Chapter 38

After finishing dinner, I realized that the candles were burning out faster than expected, so I bought another one.

Then, I returned to my room and decided to take care of my weapons.

The steel sword was well-maintained, but the iron sword and the goblin sword, as well as the short sword I used to dismantle things, needed some attention. Although they wouldn't rust quickly since they were in the item bag, I couldn't neglect this task.

Haru also started to maintain her short sword, just like me.

"By the way, I wonder if it was okay to take these iron sword and short sword from the thief. Now that I think about it, it feels like a proper act of thievery."

"The belongings of a thief can be taken by the one who defeated them. However, this doesn't apply to those whose profession is thief."

"I see... But, the thief was the only one in the bandit group, and it's surprisingly hard to fall into the thief class. Even the ones who threatened us during the day weren't all thieves."

"That's true. The line is subtle, but divine punishment isn't handed out lightly. For example, killing someone makes you a thief, but if there's a justifiable reason, you won't become one. Just like how you didn't become a thief after killing two of the thieves. It's said that all sins are judged under the name of the Goddess of Harmony, Lady Libra. Lady Libra sees everything."

She sees everyone's sins in the world. Unlike Trail Rule, there are diligent goddesses too.

But, it's a relief that taking a thief's items doesn't count as a sin.

...Oh, I remember. I also brought a wooden box from the thief's hideout, in addition to the sword and short sword.

I had completely forgotten. I collected the items while still on an adrenaline rush from the battle.

Besides, it was a dirty wooden box, and I didn't expect much from it.

"Master, this wooden box was in the room where Norn was imprisoned, right?"

"Yeah. I brought it just in case, but I forgot to check its contents."

I said this and tried to open the box.

"…It's not a mimic, right?"

No, no, if it were a mimic, it wouldn't fit in the item bag.

The worst-case scenario would be a pile of the thieves' laundry, but the box was nailed shut, so that's unlikely. If it were a trap, they wouldn't make it hard to open.

I inserted the short sword into the gap of the box lid and pried it open.

And then—what was inside was,

"Rocks?"

"It looks like some kind of ore."

A lot of rocks came out. They weren't ordinary rocks; some parts were shining silver, and they indeed looked like ore.

Right, I should use the mineral identification skill.

The result came back quickly.

【Mithril Ore: An ore containing mithril silver. High-level alchemists are required to smelt mithril silver.】

So, mithril does exist in this world. It's a staple in games.

From the looks of it, orichalcum might exist too.

But, there were no mithril weapons or armor in the weapon shop. This means it's a rare item, right? When I told Haru this, it seemed worse than I thought.

Mithril is indeed a valuable ore for making equipment.

However, high-level alchemists are needed to smelt mithril ore.

Furthermore, high-level blacksmiths are required to forge mithril into weapons or armor.

Therefore, many countries not only monopolize the smelting process but also the mithril mines.

Thus, the selling price is practically nonexistent. It's unknown where the thieves got this mithril ore, but they must have struggled with handling it. It's a waste to discard it, but there are limited ways to turn it into money...

In this case, I have no choice but to become an alchemist and a blacksmith to make my own weapons and armor.

I'll keep the hammer user and apprentice alchemist as my companions for a while.

By the way, the apprentice alchemist can only make a few items.

They can refine tin, copper, iron, lead, and zinc from ores and create alloys from them.

Mithril equipment is rare, but it's not zero, and apparently, it won't raise suspicion if you have it.

I have one more job change.

I'll choose Loafer.

……………………………………………………

Job: Loafer 【Commoner Lv30】

This is what happens if you don't take a job while remaining a commoner.

A job that learns somewhat unique skills.

Special Experience Gain Condition: Engage in physical intimacy with the opposite sex.

……………………………………………………

That's what it means.

After finishing the weapon maintenance, I hugged Haru.

～Interlude～

And another couple huddled together.

Jofur and Elise, wandering in the forest.

"…I'm hungry, Jofur."

"Yeah, we haven't eaten since last night, Elise."

It's warm during the day in the mountains, but it gets cold at night.

The two, who hadn't prepared for the journey, naturally had no food or means to start a fire, so they were huddling together for warmth.

Seeing the centaur—whose name is Donkey—eating grass, Jofur had an idea.

"Maybe we can eat the grass that the centaur eats?"

"That's it, Jofur! We can definitely eat it!"

Of course, animal bodies aren't that simple, but without realizing that this was a bad idea, the two tried to eat the grass. At that moment, Elise accidentally stepped on the centaur's tail.

The centaur, startled by the pain, started running at an incredible speed.

"Wait, centaur! Without you, we won't know which grass is safe to eat!"

"Please, wait! Centaur!"

But the centaur's speed didn't slow down.

It sped up, and a rock wall appeared in front of them.

If this continues, we'll crash!

Just as they realized this,

The centaur's body passed through the rock wall.

The two looked at each other and approached the wall.

When they tried to touch the wall, they realized it wasn't just a wall.

It was the invisible wall of the hideout where they had served the thief for less than a day.

The two nodded and went through the wall.

The ceiling was faintly glowing.

"Jofur, this is…"

"Yeah, it's a dungeon! And an undiscovered one! This is amazing, a great discovery!"

"Amazing, Jofur! What should we name the dungeon?"

"Elise Jofur Dungeon! We found this dungeon because Elise was here."

"No, Jofur Elise Dungeon! We found this dungeon because Jofur was here."

The two embraced, but Ichi no Jo, who would have stopped them, wasn't there.

They would realize this a bit later.

The new dungeon had only one room.

And in the center of that room, a sword was embedded.

By the way, the centaur was quietly eating the grass growing inside the dungeon.