Chapter 35. Am I Rich?

Chapter 35. Am I Rich?

After noon, I decided to sell the accumulated health potions. But then I remembered that my old bag was still in Rem’s dimensional storage. Asking her to return it now felt awkward, and there wasn’t much need anyway—the old bag was cheap and worn out. Better to just buy something new.

I stopped by the nearest shop and picked the largest bag they had. Returning to the inn, I packed all my health potions into it. Even though the new bag was slightly larger than my previous one, fitting everything inside was still a tight squeeze.

When I entered the Adventurers’ Guild, it was just as empty as the last time I came at this hour. I headed to the counter where dungeon materials were processed. There was no line, so I walked right up and placed my bag on the table.

It glowed faintly, and almost immediately the guild clerk read out the result.

“Eight hundred thirty-eight second-rank health potions. For this, you’ll receive sixty-seven gold and four silver coins. Your guild badge, please.”

I quickly removed it and handed it over. As usual, someone came from the back to take my bag, and the clerk began counting the payment. I barely had time to notice what he was doing—it took less than half a minute.

A small pouch landed on the table in front of me with a pleasant jingle.

“Here, you can count it if you want,” he said.

There was no need. A guild like this didn’t cheat, and last time everything was correct. I simply hooked the pouch to my belt.

“By the way, you’ve accumulated enough points to raise your rank,” he added. “Once your bag is returned, please head over there to registration.”

He pointed toward the registration desks—where documents were processed and quests issued.

I waited a couple of minutes until my bag and adventurer badge were returned, then headed where he indicated. No lines again—convenient that you could just walk up at times like this, instead of waiting like on my very first visit here.

“Good afternoon, how can I help you?” a pleasant young woman in her twenties asked with a smile.

“I was told I have enough guild points to raise my rank,” I replied.

“All right. Please hand over your badge,” she said.

I did so immediately. She took it and began doing something behind the counter. I couldn’t see from here, but it seemed she was using some magical tool to check the data.

“Yes, you have enough points to advance to D-rank. Please wait a moment,” she said, then went into the back room.

Almost at once, another woman—slightly older—came out and took her place.

I was puzzled. Last time, when I went from F-rank to E-rank, they led me to a separate room and checked me with some magical device. Why was it different this time?

Apparently noticing my confusion, the woman at the desk asked, “Do you have any questions?”

“Well… last time I ranked up, they took me to another room. This time it’s different.”

“Oh, don’t worry. If you already met the level requirements for D-rank last time, there’s no need for such a check now,” she explained.

“I see. Thanks,” I said.

And it made sense—last time I’d been around level 64, which was third-rank territory. If I understood correctly, even next time, when I have enough points to go to C-rank, they probably wouldn’t need to test me again. Good… it would be hard to explain jumping from 64 to level 118 in such a short time.

After about ten minutes, the first woman returned with my badge. It looked the same as before, except the rank now read D.

As soon as I took it, I felt a small swell of pride.

“Congratulations on reaching D-rank,” she said.

“Thanks,” I replied, turning to leave.

As I walked down the street, I thought: just one more rank and I’d be C-rank, like Rem and Sherial. Of course, I was nowhere near their combat ability—but that wasn’t important right now.

What mattered was paying my debt. I still hadn’t done that. Counting what I had from last time and what I earned today, I had just over seventy gold coins. Not bad.

So, the plan was to repay Rem and Sherial, then buy supplies for another dungeon run. But this time I wouldn’t take risks. Last time, I got swindled badly on weapons and armor. Food was fine, but gear… no. I’d ask the girls to help pick equipment.

For now, I’d stick to buying food. Lots of it.

I went into one of the tidy adventurer supply shops—there were plenty in this city—and bought around fifty silver worth of provisions. Enough to fill my new bag completely.

With my purchases, I returned to the inn and headed to my room.

Just as I entered, set down the bag, and sat on the bed to rest, there was a knock at the door.

I opened it—Rem stood there. She came in and sat at the table, so I took the seat across from her.

Her eyes flicked to my bag.

“Looks like you bought a new one,” she noted.

“Yeah. Decided to get a bigger bag and stock up for the next dungeon trip,” I said.

“Oh…” Rem smiled a bit sheepishly. “Sorry, I forgot to return your bag. And… I ate everything in it.”

“It’s fine. You saved our lives, and it was just cheap food,” I waved it off. “By the way, I wanted to ask… how much did you spend on me last time—on the inn and the potion that saved my life?”

“Doesn’t matter, forget it,” she waved a hand.

“No, I’m serious. I want to repay you. You’ve already helped me more than I deserve. You’ve saved my life twice,” I insisted.

“Well… if you want to pay me back, then for the inn and the potion—three gold coins will be enough,” she said.

I quickly pulled three gold from my pouch and put them on the table.

Rem took the coins and immediately set another pouch in front of me.

“This is your share,” she said.

“My share?” I was puzzled, but she seemed to read my mind.

“It’s the money we got for helping stop that monster wave… you know, the mass panic in the dungeon,” she explained.

“But I barely helped,” I argued.

“No, you helped a lot. Without you, I couldn’t have summoned so many golems to stop and destroy most of the monsters,” Rem said. “No arguing—just take it.”

Well, fine. I took the pouch. It was heavy—at least twice the weight of my current pouch with seventy gold coins… maybe even three times heavier.

I opened it—and froze. Inside were coins.

At first, I thought they were silver… but when I picked one up, I realized—no. The coin, similar to silver, had a soft bluish, cold sheen.

“First time seeing a platinum coin?” Rem asked.

“Yes,” I said, still examining it.

So this was platinum… Wait. If there were at least a hundred in the pouch… In the novels I’d read, platinum was worth ten times gold. That meant I had about a thousand gold here…

“Ordinary people hardly ever use these,” Rem explained. “Platinum is held only by rich merchants or nobles. One platinum coin is worth a hundred gold coins. There are two hundred coins here. This is your share.”

“Two hundred platinum?!” I repeated. My head spun. Twenty thousand gold coins. At once.

“Isn’t that too much…” I murmured, but Rem just waved a hand.

“I’ve given you what I wanted to. We’re going to rest for a couple more days, so relax,” she said, and left.

I stayed at the table, staring at the pouch before me. Its weight pressed down not just on the wood, but on my thoughts.

If each gold coin contained at least ten grams of pure gold, then two hundred platinum coins—worth twenty thousand gold coins—would equal about two hundred kilograms of gold. On Earth, last I heard, a kilogram of gold cost about fifty thousand dollars—though that might have gone up. Even if the price was the same, two hundred kilos at fifty thousand each came to ten million dollars. Enough to live in luxury for the rest of my life on Earth. And here… even more so, if I spent carefully.

This changed everything. Before, my goal was to earn enough to buy a small house in a quiet village, lock myself away for a few years, avoid working, and slowly level up in the training room. All so that one day, when I was ready, I could return to the dungeons.

But now… now I could buy an estate and live in complete safety, without a care for the future. In a quiet, peaceful place, far from monsters and blood.

Yes, I would still train. My training room skill would remain. But why risk my life? Why go into a dungeon knowing that one mistake could be my last? Why risk anything when I already had everything I needed to live in peace?

Maybe it was time to end it. To close the chapter on my adventuring career while I was still alive and well. Just thank fate—and walk away.

…No. Wait. You can’t make decisions like that in haste. I needed to think. To weigh everything again.

After half an hour of weighing the pros and cons, I made my decision.

“It’s time to quit being an adventurer. I won’t risk my life anymore,” I said aloud, as if trying to convince myself.

But these weren’t just words. I still remembered the fear when the dark wolves—dozens, hundreds—charged the wall. I’d been helpless then. Completely. Next time, I might not be lucky. I could just die.

No, thanks. One experience like that was enough. Now I had money—enough to live comfortably—and I wasn’t going to step into a place where death waited around every corner.

All right. I needed to tell Rem and Sherial. The sooner, the better. We’d planned to go into the dungeon together, and it was best they knew before making preparations.

If I thought about it… up until now, I’d been nothing but a burden to them. Without me, things would be easier. Why had they pulled me out of trouble so many times? Probably just because they were kind-hearted. They couldn’t leave a fool like me behind. But with me gone, it really would be simpler for them.

Still… I really didn’t want to say goodbye.

I left my room and turned to close the door.

At that moment, something cold touched my neck. Very familiar.

A chill ran down my spine.

Yes… I knew this feeling.

The feeling of a blade’s edge slowly pressing against my skin.