Last night, after he reported to her, Hel had looked more happy than worried for him.
"The trial that the gods send upon you might look cruel indeed, but do not despair at the conflict you find yourself in," she said as she updated his status. "Peer beyond them, and you shall soon find those same adversaries will serve as the foundation of your legend."
"Your latest ordeal is no different, my champion. That cur's strength may eclipse your own for now, but the darkness within you shall not be culled with a mere curse. You remember the oath you uttered before me, I believe."
"Of course." Gin remembered his show of bravado.
The phrase that ended up being the first promise he ever made to her.
"Any who challenge us shall be devoured."
He couldn't see her face right then, but he had a feeling Hel was looking proudly at him.
"And devour him you shall. Feast upon his very being and unveil the truth that he is no more than a footnote in your epic."
....
[ STATUS ]
NAME : Gin Hvergel LEVEL : 1
STR : I 35 → I 61
END : I 5 → I 13
DEX : I 43 → H 133
AGI : I 17 → I 58
MAG : I 26 → I 78
....
And so he grew stronger, with the highlight being his Dexterity hitting Rank H.
This morning, Gin was heading directly to the Guild, eager to cash in the golden egg after yesterday's debacle. Hel accompanied him, walking alongside him through the morning bustle of Orario's main street.
Soon, he would undergo probably one of the most important talks of the decade. Having a goddess who could tell if someone was trying to bullshit their way through a deal would be pretty useful.
Well, he doubted the Guild would dupe him for a mere one million Valis. They handled way bigger money every day, after all.
Aki had told him about the average daily income of Loki Familia's first-rate adventurers. It was insane. The magic crystals and drop items of the lower floors were worth a lot more than one million.
After hearing the numbers, he wasn't surprised Loki had managed to build a freaking castle.
A successful adventurer might as well be richer than most nobles.
Still, it was better to be safe than sorry. One million Valis was an astronomical amount for someone on his paycheck.
So here he was, once again sitting on a sofa with Hel beside him and Rehmer across from him.
"You have two options in exchanging the Jack Bird's Golden Egg with the Guild, Mr. Hvergel," Rehmer began. "The first is to directly exchange it to us for one million Valis. If you are in dire need of money, this will be the best option. We can give you the money right now, in fact. The second option is to wait for the annual Guild Organized Auction in four months. This option will, of course, promise you a higher return. Item makers, collectors, and resellers will compete to get their hands on such a rare item."
"Let me guess, if I pick the auction, the Guild gets a cut of the profit?"
"You guess right. The Guild will take fifteen percent of the profit above the initial selling price. If no one bids on it, which is highly unlikely, you will still gain one million Valis, Mr. Hvergel."
"Fifteen percent!? Are you serious, man? Isn't the usual rate one to five percent?"
"I can tell you are pulling those numbers out of your buttocks, Mr. Hvergel. But yes, the usual rate is lower than that. Usually, it would be ten percent at most. Please understand that Orario isn't exactly the safest place right now with Evilus at large. We need to employ high-level adventurers just to serve as security at the auction warehouse. They don't exactly come cheap."
Gin looked at Hel. Seeing as she was keeping quiet and not going off on a monologue meant Rehmer was telling the truth.
"So what will it be, Mr. Hvergel?"
"Okay, you've pretty much convinced me. But just to make sure, what happens if someone steals the egg before the auction?"
"We will reimburse you. One million Valis, along with another 150,000. The fifteen percent goes both ways."
'Wow, these guys are actually generous.'
"And let's say I become a millionaire after the auction is over… Can I just withdraw certain amounts when I need it?"
"It's possible, yes. Although we would appreciate advance notice for large withdrawals above one million."
This kept getting better and better.
"Okay, where do I sign for the auction?"
"Here, please. We will give you a free ticket for the auction as well."
Gin happily signed the form and stamped his fingerprint on it. Ten out of ten service. Viva la Guild!
With the matter of the golden egg out of the way, Gin and Rehmer moved on to the usual situation update.
"Your Dexterity has reached Rank H? That is impressive," Rehmer said calmly.
'Wait? That's it?'
Gin's expression must have been pretty vocal because Rehmer leveled a look at him.
"Is something the matter?"
"No, I just thought your reaction would be... more, you know? I mean, getting an H in only three days is pretty awesome, right?"
"Surprisingly, no. There are not many, but the kind of growth you are experiencing is not undocumented." Rehmer sipped his tea.
Gin and Hel mirrored him, sipping their dark cocoa. Oh, Hel had a chocolate mustache now. Gin wiped it off for her, making sure to keep his goddess's dignified appearance intact in public.
Rehmer continued. "Some adventurers' statuses do grow fairly quickly at the start and then slow down afterwards. If you had reached G or F in three days, it would be unbelievable, but an H is still feasible by standard metrics. Besides, you are an archer, correct? I assume while your Dexterity is high, your Endurance is pitiful."
"Is that bad?"
"If you want to proceed as a halfwit and keep diving solo for years to come, then yes." Rehmer looked at him with an unusually serious expression. "Mr. Hvergel, if you are serious about being an adventurer, I advise that you create or join a party. The first four floors where you are adventuring right now are fairly safe to dive solo, even for a beginner like you, but the floors afterwards are a different case altogether."
"Right now you might be able to take a rest after each fight to catch your breath, but it isn't uncommon for monsters to spawn in the middle of a battle starting from the fifth floor. Not to mention that War Shadows and Killer Ants spawn on the sixth and seventh floors. They are called 'Newbie Killers' for a reason. Do you know why the number of deaths caused by those two monsters exceeds even those on the tenth floor onward?"
"…I know. You might not believe this, but I do take notes on the things you teach me, you know. It's the high spike in difficulty, right?"
The goblins and kobolds he had fought before died in one or two hits. They were the small fries of the Dungeon. But the Dungeon was merciless.
The first four floors gave adventurers false confidence, only to show them hell on the next floor.
"Correct. It is a common story. New adventurers rush through the first four floors, high on the feeling of completely decimating goblins, kobolds, and dungeon lizards, only to find themselves face to face with War Shadows and realizing the monsters in front of them are three times as strong as what they fought before."
"And the other common story would be adventurers who are too slow to finish off a Killer Ant and find themselves suddenly surrounded by tens of them, right?" Gin added.
He could easily imagine that situation. Killer Ants released a pheromone that drew other Killer Ants if they were near death. It would be far too easy to find himself facing death by a swarm.
"I am not suicidal. I know I'm not strong enough to go down there alone. I will wait until my stats are mostly G before trying my luck."
"A good decision, but I will still advise you to join a party just to be safe." Rehmer gave him a sincere look for a moment before adopting his usual professional demeanor.
"Yeah, I'll seriously think about it. Thanks, Rehmer."
"You are very welcome." He nodded. "I pray that you will not be an addition to those stories, Mr. Hvergel."
'Well, this seems like as good a time as any to check housing prices.' The auction was still four months away, but there was no reason not to look early.
Hel was already with him anyway.
They could look around until lunchtime, grab a bite, or head back to Twilight Manor to eat before heading out again.
"Hel-sama? Do you have any plans after this?"
"Nay. Do you have something in mind, my champion?"
"I'm thinking of looking for a place to stay, actually. We'll get a lot of money soon, right? I think this is the perfect time to search."
Hel looked kind of happy at that.
"I see. So we will finally be free of that cursed place. You have done a good service, my champion. No longer shall we crawl under the darkness to move from that beast's sight."
'Ah… so she actually hides from Loki, huh?' Gin wasn't surprised.
He could totally see Hel doing ridiculous things just to evade that sexually harassing goddess.
"Do you have an idea of how to look for our future dark abode?"
Gin smiled and stepped back into the Guild. As he walked through the doorway, he made eye contact with Rehmer, who was busy talking to another adventurer.
Gin frantically signed at him: Search. House. Where?
Rehmer signed back flatly: Housing Agency. Babel Tower 6th floor. Go.
Thanks man.
Sure. Whatever.
They actually understood each other. That was something.
And so, Gin made his way to the Babel Tower, and for once, he was taking the stairs up rather than down.
Babel Tower was the lid put down by the gods to seal up the Dungeon, yet mortals had somehow turned it into governmental office space along with other adventuring-related shops for armor and weapons.
The housing agency on the 6th floor wasn't too crowded, thankfully, and Gin managed to secure the services of a staff member at the counter to help set him up.
"So, first things first, in which district do you want the house to be?"
With Babel Tower at its center, Orario was divided into eight districts in total. Starting from the west and going clockwise, you had the first, second, and so on until the eighth district.
The First District contained the Guild, along with the Saint Fulland cathedral. There were some shops that sold adventuring gear and items as well.
Oh, and the Hostess of Fertility was there.
The Second District, sometimes called the Smith District, mostly housed blacksmith shops.
The Third District, located in the north, was where Twilight Manor sat. Most of the district was filled with boutiques and residential areas.
The Fourth District was something of an agricultural zone. Familias like the Demeter Familia and Idunn Familia had plots of land there.
Fuck the Fifth District. Fuck that stupid Daedalus Street too.
The Sixth was out.
That place was unhealthy for Hel's upbringing. Gin didn't want to imagine Hel living near the entertainment district, of all things.
The Seventh and Eighth Districts were pretty similar; they both had large market areas along with a number of bars and restaurants.
The difference? The Seventh District actually had a huge building in the shape of a god with an elephant mask named IamGanesha.
He wasn't even joking about that last one.
'So where should we look for our future home?' Gin decided to focus on three districts.
"What kind of houses are there in the first, third, and fourth districts?"
The First District was convenient.
It would be nice not to backtrack after visiting the Guild post-dive. The Hostess of Fertility being there was a nice bonus.
The Third District was where Loki's home was. Loki might make Hel uncomfortable, but in an emergency, Twilight Manor was probably the best place to keep Hel safe.
The Fourth District was the agriculture district. The best place to support his lifestyle. In his mind, most agriculture folks were nice to their neighbors. Who knows? They might give him freebies.
"Let's see here. You said your price range is around one million Valis, correct? May I know what kind of house you are looking for? How many bedrooms? Do you want a property with an available plot of land, or are you okay with one that is joined to the buildings beside it?"
"A good kitchen and a sizable pantry would be nice. I don't really care much about the bathroom, so anything's fine as long as it's working," Gin said. "Maybe four rooms or so? Oh, or somewhere that's easy to expand and renovate would be great."
Right now it was just him and Hel, but sooner or later the familia would grow. He needed to think about the future.
"I desire an abode underground, for there darkness and silence reign supreme," Hel added from the side.
The agent stopped taking notes and stared at them.
"She means a basement is desirable," Gin translated.
The agent made an "ah" sound of understanding and flipped through a number of files.
"Here it is." He showed them pictures of three houses. "The first one is located near the northern border between the Third and Fourth Districts. It has everything you want except the basement, but you can commission a builder for that. It's quite a large house, but it's pretty far from Babel Tower and other shops, so the price is quite affordable at 1.4 million Valis."
"The second one is a building complex in the First District near the city wall. It has three bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen. Please understand that the First District is Orario's busiest area, so the price is higher for less space. It's 900,000 Valis. If you want to renovate, you might need a lot of permits too."
"The last one is in the Third District near Babel. It's pretty small, with only two bedrooms, but it's located near the Second and Fourth Districts as well. Out of all three, it is the cheapest at 850,000 Valis."
"Which one are you interested in?"
The ones in the First and Third Districts were good enough for his needs right now, and more importantly, they were affordable. But both shared the same downside: difficulty expanding.
If he was being honest, he definitely wanted the one in the Fourth District. It had everything he wanted, along with a large plot to expand on. He would need to check it in person, of course, but if it lived up to the sales pitch, it was the perfect fit.
The price, though. 1.4 million Valis. It was over his budget by 400,000 Valis. If the auction went well, it wouldn't be a problem, but that meant he needed to wait until the auction was over before giving a definitive 'yes' to purchase it.
If he went for the two smaller houses, he might be able to strike a deal with the seller and move in quickly by showing them some Guild-signed document proving his upcoming windfall. He couldn't do that with the large house.
400,000 Valis wasn't a small amount he could easily cover if the auction failed. If he were a high-class or middle-class adventurer, the seller might give him leeway based on reputation alone. He doubted the seller would do the same for a newbie like him.
'What to do?'
While he was thinking, Hel walked over, picked up one of the pictures, and showed it to him.
"My champion, I have decided on our fate. This abode right here shall be the future hall of our familia. Our home, our Helheim."
Gin looked at the picture.
As expected of his goddess, no hesitation at all. Well, it couldn't be helped.
Fulfilling her wishes was in his job description now.
"We are interested in this one. Can you give us the contact info for the seller?"
"Of course, sir. Please wait a moment."
Sure enough, she picked the hardest one to buy. What a troublesome goddess she was.
And thus, Gin proceeded with the process to buy the 1.4 million Valis house—the would-be Helheim.