Only My Magic Levels Up - Chapter 72



Only Noblemtl

Listening to what the priests said when they returned in the evening, it seemed that while they, as supervisors, were only watching, the rest of the expedition members were quite busy poking around.

Didn’t the clay dolls that had stopped functioning become so durable that they would break even if you kicked them roughly?

So, if a secret passage is hidden behind a mud wall, wouldn’t it be easy to find with just a tap?

The argument was plausible.

Except that there’s absolutely no guarantee that there really is a secret passage.

The expedition team, holding pickaxes instead of swords, wandered around the passages of the ruins, knocking down walls in every possible way, but found nothing.

“Because the passage was so long, it would be impossible to do it all in one day… They said they’d try again tomorrow······.”

“Even if it’s boring, you have to endure it. What can you do? Cheer up.”

That was all he could say to the grieving priests.

Still, it’s better to take on a boring mission than a dangerous one.

You kept apologizing for not being of any help during the first exploration, so how about considering this as your contribution? Fighting.

And so the day came to an end.

New Year’s morning has dawned.

“May you be blessed!”

“I hope this year is filled with only good things for you.”

Unlike Earth, this world’s calendar starts in spring, so the first day of the new year also marks the end of late winter and the beginning of early spring in terms of the solar terms.

If I had stayed in a city, or even a village, there would have been a festival atmosphere for a few days.

Since it was a campsite, there was nothing special about it; people just greeted each other with a few kind words.

The food was served with a little more care than usual, but it was still camp food.

But it was an especially special day for Galen and Lilia.

“Happy birthday, brother!”

“Lilia too!”

Galen was twenty-three years old and Lilia was nineteen.

Both of their birthdays were on New Year’s Day.

“Well, I don’t know if it’s my real birthday.”

To be honest, Galen didn’t know exactly when he was born. He was an orphan. Who would care about an orphan’s birthday?

Although they were born with memories of their past lives, they were unable to properly perceive their surroundings as newborn babies because their five senses were not fully developed.

Looking back, I think I was born around that time, so I arbitrarily decided to consider the first day of the new year as my birthday to make it easier to calculate my age, and that has continued to be the case to this day.

“So what? Me too!”

Coincidentally, Lilia was in a similar situation.

“They say Bishop Myra found it abandoned in front of the church on New Year’s Day! Oh, he was a priest at the time? Anyway, that’s why his birthday was on that day!”

“Hey, you speak too brightly.”

“Isn’t it shameful not to have a mom or dad?”

“I don’t feel particularly ashamed, but······.”

It’s not something to be ashamed of, but it’s not something you can proudly brag about in front of others either.

Why is it that the phrase “How are your parents?” is often used as an insult? There are quite a few people who look at someone with colored glasses when they hear the word “orphan.”

It was okay because I was close enough with Lilia to share the secret of my birth with her.

Anyway, the two of them enjoyed their second day of rest by playing all day.

The third exploration team, which searched the ruins with a different crew than yesterday, returned today with nothing to show for it.

“If you think about it, the ruins weren’t a maze of paths.”

Akanksha, who had come to see them briefly just before dinner, grumbled.

There was nothing special to do, so his voice sounded more like annoyance than exhaustion.

“Actually, if you look at the structure, it was simple. If you went down a single road, you would come to a dead end, and if you turned back, a new road would open up.”

“It was like that, right?”

“The purpose of the passage was to be a defensive area where you could put out clay dolls. The place you reach after breaking through it is a hollow, but I doubt there are any other secret rooms besides that one.”

“If you think so, why don’t you just not go?”

“Because Sachets are a little sorry. To be exact, humans move around feeling even more sorry, so we can’t just sit still. It’s also not good to just play while waiting.”

The ‘waiting’ that Akanksha speaks of means a reply.

Originally, since the agreement had already been made to split the relics in half, they could have just each taken half and left.

The situation has changed significantly since Galen’s intervention, so we need to consult again.

Yesterday morning, messengers left in three directions, separate from the second expedition.

“welcome.”

As the sun was setting today, the first people to arrive were from the church.

Well, Oklahoma was only a day’s drive from here. Two days would be more than enough for a round trip.

“I thought you two would come back to Oklahoma, but I didn’t know I would come back here.”

There were three people who came: Bishop Ziaba and two priests assisting him.

Thanks to the hard work of the expedition team leaders, there were no serious injuries among the expedition team members, and Lillia and the priests had already taken measures.

However, since the campsite wasn’t in perfect condition, I asked them to prepare to take care of the patients while they were there.

The priests were sent there, and Jiaba decided to go and see the inside of the ruins.

The three of them went inside, leaving one person from each of the human and earth elf sides to act as guards.

“I was walking like this, when suddenly monsters made of dirt rose from the ground······.”

“Hoo.”

“And this road definitely didn’t exist at first, but appeared later······.”

Lilia chattered on and on as if she were a tour guide. Ziaba listened attentively and responded.

“Huh, is that all?”

“that’s right!”

As they crossed the battle-scarred area, Ziaba continued to express surprise, but when they finally arrived at the warehouse, their expression became serious.

While two guards watched with eagle eyes to make sure no one was stealing the treasure.

Jiaba, who had been looking at the treasure for a while, nodded.

“I’ve seen everything. Let’s go back now.”

After leaving the ruins, they sat facing each other in the tent they were assigned.

With Galen’s water manipulation senses intersecting with Lilia’s amplified five senses, she could immediately detect any intruders around the tent.

Even though he was sure no one was listening, Jiaba lowered his voice. It was such a sensitive topic.

“I can only guess the value of the jewelry, but even if I just consider the precious metals… it would be at least 50,000.”

“In gold?”

“of course.”

“Oh, arrogance······.”

Lilia’s eyes were spinning.

The total amount of money earned from selling pirate ships in the Dawn Archipelago was fifteen thousand coins.

Of course, a significant portion of it was Galen’s, but even that was too much of a burden for her, who had asked to share it later, so the figure of Oman sounded unrealistic.

On the other hand, Galen was relatively calm. Unlike Lilia, who had not thought about the treasure at all, he had already estimated its approximate value in his head.

“Is that a lot of money?”

“I don’t think you asked because you couldn’t guess how much it would cost.”

“How does it compare to the average found in ordinary ruins?”

“A lot. Much more than what you would normally expect.”

Jiaba confirmed.

“It’s clear that archaeological exploration is a big money business, but the criteria for ‘big money’ vary widely. Not all archaeological sites contain valuables.”

There aren’t many things that can withstand the passage of time.

Even a sword that was a great luxury item worth hundreds of gold coins at the time would be worth less than a silver coin if it were to rust after being directly hit by the passage of time.

In other words, the value fluctuated depending on the type of object excavated from the ruins.

A relic like this one, with such an abundance of precious metals and jewels in an easily recognizable form, could be said to be a jackpot.

“Usually, we expect to make profits in the tens of thousands. That alone is impressive.”

“It’s like public money. Even if the absolute amount isn’t large, how much would you want it?”

“Huh? You say it’s not big?”

“I’m speaking from the perspective of a wealthy family. They earn tens of thousands of dollars a year. It’s a problem if they spend that much.”

Although the scale is different, think of national finances.

Doesn’t the government collect and spend astronomical sums of hundreds of trillions of won every year without a care in the world, which are incomprehensible to individuals?

The same goes for the families of this world. They rule over cities and run various businesses, earning and spending a lot.

For a noble family as great as Steelwall, tens of thousands of gold coins in and of themselves would not be a frightening amount.

They just run towards it with their mouths open because the money is pure income that falls from the sky.

“So, I’m both relieved and worried at the same time. I wonder how they’ll turn out······.”

The size of the pie itself is several times larger than I had vaguely expected, so I could be satisfied with just cutting off a piece and finishing it.

On the other hand, as the size of the piece taken by the opponent increases, there is a possibility that he will feel more sorry and become more greedy when he sees it.

“Well, I think I’ll make some concessions.”

Galen shrugged.

“I don’t know. I wonder if they’ll take that as a concession.”

*

A few more days passed.

Both House Steelwall and the Red Rock Alliance returned with a reply.

It seemed like they were having some internal struggles, but Galen didn’t know about it.

The conclusion was that both sides should ‘leave it to the judgment of the field and renegotiate as they see fit.’

Galen spoke casually at a gathering of senior leaders.

“Can you please divide it into three parts so that it is easier to understand?”

“···Division into thirds.”

“It’s hard to give exact credit for the exploration process, but I think we played at least half of it.”

“······.”

No one could refute Galen’s words.

Although they only watched from the passageway of the ruins, the actual battlefield was the common area.

They knew how many dolls Galen had trampled there.

Even excluding the achievement of destroying the core of the relic, it was that much.

“But this isn’t a competition to count the number of broken dolls or anything… I got involved without any share of the relics, so wouldn’t it be a bit much to take more than the owners? So wouldn’t it be fair if the three of them took an equal amount?”

“···Okay. I agree.”

Akanksha, who had been whispering with Sachette, nodded first.

“······We agree too.”

Surprisingly, Alon accepted it without much objection. Veron’s expression was not good, but he had never had a good expression to begin with.

Contrary to Zia Bar’s fears, the negotiation process was so peaceful that it almost felt peaceful.

“We can just take a third······.”

“We’ll take two-thirds. Why don’t we compensate the church with half of that amount separately?”

“Well, it’s hard for us to transport it ourselves. As long as you pay us exactly.”

There was no need to worry about calculating the total value of the treasure.

It wasn’t something that would fall apart like currency, nor was it something that could be physically cut into three pieces.

This was because both sides discussed and priced each item individually, such as how much this jewel would cost and how much this ornament would cost.

The estimated value of the treasure is approximately seventy thousand gold coins.

The earth elves, who had taken a third of the treasure, prepared to leave the camp first.

“You accepted more easily than I thought.”

“Even if we only get a third of it, it’s much more than we initially expected. We’re satisfied with this.”

Akanksha, who came to say goodbye to Galen and Lilia, answered coolly.

“Of course it would be better to take more if we could, but… honestly, if it weren’t for you guys, the expedition would have been destroyed. How could we possibly refuse what you guys have proposed? In fact, it’s almost considered generous.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

“Humans probably thought the same as we did and agreed. They’re not very shameless, so I don’t know if they have any hidden agenda.”

“Well, wouldn’t it be okay if I just got paid well?”

“I hope so. See you next time!”

After the earth fairies left.

Galen and Lilia also left the camp with the church people.

This journey, which had been full of events in a short period of time, ended there.