01-20 · 007

Arc 2

Chapter 7: Former Party and Premium Sushi

Ding-dong.

The doorbell of the run-down apartment rang just thirty minutes after I placed the order. As expected of a high-end sushi restaurant. Even their delivery speed was classy.

"Coming."

I tried to keep my voice calm and opened the door. Standing there was a delivery person in a fancy uniform. They kept looking back and forth between the slip in their hand and the nameplate on my apartment.

"Ah, um… this is Soma-sama’s residence… is that correct?"

It couldn't be helped. A 50,000 yen sushi tub being delivered to "Himawari-sou," a 45-year-old building with 25,000 yen rent, was nothing short of a glitch. After all, it was twice the rent.

"Yes, that's correct."

"M-My apologies. Here is the 'Supreme Sea Urchin & Fatty Tuna Extravaganza,' along with the 'Ise Lobster Miso Soup.'"

The delivery person handed over the sushi tub respectfully and then hurried away as if fleeing. They'd probably mistaken this for something suspicious.

I carried the sushi tub back into my six-tatami room. I placed it on the low table.

Pop.

When I lifted the lid, a golden light seemed to spill out—or so I imagined.

"A-Amazing..."

Before me was a scene like a jewel box. Overflowing sea urchin, marbled fatty tuna, translucent squid. For someone who only knew the sushi packs with half-off stickers from the supermarket, this was practically art.

"Th-Thank you for the food."

I snapped apart the disposable chopsticks with trembling hands and first brought some sea urchin to my mouth. Just a tiny dab of soy sauce.

Munch.

"—!!"

Words failed me. The rich scent of the sea and the creamy sweetness exploded in my mouth. I didn't even need to chew. It melted on my tongue and vanished.

"It's delicious… so delicious…"

Before I knew it, tears were streaming from my eyes. Last night, I'd been too hungry to sleep. The night before, I'd been despairing after being kicked out of my party. And now, I was eating the best sushi in Japan.

"So this is what it means to earn."

I looked at my phone while stuffing fatty tuna into my mouth. Even after deducting the sushi, my bank balance hardly budged.

[Balance: 1,599,950,632 yen]

It didn't feel like I'd spent anything. This sense of security. Money wasn't just a number. It was a tranquilizer.

“…Alright.”

After swallowing the last piece, seared fatty tuna, I made up my mind.

“I'll go to a real estate agent tomorrow. I'll move to an apartment with solid security.”

Even though Seira knew my address, she was fine. From the little I'd spoken with her, I thought she could be trusted.

The problem was this apartment's security. The lock could be picked with a single tool, and the walls looked like they'd break if kicked. Himawari-sou was far too fragile to protect assets of 1.6 billion yen.

“Besides, I want to test my Appraisal skill more.”

I grinned as I looked at the empty sushi tub. Just how much could my evolved ‘True Appraisal’ do? I couldn't tell from just the Excalibur incident alone. To test it, I needed a spacious workspace with soundproofing.

My rise to the top had only just begun.

◇

～Meanwhile～

At the izakaya ‘Red Lantern’ near the dungeon.

“Damn it! What was with that winning bid amount!”

Bam! The sound of a fist hitting the table echoed. The surrounding customers turned in surprise, but the man didn't seem to care.

This was Koji Goda, the leader of the former party ‘Brave Sword’ that had expelled Toru the other day. Gulping down cheap alcohol, he glared at his smartphone screen.

“1.5 billion!? 1.5 billion! For a single sword!”

“Now, now, Goda-san. Calm down, please.”

The one trying to soothe him was the mage, Masaharu Tashiro. He too was peering at the smartphone with envious eyes.

“But it's amazing, isn't it? That seller, ‘Master_Eye.’ Where on earth did they find a holy sword?”

“Hmph! It was luck. Nothing but a lucky bastard.”

Goda snorted and stroked the sword at his waist. A B-Rank-class magic sword. His prized weapon, which he'd gone into debt to acquire.

“…Huh?”

Goda's eyebrow twitched. A small crack had appeared in the sword's hilt.

“Hey, what's this? I just had this maintained.”

“Ah, come to think of it, my staff too.”

The healer beside him, Rin Sakai, languidly took out her staff. The magic stone at its tip was slightly clouded.

“It's been feeling a bit sluggish lately. This never happened when Toru-kun was around.”

“…Tch. Don't mention that guy.”

Goda spat out irritably.

“He was just a pack mule. Had nothing to do with maintenance. It's just that they reached the end of their lifespan, that's all.”

“But Toru-kun used to wipe our equipment with a cloth whenever he had free time, didn't he? I wonder if that helped. He did work diligently, didn't he?”

As Rin said, Toru's work was never flashy, but it was thorough. He would fix the subtle scratches and magical clogging that outsourced repairers would overlook. But they had dismissed it as “just wiping with a cloth,” and instead of thanking him, they looked down on it as menial labor and exploited him.

“We'll just buy new ones. We'll be B-Rank next month anyway. Our rewards will increase.”

Goda put on a bold front, but his voice carried a hint of anxiety. They didn't have the money to buy new equipment right now. The last expedition had ended in the red because their potion consumption had been higher than expected.

“…Hey, this ‘Master_Eye’ guy.”

Goda pointed at the smartphone screen, trying to change the subject.

“Looks like he plans to list more items. His profile says ‘Upcoming listings planned.’”

“Oh? Will there be more amazing items?”

“…If we can get weapons from him cheap, couldn't we boost our combat power?”

Goda's eyes took on a greedy gleam.

“He's a coward who hasn't shown his face or name. If we use the name of ‘Brave Sword,’ maybe we can get him to sell cheap in a private deal.”

“That's our Goda-san! So smart!”

They laughed together.

Unaware that this very ‘Master_Eye’ was the “incompetent” they had cast out.