Chapter 12

When they entered, they were greeted by an empty room, with one table at the end of it and a small bulletin board on the side. The bulletin board looked old, with cracks all over it. It looked like a soft blow was enough to send it crumbling down. John stepped away, not wanting to be in front of it when it eventually collapsed.

The girl who sat behind the table sighed. She had a card on the left side of her chest stating ‘Ellie’. That must be her name. She played with some dice, rolling them on the table with a bored expression on her face.

“Umm… excuse us…” John called out. She looked up, her dark yellow eyes meeting him, her short orange hair swaying as she moved.

“Ah… welcome. Anything I can help with?” she asked lazily.

Right before John could say anything, Leyla tapped on his arm and pointed toward the chair she was sitting on. It was a regular white chair, but its shape was similar to the other magical chairs. John tapped on the key, and it pointed toward the white chair.

“I thought it pointed at one at a time?”

“It pointed toward the closest one.”

“... What are you talking about… yawn.”

John and Leyla close in on the desk. John then pointed toward the chair. “Can we do anything to get that chair?”

“H- huh?”

John was aware of how stupid he sounded.

Can't believe I came to another world just to look for chairs.

But if they could score two chairs on one go, then their task would be much easier.

“Chair… chair… are you from the furnishing company?"

“No?”

“Then, the academy?”

“No them, either.”

“Then… who are you?”

“It's hard to explain, but we need to get that chair.”

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion… then she closed them and fell asleep.

“...? Hello?”

“Ah, huh, uh… right… chair… chair… well, I don't know about the details… but… well…”

She let out another yawn.

“So, chair, yes or no?” Leyla cut to the chase, annoyed at the waiting.

“I'm not paid enough for this…” the receptionist groaned. John couldn't help but feel bad, considering he had faced something similar before.

“Look, take the chair or don't take the chair, not my problem. I'm here if you want to take quests or something… yawn.”

“We want to register?”

A smirk appeared on the receptionist's face all of a sudden. “... Get registered, complete some quests, I get some bonus, you get the chair, deal?”

That seemed easy enough.

“Depending on how good you do, I may even share some of the bonus.”

“Bonus… huh…”

They could use some extra cash.

“What do you need?”

She took out a map from one of the cupboards, then spread it across the table. It contained what looked to be some kind of dungeon, deep in the mountainside. John could see the parts where treasure was found, along with stairs heading deeper into the dungeon.

“There used to be a rumor that this dungeon is full of treasure. Many treasure hunters flocked to this part in dreams to hit it big, but unfortunately, they didn’t find anything valuable.”

“... And you want us to reach the lowest floor?”

The receptionist nodded. “I honestly don't care about what’s down there, but my boss insists that there must be something. Bring me everything you find.”

They might have learnt some things about this world during their time in the library, but it wasn't enough to tell them everything about this world. Even if John managed to find some precious items, he couldn’t keep them for himself. He didn’t know the actual price, and must rely on the guild’s pricing system.

Whether that was fair or not, he had no way of knowing.

In a way, it felt like a waste to embark on this quest without at least studying a bit of economics, or at least visiting the pawn shops within the town to check out the price of items. They could find something that basically allowed them to purchase all the chairs moving forward and not realize it. Doing so would allow Leyla to return as fast as possible, something both of them wanted.

“Ah, I see you’re concerned. Don’t worry, if there’s one good thing about the treasure hunters’ guild, is that we pay fairly.”

“Hmm…”

Doing this would also add some credibility to them, something they would need if they wanted that chair at the academy.

“What are the benefits for you?” Leyla asked. The receptionist had been acting rather lazily all this time, so for her to suddenly change her attitude, she must have something big to gain.

“My boss promised me a hefty bonus if I could convince any treasure hunter to get down to the last floor.”

“How deep is the last floor?”

“I don’t know. Dungeons range from twenty floors deep to a hundred floors deep. Beyond that was rare, though.”

“And what if we didn’t find anything?”

She shrugged. “The boss will be angry, probably. Not my business, though.”

“I see…”

“So, agree?”

Without any other options, John and Leyla signed the registration. She then went to a weird machine at the rear of the room. She brought her hand over the machine, and a yellowish glow appeared underneath her palm. A few minutes later, two cards appeared, each with their names on it.

She then gave the cards to John and Leyla. John had his full name written there, John Kavokick, while Leyla’s card only had Leyla on it.

“What equipment will we need?” he asked. Leyla took a closer look at the map given by the receptionist.

“Well, you need a way to safely get out if things get heated. A teleportation crystal is expensive, so I suggest something simpler, like a rope or colored rocks. Treasure hunters don’t typically fight monsters, so a stealth cloak and a dagger should be enough.”

“How much?”

John fell silent when she revealed the price. It was way too much.

“I guess you could just go with a regular cloak. You might not even need a cloak in the first place. Monsters don’t have good eyesight. Plus, it’s dark down there.”

“Should we buy a torch or something?”

“Regular fire magic would do.”

John glanced at Leyla.

“I could do that much.”

“Oh, and you’ll want some food as well, unless you’re planning to keep going up and down. Sleeping bags, and I think an anti-monster barrier would be good. It keeps monsters' attention away from you. But make sure no monster sees you when you activate it. You can’t use it if you’re already being chased by one.”

The amount of information she told him made his head go dizzy.

“Sigh… Fine, I’ll handle it,” Leyla said.

John clasped his hands together. “Thank you very much!”

For the rest of the explanation, Leyla was the only one listening. John was still there, standing beside her, but barely any information entered.

It was already late in the evening by the time they left the guild.

“Should we head to an inn?” John asked. They still lacked some equipment, and many shops had closed for the night.

“You know that’s our only option.”

It was unfortunate. Given the option, he would prefer to head out now and camp in the dungeon instead. Instead, he would waste money on an inn room, whether he wanted it or not. That said, they would be spending several days mapping out the dungeon and reaching the lowest floor.

Based on what the receptionist had said, the previous expedition took twelve days just to reach the fifteenth floor. It wasn’t clear how many levels remained, but there should still be a while. The expedition didn’t find any good treasure, though, so they gave up.

Regardless of whether John managed to find anything or not, he knew that if he reached the bottom floor, he could get the chair. That was the important part.

“Let’s get some sleep. We’ll need to wake up early tomorrow.”

“Yeah.”

John followed Leyla into the nearest inn.