The adventurer who was giving me so much advice about weapons was apparently called Crags.
But I couldn’t care less about that.
No, I understand. Crags isn’t a bad person.
But I just want to be left alone.
For now, please just leave me alone.
“…Haa.”
Having formed a flag with the skinhead adventurer in exchange for extreme embarrassment, I quickly paid the bill to the real shopkeeper with the same order and fled the store.
“You’re late, Soma!”
I managed to reunite with Ena, who had headed on ahead, shortly after.
Ena, whom I’d finally reunited with, seemed a little sulky, though not angry.
“I couldn’t find you anywhere, Soma…
I almost ended up going all the way back to the Magic-Sealed Ship dock again!”
“Ah, ah. My bad.
So, did you sell the items?”
“Even that was quite the ordeal!?”
Ena, who sounded a bit delighted despite her tone, explained.
Apparently, Ena had visited each store, inquired about buyback prices, and then negotiated to get the best price for everything.
It’s rare to find someone with such social skills despite being a loner.
“And as a result… it’s 76,000 E!”
“Ooh!”
Honestly, I had no idea if that was a lot or a little, but I played along and acted surprised.
Still, it felt higher than I expected.
I figured I’d only dropped about 20 items, so that would mean about 4,000 E per item.
“Um, you said you didn’t need any equipment, so I sold everything except the Wakizashi, is that okay?”
“Hmm? Ah, of course.”
I nodded without hesitation.
Armored Knights are generally heavily armored, so most of the dropped equipment consisted of heavy armor.
While their defensive power was appealing, heavy equipment also slowed down movement.
The decrease in speed due to weight also affected skills, leaving almost no room for maneuverability.
Considering our current fighting style, Soma and Ena had no choice but to give it up.
“That’s a relief. So if we split this, it’ll be 38,000 E each!”
And it seemed she was still intent on splitting it.
Considering Ena risked her life to bring it, Soma thought it would be fine for her to keep it all.
However, he knew that arguing about it would make no one happy.
In fact, given her personality, Ena would likely be happier if Soma accepted it.
“Then, please do.”
When Soma offered his Crystal, which served as his wallet,
“Okay, I’ll transfer it!”
Ena bumped her Crystal against his, and the magic power transferred.
38,000 E moved to Soma’s Crystal.
She also offered to return the Mithril equipment, but Soma declined.
“No, I’m thinking we’ll be back in the Trial Cave soon to earn more money.
I need you to be equipped with good armor then, otherwise, I’ll be in trouble.”
“Is that so?”
Of course, that was a lie.
However, earning money in the Trial Cave might be a good idea.
Even if they split the earnings, it would still be a decent profit for Ena.
Chatting excitedly about these things, they headed towards the accessory shop.
Calling it an “accessory shop” might sound like a place that would appeal to middle and high school girls, but in this world, accessories are ornaments worn on the neck, wrists, and fingers, and they all naturally serve to improve a character’s abilities as equipment.
While their individual effects might be smaller compared to armor, one can equip one on the neck, one on the wrist, and up to two on the fingers, for a total of four accessories, making their combined bonuses considerable.
Furthermore, unlike in games where equipment could be changed from a menu screen, changing armor takes time.
On the other hand, rings are easy to equip and unequip, making it simple to change attributes to match enemies.
It seemed like a worthwhile item to possess.
The lineup was no different from the game.
Since it was an item from the starting town, the effects weren’t particularly high.
Most of them offered minor buffs, such as slightly increased defense, rings that increased elemental attack power by 5%, rings that enabled basic elemental magic, or rings that increased natural HP recovery by about 20%.
However, there were still some noteworthy items,
(I’ll probably be using Ninjato in the future, so this would be a solid choice.)
Among them, Soma picked up the “Ring of Light Attribute Attack Specialization I.”
This ring, despite being an early-game shop item, had an incredible effect: it increased light attribute attack power by 15% while decreasing dark attribute attack power by 70%.
Incidentally, the “I” indicated that it was part of a series, with the effects increasing as the number (II, III) got higher. By IV, it apparently had much more usable stats, boasting a 60% increase in light attribute attack and a 40% decrease in dark attribute attack.
Of course, by the time you reached IV, it wouldn’t be sold in shops, and Soma had no intention of using such an item.
Soma unreservedly chose to keep the “Ring of Light Attribute Attack Specialization I.”
He hadn’t learned any attribute skills yet, so it wasn’t immediately necessary, but he was sure it would be useful later.
(Thinking about it, maybe I don’t need any more rings for now, let alone focusing on attributes…)
He had no intention of removing the Stamina-enhancing ring he was currently wearing.
Since he could only equip two rings, any more… wait, was that right?
Slightly curious, he went over to Ena and whispered,
“Hey. What happens if you wear more than two rings?”
“Yes?”
Was that such a strange question?
Ena’s eyes widened,
“Um, you can only wear up to two rings?”
She replied, but it wasn’t exactly the answer he was looking for.
Well, he already knew that.
“No, I mean, what happens if you *try* to wear more than that?”
“Huh? Um, you can only wear up to two rings?”
…What was going on?
Ena suddenly felt like a poorly programmed NPC.
But what would actually happen?
In the game, equipment was managed through the menu screen, so he could only equip as many items as there were equipment slots.
However, in this world, where he physically equipped items, he felt like he could ignore such restrictions.
(Well, I guess I’ll find out if I try it myself.)
He excused himself to the shopkeeper, picked up the “Ring of Water,” and put it on his finger.
“…Huh?”
Soma thought an inexplicable force would repel the ring as he brought it near his finger… but nothing of the sort happened.
The third ring slid onto his finger with surprising ease.
It was so easy that it was almost anticlimactic.
“It just… went on normally…”
When he showed his finger to Ena and said that,
“W-what are you doing, Soma!”
She looked extremely surprised.
In fact, she was almost indignant.
“You can only wear up to two rings!”
But it was already on his finger.
What was going on?
However, it was possible that even though it was on, it wasn’t having any effect.
“Um, Water.”
He ordered the “Water” spell towards the floor.
“Whoa?!”
Then, water spurted out onto the ground.
It hit the ground with force,
“Hey, customer!
Please don’t wet the floor!”
Soaking the shop floor.
In the game world, this didn’t happen, but in this world, using water magic seemed to leave water behind.
Even when he touched the remaining water, it didn’t seem to cause damage, so it wasn’t an “attack” anymore, but in any case, it was troublesome.
The most troublesome part was the cleaning.
Also, the sharp gaze of the shopkeeper was troublesome.
He wished the world didn’t have such half-baked realistic specifications.
(But putting that aside, the ring must be working.)
However, this alone didn’t rule out the possibility that other rings had lost their effect.
Soma then picked up the “Ring of Fire” and the “Ring of Wind,” and said to the shopkeeper,
“Excuse me, I’d like to try these too.
Ah, I’ll cast the spells outside.”
After various experiments, it turned out that he could wear a ring on each of his ten fingers, and the effects of all of them would be reflected.
However, he couldn’t wear two rings on the same finger.
When he slid a ring onto his finger, it automatically adjusted to the size and fitted naturally. But when he tried to slide a second ring onto the same finger, the first ring came off as the second one fitted.
It was strange, and perhaps too convenient, but he theorized that this was the result of the “Game” setting of “you can only wear up to two rings” clashing with the common sense of “you can wear as many rings as you want” in the “real” world.
Considering everything so far, it seemed that certain in-game settings, like events, could manipulate people’s actions rather than following the world’s physical laws.
He speculated that people in this world were subconsciously made reluctant to equip a third ring, just as Reinhardt felt an urge to guide him around town, or Ena felt an urge to run around the same field as him.
First, if you try to put another ring on the same finger, the rings switch, just like in the game.
However, trying to wear a third ring was something impossible in the game, but in reality, it was perfectly possible. He deduced that perhaps to bridge this discrepancy, people’s consciousness was imprinted with the notion that “you cannot wear a third ring.”
He didn’t know if this theory was correct, but the world was already full of holes and contradictions.
He decided to force himself to accept it.
However, this made him want to try even more things.
“Ena, are you wearing any rings?”
When Soma asked, she immediately presented her left hand in front of him.
“Ah, yes. Here.”
She was indeed wearing two rings on her left hand.
“What are these?”
Even Soma hadn’t played the game enough to recognize the item names just by looking at the shape of the rings.
In response to his question, Ena answered, seemingly puffing out her chest slightly.
“This one is a defense-boosting ring I bought here, and the other one is not for sale. It reduces magic attack damage by 30%.”
“Heh…”
As expected of Train-chan.
She was quite well-equipped for an early-town character.
“This was my father’s memento…
My father died when I was little, and most of his belongings were disposed of, but my mother told me he left this ring behind for me…”
And as expected of Train-chan, a sad backstory came along with it.
“Th-then, how about trying to wear one more ring?”
Soma worried that they might get caught up in Ena’s sentimental story and quickly interrupted her to suggest.
“Huh? B-but, you can only wear two rings…”
“Come on, come on.
Maybe it’ll actually work.”
He forcefully pushed through Ena’s reluctance.
“Look, this is part of the experiment.
You said you’d cooperate, right?”
“Well, yes.
B-but, this kind of thing… ah.”
Ena, who had been hesitating, suddenly stared intently at her ring-adorned left hand,
“I-I’ll do it. Please do it!”
Whether she had suddenly made up her mind, she extended her left hand to Soma.
Not understanding the reason for her change of heart, Soma was grateful for her cooperation. He picked up a defense-boosting ring, the same as the one she bought, and brought it close to her left hand,
(…Ah)
He realized something.
Ena was wearing rings on her left index and middle fingers.
If that was the case, then logically, the next finger to wear it on would be the ring finger…
(This is a bit problematic.)
Soma remembered that in this world, there also seemed to be a custom of wearing a wedding ring on the left ring finger.
Feeling a prick of pain at the word “marriage,” he casually moved the ring towards her pinky finger…
*Swoosh.*
As he tried to put it on, Ena’s hand moved sideways.
The ring moved to her ring finger before he could place it on her pinky.
(G-that was a coincidence, right?)
Once again, Soma tried to put the ring on Ena’s pinky finger,
*Swoosh.*
It wasn’t a coincidence!
Ena’s hand moved with clear intent, guiding the ring to her ring finger.
“Um, could you hurry, please?”
For some reason, Soma felt an unprecedented intensity from Ena.
(W-well, I’m asking her, so it can’t be helped, right?)
Not defeated, but resigned, Soma put the ring on her ring finger.
The ring fit perfectly on Ena’s ring finger, as if it were custom-made.
N-no, that must be the effect of the magic on the ring, it shouldn’t mean anything.
“S-see, it worked even with a third one.”
Hiding his inner turmoil, Soma pretended not to notice anything and declared.
However, Ena remained silent.
After a moment, as if she had been holding her breath,
“I-I can’t anymore!
It just doesn’t feel right!”
She quickly removed the ring from her finger.
…However, not the ring Soma had put on her ring finger, but the ring she had originally been wearing on her middle finger.
Without missing a beat,
“I’m sorry, I’ll buy this one!
Check me out, please!”
She told the shopkeeper, announcing her purchase.
It was so fast that Soma didn’t even have time to stop her.
Glancing at the ring on her ring finger,
“L-like this, it feels like we’re, we’re engaged, doesn’t it?”
“No, you…!”
She made an outrageous statement.
Soma’s words failed him. He had never expected her to say something like this.
However, seeing Soma flustered, Ena chuckled.
Waving her hand dismissively, as if to say it was all a joke,
“Just kidding, just kidding.
I haven’t thought that far ahead yet.”
Then how far had she thought?
She, who was unusual in being able to fluster him, quickly finished the transaction and gently stroked the ring, saying,
“But, isn’t ‘marriage’ a little… appealing?”
Her statement, which made Soma feel dizzy, elicited a response from him…
“—No, not at all.
I would absolutely never get married in this world.”
He replied with a strong, firm denial.
—The “Marriage” System.
It was one of “Nekoneko’s” major selling points after giving up on an MMO route, and at the same time, it was a colossal pitfall, far surpassing even the issues with Lizardman or Train-chan.
