I jump a little when the new voice comes from out of nowhere. I jolt around and see a familiar face with fin-like ears and the majority of her body in rags. I can only see her blue scaly arms with claws and matching feet poking out of them.
“… O-Oh, it’s you, the reptile girl from last night, erm, Ms. Umeiyon, was it? Ren told me about what happened. Thanks for healing the two of us with your magic.” I pretended to try and remember her name, but I could really see her name and bars above her head like I could with the monsters. Interestingly, I can’t see anything new after my ‘Size Up’ skill leveled up.
“It’s no trouble. Though I didn’t need assistance, you still went out of your way to help me. I only returned what was due, but I wish I could heal away the scar the tanto made.”
I pull up my shirt and see the stab wound where Nyra got me, pretty close to the last scar that coworker left when I died. “Oh, it’s no problem, I already have so many anyway, what’s … wait, how long were you out here?”
“I believe I came around after you got to your 30th monster kill in that growing swarm. I followed that beacon of dark magic in the sky when I recognized it to be yours. I’ve been watching you from the tree branches since.”
“… Which means you heard everything I was saying to myself, huh?”
“Do not worry, I was there last night when it was revealed you can speak with the one who dwells in the tanto, so I at least know you’re actually talking to someone. Though, I admit I might find you ‘crazy’ in another sense.”
“Never mind that, why would you want to see my status?”
“You have piqued my interest, Jinma Kotori. While yes, there were other peculiar humans from last night who aided Dondegarm’s citizens and saved the city, you stood out the most in taking out both of the appointed leaders and subduing the monsters summoned by the tanto the way you did, all while bearing the ‘Devil Eyes’ that no one but the Devil race should be able to use. Seeing your status after defeating all those monsters is part of why I want to speak with you in private.”
<“Jinma, I’d be careful of this one,”> Nyra warns.
What do you mean?
<“She’s been bugging me since I first laid eyes on her last night. I can’t see it right now, but from the few glimpses last night, her magic is unlike any of those from the other kin I’ve ever seen and it’s crazy powerful. My ‘Magic Sense’ was bouncing off the walls around her.”>
I remember Ms. Umeiyon something about 'Magic Sense' last night, and if Nyra here says hers is going off the charts, while I'm not sure how it works, it certainly gives me a reason to keep myself cautious.
“… What do you hope to gain from our private talk?” I ask while tensing my muscles. I realize then that I just got done with that genocide of monsters earlier and I’m still rather exhausted.
“Please, lower your guard. I come with no intentions to fight, but to seek help that requires a unique individual that may be of your caliber. It is a great, noble cause that could mean life or death for my kind, and I assure you that you won’t go unrewarded by the end of it.”
“What could it be that requires such help?”
“I will explain further once you show me your status.”
I look to the side and think. As far as I know, showing one’s status in this world may be like revealing your personal info and bank account to a complete stranger. Depending on who it is you’re showing it to, they’ll either try to use you or in the worst-case scenario kill you if you pose too big of a threat.
“… Perhaps these may help motivate you into showing me. [Storage, Out].” With both of her reptilian hands out, Ms. Umeiyon makes that chant before two things land on them. One is a shiny white coin, and the other is a jet-black rock the size of a melon.
Stolen novel; please report.
<“Aaaauuuuuuuuuugh!”>
Nyra’s scream makes me flinch and hold my head. “Geez, Nyra, what gives? Scream like that again and you might pop my head into killing me.”
<“Do you seriously not know what those are?!”>
“I may not be able to hear your friend, but from how you responded, it seems she’s fully aware of what these are. Do you, Jinma Kotori?” Ms. Umeiyon asks.
“Um … should I know what those are?”
Ms. Umeiyon looks at the objects in her hand. “Not even one of these?” she asks while glancing up to me.
“Nope.”
“… Interesting. Well, at least your friend has an idea for what you’ll get for giving me your time and showing me your status. You’ll want to inquire her on what she thinks when I’ll give you tenfold on each of these as a … how do you say, a ‘deposit?’ after I judge your status worthy for helping my cause.”
<“… A-A-And if he succeeds in helping her?”>
I relay Nyra’s question to Ms. Umeiyon.
“Then you can expect another fiftyfold on each of these by the end of it all.”
<“THAT’S SIXTYFOLLLLLLLLLD!”>
“Ow! Goddammit, Nyra, I said stop screaming!”
<“You’re not even grasping how heavy the situation is here! And she thought you were crazy?! No, right now, I don’t even know who’s crazier!”>
“Maybe you can explain it to me in simple terms so I’ll know what I’m working here? All I’m seeing right now is a fancy white coin and a large black rock.”
<“YOU—!”> Nyra stops herself and takes a few deep breaths to calm down. The next thing she says is so shaky I wonder if she was having a mini seizure. <“Okay~, you’re obviously not from around here if you don’t know what you’re looking at, so let me spell it out for you. You see that ‘large black rock’ in her hand?”>
“Yes?”
<“That rock is worth around two, maybe three of those coins she also has in her other hand.”>
“Okay?”
<“That large black rock is not just a rock. That is the same lump of the strongest metal in this world that makes up the fucking tanto in your hands!”>
I quirk a brow and hold up the new tanto. “You mean, ‘Chaos Ore?’ But how can you tell?”
“I can lend it to you to check and see its legitimacy,” Ms. Umeiyon says as she holds out the ore.
<“Yes! Take it and the tanto out! Now!”>
“Okay, okay, sheesh.” I pull the blade out and take the ore until both are in each hand. The ore, despite its size, is actually lighter than it looks.
<“Now, hold each one at a time close to your ear.”>
I do as she says and I find something peculiar. From both the tanto and the ore, there’s a low-pitched tone resonating from them, sort of like how one would hear from hitting a tuning fork.
“Are they … vibrating?”
<“They called this Chaos Ore for the way it constantly vibrates even when stationary. It’s really the molecules that make up the matter vibrating at an astonishing rate. All of the molecules that make up solids in this world usually vibrate continuously while staying in one place, but this is the first solid found to have its vibrations so prevalent that one can hear it if held close enough to the ear. To melt the stuff into a liquid and pour into a mold before blacksmiths can even do the physical work, it needs very intense heat that’s nearly impossible to produce in their workshops. Astonishingly, even when it cools to a solid again, the vibrations return at the same rate as it did before it melted. It’s because of its high vibrations that sharpened Chaos Ore can cut through any object. One stab is made up of a hundred in a second, and that’s just pushing a sharpened knife of the stuff through something with little effort.”>
“My god …” the more I hear about this metal, the more I wonder how I even survived such a stab in the gut by that same material.
<“We getting how valuable Chaos Ore is yet? Good~. Now, that shiny white gold coin? That’s worth a hundred regular gold ones, and I pray you already know how much just one of those is worth,”> Nyra continues as I return the ore to Ms. Umeiyon and glance at the white coin.
One gold coin is worth 10,000 karos, according to Ms. Obina when she explained the basics of this world’s economic system to me yesterday. 100 of those gold coins makes 1 million karos, which is apparently what one white gold coin is worth.
<“If this chick is offering one white gold coin and one lump of Chaos Ore in that size each to you just for showing her your status, that’s already 4 million karos at best right there. Now take that sixtyfold if you managed to help her problem to the very end.”>
“… 240 million … karos?” I ask after doing quick calculations in my head.
<“Keep note that these were the market values from a couple of centuries ago. If you think that’s expensive then, I have no knowledge of how they are now in modern times. Now, do you see how fucking crazy the situation is now?! This chick is NOT. NORMAL!”>
“Do you now see the density of my situation here, Jinma Kotori?” Ms. Umeiyon asks. “I should have you know that if what I see in your status exceeds my expectations, I’m willing to negotiate to however much each of these you desire as a reward for your help. Money is but an object to me, and I have plenty more where that came from.”
<“SHE’S THE SUGAR MOMMA OF SUGAR MOMMAAAAAAAS!”>