The reason why they were able to relax their guards was because they were at the northern market—it was probably one of the safest districts within the capital.
"Well then, Hekkeran. What do we need to buy?"
"First would be healing items. We'll need to stock up on those ‘Wands of Cure light wounds’. Depending on the situation, we might also need some ‘Wands of Cure moderate wounds’... Don't select any that have a low number of uses. From what I've heard, our target location is a tomb, we might need to use them on the undead. After that, we need to stock up on items that counter undead creatures, poisons and diseases. We also need to have counter-measures against negative energy and undead without physical form... Items that have unlimited usage are too expensive, so it might be better to also stock up on scrolls inscribed with magic as well."
Wands were a type of item that could hold multiple charges of a single spell. The user could keep casting the spell until the number of charges were used up. As such, when compared to scrolls that could only be used once, wands were much more valuable for certain applications, such as healing.
"Is that so? I had thought that we were here to buy gifts, and you wanted my advice."
"Gifts?"
"... Don't worry about it, Hekkeran. Let's start searching for what we need."
"...Oh, okay."
The stores within the northern market were all open-air markets, neatly arranged and filled with items for people passing by to see.
The items on display were typically placed on single sheets. One sheet per item. However, the majority of the items on sale at each store were only medium-quality goods. New or unknown items were rare sights here.
The majority of the vendors here seemed to be capable of handling themselves well. They either possessed powerful looking weapons or were dressed like magic casters. Compared to typical merchants, these looked like seasoned warriors.
At first glance these vendors looked out of place, but they really were the owners of their respective stores, even if it was only for the current day. During other times, they would usually be working as adventurers or workers. In other words, the actual profession of the vendors were similar to that of Hekkeran's and Roberdyck's.
They usually sold equipment or items they no longer needed, or whatever they found during their adventures. When compared to selling to merchants who specialized in magic items or to the Magician Association, finding their own customers could eliminate having to pay processing fees and thus lower the price of their items. The amount saved from this was larger than the fees one had to pay to set up their own store.
Due to this reason, adventurers and workers like Hekkeran frequented the northern markets first in order to look for bargains. Some even came everyday if they had the time.
And lastly, this was the main reason why the crime rate in the north market was low. Who would be crazy enough to cause a ruckus in a district full of combat veterans?
After spending some time looking around, the faces on the two of them were neither gloomy nor glad.
"Found anything?"
"Nothing."
Since the merchandise on sale were mostly unwanted goods, it was hard for Hekkeran and others to find the items they needed. Although these items might be suitable for Adventurers or inexperienced workers that were lower ranked, for the two of them—even when taking their companions into consideration—there simply wasn't anything useful.
"How regrettable. As I thought, it would have been faster if we had gone to the usual place to buy them."
"I only came here hoping to find bargains. It can't be helped if we can't find anything. Well, this is only the first step for us to start saving."
"Savings huh... Hekkeran, what do you think we should do?"
"Having only said this much and you already caught on, are you a super high ranked magic caster or something? ... It's obviously about Arche."
"You already know about that."
"Well, from what's already been said I can sort of tell."
"Then you know what I wanted to say right?"
"...That this might be our last adventure, right?"
"Please don't say such phrases that might jinx us." Roberdyck laughed bitterly. "Although it looks to be that way. If Arche-san says she will take her sisters under her care, it looks like our adventures in the future won't be as easy anymore."
"Just as you said. Although one would still need to work, but it doesn't need to be only from adventuring."
"It'll be easy for her to find another job. She's a third tier magic caster after all. Family—although we don't know how many sisters she has, she should be fine if she only needs to look after three or four people."
"Ah, I think so too. That's why she probably made this decision."
"And now the problem is at our end. In case our wizard Arche leaves the team, what shall we do about our next member?"
"If only a third tier magic caster would suddenly fall from the sky."
"Please try and separate your dreams from reality... If we were adventurers, then the Guild would help solving our problem... We'll need to rely on luck if we need to search for one ourselves."
The two of them looked at each other and sighed.
Losing a comrade. Being unable to keep up. Or being the only person in the team with powers that stand out. These were the typical reasons for an adventurer or worker to leave their team. These situations weren't uncommon. It was rare for a team to have kept the same members from the beginning to the end. In typical cases, a team would have had changed its members at least two to three times.
It was the same for Hekkeran, Roberdyck and Imina.
Although having said this, arcane magic casters were hard to find—especially those capable of using 3rd tier magic. For workers that were currently companionless, the quality of their character was an entirely separate issue that also needed to be addressed.
"How about training a 2nd tier magic caster?"
"Let's make that our last resort. I’d wish to avoid that if possible."
"It's also really troublesome when choosing new members. The majority of those who become workers tend to have messed up personalities. If we chose wrong, things could get very messy, such as accidentally picking up a battle maniac."
"...Thinking back on this, we've been quite lucky haven't we?"
"It's quite a rare case for the whole team to be composed of only those who desire money. Well, Arche's case is a bit different."
"Back when Arche-san first approached us, we were just thinking about how to fill in the vacancy for the last member."
Roberdyck stared at the distance reminiscing about the past. Hekkeran felt he was thinking the same thing.
"I can still remember what I was drinking at that time... The timing of Arche-san's arrival was so great that I started to think the formation of our team was brought on by God's will."