Chapter 117: Kiel

Kiel, the Priest I’ve been searching for, has finally joined our party.

When I say ‘joined our party’, I mean about the trial period. Kiel told us that he had never been in a dungeon, and had never hunted a magical beast.

Kiel’s purpose in joining the party seems to be money.

I have a good track record in recruiting people and our party is strong, so we can conquer dungeons with ease. I also told him that since there were only a few of us, he would get a larger share of the money. I guess the Priest came as advertised.

Since money was his primary goal, I explained to him about money management so that there would be no misunderstanding later.

A party can go to any floor they have already been to once in a dungeon. However, just because the party leader has been there before, it is not possible to move for his/her to take his entire party there. So, Kiel, who has not entered a dungeon yet has to start from the first floor of the C-class dungeon we will visit.

In C-class dungeons, except for the bottom floor boss, the only magical beasts that appear are E or D rank. Even the bottom floor boss is only C-rank.

The main source of our money is the rewards dropped when defeating the bottom floor boss.

There are three C-class dungeons near the base.

I checked each dungeon and found that there they had four, five, and six floors.

The third dungeon we are about to conquer has only four floors, so we can conquer it in two weeks.

I asked him if he was okay with not making money until then, and he said he was fine with that.

And he wants to enter dungeons twice a week for more money-making opportunities.

He told me he was on hold as to whether he would join the party. He said he would think about it after he went to the dungeon once.

We are currently in a room that will take us to the dungeon.

And I’m checking to make sure that Kiel, who has joined our party temporarily, won’t plunge into a dungeon in another dimension by himself.

The cube told us that if we go to a dungeon from the same room, we don’t need to form a party as we will go to the same dimension regardless. According to it every room has a different dungeon.

“It looks like we’ll be able to enter the same dungeon without any problem, Kiel. So let’s go.”

“Do we enter the dungeon from here?”

“Yes.”

I was conversing with Kiel in a polite manner. It’s better for a recruiter to be polite for a better chance.

The five of us were in a room with the cube-Dungeon Management System in order to conquer a C-class dungeon. Then, the five of us moved to the first floor.

We’ve been going to the C-class dungeons for about a month now. Since our level, including Cecile’s, has risen quite a bit, we can easily handle this floor, where only E-rank magical beasts appear.

However, thinking Kiel might be worried, we assumed proper formation with Kurena and Dogora in the front row, Cecile and him in the center, and me at the back.

And

“Kiel, I’m going to bring out the big one we were talking about.”

“Big? What?”

Kiel shouted loudly.

“You surprised me. This is my Talent.”

I summoned two Brons on both sides of Cecile and Kiel. This is to solidify their defense.

Kiel noticed that everyone was okay with this. He looked at them asking if this is normal.

“Yeah, I get it. That’s amazing.”

I briefly explained to Kiel about my summons before. When I explained it to him, he was skeptical that I could do such a thing, so I summoned Brons. I don’t intend to show him all of my abilities, but I don’t want him to think that I’m completely helpless except for giving instructions. I want him to join our party after all.

And if you’re going to ask for information, it’s better to offer it yourself first.

“No, speaking of which, Kiel, can you use Recovery Magic?”

I’ve shown him my skill, so it’s time for him to check his.

“What? Yeah, I can.”

(He can? I thought he wouldn’t be able to.)

I found out when I joined the Academy that just because you have a Talent doesn’t mean you can use skills.

Kurena and Dogora are still unable to use their skills. I’m sure they can’t visualize it.

Apparently, the most important thing in using a skill is the image. If you don’t have an image, the skill won’t work.

Cecile had taken classes with the old man at the mansion and had seen him use magic. There would be no better way to understand the skills than this.

Dogora and Kurena had no one to teach them. It was possible that even Kiel hadn’t learned it yet, but it seemed that he could already use it.

I have been able to use skills since I was one year old. I believe that God probably built my skills from what I could visualize in my mind. For me, cards floating in the air is a sight I have seen before.

“I see. Where did you learn your magic?”

I asked him a more in-depth question.

“I learned it at church. They said they’d pay me.”

The church told him that if he learned Recovery Magic and cast it on injured people until his mana ran out, he would receive 10 Silver coins as daily wage. They also said they would provide meals until he learned it, so he worked hard to learn it.

It took him almost two months to be able to use it.

(Maybe two months is pretty fast. Maybe there was a Priest in the church who used Recovery Magic as an example, and he understood it quickly. But still, 10 Silver coins per day?)

The Academy is closed two days a week, which means he can earn one Gold coin by working ten days a month, which is Twelve Gold coins a year.

That is not a small amount of money.

Having worked as a manservant in the city of Grandver for four years, I know that there are very few jobs where a twelve-year-old can earn a single Gold coin a month. An apprentice in a store around the corner earns about half of that.

The Academy charges an entrance fee of one Gold coin and an annual tuition of ten Gold coins, or eleven Gold coins per year for a first year student. This fee includes the cost of uniforms, teaching materials, and armor and weapons for practical training.

I’ve heard that students at the Academy don’t pay per capita tax.

Although it varies from territory to territory, many Nobles offer half of the tuition fee for people who pass with a grade of “B” and full tuition fee for those who pass with a grade of “A” or “S”. However, it is prohibited by the Kingdom Law to grant more than the tuition.

The Five Continents Alliance wants everyone to go to the dungeon to earn living expenses.

I wonder if he passed as C grade or if he didn’t get the grant that he had to skip lunch even though he could earn 12 Gold coins a year.

If he is this poor, at least he is not a Noble.

The ideal person would be a Noble with Talent, but a commoner or a serf is okay as well.

Two weeks have passed since then. Today is the third day of our attack on this dungeon.

“Is this the bottom floor boss?”

“Yes.”

We finally made it to the boss. In the center of the magic circle, there was a C-rank Orc and ten Goblins.

“So, please do it again this time.”

“Yeah.”

“Yes.”

“All right.”

The bottom floor bosses are basically defeated by Kurena, Cecile, and Dogora. If I defeat them, we won’t be able to practice our coordination. It’s more beneficial for the three of them to fight, as Kurena and Dogora practice using their skills, and Cecile gains skill experience by consuming mana.

Kurena and Dogora run side by side, charging into the enemy. Cecile used her Fire Magic to kill the Goblins. Orcs and Goblins started to move due to Cecile’s attack from a distance.

I prioritized protecting Cecile and Kiel by summoning Brons rather than fighting.

Dogora blocked the Orc’s full-length spear with his axe, while Kurena slashed at it with her sword.

(We can easily defeat a C-rank magical beast. We need to get to the B-class dungeon as soon as possible.)

Thanks to a month and a half of going through the dungeon, it seems that one C-rank magical beast is too weak for them three.

“Hmm? You okay? Heal.”

Kiel applied a recovery spell to Dogora’s arm, which was hit by a blow from the Orc.

“…Oh, thank you.”

(Oh? Recovery Magic?)

This is the first time in two weeks that I’ve seen Kiel use Recovery Magic because we never got injured.

(A treasure chest came out. Oh!)

“We’re lucky today.”

“Oh! This is the treasure! Hmm? Luck?”

Kiel had been following everyone for the past two weeks without much conversation.

Kiel raised a loud voice.

After defeating the bottom floor boss, a treasure chest appeared. This time, the chest was not a Wooden chest, but a Silver one.

(What is it about this production that makes it seem so rare?)

I was told by the Dungeon General System that there are three types of chest that bottom floor bosses drop: Wooden chests, Silver chests, and Gold chests.

A while ago, I got a Silver chest and learned that the chests for the lowest floor boss was hit or miss. They didn’t tell us the odds of getting each one, but I’d say it was something like 90% Wooden chests, less than 10% Silver chests, and less than 1% Gold chests.

A Silver chest dropped about once in ten times, so I expect that to be the probability. I’ve never seen a Gold chest yet.

I opened the treasure chest.

“This is Mithril Armor, isn’t it? If it’s made of mithril and it’s this big, it’s going to cost more than ten Gold coins.”

A Mithril Armor appeared.

“Ten Gold coins! Oh, wow! Yeah, we’re splitting it, right?”

“Of course.”

After saying that, we returned from the dungeon. The armor shop was still open, so we took it there and got 15 Gold coins. I also split the three Gold coins and the magic stone that we obtained evenly and gave them to Kiel.

We didn’t recruit the Priest on the condition that I would get all the magic stones, so of course one-fifth would be Kiel’s.

“Oh, thank you.”

With that, Kiel ran through the already darkened city towards the station where the Magic Train was located.