Side Story: Rokuko's Ring and Haku Raverio

Hello, it's Rokuko.

Today I, a Dungeon Core, am personally manning the reception desk.

Since the Saintess kept coming here lately, I couldn't go to the inn for safety reasons. Honestly, Kehma is such a worrywart. But that just means he thinks I'm important… it's not like I dislike it, you know?

While I sat at the reception counter swinging my legs, Haku-neesama suddenly showed up. Chloe was with her as usual.

"Haku-neesama! It's been a while!"

"Fufufu, hello, Rokuko-chan. Is the suite available? I'd like to stay one night."

"It's available! Oh, the usual for meals?"

"Yes, won't you eat together with me, Rokuko-chan? My treat."

Kehma is sleeping, but it's been so long since Haku-neesama visited, I need to put my all into hospitality. Umm, I think Kehma used [Purify] on the suite after the Saintess left, so it should be fine.

Then Haku-neesama tilted her head at the box on the reception counter.

"… What's this box? It wasn't here last time I came, was it?"

"Nn? This? Fufufu… this is a box called a register!"

"Heh, what kind of box is it?"

"Umm, let's see… Suite, two people, one night! Meals, S-Rank, three meals!"

Responding to my words, it spun like the slot display and showed the price. Sixty-five gold coins. That's probably right… It is right, right?

"And that's how it calculates the price, and when you put money in, the key and meal tickets come out."

"Heh! That's convenient. Does it ever make mistakes?"

"It's more reliable than leaving it to people."

"… I want this. If I had something like this, work would go faster and I could visit more often."

Haku-neesama stared at the register with a serious look. She looks so cool, as expected of an accomplished Dungeon Core.

"Hmm, I'll ask Kehma if we can give one to Haku-neesama."

"Oh? Can't Rokuko-chan decide on your own without asking Kehma-san? Also, where is Kehma-san? Making Rokuko-chan work alone…"

"Kehma finished a big job, so he said he'd sleep until tomorrow."

I feel bad for Haku-neesama, but I want to let Kehma rest. Well, he said he'd wake up tomorrow, so it should be fine… He will wake up, right?

"Hmph. Well, if Rokuko-chan says so, that's fine. Since I haven't been able to come for so long, shall we talk lots today?"

"I'm ready for it!"

I received sixty-five gold coins from Chloe and put them in the register, and out came three golden S-Rank meal tickets and the suite room key.

I took those and went to the suite with Haku-neesama. Ah, of course I arranged for someone to cover reception, okay?

"… So, I've been wondering for a while now, but that's the ring you received from Kehma-san, isn't it?"

"Huh? Oh, um, Haku-neesama, how did you know?"

"… I heard from Hero Wataru. That guy, honestly, doing unnecessary things…"

Ah, I see. That Debt Hero. Come to think of it, I also heard from Wataru.

"But, it's a ring with surprisingly good taste for Kehma-san. It suits you well, Rokuko-chan… Hmm? Isn't that ring strange?"

"Eh? Strange? How?"

"… I thought it was a gemstone ring, but there's a metal ring inside… This is the first time I've seen a ring like this. It must have cost quite a bit."

"Fufufu, well, that's because we're partners!"

"Right, giving you a ring with such dedication… fufufu, we might need to have a thorough discussion about this?"

For some reason, I feel like I can see a black aura coming from Haku-neesama… It's definitely just my imagination.

"Hey, what materials is that ring made from?"

"Umm, he said ruby and orichalcum."

"Heh, ruby and orichalcum… … An orichalcum ring? And embedded in ruby…? Wait, that's a treasure worth tens of millions of DP."

"He said it was pretty expensive, but… is it that much?"

"Can you look up orichalcum ring in the catalog? Well, even if you could luckily get orichalcum from this mountain, it should still be quite expensive."

As she said, I looked up "Orichalcum Ring" in the DP Catalog… Umm, treasure category, accessories, orichalcum… 1,000,000 DP?

"It says 1,000,000 DP…"

"Yes. Processing orichalcum is a dwarven secret, and even for dwarves, making an orichalcum sword takes years. A ring should be simpler to make, but that much DP seems about right."

"Oooh…"

When did Kehma prepare such a ring? Ah, but looking at just the materials, it's about 10,000 DP. Our village's blacksmith is a dwarf, so maybe he asked him to make it… no, for Kehma it would be [Create Golem]. The ruby was probably made the same way.

Mmm, I can't tell that to Haku-neesama though.

"Ah, come to think of it, there's a dwarf blacksmith in our village. Maybe he asked him?"

"… Even so, I can't figure out how it was embedded inside ruby."

As expected… Uu, this frustration of not being able to tell her. I think I could at least tell Haku-neesama, but he absolutely forbade me from mentioning [Create Golem].

"That ring, would you give it to me for 100,000,000 DP?"

"… … Wha—no, Haku-neesama! This isn't something like that!"

That was close — my heart wavered a little. With 100,000,000 DP, I could even summon an Ancient Dragon, so who could blame me!

But Kehma could easily prepare a ring or two, so I can't accept 100,000,000 DP from Haku-neesama for something so cheap to obtain.

"… That man, it seems I'll need to purge him after all…"

"Um, Haku-neesama? Something is, um, leaking out."

"Oh, sorry? Ufufufu."

Haku-neesama smiled elegantly. What is she angry about? … Ah, does she think it was a waste of money? Well, it didn't actually cost that much to make though.

After that, we talked about the Saintess and Rin, and also about the game room. Apparently [Treaty]'s effects change depending on the user.

We also took a bath together, ate together, slept together — I entertained her with everything I had, and when I invited her to my room in the village chief's mansion, Kehma woke up.

And then he prostrated before Haku-neesama. So naturally, so matter-of-factly.

… Yes, that was a beautiful prostration! Full marks for both pitifulness and resolve!

Ah, it seems he got forgiveness by offering to provide a register or something?

I don't really understand, but as expected of Kehma!