The Earth-san Has Leveled Up! - Volume 2 Chapter 14.2
“Well, I’ll accept it in exchange for the information fee, nya.”
“Nee!?”
“To answer your earlier question, the enemy changes at night, Nya. If you guys fight now, there’s a good chance someone will die.”
“Really!”
Meiko was frightened when a decision was made on when the information fee would be charged, but her fright was blown away when enough information was disclosed to drown out her fears.
Meiko was going to suggest that they would try to fight enemies of the night in this area.
There was no guarantee that there would be a safety zone ahead, and with a safety zone nearby, now would be a good time to familiarize themselves with their enemies.
Meiko thought this was reasonable, but the Cat Fairy’s words overturned it completely.
It was out of the question that they would encounter enemies of a higher rank, instead of an entirely different species within the same rank.
The three of them looked at each other and decided on a plan to be docile during the night.
They were allowed to leave their belongings in their rooms, so they had the contents of their backpacks stored in their rooms, and off they went on their hunt.
It was already dark on that side of the mountain due to the direction of the sun.
Meiko and the others were afraid of the night, so they didn’t do any mapping work and didn’t leave far from the safety zone.
There was also a bridge near this location that leads to the other side of the mountain.
Although tempted to investigate the mountain on the other side, Meiko would be in trouble if a mid-boss or some other boss appeared on the bridge.
To Meiko, who had some experience with RPGs, the big bridge, 100 meters long, seemed like the perfect place for a boss.
Meiko skillfully used her two grimoires, and when it came to melee, she fought with her newly purchased saber. She was a well-balanced warrior.
Ruru’s style was to hold a ninja sword in her right hand and a sickle in her left.
Meiko thought it might be difficult for an amateur to handle such a thing, but [NINJA Arts] worked, and Ruru’s dual sword style gradually became better and better as she practiced while moving around.
After 17:00, it was not that dark as night, and Meiko and the others fought just outside the safety zone.
After 18:00, the lanterns lit up again, causing Meiko and her friends to retreat into the safety zone.
Pointing the tip of her saber at the bottomless darkness, Meiko said crisply.
“Wait and see. I’ll get stronger and beat you guys eventually….”
It was a declaration from a safe distance, aimed at a powerful enemy yet to be seen.
Ruru looked at Meiko’s act with an “I’m learning from you” kind of look.
The results of the hunt in the remaining time they had were 20 pestle rabbits and 14 dolls.
Selling all the magic stones and drops from them brought the total to about 2,000 guineas.
That’s quite an accomplishment for not moving much, fearing the night.
This was probably because the enemies were now in a group of two, and that they bought more weapons.
Drops fetch unexpectedly high prices, and if the money was still not enough, they would sell some of the materials they have left for synthesis.
Since drop goods were usually more expensive than magic stones, it would be possible to add about 5,000 guineas if they were all sold, but Meiko wanted to use the materials to strengthen their equipment, so it was a difficult decision.
The total amount was about 11,600 guineas.
They were planning to use it all up.
They already know what they want to buy, and the rest was shopping with Cat-san.
“Cat-san, Cat-san, may I shop again?”
“Nyanya. Sure, go ahead. What do you want to buy?”
“What size armor do you have?”
“When you equip it, it adapts to your physique. However, once equipped, the size will be fixed.
“I see, I understand.”
Now that they knew what they were interested in, it was time to go shopping.
Meiko and the others cackled at the counter with notes and pamphlets in their hands.
Nya, nya, nya, said Cat-san, fidgeting a little.
The money easily ran out.
Rather, they were short and needed a bit of extra money.
To make up for it, they sold some of the materials they had left over for synthesis.
The price of body armor was high, and each person paid around 2,000 guineas for the upper and lower body armor.
Meiko and her friends were able to get away with that because all the items they bought were classified as light armor, but all the equipment for armor was expensive, with the maximum cost being 4,000 guineas. Twice as much expensive as their selected equipment.
No one bought heavy armor, though.
If one considered only the safety aspect, whether one could move properly with heavy armor, the equipment would be very attractive, but then there was not enough money available to pay for it.
They decided to believe Cat-san’s words that “dungeon armaments were much stronger than those made above ground”.
The most important thing was that there was no way to eliminate the problem of whether they could move properly equipped with heavy armor.
For the body equipment, they bought a lot of part-based armor, starting at the lowest price of 300 guineas. They spent a considerable amount of money on this.
Apparently, the harder the material used, the more expensive it tended to be.
Meiko and her friends were lucky to get a lot of money in the dungeon, but it would have been a very difficult task if they had to buy all their gear with the money not selling enemy drops.
Meiko and her friends got 12,500 guineas from a treasure chest.
That was barely enough money combined with magic stones and drops to pay for their armor and even after hunting until evening around the area near the fairy shop banya.
And that was very difficult because of the way the safety zone works and the nature of this dungeon, where enemies were stronger at night.
After shopping, everyone showed off their items.
It would have been boring to do it all at once, so everyone appeared one at a time.
First up was Sasara.
“Fuoooooo!”
Ruru’s hands were buzzing as she stared at the transformed Sasara.
Meiko shouts, “What a surprise!” and took many pictures with her phone.
Sasara’s main equipment is a Taisho-roman style hakama costume.
The top was cherry-blossom-colored with a cherry-patterned furisode, and the bottom was an indigo hakama, both of which suited Sasara’s beautiful black hair.
Her black hair was pinned up with a hair clip featuring a design of cherry blossoms and butterflies.
Despite such a graceful appearance, Sasara was equipped with gauntlets, steel plates, and a saber at her waist.
However, this, conversely, seemed to embody the strength of Sasara’s core.
The laced-up boots also did a good job of tightening up the overall look. They evoke the era of civilization.
The glamour and the martial spirit coexisted in a perfect balance.
The Bunny Band, perched further up on the plate on her forehead, instantly increased the degree of profundity.
Haaaa, it was the image of a female swordsman living in the modern age!
No, no…she looked like a cosplayer.
Or something similar.
“How do you like it?”
“It’s so cute!” “Super cute!”
Sasara’s lips were twitching as she turned her head to the side and tucked her hair behind her ear.
She seemed quite content with her appearance.
Next was Ruru.
While Ruru was changing, Meiko was praising Sasara.
She was adorable and super beautiful, just like a young lady. Sasara, who was getting compliments all the time, was blushing and saying things like, “Please stop that”, but she didn’t seem too upset.
Then Ruru appeared.
“Nin, nin!”
“Hyaaaaaaa! Ruru-san, aren’t you being too bold?”
“Sasara, this is what Kunoichi is all about!”
The newcomer, Ruru, came out with her Nin, nin pose, and the timid young lady made a comment about Ruru’s outfit.