Harassing Thief Girl Ch. 5

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A Rival Appears

The next morning, Ellis and Reeve got up early, ate a quick breakfast, and began checking the equipment they had on hand.

Reeve had a lightweight cotton lining to her chainmail, along with a leather breastplate, boots, belt, and gauntlets. Her weapon was a slim shamshir. It does not seem to have any particular special effects or magic imbued into it.

Ellis had a jet black thief outfit. It was originally tailored with leather to increase defensive power, but since Ellis was growing every day, it was made with cloth to be easily adjustable. Originally, she only had one ordinary dagger, but she now had another high-quality dagger that Angus had left behind. Of course, with Ellis’s physical strength, it is impossible for her to kill any monsters. That’s why the dagger was only for self-defense.

“If we are going to be searching the labyrinth, we’ll need some tools, too.”

“Well, should we go out to the market?”

Ellis and Reeve nodded to each other and headed towards the market. Angus had left behind some money, but Ellis had to be careful with it. For now, it was all the funds she had, and she could not waste them.

Ellis brought along 100,000 ril and the Intelligence Piercing just in case. The contents of Reeve’s wallet, who had been found sighing in front of the bulletin board yesterday, was unknown and Ellis decided not to rely on it.

After all their current equipment was confirm, they changed back into casual clothes. Reeve had a tight, indigo three-quarter-sleeved pants and a pullover shirt. She did not forget to hang her shamshir from her waist.

Ellis put on a short, white blouse with a red jacket and a red, knee-length flare skirt.

At the sight of Ellis, Reeve sighed and muttered to herself in a voice that Ellis could not hear, “She really is like a doll.”

“What’s wrong?” Ellis asked after noticing Reeve mumble something to herself.

“No, nothing.”

Ellis pretended to not notice Reeve’s slightly blushed cheeks and grabbed her right hand. While floating a low smile so as to not be noticed by Reeve the two left for the market hand-in-hand.

◊

The two headed first headed to the street stalls lined up along the street. Each stall had various second-hand goods lined up for viewing. As they were passing by, Ellis notice a small light. Inside the cluttered items, there was one item glowing.

In this world, magic tool appraisal is generally done magically. However, since it costs 5 mp to cast the spell and the average person only has about 10 mp total, it consumes about half of a persons total mental power. That is why appraisal cannot be used easily, and you will be charged a reasonable fee for an appraisal.

Ellis’s ability, [Sense Item] on the other hand, takes no mp. In the first place, since appraisal of magic tools can only be cast on a single item, it is vastly inferior to Ellis’s ability to pick out magic tools at a glance.

“Is this a chance for a quick power-up?” Ellis murmured to herself.

“What’s wrong, Ellis?”

At Reeve’s question, Ellis stretched up and had Reeve bend down so that Ellis’s lips were could reach her ear.

“If I find something I want, please negotiate a price,” she whispered.

After Reeve nodded to her request, Ellis handed over her 100,000 ril to Reeve. Ellis then started investigating every item from each stall that emitted light with [Analyze Item].

First off, Ellis picked up a small brown bag that seemed to be designed for children. It seemed to fit perfectly for Ellis.

Bag of Gluttony–swallows items. Required mp: 0. Command word to capture items: {Meal time} Command word to retrieve items: {Turn time}.

“Suddenly a big hit,” Ellis mumbled so the shopkeeper couldn’t hear. She looked up to Reeve and spoke up.. “Reeve, I want this bag.”

The shopkeeper immediately intervened. “Oh, you have good eyes, little girl. Try it on if you’d like.”

Ellis put the bag around her shoulder. It fit her small stature perfectly.

“You wear it well little girl. For you, I’d be willing to sell it for 10,000 rils.

As agreed upon before, Reeve exaggerated her response. “We don’t have that kind of money to just pull out. Put it back.”

Ellis reluctantly removed the bag from her shoulder and showed a downturn face at Reeve’s strong tone. This was, of course, all acting. For shopkeepers, it is not fun to watch a cute little girl be forced to part with a bag that suits them so well.

“Okay, sister, how about 7,000 ril?”

Reeve relaxed her expression a bit after the shopkeepers offer and pulled out her wallet. Pretending to confirm the amount of money inside, she looked back up to the shopkeeper and sweetly asked, “If it is 5,000 ril, we should be able to manage, but is that no good?”

Before Ellis colorful emerald eyes of expectation and Reeve’s imploring shining green eyes, the option of refusing was unavailable for the poor shopkeeper.

Watching Ellis skip along happily with the bag hanging from her shoulder, Reeve asked, “The bag really does look nice on you, but did you really want it that much?”

“It’s a secret for now. I don’t want anyone else to hear, so I will tell you when we get home.

Ellis recommended that Reeve buy one more bag for herself, so she also bought a cloth-made pouch for a thousand ril from another stall.

Next, Ellis’s attention was taken by an old dagger that was casually lined up.

Flying Swallow Dagger–for a certain period of time, damage to the enemy is doubled. Required MP: 1. Command word: {swallow come}.

Ellis picked up Flying Swallow Dagger in one hand and pretended to compare it to her old dagger in her other hand.

“Copy item.” Ellis duplicated the ability from the Flying Swallow Dagger onto her old dagger. When she was done, she examined her old dagger.

Flying Swallow Dagger–for a certain period of time, damage to the enemy is doubled. Required MP: 1. Command word: {swallow come}.

After confirming that her old dagger had now become a Flying Swallow Dagger, she put her dagger away and made to show Reeve the shopkeepers Flying Swallow Dagger. While asking Reeve, “What do you think of this dagger,” Ellis covertly put her left hand on Reeve’s shamshir and tried duplicating the effect again.

Flying Swallow Shamshir–for a certain period of time, damage to the enemy is doubled. Required MP: 1. Command word: {swallow come}.

After confirming that the ability had been copied onto Reeve’s shamshir, Ellis noticed that the shopkeepers dagger had lost its ability and turned into just an ordinary dagger. Ellis put the dagger back onto the stall and said, “Actually, I should be fine.”

For now, this was an important experience. “Is duplication limited to 2 times or is it random?” This would be Ellis’s homework.

Next, Ellis found a small silver ring. It was buried among a mountain of other rings in a box labeled 2,000 ril each.

Ring of Detoxification–cures target poison. Required MP: 3. Command word: {Detox}.

Ellis thought this would be a good opportunity to try out some experiments and started sifting through the rings trying to look natural so as to not draw the suspicion of the shopkeeper.

“Hey Reeve, let’s each buy a ring. Choose your favorite ring from the pile.”

The two began sifting through the rings and had fun comparing the size and color. The shopkeeper watched the two while smiling thinking that they were just two cute sisters spending time together.

Meanwhile, Ellis copied the ability onto the two rings that she was comparing. Sure enough, after making two copies, the ability was lost on the original ring. After that, she picked back up one of the two copies and tried copying the ability again onto two other rings. Once again, after two more copies were made, the ability was lost once again.

“It takes some time, but magic tool copying can be expanded indefinitely.” Satisfied with the result of the experiment of the experiment, Ellis copied the ability onto the her ring and the ring that Reeve chose as well.

Reeve paid the 4,000 ril to the shopkeeper with a smile.

The shopkeeper accepted the payment with a smile.

Ellis smiled as well, compared to the other two, her smile was much more massive.

Lastly, Ellis found a small doll that was about the size of a thumb.

Sacrificial doll–In the event that an attack would cause someone’s HP to fall to zero or below, the doll takes all damage and crumples. Required MP: 0. Command word unnecessary. Autonomous type.

A big one came at the end.

“Reeve, I want that doll.”

Nodding to Ellis’s request, Reeve asked the shopkeeper for the price.

“Oh yeah, it’s a thousand ril.”

Ellis made eye contact with Reeve. Reeve instantly understood from her glance that she had to, “buy it quickly.” While she paid for it, Ellis tied the doll to the frills of her skirt like an amulet.

Ellis had Reeve buy another two similar dolls. She tied one to the belt loop of Reeve’s trousers and put another one in her bag.

“It’s a little embarrassing.”

Ellis gave Reeve a smile. “It’s a good luck charm.”

So far, the two had spent a total of 12,000 ril.

Next, they had to look around at the various potions and adventurer tools. These consumables could be bought from Frau at the adventurer’s guild, so while holding hands, they made their way to the adventurer’s guild.

“Frau, hello.”

“Hello, Ellis. Hello…” At first, Frau greeted Ellis with a warm smile, but her bright red eyes soon locked onto Reeve who was holding her hand. Reeve, who noticed the look, glared back at her with her emerald eyes.

Ellis ignored the interaction and began speaking to Frau. “Hey Frau, I came here to buy a basic recovery potion set.

Frau was surprised by Ellis’s words and broke her gaze away from Reeve. “No way, are you going out to explore?”

“Yes. I’m going to Aida’s Labyrinth with Reeve.”

To Ellis’s words, Frau’s gaze fell back onto Reeve. “I’m not sure how you’re related to Ellis, but are you going to put Ellis in danger?”

But Reeve didn’t back down. “Isn’t that a little disrespectful towards a full-fledged thief?”

“Ellis is still 8 years old!”

“Is this how you talk to your customers?”

Reeve and Frau brought forth a raging mood. The old guys who were eating in the hall all reflexively started sweating.

Ellis started talking to Frau in an attempt to act as an arbitrator. “I told Reeve that I want to go to Aida’s Labyrinth. I will be switching my guild certificate from infiltration to thief adventurer.”

Frau was surprised by this. “Ellis, you’re going to be an adventurer?”

“I don’t understand everything yet, but I’m trying to put some distance between me and the thieve’s guild. So could you please sell us a potion and exploration set?”

Frau reluctantly relented. “Okay. How many days do you need?”

Ellis decided to buy 10 sets at one thousand rills each. Since there are no monsters in Aida’s Labyrinth that can cause any status ailments, there is no reason to buy any antidotes. The meal and water set was 1,000 ril and it would last one person a full day. Since we needed enough for three days and two people, our total price reached 16,000 ril. Since Aida mushrooms can be sold for 4,000 ril a piece, we will need four of them to break even. Any less than that, and we will be in the red. Any more will be our profit.

“Ellis, don’t do anything unreasonable.”

Before Ellis could answer her, Reeve interjected. “It’s okay. I will protect her.”

“I wasn’t talking to you!”

Frau watched the two of them leave the adventurer’s guild frustrated. “What kind of guardian acts so boorishly? And Ellis is already so attached. Maybe Ellis is being deceived by that woman. Yes, that must be it. In that case, I have to protect her!”

Chapter 4

Chapter 6