Right now, the katanas Raphtalia had consisted of those she had gotten from monster materials and those that she had copied in Kizuna’s world, which still worked here. That meant there were a lot of gaps in what she could use, and her weapons hadn’t been adequately powered up, either.

Thankfully she could use the weapon she had gotten from the dragon emperor materials, but her stats still weren’t high enough to make much use of the katana she’d gotten from the four holy beast materials. That’s why she’d been making do with the dragon emperor katana for the time being.

The weapons made from the dragon emperor materials were exceptional pieces of equipment—Glass and the others favored them, as well. You could probably get by with relying solely on one of those weapons, but it was also better not to underestimate the importance of basic stat improvements and uncovering new skills. Not to mention, the katana still hadn’t been fully powered up, apparently.

“Slave trader. Are you familiar with any well-known weapon shops in Zeltoble?”

“I can have you taken to one, if you like. Yes sir.”

“Hmm . . . Yeah, let’s do that.”

It was a really busy city. So getting lost was a real possibility.

“I’ll have someone take you right away, then.”

A brawny man raised his hand, volunteering himself.

“Alright then. Let’s go.”

The slave trader’s assistant took us to the biggest shop in Zeltoble. It was a huge building that looked like a department store.

“Oh? If it isn’t the Shield Hero!”

I noticed a familiar face tending the shop on the first floor.

“You’re mistaken.”

That’s right. The accessory dealer that I met a while back was beckoning me over. I acted like I didn’t know him.

“This is my shop. I would absolutely love for you to take a look around.”

I couldn’t help but feel like he was telling me, “You’ll take this shop over, one day.” If I kept ignoring him he was likely to just interpret that as acceptance. I sighed and made eye contact.

“You’ve got a big shop here, eh.”

“I sure do. Can I help you find something, Shield Hero?”

“I came to look at weapons and armor.”

“That would be the second floor. Before that, can I interest you in any of the accessories here on the first floor?”

I looked around. There was an inordinate number of glittering accessories on display throughout the shop. Honestly, I felt like I was about to go blind.

“Not interested. I make my own.”

“I knew it! Tell me, have you been using what I taught you? There may come a time when you need to make something magnificent, and you won’t be able to do that if you let yourself get rusty.”

“From time to time. It’s saved my life more than once.”