Chapter 49
“Looks like we found my weapon right away! Now all that’s left is to hunt some Smiles, level up, and collect items, right?”
As we made our way through the cave, Ruche kept happily clutching her 〈Blacksteel Knife〉.
“Yeah... First, I’d like to hunt around ten Smiles and get some leveling and item collecting done. After that, we’ll adapt depending on our HP, how many potions we’ve used... and how much time we have.”
“T-Ten of them?! Sure, we beat that last Smile without taking any damage, but you looked like you were having a pretty hard time, Elymas-san. Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“I looked like I was having a hard time...?”
It was true that I had to corner them against a wall and keep hitting them with my shield to pin them down. That might have made it look like I was struggling.
But they posed little real danger, and their movements were so simple that they weren’t difficult to read.
Compared to the battles against Embryo and Malice, it was practically just going through the motions.
If anything, it was a little underwhelming.
“Each piece of Blacksteel gear is worth a little over four million Gordo... It takes four pieces to match the value of a 〈Shining Rana Ornamental Sword〉. And since they aren’t guaranteed drops, I’d like to take down around ten.”
At the very least, we needed to earn enough to match the value of two 〈Shining Rana Ornamental Swords〉. Otherwise, there’d have been no point in moving all the way to Lacolina, the Adventurers’ City.
“...Isn’t it less that Blacksteel gear is cheap and more that the 〈Shining Rana Ornamental Sword〉 is absurdly expensive?”
“Even so, it’s a little disappointing that our profits are going to be so much lower than on our last exploration.”
I knew our last trip had gone unusually well, but it still stung to level up and earn less.
I wanted to set our sights high and actively hunt for drops.
“Um... hasn’t your sense of money gotten a little warped, Elymas-san?”
“As you level up, the value of the items you deal with increases exponentially. Once you become a higher-level adventurer, buying and selling items worth tens of millions of Gordo won’t be unusual at all.”
“What do you need that much money for...?”
What was Ruche talking about at this point?
The answer was obvious.
“You need money to get stronger.”
There was no question that having expensive weapons gave you an advantage as an adventurer.
And ideally, you’d have several weapons so you could switch between them depending on the situation.
On top of that, expensive healing potions and magic stones that could cast simple spells would make good insurance for emergencies.
The more expensive an item, the better.
The same went for 〈Skill Book〉.
In a way, they were even more important than equipment.
That was why I’d bought 〈Frenzied Smoldering Fang〉 at the 〈Torn Grimoire Hall〉 using items worth fifty million Gordo.
The price had been ridiculous, but even if it had been ten times higher, I wouldn’t have given up on buying it.
In 〈Magic World〉, there were countless ways to spend money.
You could never have too much of it.
“Haven’t your goals and the means to achieve them gotten mixed up...?”
Ruche said, her face twitching slightly.
I cleared my throat to cover it up.
“I-In any case, Smiles aren’t especially tough opponents. It shouldn’t be that difficult to take down a bunch of them. Their movements are simple, so it’s easy to shut them down by taking away their strengths.”
Whenever I spotted one, I’d corner it against a wall and pin it down with my shield.
All we had to do was repeat that ten times. That alone would meet our quota.
“Unless a bunch of them show up and surround us, they’re not difficult opponents. And since they’re not monsters that tend to form groups, there shouldn’t be anything to worry ab—”
A series of thuds—thump, thump, thump, thump—came from up ahead.
Four Smiles came rolling down the passage toward us.
“They showed up the moment you said that! They’re clearly in a group!!”
“...That’s unusual. Smiles don’t usually group up.”
“I-Isn’t this pretty dangerous? Shouldn’t we run...?”
“No, Smiles have 〈Acceleration〉. We’re better off facing them head-on.”
We could probably get away, but it was safer to fight than to keep running with multiple Smiles pursuing us and targeting our backs.
“Besides... these are the kinds of enemies that make for a worthwhile fight. Hunting Smiles one at a time is fine, but I was starting to find it a little underwhelming. Let’s use this chance to rack up levels and items all at once.”
I pointed my sword toward the group of Smiles.
Ruche’s weapon had just gotten stronger, too.
“Ruche, use 〈Dice Thrust〉 from here on. Our first priority is to reduce their numbers as quickly as possible.”
“Y-Yes!”
If Smiles, which normally didn’t group up, were appearing together, there had to be some reason for it.
I examined each Smile’s face and noticed that one of them had a different slant to its eyes.
Normal Smiles had big grins, but one had the corners of its eyes drooping so far that it looked like it was crying.
That wasn’t a Smile, but a rare species called a Cry.
It had the ability to command Smiles, which normally didn’t form groups.
I’d considered that possibility as soon as I saw the Smiles grouped together, but now that I was sure, I couldn’t help smiling.
Although Cries appeared only rarely, they had a high chance of dropping rare items when defeated.
A person’s Luck also affected how often rare monsters appeared.
The Cry had probably appeared thanks to the Luck boost from Ruche’s 〈Great Luck〉.
“This is thanks to you, Ruche.”
“W-Wait, did that group show up because of me?!”
Ruche seemed to misunderstand what I meant and raised her voice in confusion.
“Well, yes—but that’s not quite what I meant...”