kscans

Chapter 158 - Preparations for Treasure Hunting

Currently, only Hayato and Relic were at the base. Sonia had already returned to the Thieves' Guild and was no longer here.

Although the request had come from Sonia, they had decided to cooperate with each other and immediately began preparations.

There was no problem with that, but another problem had arisen.

Relic was apologizing to Hayato with a sorry look on his face. Moreover, he had been bowing his head the whole time. Hayato had repeatedly told him it was alright, but Relic stubbornly refused to raise his head.

This left Hayato at a loss. In the first place, Hayato was grateful.

Until now, Hayato had only been making items with his production skills and hadn't done much adventuring. Even when he was in Kokuryu, he had only gone out to gather materials for item creation and had basically stayed at the base the whole time.

The Clan War had taught him what kind of game this was. And he had gotten to know many NPCs and become interested in various things. He felt that it was a waste to be cooped up at the base just producing things.

For these reasons, Relic's apology was completely off the mark. In fact, Hayato was happy to have such a connection.

Hayato smiled at Relic, who was still bowing his head.

"Relic-san, I'm really happy to be involved in this way this time. So there's no need for an apology. If you absolutely can't rest easy, then please give this matter your all."

Perhaps he finally understood, as Relic raised his head and said, "As you wish." Then he smiled.

"I will do my utmost to ensure everything goes smoothly. I will also make sure that Sonia listens to what you say, Hayato-sama."

"She's your acquaintance, Relic-san, so I trust her. Ah, that's right. I was chatting with her before you arrived, but is Sonia-san really in her sixties? She said she knew you when you were young."

"Yes, that is correct. She looks to be in her early thirties, but it seems she became that way due to the side effects of a medicine she took long ago."

"Side effects of a medicine?"

"Yes. Incidentally, it is not a matter of rejuvenation. It is simply that her appearance has become that way. She says that her body is falling apart just like mine. 'I don't want to get old' is her catchphrase."

"Is that so..."

Hayato felt something catch on Relic's words.

(Body falling apart? That can't happen in a virtual reality, so does that mean they had that conversation in the real world? In other words, her appearance is like that in reality too? That's a little hard to believe. Is that her character setting, or could it be that her memory became that way due to a request to Diite-chan?)

The tournament-style Clan War that was held before the NPCs' memories were erased. The top clans in that tournament were able to ask God, Diite, for various requests as a reward.

These included Esha's skill limit break and Veru retaining his memories, but they also came with demerits, making them troublesome. That was also part of the reason why things became so complicated for Ash and his clan.

Whatever the circumstances, if it was a real-world matter, it would be best not to stimulate her memory, so Hayato decided to drop the subject.

"Um, in that case, Relic-san. I'm thinking of reopening the shop soon, so could I ask you to do the shopping you used to do before again? I'd like you to buy everything from groceries to lumber and metal, as long as it's cheap, and put it in the storage."

"Of course. But don't you have a request from Sonia?"

"That's right. So, I plan to prepare the treasure chests first. The ship will require a large amount of lumber, but that will have to wait until the materials are gathered. Ordinary wood is fine, so please buy some even if it's a little expensive. Until the materials are ready, I'll be making items to sell in the shop."

At first, Hayato had been thinking of building the large ship with World Tree lumber, but he decided against it. After all, there was the airship. He'd rather use it for that.

He had started receiving regular shipments of World Tree lumber for his service in protecting the World Tree during the Stampede. He didn't know how much would be needed for construction, but it would undoubtedly be a large amount. He didn't have the luxury of using it for other things.

Hayato told Relic which materials he wanted him to prioritize gathering.

"Understood. I will travel the world and gather the materials."

"I'm counting on you. If there's anything you need, Relic-san, please let me know. I'll make anything for you."

"Yes, I will let you know then. Well then, I shall be off."

Relic said this, then bowed and left the base.

(That's settled for now, but what should I do about the shopkeeper? If I ask Esha, it will only be in the mornings, and I'd like to hire another NPC to tend the shop. A maid, or should I ask the Merchant's Guild... I'll decide that later, I want to consult Esha too.)

Hayato switched his train of thought. First was the request from Sonia. He organized the things he had to do.

The request to Hayato was to prepare various things using his production skills. There were two main things for Hayato to create.

First were the treasure chests.

These were practice chests to be used at the Thieves' Guild to raise Lockpicking and Trap Disarm skills. He had agreed to prepare multiple chests of various materials.

Basically, the skill increase check was based on difficulty.

The difficulty was determined by the material and quality of the treasure chest, as well as the complexity of the lock. Opening a simple lock multiple times wouldn't raise the skill, but repeatedly trying and failing at a difficult lock wouldn't raise the skill either. You had to prepare a treasure chest with a difficulty that matched your skill level for it to be effective practice.

In Hayato's case, his Woodworking and Blacksmithing skills were at the maximum of 100. Any treasure chest he made would definitely be four or five stars in quality, making them suitable for advanced players. Conversely, Hayato couldn't prepare low-quality chests. However, since beginner-level chests were sold in shops, Hayato didn't need to prepare them.

As for traps, Hayato was completely hands-off.

The difficulty of a trap was influenced by the Crafting skill.

Naturally, Hayato's Crafting skill was 100. He would use an item called a Trap Tool to set a trap on a treasure chest, but if he did it, he would end up setting a super-high-difficulty trap, which would be useless for practice.

It would be a necessary difficulty to eventually raise the Trap Disarm skill to 100, but they had no intention of raising the guild members' skills that high, so it was decided that he would not set any traps this time.

Haya to was a little saddened by the fact that his skills were too high to be useful.

Second was the large ship for salvaging, for which he had asked Relic for lumber.

One of the airship blueprints was on a ship that had sunk to the bottom of the sea, so the only way to get it was to raise it. He had also undertaken the creation of the salvage item called a winch that would be necessary.

If there was someone with the Diving skill, they could dive directly to the sunken ship, so a small ship would be fine, but it was an even more neglected skill than Lockpicking or Trap Disarm, so he didn't know anyone who had it.

He had been told that they would want to ask for various things for the Grand Prison exploration as well, but for now, there was nothing specific. He was waiting for a request from Sonia.

Eventually, he would probably build the Airship Angra Mainyu as well, but that was a story for after the blueprints were gathered. First, he had to prepare these two things properly, and Hayato psyched himself up.

(I'll also need to gather some members to help with the salvage. She said the people from the Thieves' Guild aren't very strong. I've heard that sea monsters attack during salvage operations. And if there are pirates too, we'll need combat power. Ney and the others alone might not be enough...)

Hayato thought about all the things he had to do, then decided to start with the practice chests and headed for the storage.