chapter. 7

Shadi came out of the hut that was the secret headquarters of his guild.

He changed his clothes in a dark place and came out with his usual appearance.

Shadi walked along the road, passing many kiosks and shops among many people passing by, until he stopped in front of an iron store that sold weapon equipment.

Shadi entered the store and found many people looking at weapons.

All of them wore various armor, and their weapons were adventurers.

Adventurers exist in this world, and their differences are based on the type of job they choose. Adventurers usually take quests in legal guilds such as monster extermination, searching for herbal plants, or hunting monsters for rewards, and most of them perform tasks in small groups. They will gather in large numbers if there is a special quest such as conquering a dungeon.

Of course, they cannot be compared to Shadi because his guild is an illegal one.

Shadi saw a store clerk who was a middle-aged man serving customers who were waiting in line.

Shadi waited in line at the back until each customer finished buying weapons. When his turn came, Shadi approached and sat in front of the cashier.

"Is my order ready, Uncle Lutherio?"

The person called Lutherio gave a friendly smile to Shadi.

"Oh.. Of course, my son Shadi. Wait a moment for Uncle to get it."

Lutherio left the cash register and entered the working door. A moment later, he came back carrying a cloth and placed it on the table.

"This is your order."

Shadi opened the cloth. Inside the cloth, there were many weapons in the form of small throwing knives that had black blade eyes and had magic rune paintings on the handles, arrows, foldable karambits, and weapons that looked like shurikens with magic runes in the middle.

"Is this all in accordance with what I requested?" Shadi asked.

"Of course. These weapons are made of ara metal which is known to react when charged with magical energy. The runes on the weapons have been designed according to your desires," answered Lutherio, explaining the function of each weapon one by one.

After explaining at length, Shadi finally agreed and paid for his order.

"Everything is 25 kuprit and 75 fabro," Lutherio said, counting on a magical calculator.

"Expensive, unlike usual," complained Shadi while counting the money in his bag.

Lutherio could only chuckle at Shadi's complaint.

"Well, there's nothing we can do. The price of ara metal is currently rising because we lack imports from the neighboring country of Daniur. This is due to the fact that the country is about to start a war, so they have stopped sending ara metal shipments to our country."

Shadi raised an eyebrow and asked, "War? With which country?"

"With the neighboring country. They are the Kingdom of Suvielier. Our country is currently conducting diplomacy to reconcile both parties. However, our efforts are in vain, so our country has no choice but to find new trading partners even though the price in other countries is more expensive," Lutherio answered honestly.

"Well, that's how it is then," said Shadi giving his money to Lutherio.

Lutherio accepted the money and counted it again to make sure. Meanwhile, Shadi looked at a rack that displayed firearms.

"Hmmmm. Isn't that a firearm? So, firearms are already being sold commercially," said Shadi curiously.

"Yes, firearms are legal for sale to adventurers. However, firearm regulations are still very strict, and the prices are very high. However, their effectiveness and ease of use make them the favorite weapon, especially the bolt-action and revolving cylinder types," Lutherio explained while pointing to two weapons that looked like WW2 bolt-action rifles, and one that looked like a Kar98k but with revolver instead of semi-automatic mechanism.

"Really? But how did this store get a license to sell rifles?" Shadi asked.

Lutherio, who had finished counting the money, leaned over and spoke quietly to Shadi.

"Don't tell anyone, including the knights. Actually, those are firearms that we assembled ourselves. The quality is worse compared to the military's firearms, but they are still useful and become a favorite weapon, besides arrows. Are you interested?" whispered Lutherio.

"No. This is enough, thank you," said Shadi while looking at the rifle on the rack.

A long blue-haired girl wearing leather clothes ran past the counter with a metal pipe wand in her hand, and stopped to stand before Lutherio.

"Uncle, can you fix my rifle?" asked the blue-haired girl as she placed a bolt-action rifle with a scope on the table.

Lutherio examined the rifle and said, "Well, it seems your rifle is jammed. I'll fix it for you with new parts." He then went into the workshop.

"Can you fix it by tomorrow? I need it for a quest to exterminate goblins and ogres," begged the blue-haired girl.

"We will try our best," replied Lutherio kindly.

Shadi, who was also present, asked, "Why don't you use other weapons like arrows?"

The blue-haired girl turned and looked at Shadi before answering, "Actually, I can, but I fell in love with this rifle and it's easier to take down ogres with it rather than arrows. You have to use arrows coated with strengthening magic to take them down, while bullets can penetrate their tough skin without any strengthening magic. And if you have extra money, you can buy metal bullets and coat them with magic to enhance their destructive power... Oh... by the way, my name is Jeanne."

"I see. Nice to meet you, Jeanne. My name is Shadi," replied Shadi, introducing himself.

Shadi got to know Jeanne and looked at the rifles on the shelf, saying, "Maybe I'll try to use it sometime."

...

"So, you failed to catch him?" said a mysterious man whose face was blocked by darkness in a room lit by candles. However, it seems that the candlelight still cannot reach the entire room.

In front of the man, there are seven people wearing masks and robes, kneeling and lowering their faces to the ground.

"How could that be? I don't understand. You are skilled killers, but you failed to chase Blackhaze," the man continued speaking.

"Please forgive us, chairman. We promise not to fail again for the second time," said the person in front of the group.

"There is no apology for you. Catch Blackhaze and kill him immediately. Show his head to me, along with his Master Ruoni," the man shouted while puffing his cigarette.

"But, chairman, if we even pursue Ruoni, there may be a war between black guilds," explained the group leader.

"No ifs or buts. Our guild is the largest in this country. We have many skilled killers. Who else does Ruoni have besides Blackhaze?" argued the man, underestimating.

"Now, leave my presence and immediately bring the heads of those two here," the man ordered the group in front of him.

The group of his subordinates obeyed their leader's order and disappeared from the place.

To be continued...