“Ready, guys? Let’s go to Bob’s place!” Lily exclaimed.

It was the following morning. After having cheered up Guts, the five rest their hearts out.

Lily had an idly chat with Guts.

Raphael was drinking at the bar.

Rey and Elvis were discussing their encounter with the Sage.

Today, they would go to do equipment maintenance they have been putting off.

“Hey, Guts, are you alright now?” Raphael asked.

“Yes, sorry for worrying you all,” Guts replied with a wry smile. His talk with Lily had helped a lot. The idly conversation they had later on also helped him further calm his nerves.

“It is good that you got your shit together now, dude,” Raphael half-swore. He was one of the two uncouth people in the party, albeit slightly more polite than Guts.

Elvis just simply nodded, preserving his timid nature as usual.

Rey had a slight smile on his otherwise emotionless face.

Lily looked on fondly at the exchanges between her companions.

‘This is going to be a good day!’ she thought.

…

…

…

‘Hello, Mr. Bob!” Lily greeted.

“Sup’, old man,” Guts said

“Hello, Uncle Bob!” Raphael greeted cheerfully.

“H-Hello,” Elvis said timidly.

“…” Rey just bowed.

“Oh, it is you, lads, huh? About time you are showing up,” Uncle Bob replied.

He was a middle-aged man in his late forties with bulging muscles and a well-built body. One of the most skilled blacksmiths in this town.

“Yes, the stampede is coming after all,” Lily said with a bitter smile.

“Yes, you guys are definitely the main force, alright. Hmm… I guess I will give you a bit of a discount,” Uncle Bob rubbed his chin as he pondered.

“Thank you, Mr. Bob! This time our equipment is in worse shape than usual, so that really helps,” Lily brightened up at the mention of a discount.

Despite being a top adventurer party, ‘Lily and co’ didn’t have a lot of money with some debts still left unpaid because of that starvation incident. Therefore, any financial burden reduced was a lifesaver.

“Ok, lads, show me your gears,” Nodding once, Uncle Bob commanded.

When his voice ended, various broken and tattered weapons and armors were being shoved in front of him.

‘Whoa! Were you going to a fucking war?!” Uncle Bob swore after looking over what was going to be his work.

“Just a few traps and a fucking Orichalcum golem, nothing much!” Raphael declared in irony.

“O-Orichalcum?! Did you guys invade god’s sanctuary or something?!” Uncle Bob showed a look of shock.

“Nah, we didn’t, but we might as well be,” Guts said.

“It is unfortunate that it was too heavy to carry back with us,” Lily added bitterly.

The golem was too solid to be cut. Guts could only impact it with blunt force. But even then, the metal was just dented, not fell off.

If they could somehow bring it back, they could earn quite a sum. But at that time, apart from the heaviness, they were worried about the trials ahead too, so they left it there. After that, the door closed shut when they left, never to open again.

That was how it was when the ruins of trials were conquered.

“Alright, left it there. I will finish what I could repair in two days. But there is some stuff you have to buy anew,’ Uncle Bob said, looking over the lump again. He gazed in particular at the shield and the greatsword.

“U-Ugh… Alright,” Lily sighed. More expenses for them.

They didn’t get a single gold from the ruin. The job they did before entering the ruin also didn’t pay as much.

“Then let us go to Wicky’s to replenish on some necessities. Remember to be frugal,” Lily turned to her companions and ordered.

They all nodded.

After that, they left Bob’s store.

…

…

…

Wicky’s could be considered a peculiarity in this world. It was too advanced a concept. Found by the great merchant Wicky Crow, an advanced stores chain that sold everything in one place came into existence.

One day, the idea came to Wicky Crow in his dream. That of a store that sold everything in one place for common people, not just nobles. The prices could be set slightly higher than specialized stores as a cost for convenience the customers received.

Luckily, Wicky had the necessary funds to start a new business. And so, he literally began the store of his dream and named it ‘Wicky’s.’

At first, Wicky’s was frowned upon by most people for setting a higher price. The business was at a huge loss each month.

However, as if fate playing tricks, when Wicky decided to decrease the price of certain products that were about to go bad to cut his loss, it sold like hotcakes by a few customers that happened to be there at Wicky’s for window shopping.

That was the moment the concept he later called ‘promotion’ came to him.

Building upon that concept, little by little, he increased his customers’ base and the reputation of the store. Later on, people don’t mind the higher price as much anymore as long as they could shop at Wicky’s because of its reputation, promotions, and convenience.

Nowadays, Wicky’s had several branches in addition to the main one in the capital. It even was a hit in foreign lands.

Wicky Crow could very well be said to single-handedly building his merchant empire.

Of course, people from small villages and the slums still went to the specialized store for goods as they wanted to save as much as possible, but most people went Wicky’s to buy stuff these days.

‘Lily and co’ was no exception.

“First of all, potions!” Lily merrily said as she picked a few potions from the shelves into a shopping basket provide by Wicky’s.

“I think we should focus on Mana and Stamina potions with our limited budget,” Rey suggested.

“What’s about Health potions?” Raphael asked. He was the only defender of the team that needed Health potions the most.

“It would be ideal if we could have it, but we would have to substitute for it with Lily’s healing. Our budget is limited, after all.”

“Hmm… I don’t like the sound of that, but it will have to do, I guess,” Raphael reluctantly agreed with a conflicted expression.

“A-Also, we should buy some common antidote, too,” Elvis timidly added.

“Hmm… I guess it will be a protracting battle. Stamina and Mana potions sound good. Antidote would also be a must to increase our endurance…” Guts pondered.

Nodding to her companions’ discussion, Lily picked potions according to that.

“Next is some rations!” Lily said.

“I-Isn’t that provided by the guild?” Elvis asked.

“Unfortunately, no, they just paid us for the defense post-battle,” Rey answered.

…

…

…

“Ok, we have finally finished! Ugh, our golds…” Lily looked sadly at her decreased bag of golds after they have finished all their businesses at Wicky’s.

“It couldn’t be helped,” Rey shrugged.

The other three agreed. It was a necessary expense if they wanted to survive the oncoming battle.

Tomorrow they would have a conference at the guild with ‘God Slaying Sword.’

They sure weren’t looking forward to that…