I can take a breather with all the talk about the auction done, including delivering the Swift skill orb from last time.
And as I enjoy the sweet tea poured by Hana, something crosses my mind.
“Ah, that’s right. I have a few things to ask you two…”
“Just name it!”
“Tell us anything!”
“Haha…”
I peek at the branch manager, but it looks like she expected those reactions, and doesn’t really react herself.
“You probably noticed from looking at my skills, but I got the skill Dual Wielding. But I only have my Ghost, so can you pick me a simple sword with the money from the magic stones?”
“Understood. We will have it ready tomorrow!”
“And I’ll pick the next one in case your skills sell in the auction!”
“Haha, go easy on me… Ah, and about the money from the auction. Make sure you save it so you don’t have to go into debt.”
“Fufu, understood.”
“Oh all right.”
They smile happily.
“Then, branch manager.”
“Oh? What is it?”
She looks a little surprised. She probably wasn’t expecting me to turn to her.
“I heard from Aki yesterday, about you discussing learning the same skill multiple times in the meeting.”
“Yes. But Youko left the meeting, so it’s going to be held again tonight.”
Well, Youko left to see us, and when we told her about the Golden Bugs, she was busy with that emergency, so the meeting had to be rescheduled.
“I have something to add to that report. When you saw my stats, you saw strange numbers, right? Do you have Appraisal Lv5?”
“Yes.”
She really does sound softer.
Up until this point, she would be wary and evasive if I asked her something like the level of a skill, but she responds plainly.
“That’s what I have to report. I found this out when I got Lv5 too, but if I learn the same skill again, it shows my progress when it comes to that.”
“…I see. So that’s where the 1/3 comes from. I understand, the other branch managers also know I have Appraisal Lv5, so I’ll tell them that’s how I discovered it.
Up until this point, no one knew exactly what the effects of Appraisal Lv5 were, so it was said it stopped at Lv4. But with this information, the value of Appraisal will go up.
And now it’s proven that it’s connected to learning the same skill again… Are you sure you want to put so much information out there? It’s all information you discovered on your own. Normally, it would make sense to want money or rank points for it.”
Ah, rank…
I forgot about that. It’s not something I need when I’m exploring a beginner dungeon.
The other places I’ve been to were the lowest level dungeon Unlucky Hall and Heart dungeon too.
“Hn… I like to unravel mysteries of dungeons, so if I can discover these things, I don’t care what happens next… Well, I do want to monopolize some of the more important things. But the rest, I think I can let go. In fact, this information might be helpful to people in the right hands, so I think it’s for the best. And I’m taking two very important people from you, so I can’t take any more.”
I mean that as both her daughters, and also as taking two excellent receptionists, one with three stars and one with four, as my exclusives. Any more would be too greedy. That’s why, if the information I get makes her happy, I’ll gladly let her have it as a way to repay her.
However, I still don’t want to tell her about gacha, defeating a hundred of the same monster, and the Luck stat.
“I do want to see results now that you have them, but I also want you to be compensated for said results.”
“Then please talk to them about it. I want them to handle that completely.”
I look at them, and they nod.
I’m sure they’ll receive just what’s fair, and use it to help in my adventures.
I won’t have to worry about anything.
“…Amachi, I don’t know if you said that because you want to sound cool or not, but you need rank.”
“Do I? I don’t really know about it, but if it’s not used in beginner dungeons…”
“That’s true, but aren’t you forgetting something? You need a certain rank to marry them.”
“…Eh?”
I do!?
Come to think of it, there are reports on TV from time to time about some guy getting his wife number whatever, but thinking back, they were all high ranking adventurers. I figured it was because high ranking adventurers are all rich, but I guess that’s not it.
I look at Aki, and she has an awkward smile on her face.
“Shoot, it looks like you really didn’t know.”
“It’s because my sister was too embarrassed to explain it.”
“Uu… The stuff that’s written is so graphic. And normally, people would just look up what they could do with a higher rank. Normally.”
“Aki, you can’t treat Shouta like he’s normal.”
“True.”
I feel like there’s some really rude stuff flying my way, but I guess that sort of thing could fall under general knowledge. But up until this point, I never had any need to aim higher, and I just had to keep hunting slime…
Yep, it’s my bad.
“Ahh, you troublesome child. Amachi, what rank are you?”
“F…”
“S-second from the bottom… Listen, the polygamy system was first established in the first few years after dungeons appeared, and people were so wary of them, that dungeon breaks were frequent and monsters kept coming out. Humanity was exhausted, and our numbers went down. And as a way to counter that, it was passed into law that adventurers could have multiple wives. But that doesn’t go for just anyone. To have two… You need to be at least C rank.”
Three above…
“Aki, Maki, how long does it usually take to reach C?”
“Normally… Two or three years…”
“Shouta isn’t normal though. Your achievement towards the association with Super Strength actually means you already have plenty of points. But it’s easier to go up in one go, so I haven’t put out the request yet.”
“R-really?”
“Yes, but don’t worry. It depends on the results of the auction tomorrow, but if even one Adamantine Armor is sold, part of the proceeds will go to the association. That will score you enough points to get to C rank.”
“…Oh, so…”
I don’t have to do anything?
“Amachi, thank your excellent exclusives.”
“Aki, Maki… I hope you keep looking after me despite how incapable I am.”
“Yes, leave it to us.”
“You can rely on us more!”
“Then please handle the money from the auction too.”
I won’t know how to use it.
“You’re even giving up money management? You really aren’t greedy. Normally, people would immediately start thinking about how to spend money if they got a lot of it. Amachi here is the exact opposite.”
The branch manager lets out an exasperated sigh.
Yes. When I saw that Foresight’s value was in the hundreds of millions, I thought my eyes would pop out of their sockets, and selling Adamantine Armor might get me a similar value. But it just doesn’t feel real…
“What I want is to go to the dungeon every day, and go to sleep and wake up well… If I eat sweet things regularly, I don’t think about going out of my way to get expensive things… Ah, but Maki’s food is the best.”
“Shouta…! I’ll make it every day from now on!”
“Can’t wait.”
“Hnfufu. That’s just how Shouta is, mom. He doesn’t even know about our family.”
“Hn?”
Family?
“Come to think of it Shouta, we have never talked about that. And you didn’t react at all when I said my last name…”
Says Maki.
“Oh, really? Maybe it’s not lack of greed, and more ignorance… It’s actually getting to the point where it’s impressive to lack general knowledge so much.”
“Hnn?”
What are they on about?
“Fufu, Shouta looks confused. Do you know the Saotome company?”
“Hn? Hm… I’ve heard that somewhere.”
“See? That’s how aware he is.”
“I can’t believe someone like you exists… I feel bad for thinking you were after money when you approached Maki at first.”
“Shouta’s head is filled with dungeons.”
“All the more reason why he should know. Amachi, if you’re going to take these two, there’s something you need to know.”
Says the branch manager, before telling me something unbelievable.
The branch manager’s father, meaning Aki and Maki’s grandfather, is the office chief of the Japanese dungeon association.
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Why is Miki acting like him releasing the info on skill upgrades is such a big deal? It is wholly beneficial to him as he is probably the only one in the world who can consistently provide skill orbs of the same type.
Taking Super Strength for example, the vast majority of high ranking adventurers who already have the skill will most likely want the upgraded version, which will inflate the market for the skill drastically.
Thanks for the treat.