Heart of a Scout (Lisbeth X Reader)

Close Proximity

Three days had passed ever since Lisbeth hired you. Working for her actually didn't feel too different than what you already did, except you had less choice on where to sell your materials. It was worth it, though. Lisbeth stuck to her word and kept your gear in top form. Not breaking your promise to yourself, you tried to find excuses to stop by at least once a day, either for equipment repair or for material delivery. Today marked a delivery of high-grade materials.

The Floor 65 Labyrinth was home to several variants of undead knights. Their armor was useless to most players, but they could actually be melted down and refined in the same manner as metal ores. While making one final mapping run before the raid, you gathered a hefty amount of Brave Steel scrap. It could be used for armors and weapons resembling those of ancient knights. Not your thing, but nice nonetheless.

From there, after providing the two major clearing guilds your maps, you used a Teleport Crystal to move to Lindarth. It wasn't much distance from the gate to Lisbeth's shop, at least, it didn't feel like it. Her shop was usually open, sometimes run by her, and sometimes by her NPC shopkeeper. Looks like she was in today, though. You could see her through the window taking an order.

You strolled into her shop, exchanged a quick greeting, then went into the back to drop off the Brave Steel. Occasionally you would bring in a material she's never seen before, and at this point you'd have to try your best to explain what effects it had and what kind of things could be forged from it. Considering you had zero experience with smithing, that usually went poorly. At the very least, she got the gist of things.

You usually stayed for a while and tried to catch some of the orders she was receiving, just to see if her attitude when you first met her was only for you, or for every customer. Turns out it was the former. That made you feel a little better about your odds with her.

Once during that time, Kirito came in for repairs on his equipment. When that happened, you had to devote a little more time to listening in. If she really was in love with the guy, what chance did you have? The more you listened, the more Lisbeth's demeanor around him interested you, though. You overheard that he was married to some other player named Asuna. Either he had a harem going on or Lisbeth really thought she could have a chance with him. Both of those options sounded really bad to you.

At least you knew you probably had a shot with Lisbeth. Even still, you couldn't read her mind. You might be totally right about her being madly in love with Kirito and not really caring much for you. She could easily just think of you as an employee right now.

Anyway, you were about to leave after dropping off your goods, but the front entrance was blocked by 4 people wearing matching uniforms. They had to have been part of a guild, and a powerful one at that. You could see it from the looks on their faces. They probably wanted a group order from Lisbeth, but even still, you felt anxious just standing in their presence. You then heard Lisbeth's voice behind you.

"May I help you?" She was as jovial as ever.

Lisbeth had finished her other order while you were in the back, so the only people in the building were you, her, and these 4 guild members. One of them, presumably the leader, stepped forward.

"The Divine Dragon Alliance wishes to place an order for a large stock of weapons." His voice had a commanding tone.

You had to excuse yourself upstairs before your anxiety became visible. The Divine Dragon Alliance was possibly the strongest of the clearing guilds, and now they wanted a large shipment of weapons from Lisbeth. You really hoped they weren't just asking her, since that was a lot for one person to handle. Listening in, though, Lisbeth seemed to be glowing about the order. The deal was definitely valuable, that was certain.