Is It Wrong to Abusing Cartoon Tropes in Dungeon?

14 Money is Power!

The floor boss's magic stone was enormous. Just like diamonds, the larger the diamond, the higher the price, and this price doesn't increase proportionally with weight or volume.

A one-carat diamond might be worth 1, but a two-carat diamond's price won't just be 2... it might be 4 or even 8 times more expensive.

The same principle applied to magic stones. The smallest magic stones were cheap, only worth a few hundred valis, but for a magic stone of a floor boss's caliber, the value was incomparable.

However, Altair wasn't going to sell the entire floor boss's magic stone to the Guild. He needed part of it to make rocket ammo!

A beam cannon was too tempting to pass up. Altair had to get one, not just for its cool factor, but to have an even more powerful weapon the next time he ventured into the dungeon. Especially now, with all the attention he had drawn, some people would start having ideas about him.

After all, he was only a Level 1. Even if he had a bunch of modern heavily modified weapons, the adventurers of Orario didn't know that. Not knowing would make them think things they really shouldn't.

Or rather, from Altair's perspective, their thoughts weren't justified, but in Orario, such ideas were considered perfectly normal.

"Half? Why only sell half? If you sell only half, the value won't compare to selling the whole stone."

"I know, but I'm sorry, Eina-san. I can only sell half because I need the other half."

"You need a magic stone?"

"That's right, I need it."

Eina looked at Altair, shaking her head helplessly.

"Alright, if that's the case, I'll call someone to cut the magic stone."

The Guild had professional magic stone cutters who were much more efficient than Altair could ever be at home, with far less waste in the form of scraps.

"That would be perfect."

The Guild workers arrived swiftly. They were quite familiar with this type of magic stone, as they often handled floor boss stones.

Right in front of Altair, they quickly split the stone in half. They even went the extra mile to cut his portion into smaller, more manageable pieces, making it easier for Altair to carry without having to haul the whole thing back.

The enormous magic stone, now halved, sold for only a quarter of its original price. That's the impact size had on the value of a magic stone.

But still, even selling just half, it was worth a fortune. The remaining piece sold for far more than ordinary magic stones. From this trip into the dungeon alone, Altair had earned 30 million valis.

It might seem like a lot, but for high-level adventurers, it was actually not much. A single weapon could cost over a hundred million valis, and recovery potions like Elixirs were pricey too, each bottle was real money.

With the cut magic stone on his back and a money pouch from the Guild in hand, Altair and Lili left the Guild. The first thing on the agenda was to find a place to give Lili her share of the money.

"As we agreed earlier, I'll give you 5% of the profits as your reward. I already had the Guild divide it for you, so here, take it."

Altair handed a much smaller pouch to Lili, giving her the amount they had agreed upon. Although 5% didn't sound like much, the total profit from this trip was substantial, and even 5% was over a million valis. For a low-level adventurer, that sum could be their earnings for more than half a month's hard work. But this was just Lili's cut from one dungeon run.

Lili stared at the pouch Altair handed her, quickly pulling it open to check the contents. Inside, it was all money.

"Is this... really mine?"

"Yes, we agreed on this when we entered the dungeon."

Altair's bright, handsome face made him look particularly kind, radiating a gentle aura.

"This is amazing! Altair-san... no, Altair-sama, you're so generous! And you're incredibly strong. I've been wanting to say it ever since we were in the dungeon, but I was too shocked to speak. You're truly incredible."

After Altair confirmed it, Lili seemed to let herself go completely, acting much more excited than her previously cautious demeanor.

"Altair-sama, please hire me whenever you enter the dungeon again! I'll work hard to fulfill all your requests! Let's make a fortune together!"

It's really her!

Watching the excited Lili, Altair couldn't help but lean back in disbelief. He recognized that line, Lili had said the same thing to Bell. He had his suspicions before, but now it was clear. The Lili in front of him was none other than Liliruca Arde.

'So, I've really caught her attention, huh? But I'm not too worried. This time back, I should be able to level up to Level 2, and with my equipment upgraded, she won't be able to scam me. If she doesn't try to cause me trouble, that's fine. But if she does, well, too bad for her.'

As for making money together...

"Sorry, I'm not sure about that. My trips into the dungeon are random. I might go tomorrow, or maybe the day after, or even three days later. It all depends on how things are that day."

"Is... that so?"

Lili understood that she was being turned down, but she wasn't ready to give up.

"That's okay! I'll be at the dungeon entrance every day. Whenever you need a supporter, Altair-sama, just come find me."

"If you happen to be there."

With that, Altair slung his pack over his shoulder and left. He had no intention of continuing to associate with Lili. As he said earlier, he had no interest in saving her. He wasn't about to criticize her from a moral standpoint; he simply didn't care about her and didn't want to be involved.

He'd leave her salvation to Bell, the main character of this story in the future.

After taking a few detours through alleyways and making sure no one was following him, Altair finally returned to the Familia's small church. It was still early, the sun hadn't even set yet. But when he entered the church, he found Hestia sitting in the main hall.

"Altair-kun!"

As soon as he opened the door, Hestia jumped up, running toward him and throwing herself into his arms.

"Welcome back!"

"Yeah, I'm back."