"How extravagant."
Daphne looked at the knives, swords, twin blades, and long whip laid out before her, unable to hide the envy in her voice.
Knowing these weapons were crafted from Spirit Tree materials, their quality was beyond doubt. Both in hardness and sharpness, they far outclassed anything she had used before.
"Daphne..."
Behind her, Cassandra gently tugged on her sleeve.
"That wasn't a nice thing to say."
"...Ah."
Only then did Daphne realize these weapons had been provided for their use. Calling them "extravagant" wasn't exactly appropriate.
But Bell simply shook his head, unfazed.
"These wooden weapons are decent in quality, but unfortunately, they can't be sold."
"Can't be sold? Is there something wrong with them?"
Daphne carefully inspected each weapon in front of her, but with her sharp eyes, she couldn't find a single flaw.
Bell shook his head slightly and picked one up as he explained.
"The quality's great, and there's nothing wrong with them. But that's exactly why they can't be sold."
"Spirit Tree is an extremely rare material in Orario. Elves don't sell it to outsiders. That's why weapons made from Spirit Tree are even less marketable—because they technically still belong to the Elves."
Daphne finally understood. She looked down at the weapon in her hand and sighed internally.
'Yeah, there's no way these could be sold.'
Just as Bell said, Spirit Tree was controlled by the Elves, and they were known for being proud and extremely picky. If they found out Spirit Tree weapons had entered the market, they'd probably lose their minds.
No wonder. Even if this seemed like a surefire way to make money, the Elves' personalities made it completely unworkable.
"While you can't sell them, the three of you can each keep one."
"Huh?"
"After all, the most famous Elf in the Loki Familia is the 'Nine Hell', and she's royalty among the High Elves. So even if some Spirit Tree materials made their way to us, it wouldn't be that strange. She is royalty, after all."
But Raul couldn't help but give a wry smile at that.
"Bell-kun, don't let Riveria hear you say that. Even if she does accept gifts from her kin, she's never turned them into weapons. If you say something like that, she's definitely going to be mad."
Bell looked a little surprised by the comment, but thinking about how traditional the Elves could be, it made sense.
Still, he didn't seem too concerned.
"That's just a cover story. I don't think the 'Nine Hell' would care much about something like this. As long as I come up with a reasonable explanation, the Elves won't hold it against us."
"...That's fair."
Even if the reasoning was shaky, Raul figured that as long as the story changed a little, it wouldn't be an issue.
But as his thoughts shifted, another question came to mind.
"Bell-kun, you're giving these weapons to us?"
"They're not worth much. Once the testing's over, you can take them."
Maybe Raul was worried about how valuable they were, but to Bell, these weapons had little use.
They stood out too much, and Bell already had all the weapons he needed—so he had virtually no reason to use them himself.
Moreover, these weapons couldn't be allowed to circulate. Even if they were given away, they could only be used personally. The moment one of them hit the market, it wouldn't take long to trace the source.
Sure, the Loki Familia had the royal Nine Hell to take the heat if needed—but doing so would only disgrace her in front of the entire Elven race.
It just wasn't worth it.
At that thought, Raul couldn't help but swallow hard. This was one hundred million Valis right in front of him. That wasn't something to take lightly.
'Greedy.'
Bell shook his head slightly. If Raul couldn't grasp something so basic, he had little chance of ever becoming part of the Loki Familia's core.
If these Spirit Tree weapons really got out, the one who'd suffer most would be Nine Hell.
But Bell didn't particularly care what others did. Even if the weapons were leaked, it wouldn't come back to him.
After all, these were made from Spirit Tree. Who would suspect a rune merchant?
Unlike Raul, the two girls showed no signs of greed after learning the weapons' value. Either they didn't care, or they agreed with Bell's reasoning that the weapons couldn't be circulated.
Bell suddenly recalled how the Dungeon could affect adventurers, pushing certain emotions to dangerous extremes.
He glanced at Raul, who still seemed caught up in excitement.
'He hasn't shaken it off yet?'
'I figured by Lv. 4 he'd be past the Dungeon's influence… guess I was wrong.'
'Maybe Captain Finn's been protecting the Familia members too well.'
But that wasn't quite right.
What Bell didn't know was that every time the Loki Familia returned from an expedition, Raul was the one tasked with converting rare materials into funds—and it was Finn himself who made that arrangement.
It was Finn's subtle way of addressing Raul's issue and giving him a wake-up call.
Still, Raul—trapped in his own greed—remained unaware.
Clap clap clap!
"Alright, pick the weapons you're most comfortable with. We'll start testing."
"Mr. Raul, you have a space pouch, right?"
"Yeah, the captain gave me one."
Raul patted the pouch at his waist. It had been issued to him by Finn himself.
Bell nodded, then turned to look at Cassandra and Daphne.
The two girls quickly shook their heads.
"We don't have one."
Space pouches were rare and highly valuable magical items. For adventurers, they were incredibly useful—almost essential.
But as newcomers to the Loki Familia, it made sense that they hadn't received such things yet.
Without a word, Bell pulled two space pouches from his personal inventory and tossed them over.
The girls caught them with surprised expressions.
"These are for you to borrow. If you want to keep them, you don't have to take all the weapons. Just pick one you like, and the rest can be your trade for the pouch. Sound good?"
That was Bell's offer.
Both girls instantly lit up with joy.
"Of course! But... are you really okay with this?"
"Yeah, don't worry about it. Just think of it as payment for helping me with my training."
"In that case, we won't hold back."
Clearly, the utility of the space pouches outweighed the appeal of the weapons for the two of them.
...
(100 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / PinkSnake