, they told me to speak directly to a craftsman. I was given a letter of introduction, which was annoyingly expensive.

I headed to the craftsperson’s district as instructed. Upon arriving, I saw a guard at the entrance. I showed them the letter from the armor shop and was allowed inside.

The sound of blacksmithing echoed, and the sharp smell of chemicals used to treat leather filled the air. I, being sensitive to smells, almost gagged, but I kept walking toward the shop I was supposed to visit.

After a while, I arrived at the shop that had been introduced to me. It was a workshop for leather processing and leather products.

“Good morning—”

“Who the hell are you!?”

Before I could finish my greeting, I was interrupted by a shout from an old man, and I immediately thought, “Oh great, I picked the wrong one.” He was clearly the type of craftsman who had a strong and troublesome personality.

I told him I wanted to modify my leather armor and clothes, and he asked for quite a large amount of money. The work seemed simple enough, but it felt like he was planning to rip me off.

“If you don’t like it, go somewhere else,” the old man said, turning to walk toward the back of the shop.

According to the armor shop, the craftsmen didn’t see each other as rivals trying to improve their skills. Instead, they banded together to protect their vested interests.

If you upset a craftsman, rumors would spread, and soon, no one in town would work with you. In the worst case, if you angered them too much, they’d refuse to sell you goods. It would be like being ostracized.

Knowing that, the old man was acting with confidence. I reluctantly decided to pay the price he asked.

However, I couldn’t just let myself be ripped off, so I decided to put a condition on it.

There was a risk of angering him, but I wasn’t the type to hold back my anger easily. I was better than Gonz, but I couldn’t just let myself be taken advantage of.

“I’ll pay that price, but in exchange, I want to watch you work. If I’m paying that much, I want to make sure you don’t cut corners.”

“What did you say, you little brat? You think I’ll cut corners?” the old man shouted angrily.

“I’m paying a lot of money, so it’s only natural I have the right to see the work being done.”

“It’s a rule that I don’t show my techniques to anyone, especially to some amateur like you! You’re the idiot!”

“Then are you planning to do work that an amateur could easily copy? After taking so much money, you want to do a job that anyone could replicate?”

“Who the hell do you think I am? My work isn’t that cheap! Try copying it if you can!”

The old craftsman fell for my provocation easily. He stomped into the back of the shop, and I followed behind him.

Since I was paying a high price, I figured I might as well learn his techniques.

I couldn’t keep wearing the same clothes every time. I’d need to modify other outfits to hold shuriken as well. If I ordered all of them at these inflated prices, it would be a big problem.

So, my plan was to learn the techniques and do the work myself. It would be much cheaper in the long run. It would also serve as a good way to pass the time while I healed. Killing two birds with one stone.

The craftsman, as arrogant as he seemed, was quick and precise with his work. I focused all my attention on him, using my skill in detecting presence to observe his movements closely.

At first glance, it seemed like the old man was just doing some ordinary sewing. However, there were techniques specific to a craftsman being used.

The special way he stitched for durability, the allowance he gave for movement, and other details were extremely educational.

I never thought I’d end up stealing sewing techniques from a craftsman in another world. It was quite an interesting experience.

Whenever you ask someone to do work, information always leaks. This old man, too, once he gets the money, will probably blab about how I asked him to do the modifications.

Shuriken are hidden weapons, and a ranged attack from an unarmed state can catch the enemy off guard. That’s their biggest advantage.

Once their presence is discovered, you can’t catch them by surprise anymore. That’s not good. If I can modify things myself, I can keep it a secret.

From now on, I want to improve my crafting skills. Like production skills in games.

Once the modifications and checks were done, I paid and left the workshop. I bought needles, fabric, and leather from the market, then immediately started sewing in my room at the inn.

Three days had passed since my discharge, and my wounds were completely healed.

During that time, I had been focusing on improving my sewing skills. Leather was tough, and it was hard to push the needle through, but once I got the hang of it, it became much smoother.

Although it was limited to specific tasks, my sewing skills had improved considerably. It might not be long before I acquire a sewing skill.

Two weeks had passed since the last request. Even Gonz and the others, who had been living it up, had started running low on money. It seemed they were ready to take on a job again.

The party discussed which request to take.

However, the discussion was tense for no real reason. The simple truth was that Gonz was in a bad mood. The reason? His favorite prostitute, whom he had been spending time with for the past two weeks, had gone to another man.

Apparently, a traveling merchant who visited the town regularly had made an appointment with her before leaving. Even a prostitute has to keep her word. If she breaks her promises and loses trust, bad rumors will spread, and no one will want to hire her.

Gonz was angry because that other man had paid more than he did. The prostitute skillfully calmed him down, though, and headed toward her new customer.

Gonz wasn’t happy about it, and if anyone outside the party spoke to him, he looked like he was ready to bury them with his axe.

I tried to lift Gonz’ spirits, but the anger rooted in his lower body was hard to quell.

To be honest, it was annoying, but I could understand how he felt. After a lot of effort, I finally managed to get Gonz to cheer up.

“Today’s request was a piece of cake,” one of the members said.

“For all that, you were running away from the Clay Boar, weren’t you?” another one replied.

“Hey, don’t talk like that about adventurers. It’s bad enough when people say that in a crowded place.”

At that moment, a group of four young people radiating the full aura of ‘people with perfect lives’, came into the guild’s tavern, laughing and chatting excitedly.

Next to me, Gonz’ bald head suddenly tensed, veins popping. Even though she was a prostitute, it wasn’t just the fact that she had gone to another man, it was the sight of these ‘people with perfect lives’ flaunting their carefree, idealistic charm in front of him.

It was pure jealousy, but I could understand how he felt. I felt a little irritated with them, too. It seemed they had managed to take down a Clay Boar by pure luck, and they were celebrating loudly.

The Clay Boar was a boar-like monster that lived deep in the mountains, which served as a natural border. Its meat was delicious, so it sold for a good price.

Though not particularly strong, the meat fetched a decent price, but since the boars lived deep in the mountains, it was rare to encounter them.

The boars that ventured down from the mountains every so often were usually killed by adventurers. These youngsters must have been fortunate enough to meet one of them.

Feeling good about their unexpected windfall, they were drinking and eating at the tavern, a place most adventurers wouldn’t dare go to, given their lack of experience.

These kids were insane, weren’t they? They were newcomers to the adventurer life and had made some small money, but here they were, shouting and celebrating at the tavern as if they were big shots.

They might as well be asking for trouble. Some of the adventurers in the tavern were eyeing them with hungry, lingering stares.

Two of the men would likely be killed, and the two women would be sold into illegal slavery after being thoroughly violated. In a few days, no one would remember them.

Even if I intervened now and warned them, they’d just find another way to die. People who aren’t careful get wiped out easily. It’s survival of the fittest.

At first, I was irritated with the youngsters, but now I felt differently. I sympathized with them. If things went as I expected, they would either be killed tonight or experience something worse.

Those of us in Rock Cliff wouldn’t allow these bright-eyed young adventurers to shine like that. Shiny jewels only attract the greedy.

But I pushed those thoughts aside. I had to focus on getting Gonz back in a good mood. The last thing I wanted was for him to get upset again.

Just as I thought it might be too late…

“Shut the hell up, you damn brats!” Gonz’s roar echoed through the tavern.

The previously noisy tavern went silent as if someone had thrown water on it.

“What’s wrong with making noise in a tavern?” the leader of the group, a young boy, stammered, his voice trembling with fear.

What a fool! He just made the mistake of trying to stand up to Gonz. I had said it earlier, adventurers can’t be taken lightly. But this kid didn’t even realize who Gonz who he was dealing with was.

Gonz’s bald head was getting darker with veins bulging, and without saying another word, he reached for his axe.

I looked at Al. For the first time, Al’s usual poker face was cracking, and he subtly shook his head.

Looks like we can’t let them die here, but how do we get out of this? I quickly thought of a way to diffuse the situation…