'Spatial magic—and not just that, but storage magic too. Spatial magic alone is practically unheard of, and storage-type spatial magic is even rarer than rare. If Loki-sama found out about this, she'd probably go absolutely insane with excitement.'
Eina could practically picture it—Loki losing her mind. Everyone in Orario knew that every time the Loki Familia went on an expedition, they'd end up giving up simply because they couldn't carry everything back. In other words, if just one member of the Loki Familia possessed space magic, they'd be able to push their expeditions even deeper into the Dungeon.
'Too bad this kid didn't join the Loki Familia. If his ability remained unchanged after joining, Loki-sama might really have laughed herself to madness.'
Eina quickly looked up.
"Bell-kun, since this is something so important, you need to be extra careful. You should return to your Familia, repackage the Magic Stones there, and only then bring them here to sell. That way, you can keep everything under wraps, right?"
Bell knew that made sense—but he just couldn't do it. He pressed a hand to his face, frustrated. That kind of approach would only make him stand out even more. When it comes down to revealing a secret to one person versus the whole world, even with his eyes closed, Bell knew which option to choose.
"Miss Eina, it's not just Magic Stones I want to sell. If it were only that, I wouldn't have to expose my magic at all. But what I've collected in the Dungeon isn't limited to just Magic Stones."
Not just Magic Stones?
Eina was momentarily confused. Drop Items? But the drop rate for those was extremely low. Why would anyone need to reveal a secret like this just for one or two rare items?
While Eina was still trying to make sense of it, Bell acted. With a casual snap of his fingers, the empty room echoed with the clattering sounds of metal. Weapons dropped in a torrent, the noise ringing out again and again, until it finally stopped. In just that brief span of time, the entire room was nearly filled.
Bell let out a long sigh. He didn't know whether to blame his luck, but after killing a goblin, a Magic Stone and a short sword would always appear. The Magic Stone, sure—that was expected. But the short sword? That definitely wasn't normal. And that was exactly why he had to play one of his cards.
It wasn't that he wanted to reveal anything—there were just too many goblin short swords. If he sold them out in the open, he'd definitely attract unwanted attention. And being targeted this early on could be fatal. So Bell chose the safest person he could trust to show his hand to.
'That many!?'
Eina was completely dumbfounded by the sound and the mountain of short swords. Her neck stiffly turned toward Bell, finger pointing at the pile beside him.
"Bell-kun, are these... all Drop Items?"
Bell gave a sheepish, helpless nod.
Once that was confirmed, Eina's face twitched.
Just what was with this number of Drop Items? Not even a large Familia like the Loki Familia could bring back this many from a single expedition. This haul was several times more than what the Guild usually received in an entire day.
Eina picked up one of the short swords and examined it carefully. Very quickly, she realized where it had come from. She looked up at Bell, stunned.
These were goblin drops. But how on earth had so many of these ultra-rare items appeared?
Goblins aren't exactly hard to kill in the Dungeon—if anything, they're one of the easiest monsters to deal with. But precisely because they're so easy, their drop items are incredibly rare. So rare, in fact, that the Guild might only see about ten Goblin Daggers in one or two years.
But right now, there were easily hundreds scattered across the floor—enough to match what the Guild would usually collect over several decades. If someone had told Eina this was possible, she'd never have believed it. No one could be that lucky.
"Bell-kun, just how many goblins did you kill today?"
Bell gave a helpless look, pointed at the daggers around him, and answered.
"Two hundred and eighty-four."
That number alone was already way beyond normal. The first floor of the Dungeon shouldn't even be able to produce that many goblins. Most monsters respawn at fixed intervals, and for goblins, that usually meant three waves a day, with just a dozen or so each time.
So how did this add up to 284?
Eina took a deep breath, her expression turning serious as she looked at Bell.
"Bell-kun, did you run into a Monster Parade?"
"...Miss Eina, do you really think something like a Monster Parade could happen on the first floor?"
A Monster Parade—an anomaly unique to the Dungeon—meant a floor suddenly overflowing with monsters. But that kind of phenomenon only occurred on the third floor or deeper. It had been repeatedly confirmed that Monster Parades never happened on the first floor. If they did, the Dungeon entrance would've been swarmed and shut down long ago.
Eina quickly realized her assumption was wrong. A Monster Parade on the first floor was out of the question. But even if one did happen, it still wouldn't explain 284 monsters. That kind of number couldn't possibly appear all at once—not even a Level 2 adventurer could handle being swarmed by so many goblins.
"Then how did you end up fighting that many goblins, Bell-kun?"
To be honest, Bell hadn't really thought about it either. He had noticed that the number of goblins he encountered seemed unusually high for gaining experience—but they hadn't come all at once. Thinking back, it was more like every time he finished off a group, another would appear after a short while.
"I'm not really sure myself. It was like... after I took down four or five goblins, then paused for a bit to rest or regroup, another group would show up soon after. Except for the long break I took around lunchtime, every time I was ready to move again, I'd find another wave had spawned shortly after."
The moment she heard that, Eina fixed her gaze on Bell. The timing, the pacing—it all sounded like the goblins were appearing in response to him. Whether it was the lunch break or the staggered arrivals, it all seemed oddly aligned with his own rhythm.
But Eina wasn't sure if she was overthinking it. This was something she had never seen before. At least in all her time working here, nothing like this had ever happened.