That was how Gawain successfully joined the party, with the Goddess Priestess feeling that something about his words seemed a little strange, while Lin Yun kept his opinion to himself.
After the Female Fighter's death, and with nearly all the gear belonging to Lin Yun and the young warrior damaged, Lin Yun and the others had originally planned to take on two more goblin lairs. But after taking a long rest in the village... well, Lin Yun was extremely cautious. Silent, the priest, didn't dare rely on a priest who had used up all his Spell Slots, while leading a Female Mage and a Goddess Priestess who had also both used up all their Spell Slots. With only the young warrior in peak condition and the Bard in decent shape, he wasn't about to travel by night.
The main roads were generally safe, but that depended on what kind of world you were in.
After all, this world had more than just goblins. There were monsters, demons, and also... people. Everyone else got to show off, while bandits were the only ones who got beaten up. Though in the real world, bandits were more often the ones beating people up—or rather, killing them.
And so, a peaceful long rest passed. Although the Bard had joined the party, she was clearly wary of Lin Yun's presence. He could tell she was doing her best to stay at the edge of the group, quietly keeping her distance whenever he approached. Evidently, she didn't fully trust him.
Or rather, it wasn't just Lin Yun. Apart from the young warrior, who was as thickheaded as Iron Hanhan, the Bard didn't trust anyone.
And so, driving the four-wheeled carriage they'd rented on their way out, Lin Yun began a new chapter in his legendary career of reckless driving.
"D20+4+2+2=10, success." Should they be thankful that they were on a main road? It was fairly smooth. The horse pulling the carriage seemed to be having an off day—or perhaps Lin Yun had been holding the reins at the wrong angle. In any case, the four people in the back rolled around the carriage like candied hawthorns tumbling in a jar. Fortunately, this carriage had a canopy, so at least... they didn't roll out.
After a chaotic, dizzying ride, Lin Yun drove the carriage back to Border Town.
The moment the carriage stopped, the Bard jumped out and immediately emptied her stomach all over the ground, making a very friendly acquaintance with Mother Earth. Fortunately, the Earth Goddess wasn't here... Oh, right, the Goddess Priestess was a follower of the Earth Goddess. Well, fortunately, she didn't seem to mind too much. By then, she was leaning against the Female Mage, looking as though she'd just been through something awful. The Female Mage was pale, but at least... still alive.
As for the young warrior? He'd already collapsed in the carriage. And, evidently, neither of the girls was about to carry him.
"..."
If Lin Yun's real body had been there, he probably would have put on an awkward but polite smile and burst into laughter, trying to charm his way out of the situation. But as Silent, all he could do was endure the excruciatingly awkward atmosphere in silence, lead the horse by its reins, and slowly make his way back to the carriage rental shop. Since the carriage was rented, he had to return it, and he got his 20 Gold Coins deposit back.
The rental shop owner eyed the carriage suspiciously, as if he couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong. A little cold sweat beaded on Lin Yun's forehead. Fortunately, he hadn't rolled a 1. He figured that if he had, and gotten a critical failure, it wouldn't have been strange for the carriage to fall apart completely.
Even though it belonged to him now, the feeling was... hard to describe. A little complicated.
From the carriage, Lin Yun unloaded the weapons he'd thoroughly looted from the mine, along with some armor pieces cobbled together from scraps. It was a pity about the Goblin Chieftain's armor. The Female Mage's Color Spray had burned it into a gooey mess, fusing it with the Chieftain's flesh. Disgusting. The Goblin Chieftain's weapon had been a massive wooden club, which was worthless, so Lin Yun hadn't taken it.
Lin Yun tallied it all up: about 16 spears, 4 longswords, 3 battleaxes, 13 pickaxes, 7 daggers, 4 shortbows, and enough bits of armor to make roughly 34 Metal Ingots. Well, that was according to Lin Yun's blacksmithing knowledge. He didn't even need to make a check; he only had to think about it, and the answer appeared in his mind.
The Dwarf Craftsman was currently helping Lin Yun out for free, working himself to the bone with overtime, so the only person at the shop was the Dwarf Blacksmith's young apprentice.
Faced with a "big shot" like Lin Yun, the poor apprentice couldn't exactly refuse. He had to grit his teeth and buy everything at full price. What a miserable situation.
Lin Yun wasn't just taking his money; he was exploiting his labor, too. In another world, the apprentice would probably have taken him to court. But the Dwarf Blacksmith was the opposite: he was happy to work overtime. Getting to watch so closely—and even forge equipment alongside a Clan Craftsman—was apparently pure bliss. They said the Dwarf Blacksmith even slept with two pieces of iron that had already begun to take the shape of a breastplate. Simply terrifying.
Lin Yun, who had a strong aversion to anything unclean, almost didn't want to wear that breastplate anymore.
In the end, Lin Yun walked away with a whopping 408 Gold Coins. They said murder and robbery made you rich, though in this case, he'd killed goblins, not people.
But actually... most of these weapons were battered and worn, as you'd expect from things used by goblins. Normally, a shop might offer a tenth of their value at most, and some merchants would refuse to buy them at all. That was why most Adventurers didn't want to take goblin quests: they were a hassle, and there wasn't much profit in them. Only a money-grubber like Lin Yun could turn a profit.
Technically, the money was Lin Yun's alone, since he was the reason the items sold for such a high price. But he wasn't Scrooge, and the young warrior had saved his life. The Dwarf Blacksmith was also making him a new suit of armor. He couldn't be too selfish. He was a nobleman, after all—he had to keep it classy.
While he waited for the armor to be finished over the next few days, Lin Yun took over the forge and refurbished all the weapons that were practically scrap.
"D20+2+5=12, success." Fortunately, they were all ordinary items, and Lin Yun's Clan Craftsman ability lowered the DC, so he didn't ruin anything outright.
Even after Lin Yun refurbished them, the materials still had to be paid for. The original price of the weapons included their value, material costs, and labor. All Lin Yun had removed was the labor cost. So... the Dwarf Blacksmith was still losing money. What a miserable situation.
Since he was only refurbishing them, Lin Yun didn't need much time. With time to spare, he took an ordinary set of Steel Plate Scale Armor from the Dwarf Blacksmith's shop. Naturally, he paid 150 Gold Coins for it.
Steel Plate Scale Armor was a kind of scale armor. It was made by stringing together many small armor plates of various materials with cord, then weaving them together. The material could be tanned leather, animal horn, or even stone—though steel scale armor was far more common. Scale armor could be woven into all kinds of forms: breastplates, greaves, or full suits of armor.
This particular set offered nearly full-body coverage. It allowed for a certain degree of freedom of movement while giving the young warrior enough protection.
Yes, this armor was for the young warrior. The armor he was wearing... well, it was barely more than a sheet of steel, and it was nearly ruined. So Lin Yun figured he might as well get him a proper set.
Forging a suit of armor from scratch would take too long, especially since Lin Yun's own set wasn't finished yet. Besides, the young warrior wasn't a perfectionist like Lin Yun and didn't care as much about wearing armor he'd made himself. It would be easier to buy a set and adjust the fit.
Adjusting the fit didn't even require a forging check. The last time Lin Yun had altered the Goddess Priestess's chainmail, he'd needed a forging check because they were in a hurry and he'd raised the DC by 10 to finish it faster. This time, he could take his time, so there was no need to risk it. And come to think of it, he should find a chance to have the Goddess Priestess bring that chainmail over, too.
Not that Lin Yun wanted to sniff it to see if it had any unusual smell. Ahem. Mainly, he was worried the rushed alterations might have caused problems, so he wanted to fix it properly this time. If necessary, he could just replace the whole thing.
Meanwhile, the Goddess Priestess watched Lin Yun silently leave with a large bundle in his arms. She seemed about to say something, but the young warrior behind her stopped her and shook his head.
"Mr. Silent must be sad, too. She was killed by goblins right in front of him," the young warrior said bitterly.
"Yeah. And if I'm not mistaken, Mr. Silent probably doesn't want to go to the Adventurers' Guild to claim the money stained with her blood," the Female Mage said, pushing up her glasses.
"Um, what happened?" The Bard seemed to sense that there was a story here and edged closer, then asked in a low voice while keeping a bit of distance.
The young warrior naturally told the Bard what had happened in the mine. But the young warrior... was a child who'd grown up in a tavern, so his story inevitably contained some exaggerations, along with things he'd simply assumed to be true.
Since the young warrior believed everything he said was true, the Bard had no way to get the facts straight. From his account, she learned that Lin Yun, also known as Silent, was a quiet but generous and kind Priest, who charged into battle at the front and showed great wisdom outside of combat—a person worthy of respect.
The world was just that strange. Clever people weren't easily fooled, but they readily believed people who didn't seem clever... Wait, hold on. Someone's Intelligence was only... uh, uh, uh.
Before you continue