82: In the end, it's always about treasure, huh.

"Craft! Treasure time!"

Leifan came sprinting over, eyes sparkling.

Dungeons, after all, are about treasure.

And this one's a natural cavern-type otherworld dungeon. High chance of mineral-based treasure. Leifan's excitement was perfectly understandable.

"Hey! Leifan, use your secret weapon—the dowsing tear drop—to search for minerals!"

"Got it!"

Leifan immediately pulled out the tear drop and started dowsing. With her deep knowledge of minerals, she’d have a better chance of finding rarer ones.

Side-eyeing her, Raidock beckoned to Solal.

"Solal, I’ll leave the room’s search to you."

"Understood."

Solal, the ranger, began searching for the hidden room promised in the dungeon. Traps that spewed forth hordes of monsters like this usually had treasure stashed away somewhere.

Camille, Marilyn, Bepp, and Shururu tended to the lizardmen, treating wounds and holding off enemies, while the rest of the group scoured the area for crystals and raw materials.

I’ll help out too.

I jabbed my short sword into a nearby monster, and Raidock came over.

“Craft, take a breather for a bit.”

“But—”

“You’ve got too much on your plate. Let the little stuff go. I’ll handle it.”

“Yeah, well, you’re the leader. You’ve got just as much to do.”

“Don’t lump warriors and mages together. We train different.”

“Still not a mage, though.”

“Don’t kid me. Alchemists fight in ways that’re pretty damn interesting.”

He was probably talking about the potions and healing items.

"Jabir’s more into research than fighting, so his combat style’s pretty much nonexistent. Gotta figure it out through trial and error."

"Rare seals must be a pain in the ass to work with."

"What? You call that fun hardship?"

"Then it’s fine. Just rest a bit, alright?"

"...Got it. I’ll do that."

I was just gonna plop down somewhere casual to rest, but before I could even sit, Solal’s voice cut through.

"Found a hidden door!"

"What?!"

"Knew it was here all along."

I didn’t even have time to sit before I was sprinting over to Solal. Everyone else gathered up right away.

The lizardmen had already been briefed by Shururu and knew we were taking loot, so they were standing a little back, watching with quiet curiosity.

"Hidden door right there? Seriously?"

"Humans sure find things easy."

"We’d’ve missed it if it were just us."

"Can handle investigation as well as combat? These guys are something else. Do humans really do all this?"

"From what Shururu said, they’re supposed to be special."

"Creepy, but reliable."

"Yeah. Even if we didn’t owe them our lives, we should still get along."

The lizardfolk, who’d banned contact with humans, seemed to have gotten a decent impression after all.

Hope we can keep things going smoothly.

Listening to their talk, I glance at Solar.

"...Yeah. No traps, seems like."

"The monsters in this room are the trap. If they rigged the door too, that’d be too sneaky."

Solar shrugs at Raidock.

"Sometimes they are... Opening now."

"Good. Me and Camille go first."

Instantly picking Raidock, the strongest, and Camille, the fastest close-combat type—yeah, they’ve definitely got this down.

When we’re running two or three parties like this, it’s easy to just stick with our own crew. We know their strengths inside and out. Raidock’s got the makings of a leader, that’s for sure.

The two of them stepped through the hidden door and checked inside.

“…Looks safe. Solal, you’re on.”

“Got it.”

Solal went in next, scanning for traps with the ranger’s eyes. Hidden rooms like this? Dangerous.

“No traps, seems like.”

I leaned in, and the room looked like a conference hall—just a bit too big, a bit too small.

Totally different from the natural cave style we’d seen so far. Definitely built by hand. Standard dungeon stuff. And ninety-nine times out of a hundred, that’s where the real treasure is.

"Still, what the hell is this dungeon, anyway? Places like this, all warped and out of this world—gotta be hiding treasure, every time."

I mutter, scanning the room: stone walls built tight by hand, fancy chests and cabinets, heavy desks lined up like they belong in some scholar’s study. Jitarou opens a nearby drawer.

"Who even made dungeons, though? Anybody got an answer?"

"Official story says they’re ruins from the old magic era. Purpose? No clue."

Raidock joins in, suddenly interested in our chat.

"From what I heard, they were like ancient vaults. Stuff too important to leave unprotected—locked away, guarded by monsters."

"Every adventurer’s heard that one. Standard lore… but something’s bugging me about it."

"What’s that?"

Nah, I don’t know how powerful old magic was, but… this whole dungeon? The effort it took to build it, and the treasure found inside—it just doesn’t seem to add up.

Different values back then, maybe?

I tilt my head.

Even if we’re talking about huge dungeons that haven’t been fully cleared, what about the small or medium ones that pop up now and then? Items like magic swords, staves, youth elixirs… back then, were those *really* worth that much?

Now that you mention it… if magic was advanced enough to build a dungeon like this, then guarding stuff like that? Yeah, that feels off.

Right?

“Y’all’re overcomplicating this, y’know! What matters to us is whether there’s treasure in it or not!”

Jitarou cuts right through it. Me and Raidock both exhale, laughing.

Yeah. You’re right. What matters is the treasure we can *actually* find now.

“Yaaah—! There it is! There it is, Craft-kun!”

“What’s wrong, Leifan?”

“Look! Look at this!”

Leifan’s eyes sparkled like stardust, scanning frantically until he found it—a metal ingot.

Three of them.

One was obvious. Mithril. The magic aura radiating from it was so strong even from here it was rare.

The second… maybe…

“Is that… adamantite?”

“Yeah! That’s it! Never seen refined, high-grade adamantite before!”

Leifan held the ingot in one hand, but it was so damn heavy he’d have to be careful not to drop it on someone’s foot.

“Sis! Let me touch it real quick— ……gahh! Aaaah!?”

Jitarou tried to snatch the adamantite ingot from Leifan, but the moment he let go, the ingot fell straight to the ground, heavy as its mass demanded.

Jitarou had a firm grip on both sides of the ingot, but that backfired—he was yanked upward as his upper body snapped in the ingot’s fall, and his fingers got crushed between the ground and the metal.

。

Yeah. That one hurts.

"Umo-gyaahhh!? Broke!? It’s snapped!?"

Jitarou-san—gotta heal you up!

Marilyn, one of the three sisters known as the Casper sisters, calmly steadied her staff.

Please, Marilyn!

Jitarou dropped to his knees in front of Marilyn, arms outstretched. Looked like some perverted dog clinging to its owner.

Jitarou could’ve held onto it just fine, even if it was adamantite—only if he wasn’t paying attention, this would’ve happened.

You know that feeling? Like someone hands you an empty pot, and suddenly it’s full of magic stones, and you almost drop it the second you take it.

Huh?

Never had that experience?

Yeah… well, I have, more than once, back when I was in the Adventurer’s Guild or the Production Guild.

“Then, Leifan… the third one…”

Right. There are three types of ingots.

Leifan swallows hard before answering.

"Yeah… this one’s… orichalcum."

Legendary magical metal, KI-TA-AAA-AAAAA!!!!!!!

Comic adaptation starts May 29th!