"...but, Grandfather. At this rate, we're going to run out of materials to make new tools for miners, even if the adventurers show up and deal with all those golems," Fio said towards the backroom with a whimper as she rested her head on a store counter of her grandfather's smithy. The young girl let out a pitiful exhale as she rested a hand under her cheek, upset that the overcrowding of golems caused all mining to stop and caused her gramps to halt her training to save on materials.

  (Fio Smith is a short, seven-year-old human girl; she has neck-low spikey blonde hair, orange eyes, and tanned skin)

  (Fio is wearing a heat-resistant short dress, a fireproof blacksmithing apron, and anti-fogging goggles)

  As the young Smith continued to wallow in her on-hold smithing training, Fio huffed and puffed, glancing at the many lumin-gem-filled lanterns mounted on the walls that faintly illuminated the room. Left in her stupor, Fio didn't even notice Zalroth and the others entering the store, leaving them to peruse the store's various weapons, tools, and other trinkets at their leisure.

  [Activated Skill: Inspect(Blacksmith)]

  [Lumin-gem Lantern]

  -A man-made lantern that uses Lumin-gems as a light source-

  [Lumin-gem]

  -A gem-like artifact crafted by an artifacter/synergist that glows when Hexa is passed through it, and the intensity of the glow is dependent on the speed of the Hexa flowing through it-

  "Heh, gotta figure out how those are made so I can have Yumi make some of them for lights in our houses," Nagami mused as her eyes roamed over the Lumin-gems inside the lantern which shapes ranged from sphereoids to spikey balls and various other golfball-sized objects.

  "Wait up... would you...guys?" Al murmured disorientedly as he stumbled into the doorframe, his head spinning from the combo attack from the heavy air and his motion sickness.

  "Couldn't you just use a potion?" Kaze asked as Al stumbled into him and grabbed onto his arm for support, not caring how pitiful it made him look.

  "I think I'd be sick even if my Status Recovery removed my motion sickness," Al grumbled, the mere thought of getting back on Nero heightening his existing nausea stirring inside him. His body shivered before his body gave out, and he collapsed on the floor like a wet noodle. Al's sudden meeting with the floor sent a loud bang through the store, snapping Fio out of her pouty state just in time to see Kaze shaking his head as he picked Al off the floor. Stammering under her breath, Fio quickly straightened out her uniform and put on a brave face.

  "W-welcome customers to Golemight Smithy; if there is anything I can help you with, please let me know," Fio conveyed to the best of her professional abilities, despite the initial stuttering.

  Being one of the only two who heard the girl's quiet greetings, Zalroth approached the counter, and the girl felt her breath leap out of her mouth. Fio was left utterly mesmerised, completely entranced by the way her eyes were captivated by the marvellous craftsmanship of Kokatzugami's scabbard. The brilliance of the scabbard in her gaze left her to imagine what the sword itself must look like.

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  "I see you've got an eye for greatness, my fellow peer," Nagami remarked boastfully, with Metsu unamusedly glancing at the back of the boastful girl's head.

  "Boasting bad," Metsu muttered as she karate-chopped Nagami in the back of her dome, making Nagami giggle as a red digital 0.5 appeared beside her head. With Nowa jesting about that being the first bit of damage Metsu's done with her own hands, Zalroth rubbed his forehead with mild mirth that it would actually be Metsu's first instance of damaging something period.

  While resting an arm on the counter, Nagami professionally inquired, "Would it be much of a chore to ask if you have any coal you'd be willing to part with some coal?"

  "I um... have to apologise, my gramp's stocks of materials have been running low recently due to issues in the mines," Fio explained apologetically whilst bowing her head to the group, feeling extremely guilty for having to deny them such a common commodity.

  "So, you usually buy ores from the miners... from this town's mine?" Metsu asked as only the points of her crescent moon parts of her hair were visible from Fio's point of view.

  "I mean it's more they sell it to us, but that's just me nitpicking," Fio replied with her gaze flickering between the two points of Metsu's hair, captivating her attention like a laser pointer for all cats. After a few seconds of staring, Fio snapped out of her captivated trance before figuring out what the two barely taller girls were implying. Placing her hands together, Fio timidly asked, "Are you saying you have materials you'd wish to sell?"

  Fio quickly bounced from side to side like a ping-pong ball, searching for any signs of the mentioned materials despite none being present.

  "You look like you're travelling pretty light though... does that mean you have an Item Box Ability? Wait, does that mean you're an adventurer?" Fio asked excitedly, her excitement growing apparent on her face as it seemed likely Zalroth was a high-level adventurer, especially given his sword and supposed Item Box.

  "Something like that," Nagami chirped, chipping in because she knew Zalroth would inadvertently reveal something he shouldn't if she allowed him to do the lying.

  "Oh, ok, I'm not really good with all the commerce stuff, but if you tell me what you have, I can ask my gramps how much it is," Fio explained, getting slightly giddy to see what kinds of monster materials Zalroth have that aren't from golems. Opening his inventory screen, Zalroth scrolled through the droves of swarmer corpses flooding his inventory, but eventually found a few armoured swarmers after a few seconds of scrolling.

  "How about an armoured swarmer sound?" Zalroth proposed with Nagami mentally face-palming at Zalroth choosing the larger creature while physically smiling to keep up appearances. Fio placed a finger on her chin as she thought it over before raising her hand, asking for a moment to ask her grandfather. She hopped down from her stool and swiftly skidaddled through the draped-covered entrance into the smithy's forge to find her grandfather.

  "Gramps? What's an armoured swarmer?"

  There was a momentary pause from the constant clanging of metal from the forge that had been happening since the group's arrival. Following the silence, Fio let out a startled eep, followed by an enamored awe, and finally a surprised oh of comprehension.

  Shortly after her swarmer lesson, Fio popped her head through the drapes before waving for them to enter.

  "I take it you lot would rather wait out here?" Zalroth asked, referring to everyone who wasn't named Nagami.

  "I like to breathe," Metsu muttered adamantly as she hurried away from the counter, absolutely adamant on remaining out of such a hot place. The others shared the moon head's sentiment, nodding in a united camaraderie.

  Especially steadfast on not going in, Nowa even rushed over to the duo. She grabbed them before she pushed them around the counter and past the drapes, not letting them get a word in. With the threat averted, Nowa mentally sighed in relief, slumping her shoulders as she marched away from the forge's entrance.

  "But aren't you highly heat resistant?" Metsu asked, only for Nowa to silently shush her. Seeing the confusion in Metsu's eyes, Nowa threatened to make Metsu carry Kaira if any more blacksmiths learned she could hold super-hot objects.