Coat Shopping and Guild Assembly

Kage and I were the first ones to wake up. We went down the eat some breakfast. Nothing that fancy, just some regular breakfast.

After we finished, I wondered what I could do with all the money that I had earned from that last job. Kage suggested I go shopping around, but I didn't really have anything in my interest. Though, I could go buy some new clothes. There is nothing wrong with the clothes that Kage bought me, but it's kind of boring just wearing the same clothes every day.

When the girls woke up, they said they'd like to come along with me. Kage decided to head to the guild to do see what quests were available. He said he'd wait for us there.

The girls headed to this weapons shop. Luna's daggers had worn out after fighting with those beetles, and she needed new ones. Aurora needed a new staff. I don't know why she needed one, but I guess everyone uses magic differently. I don't need a staff to use magic. Eve told me that she needed a staff in order to control her magic. That makes sense to me. Eve planned to head to the tailor shop.

I went to this armor shop. There was a set of golden armor showed behind a glass panel. When I entered, there were various shields, armor, gauntlets, and helmets, etc laid out. Behind the counter was a happily smiling, nice-looking shopkeeper.

"Welcome."

I nodded my head and looked around. I walk past a few sets of armor that looked promising, but they looked a bit heavy. I prefer mobility over defense, so I don't think heavy armor suits me. It'll be difficult to move around in full-body armor that weighs over fifty pounds. Maybe a sort of lightweight equipment is alright. Leather armor would do.

I went up to the shopkeeper.

"Excuse me, what is the best kind of armor you have. Uhh, anything except metal."

"Ahh, no metal, aye? Let me see..."

The shopkeeper turned around and looked at the selection of armor and clothes behind him. Then he took this jacket off the wall.

"How about this? It's made of Gilded Lion skin."

"Gilded Lion?"

"Creatures with impervious skin. It prevents any physical injuries."

Hmm, that sounds beneficial. If I were to meet one of those and they attacked me, would Koshiro do any damage?

"But..."

"But?"

"It's not resistant to magic, so it can burn up easily."

Well, that's not assuring. One tiny fire spell and that's going to be a waste of money.

"Uhh, do you have anything else?"

"Eh, let's see..."

While the shopkeeper was searching for a better kind of equipment, I noticed a long black trench coat with golden linings hung up at the inner corner of the shop. It had black fur around the collar, golden buttons, and a silver snake pattern coming from the left collar down to the sleeve. Personally, I am fascinated by trench coats, so this caught my attention.

"What about that?"

The shopkeeper stood up and looked at the coat.

"Ahh that. Yes, that is a masterpiece made by my father. Are you interested in that?"

"Well, what does it do?"

"It is made from leather that is unobtainable here but is available in the east. Like the jacket I showed you earlier, it is also made of Gilded Lion fur. It is also enchanted with magic resistance, physical resistance, thermal fluctuation resistance, and blade resistance. In addition, it also enhances magic attacks."

"Wow, that sounds pretty promising. If it is that powerful, why is it just left in the dust?"

"Well, one of my father's apprentice stole the design and is now selling them at the royal capital. People think that this is fake, even though I tell them about the enchantments."

This is sold in the royal capital? Judging by the tone of his voice and his expression, he's not lying.

"Mind if I try it on?"

"Feel free."

I took the coat off the coat stand. It felt smooth and dusty. Well... it was just collecting dust the whole time. I shook the coat a bit and a massive cloud of dust fell onto the ground. Now that the dust was off, the coat looked a bit more fresh. The golden buttons glinted a bit. There was a symbol of a goat. Goat for buttons and snake for patterns, weird. The coat also had five coat tails.

As I slipped my arms through the sleeves, a message pops up in front of me.

[Buffs received]

---

[Buffs]

Physical Attacks [+25%]

Magic Attacks [+20%]

Magic Resistance [+90%]

Blade Resistance [+90%]

Blunt Attack Resistance [+90%]

Thermal Fluctuation Resistance [+50%]

---

Interesting boost! My resistance has gotten pretty high. If I were to be attacked now, I wouldn't feel most of the pain. I like these buffs.

Putting aside the buffs, the size is no problem. It's also really light. I punch the air, no resistance. Not even a slight amount of discomfort. It's like this thing was made just for me. I like it.

"I have a question."

"Yes?"

"Is the coat sold by your father's apprentice enchanted?"

"Ehh no, my father never told this secret to anyone but me."

"Hmph, that's good."

Though it will be annoying for me to have the same coat as the people who bought the coat from that place.

"I'll take it. How much is it?"

"15 gold coins."

Snap!

Fifteen... gold coins?

If I pay for this coat, all I have left is...

Well... one...

But... if I think about it, it kind of is worth it. Though... all my shopping money will just be wasted on this coat.

Wait... Kage is my servant, right? So his money is also my money. He's like a piggy bank. I could just ask him to lend me some-

No no no, I shouldn't think of him like that. He earned his money fair and square. I must buy things that I want with my own money.

This coat... it's worth it! This coat is amazing!

"Alright. I'll take it."

I handed the shopkeeper fifteen gold coins, and he started bowing to me rapidly. Turns out I'm the first customer to buy his late father's equipment. Feels bad to lose a parent.

And with that, I had lost almost ninety percent of the money I had.

Along the way to the guild, I met up with the girls.

"Ho? You bought a coat?"

Eve teased as she evaluated the new coat that I bought.

"For your information, this coat is enchanted with magic and physical resistance. It is beneficial if you didn't know. Maybe you should've bought something like this."

"Pff. Your sense of fashion is hilarious."

"Look who's talking."

Her eye twitched. She was wearing a white blouse, a green jacket, a black skirt, and black stockings. Along with her coat, she also had a blue ribbon. She looked great, it's just that I didn't have a comeback to what she said. But anyone who insults a beautiful trench coat like this has not experienced the fascinating sensation that coats offer!

I glared at Eve, and she glared back. Then she looked away and chuckled.

"Heh, I bet that coat was cheap, how much was it?"

"Fifteen gold coins."

I smirked, and Eve recoiled back with shock. Ha, I got her now.

"T-t-tch, you win this time, Noctem."

She looked away and crossed her arms. I looked over at Aurora. She was also wearing the same kinds of clothes as Eve, except her jacket was a lighter shade of green and she had a yellow ribbon. I'm guessing that she had also accompanied Eve in her shopping.

"Noctem."

She said looking at me in the eyes.

"Do I look... weird?"

What is this... my heart... it hurts...!

"O-of course."

I gulped. She let out a smile and returned to her sister's side. I noticed that she had a new staff. It didn't look much, but it was made out of what looked like silver material and it had a bunch of charms hanging on the end of it. Luna walked past me. Now that she was standing next to the two sisters, she looked a bit taller than Eve in her TRUE form.

As we approached the guild, the atmosphere was a bit different. Everybody was quiet, and the lady at the front desk wasn't there. I wonder what's wrong?

I looked around and eventually spotted Kage. I approached him and asked him what was going on.

"Well-"

But before he said anything, an old man, the guild master, looked down from the balcony.

"Attention everyone!"

An old man yelled, getting everyone's attention. Wonder what he wants our attention for?

"Lately, you've heard the news about the dungeons."

Dungeons? What dungeons?

"At the council meeting, the king has given an order."

Everyone stood still. This assembly must be really important if it came from a king, I guess I'll listen.

"We will be raiding these dungeons with the other guilds. It will be led by the imperial soldiers that the king will choose."

When the old man mentioned dungeons, most of the members, mostly D-ranks and C-ranks, began worrying and chattering.

The old man noticed. Then he said.

"This will be a dangerous mission. Since I do not control your lives, you are free to not participate in this raid. But remember, you are doing this for the sake of the people of Regium. It is your choice if you want to participate or not."

When he said that, all the D-ranks and almost all of the C-rank members began walking away. Surprisingly, even a B-rank member, Kyle Borsen, walked away.

That left the present A-ranks, B-ranks, and a few C-ranks, including us. The guild master furrowed his eyebrows. Even with the decline of members to go raid the dungeons, there was still a large amount of us.

"Alright, those that are still here, I will call you by your name and give you your destination. You will meet with the group that you will be going with. And do not worry, I have gotten the fastest form of transportation for you to get there."

Suddenly, the floor of the guild began shaking. Everyone turned towards the exit. I turned around and there was a herd of horses that had wings!

"Pegasi!"

Eve shouted. I saw a sparkle in her eyes. Her mouth gaped in amazement as the horses calmed down. There were many varieties of these pegasi. Brown, white, chestnut, black, etc. So we are going to be using flying horses to get to these dungeons? To think that mythical creatures like these could be domesticated.

"The Rancher has provided us some pegasi for you guys to use. I've already paid him so the ones that you choose will be yours to take care of."

Oh, so we get to keep one for our own? That's great.

"But before that, let me hand these."

When he said that, a scroll appeared in everyone's hand. As I unrolled it, it had a letter on it.

[S]

S?

"The letters on your scroll with be what group you will all be in. Now find those that are in your group. Then you will proceed to choose your pegasi."

I met up with the girls and Kage.

"So what did you guys get?"

""""Group F.""""

They all said at the same time. Then they looked at each other.

"What a coincidence."

Kage said as he pocketed the scroll. Then he turned his head towards me.

"What did you get?"

I scratched my head and chuckled.

"Looks like we'll be in different groups. I'm group S. But it's alright if we are in different groups, I-"

"NO!"

Aurora yelled. Everybody turned their attention towards her and she yelped.

"Ah... sorry..."

"It's alright. Don't worry, it's not like I'll die or anything?"

"Master."

I turned towards Kage.

"Don't jinx yourself like that."

I looked at him, and he gave me a glare. He's right, I shouldn't get all cocky.

"You're right. Well, good luck to you guys."

They nodded, and we went to meet up with the people in our groups.