Delver.
That means someone who explores the dungeon.
Once you turn into an adult, anyone can register as a delver.
Thing is, the registration fee is 42,000 oro.
My average daily earnings come out to roughly 600 to 800 oro.
Let's say I make 800 oro on a given day.
300 oro goes to the entrance fee. 100 oro for food.
200 oro for miscellaneous expenses.
That leaves 200 oro to put into savings.
With this, well, I can just barely manage to save up something, kind of.
Still, there are days I pull in less than that, so it's not like things always go smoothly.
Plus, I can't go to the Junkyard every single day.
That's because my earnings are more than double what the other kids make.
Of course they are. I'm using the Relic — the Wheel of Fortune.
From my past life's perspective, I sometimes wonder if that counts as cheating.
But it's absolutely not cheating. Still, to me a Relic is just a tool.
Nothing more than convenient technology. That's how I see it.
In this world, there are people who worship Relics and look down on those who don't have any.
Relic supremacists. I can't stand them. I despise them.
But there's no shortage of kids who can't earn the entry fee and end up unable to go in for days at a time.
Going every day, meanwhile, basically means people will start to suspect you're making that much money.
That's why I'd decided to wait two or three days before heading to the Junkyard.
There are jobs other than the Junkyard too... ones I'd rather not take, but they exist.
They don't pay as much as the Junkyard, but there's no other way to save up the entry fee.
In this regard, I'd been playing it smart and cautious.
"Third-tier... huh."
Delvers have a ranking system.
The ranks run from sixth-tier down to first-tier.
Even a single tier difference is like night and day.
Veterans—so-called fifth-tier delvers—make up seventy percent of the total.
Fourth-tier is what they call the wall of talent.
It's said that from there on up, only those with true talent and strength can advance.
So the women who'd reached third-tier were genuinely talented and strong.
But what did that "true talent" actually mean?
Luck, certainly. Physical endurance, definitely. Relics, without question. And sheer effort—all of it.
In that sense, the gate really was narrow and unforgiving.
That made what I'd just seen all the more impressive.
Feeling pretty good about it, I headed for the back streets.
Right behind the main avenue, a narrow little street was lined with all sorts of shops doing business.
Weapon shop. Armor shop. Blacksmith. General store. Apothecary. Antiques... There it is.
"Excuse me! Arifa!"
I call out as I step inside.
They call it an antiques shop, but it's really just a thrift store.
"Coming~ Welcome. Oh, it's you, Wof."
"Don't sound so disappointed right off the bat."
The braided, red-haired woman who greeted me with all the enthusiasm of a sloth was Arifa, owner of this antiques shop.
Tall, with orange eyes and an energetic demeanor—she was a striking beauty.
She always wore tops that bared her shoulders and plunging necklines, paired with torn, tattered pants.
It was... not exactly easy to know where to look.
Through gaps in her hair, a pair of black horns peeked out like accessories.
She belonged to the Fawn race, and true to the name, she had actual horns growing from her head.
Running the antiques shop was her main business, but it wasn't exactly profitable.
Instead, her side hustle was the one that stood out—so much so that people assumed the antiques shop was the side gig.
That side hustle was being a delver.
A Class III delver, no less. Around these parts, she was famous as quite the formidable woman.
I let out a small yawn and stood at the counter.
"You're here to sell, aren't you? I'd be a lot friendlier if you actually bought something for once."
"I don't have the money to be buying anything."
Between the treasures she'd dug up in the dungeon and the rest, prices here were way out of my league.
There were also plenty of art pieces with no practical use — paintings, sculptures, and the like.
Who would buy a taxidermied saber lion worth 666,660 oro?
"So what've you got today?"
"These."
An unbroken iron sword. An old delver's belt. A compass with exquisite craftsmanship.
A copper dagger. An old Cornucopia horn-of-plenty charm. I lined them all up on the counter.
"Oh, you're luckier than usual."
Arifa grinned and began appraising, starting with the iron sword.
She touched each one carefully, taking her time to study it.
A surprisingly meticulous appraisal, given appearances.
Then again, Arifa was the owner of the Relic Appraisal.
But it wasn't like she could appraise just anything, apparently.
"You've got a good eye."
"Do I?"
"Especially this dagger and the Cornucopia charm — those are good."
Cornucopia. A horn celebrating abundance. A horn wishing for abundance.
Ah, so what she liked was that I'm
a horn
of plenty. That must be why.
"How much for all of them?"
"Yeah, I'd say 1,800 oro."
"That much?"
"The priciest piece is the compass. It's noble-grade. The lid has a family crest, but with known imperfections. That's 800 oro."
"Known imperfections...?"
"Yep. That's why 800."
"Okay."
Meaning there was nothing more to say about it.
That was what "known imperfections" meant.
"The delver belt is 50, the iron sword is 400. Dagger's 200, and the rest is Cornucopia."
"You praised them pretty highly for those prices. The amulets."
"They're nice items, but price-wise... Amulet types — rabbit tails, Wheels of Fortune, staffs and books. Swords and shields with a dragon motif and whatnot sell okay enough to delvers, but horns of plenty aren't so hot. These are the kind of thing a young girl hands off to a young guy, you know? Golden needles and such."
"Do amulets actually work?"
"They're for comfort. Though it'd be a different story if it were a Legacy. Oh, and this iron sword's a shame."
"A shame?"
"It cuts, but it's rusty. Normally it'd have more life in it. Normally it'd be close to 2,000. But this rust is hard to strip. So, 400."
Wow. That's 1,600 oro shaved off.
But from my past life's memories, I was pretty sure a proper sword sharpening could run 100,000 or even more.
When I thought about it that way, maybe it was cheap...?
Arifa turned around. She crouched down and started rustling through something.
She must be getting the money out.
"............"
What I could see over the counter was — well, I wouldn't say exactly what, but it was still impressive.
Arifa's butt. Bigger than a peach.
And because she trained, it was firm.
Whoa, staring would be rude. I looked away.
Still, 1800 oro.
I'd earned quite a bit. The best haul in the last few months.
With this, I could get by without going to the Junkyard for about three days.
That's right. Maybe today I'd splurge a little and eat out for the first time in a while.
I could have some butter rice at the Cider Inn.
Or I could buy meat. A chunk would go for 200 oro.
Making dried meat wouldn't be bad either.
While I was laying out plans, Arifa placed 1800 oro on the counter.
"Here you go."
50 assorted copper coins. 5 small copper coins.
5 copper coins. 2 assorted silver coins.
Assorted copper coins were 1 oro each, so 50 oro.
Small copper coins were 50 oro each, so 250 oro.
Copper coins were 100 oro each, so 500 oro.
Assorted silver coins were 500 oro each, so — that made 1800 total. Checks out.
I tucked the 1,800 oro into my pouch's wallet.
Incidentally, the currency goes like this:
Assorted copper coins: 1 oro.
Small copper coins: 50 oro.
Copper coins: 100 oro.
Assorted silver coins: 500 oro.
Silver coins: 1,000 oro.
Assorted gold coins: 5,000 oro.
Gold coins: 10,000 oro.
Royal coins: 50,000 oro.
King's coins: 100,000 oro.
That's how it works.
"Thanks. Oh, I almost forgot."
"What?"
I pulled a cloth bag from my pouch and placed its contents on the counter.
Five rings, bronze and copper.
Three were bronze, two were copper.
"Rings..."
Arifa picked up the nearest one.
She studied it closely, checking the engraving on the back as well.
"What do you think?"
"…Wof. I can't buy this one."
"Huh?"
Arifa said with a solemn look on her face.
"This one's an OOPArt."
"What?"
I was stunned.