A Bewildered Kazusa and a Mountain of Gold Coins

After shooing away the gawkers so they wouldn't disrupt business, everyone gathered in Yohane's room.

The shop was still operating. Through the doorway, Kaimol and the other employees could be seen cleaning up the ransacked areas.

"So, we cleared the Hill of Lament."

"Good work. Glad to hear some good news."

Yohane said this, though weariness showed on his face.

"And Kazusa helped us out again this time."

"I'm Kazusa, the porter. Pleased to meet you."

Kazusa bowed her head, and Yohane nodded.

"Kazusa… ah, right. You helped out before, too. Thank you."

Yohane extended his hand, and Kazusa shook it.

"No, I'm the one who's grateful, really."

"I trust these three in combat, but carrying capacity is their weak point. There's a lot more I'd like to ask, but things are hectic at the moment. Let's get straight to settling up."

Perhaps because Kazusa, who wasn't a slave, was present, Yohane's tone was a touch softer than usual.

They laid out the items recovered from the Hill of Lament in the room.

First, the biggest haul by volume: fragments of mithril weapons and armor.

These would need to be processed back into mithril before being used.

Kazusa's bags had been packed with mostly this.

The fragments would inevitably be lowballed no matter who bought them, so they planned to process them into ingots before selling.

There was a good amount, but by carefully timing releases to the market, they could avoid crashing prices and sell at a premium.

This was the real reason the Hill of Lament was such a good earner.

And why an influx of people would tank the value fast.

Fortunately, easier labyrinths were plentiful, so they were safe for now.

Next, the rare minerals harvested from Slimes.

Agate, turquoise, and other stones that were difficult to obtain through ordinary mining.

Properly processed, the profit would be excellent, but unfortunately this was a tool shop.

They had neither the skill nor the know-how for jewelry or decorative stonework.

Still, putting them up at auction would fetch a reasonable price.

Then came the intact mithril weaponry.

The hilts and decorations were worn, but a little restoration and these could be sold as-is.

Well-balanced, lightweight, and durable, they were popular with adventurers and the military alike.

A bit of work from a blacksmith, and each piece would go for tens of gold coins.

The Black Knight's sword, in particular, was especially fine and would command a good price.

Finally, the treasure chest Kazusa had worked so hard to cram into her bag.

The contents were mostly gold and silver trinkets, but the real prize was the orb.

Yohane put on his monocle, leaned in close to the orb, and examined it from every angle.

"This is… an anti-magic artifact."

An Anti-Magic Orb.

Simply holding it was enough to dampen the effects of magic.

It wasn't powerful enough to nullify spells outright, but having it could make an enormous difference.

"Alexia, try producing some fire magic in your hand."

"Very well."

Alexia lit a flame on the tip of her right index finger and brought it close to the orb.

The fire visibly weakened as she did.

By the time her finger was right next to the orb, the flame had shrunk to about half its size.

"My, this is…"

"About half. There'll be plenty of people who want this."

Magic was extraordinarily lethal.

Especially in a surprise attack, it could kill even skilled fighters with alarming ease.

Because of that, magical defenses were especially prized among the wealthy.

He'd heard that royalty adorned themselves almost entirely with such artifacts.

Adventurers, on the other hand, had virtually no interest.

Magic-using monsters existed, but mages usually handled them.

Spending a fortune on magic protection wasn't worth it when upgrading weapons and armor would do more for your survival.

In short: it would sell for a premium.

Yohane had never dealt in items like this before, though.

It was the kind of thing you'd put up at a Triwright Auction.

"Kazusa. I'd like to settle everything else here and now, but for the orb alone, I'd rather cash it in first and then pay you. That alright?"

"That's fine. Oh, you can reach me here."

Kazusa handed Yohane her adventurer's number.

"Also, if you ever need a porter, I'd appreciate being called."

"Got it. I'll keep it in mind."

Yohane wrote figures on a sheet of paper.

He calculated the estimated value of everything except the orb and pulled out Kazusa's share from the strongbox.

"I've kept it a bit lower than market value since it's cash on the spot. That okay?"

"Yeah. That's just how it's done."

With a fixed party, the time needed to convert loot into cash wasn't an issue.

But for ad hoc groups, that kind of delay caused all sorts of problems.

The person handling the settlement could easily run off with everything.

You could have the Adventurer's Guild mediate or send a wire transfer, but both came with fees.

Do that repeatedly and the costs piled up.

Rather than go through the hassle and lose money, most people settled on the spot at a discount.

That was what Kazusa meant.

Two small bags, each stuffed full of gold coins.

"Twenty royal gold coins. Count them, please."

"That much?!"

Kazusa couldn't help but react when she heard the amount.

This time, there had been many items that were both valuable and easy to liquidate.

The minerals would take longer, but they'd sell without question.

With the volume on top of it, the total naturally came to a sizable figure.

Kazusa gingerly accepted the coin-laden bags from Yohane.

Flustered, she glanced reflexively at Azu, who smiled wryly.

Seeing that, Kazusa's face went red.

She took a deep breath, opened a bag, and poured the coins into her hand.

The weight of the gold pressed down on her palm, and one coin slipped free.

She hurriedly picked it up, counted to make sure, and carefully returned it to the bag.

"Y-yes, twenty coins exactly. Well then, I'll be going."

"Right. Thanks for looking after Azu and the others. I'll be in touch when the orb sells."

"Understood!"

Her voice cracked as she tucked the bags away, bowed deeply, and left the room.