I followed Rosemary up the stairs.
As we passed the first floor and arrived at the second, Rosemary glanced back and spoke up.
“If the first floor is where they display cost-effective items for upper-level adventurers, then the second floor targets mid-tier adventurers with more specialized equipment for sale.”
“Wow. It certainly looks fancier, both the items and the people. But there seem to be far fewer customers. Is it usually like this?”
The first floor was bustling with customers, but the second floor had maybe twenty or so at best.
Twenty customers might sound like a lot, but given how large the building is, it feels almost nonexistent.
To put it in earthly terms… it’s like going to a large department store and finding only twenty customers on a floor that sells items with steady demand.
It practically showed that there were more staff than customers, and I wondered if they were running at a loss here.
“The Cradle Association’s items have set prices, except for a few special cases. Take a look at the price tags.”
“Alright.”
Most shops in Pangrave had a romantic tendency to hit you over the head if you looked like an easy target.
That’s just how it went because the customers who spend big money are adventurers who never know when they might kick the bucket.
Dead folks don’t complain. Even if they realize they’ve been scammed, they can’t voice a complaint if they die in the labyrinth.
But for elves who’ve lived long and traded longer, it’s more profitable to build a trustworthy image over time rather than scam a few people here and there.
Not just the Cradle Association, but all the elf merchants I’ve seen so far seemed to hold this integrity in high regard.
“Let’s see. A ‘Judgment’ weapon against undead, forged from sanctified silver and engraved with five enhancement magic spells plus a Turn Undead spell? Whew, just hearing the description makes it sound expensive.”
Since the fourth floor houses the God of Death’s resting place, it’s a weapon for adventurers hunting undead monsters there.
The silver gleaming longsword looked splendid enough to be a décor piece, but the details shown here indicated that this weapon was made for real combat.
“So, what’s the price… 80 silver?”
“80 gold.”
“Wow, even for a fancy weapon, 80 gold for a weapon used on the fourth floor?”
“A weapon made of silver will wear down, no matter how much enhancement magic is applied. However, this longsword offers free repairs and maintenance for six months. Of course, if it’s broken intentionally, it won’t be covered.”
“Is it really six months?”
“A weapon that breaks before six months isn’t worth calling a weapon. It wouldn’t do justice to the name of the Cradle Association.”
“Hmm. Still, 80 gold is quite a lot…”
“80 gold is the official price, but it doesn’t mean it’s the only price. Adventurers under exclusive contracts can get up to a 30% discount depending on their tier, regular customers can get up to 20% off based on the duration and volume of transactions, and there are various other ways of obtaining discounts.”
“Then it sounds more reasonable. But what’s the actual rate of discounts? It’s not like you’re guaranteed that much, right?”
“Sharp as ever. You’re probably looking at a maximum of about 10% from all the benefits you can squeeze out, Jonah.”
“Ugh…”
“If you’re short on cash, you can borrow money. The Cradle Association is also expanding into private lending. If you borrow money from the Cradle Association’s lenders to buy items, you’ll get half off the interest, so keep that in mind.”
“I’m not looking to go into debt, you know.”
“Hmmm… I can cut it down to 60 gold with my authority. What do you say? Since we just farmed a Minotaur, it shouldn’t be impossible to negotiate that amount…”
“By odd chance, it seems you’re trying to sell me something, Rosemary. But just so you know, we’re on our way to the banquet hall right now. I haven’t said I want to buy anything.”
“…Uff.”
Rosemary’s serious demeanor crumbled instantaneously, revealing a look of defeat.
It seems she had tried to escape reality for a moment.
“And do I really need a fourth-floor weapon before heading up to the third floor? Even if I did need it…”
I chuckled and pulled out the Unicorn Dagger. Even today, that thing shines unnecessarily bright just by touching it.
“I don’t think this is worse than that, right?”
“Gah!”
Rosemary bit her lip in humiliation and nodded.
I have no idea how she got into this situation, but there’s no point in delaying any longer.
I poked Rosemary’s back with my finger and continued, “Now, considering what we need to do… we better behave ourselves, right?”
This is my earnest advice. If I show off Basilieus, it would turn public opinion about me among the elves upside down, so establishing some connections beforehand would benefit us both.
But, as always, sincerity doesn’t travel easily.
With a face twisted by guilt and helplessness, Rosemary nodded.
“…Then let’s head straight to the third floor.”
Following the now dejected Rosemary to the third floor, I noticed a peculiar door had been placed at the top of the stairs.
The doorman didn’t block Rosemary, but once we reached the third floor, I understood why they were obstructing access.
The third floor was like a high-end boutique. Expensive looking items were neatly lined up, each accompanied by a quality certificate in elegant handwriting, and there were no customers browsing around.
Instead, there was an excited Lydia.
“Ugh… Haah… I love coming here anytime. Jonah, did you see that? The Earth Crusher of Borne! It’s a hammer made from the spinal bones of the dragon, the guardian of the sixth floor, melted down with fragments of the legendary heroes’ weapons that can be found on the seventh floor. While no one uses it for melee attacks, it’s yet to be sold simply because it’s so powerful… I’d guess it packs a punch similar to Ellie-senpai’s peak power…”
“Whew! Lydia, try not to close your eyes and stare at me like Benny does!”
“…Okay.”
Lydia, who had been enthusiastically excited, suddenly slumped down and nodded. Yet, her gaze remained fixed on my head.
By the way, it’s shocking to think what a stellar material that is, and for a craftsman to use it so generously, attaching modifiers to the weapons, only to consider them equivalent in might to Ellie’s sincere punch.
I now realized just how absurdly strong Ellie was.
I planned to rescue Ellie’s arm once we get to the third floor… but is that really okay?
While it was set to fit just right, like a real arm, it’s still a prosthetic.
I couldn’t say for sure if I could match Ellie’s stats.
Shaking my head, I kept walking, and this time, there was an even more extravagant door blocking the stairs.
“That’s the fourth floor… so that’s the way to the banquet hall. I really hope you can hold yourself together… Hm?”
Rosemary trailed off, tilting her head. Curiously following her gaze, I quickly found out the reason.
A uniquely impressive door decorated with gold and jewels, radiating magical light. In front of it stood remarkably strong-looking elf men and women as doormen… and on the floor were two familiar elves flailing their limbs.
“We won’t budge until you hand over our boss!”
“Lemon is a girl who follows through! But don’t you dare squeeze that into a shortcut!”
“As I said before, they’re not here!”
“Why on earth can’t you bastards just leave?! How many times have you disgraced yourselves in front of the distinguished guests…?”
“Then prove that it’s not a lie and let us in to meet the Cradle Association’s boss! If it’s irrelevant, all blame falls on Lemon!”
“You idiots…”
One of the female doormen was angrily shouting, and truthfully, I couldn’t understand why those two were here.
Rosemary was just as taken aback by their nonsense as well. It’s probably only me who can get those two to behave properly in this situation.
Taking a deep breath, I spoke up. “Lemon, Apple. What are you doing here?”
“…Is that you, Jonah?”
“It’s me! You came to help us, didn’t you?!”
Lemon and Apple flailed their limbs even more, wildly rolling on the ground, although their perfect chests remained unfazed.
“Just like Benny, huh…? Or more than that…!”
“What?! Jonah, what did you just say?!”
Benny, sensitive about her chest… and with that, she started letting out a threat towards me, but I decided to ignore her remarks on band-aid sizes.
Retaining my focus on Lemon and Apple, I found their eyes sparkling.
Next, they squished side to side, creating enough space for a person to lie down between them.
“Jonah! You can lie down here!”
“Let’s fight together!”
“Uh, nah? I just borrowed this outfit, so I’d rather not spoil it.”
“Oh! Speaking of which, your outfit looks nice today.”
“Lemon is flirting. I won’t back down either.”
With Lemon making a licking sound and wiggling her tongue, I shook my head.
“Why are you even here? This isn’t about Eve being trapped here or anything.”
“That’s a mystery to us.”
“Our boss last met the Cradle Association’s leader.”
“That does sound suspicious… but the Cradle Association’s leader should know Eve’s true identity, right?”
We might be able to help evacuate Eve if that’s the case.
In fact, based on Rosemary’s remarks, some high-ranking elves knew of Eve’s whereabouts.
But that didn’t necessarily mean they had kidnapped her to lock her away.
After all, Eve was still the queen who was respected by the elves.
…But it seems Lemon and Apple have a different way of thinking.
“If it were other elves, Jonah’s words would ring true! But not the Cradle Association’s leader!”
“That guy’s a pure piece of trash! He definitely raised his family with one leg of the table! No way a person could end up that crooked otherwise!”
“What…!”
Rosemary’s eyes widened with shock after hearing an unexpectedly rude comment about her mother.
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