CH 10

On the weekend, I was riding in a carriage with Airi. Our destination was a dungeon for beginners in the south of the royal capital. We woke up at five o’clock in the morning, ate breakfast at the “Rotasti”, got ready, and boarded the chartered carriage.

It seems that Aili is not a morning person, and she rubs her eyes sleepily in the cafeteria. I told her to bring a change of clothes and chartered a carriage as it was faster than walking. Of course, I had to pay for it.

“Is it okay? Really?”

Airi looked at me with concern. I replied with a wave of my hand.

“It’s okay, don’t worry.”

“But renting a carriage would be…. very expensive.”

It’s probably expensive. It’s fifty thousand rents for a ten-rent school cafeteria, a one-day charter for a two-horse carriage. But that amount of money is not a problem for me, as I’m making a killing in the bogus market. Time is money. When you have money, don’t be afraid to buy time and labor.

“I have been travelled by carriage every week. Don’t worry about it.”

“Huh! Is that so!”

“This is my sixth weekend in the dungeons, and they’ve all been by carriage. This is the first time I’ve done a day trip, though, like today.”

Since I started school, I’ve been working out, playing piano, and going to the library on weekdays. On the weekends, I’ve been on a schedule of staying in and conquering dungeons. This is the first time I’ve had a day trip this week and a free day tomorrow.

“Why do you go to the dungeon every week?”

Airi was really cute as she asked me softly. Today, she’s preparing her gear for the dungeon, and it’s cute too. I mean, she’s cute no matter what she’s doing or what she’s wearing. I’m lucky to be able to love Airi like this up close.

“It’s just for training, you know. I have trouble leveling up in dungeons.”

In my case, I don’t level up as much as other people in the academy through normal training, reading, dungeon fighting and monster slaying. My level rises when I deal with large sums of money. So the only way for me to raise my level is to keep moving the market.

“I’ve always wondered why it’s so hard for you to level up, Glen.”

The answer is because I’m not a character in the game, but of course I can’t give such an answer to her.

“Merchants aren’t originally supposed to fight or use magic. Instead, they can use special skills.”

“Special skills?”

“The ability to see people’s levels, to know the value of items, to find hidden doors, that kind of thing.”

“That’s amazing! Glen-san, you have that kind of ability!”

“So I’ve been watching Airi’s progress through the levels. I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay, why are you apologizing? You’ve been watching me all this time, introducing me to books according to my level, giving me advice, and even bringing me to dungeons like today.”

Airi smiled at me. Oh, I’m dazzled by her unquestioning honesty! A halo shines behind Airi as she sits. I was happy to be able to monopolize this view all by myself until we arrived near the dungeon.

When we arrived at our destination, I asked the guardian to wait for us, and Airi and I headed for the dungeon. The dungeon in the south of the royal capital was not too big and the monsters were not too strong, so it didn’t take much effort to conquer. However, we had another goal in mind: there was a certain item hidden in the dungeon.

After entering the dungeon for a while, we immediately encountered several giant mice. When I looked at Airi, I saw that her face was stiff. Well, she had been afraid of monsters before she came here, so that part could not be helped.

“Do it, Airi!”

I let my voice echo through my belly breathing so that Airi would come to her sense. Airi, who has been upgraded to a dignified face, casts cold air magic [area freeze]. I slice down the giant mice, which is frozen underfoot and can’t move, with a swift motion. The defeated monster disappeared into the dust.

“Amazing! I followed Glen’s advice and we were done in no time.”

I’m so lucky to be impressed by something like this!

I had a meeting in a moving carriage because I wanted to use the cold attribute that Airi had acquired, even though it was still in its early stages, to deal with monsters in a routine manner. The killed monster disappears, it dropped money in a lawful manner, so I collected every last one of them.

“Glen-san, let’s keep this up and bang!”

Airi smiles at me, a complete change from earlier. I thought to myself, “Hey, where’s the fright I had just seen?” But I guess that’s her strength.

As I went about my routine work of clearing away all the monsters that appeared with Airi’s cold air magic and my sword, Airi naturally ran out of magic power. So I poured all the magic I had into her.

“Wow, you can do this?”

“Ah, the merchant special skill [Passing]. It’s a skill to pass what I have to another person. It’s one of the merchant skills.”

I give the magical power that I can’t help but to Airi who uses magic. It’s the most rational method we have right now. I was able to maintain the battle endlessly and infinitely using this method. While replenishing Airi’s magic power several times with [Passing], we smoothly reached the deepest part of the dungeon.

“It’s a dead end, isn’t it? Here.”

“Just look.”

I put my hand on the wall, which was a dead end, and moved it along the wall. It wasn’t long before I got a response. A hidden hole. I pressed my hand against the wall and a small indentation appeared.

“This is….”

“It’s hidden niche. It’s an “hollow” in the wall.

“I see. But Glen-san, how did you know there was such a thing?”

I can’t honestly say that’s exactly how it’s set up.

“Merchant special skill [Find]. With this, you can find hidden doors and holes. Look, there’s something like this inside.”

I reached into the back of the wall cabinet and pulled out a small box. I opened it and found a fresh blue ring in it.

(It’s a healing ring!)

Today’s item of interest. A ring that increases the power of healing magic and gradually restores your strength. This is the ring that Airi should wear. I quickly took Airi’s right hand.

“This one’s yours.”

With a surprised look on her face, I quickly put the ring on the middle finger of Aili’s right hand. I knew, or perhaps it was obvious, that it was the perfect size.

“But…. this stuff…. is it really okay for me… ”

Aili turns her right hand and stares at the ring in confusion.

“This ring only appeared because Airi was in this place. It would not have appeared if someone else had come. It’s been waiting for the right person to put it on. That’s why you have to put this ring on her.”

“There’s no way, such thing…..”

“There is, you know. Because there are other people like Aili in our class.”

“That ring can only be worn by Airi. It looks good on you.”

“….. understood.”

As if convinced, Airi squeezed her lowered right hand with her left and gave a small nod.

“Thank you. Glen-san.”

Thus, the healing ring settled on the middle finger of the master’s right hand.