"You’re a first-rank Explorer, right? Tell me, what kind of equipment do you want made?"
The sailor-uniform girl spoke with a smug look on her face. "I don’t usually make low-level rare-grade equipment, but since you’re my first customer today, I’ll reluctantly take this order."
"If it’s that much trouble, I’ll find another shop."
Luke spoke blandly and started to walk away.
"Eh—don’t! It’s not trouble, not at all!"
The sailor-uniform girl hurriedly stopped him. "Don’t worry. I’ll definitely meet your needs."
"I need an outer garment."
Luke stopped teasing the amusing shop owner. At the moment, he would probably have a hard time finding another Supporter with both solid skills and enough free time to personally forge equipment for him.
Big shops took big orders, while the Supporters at smaller shops often lacked skill. This sailor-uniform girl might be a little odd and goofy, but her craftsmanship was undeniably first-rate.
"An outer garment? That’s easy. What are your specific requirements?"
Once she entered work mode, the sailor-uniform girl became thoroughly professional. She even pulled out a small notebook to take notes.
"Oh, right. Let me make this clear first: I want purple-grade equipment custom-made. How do you calculate the price?"
Luke got straight to the point.
"Purple equipment!?"
The sailor-uniform girl looked surprised as she sized Luke up from head to toe. "Looks like you do have the means..."
Luke immediately felt uncomfortable, as if she had seen right through him. He guessed she had used some kind of scouting skill. Since it was not an offensive method, Endspace permitted it. Still, people generally did not do that inside Endspace. Casually prying into someone else’s attributes and status was highly rude and easily bred resentment.
At a custom equipment shop, though, it was common practice. It was like reporting your measurements when buying clothes in an ordinary world. If a forger did not know a customer’s exact attributes, they could easily make equipment the customer could not use. That would be an embarrassing blunder.
"Right. About how much for purple equipment?"
Luke asked directly.
"A purple-grade outer garment isn’t particularly difficult to forge. If I make it to max-rating standards, factoring in the materials, I’ll charge you..."
The sailor-uniform girl seemed hesitant as she weighed the price, afraid that the first customer since opening her store would run away. "Twenty thousand Endspace Coins."
"But I only have sixteen thousand Endspace Coins left."
Luke kept a straight face. In truth, he still had more than nineteen thousand Endspace Coins, but there was no way he was going to leave himself completely broke.
"Sixteen thousand..."
The sailor-uniform girl appeared conflicted. Her family’s teachings demanded perfection when forging equipment, so she only made max-rated items. That meant her material costs could never be low. Frankly, at the price Luke had named, she would not just make no profit—she might even take a loss.
But she had opened this shop to prove that she could make it a success. If she did not receive a single order this month, her journey toward independence and self-reliance might come to an end before it had even begun.
"If that doesn’t work..."
Luke knew that custom-ordering a high-end purple item for sixteen thousand was not very realistic. He had been about to offer an additional small Inheritance Crystal, but she cut him off before he could finish.
"Fine!"
The sailor-uniform girl answered crisply, stepping in front of Luke and blocking the path to the door. "But I have one extra condition."
"Let’s hear it."
Luke was curious.
The sailor-uniform girl glanced toward the display rack outside, then craned her neck to look around cautiously as if guarding against something. Then she lowered her voice. "Can you buy one of my beds?"
"Huh?"
Luke was utterly baffled. He had expected some outrageous demand, only for her to ask him to buy a bed!?
Hey, just how obsessed are you with selling beds!? What is even the point of selling beds!? With your skills, shouldn’t you focus on making equipment!?
"The cheapest one is fine. The one that costs five thousand Endspace Coins."
The sailor-uniform girl lowered her voice so much it was nearly just breath passing through her throat. "Trust my craftsmanship. I guarantee it’ll be comfortable to sleep on."
"But I only have sixteen thousand..."
Luke looked helpless. Five thousand Endspace Coins was enough to buy a decent rare-grade item. Was he sick in the head? Why would he buy a bed?
"Stop pretending."
The sailor-uniform girl rolled her pretty eyes. "How could you possibly not leave yourself some money? You should have some left over, right?"
"I’ll add one small Inheritance Crystal, buy your bed, and have you customize my equipment. If that works, we’ll discuss the details. If not, I’m leaving."
Luke knew that a small Inheritance Crystal would probably sell for three to five thousand Endspace Coins, though hardly anyone normally sold one.
If she agreed, he thought it would be a pretty good deal. After all, twenty thousand Endspace Coins for a custom purple-grade item was already cheap. He could consider the bed a bonus.
"An Inheritance Crystal?"
The sailor-uniform girl’s eyes lit up. "Fine, it’s a deal. Give me your requirements!"
Luke then explained his requirements to the sailor-uniform girl. By the end, her expression had become extremely strange.
"Can I take it back? What you want isn’t purple equipment at all."
The sailor-uniform girl was nearly losing her mind. In her eyes, Luke was the worst kind of client. His demands were simply far too unrealistic.
He wanted strong flexibility and defense, self-repair, an active defensive skill capable of resisting powerful attacks, improved survivability, and it damn well had to look cool, too!
Was that purple equipment he wanted? That was a freaking mythic item, okay!?
"Oh, it’s fine if you can’t make all of that. Just try to work in that direction. I’m only roughly describing what I need. If you can fulfill even one of those requirements, that counts."
Luke did not really understand the difficulty of forging. He had simply described his ideal outer garment.
During his previous battles, he had already noticed how inconvenient ordinary clothing was. It tore apart at the slightest provocation, and he had no interest in showing off his body in front of strangers.
So he thought that if he had a sturdier outer garment, he would not look so disheveled whenever he fought a powerful enemy.
It could also enhance his defense. Combined with the passive effect of Armament Haki, he would not even need to dodge many attacks. He could just charge straight through them head-on.
"Who says I can’t make it!?"
Luke’s words were like stepping on a cat’s tail. The sailor-uniform girl instantly bristled. "I’ll make it! Just wait. Come pick it up next week!"
"Oh. Then... good luck."
Luke instinctively felt that he should not provoke the sailor-uniform girl any further in her current state.
"I’m starting work now. The shop is closed for today. Remember to take the bed when you leave."
As she spoke, the sailor-uniform girl had already traded the bed displayed outside to Luke.
Holding the toy-sized bed in his hand, Luke walked out of the shop called "Private Custom Orders" with a bewildered expression. Her techniques were amazing—the furniture she made could all be resized.
Watching the sailor-uniform girl close the shop door with fighting spirit written all over her face, Luke could only worry inwardly. Once a contract was signed, neither side could back out. He could only hope she was reliable enough to forge equipment that satisfied him.
Now that he had spent nearly all his money, Luke had no intention of continuing to browse the commercial street. He planned to check the information on the little bed in his hand before tossing it into his storage space.
But when he saw its details, he was stunned.
[No Dreams]
Origin: Endspace
Quality: Rare
Type: Furniture
Toughness: 28
Durability: 70/70
Usage Requirement: None
Details: A bed crafted from dream-fragrant wood by Supporter No. █████. It possesses an adaptive firmness adjustment function. Sleeping on it relaxes both body and mind, greatly improving sleep quality.
Furniture Effect 1: No Dreams—When resting on [No Dreams], a Pioneer’s Soul Source recovery speed increases by 300%.
Furniture Effect 2: Nurture—When resting on [No Dreams], a Pioneer’s Life Source recovery speed increases by 300%.
Rating: 100+
Evaluation: Sometimes, having a good bed really is important.
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