As time passes by, Saki continues to kill time waiting for Abigail to return by sorting through the shop's equipment and admiring them. After the accessory shelves, she went to the sword racks hanging on the wall. She took one of the swords and read its information.
"Iron Sword.. deals 5-10 damage as base damage.. 500 Gold" She read. As usual, the shopkeeper keeps an eye on her and the items she picks. "It's not much, but it's more lethal than sticks and stones. Any villagers who could carry iron swords are safer than those without them, it's worth the price. Any boys and men doing labor in villages could use one, you know. Their strength stats should be a bit higher than most due to their honest work" He explained.
Saki turns to the shopkeeper with a slight smirk. "We both know villagers just scurry away the moment monsters appear. You're not gonna sell much" The shopkeeper immediately grunts at her words. "Exactly why we need successful adventurers. Almost all of Karagi's adventurers never made it to Surabe! It's difficult to put up the spirits of our people with all these failures!" He exclaimed. Saki looks at him as she absorbs the information.
Surabe Continent is considered to be the heart of the world, being in the center and the largest continent out of the four others. A formerly war-torn land caused by wars with tribes and clans, Surabe became the mainland of the world after two major nations rose and took control of the lands and introduced the rest of humanity to modern civilization laws. To all of Karagi adventurers, making it to Surabe while undergoing an adventurer trial is the biggest goal, and no adventurers have yet to achieve it.
"You said almost all... What about the rest? They made it to Surabe?" Saki's heart thumped faster in anticipation waiting for his answer. The shopkeeper scratched his head and hummed a rather disappointed noise. "Well, they made it to Surabe indeed" His reply caused Saki to gasp lightly. So a few Karagi adventurers made it to Surabe already, that was her thought. Her spirit was slightly crushed as she thought of being bested.
"I never knew Karagi has already surpassed its first goal..." She mutters to herself. "Not really" The shopkeeper replied, making her snap to him. "You see... They failed their adventurer trial by the port and gave up on the spot. Then they just traveled to Surabe and became fishermen or local guards there. So, in that sense, no adventurers made it to Surabe yet" As he finished explaining, Saki stomped hard and yelled at him angrily. "You should have said that sooner, you old man!" Her outburst made the shopkeeper flinch. "R-right, my apologies..."
Saki then cleared her throat and turned to the shopkeeper with a big smirk. "Well... That's exactly why you should believe in me... I'm a soon-to-be Shigure's first adventurer and Karagi's finest who would break the first goal of our land". To the shopkeeper, her smugness was irritating considering she sounded like a wishful child with almost impossible ambitions but pushed the feeling aside and sighed. "Look, I wasn't exactly being rude to you. I was mostly messing with you. If you choose the path of a sword-wielding adventurer, then it's no business of mine to ridicule. Moreover, I have no business meddling with any of my customers at all. So, yeah, All I could do is give you good luck with what you wish to achieve"
His words made Saki's heart melt a bit. Her initial annoyance with the shopkeeper has disappeared and is replaced with gratitude. With a bashful voice, Saki replied. "Oh.. um... Thanks..." She refused to talk any further as she progressively became flustered. She looked through the swords' stats for a few moments until the shop door opened. "There you are!" Abigail's voice made Saki and the shopkeeper look at her. "Welcome!" And the shopkeeper followed with his usual greetings.
"You were just gone, but I know you would be here, you've become such a... four-eyes to battle equipment" She remarked as she approached. Saki turned to face her with a crossed arm. "I'm surprised you even held back at all... You can call me a geek, I know you're itching to" Her annoyed reply caused Abigail to giggle, clearly enjoying their usual bantering. "I will save that for another day then... So, should we go?" She invited her to return to their village.
"Come back again! Good luck with your future endeavor, Miss Nisshin!" The shopkeeper greeted them goodbye as they walked out of the shop. As they stepped outside, Abigail glanced at Saki. "You made friends with the shopkeeper?" She smirks slightly. Saki sighed sharply and said. "No, but he did say good luck on... being an adventurer" Hearing that, Abigail turns her smirk to a sincere smile.
"See? It's not all that bad. Not every person is against your chosen path. This entire adventurer thing is still new to us, there are so many opportunities to discover from this system" Saki once again became flustered but quickly replied. "Thanks, Abby. You know, it would be better if you're this way than being a jerk most of the time" She chuckles and Abigail does the same.
"Where's the fun? I enjoy making your day worse. I bet you like it sometimes!" She exclaimed and Saki quickly denied it. "No way! I absolutely hated you every time!" Abigail laughed at her as she walked ahead. Saki could just laugh along. "Good grief..." She followed Abigail towards the forest.
"Miss Sylviana! Miss Nisshin!" As they were heading towards the forest, a man called out. They glanced over their shoulders to see who it was. The man approached them and bowed his head. "I'm sorry for calling out to you on your way home!" He apologized. The two ladies turned to him. "No, it's fine. You're the chief's son, right?" Abigail recognized him and the chief's son raised his head and nodded.
"Yes. And the chief sent me to ask you to accept our request to go to Kire to..." The chief's son pauses in hesitation before continuing. "...To face the Saintsville prince and stop him from disturbing the village" His request shocks the two ladies, letting out gasps. "Th-the Saintsville prince?!" Saki yelled and the chief's son quickly hushed her. "Keep your voice down... The word about the Saintsville prince arriving in Kire should not spread" He advised.
Abigail quickly frowns. "I think I know what's going on. We should go, Saki" She firmly tells Saki. Seeing her serious, Saki became curious. "The message was sent to us during the prince's ruckus, so you would arrive there in the middle of an uproar" The chief's son warned. "We got it, let's go, Saki!" Abigail was quick on her feet, Saki hesitated but immediately followed her outside of Kanna towards Kire.