The Necromancer Who Was Despised

Since it wasn’t related to dark magic, I thought of selling it.

The research journal of a magician who had done well would at least be worth 10 gold coins.

If it were in good condition, it would be worth an unimaginable amount of money, but honestly, the damage was too severe.

It seemed like the outcome was less than expected, but it wasn’t a complete failure.

“Oh… Inha! Look at this!”

Artina brought out a pouch containing various jewels.

“There’s gold too!”

Gold and jewels.

These things don’t lose their value over time.

I only knew it as a dungeon, but now I realize that rumors are hard to believe.

“It’s like the Minotaur incident…”.

I’ve come to understand that a lot of information is distorted or hidden, and only a few rumors spread, and even if the foundation is true, rumors are hard to believe.

“…Sell the gold and keep the jewels.”

“How much will it be?”

“The jewels… we’ll have to see their condition, but each one will be worth over 20 gold.”

There were about 20 of them, so even if we couldn’t sell them all, we’d get over 400 gold.

It’s an enormous amount of money.

“I never thought I’d earn this much…?”

The gold is similar. A single gold nugget could be sold for at least 200 gold.

“It’s not bad to have a lot of money…”.

The reason we don’t sell the jewels is simple: they have good exchange value, are compact, and easy to carry, and we can use them to cast a few spells that aren’t dark magic.

“Well, at our current level, we wouldn’t need to use them anyway.”

It took about four days to clear the dungeon.

Thanks to having plenty of time, we didn’t need to rush, and even though we used a crude method with zombies, we were extremely cautious because we didn’t know what dangers lay within the dungeon.

Our footsteps on the way back were light, thanks to our abundant achievements.

To be honest, it wasn’t a bad result, even considering our research.

10 gold wasn’t a small amount, and we’d earned dozens of gold from capturing orcs in the past, but it’s not easy to earn that much money.

“This time, we got 5 gold just for completing the orc tribe subjugation quest.”

It’s not bad to earn double the commission.

My original goal was to earn extra income, and considering our current level, it wasn’t a lot of money, so I would have been slightly disappointed if we’d only gotten that much.

“There was no artifact either.”

However, one person, Anelis, wasn’t in a good mood.

She hadn’t spoken properly for the four days we explored the dungeon.

Even though she did her job well, she seemed distant, as if her spirit was elsewhere.

Artina, who had seen Anelis’s distant expression, interfered less than usual.

Only I knew that Anelis had spoken to Cereo.

Naturally, there was no response.

Cereo’s mind, which had heard Anelis’s voice, reacted, but since she was under my control, she didn’t show any reaction.

Anelis was disappointed again at the lack of response and had been like that until now.

Honestly, I’m happy with the current situation.

I’ve lost my enthusiasm for life and am just passing the time, doing odd jobs, and this is the most comfortable state for me.

When I returned to the mercenary guild and reported the completion of the quest, the receptionist looked surprised.

“Already… did you say?”

“It’s stronger than what’s written on the request. There are over thirty mana users. And… Basilisk was involved too.”

“…Basilisk?”

The receptionist looked like she couldn’t follow the story.

It’s no wonder, since we’d gone to subjugate the orc tribe and returned in less than a week, completing the quest, and on top of that, we’d caught a high-ranking monster like Basilisk.

We hadn’t even talked about finding a dungeon yet.

“If we’re going to talk about the origin of gold, it’s only natural that it’ll get out.”

We also had to sell our research data.

It was inevitable that it would get out.

“The corpse of the Basilisk is here, so please confirm it.”

I used this golem to bring it.

It took a bit more time, but it wasn’t a big difference.

We came straight here, so it was a mess from the entrance.

At that time, one person burst into the guild.

“Inha! Where’s Inha!”

A familiar voice.

I turned my head, and there was Ottrioka standing there.

“Oh! Inha-kun, how have you been?”

‘Kun?’

I felt strange about the unfamiliar title.

It seemed like he used to call me “jane” before….

‘Ah.’

I understood the reason for the ambiguous title.

Unlike before, I had risen to the 5th class and was now on the same level as him.

In the world of magic, my social status had greatly increased. And I had received the backing of the mercenary guild, gaining a background that didn’t exist before.

Unlike before, he seemed to be someone worth getting close to.

“We got close by catching a troll alive and handing it over.”

The pay was also good.

I could guess why he came all the way from the mage tower.

“It seems like you got information about the Basilisk.”

It was clear that the news had spread quickly.

“Long time no see, Ottrioka-nim.”

“Haha. Long time indeed. I heard rumors and got the news. You’ve surpassed the wall, haven’t you? You’re as young as you are and yet you’re a 5th class like me. You’re truly amazing.”

“Haha. That’s all thanks to your blessing.”

Ottrioka’s sudden appearance during the settlement made the servant look a bit flustered.

I couldn’t say anything to the head of the mage tower, so I showed a awkward expression.

I gestured to Kaila to handle the settlement and faced Ottrioka.

“What brings you here?”

“Hehe. You know all about it, don’t you? You defeated the Basilisk this time?”

“Ah, that’s what you’re talking about. Well… the situation isn’t very good.”

“What’s the situation got to do with it? The fact that you won against a high-ranking monster is amazing in itself.”

High-ranking monsters weren’t that rare.

But the places where high-ranking monsters lived were often extremely dangerous, and it was rare for them not to cause harm unless you went out of your way to defeat them.

The reason was simple: there was a possibility of power loss.

So, the corpse of a high-ranking monster was quite valuable.

Especially for someone like Otoria, who belongs to the Magic Tower branch, it’s almost impossible to directly handle the corpse of a high-ranking monster.

“You usually don’t go to the main tower.”

Because of that, it seemed like he didn’t want to miss this good opportunity.

Otoria asked with a slightly anxious face.

“Are you thinking of selling it to someone else?”

“Why would I? I’ll take care of it myself.”

He couldn’t bring himself to say it strongly.

The background of being a mercenary guild and my skills, which are on par with his, as well as the fact that he’s stuck in this place, held him back.

And that fact pleased me.

Honestly, I could have said it strongly if I wanted to.

I’ve been making a name for myself lately, but I’m still a black magician who’s been rolling around, and he’s an established power here.

There might be backlash, but I could do it if I wanted to.

However, he didn’t do it because we have a good relationship.

“It’s certain that the quality will drop if you go too far. And considering the troll value you gave me earlier… “

“That’s right! It’s between us, after all.”

I said, pretending it was just between us, and slightly bowed my head, handing over the troll as a token of goodwill.

“It might be an impolite thing to say, but it might become a capital investment.”

“Don’t worry about it. The Doirem branch is a place that’s quite wealthy, even in the main tower, so we have plenty of funds.”

He said that if we’re short on funds, we can receive additional compensation in exchange for some of the corpse.

“That’s right. Then, please take a look at this too.”

I showed him the damaged research journal.

“Is this… a dungeon journal?”

It seemed that Kailla had told Sebi about the dungeon around that time.

“Yes, we discovered a dungeon and found this research journal from a magician hundreds of years ago. It’s heavily damaged, but… “

“A research journal?”

Otoria’s eyes widened again.

“A magician’s research is a money-eating hamster.”

There’s only one success under dozens, hundreds of failures.

Among 100 research topics, only one or two might succeed.

And among those, only a few make money, so the financial losses and material waste during the process are enormous.

“That’s why the Magic Tower colludes with nobles and merchants.”

So, even if a personal magician’s research journal is damaged and old, it’s still valuable.

“You can collect numerous failure cases.”

If you just touch it, a successful research might pop out.

And if it’s the kind that makes money…

“The academic community welcomes it, even if it doesn’t align with their magical pursuits, as long as it makes money.”

Of course, it’s possible. But that research journal wasn’t the kind that makes money.

So, I valued it at around 10 gold.

I showed it to him, and Otoria glanced at it, muttering with a tinge of regret.

“It’s heavily damaged. The fusion of gold and jewels… an attempt to prevent the destruction of jewels. This is a topic that’s been researched for a long time. Hmm… it’s a good failure case. The damage is a shame.”

If it succeeds, it will bring in a tremendous amount of money, but it’s a research that hasn’t succeeded in hundreds of years. Even if gold is used, I honestly doubt whether the return on investment would be good. That’s why I didn’t think it was worth much.

However, it’s a research that uses money and jewels. I couldn’t predict which of the failed cases would be helpful.

“It’s like a lottery ticket.”

That’s why Otrio also hoped to buy the research journal.

“I’ll buy this too. How much do you think it’s worth?”

“I think the journal is worth around 10 gold.”

“Hmm, considering the damage, it’s not a bad deal.”

Otrio seemed to think 10 gold was a reasonable price for a lottery ticket.

“Then, how much do you think the Basilisk is worth?”

“It’s 100 gold.”

“100 gold?”

Otrio asked, seemingly puzzled.

“Is it really worth that much?”

To be honest, I could’ve asked for more.

The corpse of a high-ranking monster isn’t easily obtained.

Even in poor condition, the corpse could be dissected and processed to create various items, which would be enough to recover 100 gold.

But my intention wasn’t just that.

“Instead, I want to become a junior member of the Magic Tower.”

“A junior member…?”

A junior member of the Magic Tower.

It’s not a light position.

Becoming a junior member is as difficult as establishing a formal trade relationship with the Magic Tower.

In reality, many high-ranking merchants who formally trade with the Magic Tower are junior members.

The benefits of being a junior member are simple.

“You can purchase items traded by the Magic Tower and receive their indirect protection.”

In return, junior members must contribute to the Magic Tower.

This could take the form of financial support or accepting their requests.

If the contribution is insufficient, the junior member status could be revoked.

“If the contribution is high, you can even hire a wizard.”

As a junior member of the Magic Tower, you can do limited things that would be impossible for a lord or a guild.