Chapter 27
"Hey. Could that be a first-year?"
"W-Wait, is that a high-tier equipment set?!"
"Who's wearing it? They look kind of familiar..."
"Idiot! That's the Hero-kun everyone's talking about! The new star who suddenly appeared among the first-years!"
"Oh!!"
Murmur, murmur.
On our way back from the dungeon, we were attracting more attention than ever.
Well, most of that attention was on my gleaming white 〈Sky Series〉 gear.
With its divine radiance, it looked so holy that you could easily believe it was called the Sacred Armor.
If someone wearing it suddenly showed up without warning, of course people would wonder what was going on.
Naturally, I knew exactly what I was doing. It was deliberate.
Thanks to that, the recruitment battle had died down in the face of my sacred, unapproachable appearance.
It was remarkably effective at keeping people away.
Just as planned. Bwahaha.
"Ugh. Everyone's staring at us..."
Hannah had carried herself with such a reliable air in the dungeon, but once we got back, her usual timidity returned.
She kept glancing at me with an anxious expression.
She could've gone back ahead of me if she didn't like it, but she was probably already regretting excitedly saying, "I'm going home with you, Zephyrus-kun!"
That said, having Hannah with me was helping keep people away, so I wasn't about to tell her to go back alone now.
We're in this together. Bwahaha.
Students who looked like they were heading home after class watched from a distance as we strolled along without a care.
The trick to avoiding people who want to talk to you is to act confident.
If you walk around nervously, they'll exploit your hesitation and approach you pretending they want to help.
"I wonder where that gear is from."
"I've never seen it before. Maybe it's custom-made?"
"But it looks like a high-tier equipment series. Isn't it too early for that?"
"Oh, right. He's only been a 【Hero】 for a few days. I guess there's nowhere that could make it that quickly."
"If it isn't custom-made, where did he get it?"
"Could a major company be backing him?"
"Ugh, that could be true. He's a 【Hero】, after all. I doubt sponsors would leave him alone..."
"It'll be hard to recruit him into our party. We don't have anything we can offer him."
"Damn, I guess money really does make the difference."
Listening to the people around us, I could tell they were making exactly the assumptions I'd hoped for.
The whole school already knew that an ordinary villager had become a 【Hero】.
They figured a mere villager couldn't possibly afford such expensive gear, so they assumed someone was backing me. That was the plan.
It worked out nicely.
Now I should be able to avoid most recruitment attempts by wearing this 〈Sky Series〉 gear.
Being fawned over by girls felt nice, but it would be a problem if I couldn't get anything done.
Still, I might occasionally choose to throw myself right into the recruitment battle.
Anyway, despite being watched from afar, we reached our destination without anyone approaching us.
This was the 〈General Buyback Association〉, commonly called the General Association—a dungeon resource purchasing center run by the academy out of an entire school building.
Students in the 〈Dungeon Commerce Major〉 mainly worked here, learning everything from appraising and buying resources to how to run a business.
Back in the game, I used this place to get rid of unsold items nobody else would buy, junk from failed crafting, and defective goods from inventory clearances. They bought absolutely anything.
In the game, specialized shops and other guilds paid better, so I rarely came here.
They didn't lowball you, but they only ever paid the minimum price here.
But we didn't have connections to any shops or guilds yet.
It was the sort of place beginners had no choice but to use.
"I'd like to sell some things, please!"
"Certainly. Welcome!"
The entrance hall also served as the buyback counter area.
There were 32 counters in all, and eight of them were open today.
That was about normal unless it was busy or a holiday.
Since there was an open counter, I went over, and an upperclasswoman with a beautiful, mature air came to help us.
"Wow, you're the Hero everyone's talking about! I'm so glad to meet you."
She started chatting with me instead of focusing on business. Well, she was only a student, after all.
"I'm glad to meet you, too, senpai."
But since the person at the counter was beautiful, this was a big win. I told her I was happy to meet her, too.
Her name was Melina-san.
"Zephyrus-kun?"
Oh, right. Hannah was with me. I couldn't fool around too much.
Maybe I should've let Hannah go back ahead of me after all.
"Actually, today was my first time having a class in a dungeon."
"Really? That was fast. There's still plenty of time before the deadline."
"Well, you know. I'm a 【Hero】, after all."
"Oh my! So you already made it to the 〈Beginner Dungeon〉. How did it go?"
"Heh heh. Of course I passed on my first try."
"Wow, you have such a bright future ahead of you!"
Melina-san and I got carried away chatting and became fast friends.
Goodness, those students in the commerce major really knew how to talk. Her smooth conversation made me say more than I meant to.
Melina-san was a good listener. Was this some kind of customer service?
Someone get me an adult drink and a glass.
Even while talking with me, she didn't stop handling the purchase.
Melina-san worked with marvelous efficiency.
Of the resources we'd gathered in today's dungeon run, she bought a fair amount—about half—including rice plants and feathers we couldn't use, wheat still on the stalk, and more than we could possibly eat.
Even though time didn't pass inside an Item Bag, its capacity wasn't infinite, so I wanted to make as much room as possible.
This time, we earned 34,000 Miel.
"Oh, that's more than I expected."
As expected, doing three runs and being able to bring back more with the 〈Item Bag (Large Capacity)〉 really paid off.
We made more than I'd expected.
Incidentally, Miel is the unit of currency in 〈Dan-Katsu〉. You can think of one Miel as one yen.
We split the earnings from our first dungeon run with Hannah, then headed home grinning from ear to ear.