I showed Jeanne a number of my battle patterns in the 2nd Floor, but I mostly mix Darkness Fog to block vision.

Jeanne is the type to fight in the standard way, and her compatibility with my fighting style might not be that good. 

However, thinking about the future, it is big that Jeanne can keep a monster at bay alone. 

If Jeanne gets the attention of the monster, I can move for the kill, and that should make things stable as a result. Dark Spirit Abilities are in the end most suitable for assassination than to assist in battle after all. You could say they are suitable for soloing. 

With Rifreya, it could still serve that purpose, but the stability should be higher in the 4th Floors and lower with a person like Jeanne who has a pure strong defense. 

However, Rifreya was far higher in terms of attack power, so it is questionable whether the both of us can defeat a Garden Panther though. If I use Create Undead or Dark Knight, we might be able to win though. 

Also, there’s something I understood after fighting a number of times together with her in the 2nd Floor.

There was one big problem in the teamwork of me and Jeanne.

“It really isn’t working. It would be nice if there were some way to make it work though.” (Jeanne)

“It most likely can’t be helped.” (Hikaru)

My Spirit Ability gets erased when she approaches. 

She is a Hated One and she has the constitution of nullifying the Spirit Abilities in her surroundings, but that affects my Spirit Abilities too… In other words, my pivotal teamwork ability, Shadow Bind, is weakened. 

When Jeanne gets close enough to the point where her hands can reach, it would nullify it almost completely, so it really is a bad fit for Jeanne who can only do close combat. 

Phantom Warrior is also slowly erased in the same way, and the Dark Knight and the Night Bugs can’t get close to Jeanne. 

“That’s funny. Hated One is a fitting name.” (Jeanne)

“This is not a laughing matter… That means healing abilities don’t work either, right?” (Hikaru)

“Right. But I can recover with scrolls and potions. Well, that’s the benefit of us Chosen. The Hated Ones born in this world must have it horrible. Also, I have taken natural recovery, so I can recover from a certain degree of injuries.” (Jeanne)

“Even if you say that…” (Hikaru)

It is fine now. But if we look at it from a far perspective, this could be quite the big demerit. 

Of course, she can also nullify attack abilities, so you can say the merits are equally as big…

“I think you get it too, Kuro, but what we need most right now is to increase our individual strength rather than our teamwork. With a super strong ninja and warrior, we can manage with almost anything.” (Jeanne)

“I was also thinking that. I lack the attack power after all.” (Hikaru)

“You have the critical hits.” (Jeanne)

“For truly strong monsters, those attacks in itself can’t even reach. I lack strength. It would be easier to understand if I were to say I can’t get through their defense and deal 0 damage.” (Hikaru)

The only moment I could attack the Demon Lord was when it was restrained in the Dark Coffin. I couldn’t even hit the Garden Panther. 

In other words, against enemies of that level, you could say I am close to not even being able to fight at all.

Of course, I understand plenty well that the Demon Lord and the Garden Panther are monsters that are not supposed to be fought alone, but when doing dungeon exploration, there will definitely be a fatal situation where you have to fight a strong monster no matter what will appear. 

At that time, there’s a big difference between doing the preparations and the predictions for it, and not doing them.

“I plan on having a bigger weapon made. I have Shadow Storage too, so it might be good to prepare a variety of weapons to match the situation.” (Hikaru)

“Yeah, changing the weapon to match the opponent is basic. I was thinking about testing out a spear or a bow.” (Jeanne)

“I can put them in my Shadow Storage, so it might be good to have spare weapons.” (Hikaru)

The talk wrapped up, and we ended up leaving the dungeon after hunting a decent amount in the 2nd Floor. 

The equipment of Jeanne is great, but her weapon is a normal broadsword. I won’t say that’s bad, but with the fighting style of Jeanne, I feel like a one size bigger weapon would work better. 

She is strong, and it would be a waste to have her swing a sword that even I could use. 

When we exited the dungeon, it was still bright outside. 

We have been diving till evening lately, so this feels fresh. 

“Then, Grapefull, thanks for today too.” (Hikaru)

Once we come out of the dungeon, the job of a scout ends. I gave Grapefull 4 small silver coins. 

We always explore till evening, so we eat dinner together, but we will be finishing here today. 

“I barely did any work and you are giving me this much-nya?!” (Full)

“We finished early because of our own convenience, so it is natural.” (Hikaru)

So I say, but with the earnings we make lately, it really is a low amount. 

When we go down to the 3rd and 4th Floor, it should be okay to raise it a little bit.

Scouts are necessary in dungeon exploration, and Full really doesn’t make mistakes. She barely does any unnecessary talks inside the dungeon, and she concentrates on her job.

She most likely has seen countless coworkers that have died without noticing the approach of monsters. 

The life of Lynxes is light, and that’s exactly why there’s no compromise in living for the day.

“See ya tomorrow, Full-chan.” (Jeanne)

Jeanne gives her farewells while mofumofuing Grapefull. It seems like she is also enduring it inside the dungeon. Well, Lynxes are indeed big bipedal cats, and I also think that they feel nice to the touch. 

◇◆◆◆◇

After we sold the Spirit Stones to the guild, we headed to the dwarf store where my shortsword was made. 

The west side of the city is the territory of the Great Fire Spirit, and eateries and blacksmiths that use fire are normally in this area. 

Or more like, the functions of the city are mostly at the west, south, and middle with the dungeon as the center, and the north and east that are outside the middle are mostly cultivation fields. 

Of course, there’s stuff like houses of farmers, but it gives the image of a city suddenly turning into countryside.

The store of the dwarf is at a place slightly further away from the first class land, and the  hammering sounds were resonating nicely to the outside. 

“Hello~.” (Hikaru)

“Ooh, it is you, huh. It has been a while.” 

The old man soon came out. 

He is small but brawny, and his long beard that’s burned slightly here and there was his trademark. 

I still don’t know if there’s a race called dwarf in this world, but the viewers on Earth are definitely treating them as dwarfs.

“It was already time for maintenance, huh. Here, show it to me.” 

I came here to buy a new one, but his push was strong. 

Well, I did want him to check my shortsword too, so that works as well. 

“Muh…?” 

When I gave him the shortsword, the old man checked it seriously and made a complicated expression.

“The blade isn’t that damaged, but I can see traces of the handle having been used for quite a while… This… You are barely having exchanges with the monsters and defeating them in one hit, aren’t you?” 

“You can tell that?” (Hikaru)

“After doing this job for so long…The Lynxes who have raised their Tier have signs of wear just like this. They don’t have enough strength for exchanges after all. They have no choice but to defeat them in one hit. Your sword shows signs of the same.” 

“I see.” (Hikaru)

It is true that the senpai of Grapefull, Moapple-san, was defeating their opponents with a long and thin sword in one hit. You could say her fighting style resembles mine. 

“Anyways, with this, there’s no real need for the hand of a specialized person, right? How about that lady there?” 

The old man says this as if he noticed just now.

Jeanne was looking around the workshop curiously. She loves games, and she most likely has interest in workshops like this one. 

“I actually came here today to buy a weapon for her. I also would like to buy a weapon a size bigger for myself.” (Hikaru)

“I don’t mind that, but…what happened with Rifreya-chan?” 

“Rifreya returned to her homeland.” (Hikaru)

“To her country? Is that so. I did think she wasn’t the type to work as an explorer for long. I see… Then, is that girl your new partner?” 

“Something like that.” (Hikaru)

Maybe Jeanne felt that we were talking about her, or she might have been listening from the beginning, she comes nearby.

“I am his new partner, Jeanne.” (Jeanne)

The moment she entered the conversation, she stated this clearly. 

Partner meaning as in party member. 

“R-Right, I see. I am Dargos, nice to meet you. And so, what is it you would like, young lady?” (Dargos)

“A strong one-handed sword; also, a strong spear.” (Jeanne)

Jeanne states what she is looking for briefly. 

“What weapon are you using currently? Show me.” (Dargos)

“This. It is something I picked up, so I think it is a cheap one. Also, it is way too light for me.” (Jeanne)

After Jeanne showed her sword, she was made to swing a sword just like he did with me. 

Seems like he always makes new customers do it. 

Just that Jeanne has more power than you could ever imagine from her appearance. At the time when I did it, he even seemed like he was laughing unconsciously, but the sword dance of Jeanne was pretty picturesque. 

It began with the sword that I was made to swing around, was made to swing gradually heavier weapons, and she is finally swinging the biggest sword there is.

Moreover, with one hand.

“Oi oi oi, young lady…no, Jeanne-chan, have you been an explorer in some other dungeon before?” 

“No, I haven’t.” (Jeanne)

“Are you kidding me?! If you are not an explorer, are you maybe a hunter? I won’t pry into it, but…from what I can see, you are definitely Tier 30. No, at that level, I can’t tell well just from swings, but it is certain that you are not in the silver rank class. It is gold…or mithril?” (Dargos)

Level 30. Physical Strength Up 5 is fearsome. It wasn’t for show that it was written that you would have gorilla-like strength. 

“Alright. I will sell you the best sword and spear. It will cost a pretty coin.” (Dargos)

“Hn, around how much?” (Jeanne)

“8 gold each.” (Dargos)

“E-Eight?! I see… Wait for a bit.” (Jeanne)

Being told an unexpected price, Jeanne pulled my sleeve and we went outside the store. 

“It is expensive. What do we do?” (Jeanne)

“No, that’s a given, right? It is difficult to make an exact comparison of gold to the currency on Earth, but if it is 8 gold…it would be 6,400,000 yen, so…around 50,000 euros…I think. It would be like buying a high class car.” (Hikaru)

“Enough to buy a car…?” (Jeanne)

“But if I work hard, I can earn 1 gold in a day, so I would even say it is cheap. A sword made by him is assured quality.” (Hikaru)

My shortsword was 30 silver. Thinking about the fact that it was close to 1 gold, a main weapon used by a warrior should go for around that much.

The price of metal should be different than that on Earth after all.

“I see… I casually just said a sword and a spear, but for now, a sword alone would be fine.” (Jeanne)

“Right. We can order the spear after the sword is made anyways.” (Hikaru)

And thus, Jeanne will be ordering a sword.

“For now, I will buy only the sword!” (Jeanne)

“O-Oh, is that so. 8 gold coins is certainly expensive, but if it is used by someone of your class, we would be using Hellfire Steel -Salamandor- so it ends up being expensive no matter what. That’s even more valuable than mithril after all.” (Dargos)

“What are the characteristics of that hellfire steel?” (Jeanne)

“It is sturdy and heavy. To the point that normal steel can’t even compare. The heavier and sturdier the weapon, the better for high ranked explorers. It is a realm where you can’t just fight with sharpness after all.” (Dargos)

I thought this when I saw Garnet-san swinging around a giant axe, but if that had been a lower quality weapon, it would have been rendered unusable in an instant. 

It is of utmost importance for it to be heavy and sturdy. If you get hit by such mass and speed, no matter if it is a dull weapon, you would be smashed to bits. 

After that, I also put my order for my weapon and left the smithy. 

Mine was a simple single edged sword. I tried ordering a thicker, longer, and heavier single edge sword than a shortsword. In simpler terms, I ordered a katana, but it is thicker and with a long handle. Kind of like a machete. 

The material won’t be the normal steel, but hellfire steel since my Tier has gone up and I have more strength. The price is also close to that of Jeanne’s sword: 5 gold. 

He said that a hellfire steel sword might still be too heavy for me to use, but they will be done in more than 10 days, so let’s increase my Tiers until then. 

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