"I want to check out the Adventurer's Guild."

"The people I talked to in the marketplace yesterday were very clear. The quickest way to make money is by completing Quests at the Adventurer's guild."

Niki grinned. "Great minds think alike! We'll hire as many warriors as we can, and take on a fierce dragon!" She punched the air as she walked, imagining the epic battle.

"No. In my previous world, there were many ways to optimize a party composition, but raw numbers and brute strength were rarely the deciding factor. And I'm not sure what a 'dragon' looks like in this world, but something tells me it's not the type of monster for amateurs to fight."

"Oh." Niki looked disappointed. "So you'll assemble a crack team of warriors and spellcasters, and we'll go take on... I don't know, a bunch of skeletons or something?"

"No. Between the inn room and what I bought in the marketplace, I'm just about out of spare change from your muffin purchase. Which means it's time to pick up a little more spare change."

"Oh. So we'll... uh..." Niki scratched her head. "Scrape together a ragtag group of the cheapest adventurers around and hope that we can find a quest low level enough that we won't all get killed?"

Shiroe chuckled. "Good heavens, no. What a disaster that would be! No. Today is just recon. I have a lot to learn about combat in this world, and I'm going to start by talking to the people who've experienced that combat first-hand."

Niki pouted. "I could teach you..."

"Oh, really? How many quests have you completed?"

"None. But before I became an adventurer, I was in the town guard."

"I see. Why'd you stop?"

"I got kicked out for laughing during night patrols. But! Before that, I was a fierce warrior for the Vakila clan!"

"I see. It's good to be proud of one's heritage. What made you decide to go out into the world?"

She did indeed look proud as she puffed puffed up her chest. "The Elder decided that it was for the good of the tribe that one of us explore the lands outside our territory! Also, I kept laughing during the Great Hunt."

"You're really a magnet for troublemakers, aren't you." Shiroe stroked his chin, wondering if there was a way he could leverage that, if he couldn't change it.

"I attracted you, didn't I?"

Shiroe smirked. "I mean, if you get tickled so much, why do you wear that particular style of armor?"

"Oh!" Niki's eyes lit up with understanding. "It's because I can't afford the Steel Plate version yet."

He shook his head and let the subject drop. Time would tell whether he could get a straight answer out of someone else about how women's armor worked.