*Glitter!*

As soon as the user was registered, the Fire Orb lit up. However, after that, no matter what we did, she did not react to anything. Even Raven gave up, touching it over and over again.

"I think... This should be assessed by a special appraiser in the city.

"Do we take it?"

"Excuse me?" What do you mean?

That is what he said...

"I thought you might offer to borrow the book." Like, it has great historical value or something like that.

"Well, it's not that I don't crave it.

Instead of getting angry, Raven readily agreed.

"But the author of the diary himself told us to take it and use it. It is clear that this is more valuable than a diary. In addition, I already remembered everything. And I also made a video recording just in case.

"Oh... Are you sure?

— Yes. So, don't worry about it.

After that, Raven cast a [Distortion] spell on the Fire Sphere. Now, even if a binding is detected, it cannot be unlinked.

I shouldn't use this until we're back in town to make it look natural.

Yes, it would be better that way. I didn't know anything, so it was accidental. Although my conscience tormented me...

I didn't take it for myself.

The Fire Sphere was an item for the entire team. This means that the benefit from it will be general. Yes, as long as we stayed in the same team.

— ... Looks like there's nothing else here.

We searched the house for another half an hour, but we didn't find anything significant, although I assumed that there might be something else that didn't make it into the game, like the diary.

"So what are we going to do?"

"Isn't that obvious!?" We must continue the hunt.

— ... I knew you would say so.

As money-hungry explorers, we spent the rest of our time hunting monsters.

After a while...

[You're transported to Rafdonia.]

It was time to return.

***

For the first time in a month, I see the light of the sun. As if for photosynthesis, I slowly warmed up before reaching the checkpoint reserved for mid-level researchers of the 6th rank and above. While I waited, everyone gathered except Mr. Bear.

"Where is Urakburak?"

Why ask at all?

Since we had been hunting until now, I did not have the strength to answer this question. After waiting for a while, Mr. Bear appeared. Next to him was an unknown researcher.

"There you are.

"Oh, thank you. Thanks to you, I found him easily.

"Huhu, thanks to you, I saw a strange man.

After this dubious praise, the researcher calmly walked towards his team.

Mr. Bear smiled sheepishly and joined us.

"Haha, the queue is quite long.

It's because we're late because of you.

I sighed, looking at him, but said nothing. To begin with, I was the leader of the team. Each had its own pros and cons. I had to try to accept the shortcomings as well. In addition, I developed immunity while working in a team of losers.

But he fights well.

In general, when we all took the line and waited, Misha and Mr. Bear began to chat.

"Standing here all together, there is a feeling that we have really achieved success.

"Haha, I think you can feel that way. Teams are recognized from the 6th rank.

— Yes. I feel that I have now become a full-fledged researcher. A very strange feeling...

In fact, I felt the same way. Previously, we had to gather outside to pass various checkpoints for each rank. The queue intended for the 6th rank quickly became available. There were far fewer researchers here than at the 9th rank checkpoint, but the staff was twice as many. They were even in a separate room, which allowed them to maintain confidentiality.

"The Apple Narak team... so? An employee of the administration looked at the registration certificate of our team and managed to keep the poker face.

After some simple administrative procedures, we handed him the collected bags with mana stones - there were about seven of them, and all of them were heavy.

—…

The staff's eyes widened as they opened all the bags and confirmed that they were full of mana stones. Of course, after a while, their eyes narrowed meaningfully. It almost caused me to relapse into the PTSD I'd had since I had been dragged to the guild prison, but Raven, as befits a conversational professional, handled the matter.

"All these mana stones were obtained legally, by killing monsters. There is a video recording confirming this. If you want to confirm this, you will have to pay appropriate compensation for the publication of our achievements.

"I suppose... This is not necessary.

"Then could you trade it quickly, please?"

Perhaps she was tired or the employee's gaze infuriated her, but Raven was more annoyed than usual.

Could it be that they sensed something sinister? The administrator quickly stirred and completed the exchange in the blink of an eye.

- 25.19 million stones.

This was an amount that could only be obtained on a clan scale. If you divide by five, you get 5 million stones for each. If we continued to earn like this every month, then our annual salary would be 60 million stones!

God bless the Burning Zone.

Even if we killed dozens of monsters in each battle, without the field effect, it would be impossible to earn so much.

"Hah...

Air escaped from my mouth. It was a strange feeling. It seemed like just yesterday I had exchanged my first mana stones for 180,000 gems and gained the respect of my kin.

"And how much cotton candy is that?"

"Uh... You won't go bankrupt even if you eat 10 pieces every day for the rest of your life?

The fact that this amount was not derived from marauders' equipment, but purely from the income from mana gems, was inspiring. But it will be difficult to earn so much every time.

This time we found it pretty quickly.

I discovered the black moss earlier than I expected, and it was not long before Mila Rodin appeared. Not to mention, [Distortion's] magic worked in one attempt. It's hard to imagine that next time the expedition will go so smoothly.

— ... We'll do the calculations tomorrow, right? Raven asked as soon as we left the checkpoint. Judging by her eyes, the answer was already predetermined.

"Let's do it the day after tomorrow, since it happened that way."

I wasn't going to do that today either. Not only did we reduce the time we slept for hunting, but on the last day we were awake until midnight. Considering that according to the schedule, the camp was supposed to be set up at 9-10 pm, this is already overtime work.

"The day after tomorrow?"

"Yes, because we have to sell equipment and by-products.

"Oh, that's... Could you sell them for me, Mr. Yandel?" I really don't think I'll be able to wake up tomorrow.

"I thought we could keep that part for you, you're a certified appraiser, aren't you?"

Raven pursed her lips.

It seemed that she could not even imagine that the words that she uttered, boasting, would return to her like a boomerang.

"And this is not only equipment, but also magical ingredients. Only you, a mage, can do that.

—... Then why don't you come with me, Mr. Yandel. Even a barbarian can carry luggage, right?

Porter, wow. It was absurd to hear such a thing from someone who wore a subspace ring, but I still agreed. In any case, I was curious about how a magician sells goods.

"See you then."

Having agreed on the time of the meeting, we went to our homes.

"I'll go first."

Raven yawned and went to her personal laboratory in the Magic Tower.

"Abman, can you find your way?" Mike asked.

"Don't worry. I know the way home from the checkpoint.

"Wow, at least you can find your home.

Mr. Bear went to the tavern, where his wife was waiting for him.

"Great, let's go too."

"Misha, can't we eat something before that?" I'm so hungry...

"Let's eat together, but first we'll wash our faces."

"Phew, I'll try to endure it."

We went to our inn.

***

At one o'clock in the afternoon of the next day, while Misha and Einar slept in their rooms, I was preparing to leave. Raven and I needed to sell the loot.

"Oh, then take my equipment to the repair shop." ... Can you do mine too?"

I even took the equipment of both with me. It was a bit of a shame that no one offered to come with me, but in general, I was the leader of the team. For the sake of the team, I can be patient.

"I'm one minute late.

"Can I pay a fine for being late for you?"

"Do I look like a beggar?"

Why is it so nonsensical?

Ah, this is probably due to lack of sleep.

I decided to ignore it, showing the breadth of my soul. Raven wasn't the leader of the team, but she had only been dragged here because she was a mage, so of course she wasn't happy.

I wonder if she likes sweets? I'll have to try to feed her later.

Remembering the worldly wisdom we had learned from our former friend, we got into the carriage bound for Commelbi.

On the way, a harmonious conversation did not work out. We both passed out.

"We slept well," Raven yawned.

When I woke up, the carriage had already arrived. Since we did not meet early in the morning, we moved in a hurry. First, I put something sweet in her mouth.

"Hmm, I don't like sweets...

"Focus your eyes before you say that."

"Ugh, this hurts my pride.

Anyway, the schedule for today was simple: sell Mila Roden's by-products to the magic shop, visit the blacksmith shop in the center to leave the equipment for repairs, dispose of the masked attacker's belongings, register the expandable backpack and Ifrit's essence on the exchange, and while there, call a special appraiser and complete the evaluation of the Fire Orb.

"This... A very valuable item," the appraiser told us. "Only a few large clans can boast of this.

"So what is it?"

"This is the Fire Sphere. When activated, it reduces fire damage within a 15 meter radius, consumes Soul Power.

— What are the conditions for activation?

— There is an activator word. I'll write it down here so you don't forget.

For reference, the cost of a special assessment was a whopping 300,000 stones. As soon as I heard that, I felt like I was suffocating. Seriously, these guys were just sitting there raking in the money.

— And what is the estimated value?

"Oh, I didn't tell you?!" Only the one who first touched the sphere can use it.

"What, excuse me?" Raven's gaze shifted to me. But what can you do now? I tell you, it was an accident.

*Sigh*...

Her sigh seemed to contain a lot of emotion.

We were about to leave when the appraiser put forward a proposal:

"Can I find out where you found it?"

— No, I don't. We do not intend to disclose our achievements.

"If you change your mind, please find me." It just so happened that the clans that had acquired the orb were also keeping it a secret. I'll pay a fair price.

"Good.

As soon as we left the exchange, the schedule for the day ended. Thanks to the systematically built route, we still did not have much time before the last car.

Near the platform, we had a quick snack.

"Raven, I'm telling you beforehand, but I didn't know that.

"Did I say the opposite?" Did you think that I would make you reimburse me for my losses?

Uh... Isn't it? I was absolutely sure that this issue would come up.

"It's all right. Even the appraiser had said earlier that it was a magical tool, used more as a public domain than as a personal item.

"Yes, I'll only use it for the team.

The problem I was worried about was easily resolved, so I ate quietly and talked about what I was interested in.

"But why did you refuse his offer?"

"Do you mean to tell them where we found the orb?"

"Yes, I thought he would offer a generous price.

"Maybe so, but if we tell him, he'll probably get several times more than he'll pay us for it." I can't let that happen.

Well, distributors everywhere and always had the easiest job.

"Most importantly, if the place of purchase is revealed, even more people will know about the book. This must not be allowed. In the future, I'm going to dig deep into it and turn the academic world upside down.

Now I understand what the real reason was. For the sake of fame? It was a motive that I could not understand, but everyone pursues their own goals.

"In any case, I hope that we will continue to work together in the future.

"Why did you say that?"

"For some reason, it seems to me that an ancient secret related to the witch is hidden in the labyrinth. I decided to solve it.

"Hmm... and?

"What does 'and' mean?" This means that I am going to continue the path of researcher. Together with you.

No, I still don't understand why you're putting such an emphasis on Together With You, but...

As I stared at her, Raven grinned.

"I felt it back in the Bloody Citadel, but you were born with it, Mr. Yandel. It seems to me that in the future I will have to experience many more unusual things like this.

To experience unusual things around me, right?

I laughed, without realizing it.

"You can trust me. A magician's intuition works better than you think.

Yes, I'm sure it works.