“Yva, do you know how the chest appeared here?” Rae wondered why the chest appeared after he killed everything. He played quite a few RPG’s on Earth and it wasn’t too strange to run into a trapped chest.
“You’ve no need to worry about this chest in particular. Dungeons often times reward an adventurer after they clear a room, with a chest. Though there can be times where there is something funny at play, that usually depends on the nature of the dungeon itself. This dungeon is primarily inhabited by arachnids.”
Rae felt that made sense. He then moved to the most important part. “How rare is a golden chest?”
“There are six rankings for dungeon chests. The least rare are plain wooden chests. The second least rare are bronze chests. Third are silver chests. Fourth, you have golden chests. Next up are diamond chests. Then, you have the rarest of them all. Very few people have seen them. They aren’t considered ‘just rare’. They’re considered legendary. They are oremith chests.”
Rae had heard of all the other types of metals, but he wondered what ‘oremith’ was. Rae decided to put it in the back of his mind for now.
“Also, don’t go and try carrying a chest out of a dungeon. They’re just indicators for the type of loot they carry and will become smoke when they leave.”
He didn’t have that idea but thought it was good to know nonetheless. “Thanks for the info, Yva.”
Yva chuckled lightly. “It’s no problem at all, Rae.”
For some reason, Rae felt that she didn’t answer out of the kindness of her heart, and he was not wrong.
“I’ve answered two of your questions so you owe me two questions as well. The next time you need something from me, you’ll answer one question by me from now on.”
While Rae was speaking to Yva, Landis’ laughter echoed throughout the room.
“Hahaha! Gold chest on his first dungeon, the lucky little bastard!” shouted Landis in elation. He rushed toward the chest and put his hands on it, but before he could open it, he heard Yva.
“The leader of the Humble Foxes just ups and snatches loot from his subordinates?” snorted Yva.
“Father,” Selena sighed. “That was quite unbecoming of the captain.”
Landis realized what he had done and got up quickly. He coughed awkwardly. “W-what are you two talking about? I was just a bit excited that’s all. What’s this talk about ‘snatching loot’? I’m just going to ask him.”
He turned toward Rae and cupped and rubbed his hands together. Despite Rae’s initial impression of Landis as a strong and vicious man, Rae thought he looked like a greedy merchant right now.
“Hehe, Rae, you know, since you’re part of the Humble Foxes and a direct subordinate of my daughter, shouldn’t you give this chest to me as a tribute to joining?”
‘Oi, isn’t my new “Captain” a bit too greed and shameless?! Well, at least he isn’t outright taking it from me, but still, I slaughtered those spiders on my own!’
As if on cue, he heard Yva’s voice. “I could help you get the entire chest for yourself if you agree to answer a question for me,” she said in a laid-back manner.
Rae began to consider Yva’s offer. ‘An entire chest worth of treasures just to answer a question? Hmm…’ It sounded simple at first, but he knew there was more to it. ‘But what will she ask is the important thing.’ He pondered it for a second and decided to counter her offer.
“Fine! But only if I retain the right to refuse four times per question. If that happens, you may pose another question. And if I use all my refusal rights for a question, I must answer the fifth time you ask me.”
“Say, Rae, I know you’re special, but aren’t you a little too smart for a recently born goblin?” inquired Yva.
“Is that one of your question?” Rae retorted.
Yva’s laughter rang in his mind. “You’re quite brave compared to when you first met me. Alright, it’s a deal.”
Rae thought it was better to go through Yva to retain ownership of the chest rather than himself since he was still only a slave, after all. This was why he made the deal with Yva. She could do things for him and provide information when he couldn’t break his slave character.
Yva turned to Landis who was eying the chest greedily. With arms crossed under her bountiful chest and tapping her right foot, she began to scold him (Like how your mother or teacher would posture to lecture you). “Hmph, even when you know you’re in the wrong, you’re still trying to take his loot.”
Stolen novel; please report.
Landis looked Yva as if he was wronged a thousand times. “I asked fair and square! No coercion here, Ms. Darkstrider!”
He turned to Selena for reinforcement, but she only shook her head. She agreed with Yva. She felt that it was fair to let Rae keep the chest since he had been the only one to fight while they watched.
“Although Rae is a slave, he is still a Humble Foxes member. He deserves the normal policy for loot distribution within the group.”
Rae looked on in appreciation for Selena sticking up for him, despite being her “slave.”
As Landis saw that Selena was not on his side, he felt hope fading but didn’t give up.
“How ab—“ Yva cut him off before he could finish. “Are you still not backing down,” she said while glaring fiercely at the man.
“Since that’s the case, how about you let him keep the entire chest without a percentage. Think of it as a ‘newbie’s gift’ from the Captain of the Humble Foxes,” insisted Yva with more force in her tone. “Would that be okay with you, Selena?”
Selena was a bit irritated that Yva did not use her proper title but let it go and just shrugged her shoulders.
‘What kind of a newbie – and a slave no less, get’s an entire fucking golden chest?!’ cursed Landis, but he could feel the same threatening pressure he had felt before when they first met and knew he lost.
He let out a barely audible mumble. “Fine…”
“But for any other chest found in the dungeon, he must give 40% to the Humble Foxes,” he declared.
“How fair, Landis,” said Yva with a roguish grin. Not even bothering to show the slightest respect to her new captain.
‘Landis…? Shouldn’t you be calling me ‘Captain’? Aren’t I the leader of the famous Humble Foxes mercenaries? Why don’t I feel like it right now?’
Rae laughed inwardly at Landis. He really had to give it to Yva. She really had a way with words. Yva had reminded him a bit of Mary just now. How Mary would give a fist to the faces of the boys who either didn’t listen to her or bullied him when they were younger.
Yva turned to Rae and nodded her head.
Rae walked over to the chest and prayed with every single point of luck he had to whatever deity or system that governed dungeon loot.
He placed both hands on the top of the chest and opened it with an eager heart.
Rae saw an extremely smooth and soft, white sleeveless silk shirt. Black silk pants that scrunched up at the ends like sweatpants. A black short jacket lined with white fur at the hems. And brown leather boots that went up to the shins, to finish. Oddly, there was a thin, black string about eight inches long.
‘It’s an entire outfit,’ he thought.
Looking at all of the loot, Rae got an idea. He wondered if he could appraise items. He decided to start with the shirt.
‘Let’s see if this’ll work. Appraise!’
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『Arachni Shirt』
Made from the silk of spiders. Effect: Endurance +5.
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‘So,「Appraisal」works on items as well. That’s good to know. Wonder what else it works on.’
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『Arachni Pants』
Made from the silk of spiders. Effect: Endurance +2, Dexterity/Agility +3.
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『Wolf’s Jacket』
Made from the fur and hide of dire wolves. Effect: Endurance +5.
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『Kron Elk Leather Boots』
Made from the hide of a kron elk. Effect: Provides adequate needs for traveling.
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『Aranaeis’ Thread』
A thread specially made by the Mother of Spiders, Aranaeis. Effect: Near indestructible.
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He was quite happy with his loot since had been wearing only rags since he had reincarnated into Altera. But he was quite curious about Aranaeis’ Thread. It was clearly special, but it was just a string. Still, he decided to keep it.
He took all of the items from the chest and chose to put them on. He didn’t know what to do with the thread, so opted to use it as a hair tie. His hair was starting to go past his shoulders anyway, and he didn’t want it to get in the way when he fought.
After he was dressed, he felt Yva’s eyes on him. “My, my, Rae cleans up quite nicely. Don’t you think so, Selena?”
Selena gave a quick frown in her direction. “Call me Vice-captain.”
Yva stuck her tongue out in reply.
Selena ignored it and turned to Rae. She ran her gaze all over him. “And yes, he does look good.” Despite her knowing Rae was a goblin, she couldn’t help but admire how handsome he was. It made her feel a little proud that she was his “master.”
Although one was technically a best in human form, and another, his “master”, Rae felt his heart quicken at the two gorgeous women’s gazes.
While he was in a daze, he heard a shout.
“Rae!”
“Huh?”
“I asked: What are the effects of each clothing, Rae?” repeated Selena in an irritated manner.
Rae’s eyes widened in surprise. ‘Does she know that I can appraise items?’
Selena saw the look on his face and mistook it for one of ignorance. “Oh, right. You probably don’t know.” She had temporarily forgotten that Rae was only born a month ago because of the capabilities he showed.
“You can view the effects of your items by holding or wearing them, thinking about it, and then thinking: ‘effect’.”
Rae sighed in relief inwardly. ‘That was close. Though, I am surprised that I didn’t need to appraise an item to know its effects; I can appraise items without holding or wearing it. I’ll be able to get information on an enemy’s equipment from afar. That should prove incredibly useful.’
After he pretended to check out the status of his equipment, he told Selena their effects but kept Aranaeis’ Thread a secret. He told her that is was made from regular spider silk.
Rae took one last look around the room and looked at all the spider corpses littered across the room. He could see all the spider blood and was curious as to know if he could absorb it since it was blue, but couldn’t since he was with a group. He sighed at the waste and tied his hair into a pony-tail, preparing to enter the new door with a white skull.
“Master, Captain, I’m ready.”
As they were all walking to the door, Yva reminded Rae of their deal.
“Rae, aren’t you forgetting something? My questions.”
Rae grumbled inwardly. “Fine. What are they?”
Yva’s playful voice resonated in his mind. “You’re immune to the slave collars command effects, aren’t you? I know you tricked me in the forest that day.”
Rae’s eyes widened in shock and his footsteps halted. He turned around and saw Yva wearing a broad smile that spoke, “gotcha.”