Avorn and Camellia pulled a bag full of pinecones and pine nuts out of their backpack after entering the dungeon. Then they quickly submitted the contents before tucking the now empty bag back away again. Satisfied that they had paid their dues, they merrily went on their way.

As they knew they were no longer the only ones in the dungeon, they put off setting up camp. The last thing they needed was for someone to make off with what precious few belongings they did have. Instead, they went to the koi pond room that was just off to one side from the entrance.

"Which one of us had the fishing bait again?"

Camellia asked. Avorn pointed to the bag she was already shuffling through as he replied

"I'm carrying the firewood, so it should be in your bag. Did you manage to get it stuck at the bottom of your bag again?"

It took a few more minutes before Camellia found what she was looking for. She then held out the bag for Avorn to take. He tended to be very particular about how the worms were handled due to not wanting to prolong their suffering. As a farmer turned adventurer, she didn't exactly have the luxury to act delicate and avoid such things as worms, guts, and dirt. So, it wasn't so much that she was unwilling to put the bait on her own fishing pole as it was purely out of respect for her husband's ideals.

While she was waiting, Camellia mused

"Firewood has been getting expensive lately. It might be better to try and ration it more."

Avorn sighed before replying

"The cold weather seems to be especially hard this year, I don't imagine things will get much better than this. There has been an increase in the number of people moving to the area, but not enough of the locals remained to ensure that firewood was adequately prepared. Well, that and most people likely aren't going to think about rationing the firewood until it's too late."

Camellia shook her head as she commented

"It's a shame we can't just cut some of the firewood in this dungeon and bring it back. I'm sure we could borrow a wheelbarrow and an axe from someone, but it'll likely take too long for it to dry, right?"

Avorn handed Camellia back her pole and they cast their hooks into the water before he continued the conversation.

"Firewood usually needs to be dried for several months to be seasoned properly. Otherwise, it is hard to light the wood and keep it lit. It might be possible if we got someone to agree to buying it off of us now and they kept it in a room with a lit fire to speed up the drying process, but it's definitely not a very realistic solution. Besides, we don't officially live here, so it isn't exactly our responsibility, nor is it an effective way to earn an income.

We may just have to go without a fire after some time. It means we won't be able to cook fish anymore, but we should be able to get by with the forageable plants in the dungeon and the surrounding area. It's also not exactly cold here, so we won't freeze to death."

Violet found it a bit funny as she walked into the room at just the right time to overhear the tail end of their conversation. This was the second time now she had gone to see if they'd be interested in buying goods from her and ended up overhearing a problem they had that just so happened to be a good business opportunity for her.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

She was originally going to leave to go upstairs for a short while to build before attempting to sell things to Avorn and Camellia. However, she had only just taken inventory of what she still had in stock when they had entered the dungeon. So she put off the building for later and made the trek back downstairs in the hopes of making a sale. It was hardly like she was expecting her luck to be this good!

"I could probably help you out with that."

Even Camellia couldn't help but jump in surprise as she heard Violet's voice echo across the room. She was starting to feel more comfortable around Violet the more she interacted with her, so she comfortably questioned

"Help us with what exactly?"

Violet smiled as she replied

"Well, with your firewood problem, of course! I imagine you'd need some magic bags to carry it around with, though, as it would likely be quite heavy. However, otherwise, I can create perfectly dried firewood that's ready to go just so I can sell it to you. The only thing is that I would expect fair compensation for the resources I expend to do so."

Avorn pulled Camellia aside before whispering to her

"I'm not sure we can afford that! We can't just upset her by turning her down now, though, right?"

Camellia smiled as she patted her husband's shoulder reassuringly and said

"Relax, just let me handle this."

Then she turned back to Violet who was still waiting for their response. Camellia took a calming breathe before asking

"How many points would we need for something like that? I know the quest menu says we have to provide one hundred points of value for our rent each day. I'm assuming that is similar to how you said the dungeon functions before. I can't agree to anything until I know if we can deliver on our end of things first."

Violet was actually a bit surprised by Camellia's astute observation. She didn't exactly think of the woman as unintelligent, but it was still a surprise to see she had put things together so well when most everyone else seemed to struggle with the concept so much. She took a moment to do some mental math of her own before answering.

The magic bags would cost her 50 MP each, which would usually be doubled and she'd charge 100 DP for them. However, the bags were very clearly worth a lot and Violet hardly wanted to ruin the economy by selling them for such a cheap price, even to people she liked a good bit. So, she'd have to double the price and charge a total of 400 DP for the two of them. Then there was the matter of the firewood. Violet wasn't sure how much the firewood would cost her, nor how heavy the firewood would be. So, she decided to ask

"How much does firewood normally weigh?"

Camellia looked confused for a moment before hesitantly answering

"I think it'd be safe to say about three pieces weigh close to 5 Units."

Violet nodded. That would mean sixty pieces should be able to be carried in two magic bags with a weight limit of 50 Units each. There's no way that the firewood would cost more than a few mana for a single piece for firewood. Even if she was generous on her end, it was only bound to cost 5 MP per piece, at the most. That would add another 300 MP for a total of 600 DP in cost. So, about 1,000 DP would have to be charged for it all. It was a bit steep, but it was still likely to end up in their favor.

"I'm willing to accept 1,000 points for everything. Two magic bags with a 50 Units limit and sixty pieces of firewood, which should take up the entirety of the weight between the two bags. I can also sell you more firewood later on, so long as you give me notice ahead of time."

Avorn and Camellia deliberated between themselves for a short while before agreeing. While a thousand small [Items] weren't worth nearly as much as even one magic bag, it was still a lot of work to commit to, especially when they considered they'd also have to collect enough to pay for their nightly stay in the dungeon. If it took them ten days to collect the payment, they'd end up needing 2,000 points since they'd also need to pay rent in that time. In which case, it was better to pay the amount off sooner rather than later. As such, they promised to come up with the payment in just a few days' time.