Chương 6: Selling Loot

The situation at the guildhall was tense, unlike what he'd expected—not a single adventurer so much as glanced at him as he made his way to the guild receptionist. Greeting the receptionist at the desk, who wore a rosy dress with trims at the hem. She appeared to be an elf, with long elvish ears, and pale silver hair; she looked exactly like a pure elf, not half blood. Her amber eyes and the particularly velvety smile made her feel approachable. She stood up from her chair and greeted him in turn.

Nero noticed how her gaze quickly swept over him.

"Yes, how may I help you?" Nero skipped the pleasantries and set his backpack down in front of her.

"I'm here to sell some loot."

"Pardon? We don't exactly buy—" she started, almost reflexively, before catching herself, hand rising to her lips.

"She means to say the adventurers' guild isn't some scrapyard for you to dump your loot at, boy," came a voice from several tables back, drawing every eye in the hall toward him at once. Nero didn't turn around. These were experienced adventurers, ranked well above even the wealthiest slum rat. He knew his place—even meeting their eyes could wound their pride and stir up trouble.

Instead, he kept his focus on the woman in front, opened his bag, and pulled out the plastic sacks stuffed with monster parts—teeth, hide, claws, and the like. The lady's eyes widened slightly at the sight, and she lifted her chin as if reassessing him. Then he brought out the smaller bag, packed with small beast crystal cores that jingled neatly together. That's when she finally called for the appraiser, and Nero let out a quiet breath of relief.

She explained that she'd be handling the purchase on the guild's behalf. Had she not, it likely would have meant complications—thankfully, his luck wasn't quite that bad. The appraiser soon arrived: a hunched old man with thick white eyebrows, a long beard, and one eye that seemed to glow faintly blue. He grabbed the bag of cores at once and began inspecting them one by one. That eye, some kind of magical ability? The old man hummed thoughtfully before setting the bag back on the table.

Nero's heart skipped—would they refuse to buy it? Was the grade too low? That shouldn't be it. Red Rats sold rat cores in bulk all the time… Still, his anxious mind couldn't help but imagine them turning him away over insufficient quantity. The old man, silent until now, finally spoke.

"Nothing special. They're all E-grade monster cores, mostly carrying flame mana mixed with traces of poison—about five percent of the total mana mass." That made Nero's head spin for a second, but overall, nothing he said sounded bad. Good sign. The old man then turned to the receptionist, who took over. She seemed a touch fidgety, twisting the hem of her skirt between two fingers.

"Um, first, please accept my apologies—""Huh? Apologizing to who?" A roar came from behind again, the same voice as before.

"Why are you apologizing to that rat slayer, miss?" Nero smiled at that. Rat slayer—not a bad title. And judging by the reactions around him, the other adventurers seemed to agree.

"Rat slayer, haha, this guy's ruthless," said one man.

"Indeed, I have to admit, that's a solid title," agreed a mage-looking woman. Their laughter seemed to smother the first man's anger, and he sank back into his seat. Nero caught a glimpse of him—a well-built man, nearly six feet tall, with an unusual grayish-black hue to him and twin swords strapped to his back. Seeing him, Nero silently congratulated himself for not provoking the guy further. Back at the desk, the old appraiser had already vanished inside again. As Nero met the receptionist's eyes, she leaned in.

"Please don't mind that raccoon's words," she said, winking.

"My name's Miya." Nero suppressed a laugh and extended his hand for a handshake, making sure Nors the "raccoon" wasn't watching first.

"I'm Nero. Solo adventurer, just starting out. Nice to meet you." She shook his hand, and after a bit of pleasant back-and-forth, the conversation returned to business.

"So, how much would you offer for these?" he asked.

"Hmm, these are in rather fine condition—harvested well, barely any damage," she said, picking up one of the cores. He'd made sure to rinse them all with water before packing them, and hearing her praise made his chest swell a little, worth it, then.

"You'd get close to full price: four copper per core, about thirty-six copper for all nine, minus purity fees. Your cores carry five to ten percent poison mana each, so your final total comes to around thirty copper. Does that work for you?" The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Nero nodded.

"That's a fair price. Surprised you're not trying to lowball me." She laughed softly.

"I would, if you were anything like Mr. Raccoon over there." She shot the man a look that sent a chill down Nero's spine. He was glad he hadn't gotten on her bad side. The purity fees, at least, he vaguely understood. Trace amounts of foreign mana in an elemental core generally lowered its value, though he had no idea why. Another thing he'd need a manual for. He cleared his throat and asked what she'd offer for the rest of the monster parts.

She took on a thoughtful expression again, running her fingers over the parts through the transparent bag. Her nails, he noticed, were nearly as long as the rats themselves, colored a glittery pink. He wondered whether that was some kind of high-class fashion trend or a physical trait.

"These are in pristine condition as well. Did you harvest these yourself?" she asked, turning over the hides and claws.

"I did. Solo adventurer, remember."

"Were you a harvester before this?" Nero nodded.

"That explains it—though these teeth aren't very intact," she said, sifting through the broken white fragments. Nero scratched the back of his head. Given how much force he'd put into taking down those last two rats, he was lucky to have collected anything at all. After finishing her inspection, she pulled out a calculator, tapped at the keys a few times, then slid it across to him. It read twenty-five copper total. Nero frowned.

"That's all?" She nodded.

"You see, even though you've brought in roughly ten grey essence rats' worth of usable parts, the supply of these are extremely abundant—more than enough to meet demand across the twelve circles and the city of Silver. So the price ends up lower than you'd expect." Nero considered her explanation. It matched what he already understood—countless slum-born parties and agencies harvested low-tier beasts like rats and chickens by the thousands from dungeons across the region every day.

It made sense that supply would be oversaturated.

"Still, what about thirty-five copper?" Nero pushed, figuring it was worth a shot. Miya shook her head.

"Can't do it—I've already given you the best price I can offer. Though, if you happen to have rat blood, we buy that too. About ten copper per liter." Nero sighed inwardly at the mention. He knew monster blood sold well and was one of the more valuable parts of a beast. But he simply didn't have the means to store it without it clotting into jelly, and even a basic magical storage jar would cost at least a silver mark—well outside his budget. Besides, I plan on keeping to solo dungeon dives for a while.

No way I can lug around that much gear.

"So, is it a deal?" Miya asked. Nero nodded. No point dragging it out further.

"Sweet!" she chirped, immediately calling someone from inside. A boy who looked about sixteen came jogging out, scooped up both bags, and disappeared back inside. Miya rummaged through her drawer and returned to the desk with a handful of copper coins, laying them out in front of him.

"Sixty-five copper pennies total. Feel free to count them." Nero gave her a warm smile.

"Nah, I trust you," he said, sweeping the coins into his bag—though he did a quick mental count as they poured in, just to make sure he wasn't shorted. Once he'd finished, Nero turned back to ask about the manuals. Just then, a tall, muscular man with gray hair and an almost frightening expression descended from the guild's second floor, a cardboard box tucked under one arm. Nearly instantly, the noise in the hall died away, every gaze snapping toward the man in the black robes.

Nero leaned toward Miya, voice dropping to a whisper.

"What's going on, miss?" She matched his volume, though he caught a playful edge beneath it.

"Ah, Mr. Nero, well," she glanced left and right, as if afraid someone might overhear, "quests are about to be posted on the board. Look." She pointed one pale finger toward the board.

"Most of the adventurers here are gunning for the easy ones. Once the guild master steps away, you'll see everyone dive for that board. It's about to be an all-out brawl."

"Interesting…" So that's the guild master. And these are the quests. He'd heard of quests before—in fact, almost everyone had. They were posted by anyone needing something done quickly, ranging from herb collection to full-scale village defense against overflowing dungeons. All sorts of tasks ended up on the guild board. Sure enough, the moment the guild master finished pinning up the quest papers and stepped away, chaos erupted.

Big, burly adventurers scrambled over tables, chairs, and each other, some throwing punches just to reach the board. Among them, a few leaner, likely assassin-type adventurers moved with quick precision, snatching the postings near the bottom of the board.

"You bastards, I swear on the city of Silver I'll kill you all later!" bellowed a hulking warrior.

"I swear on god himself, I'll cripple seven generations of your family!" a healer cursed.

"I'll firebomb your houses tonight—you'd better watch yourselves!" shouted the blue-haired mage who'd laughed earlier. The assassins, for their part, had already fled the hall the moment they'd secured their picks. Yes, Nero knew about quests—knew they were one of the more consistent and safer ways to earn coppers compared to pure dungeon diving, since they didn't always involve fighting beasts. But he'd had no idea this kind of mayhem broke out over them every single morning.

After collecting his earnings, he bid the receptionist farewell. But before he could leave the hall, he spotted the same adventurers who'd just threatened to kill each other sitting back down together, drinking off each other's tabs. Nero shook his head as he made for the door.

"Weird bunch." Outside, the moonlight had grown a bit brighter, making everything slightly easier to see—though that might've just been the glow from the adventurers' district he currently stood in, which tended to run bright regardless.

"Speaking of things I almost forgot," something occurred to him right then, and he scrambled back inside, straight to the receptionist's desk. She gave him a surprised look.

"Need something else, Mr. Nero?" He nodded.

"Just Nero. I need a manual—something covering all the basics an adventurer should know." She crouched down at once and pulled out a catalog labeled An Encyclopedia of the Hundred Essential Books, flipping through several pages before landing on one titled Beginner's Guide to Adventuring. She tapped the page with a painted nail.

"You should be able to find this one in our associated library, it's on the other side of the road. It'll cost a few coppers to borrow, though. Also—just Miya is fine."

"Okay, Mrs. Miya, how many coppers exactly?" He pulled out his coin pouch and began sorting through it, waiting for her answer." Just Miya." Nero took a small step back at her insistence, offering an awkward smile.

"Okay. Miya." She beamed.

"It'll be thirty copper." Huh?