Omniscient Necromancer POV

One of my missions was to kill 1,000 golems before reaching the fourth floor of the Tower of Giants. By the time I reached the seventh floor, I had already killed 820 of them... It was a high number, but it wasn't difficult, considering the difficulty each golem represented.

The problem was that each golem had a pair of Observation Gems.

Since Hunter Ruse wasn't selling them around, their price had skyrocketed.

In other words, I had a mountain of gold in my inventory, and I only realized it when Erich McNee started calculating how many gold coins he would need to give me for the gems.

The large bag I placed on McNee's counter contained 300 Observation Gems.

That practically nothing to me, as I had 1,340 Observation Gems left in my inventory. Still, McNee seemed genuinely shocked when he revealed the total value of the 300 gems.

"Mr. S, it will be difficult for me to find a single buyer for such a large quantity, but I can try if you lower the price per unit a little. If I adjust the price to 6 silver coins per gem instead of 7, the total will be 1,800 silver coins."

As he spoke, he finished the calculations on the paper and showed it to me.

With my arms crossed, I nodded slowly. "So, 36 gold coins."

McNee swallowed hard. "That's a large sum even for me, who is used to receiving a few one-time customers…"

"That means you don't have that kind of money in the till," I stated and took a deep breath. "But that's okay, I can take half up front and the other half when you complete the sale."

Erich McNee seemed genuinely relieved by my proposal.

"You won't regret it," he said and bowed his head.

Then McNee looked at Lysa, who was behind the counter and had helped him count the gems one by one.

"Lysa, please go to our safe and get all the gold coins you have. And do it quickly, we don't want to bore our big customer of the month."

The blue-haired girl remained expressionless as always and just nodded before opening the door behind her and going to the back of the store. A few minutes later, she returned with a small leather bag with an elastic string to open and close it — a wallet from that era.

McNee took the wallet and immediately handed it to me.

"Here are your 18 gold coins, Mr. S. You can check them."

I opened the wallet and saw a pile of gold coins shining inside. Not all of the gold coins were as clear and golden as the gold coins in a dragon's personal vault, but I didn't care.

Since I couldn't remember the first or last time I had seen a gold coin in person, I almost let my happiness show.

"Khum! Everything is in order," I said and closed the bag before being mesmerized by those coins.

"Mr. S, how will I contact you when I have completed the sale of all these Observation Gems?" McNee asked, with his hands clasped together, posing like a true merchant. "Do you have an address where I can send a telegram or a letter? Perhaps an acquaintance or friend who can act as an intermediary?"

I shook my head. "I'll be back again soon."

McNee smiled and bowed his head. "As you wish, Mr. S. We'll be waiting for you."

He glanced at Lysa and noticed that she wasn't bowing her head, but that changed after he nudged her with his elbow.

I didn't really care about all this politeness and respect, but I didn't want to refuse either. It was better that they respected me for now, as that would be better than being ignored.

As I left "Arcane Illusionism," I wondered who McNee thought I was. Did he still think I was a wizard like him? Or was I just someone with a contact who was a great craftsman?

After walking a few blocks, amused by these thoughts, I remembered how much money I now had — 18 gold coins. It wasn't enough to live in luxury, but it was definitely a game changer for the Shibutani. We could buy new clothes, meat, and also pay the rent for a middle-class apartment for a few months.

If I had sold all 1,640 Observation Gems for 6 silver coins, I would have gotten a total of 196 gold coins. With that amount, I could even buy a medium-high standard apartment in a great neighborhood in the Aurelian Capital.

However, I knew that the purchase price of a single Observation Gem could be as high as twelve silver coins for the end consumer. Therefore, it would be more worthwhile to sell them when I had an official Climber's license and could sell them to an official gem shop. That way, the price I would receive for each gem could reach eight or nine silver coins.

This would also have to wait a few weeks or months, as the value per gem would rise after 300 Observation Gems mysteriously entered the market.

"It looks like I'll have to frequently find items that are different from each other if I want to keep the capital coming in," I thought aloud.

As I had been an office worker in my past life, I knew how to manage money very well. As long as I wasn't flashy, those 18 gold coins would go a long way.

"Now, I need to go home and tell my family the good news... Should I stop by a butcher on the way to buy a few pounds of meat? We had meatballs that day and everyone loved them. Should I make hamburgers this time?"

Although I was eager to tell everyone how much I had earned, as I was about to touch the doorknob of my house, I asked myself a question:

"How am I going to explain to them where all this money came from?"