Chapter 45. The Royal Capital V
Episode 45.
The Royal Capital V
Back at my lodgings, the first thing I did was dispose of the memo I'd scribbled on while planning yesterday.
Riiip—
Just like in the movies, I tore it to shreds, burned half of it, and chewed up and swallowed the other half.
It felt like I was being overly dramatic, but this was a fantasy world, after all.
There was no telling what kind of tracking methods might exist that I didn't know about.
'Chris.'
Could that bastard be somewhere in this world too?
The other Players might also be moving in secret, hiding their identities.
What I could infer from this was...... that in this world, revealing yourself as a Player—in other words, someone possessing a character in this world—could only bring trouble.
'Not that I have any intention of revealing it, of course.'
I opened the window and aired out the lingering acrid smoke, thinking.
......Why exactly were we pulled into the game?
I had a feeling that Chris—that bastard—knew something.
"......Let's get to what needs doing."
No point agonizing over a problem with no answer.
I gathered up my remaining seed and headed straight for the Delver Guild, but the desk area was in an uproar.
"Damn it! I'm telling you, I'll fill the whole thing on my next expedition! You don't trust Otri?"
A man with a scruffy beard was shouting in front of a Delver Guild employee.
Other Delvers watching the scene muttered among themselves.
"......What's going on?"
"What else? He missed his quota."
"Ah."
No one seemed to think much of it.
That was only natural—it was a fairly common occurrence in the Delver world.
"Otri. This is not a matter of trust. It is a promise made between the Kingdom, the Guild, and the individual Delver."
But the voice responding sounded familiar. I turned my head slightly and saw a face I recognized.
'Camille.'
This meticulous man maintained a mechanical attitude even when dealing with an agitated Delver.
"A Grade 4 Delver must submit a Low-Grade or higher Exploration Crystal with 100% Exploration Progress to the Guild at least once per year. This deadline can be extended by up to half a year due to circumstances such as personal injury or the absence of a party member, but you have already used all of that extension."
"So I'm asking you to let it slide just this once! Didn't you see my crystal records this time? I'm telling you, my damn teammate betrayed me!"
"Of course I checked. Rest assured, the Guild will deal with the Delver who betrayed you according to regulations."
"Ha! That bastard's already dead, so what's the point of handling him according to—!"
The man called Otri stopped mid-sentence. The door had suddenly burst open.
Two knights appeared, and the shape of their armor looked familiar.
'Order of Pars.'
The royal knight order to which the White Knight Laurent belonged—the ones known as the Sword of the Kingdom.
The fact that they had come all the way to the Delver Guild meant.......
"Where is the Delver who broke regulations?"
"......."
Camille silently looked at Otri, who stood in front of him.
The knights nodded and approached, then grabbed Otri by both arms as if taking him into custody.
"Camille, Camille! Please, just give me one more chance! I'll make the deadline this time, I swear! Goddammit, let go of me!"
"Are you resisting?"
"Th-that's not what I......!"
"Obey His Majesty's command without resistance, unless you want to pay an even heavier price for your crime."
"......!"
Otri, who had been mumbling something, hung his head low.
Then, half out of his mind, he was dragged away by the knights.
"Yikes. That's brutal."
"So is that guy getting thrown into the 'Kingdom Support Program' now?"
"Probably. Into that hell with a survival rate under one percent."
"......."
For reference, that was one of the bad endings in the game too.
Delvers who fail to meet their quotas are taken away by the Kingdom and assigned to missions under the name of the 'Kingdom Support Program'.......
To put it simply, they're forcibly deployed into extremely dangerous zones in the <Eternal Forest> with only minimal equipment.
'The length of service depends on the severity of the crime, but.'
Honestly, whether it is one year or ten, there isn't much difference.
Among Delvers, it's known as a place you can never return from alive once you're taken there.
'I'd better work hard so I don't end up like that.'
Feeling the tension that had slackened a bit suddenly tighten, I headed to the desk.
"Hello. I'm Peris at the Guild reception desk. What brings you to the Guild today?"
"I'm here to receive my badge."
"May I have your name?"
"Kaindel."
"Ah! Kaindel."
The receptionist smiled and immediately took a prepared badge from under the desk and handed it to me.
"Here you are."
The wooden badge symbolizing a bottom-tier Grade 5 Delver even had my name carved in relief on it.......
Despite how it looked, all Delver badges are magically engineered. And that meant one thing.
'They processed this awfully fast.'
I'd come prepared to wait for hours.
The receptionist seemed to notice my puzzlement, smiled, and said:
"Officer Camille personally requested it. He asked if we could process it as quickly as possible."
So that was it.
I glanced back, but Camille was already gone.
'Anyway, he's already an officer, huh.'
The Delver profession itself is deeply intertwined with the Kingdom in this world's setting.
In other words, an officer is almost equivalent to a senior civil servant in this country—and this guy looked like he was in his late twenties at most.
'Well, I guess it's only natural, since he eventually becomes the vice guild master as the story progresses.'
In any case, Camille is a perfectionist.
As expected, he seemed to still be bothered by nearly framing me, so since he was a connection guaranteed to rise, I should make good use of him.
'If I'm lucky, I might even be able to recruit him as a party member.'
Of course, raising my Fame would have to come first for that.
After taking the wooden badge, I left the Guild immediately. Then I went to a nearby plaza and took a carriage again.
"500 seed."
My destination this time was Royal Capital District 3.
District 3 was a place called the Special District.
Although it lies within the Royal Capital, it has its own autonomous authority independent of royal government.
Hoffman is a country where the authority of the king and nobles stands high, but anyone would understand once they set foot in this district.
"Hmm......."
I looked at the tower soaring high enough to touch the sky.
"......."
Honestly, I was overwhelmed.
This is fundamentally a fantasy world, so buildings are generally low, but this tower is different. It's the tallest structure in the Royal Capital, and according to the setting, it stands more than one thousand meters high.
'So this tower is taller than the Burj Khalifa?'
Thinking of it that way, being overwhelmed was only natural.
This structure is the <Magic Tower>.
That's right. District 3 is the so-called Magic Special District, and its masters are none other than mages.
"Coming through, excuse me!"
"Hey! Don't cut in line!"
"Ack! Who just touched the back of my head?!"
The area near the Magic Tower was crowded, but there were no peddlers or street stalls to be seen. That was only natural—even a brazen merchant wouldn't have the nerve to hawk wares here.
'Today is Saturday.'
In other words, it was a day when the Magic Tower was closed, but that didn't matter. The reason I came here today wasn't to see the Tower's mages.
After looking around the first floor, I soon found a place that was unusually crowded, then got in line. Before long, it was my turn.
"Hello. This is the Portu Auction House. How may I help you?"
"I'd like to submit an auction item."
This was why I'd come to the Tower today: to auction off the spoils I'd obtained in the forest.
The Magic Tower handles various kinds of business besides matters directly involving mages, and auction consignment is one of the main ones.
'The commission is a bit steep, but oh well.'
For that price, it was also the safest auction house in the city.
"Yes. I'll assist you. First, the maximum consignment period for this auction is 28 days, and......."
What followed was the same auction-system explanation, commission fees, and pointless spiel about how legal and historic their auction house was—all things I'd heard to death in the game.
I listened quietly.
In case anything had changed from my memory.
'Nothing in particular.'
After finishing the explanation, the clerk said to me:
"......Now then, please show me the item you wish to consign."
"Here it is."
I held out the <Mysterious Branch>, the spoils I'd obtained by destroying the Black Tree.
"I've confirmed......."
The clerk stopped mid-sentence, then swallowed dryly.
"This branch...... don't tell me it contains mana?"
Exactly the reaction I'd been hoping for.
This was precisely why I'd gone out of my way to come to the Magic Tower's auction house.
Naturally, the <Portu Auction House> is run by mages. Which meant.......
'Even the clerk handling auction consignments is a mage.'
Of course, not a full-fledged mage—likely an apprentice still far from standing on his own—but he would still have at least a basic eye for such things.
I feigned ignorance and answered.
"That's right."
"Th-that's remarkable....... I've rarely seen a branch imbued with mana this dense."
Was it really that valuable? I knew it was expensive, but I hadn't had a clear sense of just how much it was worth. The clerk's reaction gave me confidence.
'This is huge.'
The man cleared his throat briefly and said,
"May I ask where you obtained this item?"
This lunatic was trying to fleece me.
"Are you hoping to purchase information?"
"......Ah, n-no. That's not it."
When I asked in a challenging tone, he hastily denied it. As I've emphasized repeatedly, all knowledge of the forest is wealth.
The clerk looked at the branch and spoke again in a subtly probing tone.
"Ah. Then what about the starting bid......?"
The starting price I'd originally had in mind was around 3 million seed, but seeing this man's attitude changed my mind.
"I was thinking of starting at 10 million seed."
After saying it, I carefully studied the man's expression.
"Understood."
The clerk's expression didn't change. That meant the price I'd named wasn't far off from the market rate.
The unexpected reaction came next.
"......By the way, would you have any interest in selling this branch to me personally?"