Overall, the weapons were certainly not as good as custom-made ones, but they were still good enough to pleasantly surprise Levi.
They were forged entirely from Fine Steel, with no skimping on materials. Thoughtfully, the grips were wrapped in leather to prevent chafing and to keep them from slipping.
Behind the counter, Migen was clacking away at a set of special Dwarf-made counting rods, muttering aloud:
"A set of five Javelins, five Gold Coins. Plus a weapon for each… that's about twenty Gold Coins per head. Fifty-one Beastmen in total, so that comes to… one thousand and twenty Gold Coins."
Migen set the counting rods on the table. "Seeing as you're making a bulk purchase, I'll round it down for you. Your total comes to an even one thousand Gold Coins."
Realizing he was completely short on funds, Levi asked cautiously, "How about you knock off another zero?"
The Dwarf folded his arms and sneered, giving him a long, hard eye-roll without saying a word.
The Barbarians stood together dumbfounded. They never imagined their new boss was this broke and began to wonder if they had made a terrible mistake.
SLAM!
Losing face, Levi slammed his Sword down on the counter. "Elven craftsmanship! Forged from Mithril! Its original owner was an Elf Princess, at the very least!"
Mithril was a Magic Metal from a thousand years ago. Stronger than steel, yet as light as a feather. It had the beauty of Silver and would neither rust nor tarnish with time.
"Light as a feather, strong as a Dragon Scale" were its bywords.
It had a strong affinity for Magic, and many powerful Magic Weapons were impossible to forge without Mithril.
Rarer than gold and exceedingly expensive, it was a true treasure.
Of course, in the current era of fading Magic, its value as a collector's item far exceeded its practical use.
Not to mention, this Secret Silver Sword had exquisite patterns carved along the blade, suggesting a remarkable origin.
Migen carefully drew the sword from its sheath. He flicked the blade with a finger, producing a clear, melodious ring. Then he placed a rag over the edge and pulled. It was sliced cleanly in two, smooth as silk.
"Worthy of a Secret Silver Sword. A few years ago, this would have been priceless." Migen gazed at his reflection on the blade. Thanks to the properties of Mithril, the sword was a pure, snowy white, clear enough to be used as a mirror.
Then, the Dwarf tossed it onto the table as if it were trash. "A shame. Now, this sword isn't worth a damn."
"Are you messing with me?" The Lord was furious.
"You country bumpkin. Don't you know Golden Artifacts from the Age of Saints are what's fashionable in high society now? Without collector's value and a willing buyer, this weapon is no different from any other. The only value it has left is the Mithril it's made from." The Dwarf shopkeeper looked at him like he was a complete idiot.
"Fashion, you get it? Simply put, your Treasure Sword is out of style. It can only be sold as a common Secret Silver Longsword."
"But if I offered to buy it for a Hundred Gold Coins, I'm sure you wouldn't be happy."
"Worri." The Lord clutched his chest and let out a long sigh.
Talk about being born at the wrong time. This was the very definition of it.
Fashion was a strange, fickle thing. One day, the nobles might be into women, the next day men, and the day after that, maybe they'd be into Goblins…
"Then what do you propose?" Lord Li's gaze turned dangerous.
'What are the odds,' he wondered, 'of bringing the Barbarians back in disguise later, robbing this weapon shop, and making a run for it?'
He concluded the odds were absolute shit.
The Barbarians' builds were so distinctive, they might as well have had "I AM A BEASTMAN" tattooed on their foreheads. Anyone who wasn't a complete moron would recognize them as his men at a glance, making him the obvious ringleader of the whole operation.
"I do offer loans." Migen finally revealed a triumphant smirk. "Six hundred Gold Coins, with an annual interest of one hundred, repayable within three years."
"The hell? Aren't you a weapons dealer? When did you start moonlighting in the loan business?" Levi was floored.
"How much can you really make selling weapons? Loans, a business with no overhead, are our true source of income," the Dwarf Goblin said with a smug look.
"Aren't you afraid people will just hide out in the Wilderness and never pay you back?" Levi was already running calculations in his head.
"They can take that up with our shop's Ironfoot Army," Migen said with a beam. As if on cue, two stout dwarves, built like temple guardians, emerged from an inner door.
They were clad head-to-toe in Fine Steel Armor that gleamed with a dark luster, each holding a Steel Shield and a Fine Steel Long Spear that glinted coldly. Their gazes were imperious—these were two veterans with blood on their hands!
"I should remind you," Migen continued, "that while we Dwarves may have fallen on hard times, we still have several thousand fully armed Warriors. The collection of legitimate debts is an activity even Duke Fulina supports."
Lord Li finally understood. In this day and age, anyone who'd made a name for themselves in a city this large was either tied to the criminal underworld or had powerful official backing. They weren't people one could afford to provoke.
In the end, after some haggling, Levi took on a debt of six hundred Gold Coins with an annual interest of fifty, to be paid off within one year.
As for the equipment, each Beastman now had a well-suited weapon and five Javelins.
In truth, the equipment was worth the price; one thousand Gold Coins was not expensive.
Military campaigns are inherently expensive, with equipment costs making up the lion's share of the budget. Levi could have paid a cheaper price to equip these Beastmen with a farmer's three-piece set, but that wouldn't have been worth it.
Now, with axes and Warhammers forged from Fine Steel in their hands, their combat prowess had increased by more than just a single level.
If they were armored up, Levi was confident this group of Beastman Barbarians could charge through a thousand-man militia unit hastily assembled by other lords and come out completely unscathed.
He was following the path of elite troops and had never liked bulking up numbers with subpar units.
A three-thousand-strong militia of farmers couldn't stop the charge of a hundred Armored Cavalry—it was the same principle.
…
Levi led the troop of Beastman Barbarians, and they all swarmed over to Lorina's shop.
A full nine carriages were parked in the open space there, with a group of Attendants loading them with goods—crates of apples, loaves of rye bread, and the like.
It was a mix of food and tools needed for his pioneering venture.
When he arrived, Lorina was directing the loading.
"Are you really this idle? You have time to stand around directing traffic?"
Levi casually grabbed an apple from a wooden crate, gave it a quick wipe on his clothes, and started munching on it.
There were no such things as pesticides in this Otherworld, so he ate without a single worry.
"Can't be helped. I have people to manage my other businesses. I'm just directing things here to have something to do, so I don't get bored," Lorina said, glancing at Levi.
"Heh, you're pretty good at being a hands-off boss."
Suddenly, the apple in Levi's hand lost its flavor. An emotion called jealousy gnawed mercilessly at his heart, and the sourness in his voice was potent enough to corrode steel into dust.
To think that he, a Pioneer Noble, had to do everything himself and was now up to his ears in debt.
Comparisons are truly the thief of joy.
"As for the clothing, your men are all too big. We don't have anything off the rack. It will all have to be tailored, so you'll need to wait patiently for a while."
Levi nodded. He wasn't short on time.
With time to kill, he found a quiet spot, pulled out the novel *Knight*, and continued reading.
"Though the youth's Riding Skill was poor…"
He gradually sank into the story, swimming in an ocean of knowledge, completely engrossed.
"Levi, Levi."
Lorina called his name several times with no response, and her impression of him changed considerably.
She hadn't expected this Pioneer Knight to be a book lover, much less one who could get so completely absorbed.