Leaf Mason's brows furrowed as he concentrated. He was currently working on carving magic stone into magically reinforced stone bricks for the outer city's defensive walls. Unlike with normal stone, he had to pay quite a bit more for stone like this, but, in turn, he could sell his work for a significant sum as well. He was fortunate that the first floor of the new dungeon had gargoyles, it was like winning the lottery, as his future was far brighter now than it had ever been before.
Most projects just used normal stone, which was, oftentimes, also harvested from dungeons. However, even if they required special gear to ensure adventurers could lug it out of the dungeon, it was a more common material. There was no need to wait for the [Monsters] to respawn, worry about dying from the creatures, or to worry about as many transportation costs associated with transporting the stone. Dungeons with stone to harvest as well as stone quarries outside of dungeons were rather common, but dungeons with [Monsters] made from stone were rare. To add to that, most of the stone [Monsters] tended to be things like golems, which were found on higher floors, making it so that fewer adventurers were strong enough to face the creatures and even fewer were willing to lug the heavy stone back without an exorbitant fee.
On the other hand, the gargoyles were small, which came with its own pitfalls. For one thing, there wasn't nearly as much stone to work with. Too often adventurers would end up smashing the entire gargoyle into too small of pieces to even use, but even mostly whole gargoyle carcasses had to be carefully processed to ensure too much stone wasn't chipped away, making the whole thing useless. Some of the higher-ranking stone mason classes had the ability to consolidate stone into one massive chunk, which could save them on some expenses, but Leaf was only a low-ranking stone mason. None of the others in his workshop actually had an official class either, which meant he would just have to practice with the magic stone long enough to increase his own level.
Of course, some craftsmen classes were willing to enter dungeons to earn experience that way as well. However, Leaf seemed to be talentless when it came to using weapons. The local master blacksmith, Rulvion, was talented with a hammer and had a large hammer he used to use in the previous dungeon in their city. He'd pay a small fee to be escorted by adventurers and then would mine any ores he came across, killing any of the weaker [Monsters] he could manage by himself along the way. Since Leaf Mason wasn't talented enough to do that, he was just going to have to make do with the experience he could earn by practicing his craft.
After finishing a few dozen magic-reinforced stone bricks, Leaf dusted off his hands and headed out of his workshop. He needed to head down to the adventurers' guild and collect whatever stone the adventurers had managed to collect over the last few days. He'd also have to pay a fee to ensure the guild kept the quest posted. His efforts now might be primarily to help him increase his class skills' proficiencies with only small-time jobs like making materials for city wall repairs, but he had big dreams.
Nobles were known to purchase magic stone [Items] either for the novelty of it or to better reinforce the defenses of their own estates. If he worked hard, word could spread and he might land himself a big contract that would ensure he could reinvest into his workshop and his own future. Maybe he could even accept an apprentice with the same class as him, which would allow him to expand his production, even if that would come with its own costs. Leaf really hoped that the local Lord could spread the word about the new dungeon enough to get some more adventurers in their city. It would ensure more stone could be collected and might even mean higher quality products for him, if more experienced adventurers were drawn to their city.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
The receptionist smiled at him politely as she recognized him.
"Just give me a moment."
After a moment, she returned from the back room and informed him
"I've got someone bringing a wheelbarrow with your goods around back. He'll drop it off for you, as usual. Do you have the fee ready? Also, do you want to renew the quest?"
Leaf nodded as he replied
"Yes, here you are."
The receptionist counted out the coins before returning the rest to him. From the amount she took, it was clear that there hadn't been any more stone collected than expected. An initial investment was expected when he put in the quest, but he had made it clear he was willing to pay for any extra that was collected. That was a bit disappointing, but he would just have to make do.
The next morning, Amelia stood looking at the quest board with Coryas. Not seeing anything better, Coryas unpinned the quest for collecting stone. He wasn't much for talking, but Amelia already understood what he wished to convey. They'd be doing this quest for the next few days and would just have to check back later to see if anything with better pay was posted then. It was possible that another group had come through and accepted any of the decent quests they were qualified for, but it was more likely that there simply wasn't anything available. That was simply how it tended to go.
Amelia didn't mind the repetitiveness of entering the dungeon, killing gargoyles, and collecting their stone. It was an easy job and it paid well enough. Besides, they wouldn't even have to leave the dungeon, unless they were delivering stone, for the next few days.
As it turned out, the public baths were real, even if they weren't quite as exciting as she had been hoping. The water was room temperature and she, usually, had to ask for help from one of the stronger women whenever the water needed to be refreshed. That hadn't been a problem until a few days ago. Every night the water would be fresh and her room was always guaranteed to be clean. There were some rumors amongst the adventurers that something must be wrong with the dungeon. Others joked that the housekeeper must have gotten fired, but no one seemed particularly upset. There was never any trash in the rooms and they didn't smell bad, it was just that the beds were left messy and the firewood wasn't being restocked.
Amelia's party still found the price well-worth it though. They had found that they could submit any ten small [Items] as payment for their rooms. A few leaves, stones, or even a few flowers and they were set for the night. So long as they used the same room they had before, they could almost guarantee they weren't dealing with someone else's mess either. Besides, it wasn't like the inns outside of dungeons were exactly immaculate. It was too much work to wash sheets in the river and there was no guarantee of the weather being decent enough to ensure things got dried in a timely manner. So, most innkeepers tended to only wash the bedding a few times a year, at best. When they were getting such a good deal on their rooms, it was hard to complain about a dungeon not being up to their standards when all of that was considered.