King Allegro"s Treasure Chest
The reference room was located on the second floor. The moldy smell that hung in the air suggested that it was barely used at all. Although they did some simple cleaning, light dusts still acc.u.mulated in places.
「Not many people use this room.」Reine said.
Bookshelves lined the walls, and tables for browsing filled the rest of the room. Indeed, there was no one inside.
「So half are files and half are samples.」Hikaru said.
「For rare samples, we use replicas instead for anti-theft measures. Please take your time. I"ll be downstairs if you need anything.」
Even now Lavia still clung to Hikaru tight. Glancing at Hikaru with cold eyes, Reine left the room.
「Can you, uh… let go now?」Hikaru asked.
「We can still read like this.」
「It"ll be difficult, Lavichan.」
「See? Even Paula doesn"t like the idea.」
Pouting, Lavia let go reluctantly. Hikaru found her acting like a spoiled child adorable, but right now he needed to prioritize gathering data.
「Okay, then. Let"s check the files first.」
A map of Ville Zentra"s vicinity lay spread out on the table. Hikaru checked for places they could find work while using the files as reference.
What he found out was there was nothing of value in places that they could go to and back in just a day. At the least they would have to travel via fast horse for half a day, then stay for two nights.
To the north of the coastline was a wasteland where large lizards dwelled. Their high-quality meat would fetch a good price. Mountains loomed to the west where one could mine for gems. The forest to the south would be best for gathering medicinal herbs, fruits, or hunting animals.
There was a dungeon in Vireocean too, but it was a bit too far from the capital. Going now would not be feasible.
「Hmm… the wasteland and mines are out.」Hikaru said.
「Why?」Lavia asked.
「We can"t carry luggage with fast horses. Meat and ores are heavy. Borrowing a carriage is an option, but then one would have to stay with it at all times, hindering mobility and reducing our output.」
「Good point. I would feel lonely watching a carriage alone.」
「Um, Hikaru-sama. Is this a commission?」
「A commission?」
Paula showed Hikaru a folder that was a little dated, with parchments inside.
「“Searching for seeds, leaves, or petals of the Pebble Steam Flower that went extinct 200 years ago.” Looks like a commission, all right. Whoa, this is from more than 30 years ago. This one"s 26 years ago, and this one"s 52.」
「These were not posted downstairs.」
「Yes. They"re all old commissions.」
「n.o.body must have taken them.」
Comissions with high level of difficulty and low chance of completion were all filed here. Most of the clients were n.o.bles and huge firms. The guild probably couldn"t just turn them down.
「The reward"s ridiculous too. Two million, 1.2 million, and this one"s 15 million gilans.」
The last one involved searching for a stolen brooch fitted with a thumb-sized ruby.
「I see. There are commissions like these too, huh?」Hikaru said.「Pretty good compensation as well.」
「But they"re filed here precisely because they"re difficult to complete, right?」Lavia asked.
「Yeah, but this one"s worth a shot, don"t you think?」Hikaru handed her a commission from the Ville Zentra museum.
「Let"s see… Please unlock King Allegro"s Treasure Chest displayed in the museum.」
「Sounds like they want a chest opened. The reward is either the contents of the chest or two million gilans. If the former is chosen, the contents would be examined, and if they"re worth more than two million, you can take them all by paying half the price difference. It"s in town, so we can get there right away.」
「But this sounds like a job for a professional.」Lavia said.
「I have a plan.」
「A plan?」
「What is it?」Paula asked.
Hikaru smiled as he pulled a paper out from the folder.「You"ll see.」
The three of them left the Adventurers Guild and made their way to the Vireocean National Museum. Hikaru had to go through some process with Reine to officially accept the commission. Normally one would only have to take a commission stub and put it against a guild card for it to be automatically accepted, but since this particular commission was written on paper, that was not possible.
With even colder eyes this time, Reine processed the commission indifferently, and handed Hikaru a slip that indicated the acceptance of the commission.
The museum wss located in a block of government buildings. The entrance fee was fifty gilans, but all Hikaru had to do was show the slip and they were allowed to enter for free.
「Oh…」an aging staff said.「Some adventurers come here with this unfulfilled commission to enter the museum for free.」
「Really?」Hikaru wondered.
「It"s a well-known trick among adventurers, isn"t it?」
Hikaru wasn"t aware of such a thing.「I haven"t heard of it. Then again, I"m new in town. I don"t even know other adventurers.」
「Really, now? So you really plan to open the chest?」The staff"s eyes opened wide in surprise, then he burst into laughter.「Interesting. Good luck, then.」
「Thanks, I guess.」
He clearly didn"t have hopes in Hikaru. Either way, the three of them entered the museum.
I guess all museums look alike, no matter which world you"re from.
Armor and sword were displayed on stone pedestals. The armor didn"t look impressive and was poorly refined, but apparently it was worn by someone who developed this land a long time ago.
Most items displayed were armors or ornaments worn by high-ranking people back in the day—basically a look at Vireocean"s history. Hikaru was surprised to find out that most were the real thing and not replicas. Apparently there were high-tech security measures in place—a magic item would ring loudly once the items were touched.
「There"s people gathered around over there.」
The museum was open to everyone. Most of those who entered were ordinary citizens, who by the look of their outfit, were well-off to spend fifty gilans for the entrance.
「Hikaru-sama. It says King Allegro"s Treasure Chest over there.」
「Yeah, I saw it just now.」
The people were gathered around where the chest was displayed. There was even a signboard, suggesting that the item was different from the others.
「Hngh!」
「Come on, now. You can"t open that with power alone. Let me try it.」
「Back off, idiot. I was first on the line. My unlocking skills are known to be the best.」
「Do I hear a thief bragging? I"m gonna call the guards on you.」
「Go ahead. Hahaha!」
Boorish men were attempting to open the chest.
「Are they adventurers who took the commission too?」
「Maybe… Looks like anyone can try it, though.」
The signboard said: King Allegro"s Treasure Chest is a special magic item that can withstand any impact. In addition, even if it is damaged, it repairs itself immediately. Anyone can try to unlock it. If you manage to open the chest, please inform the museum staff. You will have the right to own half of what"s inside.
「So they want everyone who comes here to give it a try.」
It reminded Hikaru of the acrylic box in the Sado Gold Mine Museum in j.a.pan where you received a souvenir if you managed to take out the gold bar from inside through a hole just big enough for one hand to pa.s.s through. The gold bar was heavy that even adults had a hard time lifting it up. It was probably made of lead, rather than pure gold.
「Hmm? What"s up, kid? You wanna give it a shot?」
A dingy man with filthy clothes turned around. The other men had similar appearance as well. Perhaps the work they did was not something they could mention openly.
「Nah, just looking around. 」
Hikaru grabbed Lavia and Paula"s hands and started walking. He could feel the men"s almost viscuous stares from behind.
「Those are some pretty chicks.」
「They"re too young.」
「The other one looks good to me. I"m sure no one would mind if an adventurer disappeared.」
I messed up, Hikaru thought. I should"ve use Stealth.
Once they were far enough, he activated Group Obfuscation. The men shouldn"t be able to see them anymore.
「What"s their problem? I don"t like how they were looking at us.」Lavia said.
「It was disgusting…」Paula added.
「I"m sorry. I should"ve a.s.sessed the situation first.」Hikaru said.「Let"s get out of here.」
「Are you giving up on the commission?」Lavia asked.
「Of course not.」he answered immediately.「By the looks of that chest, I think I can open it.」