Reya and Madiv ran out of the tavern and into the street, where Reya nearly tripped over her own feet in surprise. Anna had asked for help in the smithy, but it hadn’t quite registered completely in her mind. She’d been expecting four or five adventurers. Maybe ten, if Arwin’s pitch had been really effective. She hadn’t been expecting a fully-fledged crowd. Rodrick had somehow managed to gather everyone at the end of the street and was keeping them from spilling out and overwhelming everyone, but the grumbling roar of conversation made it clear the adventurers weren’t keen on waiting longer. How did I not hear them when we were inside the tavern? Does Lillia’s darkness also block out sound or something? She didn’t have any time to waste wondering. Together with Madiv, she ran into the smithy. “Whoa,” Reya breathed, skidding to a stop. Arwin had been busy. Eight suits of armor forged from Wyrm scales hung from the walls. Helms, greaves, chestpieces, and gauntlets. Her eyes caught on the last of the lot. It looked like Arwin had figured out how to make another piece of armor. In addition to them, several suits of Brightsteel armor from his previous forging efforts hung at the back of the Infernal Armory. The clang of metal echoed from the back room of the smithy, marking Arwin’s continued work behind them. “Arwin has been busy,” Madiv observed, running a hand along a piece of armor. “This is high quality. I do not know what an appropriate price for something is.” “I have no idea either. I’ve never sold something ,” Reya said, just relieved that the armor wasn’t magical as well. If it was, she was pretty sure they’d all get torn to bits on the spot by a swarm of ravenous adventurers. “We’ll have to play it by ear. His normal suits of armor — without gauntlets — sold for around one hundred and twenty gold. Maybe we start these at three hundred? Actually, I don’t know. We might be able to go higher.” Rodrick stuck his head through the door of the smithy. “You two almost ready? If I keep asking people to wait, they’re going to start getting pissed.” Reya tugged at her hair and glanced around nervously. This was a lot faster than she’d been expecting. Selling to one or two people was easy, but there was a literal horde outside their doors. Holy shit. They all think we’re just pretending. “How much for this piece, girl?” a large man asked Reya, pointing to a suit of Wyrmscale armor. Reya opened her mouth to respond, but she didn’t get a chance to answer. Madiv had somehow appeared beside her, his cold eyes burning into those of the Adventurer like hot irons. “Sir, I will kindly request that you refer to the servants of this establishment with respect. Acceptable names for her are Ma’am or Mistress.” Giving orders to rowdy warriors was generally a fast track to starting a fight. Reya tensed, but the large adventurer blinked in surprise, then grinned instead of throwing a fit. He dropped into a clumsy bow. By the time he rose, Madiv was gone, having headed over to speak to adventurers on the other side of the room. “Of course. I didn’t realize you lot were that into it. My apologies, Ma’am. How much for this suit of armor?” Not once in Reya’s life had she ever been referred to as Ma’am. She dragged her wits back to her and straightened her back. “How much are you willing to pay? We have a limited number of pieces today.” The large man pursed his lips. “Can I touch anything?” “You can touch, but if you manage to damage anything, you’re paying whatever I decide to make you pay for it.” The adventurer let out a grunt of laughter and inclined his head in understanding. He ran his hands along the armor, then rapped on the scales with his knuckles. “Too small for dragon scale… and no way there would be dragons this far out, being sold in a place . What is this made out of, Ma’am?” “Wyrmling scale,” Reya replied. It struck her that she didn’t actually know anything about the properties of Wyrmling scale, but it was too late to rectify that now. “Wyrmling?” the adventurer rubbed his chin. “That’s an interesting choice. Why?” “I couldn’t begin to fathom Ifrit’s plans or goals,” Reya said. “You would have to ask him, but he’s currently locked away forging. If you return at a later date, he may be willing to hear out your questions.” “And what about sabatons? Do I get boots with this as well?” “Not yet. They’re being developed. We can adjust the sizes of anything you buy to ensure it fits you, though.” The adventurer nodded slowly. “Three hundred gold for the lot, then?” “I’d give four hundred,” a woman with the build of a stone wall said from beside him, crossing her muscled arms. She was enormous, but barely had so much as a trace of fat on her entire body. “As if I’d pay that much. This place is fun, but that’s some real high-end armor pricing. If you want to pay that much, help yourself.” The man looked back to Reya. “Is Ifrit going to be selling more pieces of armor in the future?” “Yes. We obviously don’t have enough to sell to everyone today,” Reya said. With the number of people they had here, she didn’t actually have to sell to the first person she met — she had to sell to the ones with the most money. “It shouldn’t be too long before we have a waitlist. If you’re not completely sold today, you can wait to see what people think before putting your name down.” “And where will this list be?” “The Devil’s Den,” Reya replied, making a split-second decision and kicking the work down the line like a true professional. “The tavern down the road. Let the demons working there know of your desires and they’ll handle things.” “Demons?” the man arched an eyebrow before letting out a chuckle. “I’ll do just that. Thanks for the time, Ma’am.” He turned and squeezed past the other adventurers, heading for the door. The woman that had spoken up moved to take his place and nodded to the armor. “This is gonna need some serious modification if it’ll fit me. It’s not meant for someone with some real mass.” Reya wasn’t sure any armor was meant for the hulking woman. She had Arwin and Rodrick’s muscles put together and then some. “We can definitely handle that for you,” Reya said, not letting herself stare for too long. “It’ll just take a little time. You might have to return later.” “Four hundred gold, then, Ma’am?” the woman asked with a wry grin. Out of the corner of Reya’s eye, she saw new adventurers entering the building as others left. Madiv had already managed to sell two pieces of armor. “Four hundred is acceptable.” “Good shit,” the woman said as Reya took the pieces of armor off the wall. “Name’s Wanda. When do I come back?”