Meat for Everyone

The next day, Rhode first went to the Jade Mine and spent some time clearing its entrance.

He also put on the robe he had "confiscated" from the spider cocoon.

Though it wasn't a proper mage's robe, it was still far better than his old farmer's outfit and made him look more like a mage.

He was growing increasingly skilled at controlling Mage Hand, making his work highly efficient. He cleared the entrance much faster than before.

Then he and Lilia headed to Southshore, carrying a whole sack of cooked spider legs on a pole.

The spider legs were actually quite heavy, but with Rhode's Mage Hand helping, carrying them wasn't too tiring. Lilia was really just going through the motions at the front of the pole.

"You carry the load, I lead the horse..." Rhode hummed as he walked, then suddenly noticed a group of little brats at the intersection ahead. Dressed in ragged clothes, with snot running from their noses, they sucked their fingers and watched the pair longingly.

Damn, did kids all have extra-sensitive noses? They could smell the meat from this far away?

It was hardly surprising. Rhode recognized some of these children; they were all from struggling households in town. They probably only got to eat meat once in a long while.

"Lilia, stop here. Let's just set it down here," Rhode said.

Seeing the malnourished children with their yellowish skin and dry, brittle hair, Lilia immediately understood what Rhode meant. She stopped and set the sack on the ground.

"Give me your shortsword." Rhode took Lilia's shortsword with Mage Hand and chopped the legs into smaller pieces with a series of clangs. Then he warmed them up with little fireballs and beckoned to the children at the intersection.

The children were clearly on the verge of drooling. When they saw Rhode wave, they all rushed over.

"Line up and collect yours one at a time." As he spoke, Rhode placed a small section of spider leg into the hands of the child at the front.

The child stared blankly at the fragrant spider leg in his hands, its shell still bearing a few little barbs.

Something that smelled this good was actually a spider leg?

He had never eaten such strange food before.

But he didn't hesitate for long before cracking open the shell and digging in.

For a poor child like him, having meat to eat was already a blessing. How could he afford to be picky?

It was better than eating bark and roots, wasn't it?

Soon, a smile spread across the child's face, and he mumbled through a mouthful of food, "It smells so good! It's delicious!"

With him taking the lead, the children lined up behind him no longer held back. The moment they received their spider legs, they started gnawing away, and every one of them showered the food with praise.

Some of the older-looking children swallowed as they looked at the spider legs in their hands, but didn't eat them. Instead, they ran home excitedly.

Those were probably the thoughtful children, planning to share this rare treat with their families.

More and more children arrived, and all happily received some spider meat. They only dispersed once Rhode had handed out every last piece.

Throughout it all, many adults stood watching from a distance behind them.

They only watched. No one came over to thank him or anything, but Rhode could sense how they felt.

Yep, my reputation in Southshore has gone up again.

That was secondary, though. More importantly, he suddenly felt wonderful himself.

Helping others really did bring happiness to the helper, too.

It was just a shame there probably weren't any more Giant Spiders nearby. Once the children finished this meat, they would have none to eat again.

Besides, he couldn't keep hunting and roasting meat for them forever. He needed to find a way for everyone to prosper together.

Let's head into town first.

Besides handing out spider legs, Rhode had come this time to have a suit of armor made for Lilia, then see whether Marshal Redpath had time to give her some more training.

To do a job well, you first had to have the right tools.

Keeping Lilia safe was important, too. A suit of armor would help a great deal.

Besides, Lilia was a Warrior now. What Warrior wore cloth clothes?

Actually, the biggest reason was that Rhode now had money on hand. Ha!

Having money gave him confidence. He had even promised Lilia a fine lunch at the tavern.

"Come on, Lilia. Onward!"

Southshore wasn't a big city and had no dedicated weapons and armor shop.

As such, the town's only smithy also served as the place to buy weapons and armor.

Of course, even if there had been a weapons and armor shop, Rhode would still have gone to the smithy.

There was unlikely to be any ready-made armor that fit a child like Lilia.

It would have to be custom-made.

The smithy stood on a slope beside a leather goods shop.

They climbed the steps and found the door open. Inside, the shop wasn't very large. Its owner, Vyrintan, was instructing several people who looked like apprentices as they hammered metal.

Hearing footsteps, Vyrintan turned.

When he saw Rhode, his stern expression immediately gave way to a smile.

Was that partly because a customer had arrived, and partly because of Rhode's prestige?

"The Abominable Snowman Bane is here! What would you like to buy today?" Vyrintan asked.

Sure enough, word of him killing the Great Yeti Yetius yesterday must have spread throughout town.

Though he knew Rhode was a mage, Rhode was also an adventurer.

For an adventurer, buying weapons and armor for protection was perfectly normal.

"I'll just browse first." Rhode wanted to find a good design for Lilia before discussing it with the owner.

Besides, when he had shopped in the past, he hadn't liked sales assistants following him around and constantly pitching things. It felt like they interfered with his judgment.

"All right, take your time. Let me know if anything catches your eye." Vyrintan pointed at the wall. "The finished pieces are over there."

Rhode nodded and walked toward the wall.

Swords stood in wooden barrels arranged in the corner.

Although Lilia already had a shortsword given to her by the marshal, Rhode still picked one up to examine it.

He actually had no idea how to judge whether a sword was good or bad, but aside from a fairly sharp-looking edge, this one looked utterly unremarkable.

There were no elaborate patterns on the blade. Its pale surface lacked any metallic luster, and its hilt was decidedly rough.

In a game, this would probably only be white-quality gear, right?

Still, he couldn't demand too much. Shop-bought equipment was generally white-quality anyway, and this was only a small-town shop.

"Rhode, Rhode! I want this!"

Just then, Lilia's excited shouting reached him.

The little girl had found an enormous double-bladed axe somewhere. She gripped its handle in both hands and tried several times to lift it, but could only drag it along.

Rhode pursed his lips. "You can't even lift it..."

"No problem... watch me..." Lilia strained to raise the double-bladed axe, only to lower it a few seconds later because it was too heavy.

Then she bent over to catch her breath, lifted it again, and struck a pose. "Bladestorm... ah!"

Well, Rhode saw no storm appear. He only saw the axe drag Lilia around in a full circle.

"You should master your shortsword before looking into heavy weapons like that." Rhode shook his head and continued examining the armor.

Compared with weapons, there was far less armor in the smithy. Perhaps more people bought things like knives and swords, while metal armor was too cumbersome for everyday use.

For Lilia, a helmet and breastplate should offer plenty of protection.

If she truly geared up from head to toe with pauldrons, bracers, greaves, a belt, armored boots, and all the rest, the little girl probably wouldn't even be able to walk.

She wasn't going to war. There was no need.

Or they could protect those areas with leather armor for now. He could take a look at the leather goods shop next door later.

"Then I want this yeti head." Lilia pointed at something hanging from an iron rack by the wall.