9. Goblin X Succubus O (2)
9. Goblin X Succubus O (2)
Whether you raised an adventurer's corpse as a Skeleton or sacrificed it to strengthen existing soldiers, not everything that adventurer possessed was consumed.
What remained were unimportant memories, talents that weren't used in the necromancy.
That residue—the accumulated remnants of a dead being—found its own use and was stored in the core until it was extracted or consumed in some other way.
So if you pressed the 'Adventurer Sacrifice' tab, the following information would appear.
『Jack Miller = 2』
『Remiah Olas = 3』
The names of those beings, and the amount of mana the core could extract and utilize from them.
Though the amount was pathetically small compared to the original, as if entropy itself was running rampant, that residue could still be used as power or as currency.
Using a human soul as currency or food was nothing new for races that had 'demon' as their motif, whether they were of the demon tribe or devils.
Therefore, hesitating to 'sell' these souls would undoubtedly seem strange to the succubus before me.
So I had steeled my resolve beforehand—the resolve to sell these souls and use them for my own benefit whenever a merchant came calling.
"Lady? What seems to be the matter..."
Though that resolve was now rendered moot as I froze up for a moment. The succubus, having noticed my demeanor, was looking at me curiously.
"It's nothing. Here, this is it."
I spoke nonchalantly and, with fingertips that had betrayed no sign of my agitation or wavering from the start, extracted the human souls absorbed into the dungeon core.
『Total Mana - 136 ▶ 131』
『Sacrifice Mana - 52 ▶ 47』
I could see the mana being extracted from the core and decreasing.
Shhhk...!
And so, for the first time, I saw a human soul.
It was shaped like an orb, with fate-strings flaring up like flames from its surface.
On its surface, memories of the person's life flickered by like a video. Both showed a similar solid coloration, but of the two, Jack's was somewhat murky while Lemia's was relatively clear.
I could quickly guess what those similarities and differences meant.
"Oh my. Such high-quality souls..."
The succubus's eyes sparkled as if she had seen treasure.
The system's mention of 'top-grade goods' was apparently not wrong.
"One has outstanding talent, and the other has a soul that is even noble. And on top of that, you beautifully dyed both souls with hatred. Oh my, oh my."
'Material' was the talent of the body. 'Brightness' was the purity of the soul. Lastly, the flames outside the orb were probably the 'degree of processing'... in other words, how well they'd been made 'to the taste of a demonic being' before death.
I figured I could roughly think of it that way.
The hatred and rage the two had felt toward me when they died must have been quite deep.
A bitter taste lingered in my mouth for a moment, but I was able to shake off that feeling quickly.
"For a novice lady to secure top-grade souls like these..."
"They were excellent children. It was a shame I couldn't fully secure them as my retainers."
"I couldn't deny that. Then..."
I looked at her silently, hoping she would offer more currency. With that thought in mind, I gazed at her.
Scarlet suddenly shoved her hand into her exceptionally large chest and pulled out a square box with a magic circle drawn on it.
If not for my trait, I would have screamed out loud.
Why the hell did she activate a storage magic entrance in a place like that? Well, it was very succubus-like, admittedly.
"First... the value of the items in question would be around this much."
The object she pulled out was apparently a calculator for measuring the value of souls.
She held the calculator up to my souls and showed me the screen that appeared above it like a hologram.
『Apprentice Human Male Warrior Adventurer - 250V』
『Apprentice Half-Elf Female Archer Adventurer - 600V』
To roughly explain, V was the currency of the demon realm, called either 'Vice' or 'Bl'. And 100V could be considered enough to buy one 'Dungeon Lord Awakening Potion' which could raise my stats by 1.
In other words, Jack's soul had a value of 2.5 stat points, and Lemia's had a value of 6 stat points.
Frankly, even considering they were excellent, that was more than generous for the worth of novice adventurers.
"That's..."
"...?"
"lower than I thought."
"Oh..."
However, the words that came out of my mouth carried the opposite meaning.
Because I was certain that the succubus before me had not yet placed all the value on the scale.
As if to confirm that, the succubus—her eyes slightly widened and lips pursed in surprise—soon curled one corner of her mouth and gave a coy smile.
"You're quick to notice, Lady Libertas."
"I thought you would try to trick me once more. You're being quite honest."
"Please consider it the price for the prank I played earlier."
Scarlet folded the corners of her eyes and laughed softly, mixing in aegyo.
On the other hand, my heart was filling with an unpleasant feeling as I looked at her, but hiding it was something the original me was perfectly capable of. The current me could hide it even better.
"Fine. I'll forget it. So calculate it properly."
"Yes, yes. I'll do it right away!"
Scarlet spoke in an eager, polite tone and soon manipulated the device, at which point the hologram numbers I could see quickly began to change.
"Our investment in a truly promising prospect we haven't seen in a long time. And accordingly, what's more, the high-quality souls of young humans that are truly hard to see these days! If I weigh all that value..."
When she first saw me, she had already dropped a hint.
That I was a proper newbie she hadn't seen in a really long time.
It was probably an action mixed with half a desire to test how much I could figure out, and half a resignation that I wouldn't figure it out and might die soon anyway.
It also meant that the dungeons and Lords springing up like mushrooms all over this continent were dying off easily even at the generation stage.
And a dungeon Lord, if the setting from 'Milden 1' was inherited as is, was the successor to the 'Demon King'... to be exact, a candidate for the successor of the successor, at about that level.
Since there were other powerful candidates for succession on the surface, there was no need to truly cherish one, but at the same time, it wasn't a position where one should be left to die helplessly if they could be helped.
In any case, a 'small investment' would be a drop in the bucket of the Mammon Trading Company's wealth.
Of course, this was all before it was discovered that I was a human... but I thought the chances of that were almost zero.
"This is the price."
『400V』
『1,200V』
The souls of Jack and Lemia had at least doubled in value. Both satisfaction and bitterness swirled in my heart.
The amount was indeed helpful for me, but I already knew well enough from the setting of 'Milden 1' what would become of those souls from now on.
If they were lucky, they would become prey or be reborn as a demon.
And if not, they would be playthings to be toyed with until the lifespan of their souls ran out.
And usually, it wouldn't be wrong to say that even being dragged to hell meant they were unlucky.
Either way, it was a far worse future than simply being stored in the core and sleeping, so in the end, this was an act that should not be done if one considered them people.
I had no intention of turning a blind eye to that.
The only thing I could say was this much.
"They were precious to me as well, so please find them a good buyer."
"Of course. I will find a partner befitting this noble one's first prey. There are collectors who seek the souls of novices like these, so I should be able to find a good match."
Click.
The succubus scribbled something on a scroll that appeared in the air and made it vanish, stowing the two souls in her characteristic chest as she did so. Simultaneously, another piece of information was updated on my dungeon status window.
『Owned Currency - 1,600V』
Looking at it after shaking off the uneasiness, it was a sufficiently large amount of currency.
Now it was time to figure out what to do with it, but I had already decided that.
"Now I should be able to buy something, right? I'd like you to show me the swords."
"A sword... you say?"
Her eyes widened in puzzlement.
Her eyes briefly turned to the side before fixing back on me. That meant she had caught on to what I meant by those words.
I didn't say it twice.
"Hurry."
"Ah, yes! But... Lady? I understand your feelings of attachment to your first summon, but there probably aren't any good weapons you can give to a Skeleton..."
"Don't make me say it twice. Choosing is my job."
"Yes..."
Seeing the succubus give up and show that embarrassing sight again, I turned my gaze away and looked to the side.
Because I could feel hot emotions emanating from Eve, who understood the situation unfolding beside me. It was a mixture of deep emotion, fondness, and loyalty—an emotion that swelled like a snowball.
Objectively, the sight of a skeleton pressing its hands together as if deeply moved and twisting its body was surely a hard sight to behold, but to me, who already held considerable affection for the creature, it was a rather cute sight.
Cognition was always swayed by emotion.
Seeing how happy it was just to receive a gift, the reason it had kept its sword well-maintained must have simply been a sense of duty as a warrior, not because it had any particular attachment to the sword itself.
That was fine by me as the gift-giver.
'Restrain yourself. We're still in a transaction.'
- Dalgak!
Since I couldn't leave her like that, I gave the order internally, and Eve snapped back into perfect posture.
I felt like Mire was subtly taking half a step away from beside her... no, she really was doing that.
In any case, the swelling emotion was still there, but her posture was so perfect that no one but me, the summoner, could have noticed that emotion.
I somehow felt like laughing, but since there was a guest, I simply suppressed it.
"Here they are, Lady. They are all good-quality ones. But perhaps you could reconsider once more..."
"You keep trying to make me reverse my decision."
"Yes..."
I could feel Scarlet glaring at me with eyes that said, 'What do I do with this stubborn one?' but I ignored her and looked down at the bundle spread out before me.
『The 'Enduring' Bastard Sword』
It didn't take long to choose the weapon.