......Shiiiiineeeeyyy...

Oh crap, almost lost myself there. And Gust... is even worse. No wonder, considering his lineage.

The source of my brainless state lies before me: a stupid-big moneybag, filled to the brim with cash. 

"To summarize, 100,000 Sol for the safe return of the protégé of the Library Tower, now named Gust, plus the bonus of a copy of the Library Tower's newest version of the Skill Encyclopedia and Class Register, one volume of each, for taking so good care of said protégé, granting him a name, and even helping him in evolving." - Carion

The moneybag contained mostly golden coins named Half-Golds. According to the Union Master, the currency here's called Sol and divided between bronze, silver, and gold, plus some more advanced metal-variants higher up that normal people will never have a chance to lay their eyes on.

There goes a hundred Bronze Sols for a single Silver Sol, then the same amount of Silver for one Gold.

There's also Big-Sols, that's 10 times the original value of the original coin the Big is based on, plus Half-Sols that's half the value, obviously. Speaking of obvious, there's no Half-Bronzes. 

"You're just struck gold on the first day of becoming an adventurer. This must be a new world record." - Carion

Oh, he's right. That's bad! Won't people come after me then? Monsters are one thing, but humans protected by law and civil rights are something I'm unfamiliar with! 

Therefore, semi-permanent Storage-sealing for this guy! But I'm gonna read the books later. Unlike a certain inept note, these books tell me in detail about how skills and classes work, how to acquire them, and the general public's opinion about them.

With the hypnotizing gold out of the way, Gust snapped out from his gold fever and started the waterwork again.

"Master! To think he cared so much about me!!" - Gust 

"Ordion Alberloft isn't the owner of the [Kindness] skill for nothing after all." - Carion

[Kindness]? That's a strange name for a skill.

"But he's by all means not soft though. I'm one of the few guys in the world that knows that first handed." - Carion

"...?" - Garami

"I mean, he's constantly asking Union Masters like me to introduce new and promising adventurers to the Library Tower. Like that, he gains new pawns that go all around the world and bring back info to his place." - Carion

So, since he wants connections with those that actively adventure around the world, he puts pressure on the Union Masters? Oh, it's because adventurers are so free that they don't listen to the Union Masters whenever gold's not in the picture? Sounds like it.

If that's the case, let's try to give some income to the Union. Give-and-take, you know? Being on their good side will be helpful in the future.

I started to wordlessly take out the books from the library that I had stored in the Storage and piled them up where the Quest rewards had been. Only those that I'm finished with, except the Book of the Dead.

"...Finished... Selling." - Garami

"Wait, these are grimoires!? By all means, please do so!" - Carion

...I figured the Union would want books related to obtaining certain classes, but what's with the enthusiasm?

"You didn't have them before? This is the Adventurer's Union, right?" - Gust

Nice question, birdie!

"Grimoire's are too expensive for all the Unions to have a copy of each. Or rather, they are too expensive to produce. These books require materials too rare to produce or acquire, not to mention cultivate." - Carion

That's so?

"And looking at the quality of these, they're in pristine condition. The Union would want to buy these tomes for 200,000 Sols." - Carion

That's double the Quest reward!! The money only, but still...

"Isn't that a little cheap for Grimoires of this condition?" - Gust

It is?! Wait, considering these books are the only way to obtain certain classes... Not that I doubt Gust, who has lived most of his childhood surrounded by who knows how many books...

"Sold." - Garami

"That's what I am talking about! Phew, there went my funds back into the black..." - Carion

I heard that last part, but I'm gonna be a nice demon for once and ignore it. Good impression~, good impression~.

"We will buy any other tomes you may have as well." - Carion

Urgh... now I seriously need to finish reading those other books...

"Hey, Garami, didn't you have anything else to sell?" said Gust with a smug face.

What's he talking about... oh, right. Almost forgot about that one...

---

Adventurer's Union's dismantling workhouse.

"Now I've never..." - Random dismantler

The dismantlers in the warehouse-sized building look up at the big mess I've left in the middle of the room. The Glavras Queen Aquarect. 

As for why I've placed it before everyone is simple: I'm selling it. That's the whole reason why I've kept this behemoth all this time.

"Focus, people. How much will this thing be worth then?" - Gust

The bird did me the favor of getting the conversation going despite the astonishment-effect the corpse gives to the surroundings. Does he want some of the payment as a reward?

The Union Master looked like was thinking about something for a while, before signalizing for me to get closer. Then, talking in a voice so that nobody else could hear, he asked me what my connection with the Water-Knot of Glavras was.

Before I could even say that I found this thing dead in the ocean, he informed me that all Glavras monsters had lost that trait of theirs with the death of the Disaster in question. Some adventurers had tamed some of those monsters already, and they had mutated to some non-Glavras type monster at the same time Glavras got his "godhood".

Wait, then doesn't that mean my cover story will be busted? If it died in the lake, it would have been a Queen Aquarect instead of a Glavras one due to the lake returning due to the death of Glavras... not good. Gotta think about something!

"...Secret." - Garami

And I failed!! Failed so dramatically it's funny! So, why am I not laughing!?

"That's fine and all." - Carion

It is?!

My surprise must have shown on my face, as the Union Master started to explain.

"After all, just being able to procedure this kind of result, be it from real skills or just pure luck, is enough for people to gather around you anyway." - Carion

Ah, so there's no point in keeping it a secret then? But having people believe I'm weaker than what I really am is a good thing, so let's keep this jig running.

"Then..., how much?" - Garami

"For the spider? Let's see... Jack! Do you guys have a number ready?" - Carion

"Not yet, U-M.," said a Skeleton that was discussing with the dismantlers. Wasn't he at the counters before? The other popular guy along with that cat-lady receptionist?

"We're having trouble deciding the price. If we consider that what happened with the guys tamed by that knight-party, then all 'Glavras'-monsters have mutated to non-'Glavras' monster due to the destruction of that whacky Dungeon." said the buff dismantler guy, who looks to be the boss of this place.

But, a mutation you say? Thinking about it, those monsters were a result of a Dungeon outside System control. No wonder... better than having them all "cleaned up".

"This Queen, however, still holds the 'Glavras factor', if we shall call it that. With that in mind, along with its high rank, the quality of the body... I would say this one will give around a million." - Dismantler chief

...A million? Million as in what?

"Yeah, paying one million for this specimen is the bottom-line..." - Carion

Wait, I'm the one getting a million!?

---

"...and sign here, then the contract is done." - Carion

We went back to the office to sign the contract regarding the sale of the Queen's corpse. They are to pay me within three days, when they've decided the selling price for it, which will be at least 1,000,000 Sol. 

...Even if they're cheating me for some thousand sols or whatever, with the guaranteed sum being this much... I could easily buy a hundred thousand skewers with that amount of money...

I did read through the contract. Several times. It's the first contract in my life that I sign on. Please don't blame my horrible handwriting. It's the first time I've held a pen in this life.

"Then it's all done. And about the bodyguard Quest, could we wait for that to start until tomorrow?" - Carion

"...? Why?" - Garami

"Ah, I see..." - Gust

Gust gets it and I don't? Have pigs learned the [Flying] skill?

"This Quest is more like an opportunity to show off adventurers to Alberloft so he stops being so nosy for a while. Therefore, I planned on having several trustworthy fellows guard our very own VIP on a shift system. Be sure to give good reviews when you get back to your boss. You guys have some Magic Stones on your conscience. Got it?" - Carion

"...W-why me..." - Gust

What a dirty plan. I gotta learn from him.

In any case, there's nothing else for me to do than to look around the city... almost forgot.

"Class change?" - Garami

"Hmm? Wait, you can get a new sub-class already? Didn't you already have two classes?" - Carion

"...Upgrade. And checking." - Garami

"Already... eh, whatever. The Union gives free usage to the Class Confirmer, so check it out whenever you want." - Carion

"Then, I wanna use it too." - Gust

With that, I and Gust were guided by the assistant of a secluded room with a couple of the same type of devices that looked like a sphere on top of a pillar. They remind me of the thing they used to make the ID card.

A little while after I placed my hand on it came tons of different names and categories. One of them told about the Rogue class, which had three different options: "Arch Rogue", "Shadow Dancer", and "Assassin".

The first one is a direct upgrade of Rogue. Nothing impressive with this, compared with the other two.

Shadow Dancer is a class that's movements and illusion's only. Better than Arch Rogue, but the serious lack of damage capability makes me say no.

Then all that's left is Assassin. Of course, I need to pick it up at the Skill Shop, but knowing that I've cleared the requirements for it sure fills me with pleasure. I can't stop myself from grinning~.

"Whoa, what a nasty sneer..." - Gust

Pardon!? Who's sneering?! You're just jealous of all the other classes I can pick when I unlock the next Sub Class slot!

I'm able to take all three Beginner-tier classes of Soldier, Mage, and Scout. Not that they're worth the trouble... 

I'm no stranger to Warrior classes either, such as Swordsman, Fencer, Whip Warrior, Gunslinger, Brawler, and even Guardian! The last one's no good to me, but still!

For Magician-types, I'm able to get Light Mage, Dark Mage, Wizard, and Thaumaturgist. Wait, how did that last one sneak in? Ah, it's a non-divine, priest-like class. No wonder. Healing spells are one of my most used spell types.

As for Scout classes like Rogue itself, there's Hunter, Explorer, and Cave Explorer... two explorers? Oh, it's not an advanced class, but one specialized for exploring caves, while the first is more jack-of-all. Don'. Need. Either!

My talents for Artisan classes are limited to Weaver... or not. It's not there, damn it! But I got the Cartograph class for some reason?

There are even some Special-type classes... oi! Outlaw's kinda obvious with my Karma Value and Hunting titles, but what's up with the Slacker class? You can't call being stuck on a stupid-big Dungeon Floor for being the same as staying in your room for several days without leaving!!

Let's ignore those two living insults to my pride and focus on the last Special class. The Puppet User. It does look strong, considering my usage of threads, but I don't know... I'm already gunning for Assassin and Necromancer, and there's no guarantee that a certain class is required for that Black-Light thing... 

While I was looking at the classes I could take, Gust had checked his possible options with one of the other devices. The result... Mage, Wind Mage, and Librarian. He doesn't look depressed, despite the low amount of options.

Whatever. Now's Assassin's time to shine!

Yes, please!

And there it is!

Wait, new skill evolutions? 

...Better take a good look at those later. But for now: I GOT IT!! That's one large step towards Kur Kigal!!

And there's something else I wanna look up to. Or rather, there's something I have to prepare...

---

Suspicious thug's PoV:

"Are you sure that brat's loaded?" asked Hans as we were tailing the brat.

"I keep on telling you, that girl's nothing. My [Strength Perception] didn't react the slightest to her, meaning she's just some rich-guy's naive daughter or something wanting to play adventurer." 

It's a common story: a brat wanting to live out their dreams with the money of their parent, so they make a splash by buying a corpse of some crazy monster from high-ranking adventurers and presents it as their kill. 

The only difference from the norm is that the brat has no guards to defend her, but if she's run away from home or trying to do this without her parent noticing, then that's understandable. 

"There's no guards or something like that nearby, meaning the coast's clear. The girl's a beauty, so we'll get a penny if we sell her to a slave trader as well," said Diego. But who's saying we'll not get a taste of her before we sell her?

The three of us followed after the girl as she walked around the crowd of people, despite it being a detour. And then she...

"Is she an idiot?" 

I couldn't stop myself from saying that out loud. The brat willingly entered one of the back-alleys. She's ours!

We quickly entered the back alley so that the brat wouldn't escape. 

But before our eyes could adapt to the dark environment, Diego was suddenly dragged further into the ally all of a sudden. Then, bone-breaking noises were heard in the alley.

What? What was happening!? 

Did something get that girl and Diego? I turned around to escape the alley, but a wall of something was blocking the way. What's this, black thread? Stop f*cking with-!

*Stab!*

---

Garami's PoV:

Whoops? That's all I can say about this mess.

After leaving Gust to the Union Master's care until tomorrow, I decided to take care of the problem such a large amount of money always comes along with.

I figured that at least some people were bound to find out about the small mountain of cash I had gotten from selling her majesty, even if the Union-folks kept their mouth shut or not.

So, to weed out the nestles, I endured the pain and kept [Presence Perception] on all the time, despite it giving me the worst of headaches since we're in the middle of a city.

It was worth the headache, as it showed a group of three that used the same paths as I did. If those guys weren't tailing me, then what could they do?

And I already foresaw that they weren't gentlemen that would have a nice talk either. I made sure to slack my speed so they could get close enough to catch up, but they also slowed down during those instances.

As a final measure, I planned to lure them into this empty alley for then blocking the entrance with my patterned Webwall, now with [Silence] functions! 

That went well and all, threads aren't something I'll fluke with. The other stuff is a different story...

The stalkers (temp.) were a group of three with high levels, but low stats and skills. Boosted levels? No matter, two of them were just a Scout-classed human and a Beastman (dog) with Soldier, but the last guy, an elf with the Swordsman class, looked like he could be a threat. At least, compared to the two idiots where I had to have one foot in the grave for me to lose to them.

So, the plan was to drag him to me, then simply give him a little tap through the Sleep Blow art, obtained from [Assassination Arts]. Think I got that due to having the [Sleep Bite] skill. It would also explain why I also got Paralyze Blow and Confuse Blow. 

ANYWAY! I dragged the elf-swordsman, gave him a little love-tap, and he suddenly went <-shaped on me.

I know that explanation sounds weird, but that's what happened. I used too much power, sending him to eternal sleep instead of inflicting the Sleep-ailment.

But, be relaxed. The culprit of this case is already apprehended. And I'm not talking about me!!

I'm talking about [Dragon Power].

See, that Extra Skill I got for smashing Glavras' body to salt turns out that it gives me access to previously dragon-limited skills. Even my heritage of the Grey Demons isn't enough for me to get that, but the Extra Skill does.

So, before I left the Union, I looked up the various dragon skills with the Skill Encyclopedia, a reliable source of information, and found the identity of this skill. 

By paying MP and SP, you can temporarily gain the powers of a dragon, giving your stats a [Skill level]% boost. The downside is that you get the dragon trait while doing so, which means that Dragon Slayer-stuff's gonna hurt more.

And even so, it doesn't get integrated with [Energy Warfare], a weaker variant of the skill limited to SP only. Meaning that I can have both skills at once, giving me double the power!! For a higher price, but still, it's useful in an emergency.

I paid 5 Skill Points for this one skill when I learned from the Encyclopedia that a high level with this skill could result in a decrease in price for the other dragon-type skills.

And that's necessary. The second-cheapest item was [Dragon Breath (Darkness)], which is at 10 Skill Points, despite being a Darkness attribute skill. 

Unreal.

So anyway, I decided to use [Dragon Power] while saying hello to my stalkers. The result: you know.

...I'm not gonna go into prison, right? They were stalking a fair maiden, so they have to be the bad guys, right?

Argh, if this is the case, I'll just capture them and force them to confess to their crimes! Or slap them with some, if that's necessary! Capture thread, GO!

*Stab!*

...Forgot about [Dragon Power] again. Whoa, so it even affects the power of my threads~...

Turn off, and gentle thread control... got the dog! The human Scout? Not sure~. There's just something here that resembles a broken tomato over there~. Ha-ha...ha...

I dragged the dog-man over to me. He's looking more like an animal than a human with animal traits. So, there won't be any cat-eared maids that aren't 100% cat? Not that interested, but someone else would be in the dumps for that.

"P-p-p-please, spare me!" - Dog

Shut it already! I'm in deep enough trouble due to you guys, so don't make me any angrier! I'm the one who'll get into trouble then!

"I didn't want to do it! Those guys are the ones who wanted to sell you to the Avido Family!!" - Dog

Oh, so they're black for real. That decides it. 

"I swear! I would even defect to those guys if I had the chance, but Diego and Peter said-" - Dog

"Those guys?" - Garami

Guess I can handle some small talk with the enemy. For safety sake, I used the [Evil Lord's Aura] to keep him honest. Just deserts for trying to kidnap me. 

"Y-y-yeah! Those guys that call themselves the Belial Private Army!" - Dog

Oh, those guys. They said they were here in the city. 

The dog must have noticed that I figured out who he was talking about, 'cause he continued.

"Y-yes! Those guys! The ones calling themselves an evil organization in the underworld!" - Dog

Wait, 'evil organization'? I didn't get... or rather, they looked like the deal. The soldiers, or rather, the combatants.

That Blot guy didn't seem like he fits the bill though...

"Tell me more." - Garami

Upping the force of the aura~.

"A-a-as you wish! They're going around crushing mafias and other crime rings and absorb their territories, making them infamous in the underworld. The governments don't lay a hand on them 'cause they're improving the livelihood of the populace of the frontside of society as well, and they're too strong for the crime rings like the Family to strike at them, but not enough to defend against them!" - Dog

They're that strong? Sure, with the leader alone, that meteorite thrower, that sounds possible... but they're bound to have more people with talent, right?

"And what's the Family planning." - Garami

"I don't know! We're not even true members of the Family! All we did was snatching a few people for them to sell, that's all!" - Dog

...Yeah, this guy's trash. Even I wouldn't go so far as to kidnap innocent people.

"Th-there, that's all I know! So, please let me-" - Dog

I ignored the babbling of the mutt and cut his throat. As if I would have let him go. That's just asking for him to gather power to strike back at me. Even if he didn't, that Family's bound to end him either way for telling information about them to a stranger. If anything, a swift death's kinda like mercy for him. Not that I intended so, but oh well.

I cleared the alley by converting the corpses and using the Clean spell to get rid of the bloodstains. Then I burned the threads, for then moving away from the scene of the crime while using my stealth skills. 

The Family... Avido, was it? That's greed, or something like that, in Italian? I'm not that good with foreign languages, but I'm sure I've heard about that at least. 

They sound like the kind of guys you don't wanna mess with. But I've already done so. Even if there's no evidence, they can still manage to figure out that those three goons disappeared when they were going after me. 

Tch, I shouldn't have sold the Queen's corpse. But, even the news that I saved Gust could be enough for them to turn their attention to me. It's almost fated that they would go after me at one point.

At least I know the situation now. Good thing those thugs only relied on that skill that only shows if the target's level's higher than yourself.

Could the Union do something about... probably not. If they're allowing some Mafia-guys in the city, it's probably safe to assume that those Avido-fellows have moles in the Union. Those thugs from before were E-ranked adventurers, so it's not an impossible thought. Then, what about the government itself...

It may just be my imagination running wild here, but better safe than sorry. If I have to choose between two evils, it's better to take the one that's acting friendly to me. 

Now, where was that Armveil-guy's shop again?