Returning to the inn, Li Xiuman took out the remaining four bars of Red Dragon Alloy.
His main mission in Iron River City was now complete.
“Sending this to Ilu as a return gift should keep me from looking like I'm living off her, right?”
“...”
“Well, being able to score a sweet deal like this is part of my strength too.”
Li Xiuman ultimately decided to accept reality. Sponging off someone was nothing to be ashamed of.
Plenty of people wished they had the chance, but lacked the connections.
Thinking of Ilu's purple hair and purple eyes, Li Xiuman picked out the purple bar from the Red Dragon Alloy pieces.
“This color suits Ilu perfectly.”
“Though with this weight, it might be a bit tough on Shino.”
Li Xiuman weighed the alloy in his hand.
When he got back, he would feed Shino a few extra dried fish as a delivery fee.
Early the next morning.
Li Xiuman got up early and headed to the Adventurer's Association. Using his status as a Mid-Tier Adventurer, he posted a notice on their board.
The notice read:
“The despicable red dragon, Orfen Rory Gould, is a fraud! Vain! Completely bottomless! Exposing the chaos behind the dragon's hoard! Pictures included, truth guaranteed!”
Large red letters spelled out the red dragon Orfen's True Name.
Using the sketching skills from his previous life, he even drew a detailed picture of Orfen alongside a drawing of garbage disguised beneath a layer of treasure.
It was common knowledge that True Names carried magical weight.
So Li Xiuman specifically used mana to write red dragon Orfen's True Name. The moment anyone saw it, they would instantly know which red dragon it referred to.
Ensuring there would be no mistaken identities.
After all, every debt had its debtor, and Li Xiuman was simply making an example of Orfen to warn the rest.
“As expected of me. My handwriting looks so good, brimming with presence!”
Li Xiuman looked at his handwriting and nodded in satisfaction.
Then, notice in hand, he walked into the Adventurer's Association.
“I want to post this right on the bulletin board!”
“Permanently!”
Li Xiuman slapped his Mid-Tier Adventurer license and the notice onto the counter.
The receptionist hurriedly took them, glanced at the notice, and gasped.
“Mister Skeleton... are you sure about this?”
“Don't worry, you won't be shorted a single coin.”
“...Mister Skeleton, it's not a matter of money... Wait, did you just say permanently, and that money wouldn't be an issue?”
“Of course.”
The receptionist's eyes sparkled.
“That will be one hundred gold coins in total, then.”
“No prob—wait, a hundred?!”
Li Xiuman stared at the receptionist in disbelief.
“Is your bulletin board made of solid gold, or is my notice made of gold?”
“Mister Skeleton, this is the standard price set by upper management of the Adventurer's Association. If you think it's expensive, I think it's expensive too.”
Dammit. Li Xiuman's budget expectation was ten gold coins at most.
Yet this price...
“What about ten years...?”
“That would be fifty gold coins.”
“...Five years...?”
“Thirty gold coins.”
“Th-Three years...?”
“For three years, twenty gold coins.”
Although Li Xiuman seemed quite well-off at the moment.
In reality, he was severely short on cash.
Last time he asked Terub to forge his breastplate, it cost over a hundred gold coins.
This time, Kuntu's skill and workload were on a whole other level.
Moreover, the synthesis materials for Red Dragon Alloy weren't limited to Red-Faced Square Gold and red dragon scales.
The mithril, pure magic steel, and magic iron—all those other materials were provided by Kuntu.
That sword wasn't made of just Snow Wolf God's Fang and Red Dragon Alloy, either.
There were other materials whose names Li Xiuman didn't even know.
Thinking about it now, when it came time to settle the bill, the final number might force him to eat dirt for a very long time.
He was already preparing to butter up Kuntu to see if she could grant him an extension.
Living beyond one's means was a dangerous slope.
Therefore, Li Xiuman had to pinch pennies starting now.
It was all that despicable red dragon's fault for covering trash with treasure. Just thinking about it made his blood pressure spike again. Pathetic lizard, get out of here.
“Um, what about one year?”
“For one year, it's ten gold coins.”
Dammit. His publicity budget, meant for a permanent post, could only cover a single year.
Despicable Adventurer's Association, absolute bloodsuckers.
Sooner or later, he would wipe out the Adventurer's Association headquarters in one fell swoop.
Muttering complaints in his heart, Li Xiuman pulled out ten gold coins.
“I'll take one year for now.”
Though the process had a few twists and turns, his notice was ultimately pinned right at the very top of the bulletin board.
Its explosive content stood out sharply among the mundane notices around it.
It quickly drew the attention of a crowd of relaxed adventurers sipping booze in the association hall.
“Orfen Rory Gould... Is that the red dragon east of the city?”
“Who would've thought a legendary dragon could be so vain?”
“I knew it! That red dragon is a total coward, terrified of getting raided. How could it possibly have stolen so much treasure?”
“The armor and swords are all gold-plated? Even the magic items are broken trash picked from junk heaps?”
“What a total disgrace to dragondom.”
“Damn, I'm dying! I'm gonna go call my wife to see this! It's got the True Name, pictures, and proof! It's gotta be real!”
“I'm gonna go call my dad!”
“I'm gonna go call my brother!”
“I'm gonna go call my eighth uncle's fourth aunt's nephew's wife's son's classmate's dad!”
“...”
Soon, the Adventurer's Association grew more and more crowded, and the room filled with joyful laughter.
The pain in Li Xiuman's heart was slightly soothed.
These gold coins were well spent after all.
Afterward, Li Xiuman left the Adventurer's Association, hiding his fame and achievements.
Looking up at the sun that had already risen a good distance into the sky, Li Xiuman made a decision.
He needed to find a way to make some money.
How to make money?
By hitting the dungeon, of course.
Li Xiuman had never been to the Iron River City Dungeon before.
Whenever Ilu visited a city, she would conquer its dungeon completely.
However, Ilu did it out of her own pursuit, whereas he was simply running low on cash.
Sorry, his reason was just that straightforward.
He returned to the inn to check out of his rooms.
This inn cost three silver coins a night. Keeping two rooms for seven days would be forty-two silver coins—that was four gold and two silver coins.
“If only I had realized the importance of thriftiness earlier...”
He put on his cloth armor, equipped his breastplate, and strapped on his armguards.
Floor 1 of the Iron River City Dungeon.
Just like Floor 1 of the White Bear City Dungeon.
The weak monsters on Floor 1 had already been cleared out, and shops had been set up.
Floor 2.
Floor 3.
Everything went smoothly as he cleared out a few small-fry monsters.
Stealthily advancing all the way down through Floor 10, he arrived at Floor 11.
“Kid, stop right there!”
“We are the Blacksmith Thief Gods!”
“I, Thief God Iron King!”
“I, Thief God Iron General!”
“I, Thief God Iron Soldier!”
“Surrender without a fight and hand over all your belongings! We, the Blacksmith Thief Gods, might just spare your life!”
“...”
“Stubborn fool!”
“Second Brother! Third Brother!”
“Eldest Brother, Third Brother!”
“Eldest Brother, Second Brother!”
“Let's show this kid what we've got!”
“Take my Heaven Dragon Slash!”
“Witness my Earth Dragon Drill!”
“Receive my Solitary Dragon Thrust!”
“Brothers united, our sharp blade severs metal!”
“Die! When you go to hell, don't forget the name of us three brothers!”
“I, Thief God Iron King!”
“I—”
“...”
BOOM! KABOOM!
“Dammit, with so little money on you, how dare you call yourselves Thief Gods?! Ptui!”
Li Xiuman disgustedly looted a small pouch of gold, silver, and copper coins, then stripped the armor and weapons off their corpses.
Rate on N.U.
