Seeker 190

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Chapter 190. The Path To The Dwarf Town

The Dwarven Great Village, Dagmahar, is said to be located in a mountainous region. 

Eslyn-san, I, and our group that departed from the hot spring village of Linton, including self-proclaimed  8 Heroes, Dark E;f Yusefia, are proceeding along a path that could hardly be called reliable.

The mountain path is generally gentle but occasionally treacherous. 

When the burly attendants pulling ore-laden carts seemed to be struggling, we occasionally lent a hand while hurrying ahead.

In the midst of this, Yusefia began chatting.

"Bargamund - that's the name of the leader of the Dwarf Town we're going to. He's not only a formidable warrior but also a master weapon maker for adventurers. He excels, especially in heavy armor. If you could, getting him to make equipment for you might enhance your combat capabilities."

"Oh, I see... I heard of Bargamund before as the leader of the Dwarf Town, but I didn't know he was one of the 8 Heroes."

Yusefia looked puzzled. 

"What? You guys didn't even know that? You're a strange bunch."

"Well, you see, there are some circumstances."

"Hmph, whatever. By the way, when did your way of speaking and attitude toward me change? When we first met, you treated me like a child, didn't you?"

"Uh, well... yes. I'm sorry about that." 

"Hehe, it's alright. It's not the first time I've been underestimated because of my appearance."

Yusefia laughed and continued. 

As she said, at first, I was influenced by her appearance. 

But now that I could clearly see she leaned toward the mature woman's side, my current approach to her was like this. 

Additionally, the fact that she was at a significantly higher level than us also made me show some deference in my attitude.

Yusefia's level was self-proclaimed to be 75. 

Although she hadn't shown us her status, the pressure she emitted made me believe she was probably not lying.

In contrast, our levels were as follows. 

I'm level 36, Yuzuki is level 36, and Kazane-san is level 35. Yusefia claimed she could beat all of us.

But it was unclear whether there was really that much of a difference in strength.

Anyway, she was not someone we wanted to become enemies with. 

From Yusefia's words and actions, it seemed unlikely that she was a bad person, and there didn't seem to be any reason for us to oppose her.

"Dwarf hero is good at making a heavy armor, right? Senpai, didn't you mention that there was a skill for heavy equipment on your list?"

"Ah, yes, [Heavy Equipment Penalty Nullification]."

[Heavy Equipment Penalty Nullification] had appeared on my skill list when it got updated at level 31, along with skills like [Tame].

The skill's effect isn't entirely clear, but judging from its name, it might be a skill that allows for more effective use of types of armor that have negative agility modifiers, such as Chainmail or Plate Armor. 

For example, Plate Armor imposes a -4 penalty on agility but boasts extremely high defense at 51. 

[Heavy Armor Penalty Nullification] might be the skill that nullifies this agility -4 effect.

Just as I was thinking along those lines, Yusefia provided the answer.

"So, you have [Heavy Armor Penalty Nullification]? In that case, all the more so. I'm pretty sure Bargamund has that skill too. I remember him boasting about it before."

"Is it a powerful skill worth boasting about?"

"Yes, indeed. It can nullify the agility penalty of heavy armor. It's a dangerous skill that allows you to use high-defense armor without any drawbacks, so he was quite proud of it."

It was a big hit, in more ways than one. 

With this skill, I might consider switching to heavy armor like plate armor. The Elf Leather I'm currently wearing is a special item I received from the Elf village, but when compared in terms of defense, Plate Armor and the like are significantly superior. 

Being able to use it without the agility penalty would indeed be advantageous.

Moreover, if the Dwarf hero Bargamund is skilled in heavy armor, I might be able to obtain even higher-tier armor in the Dwarf Town we were heading to.

However, there was one problem – whether I would have enough gold coins to purchase such equipment. 

Once we completed Eslyn-san's request and received our reward, we should have more than 700 gold coins, but even plate armor has a store-selling price of 200 gold coins. 

How much would the higher-tier armor cost?

I wondered if I could get a discount by presenting the introduction letter I obtained from the Dwarf village. 

But I realized I shouldn't jump to conclusions since I didn't even know what kind of weapons and armor were available in the town yet. 

I decided to think about it once we reached the town.

With those thoughts in mind, we continued toward the Dwarf Town, Dagmahar.

"…Huh!? Daichi-kun, did you hear that sound?"

"Yes, Kazane-san. That's…"

There were sounds of impact, metallic clanking, and roaring flames.

As we approached the entrance gate of the Dwarf Town, Dagmahar, we began to hear what seemed like the sounds of battle ahead.

"These sounds are coming from the vicinity of the village entrance gate. We don't know what's happening, but if we're going to get involved, we should hurry."

Nodding in agreement with Yusefia's words, we hastened towards the source of the combat sounds.