Chapter 16

As he stepped outside with the centipede's carapace, the sun had already set.

The sun slowly sank behind the fallow field.

The crimson color dyed everything red.

Even the transparent air seemed to take on a faint hue.

"Wow... It's beautiful."

Kuren, who saw the scene, exhaled with a heated breath.

In stark contrast to Kuren, Seiki was indifferent.

If you see the same scenery every day, you won't be moved so easily.

If there were some sake and snacks, he might have been moved.

Emotions depend on the environment.

But that's beside the point.

Seiki turned his eyes to a small prefabricated building in one corner of the fallow field.

"What's that?"

There was no such prefabricated building when he returned.

It must have been brought here while he was in the dungeon.

It was the type of prefabricated building you often see at construction sites.

It was meant to protect from the elements, not for comfort.

Who brought this thing here?

Seiki, curious, approached it cautiously.

Then he noticed a sign at the entrance.

"Kisho Weaponry and Material Buyback Store K Town Branch"

It turned out to be a store of the large company Kisho.

He thought it would take some time, but he didn't expect it to open within a week of the dungeon's appearance.

Normally, they would do market research to see how much demand and supply there is before opening a store.

Otherwise, especially in such a remote area, it would not make enough profit and would soon go out of business.

For whatever reason, it was very convenient for the town to have a weapon store and a buyback store open simultaneously.

Seiki, without caring about the circumstances, brought the centipede's carapace into the store.

The inside of the store was like a wake.

No, it seemed like a wake to Seiki.

There was a counter and a single chair in the empty store.

On the chair, a woman sat, humming a sad tune.

"La la la la la..."

The red-haired woman, with her eyes swollen from crying, was a store clerk from Sapporo.

"Welcome. The store is empty, but please feel free to look around."

In a tone that seemed to say, "She's beautiful, but she's dead..." she muttered to herself.

What am I supposed to look at?

Seiki, with a strained face, cautiously opened his mouth.

"Didn't you work at the store in Sapporo?"

The woman slowly turned her dead eyes toward Seiki.

Then,

"Ahahaha! Why did I have to come to such a place?!"

She suddenly started pounding the counter and sobbing.

This is bad.

Very bad.

I need to retreat quickly.

But as he turned to leave,

"Wait a minute! You can't just leave when a girl is crying in front of you!!"

She grabbed his shoulder with a forceful grip.

He could feel a menacing presence from behind.

The woman's eyes were set like those of a drunk.

She was completely in the mood for a fight.

"Despite all the effort I put in for the company, to be sent to such a place, don't you think it's unfair? Don't you think so? Don't you think so?!"

"Y-Yes..."

"Even though I improved the sales from the previous year. I worked so hard. Just because I bought materials on my own, it's too much!"

"I see. So you were demoted."

"No!! Don't say that word!!"

It seems to have hit a nerve.

She started crying again.

Her tears soaked his back.

"...Sigh."

Seiki sighed and turned around.

"Can you buy this?"

"I can! I can do that! Just because I was sent to such a remote place, it doesn't mean I can't do that!!"

Why is she so confrontational?

Feeling it was getting too troublesome, Seiki threw the materials on the counter.

"I'm a customer, you know?"

"Ah, welcome. So, you want me to buy this?"

She stopped her tears as if turning off a faucet.

This woman...

She didn't even pretend to be polite, unlike last time.

But knowing her true nature, Seiki's tone was casual from the start.

"Centipede material... Whoa, what's this? A centipede? Hold on a moment."

Perhaps because she saw work in front of her, she moved nimbly, unlike before.

She put on disposable gloves from the counter drawer and placed the materials on the counter, examining them with a loupe.

"Hmm, hmm. There are 96 centipede carapaces. Since they're undamaged, 1,000 yen each."

"Wow."

It was worth it to aim for the head to avoid damaging the carapace.

"Also, about the centipede, should I buy it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Ordering armor made from centipede material would be better than what you have now."

Since she said it, it must be better.

But Seiki shook his head.

"Please handle it for sale."

"Why?"

"This battle was a close call."

He probably wouldn't be able to use the armor properly and would be disliked by the equipment.

To use centipede carapace armor, he would need to level up more.

"Hmm. Then I'll keep two carapaces and buy the rest."

"Huh?"

"You might not be able to get the materials when you need them later."

"I see."

So, he accepted her suggestion.

Her ability to make such a suggestion naturally showed how competent she was.

But why did she end up in such a place...

Probably, she stepped on someone's pride or territory without thinking and did the right thing.

No matter how righteous you are, if you can't make the other person look good, you'll be disliked.

And so, the company, which got the new dungeon information, sent her away smoothly.

"Since you're so competent, you can make money even in a remote place, right?" or something like that.

...Yeah, that sounds plausible.

Frankly, it's self-inflicted.

But usually, it's hard to open an adventurer's store in an area where sales are not expected.

So, let's take advantage of her misfortune.

"Eight centipede carapaces for 40,000 yen. Together with the centipede carapaces, 138,000 yen. Is that okay?"

"Yeah. This time, I'll take 50% of the profit."

"Understood."

"Wait a moment."

Just as it was about to be settled, Kuren, who had been silent, interrupted.

"Kuren should get more than me!"

"This time, Kuren hunted the centipedes. I just supervised."

"Kuren could hunt the centipedes thanks to Seiki. I couldn't have done it alone."

Ah, what a hassle, Seiki thought.

As a party, they should just take 50% without worrying about roles.

Of course, he understood Kuren's point.

If they don't handle it properly, it could cause problems later...

But it was troublesome.

"So, what do you want to do? The sun is setting and it's getting hot, so can we hurry up?"

The red-haired clerk waved her hand in front of her face.

Just be quiet...

But she had become quite blunt.

It was more natural and interesting than when she was pretending to be polite.

Seiki couldn't help but chuckle at her blatant attitude.

"Take half today. In exchange, I'll listen to Kuren. Is that okay?"

"......Alright."

Kuren must have immediately understood what Seiki meant by "listen."

She nodded with a serious face.

Once they agreed, Seiki and Kuren charged 69,000 yen to their IC card.

"I have something I want you to appraise. Is that okay?"

"We have a simple appraisal and a detailed appraisal. Which one do you want?"

"......How are they different?"

Seiki tilted his head.

Of course, he understood the difference between simple and detailed appraisals.

What he wanted to know was how much each appraisal could do and the price.

The clerk must have understood this as well.

She raised her beautiful black eyes and said,

"Well, a simple appraisal is done by me. It takes about a minute and costs 1,000 yen. A detailed appraisal is done by the headquarters appraiser and also checked with a testing machine. It might take a month depending on the request, and it costs 100,000 yen."

"100,000!?"

"Of course. A detailed appraisal is done by the Kisho headquarters appraiser."

Indeed, Seiki nodded silently.

Large companies that sell dungeon items always have at least one appraiser.

An appraiser is someone who has awakened their ability in the dungeon and has appraisal skills for items obtained in the dungeon.

It's said that appraisal skills are like the dungeon version of a certain Mr. Nakajima's ability in "Narou."

Appraisers are rare, and transportation costs to the headquarters are high, so it's understandable that it costs 100,000 yen.

In fact, 100,000 yen might be a bargain.

However, if this is a magic bag, it can be identified without a detailed appraisal.

"Then, I'll go with a simple appraisal."

Seiki took out a pouch from his bag, which he believed to be a magic bag found in the centipede's stomach.

He had already washed it lightly with water from his water bottle.

It was still a bit wet, but it didn't look as bad as when he first took it out of the stomach.

Kuren, perhaps remembering the scene, gagged beside him.

"Hmm. A pouch-shaped... magical item, perhaps? Can I borrow it?"

She took it and sniffed it, examining it from various angles.

She opened the lid and put her hand inside.

Then, it slipped in smoothly.

It went all the way up to her shoulder.

"Congratulations. This is definitely a magic bag. The opening is narrow, so you can only put things up to about 20 centimeters in diameter, but the inside is as big as a classroom, so it's very useful. By the way, are you interested in selling it?"

"Sorry, but I can't sell it—"

"I'll buy it for 100 million yen."

"Wh-What!?"

Seiki's eyes widened at the sudden astronomical amount.

Kuren, beside him, choked.

"Is it surprising? With this, you can carry a lot of small items and move them around. In a world where transportation costs are sky-high, this can make a lot of money."

Indeed, with this, you wouldn't have to pay for transportation and would benefit in many ways.

An investment of 100 million yen would definitely pay off.

"100 million is tempting, but we can use it in various ways, so we'll keep it."

"You're right. It's good to have it for emergencies, like storing medicine in case you run out."

However, it was quite a find.

This was probably due to Kuren's luck skill.

Meeting a strong rare species and surviving, and the luck of getting rare items from monsters.

These two types of luck must have been what she attracted.

But he didn't think he could allocate more luck to her.

If he maxed out her luck, centipeders might appear on the first floor every day...

After leaving the store, Seiki returned home with Kuren.

"Wow, this is Seiki's house? Ha—"

What's so special about it? Kuren marveled at the ordinary two-story house.

"You have solar panels."

"Yeah. Without them, we can't use electricity freely."

After the stampede, electricity prices rose, and power restrictions were imposed on ordinary households.

Basic living is possible, but using a computer requires a self-generation system.

Seiki's house had the panels installed before the stampede, but after the stampede, the cost of materials skyrocketed, making them a valuable asset for the common people.

There were even a series of thefts of panels during the chaos after the stampede.

(As a result, Seiki had to strengthen the security to prevent the panels from being stolen.)

Seiki had Kuren sit in a chair in the living room and prepared water.

The water was drawn from a well in the yard.

He handed it to her, saying, "Here you go," and watched her reaction before taking a sip himself.

"Ugh, ugh... Phew!"

She must have really liked it. She drank a full glass of water with tears in her eyes.

That's right.

With the reduction in manpower, materials, and power, the quality of tap water has declined significantly since before the appearance of the dungeon.

In some areas, tap water is undrinkable.

Only when you find yourself in such a situation do you realize how fortunate you were.

At the same time, it's hard to understand why wells have disappeared.

Such delicious water is so easily available...

"Alright, let's talk."

Kuren's expression tightened as she looked at the empty glass, wanting a second cup.

When Seiki was about to be bitten by the centipede, it suddenly tilted as if it had been hit.

Something must have hit it.

But it wasn't a physical attack.

Seiki saw nothing.

If so, there's only one possibility.

"Can you use magic?"

"...Yes."

The centipede was tilted by Kuren's magic.

He had allocated points just in case, but he didn't expect the "just in case" to come so soon.

It was a quick flag recovery.

"...Please don't tell anyone."

"I know it would be dangerous if it got out. That wouldn't be fun."

"Fun?"

"Yeah. We're adventurers. We want to enjoy our adventures as much as possible, right?"

"Are you a gamer?"

"Maybe."

"...Hehe."

Kuren chuckled at Seiki's answer.

It tickled and embarrassed him, so he took a sip of water to cover it up.

—But something hit the cup halfway.

"Oh."

He was still wearing the mask.

The field of view was clear, and breathing was not difficult. The lack of sensation was good, but he kept forgetting he was wearing it.

Seiki's small mistake made Kuren laugh softly, as if she couldn't hold it in anymore.

"This dungeon hasn't been visited by other adventurers yet. So, you can use magic freely. If you improve your attack skills, you can handle situations like today's more easily."

"That's true..."

"Will you use magic in tomorrow's adventure?"

"Should I use it?"

Kuren looked up at Seiki, as if gauging his mood.

"Do what you want."

"...Understood. I'll start using it from tomorrow."

Kuren nodded with determination.

"Can I ask you something else?"

"...Sure, go ahead."

"How does it feel to use magic? Do you feel your mana decreasing?"

"I don't know if it's mana... but I feel tired inside my body."

"Inside your body?"

"Yes. It's different from mental or physical fatigue. I just feel like I don't want to move for a while."

"Hmm."

He didn't understand at all.

"How did you start using magic?"

"I don't know. When I tried to hunt in the dungeon, I felt like I could use something, so I tried aiming my weapon, and it came out from the tip."

"From the weapon?"

"Yes."

"Is that why you use a cudgel?"

"Yes, this weapon is better for magic."

I see.

It seems the magic generated from her body is stored in the weapon and then released.

She must have awakened