As Rylian heard the jingle of the front door open for the third time today, he stopped cleaning the display cases and looked toward the sound. What he saw pleasantly surprised him.

Letting out a small grin he spoke up, “You’re back again, and quite soon too.” 

“I wouldn’t have finished the quest this early if it wasn’t for your advice sir.” The black-haired teen mirrored Rylian’s grin as he spoke.

Rylian’s grin widened slightly, “So you actually listened, not many rookies do that.” His grin started waning as he said that, but it was gone in a flash before the teen noticed. “How’d you hit it in its eye?”

“I hid in some trees and waited for it to wander nearby, that’s what took up most of my time, but then I was able to shoot it directly into its eye,” his voice took on a proud tone as he continued, “One shot, one clean kill.”

‘Now that was a bit of a problem,’ Rylian thought to himself as his eyes sharpened and his grin was wiped from his face. Confidence killed a lot of the other reincarnators, before they could actually do anything meaningful. “It’s good that you’re more confident than when you first walked into my store, but don’t let it get to your head.”

“Huh?” The teen’s face morphed into a look of surprise, Rylian spoke once more, “You do realize why Spectres are one of the most common automatons that patrol the borders right?” He waited for the teen to nod before continuing, “That’s because they’re not only one of the few automatons that the big countries actually have the ALTs to manufacture them, but they’re cheaper to produce and equip than the average soldier. You killed one, not a whole kill team.”

The teen took in a deep breath and took a couple of seconds before responding, “You mean that they come in packs?”

“That’s a strange word to use.”

“I remember reading up on Spectres before, they use more animalistic AI right?” 

Rylian’s smile returned. “Good on you for reading about your enemy beforehand, but yep, they do come in packs. In addition, that rogue Spectre was probably running low on power and struggling to keep itself alive.”

The boy’s eyes widened, “I do remember seeing that it was limping on its right leg, that’s why I set up on the left of it when preparing to shoot it.”

“Good observation, so you killed a single Spectre without getting hurt, but don’t get too cocky.”

Snapping into a crisp salute, the teen thanked him for the advice and spoke up one last time before leaving Rylian’s store, “Thanks for the advice, sir! I won’t forget this!” 

“What a strange kid,” Rylian mused to himself as the teenager walked out the door.

Giving out advice was just something to not get the teen killed, but he didn’t want to get too attached, hence why he didn’t ask for his name. Questers were always trouble, no matter how well-intentioned they were.

‘The teen shouldn’t go back here anytime soon anyway,’ he thought to himself, ‘He’ll find someone better than me.’

“I’m back and I brought friends!”

What.

Rylian turned to his clock which was hidden by his cash register. ‘It had only been 3 hours!’ He yelled into his mind as he plastered a smile onto his face.

“Welcome back, did you forget something here?” Rylian replied to the teen whilst internally screaming at himself for flagging this encounter mere hours before. Quickly scanning the three peo-girls around him. Fuck, did he just get involved with The Hero in those types of isekai situations? Was the kid a goddamn reincarnator looking to accomplish all the typical isekai tropes? If so fuck... And of course, he has an all-female party. 

The girl on his right was clad in a dark gray robe with golden highlights complimenting her silver hair which was kept short. The robe stopped around her waist and seemed to be made out of a composite fabric Rylian had yet to see. Although he did recognize the cog and wrench symbol on the robe’s right shoulder meaning it was probably a Mechanicum robe given to its engineers. 

The girl on his left fit the mold of what he’d expect from a noble knight. A blue-eyed and blond-haired woman with her hair tied into a ponytail. She was even in plate mail albeit one supported by an exosuit. A very rare and expensive exosuit, one that set the standards, before becoming a relic unable to be reproduced. An ALDF exosuit which was apparently used by their basic soldiers, but even the ALDF exosuit outclassed all the current exosuits which the current factions were producing. Although this one was definitely old and not maintained well, the proper equipment to clean these things was also lost meaning manual cleans were the way to go. 

However manual cleaning can only do so much as parts such as the composite fiber wires used to make the fake muscles that let the exosuit be as maneuverable as they were had to be regularly replaced, otherwise, they’d weaken the entire structure, and again… the method to make these things were lost. Tearing his eyes away from the exosuit, he observed the last girl.

The girl behind the teen who was currently peering over his shoulder was obviously the ranged specialist as she carried a sniper rifle resembling an L96 on her back and wore a camouflaged variation of the basic ADG assigned armor. Her hair also matched the camouflage clothing she wore as it was a dark green also cut short like the silver-haired girl. 

“Not really, just here to say hi and get some gear for my friends.” The dark-haired teen said in an excited manner.

Silver hair interrupted him before he could continue, “We’re not his friends nor do we need equipment of this… caliber.” Her eyes scanned Rylian’s wares with quite a bit of derision. 

Oh, this bitch.

“...Before I say anything else, may I know each of your names. Please.” Rylian said as calmly as he could. He might not be the best artisan in the world, but he still took pride in his work.

A look of nervousness overtook the only male member of the party and he hesitated for a moment before speaking, “I’m Kenhilt, the party’s scout.” Oh, yeah Rylian hadn’t asked for the kid’s name until now. “Our sniper, currently behind me,” He pointed at the green-haired girl behind him, “Is Geniveria. Our knight,” The blonde woman waved awkwardly, “Is Rayleigh and our engineer is Nikeol.”

‘So she’s named Nikeol, I already hate her.’ Rylian thought to himself.

Plastering an overly cheerful smile over his face he spoke out loud, “Well, you’re all free to look around, even if you’re insulting my livelihood.” Kenhilt and Rayleigh flinched as Geniveria discreetly focused her eyes on anything but Rylian. Nikeol, however, simply crossed her arms. “However, I wouldn’t recommend continuing this further as us artisans… tend to talk.”

Besides as an engineer shouldn’t she know how every artisan counts in their country? With how much knowledge is being lost, a country or party losing access to even a single artisan could be potentially disastrous.

As Nikeol’s eyes widened in realization at what she might’ve just done, Rayleigh had already pulled her aside and started quietly speaking to her and as their conversation kept on going, Rylian turned his attention to the two-party members in front of him.

His smile changed into a more subdued and natural frown as he started talking to Kenhilt and Geniveria, “Well, that’s ruined what remained of my good mood. But let’s talk about a different subject shall we?” The remaining pair nodded, “If it’s not too much of a bother, may I ask how you all met in a three-hour period?”

“Ah, well sir we-” Kenhilt started to speak before getting interrupted.

“It’s not that special,” Geniveria said in a soft but still confident tone, “Kenhilt was asking people at the guildhall if they’d join his party and we agreed to it because bounties are easier with people backing you up.”

Decent logic, though personally, I’d have vetted everyone before agreeing to anything. However, it is suspicious that they got a typical four-person party that quickly, but Rylian couldn’t find any falsehoods in her statement.

“I see.” Rylian said quietly, raising his voice a bit he asked another question, “Why’d you all come here anyway, while I take offense to how your engineer insulted my wares, you all are already pretty well equipped.” 

Especially for rookies. Which is another strike for the entire party being reincarnators, but then again they could all just be really lucky which is always a possibility no matter how low the chances are.

“I can answer that!” Kenhilt quickly spoke up before Geniveria could, “I suggested we buy some extra equipment in case of emergencies and-” He hesitated for a bit, “I also said that you might be willing to give some advice sir.”

Rylian’s eyebrows raised in slight surprise as he kept his face neutral. 

“What advice do you want?”

“We’re hunting something called a void knight, but there are no concrete records about it,” Geniveria explained.

“Ah,” Rylian knew exactly what they were referring to, but his advice might not be taken well regarding those guys, “To be completely honest, I wouldn’t recommend taking that quest.”

“Why? The staff members let us, a new party might I add, accept the quest.”

“That’s because the guild doesn’t see just a new party. They see a new party made up of seemingly experienced veterans because of how well equipped you all are.”

Kenhilt’s eyes widened slightly in surprise and he interrupted the conversation, “Couldn’t they just check our records though and prevent us from taking the quest?”

Sighing softly, Rylian answered his question, “Because the Archeo-Defense Guild is underfunded. It was founded with good intentions, but most countries would rather fund their own armies to handle monsters and guys like this.”

Why do you think questors have to buy their own equipment?

“That sounds stupid!”

To a modern man maybe… 

“Perhaps, but because the ADG is underfunded and probably understaffed they’re willing to send rookies to kill someone as dangerous as a void knight.”

Geniveria turned the conversation back toward its original topic, “You talk about a void knight as if it's a person. Why?”

Focusing his attention on the woman, he explained, “Because despite being classified as undead, they still retain their intelligence despite not being able to speak. And the reason they’re called knights besides their intricate armor that makes up most of their body is that they’re more helpful than dangerous.”

“You mean that they save towns from monsters and rescue damsels in distress from dragons?” Kenhilt asked sarcastically.

“Yes.” Rylian took a bit of pleasure from the way the pair’s eyes widened in surprise. “Where do you think those types of stories came from?”

Before the pair could respond to that, Rylian continued, “If you all still want to fight a void knight, then be wary of their combat teleportation abilities which they can use to flank you guys. They’re also immune to fire, acid, poison and necrotic spells, and the like.”

“I see.” Geniveria bowed her head slightly and Kenhilt turned to her in surprise before copying her actions, “Thank you for the advice.”

I like her, she’s polite.

Rylian replied back, “It's no problem, giving advice doesn’t really hurt someone.”

“Well then, since you and I have no further questions.” Rylian clapped loudly which stopped the conversation between Nikeol and Rayleigh. “Feel free to have a look around, you might see something you’d like and I do take custom requests if you don’t find anything that catches your eye.” 

Geniveria gave a slight nod and started looking over some of the types of munitions and survival items he had in display cases to his left and Kenhilt followed her before getting distracted by the exosuit that the idiot from yesterday had repaired. As he focused his attention on a certain rapidly approaching pair of women.

Nikeol looked slightly embarrassed as she approached with a small blush on her face and the embarrassment seemed to be magnified as Rayleigh pushed her forward closer to Rylian. 

“I-” She started to speak before the words seemed to get caught in her throat. But a polite, and stern cough from Rayleigh seemed to force the rest of the sentence from her throat, “I apologize for insulting your wares earlier,” Her head was bowed low, “It was unbecoming of me.”

‘It isn’t a true genuine apology, but it’ll do for now.’ Rylian thought to himself. Giving the pair a slight nod, he replied back,“I accept your… apology. Feel free to browse my wares.”

As the pair joined their other party members, Rylian tried to think about what he should do next regarding Kenhilt’s party.

After all, questors are always trouble, but it seems that Kenhilt values his advice and as such is probably going to stick around. That means trouble is going to find him eventually through this party, it always does. 

Rylian couldn’t even give bad advice to the party to make them go away as bad advice could lead to their deaths in the field. And he doesn’t want to have dead kids stuck in his conscience. 

The best course of action would be to minimize interactions with Kenhilt and Co. but knowing that something had to isekai him here in the first place, it could be influencing things subtly. ‘It can’t be a coincidence that as one of the few people remaining with a system, I encountered a possible fellow reincarnator. However…’ 

He subtly checked the faces of the entire party once more. ‘I don’t think I recognize any of them, meaning they could just be regular questers or Kenhilt or even the entire party could be part of a second batch.’

I mean, if one group of people could be isekai’d here, couldn’t a second group also be isekai’d here?

With how engrossed Rylian was in his own thoughts, he didn’t even notice the party approaching him until Rayleigh practically slammed a handful of items nearby the cash register making him jump and instinctually grab his hidden handgun before realizing it was a false alarm.

He glared at Rayleigh before softening it as from how Rayleigh was blushing, the slam definitely not intentional. 

Sighing softly, he quickly cataloged what items they wanted to purchase and their price tags before saying anything.

Three days' worth of ration packs per person, fifteen gold pieces for one day worth, so sixty gold pieces in total.

One-hundred and twenty .308 piercing enchanted rounds for Geniveria’s sniper rifle, three-hundred and sixty gold pieces.

…and the exosuit which the cheat abandoned…  two thousand gold pieces.

The total cost is…

“...Are you sure about this?” Rylian questioned the party, “I understand everything, but the exosuit. You know how expensive and rare these things are.”

“Which is why we need as many as possible,” Rayleigh said, “A questor with a modern exosuit can defeat two or three people of similar strength.”

How low did these countries fall? To consider an exosuit that can let someone defeat two or three people valuable. Apparently back when the ALDF was still around, their average exosuits (which Rayleigh was wearing) could let the average man take on ten people.

“I know that, but are you sure you can afford this?” Rylian calmly spoke, “This entire purchase will cost you all two thousand, six hundred and eighty gold pieces.”

A hiss came out of Kenhilt’s mouth and Rayleigh proceeded to freeze in place, Geniveria didn’t make a noise, but there was a notable twitch on her right eye. 

That’s the average reaction to these prices, two thousand gold pieces are practically the price of a house. I suppose that shows how expensive gear is here.

Unfortunately, Nikeol kept calm, probably due to her experience as an engineer who apparently worked with the Dominion.

“And if we don’t buy it, someone else eventually will, potentially losing our party high-level equipment,” Nikeol said, “Even if we ourselves can’t use it, that prevents someone else from using it against us.”

“Alright,” Rylian sighed, “I’ll sell you the exosuit, but you better pay all costs upfront and don’t expect me to help repair it for free.”

Rayleigh came out of her frozen state and practically yelped, “I’ll pay for most of it!” Then she proceeded to hand Rylian exactly two thousand gold pieces. 

‘Where the hell did she even keep that?’ Rylian questioned himself, ‘More importantly, why does she keep that much money on her?’

As the rest of the party scrambled to produce the remaining six-hundred and eighty gold pieces, Rylian just stared at the huge amount of money in his hands.

“Come back anytime!” Was heard by the entire party as they left Rylian’s store, but they didn’t respond back as most of them were still catatonic from the amount of money they spent.

“Those damn kids actually forked out all the money…” Rylian mumbled to himself. “Hopefully that didn’t bankrupt them, but then again… They could just do quests to earn their money back.”

He’d already put away all the money he’d gained into a secret enchanted safe under his bathroom, so it wouldn’t get stolen as that money was valuable. If anyone got word he made over two thousand gold pieces in a single sale, they’d get curious. Meaning trouble from criminals or even other questors looking for what he sold in the first place.

Rylian’s thoughts were quickly interrupted and he quickly let out a silent groan as for the fourth time today, he heard the chime of someone entering his store.

“Welcome to Rylian’s Repairs and Reliquaries. How may I help you?”

Addendum:

Rightmustgamer

I don't really like how this chapter went, but it'll do. I'm planning the next chapter to be focusing on what happens to Kenhilt and the rest of his party during their quest, so there'll probably be a bit more action next time.  So, thanks for reading and please leave some suggestions and criticism so I can improve.