Slave Harem in the Labyrinth of the Other World (LN)
Volume 2 - Ch 1.09

I went towards the gloves section next. Up till now, the possibility that I wasnt taking into consideration was the one where my hands or fingers might get injured or even cut off during a monster attack. If something like that happened to me, I would end up unable to hold up Durandal, meaning that I would become defenseless, and I dont want to test if its HP Absorption Skill can also heal mutilations. That is why I thought that I should also wear something to protect my hands. While we are on the matter oh what I want right now, I want something that is going to make my DEF stat skyrocket, but it needs to be at an affordable price. It wouldnt be worth it if it made me blow all of my hard-earned money on it, dont you agree? And it should also look good, making others look at me with jealous eyes. That being said, price is the most important factor to me right now, and by the look of it, the only category of equipment that has all of the above marks checked out is the Leather brand of equipment.

In the gloves section, there are two available choices: Leather Gloves and Leather Mittens. The difference between the two lies in he fingers: gloves have the spaces for all five fingers properly divided, while a mitten is divided into a thumb part and the rest of the fingers, making it similar to a protective glove used in kendo practice. When it comes to the sheer usability they are probably more or less the same. However, none of those two goes beyond the wrist, all the way to the elbow, covering the entire arm, but since the store does not have anything else besides those two, I just bought one pair of each. Im sure that both of them will prove useful in different situations, I just have to figure out what those situations will be.

Next I moved to the helmet section. That is the only part left to get since Ive already bought myself something for the torso, arms and feet. Just like with everything else, I think I will go with the Leather series, because you know, consistency. And also, price. But just from a first glance alone I can already tell that its not going to be something that I would like to wear on my head at all times, because it looks like one of those oversized bicycle helmets worn by the road racers.

Master, I have finished picking the Wooden Shield. I have ultimately decided to go with this one.

Roxanne showed up with a Wooden Shield in hand. It was one of those three with the Skill Slots which I have presented to her.

A question for you: do you have anything against headwear?

Not at all. Moreover, its always better to have something protecting your head if youre going into battle, be it with a monster or a human.

I see. Then here you go.

I placed a Leather Hat on Roxannes head, and it immediately adjusted itself to the size of her head. That magic is amazing, but the way how it works remains a complete mystery to me. Now it completely covers her doggy ears, hiding them from view. Depending on our situation something like that might ne necessary if we wouldnt want to attract too much attention to ourselves, but if I had a say in the matter then I would opt for not hiding Roxannes cutest characteristic from the rest of the world. They are just too fluffy to be treating them like that!

Okay that should give me six new Skill Slots.

I muttered quietly to myself. I took all the items we gathered here and presented them to the shops owner at the counter.

Thanks for stopping buy. Do come again!

We paid for everything, and I placed the items neatly into the Item Box. But when I finished doing that, I noticed that Roxanne was looking at me with some suspicious eyes. When I summoned the Item Box I made sure to turn away from the shopkeeper and to murmur the incantation as quietly as possible, and it looks like I was successful with that, but apparently Roxanne must have heard each and every word I said perfectly. For now, Ive avoided casting any spells, as explaining to her how am I able to do it despite not being a mage would be painful, awkward and needlessly long, but maybe I should tell her about it without hiding anything? Or maybe I should still wait for a bit?

W-Well, now that the shoppings taken care of, how about we go back?

Yes, master.

Roxanne, however, didnt make any comments on it just yet. Maybe she wanted to wait until we were out of the armor shop to avoid making unnecessary scenes in the public space? But on our way back to the inn, I kept on noticing that she was glancing at me as if she wanted to say something. Oh my fucking God this is so not good! What if I she feels really offended by me not telling her about it?!

When we were back in front of the inn, I noticed that there was a clothing store right across the street from the entrance. It had a lot of neatly looking clothes folded and arrange on a display stand. I thought that most of the goods offered by the stores in this world are going to be second-hand quality at best, but a surprising amount of them, including this one, looked like it offered the things that were brand new. But if their quality really is as good as they look, then they are undoubtedly going to be more than a little expensive. Maybe they are classified as a luxury item. One of such items was a black, hooded mantle. Seeing it made me think that maybe I should have bought something like that instead of the leather one I got for myself, because lets face it, if Im going to fight monsters while wearing the Leather Cloak, it is definitely going to get stained with their blood, and washing it away from it after every single bout in the Labyrinth is undoubtedly going to be a pain in the ass for Roxanne. Ahh, if only I noticed that shop sooner, I would have saved myself the money wasted on the purchase of the Leather Cloak. Just thinking about how much of a vain purchase that was and how hard I had to work to get all that money both in the Labyrinth and by doing the Bounty Hunting is giving me a headache.

Excuse me, what is that mantle made of and how much does it cost?

You mean the cloak over there? It is made of flannel and costs 4000 Nar.

The shop clerk explains to me. So thats a cloak, not a mantle, huh? And just as I expected, its cost is abnormally high. The number of days I would have to spend in the Labyrinth farming mobs to get that much coin my headache is only getting stronger. And its not because I cant afford something like that. Its more about the feeling that I have just taken a fistful on money and thrown it down the sewer.

Youre going to buy it?

Yeah, most probably. Just tell me, does it just look cool, or does it also provide good protection from the rain and wind?

That it does indeed. It might not look like it, but it is also quite warm, so its a good choice of clothing even for colder days.

So that basically covers the protection against all the basic elements no matter the weather.

Yes, I think Im going to take it after all.

If its going to be so handy, then I think I wouldve bought it even if it was not available in the black variant.

Of course. That will be 4000 Nar, please.

Wait, 4000? Wasnt there supposed to be oh, right.

On second thought, lemme grab something else real quick. You want a cloak as well, Right, Roxanne? Oh, who am I kidding, of course you want. Go ahead, choose whichever one you like, and dont forget: youre choosing for yourself, not for me.

That was a close one. I almost forgot that if I buy only one thing then my 30% discount wont activate, just like when I ordered only hot water back at the inn. So, in order for it to kick in, I just have to buy another thing. I do feel kinda bad though, using Roxanne as a means of getting a discount, but its for her benefit as well so hey, silver lining.

Uhm are you sure its okay to buy something so expensive for me if its not absolutely necessary?