Lisa looked over the tents and shook her head. At most, they would provide a two-hour ward a day, and that was far too short of a rest just for the two of them. She then glanced at Jeff, who was equally displeased by the backpacks on display.

  “ I thought this place had a bunch of high-quality goods. These seem no better than something a D rank would use.”

  Lisa nodded at this, hearing his muttering. The owner of the store, an elderly elf notices it too.

  “ A latecomer, eh? I sold all my top-end goods earlier this week when the flood of otherworlders came in.”

  To this, Jeff cursed and rubbed the back of his head.

  “ I really didn’t want to do this, but I guess we can use my commander tent if these are our only options.”

  Lisa turned to Jeff, fully unsure what his commander tent was. He saw her looking at him curiously as he shook his head.

  “ Give me the backpack with the largest individual item capacity you got left. Porter class compatible. No need for side accessories. It will be purely for item cap.”

  The elderly elf nodded in acknowledgment and went behind the counter before he pulled out a bag.

  “ This is the biggest item hauler I got left. Thirty slots that stack to a hundred. As you can see, there are no side attachments and trades that for extra durability. You are not going to lose anything by a small goblin dagger nick with this.”

  Jeff considers it and nods, pulling out a bank card.

  “ Can you get it enchanted for even more durability and an auto-repair feature? I also need a miner, apothecary, and blacksmith pack. These with accessory hooks.”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  The elf takes the card and looks at it before handing it back before getting three more packs.

  “ Since these are not quite what you are looking for, I will give you a discount. One gold and twenty silver, an extra twenty silver per enchantment.”

  Lisa listened to this and felt a little envious of how much money the two were discussing. Considering she knew if she was the one buying these items it would be either half as much due to her being in the adventurer guild or just as expensive because everyone knows she had money coming in. After a few minutes of haggling to bring the grand total for two enchantments for each bag to three gold even Jeff gave the elf directions on where to deliver the goods to before gesturing they should leave. Barely out the door, he swore and motioned for her to lead them to the next store.

  “ Is it always that bad?”

  Lisa shook her head.

  “ They will try to fleece you at every opportunity. If you are not an obvious otherworlder you are at least dressed as a well-off noble’s son. Unfortunately, I would not be much better either. Since I have a big payday coming in, and everyone knows I have it coming. There is nothing they want to do than force me into debt with it as collateral.”

  Jeff frowned at this as they came to a general goods store for adventurers. Where Jeff had to spend several more gold for what he needed. The armorsmith and weaponsmith were not much better. The only place he felt not taken advantage of was at the mage goods store, and that is because they overcharge everyone the same amount. This made him annoyed that he had less wiggle room than he had anticipated, but it was well within his budget. However, seeing how pleased Lisa was about getting a new skill relaxed him a bit.

  Lisa, however, was rather surprised at how expensive full sets of gear were for low-level adventurers. Usually, kids go to the sewers with sticks or rocks to kill rats starting off and working up to better and better gear over time. She never knew how much of an investment it was to get good gear. By the time she was fully kitted, she was already her current rank, and everything she owned was lost when her stuff was sold. It also made her realize that what she got as compensation was nowhere close to what she should have gotten. Even if the gear was worn, it was still good gear that was worth several gold pieces. It did not help that she regretted when it cost Jeff over twenty gold to replace her own standard kit with level-appropriate gear.

  By the time they had gotten everything they could, the sun was starting to set, and Lisa realized it was time for them to separate.

  “ So, I guess I will meet you somewhere in the morning?”

  Jeff looked at her, a little confused.

  “ You are on the job now after taking the contract. You will be staying with me from now on.”

  Lisa paused at this, and it dawned on her what that truly meant.

  “ Sorry, I normally do not do escort missions. I normally do retrieval or extermination. So where are we going?”

  Jeff gestured to the end of the street they were on.

  “ The Golden Dragon Inn, it is the best I could do with my current rank.”

  Lisa blinked again and remembered that Jeff was a god-granted title of nobility.

  “ Right, I forgot about that too. Since I will be on the job guarding you, I guess I will be staying in your room?”

  “ Correct, the wagon will be in the stable there, so if you want to get any of your belongings to take with you...”

  It was at this moment that Lisa realized what Jeff had spent today amounted to pocket change.