While Erio was on his way home, worrying about his equipment, his good friend Phil, an adventurer, came to talk to him.


    Hey," he said. What''s up, Elio?


    Oh, Phil. Oh no, those ''white wolves'' got me again.


    Cheer up. That''s right. Let''s go to a diner on the outskirts of town. I''ll buy you a drink."


    A diner?


    Yeah, there''s a cute girl over there right now.


    I''m not sure I want to go back there. I''m not really in the mood for that right now."


    Well, don''t say that. I''ll listen to your problems.


    Undeterred, Elio follows his friend''s recommendation and together they head down the road to the outskirts of town.


    Welcome.


    It was a familiar diner for the masses.


    It was the kind of place you would want to come to every day, with its regular home-cooked meals and set menus at reasonable prices.


    However, Erio''s mood never lifted.


    It''s really serious, isn''t it?


    Yeah, because, you know. It''s my fault that our guild is stalling, you know? If I had a little higher status, I could have taken the quest up a notch a long time ago.


    Don''t be like that. It''s not just your fault.


    That''s the third time this month," he said. "That''s the third time this month that I''ve been unable to perform at the critical moment because of my lack of status."


    You''re too serious. Let''s take it easy. Come on, let''s have a drink.


    I''m sorry," he said. Are you two adventurers?"


    A girl who looked like a waitress with an apron spoke to them.


    Elio immediately recognized her as the signboard girl he had heard so much about.


    He wondered why she had a simple charm.


    Oh, hey," she said. We are adventurers!


    Phil dressed up to get her attention.


    I knew it," Phil said, trying to impress her. Well, if you don''t mind, this way please.


    She held out a pamphlet.


    Hm?"　The Alchemy Guild. This is the guild that runs in the back of this store, right? Huh?　But I thought the old man who runs the place in the back had retired by now?"


    Yes, that''s right. The old man has retired, but there was a person who wanted to use my studio. It is now open for business.


    I was so impressed with the quality of the work that I was surprised to see it. That''s great. Oh, it''s true. The guild name has been changed to "Spirit Arsenal.


    When Elio casually ran his eyes over the words on the pamphlet, the wording caught his attention.


    Free consultation by an S-class appraiser for adventurers!


    (Free consultation by an S-class appraiser?)


    ''That''s the way it is, so if you''d like, you can take advantage of the alchemy guild as well.


    Oh, I''ll ask him again if there''s any ore I need smelted.


    Saki leaves their seats and turns to go back toward the kitchen.


    Elio hurriedly stopped Saki.


    Hey. Wait a minute, waitress. This S-class appraiser is ......."


    Aina was forging her sword, remembering her exchange with Roland.


    ''Making a sword C at a lower cost than that?''


    Yes," he said. So far, you have made one sword C with 50/50 weight of iron. But now you have mastered B-class "metal forming. With your skills, you should be able to make a sword C out of steel weighing 40 parts. Your next goal is to make sword C with as little iron as possible. Can you do it?


    When Roland said this, Aina''s face clouded over.


    ......"


    What''s wrong?"


    ''That ......, that Lizetta girl (ko) was talking about. The two of us are not enough to make the sword B. She said that the "Arsenal of Spirits" will not last if we don''t do something about it.


    Oh, you mean.


    That ......, I should be able to make stronger weapons on my own. ......


    I''ll be fine. Forget about what she said for now."


    But ......


    She''s proud of herself for forging her own equipment, but I don''t think it''s all about one-person builds," he said. It''s also about using people well."


    Use people?"


    Yes," he said. By using people well, you draw out the support you need. By doing so, you compensate for your weaknesses. You''ve already done that, haven''t you?　By borrowing arm strength (power) and endurance (toughness) from Lodi, he has increased his productive capacity. As a result, you can now do the quest to create 10 Sword C''s in one day, which you couldn''t do before, right?"


    "...... Yes."


    We will join forces to make a weapon stronger than the Dragon''s Fires. Don''t worry. Your skill as an alchemist is definitely improving. You will eventually be able to create more powerful weapons. For that, too!　First, start with the task at hand: make 10 Sword C a day. Let''s do it right. Is that clear?"


    Yes."


    After finishing her recollection, Aina once again concentrated on the task of forging the sword in front of her.


    （That girl Lisetta, she''s been acting all high and mighty. Watch her. I''m going to make you a better weapon than her!


    Roddy was relieved to see Aina.


    （I''m glad. I wondered what would happen when that girl Lizetta showed me the difference in power, but Aina''s feelings have not been discouraged. Roland''s follow-up seems to have gone well.)


    Roddy turns over the iron on the table to match Aina.


    (Please, Aina. The conditions are pretty good here. My livelihood depends on you.)


    Lodi. The rough molding is done. I''m going to start the fine molding, so put the two together on the table."


    "Oh."


    Roddy puts the sword on the table.


    Aina moves on to forging the sword again.


    (And then ......)


    Aina felt a different sensation while forging the sword.


    (What is it? I don''t feel more tired today than usual ......?)


    Aina''s work was already about to become her tenth sword, and yet she showed no signs of catching her breath on this day.


    Roland appraised her status.


    [Aina''s status


    Arm strength (power): 40-50


    Endurance (toughness): 40 (up 20) - 50 (up 20)


    Agility: 60-70


    Physical strength (stamina): 40 (↘30)-70


    *↑↓ indicates constant increase/decrease, ?↘? indicates temporary increase/decrease


    （Endurance (toughness) has increased. Thanks to this, other statuses have become more stable. Aina''s status is rising steadily. This will allow her to get more work done in a day. The problem is ......)


    Roland stopped appraising Aina and returned his attention to the meeting with Dylan in front of him.


    They both had difficult looks on their faces from earlier.


    ''Dylan. That ...... sounds selfish, but couldn''t you have done a better job?"


    On the desk in front of him were several documents about alchemy work projects.


    These were jobs that Dylan had gone around to alchemy guilds and adventurers'' guilds to find for him, but they were all low-quality jobs that he wanted to buy at a low price.


    ''I know it''s a tough number, Roland.


    Dylan said, putting his hand on his forehead.


    The name value of the ''Arsenal of Spirits'' is still low on this island," Dylan said, putting his hand on his forehead. It''s hard to get high-paying jobs here.


    It''s not just the pay that''s a problem, Dylan.


    Roland said, pointing to the documents.


    The quality of the work is also a problem. This workshop (atelier) was set up to train alchemists to maintain S-class weapons. To do that, it is essential to improve the level of the alchemists. This kind of low-quality quests will rust the skills of our alchemists."


    I know.


    Ready?　Dylan, the concept of this guild is to grow together with the Adventurers Guild. Currently, the island is full of small adventurers'' guilds. If there are this many small adventurers'' guilds, there must be one that wants to grow and step up. I want you to find those adventurers'' guilds.


    I know that too."


    Dylan almost leaned back in his chair as if to say, "I can''t help you.


    No adventurers'' guild will listen to you just because you''ve made a C-grade sword," he said. The guilds with ambition will go to the "Dragon''s Fires" first.


    Even if you say that, we can''t make any achievements without requests from the guilds.


    So we have nothing to do now.


    They nodded dejectedly.


    I''m sorry. Is Mr. Roland in?


    Saki opened the door of the workshop (atelier) and came in.


    Saki opened the workshop door and came in. What''s wrong?　I thought tea time wasn''t over yet."


    There is an adventurer in the dining room who would like to be appraised by Mr. Roland.


    Excuse me?"


    （I got a job.)


    I''ll be right there."


    Roland got up and headed toward the cafeteria.


    In the cafeteria, crowded with adventurers returning from the dungeon, Roland appraised Elio''s status.


    [Elio''s status


    Arm strength (power): 10-60


    Endurance (toughness): 30-60


    Agility: 30-40


    Physical strength (stamina): 20-80


    (This status, I guess, is that of a C-class shield-bearer. Arm strength (power) is unnaturally depleted. Perhaps this is ......)


    Weighs ......"


    Elio giggled.


    When you take damage from an enemy and your status is depleted, it should start with your endurance (toughness). The fact that his arm strength (power) is unusually worn out while he still has some endurance (toughness) left ...... probably means that he is wearing equipment that is much heavier than his own arm strength (power)."


    Elio was tongue-tied by Roland''s appraisal skills.


    (How can you tell so much just by appraising a status? I haven''t even seen the equipment yet. This is the power of an S-class appraiser ......)


    Wearing too much heavy equipment will slow you down, won''t it?" With your current equipment, you can''t even explore the dungeon satisfactorily?"


    Yes, that''s right. That''s why I''m always dragging my peers down. So I''m wondering if I should change my equipment rank."


    What has the alchemist in charge of equipment maintenance told you?"


    He told me to work on my strength (power) and endurance (toughness). If you have a problem with your current equipment, you should lower your rank. If you don''t like it, go to a guild other than ours.


    I see.


    (If I were a member of his guild, I would back him up so he could do his power quests. ...... Now he and I are just business partners. And above all, ......)


    However, the guild that Erio-san belongs to, Shield of Dawn ......, with all due respect, seems to be a micro guild, and you can hardly afford to invest time and money in training to improve your status, can you?"


    I''m not sure. The guild wants me to be able to do the high rewarding quests as soon as possible because they can''t afford to finance them. But the only high rewarding quests on the island are going to the ''metal line'' to get ore or hunting dragons.


    I see. So I have to wear B-class equipment?


    Yes, that''s right. But I don''t have enough status to wear B-class equipment. I''m always caught between the guild and the alchemy guild.


    On this island, we also have to deal with PK guilds, so we can''t afford to lose the defense and durability of our equipment. ......


    Oh, yeah. Yeah."


    Elio felt a little more at ease as he consulted with them.


    (I''ve never been to an alchemy guild that is so accommodating.)


    Elio took a sigh of relief.


    ''Yeah. But thanks for listening to my worries. Um, Roland, right?　I was able to get my thoughts out and get my mind off of it for a bit. I''m still a little anxious about the future, though. ......"


    How about it, then?　Shall we make it at our place?　It''s lightweight and has good defense and durability.


    What?　Can you do it?　Oh, no.


    Yes. Our guild can do it.


    Oh, really?


    It is possible with the unique skills of the alchemists currently in our guild.


    (Here, this alchemy guild might be able to solve my problem.)


    "But we''ll have to take a few days. ......


    I''m glad you''re happy, Elio. You can have your weapons made here."


    Phil said.


    ''Ah, but ......''


    Elio awkwardly lowers his eyes.


    ''What''s wrong with ......?''


    I''m sure that equipment with such unique skills is expensive, isn''t it? I wonder if the guild will really allow me to switch sides. ...... As I said before, we are a small guild and our cash flow is tight.


    Can''t I just pay in installments or sign a lease?"


    Hmmm. The lease agreement with Dragon''s Fires is still in process. And after all, that ......, "Arsenal of Spirits," is also a weak guild, isn''t it? I don''t know if I can convince the top ......"


    I see. Then, how about this?　A free trial.


    Free trial?


    Yes, try it out in the dungeon just once. If it doesn''t work, return it. No charge."


    What?　Are you sure?　And then what?"


    Yes. What do you want me to do?"


    I understand. Then I''m sure the guild will allow it. I''ll talk to them right away."


    The next day, a formal request came from "Shield of Dawn" to "Arsenal of Spirits" to produce light and strong armor.


    <>