kscans

Chapter 269 - What Is This Crystal?

Opening the door and stepping inside, we found ourselves in a room of about ten tatami mats, just as Nanapon had described. Inside was a decaying bed and desk, as well as a bookshelf.

Curious, I took a book from the shelf and opened it, but I couldn’t read it. It wasn’t because it was written in the Frontier language, but because the characters were so blurred they were no longer legible.

"What is this place? Did someone live here?"

As Nanapon, Lydia-chan, and I were checking the books one by one, Claire spoke up.

"Probably, don’t you think? There’s a bed."

Someone must have been living here.

"What kind of eccentric? I would never live in a place like this."

"No one would. If someone did live here, maybe they were a criminal or something."

"If they were a thief, there might be something here…"

With that, Claire went over to the desk and started searching through the drawers.

"Aren’t you the thief…"

Sighing, I continued to examine the books, but none of them were readable. Lydia-chan, however, was frozen, staring at one of the books.

"What’s wrong?" I asked. Lydia-chan showed me the book.

"…The books here are a bit problematic. We should dispose of or collect all of them."

Lydia-chan advised me in a low voice.

"…Really?"

"…Yes. It would be best not to let anyone from Feire see them."

If Lydia-chan says so, then it must be true.

"Claire, I’m taking all the books, okay?" I announced to Claire, who was searching the desk.

"Huh? No way. This is valuable material."

Spoken like a true agent…

"I’ll give you a Healing Potion Lv3."

"Give me three."

You money-grubbing old lady!

"Fine… Lydia-chan, collect them."

"Yes."

Lydia-chan began taking the books from the shelf one by one and storing them in her Space Magic. Nanapon started helping her.

"Did you find anything over there?" I asked Claire, who was still rummaging through the desk drawers.

"Nothing that looks sellable or like useful information. There are some pens and things, though…"

The fact that the word "sellable" came before "useful information" really says a lot about her character.

"If there’s nothing, then it can’t be helped. This must be the end of the line, so let’s just head back. We’ve finished the map, anyway."

"When did you draw the map… Hmm? This bottom part is suspicious. It’s probably a false bottom."

It seemed Claire had found something.

"What is it? It’s probably nothing important."

This place doesn’t smell of treasure, and anything that could fit in a false bottom has to be small.

"Hmm? Oh, I got it! What is this?"

I looked over and saw Claire holding a stone, tilting her head in confusion.

"Throw it away. It’s just a rock, isn’t it?"

It’s so dirty.

"Now, wait a minute. This is a stone that someone hiding out in a place like this hid in a place like this. It can’t be just a normal stone."

Hmm, I suppose that’s one way to look at it… But a stone… a stone? It couldn’t be the Philosopher’s Stone, could it.

"Claire, wait a second."

I tried to stop her, but Claire was already staring intently at the stone.

"Crystal of Life? What’s that? And how is this a crystal? It’s just a rock."

Phew… It wasn’t the Philosopher’s Stone… wait, the Crystal of Life! Isn’t that the ingredient for the Water of Life!

"Let me see."

Claire handed me the stone, and I appraised it as well. My Appraisal Contacts also identified it as the Crystal of Life.

It’s real… With this and a Healing Potion Lv3, I can make the Water of Life, which can revive people who have died in Frontier. I don’t plan on selling it, and I’m not likely to be in any danger in Frontier anymore, so it’s a bit of an ambiguous item, but I’d like to make one and keep it just in case. The problem is the money-loving old lady standing in front of me.

"Claire, what are we going to do with this?"

"Hmm… Based on its name and the fact that it was hidden, I think it’s a pretty rare item. But I don’t know what kind of item it is… Submitting it to the Guild is out, giving it to the military is questionable… Can it be sold at auction? Hmm…"

She seems to be thinking very hard.

"It’ll probably sell for pennies. So, I’ll take it off your hands."

Yes, that’s for the best.

"You? Why?"

"You don’t need something like this, do you? So I’ll take responsibility for disposing of it."

"Suspicious… You know what this is for, don’t you."

Claire narrowed her eyes and stared at me.

"I don’t, I don’t. Ele-chan doesn’t know anything."

"I never thought I’d see someone lie so transparently… Talk. What is it?"

"I don’t know."

"Then give it back."

Tch, she’s completely locked on.

"No. Why should I have to give it to you?"

"The spoils should be divided equally."

"Yeah, but how do you divide it equally… Break the stone in half?"

I wonder if I could make two that way?

"Then I’ll give you my share of the commission fee, so give that to me."

"It’s useless even if you have the stone. Just take the money."

"So you do know what it is. Just spit it out."

What a persistent old lady.

"Alright, I’ll give you money. I’ll give you a cool one hundred million yen."

Amazing.

"I don’t want it. I wouldn’t give it up for a billion."

What a merchant…