The next day.
“Here it is.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Kim Hyunwoo was able to purchase a total of ten scrolls from Adria.
“Is this the scroll you ntioned?”
“Yes. As I explained yesterday, just summon the skeleton, insert a Magic Stone, and show it what needs to be done.”
Upon hearing Adria’s words, Kim Hyunwoo nodded in understanding and imdiately spoke to her.
“Thank you. I’ll send the paynt directly to the trading company.”
“You really don’t have to do that…”
“No, it’s only right to pay.”
Kim Hyunwoo said this with a smile, but he was inwardly a bit shocked by the steep price of the skeleton summoning scrolls.
‘To think it costs 200 Gold Coins to command a single skeleton…’
The price of the skeleton scrolls Kim Hyunwoo purchased from Adria was a whopping 200 Gold Coins each.
This ans Kim Hyunwoo spent about 2,000 Gold Coins on ten skeleton scrolls.
For Lartania, which was covering the investnt in the territory’s developnt and the losses from Magic Stone exchange with the money earned from selling Magnifying Glasses, 2,000 Gold Coins was a significant expenditure, and he realized why people were not using skeleton scrolls.
Considering both the cost of the scrolls and the Magic Stones needed to animate the skeletons, it was clear that humans were more cost-effective than skeletons from a perspective of labor cost.
However, even considering that, Kim Hyunwoo didn’t think buying the skeleton scrolls was a loss at all.
For him, preventing the leakage of the Magnifying Glasses’ secrets was more important than reducing labor costs, and the ten skeletons he would create were going to bring him wealth far exceeding 2,000 Gold Coins.
“Anyway, I’ll gratefully use the scrolls.”
“No, you’ve already paid in full. Well, you must be busy, so I should take my leave.”
As Adria said this, she smiled slyly and was about to bow her head when she suddenly looked up and said,
“Ah, before you leave, Lord, may I ask you sothing?”
“Yes? Feel free to ask anything, but what…?”
“Ah, it’s just that I heard a rumor recently about a Nlacksmith Guild branch being established in Lartania.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“But I heard that the Guild Master of the Blacksmith Guild coming to Lartania is the hero of Lartania from ten years ago, is that true?”
At Adria’s question, Kim Hyunwoo nodded.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“So, the rumor was true?”
“Yes. I didn’t expect it to turn out like this, but it feels a bit strange. Honestly, I feel pretty good about it.”
Kim Hyun-woo smiled briefly as he spoke, and Adria seed to be pondering sothing.
“…Hmm.”
Suddenly, Adria’s expression seed to stiffen slightly.
“Well then, thank you for your answer. I was curious because of the rumors going around. I’ll take my leave now.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Oh, and I’ll make sure to co back soon to deliver the paynt for the Coma Recovery Potion you provided this ti.”
With that, Adria swiftly left the territory.
“…?”
Soon, Kim Hyun-woo, who had been wearing a puzzled expression while watching Adria leave with a sowhat urgent expression, soon shrugged with an indifferent expression.
“Well, shall we start now?”
He smiled as he headed downstairs.
And as Kim Hyun-woo headed downstairs…
[Ah, this can’t happen! What should I do? I can’t let that strange woman captivate the Master. I need to be by the Master’s side right now, protecting him.]
“…Master, please calm down,”
Adria, looking at the Crimson Dragon muttering hard in her mind, sighed deeply and spoke.
Kim Hyunwoo, who had descended into the dungeon beneath the Lord’s castle, imdiately went to a small warehouse built in a corner of the basent and tore open a scroll.
Crackle-!
As soon as he tore the scroll open, a skeleton appeared in front of Kim Hyunwoo, making a rattling noise.
The appearance of the skeleton, whose dark eye sockets showed no focus, especially in the dimly lit basent, would have certainly been chilling, yet Kim Hyunwoo smiled and tore up the rest of the scrolls, producing a total of ten skeletons.
Imdiately afterwards, recalling Adria’s words, Kim Hyunwoo threw the low-grade Magic Stones he had brought into the eye sockets of the skeletons.
Swoosh-!
As soon as he threw the Magic Stones into the skeletons’ eyes, and red dots appeared in their eyes, Kim Hyunwoo imdiately taught them how to make Magnifying Glasses.
Actually, it would be more accurate to say he divided the work among them.
Kim Hyunwoo had one skeleton focus solely on embedding stamps into wood to create magical circuits.
He divided the remaining nine skeletons into three teams, enabling them to repeat a single task like a factory.
The first team was only responsible for adding Magic Stone powder.
The second team handled the Mana Water.
And the last team was tasked solely with inserting round pieces of tal into the prepared wood, repeatedly combining them.
As a result,
“It works…!”
After nurous trials and errors, the skeletons began to produce Magnifying Glasses perfectly.
Skeletons moving in unison like machines, producing three Magnifying Glasses at the end of each process.
Although the process was significantly slower than when Kim Hyunwoo made the Magnifying Glasses himself, he looked at the skeletons with a satisfied expression.
After all, they could invest far more ti into making Magnifying Glasses than Kim Hyunwoo could, even if they were slower.
Furthermore, as long as Magic Stones were kept nearby, the skeletons would autonomously replenish them when needed, freeing Kim Hyunwoo from the need to supervise them closely.
If anything, he only needed to replenish the stock of Magic Stones Kim Hyunwoo had piled up behind the skeletons once they ran out.
Therefore, with a satisfied expression, Kim Hyunwoo thought,
“Now that we’ll have a lot more Magnifying Glasses available, should I increase their influx a bit more?”
He smiled, thinking of the much-increased supply of Magnifying Glasses that would now exceed previous levels.
Considering the current situation, Magnifying Glasses would undoubtedly sell explosively even if things remained as they were, but that was only the beginning.
Once the demand for Magnifying Glasses really began to be t, it was clear that eventually, supply would surpass demand.
“Shall we begin?”
Grin.
With an evil grin, Kim Hyunwoo opened the cash window.
The Magnifying Glasses of Lartania were still so popular that people couldn’t get their hands on them, and rcenaries wouldn’t even enter the Labyrinth, opting for an open run to buy them instead.
However, due to the overwhelmingly low supply of Magnifying Glasses, so rcenaries had given up on them.
“Tch, no matter what, this is just not doable.”
“I agree. It’s ridiculous to be holed up trying to get even one Magnifying Glass when there’s no certainty sothing good will co of it.”
“Right, it’s better to just roam the Labyrinth and earn a few more Gold Coins.”
“That’s true. It’s not easy to strike it rich with a Magnifying Glass anyway.”
While many rcenaries were still ensnared by the power of the Magnifying Glasses, many others had recognized their downsides and had extracted themselves.
Allen from the Allen rcenary Band, who had essentially squandered his entire fortune on Magnifying Glasses, had recently broken free from their curse and was earnestly gathering money again.
Sigh-
Allen, who had just been hunting monsters, sighed lightly and held a low-grade Magic Stone.
Unlike the tis when they would just roam around the first tier, the Allen rcenary Band, which had grown faster by constantly fighting monsters, was now hunting in the second tier, allowing them to accumulate money more quickly than before.
“Shall we call it a day?”
“Sounds good.”
“I agree, we should stop here for today.”
After more than six hours of hunting, Allen’s rcenary band erged from the Labyrinth.
“Alright, let’s rest here for today and regroup tomorrow.”
With those words, they dispersed.
Soon after, Allen, watching his dispersed rcenaries, checked the Gold Coins in his possession.
“A total of 20 Gold Coins, huh?”
20 Gold Coins.
For a lone rcenary like Allen, 20 Gold Coins was a substantial amount, yet he felt a sense of loss.
After all, had he not spent money on Magnifying Glasses, he might have had nearly 50 Gold Coins by now.
Sigh.
But soon, Allen shook his head, dismissing the thought.
He had realized this after having squandered his entire fortune on Magnifying Glasses.
That making a fortune overnight was not as easy as it seed.
Moreover, the difficulty of even purchasing Magnifying Glasses to gamble with had allowed Allen to quit them.
“Since I’ve saved up 20 Gold Coins, maybe I’ll spend about 15 on a sword… and have a beer tonight?”
After a long ti of not indulging, Allen, looking at the Gold Coins gathered in his pocket, decided to drop by a tavern for a beer. There, he ran into Tuska, a rcenary he had beco friends with in Lartania.
“Ah, you’re here, Allen!”
…More precisely, he t Tuska, who seed incredibly excited.
“You seem quite thrilled today?”
“Of course! I got to use the Magnifying Glass just the way I wanted today!”
“…Really? You must have been lucky.”
“No? It’s not about luck. Starting today, Lartania began pouring out a lot of Magnifying Glasses!”
“…They started releasing more stock?”
“Yes! Thanks to that, now you can buy a Magnifying Glass at any ti!”
Seeing Tuska smiling brightly, Allen nodded with a ‘hmm’ expression but seed uninterested.
After all, Allen had already lost interest in Magnifying Glasses.
However,
“Do you know what I got from the Magnifying Glass?”
“What is it?”
“This right here!”
“…What’s this?”
“lam’s Chainmail! It’s worth a whopping 120 Gold Coins!”
Allen involuntarily flinched at Tuska’s boast as he bared his chest.
Seeing soone he knew do well sparked a ‘What if it were ?’ thought, growing deep inside him.
Yet,
“No.”
Having previously been burned by Magnifying Glasses, Allen successfully resisted the temptation and said,
“That’s great for you.”
“Right? Honestly, when I spent 80 Gold Coins and didn’t get anything from the Magnifying Glass, I almost cried. If it weren’t for the ‘Ceiling Magnifying Glass’, I could have ended up holess.”
However,
“…Ceiling Magnifying Glass?”
Hearing this term for the first ti, Allen couldn’t help but ask Tuska with a puzzled tone.
“Ah, don’t you know?”
“What’s that?”
“It’s exactly what it sounds like. A Magnifying Glass that guarantees a weapon or an armor. And it’s always sothing quite good.”
Allen’s interest was piqued, and he asked with eyes full of curiosity.
“…They started selling such Magnifying Glasses?”
“No, they’re not selling them. They’re giving them away.”
“…Giving them away?”
“Well, not just giving them away per se. It seems like if you buy more than 80 regular Magnifying Glasses, Lartania gives you one of these special Magnifying Glasses.”
“So, if you buy more than 80 Magnifying Glasses, you get one of these high-quality Magnifying Glasses for free… Is that it?”
“Exactly.”
“…And this Magnifying Glass really has a high chance of yieling sothing good?”
“Of course. The guy sitting over there got Skarna’s Sword, and that one there got Seolwoon’s Spellbook.”
“…But why would they give sothing like that away for free?”
“I heard these Magnifying Glasses were specially prepared by the Lord for those who continuously failed to get anything from them. Wow… Isn’t our Lord a great person? Moreover, you don’t need to buy them all at once; it accumulates.”
As Tuska spoke, fondly caressing his armor, Allen turned his gaze to the people Tuska had pointed out.
One was boastfully showing off a sword, while another was buying beer, proudly holding up a spellbook.
…At the door, rcenaries who were around those two were seen hurrying out of the tavern.
And then,
“…So, in theory, even if you spend 80 Gold Coins, if that Ceiling Magnifying Glass yields a good weapon-”
“You could turn things around in one go, or at least recoup half, making it 40 Gold Coins. So, it becos a low-risk venture.”
With the introduction of the ceiling system by Kim Hyun-woo, Allen’s heart began to race.
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