Chapter 40
"Whoa. What kind of trick did you pull, big bro?"
After returning from the dungeon, I went straight to 〈Patch Seal Sticker〉 and showed Marie-senpai everything I’d gotten today except for the rare drop. That was her response.
"Well, that’s a trade secret. Anyway, can you buy these from me?"
"I can’t take all of it, obviously. I’ll take the items you requested, and I want all the boss materials. As for the rest, I’ll ask the guild members if they want any."
"Sure. Oh, I’m keeping the 〈Bear Anteater’s Great Pelt〉 for myself."
"Aww, that’s the one I want most! You know our outfit team is looking for fur materials. Won’t you sell it to me?"
"I’m selling you all the other materials, so be satisfied with that. Besides, there’s plenty of it, right?"
"That’s true, but patchwork lowers the defense. A single piece of fabric is better quality, more durable, and looks better, too. Big bro, won’t you sell it to me?"
"Hmm. Then make body armor for my party members with that material. How about that?"
"That’d count toward our Job EXP, too, so it’s a deal. I’ll take you up on that!"
Man, Marie-senpai really knows how to make a deal.
Things were moving right along.
After some negotiation, we decided to leave the creation of Hannah’s body armor entirely to Marie-senpai’s guild.
Apparently, 〈Patch Seal Sticker〉 has Tailors, too, and they take custom orders from scratch.
I should’ve stayed with Hannah earlier instead of splitting up.
"I have to make dinner, so I’ll bring it over later," Hannah had said before heading back to the dorm.
We agreed that I’d bring Hannah by tomorrow morning to decide on her measurements and design, so I’d tell her when I saw her later.
After that, I left all the materials we’d gathered today with them for the time being.
They said they should be able to appraise them by tomorrow, so I left them in their hands.
Then I heard the appraisal results for the materials I’d left with them that morning.
"Here’s the list of appraised prices. I did my best to get you a good deal. And this is the list of what we can’t buy."
Marie-senpai handed me two sheets of paper, and I took them.
...I see. They’re buying a lot more than I expected.
After setting aside the items I’d requested, I thought we’d be lucky if they bought even 30 percent of the rest. But the list said they’d buy a little over 80 percent, which surprised me.
"Word got around through our connections that the 【Hero】-kun was supplying materials to our guild. We’ve already had inquiries from about three other guilds asking to buy from you."
Ah, so that was why. Now I understood why buyers had snapped up nearly all the cooking ingredients and blacksmithing materials.
"Is 〈Patch Seal Sticker〉 handling the arrangements?"
"Well, consider it a gesture of goodwill as we get acquainted. It’s on the house."
"I really appreciate that."
"If you keep doing business with us, we can handle the arrangements from now on, too. There’ll be a fee going forward, though."
That was a welcome offer.
When I asked how much it would cost, it really was just a small handling fee, so I agreed right away.
Selling things elsewhere would take more effort in real life. In a world where you had to manage your time more carefully than in the game, saving time was a major concern.
At that price, I could make the money back in no time by going to the dungeon, so it wasn’t a problem.
"All right, here’s the purchase price. That’s 120,000 Mille this time. I’ve deducted the deposit for that custom equipment we talked about."
The appraisal seemed fair, so I agreed, and Marie-senpai immediately transferred the Mille to me.
I forgot to mention this, but at the academy, Mille is handled electronically, like cashless payments. Outside the academy, people use regular coins, but the amounts changing hands in this place—also known as a dungeon city—get too large, so the 〈Student Handbook〉 has a feature for handling payments.
The 〈Student Handbook〉 was issued along with our uniforms and other things. It looked like a digitized student ID—in other words, exactly like a smartphone. People usually called it a 〈Smartphone〉.
Basically, all Mille transactions at Labyrinth Academy are handled through this 〈Student Handbook〉.
This 〈Student Handbook〉—the 〈Smartphone〉—has all sorts of convenient features. Well, it looks like a smartphone, after all.
It has information about the academy, notices, and rules, so it serves as an ordinary student handbook, too. But its main purpose is something else.
You can use it for cashless Mille payments, receive academy announcements, and check the latest news and class schedules. It’s useful as an information terminal, too.
There’s also a section where the students in the game chat. It’s more like a help page, mostly explaining things through conversations, so I don’t look at it much.
There’s also a bulletin board for side quests, where you can accept requests.
This 〈Student Handbook〉 is one of the techniques made possible by the ancient artifacts the academy is so proud of.
Though it only works within Labyrinth Academy.
There are lots of techniques that use artifacts like this at Labyrinth Academy, including the dungeons themselves. But I’ll introduce those another time.
Anyway, back to the matter at hand.
"Here’s the stuff we couldn’t buy."
"All right, thanks."
"Well then, thanks for your business. Come by again tomorrow."
I put the leftover materials she returned to me into the 〈Item Bag (Capacity: Large)〉 I was holding for Hannah, then headed home with Marie-senpai seeing me off.
When I got back to the dorm, I took a shower and was sorting through the leftover materials when Hannah came over, so we had dinner right then.
Somehow, it’s starting to feel perfectly normal for Hannah to hang out here all the time lately.
Today’s meal is delicious, too.
"Here, we made 120,000 Mille yesterday, so your half is 60,000 Mille, Hannah."
"Are you sure it’s okay for me to take that much? You did almost all the fighting, Zephyrus-kun..."
"What, if you don’t want it, I’ll—"
"Huh? I-I do want it! I really do. Thank you, Zephyrus-kun!"
After dinner, when I split the rewards with her, Hannah started saying she was getting too much. I tried to take her at her word and collect her share back, but she hurriedly pulled out her Student Handbook. See? You do want it, don’t you?
Why did I pull back? Ah... what was it? Is it polite to refuse once in a situation like this? No, I’m still splitting it evenly with you, okay?
I tapped my Student Handbook against Hannah’s, and a cheerful “Piro-lin♪” sounded to let us know the transfer was complete.
That’s one seriously high-tech student handbook. Just what you’d expect from an ancient artifact.
I told Hannah I’d take her to Marie-senpai’s shop tomorrow, and then we called it a night.