CH 111

“Oh… It’s a more magnificent inn than I expected. Doesn’t it look like it’s only just been built?”

Sharga, the scholar, said then walked into the inn.

Tauro and the others didn’t follow him but told his assistant.

“We’ll come back for you in the morning.”

And with that, they turned to leave.

“Oh, Tauro-san, is it? Come in and let’s have a chat.”

We were stopped by Sharga, who peeked out from the entrance of the inn and asked me to enter.

“It’s a big place, isn’t it? Please sit down, everyone. I have some questions for you.”

As Sharga told them, Tauro and the others decided to sit on the chairs in the dining room.

“I’m an appraiser, you know.  I can’t appraise any of you, except for Tauro-san. And Tauro’s status  is unnaturally mediocre for a team leader, so I was wondering if you have a powerful appraisal inhibitor, or if there was an item I didn’t know about.”

Tauro was convinced that this was the reason why Sharga had been so surprised to see them at the entrance to the village.

The woman who had been directing the loading and unloading of their luggage came in and sat down beside Sharga.

“Sir, please include me in the ‘important’ conversations.”

She said.

“My name is Joshna, Sharga’s assistant.”

I bowed lightly and urged her to continue.

“This Joshna-san has an excellent sense of smell when it comes to important topics related to research, and it seems that my question is related to the dungeon research.”

Sharga’s eyes lit up and he waited for Tauro’s response.

Tauro exchanged a glance with Aeris and the others, and then, not knowing whether to act or not, he produced a piece of the dungeon core from the “magic storage”.

“What’s this?”

Sharga and Joshna stared at the shard, their eyes glazed over.

“It’s a piece of the dungeon core that you hypothesize lies in the depths of the dungeon.”

“This is it?”

Sharga and the others looked at the shard on the table, more surprised than ever.

“I can’t appraise it!”

“I made a pendant out of this shard and it has a blocking effect on appraisal.”

Aeris pulled the pendant out from around her neck and showed it to Sharga and Joshna.

“Wow! How did you manage to process it! No, it doesn’t matter. I wonder if you could give me some of these pieces? I’m not saying it’s free,  I’ve scrimped and dug through my regular budget to prepare for just such an occasion!”

Joshna bowed with Sharga, “Please!” She bowed her head.

“I’ll give it to you for free. If I sell them to you here, the other adventurers might resent me for hiding and monopolizing them.”

Then he took out a few pieces from his “magic storage” and handed them to Sharga.

“Are you sure? Between you and me, these shards are valuable because they prove the existence of the dungeon core for the first time in the history of dungeons. Its value is immeasurable!”

Sharga was surprised and spoke enthusiastically about its rarity and value.

“Yes. It’s okay. But please make sure we don’t get into any trouble.  You understand right?”

Tauro said calmly, as a reminder.

“We’ll keep the source secret!”

Sharga nodded broadly.

They also provided Sharga with information that Tauro knew, such as the fact that the shards of the dungeon core had the ability to heal and regenerate.

“ I see…… So this bow is what you got? The dungeon core dropped a weapon that complements the firepower you seem to need right now. This greatly overturns all hypotheses of the dungeon depths. Very interesting indeed!”

Sharga smiled and his eyes lit up as if he was really enjoying himself.

The assistant next to him, Joshna, was also looking at the “Artemis’ bow” with an equal amount of gleam in her eyes.

“I’ve never seen an item dropped in a dungeon like this, where the material is unknown and the appraisal is inhibited. There are some valuable drops, such as the holy sword made of orichalcum, but they may be less rare than this bow because the material is known.”

Tauro was horrified by Joshna’s words.

Speaking of orichalcum, it was a phantom metal called the substance created by God.

He didn’t expect it to be evaluated any higher than that.

Even though it was a newborn dungeon, the payoff for destroying the dungeon core was truly that great.

Tauro reconfirmed the value of the “Bow of Artemis”.