Chapter 16
“Fifty-five million Gold, huh...”
I let out a sigh as I walked through the city.
A high-Rank adventurer might be able to get that kind of money, but it wasn't something an E-Rank adventurer like me could simply lay my hands on.
After all, it was the equivalent of roughly sixty runs of the large-scale 〈Raid Quest〉 against the 〈Undead Horde〉—and that was when things were going well.
High-Rank adventurers had a completely warped sense of money.
And so did the shopkeepers who catered to them.
〈Smoldering Fangs〉 was certainly a rare Skill Tree, but the only people who'd want it were Heavy Knights and genuine battle maniacs with a death wish.
The 〈Skill Books〉 for more straightforwardly powerful Skills must cost even more astronomical sums.
After all, even the unpopular 〈Elemental Guard〉 cost thirty million Gold.
I needed to think concretely about how to make money from here on.
If I took the safe and steady route, I had no idea how long it would take.
Should I head into the 〈Dungeon〉 aiming for rare drops and try to strike it rich?
But even if I did, Heavy Knights had far too few Skills that could reliably deal damage to enemies.
With a target sum like this, there was no point in hunting only monsters that would fall for 〈Rampart Reversal〉.
I'd thought of a few monsters that would be good for making money, but with my current Skill setup, I didn't think I could handle any of them, even if I gained a few more Levels.
One option was to develop my existing 〈Beginner Swordsmanship〉 Skill Tree, or visit shady shops like the 〈Tattered Grimoire〉 and hunt for 〈Skill Books〉 to learn offensive Skills.
But they were all Skills I'd stop using as soon as I got 〈Smoldering Fangs〉.
I wanted to avoid wasting Skill Points...
Companions... I should find some companions.
Heavy Knights seemed to be about as unpopular as a Class could get, but I should have made a name for myself during that last 〈Raid Quest〉.
Besides, I was 【Lv: 23】 now, so I ought to have plenty of chances to team up with people below my Level.
If I teamed up with adventurers from other Classes, the range of monsters we could hunt would expand dramatically.
My partner could be lower-Level.
I could draw the enemies' attacks and help them Level up a little, quickly making up for their lack of strength—and earning their gratitude, too.
Classes that were reliable from the start or simply powerful would surely be in demand.
Anything but another defense-focused Class like mine would do.
I wasn't going to be picky. An attack-focused Class would be nice, if possible...
As I was thinking about it, I heard some excited voices coming from up ahead.
“Man, I can't believe we got a 〈Bloodstained Sword〉 drop! Its market value is two million Gold... We could probably get around one and a half million for it at a shop, but that's still plenty! We can live it up for a while! Man, exploring the 〈Dungeon〉 is the best!”
A trio of adventurers were walking along.
The man holding up a bright red sword was a Swordsman.
“It might be a little risky, but we should sell it at a back-alley shop. The official places always charge tax.”
The one who answered was a lightly equipped girl.
She was probably a Thief, a Scout-type Class.
“Hehe... Look! Look at this! It's all thanks to my Skill! Mine! See? It really did work!”
The third member, a girl with light-blue hair, wore a pale red robe and a matching jester's hat.
A Jester, perhaps?
She wasn't carrying any visible weapon, so it was probably a knife or a wand.
The Classes that used those were limited, so she was almost certainly a Jester.
It was a rare Class.
It had a rather specialized playstyle, so I hoped she was careful not to mess up her Skill Point allocation.
“...So it was thanks to you, huh? We had to go into the 〈Dungeon〉 over and over before we finally got a rare drop. I'm not even sure your Skill had anything to do with it.”
The Swordsman let out a sigh.
“A-ahaha... Y-You're right, Klein-san. But if we keep running it, you'll definitely start to see the difference! This is just the beginning! Just the beginning!”
The Jester girl, Ruche, replied.
Apparently, the Swordsman was named Klein, and he seemed to be the leader of the three.
However, the atmosphere between them was rather tense.
“Ruche, you don't actually think you deserve a share of the money for this sword, do you? You were barely any use in combat.”
“Huh...? B-But I was fighting on the front lines, risking my life, too... S-So, I'd be happy if I could get at least a fifth... Ah, no, maybe two hundred thousand... o-or a hundred thousand Gold...”
“Ugh... Look, the problem is that even though you were risking your life, all you did was draw some of the attacks. It doesn't matter how hard you tried. You weren't useful, were you?”
“I-I don't have any offensive Skills because I allocated my Skill Trees the way you told me to, Klein-san! You said to keep going like that, but now that we've come into a lot of money, you're saying this... I-I think that's a little cruel!”
“Cruel? You're useless, and yet you're still trying to claim a share. That's what I'm asking about. I let it slide until now, but things are different when we're talking about this much money. Ugh... That's all you can come up with? Cruel? Are you right in the head? I only made a suggestion about your Skill Tree allocation. You were the one who went through with it. Don't blame me for it.”
“Huh...? K-Klein-san?”
The atmosphere had gotten pretty bad.
I was almost regretting having been there to witness it.
It seemed like a mistake in her Skill Tree allocation and an argument over how to split a large windfall had turned into a real mess.
Problems like this had come up from time to time in 〈Magic World〉, too.
Sometimes people would allocate their Skill Trees to complement their party, only for circumstances to change and render all of it pointless.
In this world, where there was no internet to share comprehensive strategy information, that tendency was probably even more pronounced.
“Fine, a hundred thousand Gold. Here, this should do it. Pick it up and get lost.”
Klein scattered gold coins across the ground.
“We took you in even though your base stats are low and you messed up your Skill Tree, so you can barely use any offensive Skills. And now you're showing your true colors over this paltry sum? Don't you think so, Rees?”
The Thief girl Klein addressed, Rees, glanced over at the red sword.
“Well... yeah. We're struggling, too. We can't just split up a big windfall that happened to come our way.”
“N-No, that's not what I meant... I'm s-sorry, Klein-san, Rees-san. I don't need any of the money for the sword after all...”
“I'm not asking you to apologize. We're done. Well, good luck at your next party. Your Level's already in this awkward middle ground, so you can't earn experience or learn any new Skills. I don't know who'd take on someone who's hit a dead end like that, though.”
So much for “when the money's gone, the friendship's gone.”
How cruel the Skill Point system was.
Under the system's rules, you couldn't Level up properly unless you hunted monsters at least your own Level.
But if your Skills were a bad fit and you could no longer handle fights against enemies of your Level, it became extremely difficult to Level up.
Had she invested in 〈Agility Boost〉 or a Skill Tree for a weapon she didn't need?
No, judging by what they'd said, was it a support-type Skill Tree?
I thought about it for a moment... then remembered that they'd been talking about a rare drop.
Could it be that very Skill Tree?!
No, but would anyone really kick out someone who had that Skill Tree?
Even if they weren't sharing Skill Tree information properly, I honestly couldn't believe that.
But from what I'd heard, it had to be that one.
“I-I'm sorry for being so selfish... I don't need any of the money for the sword, so please let me stay in the party. I'm begging you...”
Without thinking, I rushed over and took Ruche by the hand.
“Wha—?! W-Who are you?!”
“Please! I promise you won't regret it. Will you team up with me?”
Klein and Rees, her companions, stared at me dumbfounded, just like Ruche, whose hand I'd suddenly grabbed.
“How about an eight-to-two split?”
“I-I don't think I can live on just twenty percent...”
“Of course, you get eighty and I get twenty! Is that okay? I have something I want to buy, so I can't settle for ten. Twenty would be ideal!”
“W-Wait, please calm down! Um, who are you, anyway?!”
Oh, damn, I'd lost my head.
But there was no way I could let this golden opportunity slip by.
With her help, it wouldn't be hard at all to come up with the fifty-five million Gold for 〈Smoldering Fangs〉.
This wasn't a matter of just two million Gold.