Level Eater

Chapter 34: A Thousand Pieces of Gold

Once there was a poor man.

He used to hunt demons every day to make a little money to buy medicine and food for his sickly wife.

Then one day, when the man went to hunt demons as usual, he found a weak demon wandering around. The man took advantage of the situation and killed the demon.

As he was dismantling the necessary parts to turn the monster into money, he found a lump of golden crystal in the monsters stomach.

The man immediately converted it into money and earned a fortune. He and his wife lived happily together for a long time.

Why do you suddenly start talking about that?

This is a famous story about a golden crystal that actually happened about a hundred years ago.

Heeh

Leela told them that it was quite a famous story, but that they might not have known about it as they rolled their eyes at the valuation.

There are several other such get-rich-quick stories about this golden crystal. Thats how precious and expensive it is, that crystal.

Leela then turned her gaze to the small golden crystal.

However, Tatsuro and Ai still had a lot of those crystals in their item box. It didnt make sense to them that such things were being talked about as if they were gold or diamonds from the original world.

But you can get quite a lot of golden crystals just by hunting a single Deflstal.

I cant imagine it would be worth that much.

I still have a lot of them, actually.

So you still have it.

Rather, the two of you have misunderstood the basic premise in the first place.

Misunderstood?

As the two of them tilted their heads in unison, Leela wanted to ask them what kind of life they had lived to grow up to be so naive, but she decided to start by correcting their perceptions.

First of all, the Golden Crystal Defragment rarely appears in public.

The reason for this is that they usually live in places where you have to be prepared to die just to enter.

The deepest part of the Amneri Forest is just like that.

Tatsuro and Ai felt a chill run down their spines as they realized now that they had been in such a deep place.

If we ever go there again, lets make sure we dont go into the back.

Yeah, it was such a bad place

Thats wise, because even the strongest person would have to be prepared to die there.

When there was a silence, Leela cleared her throat and proceeded to talk.

So, you see. If you have the ability to enter such a magical world, the Deflstals in your original territory live in groups.

So, if you want to get the golden crystal from the main body, you will have to deal with a large number of other Deflstals, making this method impossible.

Thats why the ones that are currently on the market are almost always the ones that were brought by other demons and acquired by chance, as in the story I told you earlier, and there has only been one known case since the beginning of history where a demon like you two happened to be in the midst of a small group and were able to defeat it.

Thats why they are rarely seen.

One case in the history of the world, thats amazing.

Yeah, that story explains the price.

Its not every day that a small number of people just happen to appear in a place with enough power to defeat them.

Thats right. So, it is better not to show them to others as Ai did to me in the future.

It could lead to unnecessary disputes and conflicts.

I see. Well, I guess Ill just keep it to myself from now on.

I prefer that.

As Tatsuro stroked Ais disappointed head to comfort her, his eyes met Leelas and he smiled at her.

I think its safer to tell me if youre going to sell it again, because it might happen. The fewer people who know about it, the easier it will be to identify you if something happens.

Ah, yes. I dont think Ill have to sell it for a while, though.

We would be grateful if you would do that. The guild would go bankrupt if we took them all at once, and other jewelers would look at us because of the price collapse.

I didnt know there was such a thing.

After we had settled the matter of the golden crystal, it was time to exchange it for cash.

Leela had left the room once to go get some money, and now it was just the two of us.

Tatsuro and Ai waited anxiously for the moment when they would get their hands on a large sum of money, wondering if this was how a person who won the first prize in a lottery would feel.

Soon after, the sound of a door opening startled them, and they turned to see Leela walking toward them, holding something.

Then, please take this first.

Y-yes.

Tatsuro received the coins on behalf of the guild, and then the confirmation screen for the deposit appeared.

-

5,000,000 Sis has been confirmed. Would you like to deposit it?

Yes / No

-

Huh?

Whats wrong, Tatsuro?

I only have 5 million Sis

Hmm? Eh?

Ai tilted her head at the words, and Leela, who had her head in her hands, spoke up at the same time.

Uhm, did you perhaps think that you would be paid in a lump sum today?

Yes. Un

Eh? No, its not? When Leela felt a headache coming on as they nodded as if it was a matter of course, she tried her best to explain the situation calmly.

Uhm.of course, you know, an adventurers guild set up in a big city, let alone one thats just a branch of our guild, cant just come up with a hundred million dollars without any preparation

So youre saying you paying it parts?

No. The five million is like a deposit, and if you come back in five days with the rest, we will pay you the rest at that time.

What was presented to him was a yellow, glowing, smartphone-sized board. When Tatsuro received it, another display appeared on the system screen.

-

Promissory note/ IOU (I own you)

Owner: Tatsuro Hasami, Ai Yashiki

Borrower: Adventurers Guild

Remaining amount: 445,697,052 Sis

-

IOU?

IOU?

Yes. The amount of money we cant pay is owed by the Adventurers Guild, so as long as you have it, you can claim it from any Adventurers Guild in the country.

However, since we have started collecting the money here, it would be great if we could repay you here as much as possible.

I understand. Yes.

Thats all I have to say. Is there anything else you two need?

As soon as he was asked if there was anything else, Tatsuro decided to ask her about one thing he was curious about.

Um, what do I have to do to get a normal request?

Oh, come to think of it, I dont know. Our first request was something like a proposal.

-Thats right. You guys were beginners, I forgot.

The usual request is to enter from the entrance on the left side and on the right side just after going upstairs, there are some white plates attached to the wall, so display the adventurers guild registration card from the system and hold it over there If you do, you will be able to confirm the request you can receive at that time from the Adventurers Guild on the system screen.

{It looks like medieval Europe, but its got all this high-tech stuff.}

{Right. Whether its more advanced than our world or not, I dont know.}

Leela, who hadnt heard their telekinetic conversation, began to continue without concern.

After that, you select the request you want to accept, convert it into a request form, and submit it to the counter.

If the request is accepted there, you have accepted the request.

By the way, if you cancel a request once youve accepted it, you will be charged a penalty fee, and if this happens too often, your guild registration may be revoked, so please think carefully before accepting a request.

Yes. Yees.

Is there anything else, then?

Anything else?

Tatsuro was able to ask what he wanted to ask, so he turned the conversation to Ai. She growled a little at that, and then said, No, there isnt, so they called it a night.

The two of them were then taken by Leela back to the room with the entrance, just as they had been when they arrived.

As they did so, Tatsuro and Ai held their guild cards up to the white plaque on the wall next to the entrance, and the system showed them the requests they could accept.

However, since they were not going to take any more requests today, they just checked and closed the system immediately, and stepped out of the Adventurers Guild.

Leela followed them out to see them off.

I would like to thank you for being with me today.

Thank you, too. Thats it for today.

Bye bye

Leela thought, as she waved back, that they were an interesting pair, as Tatsuro bowed and Ai waved with a big smile on her face.

Chapter 35