“So what do you think?” Evelyn asked him while munching on the red velvet cake.

“I have already told my answer to officer Laura.” 

 

“Oh come on, it's not like I am asking you to be a full time member.” She replied.

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Well for one you can’t be a part of the student council until you get to the second year and second your strength is a bit low to become a permanent member.”

 

“Thanks for the reminder, you glutton.” He was clearly irritated by her.

 

“Tehee.. so as I was saying you can become a temporary member which has its own sets of benefits.” 

 

‘Sigh’

 

“First answer my question, why me? I am sure there are other capable students.”

“Yes and the academy is doing its part for them but look at you. First you have turned down Officer Laura’s offer of getting into SIT which did not bode well with the administration.”

 

“Second, you have greatly helped the empire by defeating those cultists. So don’t you think that the image of our academy takes a hit when we keep such a student in lower ranks?”

 

Of course she wouldn’t tell him that she was ‘stalki-’ keeping an eye on him when he went inside the ice elemental room in the mana simulation complex.

 

After seeing that fire armor she was amazed beyond words and quickly used her dragon eyes to understand it but seeing the entangled mess of mana theories behind it she decided against it.

 

She had some doubts over the Dark Swords narration of his abilities and now that she had seen some of it how could she let him go? It was a great chance for her to unravel some mysteries which greatly suited her curious nature.

 

“So?” He asked nonchalantly.

 

“Hmm? What do you mean?” She was confused at his attitude.

 

“Your points are indeed valid but I am sure the academy has a lot of things to focus on rather than me.”

 

“You don’t understand it is no-” She wanted to continue but the bell rang making her stop.

 

“Tsk.” She clicked her tongue in annoyance.

 

“Onee-san! This is the sixth time I have caught you lazing around in the cafeteria.” Ichinose came from behind and started dragging her back.

 

“Ichi you have to help me convince him.” She shouted.

 

“There is no one here onee-san.” Akira and Albert had left the place as soon as the bell rang.

 

After few hours the academy hours came to end and everyone finally relaxed but it did not last for long as Ryle came in front and announced,

 

“Guys, tomorrow is a very crucial day for us.” He went on to deliver his speech about the upcoming mock dungeon run but not many students focused on him as his reputation had taken quite a hit.

 

“And that’s why we should stayback and train ourselves as much as possible.”

 

“We were already going to do that.” Haruno rebuked him and left the class, many others followed her.

 

The dynamics of the class has changed a lot post the medal ceremony, on one side it was Ryle and his followers while the other side was led by Haruno and her friends who were members of some B and C section teams.

 

While everyone was leaving some boys came over to Akira inviting him to the training grounds but he politely refused saying that he had some work to do back at home.  

“Well they are a lot better than before.” He sighed and went out of the academy towards the market district.

 

“Hmm let’s make a list of the things I should have before diving into the dungeon.”

 

“A new armour which protects me from top to bottom but the last one was a tad heavy restraining my movements so a lightweight one is the best.” 

 

“The sword dad gave me is in tatters due to those damned puppets, a good sword is gonna cost a fortune but we have to get it. Then comes the potions which are the most important items in a dungeon.”

 

Ivan had given him a generous amount of 5 platinum and 100 gold coins which is just below what a prince would get but since human greed is insatiable he feels that it won’t be enough for him in the long run.

 

“Should I buy everything from my father’s shop? Nah, he won’t take any money from me.”

 

“I am forgetting something important, but what?”

He kept going round and round in the market district thinking about the detail he was forgetting from the game and when he was near the blacksmith section of the market he came upon a commotion.

 

“You can’t do this, this is wrong.” An old voice argued.

 

“Then why don’t you pay up old man?” Said the man leading a group of thugs.

 

“Boss, why don’t we just take his entire shop?” One of the thugs asked.

 

“Idiot, the loan receipt still gives him ten more days but after ten days… hahahaha…” The ring leader started laughing and others laughed too.

 

After some more thrashing of the old man’s smith shop they left the place. The crowd that had gathered was talking about how bad the situation with these ‘loans sharks’ have become and how the state isn’t doing anything to solve it.

 

“Tsk, if you hate it then why didn’t you say anything when the thugs were here.” Akira said and made his way towards the old man that was sobbing in front of his shop.

 

Now Akira isn’t a saint or someone who will help everyone he finds in the way as neither did he have the powers nor the resources only the protagonist is the best suited to do that and moreover this loan shark problem was a minor plot in the game.

 

A plot he has going to use to his advantage.

 

He went forward and helped the old man by giving him his best health potion and stamina potion.

 

“Are you okay old man?” 

 

“Ye-yes thank you, thank you my lord.” The old man looked like someone who hadn’t had a meal in the last few days was profusely thanking Akira even to the extent of groveling under his feet.

 

“Ughh.. yeah let’s head inside of your shop shall we?” It was getting awkward as everyone was staring at them.

 

“Sure sure just give me a second to gather everything those evil bastards have thrown here.” His tone turned venomous when he mentioned those loan collectors.

 

Akira looked at the shop’s board and smiled to himself as he remembered this shop from the game. 

 

Bernard’s Smithson was the hidden gem in the sea of shops that were located in the market district, hidden gem as neither was this shop frequented by the adventurers nor the citizens in the town buying anything else making its survival a difficult thing.

 

Bernard was an old man in his 70s who had set up this shop way back in his prime years and had hoped to become the number one man in terms of armor and weapons. It was doing good for quite a while but nothing ever goes as planned does it?

 

Down the way he offended the haughty sons and daughters of noblemen and high tier adventurers who wanted to take advantage of him by using their background. He stood his ground  and fiercely opposed them believing that he is doing the right thing and everything will come out to be good.

 

Things went downhill for him ever since that, the shop revenue began dwindling, his relationships with his relatives began wry, the other smiths who were jealous of his success began scheming against him and the corruption in the administration made things even worse.

 

During tax collection every other shop was dealt leniently but his was the strictest, for even a minute flaw he would be charged discriminately and the officers had a harsh attitude towards him.

 

Heck even his childhood sweetheart gave up upon him when she saw that things weren’t looking good for him and that was the last straw for him. His jolly and happy attitude took a 180 degree turn and he became a gruntled old man battered by the tides of time and bad luck.

 

Since the last few years it had became more difficult for him as his savings were drying pretty quickly and the business remained stagnated leaving him no choice but to turn towards the loan sharks.

 

He had some hope in his heart that maybe just maybe things would turn around but as life would want, it didn’t make him a debtor. A good thing was that slavery didn’t exist in this empire or else he would have been made one.

 

“Thank you lord, if you hadn’t helped me these old bones may have died there.” Now that he was healed Akira could sense that his voice was somewhat peculiar.

 

“No big deal and please stop calling me lord, I am just a commoner like you.”

 

“Commoner or not, you helped me and I am grateful for that.”

 

“That’s great, so what was going on?” Akira asked.

 

Bernard sighed and replied, “I-I uh… they were here for the money I owe them.” He said while keeping his head down.

 

‘This guy is too pitiful, kinda makes me donate everything to him but given his nature he won’t accept it so let’s talk it out.’

 

“Anyway I came here looking for armor and a sword, can you help me?”

 

Bernard, who was thinking about his condition, didn’t believe the words that came out of his mouth. How long was it since anyone came to his shop to buy something? A month or two months? He doesn't remember.

 

“Yo- you are here to buy?” The old man shouted at the top of his lungs.

 

“Is that a problem?”

 

“No-no how that could be a problem? Oh my Goddess Sylvia, how long has it been since anyone bought something?” Bernard started crying after that.

 

All this made Akira tilt his head in confusion and think, ‘What in the world is happening? Why is this guy acting so weird, shouldn’t he be like someone who had lost all his hopes and wants to die? Why is he so happy all of a sudden? What is this character misappropriation?’

 

Bernard didn’t give him much time to continue thinking as he enthusiastically began showing him all the armors he had made in the last few years, some were heavy metal ones while others were light mail, some covered only the torso while others were full body.

 

“This is one of my special creations. I call it ‘The Rook’ exceptional in defense but will give you a 20% debuff in speed.” 

 

“Armis Vetiti.” Akira muttered to him.

 

Bernard’s eyes turned sharp and he took a more interested look towards him.

 

“Follow me.”

 

In the old shops of the market district a custom was prevalent that the best weapons and potions were reserved and could be sold only to the person who knew the code word. Bernard was able to stay afloat all these years because there were a few who knew the capability of his top weapons.

 

Oh and the confidentiality of the person buying items is kept so there was no worry of getting this leaked out.

 

Bernard first closed the shop and then took him to the nearby room which also acted as the entrance to the underground cellar which looked much better than the shop upstairs. It was lit by mana stones and various high grade armors and weapons were kept on display.

 

“To be honest you are the youngest to know this.” Bernard spoke.

 

“Thanks I guess?”

 

“Which family are you from?”

“Aren’t you asking too many questions?” 

 

“Come on, I was just being polite.” He shrugged and began showing him the armors.

 

“I want that one.” Akira pointed to the red and black overlong coat kept behind the glass.

 

“That one?” He was clearly shocked by the choice.

 

“Yep, the one behind the glass.”

 

“Very well but that would be 3 platinum coins.” 

 

“That much?”

 

“Yes and you must know that there is no haggling with these stuff.”

 

That was also a rule made to keep the sanctity of the place, neither the seller will inflate the price nor the buyer will haggle making it an easier transaction.

 

“I know now, show me the swords.”

 

“Huh? Don’t you wanna know the abilities of that armor?”

“Oops, please do tell.”

 

Akira knew the abilities of this armor as this was used by none other than Richard.

 

‘I am sure he will be fine without this armor, it’s not like I am taking too much right? He is a prince so he will manage somehow.’

 

Yes, in the first place Richard was the one who would meet Bernard and help him solve the loan shark problem after which Bernard would give him this armor and a spear as a gift. But this time Akira had decided to take this armor for himself.

 

‘But this loan shark problem would still be solved by him. I am helping him gain a reputation, yes I am helping him.’

 

“Yes as I was saying this armor is the finest piece I have ever made, not only it gives you impenetrable defense but also does not impede your movement making it the perfect choice. So what do you say?”

 

Bernard was quite proud of his creation and he had every right to be. This was a unique item not available in the entire empire and was meant for the protagonist.

 

“Yeah this is great, now can you show me the sword? I am getting late.”

 

“What a shame, young men these days don’t appreciate good stuff.”

 

After bickering for a while he showed him the best collection of swords made by him. There were all kinds of swords present but to Akira they were not that special as his eyes were looking for something else.

 

“I think you should use this. It's made from the core of a meteor and forged by the dwarves of the highland savannah. I had to pull some strings to get this.” Bernard took out two swords from their hilts and presented them.

 

They were not that short and neither too long but just the perfect size, one was black with blue designs around it and other was red with black designs around it. These two were the perfect fantasy sword one could ask for.

 

“Sure, pack them up and also that one in the backside.” Akira said while pointing to the one that was wrapped up in white clothes, only the pommel and grip were kept out.

 

“Eh? I can give you that one but it isn’t made by me and neither could I deduce its properties so it would be a blind guess.”

 

“And less money right?” Akira asked while smiling.

 

“Yeah it’s only 10 gold coins.”

 

“Sweet, please prepare the receipt.”

 

“Okay meet me upstairs.”

 

Akira went upstairs and Bernard looked at his figure. He had never seen someone so young who knew about the existence of the ‘cellar shops’. His demeanor and personality were totally different from what you would expect from someone who appears so young.

 

And the way he bought stuff? Only someone from an influential family would be able to afford that. So what did it mean? There were so many questions that he wanted answers for but he knew that this was not the right time.

 

“Finally I will be free from being a debtor.” He said and wept.

 

If Akira was here he would, ‘What the hell is wrong with his character?'