Chapter 293

The shops were in a different district outside of the city center, which held the four important buildings: the Palace and its Basements, the Bordello, the Coliseum, and the Arena. It was only a short five-minute walk to start seeing the first stores.

Each sold different categories of wares. The first they entered, by chance, was a shop that sold necklaces.

“Natalie,” Vanetta said faintly. “Natalie, it boosts damage with daggers by fifty percent.”

“But only when your nipples are visible,” the automaton shopkeeper said brightly. “And at least one person must be able to see them at the time of attack. For women only! An incredible effect, as expected of such an illustrious Epic item.”

And indeed, the item for sale was an Epic. Only Malice’s monster core had been of a similar rarity. To be fair, this necklace was absurdly expensive, one of the best items in the entire shop. There were no Mythicals for sale, the tier above Epic, and a rarity of item Natalie and her team had yet to find.

“Natalie,” Vanetta said, sounding distraught. “Fifty percent. What kind of delver would I be if I didn’t make that sacrifice?”

“There’s ... probably better items out there.” Her own words were a bit choked, since she was also shocked at the sheer bonus the necklace provided. Of course, the downside was major, at least from a propriety standpoint. And it required her to be visible to one other person at the time of the attack, which was a huge limitation for a [Rogue]. But still.

“Situational,” Vanetta mumbled. “But fifty percent. Fifty!”

“Your teammates would be appreciative, Miss,” the automaton said brightly. “And not just for the damage boost!”

Vanetta turned an open-mouthed, red-faced look toward the metal woman.

“They would surely enjoy seeing your naked chest exposed,” the automaton clarified.

“I know what you meant!” Vanetta squeaked in outrage. “Aren’t you supposed to be—be a professional?” she sputtered. “You can’t say things like that to your clients!”

“I can’t?” the automaton asked, blinking. “It’s a compliment.” She turned to Natalie. “Wouldn’t you wish to see her naked breasts?”

“Uh,” Natalie said.

“You should encourage her to buy it,” the automaton continued earnestly.

Vanetta turned dagger-like eyes to Natalie, daring her to answer, or say anything at all.

Of course, the internal answer was a resounding yes, she would like to see Vanetta’s breasts, and a lot more than that besides, but she had some sense in her head.

“What other items do you have for sale?” Natalie asked loudly.

The automaton, in their usual cheerful and clueless way—though not all automatons were like that, merely most of them—answered instantly, listing off the two other Epic items she had. They were equally as stunning as the first, and that brief introduction into their first Eros Shop was proof enough why Acacia had insisted so fervently that the City was an unparalleled opportunity for delvers.

Though, Natalie did acknowledge it would take a significant amount of time to earn enough tokens, much less Empowered ones, to buy one of the Epics. The prices were eye-watering.

They left the necklace store some time later, heads spinning.

“I guess I could get used to having my tits out,” Vanetta said, somewhat numbly. “And everyone else would get used to them, right? It’d stop being sexual, in a way.”

Yeah, Natalie doubted she would ever get tired of seeing a hot girl’s tits, but maybe she shouldn’t say that.

“There’s gonna be other items,” she said instead. “Some of them are normal.” Not every incredible piece of loot had as bizarre of a drawback as that first Epic, though it had been stronger for it, certainly. “Do what makes you comfortable,” she said, voice firm. “Raw efficiency isn’t everything. Your feelings matter more than a bit more power.”

Vanetta rubbed her forehead and didn’t reply. Natalie wondered if she even agreed.

They advanced into the next store. This one sold cloth armor meant for mages, which meant it was irrelevant to both Natalie and the rogue, who wore heavy and light armor respectively, but their curiosity was so piqued they perused the wares anyway. And besides, it might serve as a gift for Ana or Liz.

They left that shop in a similar daze.

“Natalie,” the dark-haired rogue said. “Why did that robe cover everything except between her legs?”