Volume 3 - CH 21

“–First of all, how could I have fallen to the bottom of the valley and survived? I was really lucky on this one. I got caught in a spider’s or something’s web and just after I slowed down, I fell into the water. Thanks to that, there was almost no damage from the fall.”

“I see, that is indeed fortunate.”

While the guild master and Cyclo are talking, the receptionist is writing down the conversation on a form.

“A monster found me soon after, but fortunately there was a cave where I could just barely fit in. Thanks to that, the monster couldn’t attack me.”

“Hoh. But that’s not enough to return from the Deep Hole, is it?”

Cyclo nodded his head in agreement with the guild master.

“Yeah. From there, I was trapped for a while, unable to get out of the cave …… and just when I started to think I was going to die, I discovered a new way to use my skills.”

“A new way to use your skills?”

“Yes. My skill is the “Clock User”. I used to think it only worked on mechanical clocks, but …… I tried it when I was dying of hunger. I wondered if I could stop my “internal clock”.”

The guildmaster’s eyes widen at Cyclo’s remark.

“And, it worked?”

“Yeah. And that’s not all. The “Clock User” skill also allowed me to do many other things. The details are a secret. You’re not asking me to reveal the details of my skills, are you?”

“Yes …… Then, you escaped from the Deep Hole with the help of your skills ……”

“That’s right. I killed the monsters and walked all the way back to the top slowly.”

“I see …… do you have any evidence to back that up?”

“Yeah.”

The guildmaster told him, and as if he had prepared for it — and Cyclo took out “something” from the storage space.

“What is this!?”

“It’s the monster that used to live where I fell.”

That’s right, what Cyclo took out was the human-faced monster. It was a strange-looking monster that no one had ever seen before.

“I-I see. I have never seen or heard of such a monster.”

“There are many others too. Look!”

Saying that, Cyclo took out the carcasses of monsters one after another from the storage space and laid them out.

Because of the sheer number of them, the guild master begins to panic.

“E-Enough! All right! That’s enough proof!!”

“Oh, really? So, can you buy this monsters’ material? I don’t have any use of it, even if I carry it.”

“Buy the materials, huh? …… No, I understand. We also need time to appraise it. Can you give us some time?”

“Yeah. I don’t have anything to do, after all.”

“I’m sorry. –Hurry up and start appraising the material of this monster!”

The guild master’s shout causes all the guild employees to move in unison.

The carcasses of the monsters taken out by Cyclo are carried one after another into the back of the guild, into the monsters’ disassembling area.

“Oh… also, about the monster carcasses. I have many more with me, you know.”

Cyclo said, taking out the carcasses of monsters one after another in the space available.

“…… how much are you storing?”

“Oh, I’ve got about a third of them out now, so don’t worry.”

“I see ……”

""

The faces of the guild master and the guild employees turn pale at Cyclo’s words.

“I’m sorry, but could you put it out directly to the disassembly area instead of here?”

“Oh, you’re right about that too. All right.”

Cyclo’s acceptance of the guildmaster’s proposal relieves some of the guild employees’ work.

However, the work of dismantling and appraising the materials remained to be done, so it could not be said to have become easier yet.

After that, about an hour had passed since Cyclo threw all the monster carcasses into the disassembling yard.

Cyclo, tired of waiting, sat down on a chair and began to feel restless. Finally, the guild master appeared.

“Cyclo. The assessment of the purchase of materials has been completed for the time being.”

“–Oh, it’s already done?”

Cyclo shakes his head to regain consciousness and heads toward the guild master.

“Yeah. Nevertheless, it’s a tentative assessment. I think it’s at least worth this much price. The exact amount will be paid at a later date.”

“Oh, okay. How much did I get for it?”

“…… 10,000 in gold coins. 100 in platinum coins.”

“Seriously!?”

Cyclo was indeed surprised at that amount.

As for the value of the coins–10 copper coins are worth 1 silver coin. One hundred silver coins are worth one gold coin. And 100 gold coins are worth the same as 1 platinum coin.

And the annual income of an average worker is around 100 gold coins, or about one platinum coin.

In other words, Cyclo has earned money equivalent to an average worker’s lifetime income in a single trip.

As expected, Cyclo did not expect to earn this much.

“Well, are you sure I can get this much money?”

“Of course. The actuality is that almost all of the materials are from undiscovered monsters in the depths of the Deep Hole. It is definitely worth this much.”

“Well, then, I won’t hesitate– Oh, in that case, I’d like to ask you one favor.”

“Hm. You tell me.”

The guild master also intended to respond to Cyclo’s request as much as possible.

And the request that Cyclo mentioned was quite natural.

“Free me from criminal slavery. For 10 platinum coins.”

“…… I see. You are going to use the reparations system?”

The reparations system is a system for criminal slaves to obtain their own freedom.

They can “buy” themselves by paying an amount of money according to the severity of their crimes.

In this way, criminal slaves can free themselves.

And in Cyclo’s case, that amount is 10 platinum coins. This is a huge amount of money because he is a serial rapist.

At first, Cyclo thought it was impossible to pay such a sum. However, if he applied the proceeds from the sale of the materials, he could easily pay it.

There was no reason to miss this opportunity.

“All right. I’ll take care of the formalities here. From today on, you are no longer a criminal slave. You are a free man.”

“Thank you for understanding so quickly!”

As if he had been waiting for it, Cyclo grips the steel collar around his neck.

""

Then – by pulling it with force – he destroys it with a cracking sound.

Thus, Cyclo was freed from the mark of a criminal slave.