The day after going to Kommelby with Raven, the entire team met at the tavern and made the final settlement.
«We really make a lot of money».
Mana Stone Revenue: 25.19 million. Expandable backpack and various equipment: 3.01 million. Ifrit essence minus test tube: 9 million. Mila Roden byproducts: 750,000 thousand.
A total of 37.95 million stones.
Of course, it wasn't fair to divide this into five equal parts. For the mana stones, it was agreed that Ainar would keep 15% and Mr. Bear with 25%. Mila Roden's essence and byproducts were special loot, so Raven took 40%.
Let's see, then my share is... 7.1 million and 2,500 stones.
For reference, my part was exactly the same as Missha's.
«Miss Ainar takes 5,843,000 stones.»
«Ooh!»
«Now, what are you going to do with the cost of the essence?»
«Uh, essence...? How much was it?» His joy at the absurd figure was short-lived and Ainar soon had a confused expression.
«...I will pay with her». I took 2,157,000 stones from me and gave them to Raven.
«And Miss Karlstein?»
«Ah, I'm going to receive it from Ainar lateree».
«Well, if you say so. Hey... wait, so Miss Ainar doesn't charge anything today».
Was that the problem? Although she worked hard in the maze, only her debt increased. She owed 4 million to Missha and 7.5 million to me (including the cost of equipment purchased last month) for a total of 11.5 million stones.
«Impossible...! I had money and now I don't! Something's wrong».
«This is the world. Even so, now you are much stronger with the essence».
Unlike Missha, who comforted her with words, I decided to give her a tangible reward. «Anyway, I hope we can increase Ainar's distribution rate soon.» She had a rank 5 essence. In truth, it was difficult to see Ainar's combat power below average.
«Ah, I don't care.»
«...From the next scan, I will only receive 20%». Mr. Bear readily agreed, so Ainar's mana stone distribution rate rose to 20%. Now it was evenly distributed.
Ugh, if I could, I also want to adjust the ratio for the special loot... But it's clear that he's going to get angry, so I'll do it another time.
Actually, on second thought, it was a bit unfair. I was the tank, the leader, and now even a guide I wasn't made for. Also, I took out all the hidden pieces by hand. Shouldn't I receive at least 30%?
«Ah, so once everyone pays the team money, today's business is over.»
«How much was the team's fund?»
«300,000 stones per person.»
«Do you accept more money?!» Ainar's debt increased by another 300,000 stones. Well, it meant nothing considering it fed and housed her, anyway.
***
Three days after the final agreement, while Missha was dating Ainar to request a promotion to rank 6, I lay down on the bed and organized my thoughts.
I have already collected another ten million stones, not counting the money lent to Ainar and the money from the account shared with Missha.
After all, by the time I reached the fifth floor, my growth had accelerated. Now that proactive gaming was possible, I could make the most of my gaming knowledge. I formed a rough plan.
I will lay the foundations on the fifth floor and go up to the sixth after a year.
Of course, from the sixth floor onwards, it would be difficult to advance so quickly, since it could not be overcome with combat power alone. From then on, it would be a long struggle.
But on that floor, I can eat that essence.
As long as the formidable enemy called dragon slayer was behind my throat, I needed to become stronger as soon as possible.
Even if that were not the case, considering the situation these days, my current state is inadequate.
Recently, the atmosphere in the city was very heavy. To be precise, the explorer industry was tense and in suspense. It was understandable, due to the incident.
Four hundred and seventy-one people died on the fourth floor during this exploration alone. This was incomparable to the deaths of the Floor Lord on the third floor last time. They died at the hands of looters, not monsters, and a large-scale terrorist group targeting veteran explorers who had been in and out of the maze for almost ten years.
«Bjorn!» When my thoughts reached that point, Missha hurriedly returned from the guild, with a piece of paper in her hand. «Look at this! The palace issued a notice to the explorers!»
I quickly grabbed the paper and read it. The announcement said that the kingdom had drawn up a plan of conquest, and that rewards would be given to participating Rank 6 or higher scouts. The objective of the conquest was Noark.
There will be a commotion.
The underground city was an open secret. Everyone knew about it, but 99% of people didn't even know it existed. However, the group was mentioned through an official palace notice.
«Bjorn, what are you going to do?»
«I don't know.»
The reward was quite attractive, an amount per person and a tax exemption for three years. Furthermore, the palace would grant an essence in his possession based on achievements, so many would be tempted.
It seems that they have already recruited supermega clans as well.
The announcement also included the names of the clans that had agreed to participate. They had probably been given a much greater reward. It was some kind of publicity stunt. Only the participation of large clans would increase the confidence of ordinary explorers. No, they would even consider it a sweet opportunity and think it would be foolish not to participate.
«Anyway, what I mean is don't participate.»
Remembering Baekho's advice, I made up my mind. «We are not going to participate». I refused to act cute in the middle. Besides, weren't we growing enough already? It was difficult to feel the merit of participating in a conquest.
«I see... I'm glad. I don't have a good feeling about this...»
«Just to be sure, I'll meet with Raven and Abman to tell them. How did Ainar react?»
«He is looking forward to the opportunity to receive fame. But do not worry. I'll explain it to you well».
«Then I'll leave it to you».
After talking to Missha, I headed to the magic tower. How would a magician come up with this? The answer was very simple.
«Ah, that announcement... I heard it last night too. I was going to ask, but I'm glad you didn't participate».
«Are you also against it?»
«Yeah. I'm curious about the underground city, but no matter how they present it, it's nothing more than a war. I don't want to get involved in a rights fight like that». Whatever reward was offered, Raven wasn't particularly interested. It was lucky in many ways.
Afterwards, I heard a similar response in Mr. Bear's tavern. «Everyone's been talking about it all day here, but I doubt it. Well, the reward sounds good, but...»
Mr. Bear said that if he were working alone, he could have joined the conquest. Well, this man was almost forty years old. Three years of tax exemption was immense. He practically took care of his wife's share of the taxes alone.
«Huhu, and our son will also be born next year. Taxes will be reduced for 20 years with birth benefits, so I'm in no hurry.»
«I see.»
«If you stay out, I have no intention of joining either».
Okay, so the conquest had passed him by.
I will find out the detailed information in the community once it opens.
For now, he couldn't do anything. I was going back to the inn to check my to-do list in town for this month when Mr. Bear made me an unexpected suggestion. «Yandel, would you like to have something to drink later?».
«A drink?»
«Now you are the leader of a team. From the looks of it, you have no contacts in this regard».
«AND?»
«This afternoon there is a meeting of explorers on the fifth floor. Why don't you come with me?»
Hmm, contacts... To be honest, I don't feel like it.
However, it was common here for explorers to hang out and exchange information. It wouldn't hurt to try it at least once.
Well, since the Round Table Watchers only have advanced information it's hard to learn about this side of the job.
«Good. When and where is it?»
After hearing the time and place, I headed to the library to hang out. Ragna greeted me, distant as usual. I wondered how he had heard the news, always being in the library.
«Do you have something to tell me?»
«Are you... joining the conquest?»
«No, our team has decided not to participate».
«I see. That's a relief...» Ragna's complexion lit up.
For some reason it seemed suspicious, so I asked directly: «Relief? Do you know anything about Noark?»
«I... don't know much about that. But I know what kind of people the royal family is... Huge sacrifices will surely occur», Ragna replied in a low voice.
«Royal family?»
«Please ignore what I just said». Soon, Ragna withdrew his words with an expression as if he had made a mistake.
I didn't bother pressuring her about it either. He knew how dangerous it was to slander the royal family. «Thank you for your concern».
«Worry...» Ragna chewed that word. I received an unexpected reaction. I thought he would correct me and say he wasn't worried about me, as always. «Yeah. I was worried, but I'm very happy».
«Eh... sure». This only perplexed me. However, after spitting that out, his neck turned red with embarrassment. I pretended not to see it. «...So can you do the spell? I want to go read now».
«Oh, sure. Magic. Clear.»
I didn't want to make it more uncomfortable.
***
Normally, at 10 at night I would have washed and prepared to go to bed. However, he was in a bar he had never been to, not in District 7 where he lived, but across a wall in District 8.
«Abman! Long time no see! How have you been?»
«Everything the same. And you?»
«Haha! Living while death eludes me». When we entered a private room, there were about a dozen explorers. It seemed that this man with the warm impression was the organizer. «Who is that friend next to you?»
«He is the leader of our team».
«Oh? I was wondering who would take you in. I guess the lucky one was here».
As soon as we entered the room, there was a moment of brief introductions under the direction of the host.
«I'm Perpe Derves. Call me whatever you want. You can also call me Pepe. It's a nickname only used by my close friends».
Pepe... It was too nice a nickname for a bearded man. «... I'm going with Derves.»
«Clear.»
«I am Bjorn, son of Yandel.»
«Can I call you Bjorn?»
«As you like.» The titles were sorted with the speed of an explorer.
«Wait, Bjorn Yandel? Sounds familiar». Then one of the explorers tilted his head and belatedly remembered where he had heard it. «Ah, Little Balkan! The barbarian who became famous against the Lord of the Third Floor! I'm right?»
«That's right».
When I willingly admitted it, Derves's gaze on me changed slightly to one of surprise, and slight doubt. «Oh, so this is only your first year?»
«Don't worry about that part. This time we were on the fifth floor». With the help of Mr. Bear, the doubts were completely cleared up and only admiration remained.
«Advance to the fifth floor in less than a year... how incredible».
Afterwards, Derves introduced the other participants one by one. With Little Balkan's fame and knowing of my explosive growth, everyone's reactions were positive. Except one person.
«I'm Jack Johnsonville, rank 5 Snow Wolf Clan». The tanned blonde man appeared with somewhat aggressive eyes.
Why do you open your eyes like that? Does he want to die?
My body was stinging from my barbaric thought process, but I endured it with superhuman patience. After all, I was one of the few modern people in this world. Of course you should understand.
Feeling the cold in the air, Derves relaxed the atmosphere with a toast. «Haha, then let's drink».
The meeting began like this. Everyone drank nonchalantly and exchanged friendly or business conversations.
«How are you? Not bad, right?» Mr. Bear whispered in my ear.
I chuckled and nodded. In my head I thought there would be a lot of trash, since it was a meeting of explorers, but it wasn't that bad. Well, there was a bastard muddying the water, though.
«Why don't we meet somewhere other than an old bar next time?» jack Johnsonville asked. «There is a tavern affiliated with our clan, and the drinks are amazing. Of course, it's much more expensive than here». Hahaha... Conquest? Of course we should participate. Oh, maybe it's scary for team units like you. Try hard, though. You never know. Maybe you'll catch the attention of a scout and join a clan».
He was the only person at this meeting who was a member of a clan, and the bastard kept bragging about it. This son of a bitch even spoiled the conversation every time attention fell on me.
«I can't help but ask. Yandel, what is your secret? How did you get up so fast?».
«Isn't it obvious? Found a good team».
«...Haha, finding good equipment is also a skill».
Every time a silence took hold of us, Derves did his best to pack it well and get rid of any disputes. «Anyway, Bjorn. What do you tell me about yourself? I would like to hear your impressions of attending our meeting for the first time».
Should I tell them the truth or not? I thought about it for a while, but the answer was already decided. «Like».
«Pft, of course he likes it. He is a rookie who has just reached the fifth floor».
I was a K-barbarian with the spirit of a modern man, the Confucian ideology and the audacity of a savage. If necessary, he could be patient. He hoped to endure insults even worse than this one.
«What the hell is this stupid son of a bitch saying?»
«W-what? Are you talking to me now?»
«Is there another stupid son of a bitch here besides you?» When I didn't have to be patient, I wasn't. He was a total barbarian.