章 67: Treasure hunt and the first misfortune (2)
The first group emerged from the cave. It was Asura with her companions; the girls had a few cuts, and a couple of feathers stuck out from Asura's head.
"Wait, our magical devices will relocate new monsters to where the defeated ones were, and you can enter. Wait for about five minutes," Levris said, then hurried behind the rocks and started operating some levers. While there was time, I decided to question Asura about the dungeon.
"Are you okay?"
My attempt to talk to another girl caused annoyance from Katrina and Ragni. But seeing the frown on Asura's face and the reaction of the others, they turned away from each other.
"What? Hoping for some information," with those words, a few feathers flew out of Asura's mouth. "Ahem, sorry. Information comes at a cost, and I'm not going to tell you what lies ahead."
"At least we know it's something feathered," I said.
Asura blushed.
"Go on already; I'll wait for you here. I'm curious to know your results."
The twins could only shake their heads at their superiors' stubbornness. Werner, who carried a bag of loot, placed it near a rock and started tending to the wounds of the girls. It seemed that whatever was inside the cave had not only feathers but also sharp claws.
"Phew, how challenging," Levris returned from her hiding spot, "You can enter the dungeon now; it's ready to be conquered. I'll be waiting for you in the treasure room if you manage to get there."
The cave was quite damp, and there was an unpleasant smell inside.
"Ugh, I don't like this smell, it's like on a farm," Ragni shuddered from the sensation.
"On a farm?"
"Well, to be more precise, it smells like a chicken coop."
"I think I understand," I looked up; large nests made of branches adorned the ceiling, "Watch out."
We barely had time to press against the walls when several feathers pierced the spot where we stood, accompanied by a piercing screech.
"Ugh, Krito, what is this?" Katrina covered her head in fear.
"Harpies, maybe ten, maybe twenty. Kurone, hide us all!"
"Alright."
In an instant, one after another, the members of the guild began to disappear into thin air. Kurone's skills were impressive.
After circling above us for a bit, the harpies descended to the ground to check where we had vanished.
"Katrina, Leira, paralyze them!"
The sorceresses struck with lightning from both sides, and five large harpies fell motionless to the ground.
The smaller harpies, frightened by the invaders' power, scurried back into their nests.
"Phew, is that all?" The GM was as spirited as ever, even after just screaming in fear.
"Well, this is probably the easiest dungeon, so the monsters here aren't anything special."
The treasure room was right behind the nest room. Teacher Levris greeted us with a triumphant fanfare.
"Mmm, congratulations! That's a new record. No one has ever dealt with harpies so quickly. Many people would linger, trying to catch them, but you knocked them out so easily. Congratulations! You have ten minutes. You understand, it's due to the lack of complexity in the dungeon."
"Ten minutes? For what?" Katrina was puzzled.
"To collect the treasures, of course. Didn't you read the booklet?" The teacher waved a booklet in the air, a copy of another one that had been carelessly destroyed by our careless GM.
"Y-yes, of course, we read it, but could you explain again?"
"Well, of course, my favorite students. It's simple. Depending on how well you complete the challenge, you are given a certain amount of time to choose your loot. There's plenty of it in there, but you can only carry what fits in your hands."
"In that case, I'll take gold and diamonds!" Ragni whistled with enthusiasm.
"Haha, are you kidding? You haven't read anything; there's no such reward. But I suppose you should see it for yourselves."
Levris pulled a lever and turned the hourglass.
"Choose carefully; you won't be able to come back here."
We entered a large room with shelves along the walls.
"What on earth is this?" Ragni's cry voiced our thoughts.
On the shelves and tables in the room, there were dishes: plates, glasses, pots, forks, spoons, and even a kettle with a substantial amount of stew.
"Teacher, is this the treasure?" Leira asked.
"Well, what did you expect? Harpies are like magpies; they take everything shiny," the GM replied.
"But this is absurd! How can this be considered treasure?" Seleria also seemed disappointed.
"Well, among them, there might be some antique items. So, some things here could be worth more than items from more complex dungeons."
"But we don't know anything about these things!"
"But all of this was specified in the booklet; you should have prepared."
The guild gave a malicious glare at the GM.
"Why blame me immediately?!" Katrina awkwardly shrugged.
"Hurry up; you have thirteen minutes left."
"Ugh, grab whatever looks expensive or made of precious metals!" came the GM's decree; nothing could be done.
Seleria lunged at some gilded dishes, followed by the dragoness. Silly girls, it was obvious that they were only gilded; they were worthless.
Leira approached the delicate-looking white plates against the wall, and her faithful husband followed. Why does this scene seem so soothing to me?
"Algo, look, I think we've seen these plates in my parents' castle."
"Hmm, perhaps, they have the same crest."
"Maybe they're the work of a famous craftsman," Kurone joined in.
"Then let's take them."
It seemed they found something valuable. While they were busy, I looked at the dishes. I didn't know anything about them; they were entirely out of my expertise. I should choose based on the material's value. But no, they were all clay or porcelain, and the metal spoons and forks were too small, so the value of precious metals in them would be insignificant. In the corner stood a sizeable impressive cauldron with some stew inside. The cauldron was decorated with a pair of skulls, but what caught my attention was the stew. It was thick and quite heavy, blackened with age, and quite greasy. I was surprised by its weight; for its size, I thought it would be made of cast iron, but it was significantly lighter. To confirm my suspicions, I drew my large sword from my back and weighed it. They were nearly the same size and surprisingly had a similar weight. Could they be made from the same material? Well, without scraping the soot off the cauldron, I couldn't find out.
"Guys, finish up; you have one minute left."
Ah, whatever; I still couldn't determine the metal of my blade, but it cuts well enough. I grabbed the cauldron and dashed outside. Soon, the others followed. Levris closed the entrance and led us to the black exit.
"If there was another entrance here, then why did we have to fight our way in?"
"Well, that's the whole point. Don't worry; dungeons come in all sorts of varieties. This one is usually for beginners. More experienced players go directly to the complex dungeons. Many even develop tactics for each dungeon or form groups. Well, there are too few of you to split up, but keep it in mind for the future. We usually alternate dungeons every year, leaving only the simplest one like this and the most challenging one, the 'Golden Tomb.' But I don't know if you can pass it."
"A tomb?"
"Yes, I don't know who's buried there, but they say there are untold treasures. Each item from there could be worth thousands of gold. But, in my memory, it has been completed only four times, and even then, with minimal results. Honestly, there's a fearsome guardian, but you'll find out about it if you get there."
"Teacher, you seem to give us useful information, but it feels like you're only confusing us even more."
Emerging from the cave, we approached the Asurian warriors, peacefully lounging on the grass.
"Mmm, already out? And how was the catch?" Asura asked with a smug grin.
"Look, Ice Queen," Ragni proudly displayed a pile of gilded plates before the warrior.
Werner joined the conversation, "Fakes, all fake. Just a bunch of gilded junk."
"Hey, how do you know that?" Ragni retorted.
"Well, I worked at an antique store for a while. I'm no expert, but I learned how masters put their seal on their works. But they do have something interesting over there."
Werner glanced at a sweet couple carrying four lovely plates with blue rims.
"Hmm, a master's seal, and quite a famous one. I'm sure you could get a hundred gold pieces for each of those."
"Haha, we lost to these lovebirds. I envy them!" Ragni gnawed her nails in frustration.
"But we weren't even competing," I interjected.
"For some reason, your words don't make me feel any better," Seleria looked utterly defeated.
"But nevertheless, you handled it surprisingly quickly," Asura praised our agility. "I didn't expect flying monsters there. If it weren't for Miriam, we might have had problems."
"That's true; you have your guild's strengths," a brilliant idea struck me. "Katrina, can I talk to you for a moment?"
I stepped aside with the GM.
"Don't you think we lack warriors in the guild?"
"Why? We're doing just fine. We have Algo, and you can fight pretty well too."
"Well, just now, we managed to dodge, but what if there had been a family of bears in there? I doubt we could've protected all the mages on our own. Not everyone can defend themselves like you and Ragni."
"And what do you suggest?"
"To temporarily unite with Asura during the Hunt. I hope for future cooperation as well."
"Nah, I won't get along with her."
"Oh, come on, you managed to get along with Seleria and Ragni. Besides, it's only temporary, and who knows, you might become friends eventually."
"But I'm afraid she won't agree."
"I'll take that on me."
We returned to the others. Seleria was vehemently explaining to Werner that she didn't just bring a pile of junk from the cave, and he was calmly gesturing in response.
"Asura, I have a proposition for you," I addressed the warrior.
"For some reason, I feel like I won't like it," Asura stood up from the meadow and turned to me and Katrina. "Let me guess, you want to join forces with us for the trial?"
"What? Did you hear us?" Katrina was surprised.
"No, but it's not hard to guess where your thoughts are going. Honestly, I also think that we won't be able to handle all the opponents alone. Although I don't particularly like mages, I do like your deputy. I have no objections to joining forces for the festival."
"Okay, then when we gather the treasure, we'll decide who takes what. The treasures will belong to the respective guild."
"Sounds logical, but don't expect Werner to help," Asura replied.
At that moment, a figure in a gray cloak emerged from the woods. It was the familiar girl with golden wavy hair from the merchants' faculty. Since she's from the merchants' guild, she's probably not going to attempt this alone.
"You're also participating?" I asked.
"Hmm, yes, although I don't belong to any guild yet."
I was certain I had seen her with Alfred and the gang; perhaps something happened.
"Are you going alone? It's quite dangerous there," Levris was primarily concerned about the student's safety.
"Don't worry, I'm not planning to fight," she replied calmly.
We decided to stay a while longer to ensure her safety.
After ten minutes, the girl returned, twirling a plate similar to the ones Algo and Leira brought out, only more roughly made with a crack on half of it.
"You managed to come out remarkably unscathed," I decided to strike up a conversation with her.
"I've learned to stay unnoticed, and this cloak helped me a lot. Of course, since I didn't engage in battle, they allowed me to take only one thing, but it's worth just, uh... junk, like what you brought out," she said, casting a disdainful glance at our piles of dishes.
"Ah, you!" Leira jumped up. "You took almost the same plate as I did, only broken!"
"Pff," the girl shrugged and squinted her eyes, "an amateur wouldn't understand a master's work. Yes, our plates are indeed made of the same material, but mine is a known chipped plate, one of the master's earliest works. True connoisseurs could buy it for five hundred gold, and with my skills, even a thousand."
"Mmmm," Leira stood in place, unable to retort.
"I'm afraid this girl is right," Levris joined the conversation.
"And why are you still alone?" I had long been curious about that. "I've seen you at Alfred's guild before."
"Well, we had a smaalll disagreement with him," she turned aside and muttered under her breath, "greedy bastard," so that only I could hear. "So, I'm currently in active search."
"Oh, sorry, but only guilds can participate," Levris tried to take the girl's loot.
"Well, so what? I'm currently a member of their guild," the girl resisted with all her might. "Besides, I was going to offer this loot to the guild I'll join as an entrance fee."
"You can't. If you're not part of a guild, you can't participate," Levris insisted.
"But who cares? That stupid cleric wasn't going into that dungeon anyway, blame him."
"You're trying to break the rules."
I was getting annoyed with this tug-of-war over the plate.
"So how about she joins our guild?" I suggested.
"Hmm," the girl sized us up. "Well, you have two princesses in your guild, and I heard you split the profit evenly. But considering that your only income from the first mission was..." She pointed disdainfully at Ragni. "What do you say?"
"What? Do you have something against me?" Ragni lashed out at the girl with a wicked grin.
"No, not really. Maybe you have, uh, combat potential, but financially, they made a big mistake."
I agreed with her in principle, but I didn't want to experience the sharpness of the black dragon's claws on myself.
"So, what do you think about joining us?"
"Okay. Grrr. You still want to take her?" I leaned towards Ragni and whispered in her ear, "What else can we do? Nobody in our guild knows anything about trade, and without her, we'll fail this trial."
Ragni shot an angry look at the girl but stepped aside.
"Alright, then any objections? I'm glad to have a genuine merchant in our guild," Katrina clapped her hands happily. "And my guildmates will soon eat me alive for my extravagance."
"Fine. My name is Vinila Vorson, but everyone calls me Vina or Vin."
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