My 【Repair】Skill Became an Almighty Cheat Skill, So I Thought I’d Open Up a Weapon Shop

My【Repair】Skill Became an Almighty Cheat Skill, so I Thought I’d Open up a Weapon Shop

「Alright, I’ve officially received your registration. I’ll start explaining the basics to you. These are the rules, so you have to hear them even if you already know them.」

Mareeda accepted the registration form from Sakura and began talking about the next step.

「Please do.」

「You don’t have to be so polite. Alright, first, let’s talk about the adventurer ranking system. The lowest rank is F, and it goes up to rank A. Everybody has to start off at rank F.」

This explanation was told to every person who became an adventurer.

「Since F-ranked adventurers are considered apprentices, they are forbidden from entering any dungeon. They have to complete several simple quests to rank up to E. In other words, rank E would actually be the lowest rank as a real adventurer.」

「So one cannot enter a dungeon even if they have exceptional fighting abilities?」

「That’s right. Rank F is for you to learn『the basics as a member of the guild』. You learn how to accept and process quests, how to use different facilities, and so on.」

Compared to Mareeda’s carefree tone, Sakura was listening to her explanation in complete seriousness.

「However, in order to climb up from rank E onwards, the guild has to decide whether you are worthy by checking your abilities or achievements. There’s no specific criteria, really.」

「What sort of benefits will I gain if I were to rank up?」

「Oh, that’s a good question. If you rank up, not only are there a bigger variety of quests you can accept, you will be permitted to enter and challenge many more dungeons.」

Mareeda stretched out her five fingers on one hand.

「Dungeons are also categorized by ranks, but from E to A. Adventurers are only allowed to enter a dungeon if the rank is equal or lower to their own.

After hearing that, Sakura frowned for some reason.

「Isn’t it possible for people to wander into a dungeon without knowing? Would there be any meaning to having permission or not?」

「Well, the higher ranked dungeons are closely guarded. All of the dungeons near this town are low ranked, so nobody watches them.」

「Muu…」

It seemed like Sakura wasn’t satisfied with the way the system worked.

Mareeda’s explanation was lacking in some parts, so I decided to interrupt to add some things in.

「If you put in an application to enter a dungeon beforehand, then even if something were to happen to you, you can still get back a bit of compensation. If you don’t have the appropriate rank for the dungeon, your application will get rejected, and if you enter a dungeon without permission, you get no reparations… That’s how it’s set up..」

「I see, so the system is organized like that.」

「By the way, if you challenge a dungeon as a party, then you can enter any dungeons that match the rank of your party leader.」

Since it was impossible to station guards at the entrances and exits of every dungeon out there, the guild put in that “do things at your own risk” system.

「Onii-san, you know quite a lot. Could you be a veteran?」

「If you count by the number of years, then yeah. If you’re working as the receptionist of a guild house, you should at least know about this part of the system… But then again, everything here is E-ranked, I guess.」

After I recalled such a fundamental concept, I took a quick look at my surroundings.

The closest dungeon to Greenhollow Town was the E-ranked dungeon, 『Sundial Forest』.

Most of the adventurers that gathered around were E-ranked novices.

Of course, there were some people here who were ranked D and above, but their equipment was of low quality, making them equivalent to their E-ranked colleagues.

「Ahh… that’s, um…」

Mareeda averted her eyes and looked down at Sakura’s application form, but that caused her to react strangely.

「……? Did I perhaps make a mistake in my application?」

「Oh no, there are no problems with it. It’s just, are you the person Silvia was talking about, the one who killed the dragon that suddenly appeared on the fifth floor of 『Sundial Forest』?」

「Yes, what about it?」

As soon as Sakura confirmed the question, a commotion started in the pub. All of the novice adventurers looked over at us in shock.

「Huh? Mareeda, did I never tell you her name?」

「No, you never told me. I only knew she was a customer staying at your inn.」

「…Oh, oops?」

It sounded like Silvia didn’t properly tell Mareeda who had defeated the dragon.

Since Sakura wasn’t an adventurer, nor was she intending to become one at the time, it didn’t exactly matter that Silvia didn’t tell Mareeda.

As long as the guild knew that a dragon had appeared and was subdued, it was fine. Everything else was considered additional information.

Since the person who defeated the dragon wasn’t a guild member, the adventurer’s guild wasn’t responsible for them. Had Sakura been a guild member, it would’ve been a mistake in her part for not reporting it to the guild.

On the side note, since I indirectly helped out with the subjugation of the dragon, I was planning on reporting that to the guild after Sakura finished her application.

「But still, that’s incredible. I have no idea where that dragon came from, but if it stayed any longer, the newbies would have ran away. Well, around ten percent of them did run off when we heard that a dragon had appeared though.」

Mareeda had a big grin on her face.

At least it was only ten percent that ran off.

It was possible that they didn’t run and instead were actually hoping to procure parts of the dragon that have monetary value.

Unlike the ones on the surface, corpses don’t last for long inside a dungeon.

Just like how the light moss decomposed the collapsed adventurer for their mana, the mana-infused vegetation in 『Sundial Forest』would likely decompose the dragon’s corpse and consume it for its mana.

Therefore, if anybody wanted parts of the dragon that weren’t its bones or teeth, they had no time to be scared. Anything left on the dragon was first come, first serve.

At the moment, I had no intention of collecting the corpse myself.

Even if it was an outdoor dungeon, my mental state wouldn’t be able to survive going through a dungeon, and it wouldn’t be a bad thing for the rookies to get some pocket money out of it.

「If you report the subjugation to the branch office, you will get bounty money for sure. Make sure you do the procedure.」

「But I am merely a novice. The only reason I was able to defeat the dragon was because I used a sword made by Luke-dono here. 」

「Ehh, I see! Then how about you split the bounty between the two of you?」

The commotion got more intense, and now the adventurers sent their stares my way as well.

It was a natural response. Things were happening differently than what I had planned, but I had to deal with this sooner or later, so it was fine.

Not only does the person who killed a large dragon get attention, the person who made the weapon that was used in the feat also receives attention.

Normally I would consider it an honor and accept it, but…

(Rather than not knowing how to feel, it’s more like I don’t know what’s what anymore…)

The sword used to defeat the dragon was nothing more than the product I had produced with my newly awakened abilities.

Even if I were to shower myself with all this attention, it was hard for me to feel genuinely happy about it.

(…but still, there’s no way I shouldn’t take advantage of this. I’m not exactly in a position with many options to choose from.)

While the rookies continued to stare at me, I pressed my hands against the counter, forcing my way between Sakura and Mareeda.

「Mind if I ask something? Actually, I was thinking of taking a break from adventuring, so originally I was going to ask about other jobs, but I changed my mind. Do you know of any places in this town where I can open up a 『weapon shop』at?」

I could tell that the people around us held their breath in surprise.

For brand new adventurers who needed equipment, this was information they should definitely not miss out on.

The creator of the weapon that took down a dragon just announced that he wanted to open up a weapon shop in town.

Even if the weapon used to kill the dragon was too expensive for them to afford, the adventurers all had the same thought; a weapon that was made by the same person was just as alluring.

「I went around Greenhollow briefly, but I didn’t find any weapon shop aimed at adventurers. In that case, wouldn’t it be good if I opened one?」

「Hmm, that’s true, but… The inn tends to attract tourists that want to bathe in the hot springs… a building suitable for a weapon shop… Is there anything… Do we have anything like that…」

Both the adventurers and I looked at Mareeda’s troubled expression.

Although this was not a subject Mareeda could give an immediate answer for, the looks of expectation from the newbie adventurers made it difficult for her to deny it.

There was one thing these adventurers wanted to buy with the money they earned from gathering herbs: a weapon. A weapon was essential for completing actual quests.

However, there were no places in this town that called themselves a weapon shop. If these adventurers wanted to buy a weapon, they would have to travel to the next town over.

This was a live example of what Silvia’s grandmother had said: 『take advantage of any opportunities that arise』.

「If I have to purchase a building, please put the money I get from the bounty towards it.」

「Money’s not the problem, actually. I thought of a place, but it’s terribly run-down. I’m not sure whether it is an abandoned building or an abandoned house…」

「Is that the problem? That’s fine. I’m exceptionally good at【repairing】, after all.」

That much I could declare proudly.

It was the only expertise I was truly proud of.

「Eh…? Mareeda, could it be you’re talking about that building? The one on the outskirts of town?」

While the newbie adventurers cheered and talked about how they had to save up money, Silvia whispered that question to Mareeda.

「That’s right, that’s the one. We can’t leave it like that forever, so I thought I’d ask the mayor for it in the name of the guild house.」

「No no no no, isn’t that building a little too…?」

Silvia seemed quite nervous, but I wasn’t worried. Maybe it’d be fine, maybe it wouldn’t be. Well, it wouldn’t hurt to prepare a little at least.

「Luke-dono! If you need the funds to procure the place, please use my share of the bounty money too!」

Sakura announced abruptly.

「Don’t worry about it. Besides, you’re running out of money too. Use that money for yourself.」

「I have decided to earn my travelling expenses by working as an adventurer. If we get the bounty money, I would like you to use all of it yourself, Luke-dono.」

It felt like she wasn’t planning to give up no matter what I said to her.

Maybe she considered earning money as an adventurer to be a part of her training.

「But still…」

「Does it bother you? In that case, please consider it as a『payment in advance』.」

「In advance? For what?」

「For when I will need a【repair】from you again. Also, if it’s possible, I would like you to make me a katana that’s as strong as the sword I used to defeat the dragon with.」

I see. When she put it that way, I didn’t feel bad accepting it.

It felt awkward for me to take money from a poor traveller without reason, but being told it was prepayment for my services made it easier for me to accept it.

「Alright, I guess that’s an agreement then. Sakura, you’re my very first customer.」

「Yes! Please treat me well!」

And thus, I suspended my work as an adventurer, and began exploring my second life as the owner of a weapon shop.

Author’s Notes:

This chapter ended up being longer than usual due to the explanations.

The weapon shop will open up soon.