Chapter 613

At the Skill Crystal Vein
A few days after becoming a Platinum Merchant, I went to the Skill Crystal vein to look for the golden Skill Crystal the Goddess had mentioned.
You need special tools to enter this vein, and since I also had to officially hand over the operation from everyone in Wildcat Claws to everyone in Dark Green Sprout, I had to come here anyway.
I’d just… completely forgotten until now.
Well, in the end, I came—so no harm done.
Everything worked out fine… sort of.

“This is amazing. I can’t believe all these crystals are Skill Crystals,” Juna said, sounding impressed.

And, well, she’s right—it is an incredible deposit.
Every one of those towering pillars rising from floor to ceiling is a single Skill Crystal.
And there are over a dozen of them. No wonder she’s awestruck.
Even I’ve only come here to mine Skill Crystals twice—once when I first discovered the place, and one other time.

“You’ve been here before, then?”

“Yeah. Marquis Vardmoi asked me to collect a few ‘Adamant Body’ Skill Crystals for him.”

“Wait, Adamant Body? That’s one of the rarest of the rare!”

“That pillar over there is a Skill Crystal for ‘Adamant Body,’” I said, pointing.

The crystal I indicated connected the ground and ceiling like a massive tree trunk.
Most of the crystals here were thick columns, but the one for Adamant Body was especially huge.
Melanie had told me it was among the rarer ones in this vein, but since it was also the one that could be mined in the greatest quantity, I never found it particularly valuable.
Not to mention, I didn’t have any use for it myself.

“Would you like to take one, if you plan to use it?”

“Are you serious? You can’t just casually hand out Skill Crystals valuable enough for the government to regulate!”

“I don’t mind. It’s not like Adamant Body is all-powerful anyway.”

“Huh?”

“When activated, Adamant Body makes you incredibly tough—physically and magically—but it slows your movement. So if you get restrained, you’re done for.
If someone throws a chain with a weight at the end, you won’t dodge it—and then you’ve got a real problem.”

I’d learned that from Uhina, who helped me research it.
As it turns out, Adamant Body is great when you need to be a wall, but once your movement’s restricted, you can’t do a thing.
It’s perfect for someone who needs to serve as a shield for others, but for an adventurer who values mobility, it’s a tricky choice.
Besides, it’s not that useful if only one person has it—
but if several people use it together to form a wall, it becomes a very powerful defensive skill.

“Hm. Even for a Gold adventurer, isn’t that kind of information supposed to be confidential?”

“It’s fine. Marquis Vardmoi told me it’s actually a pretty well-known fact.”

“Hmm… I see.”

Apparently, the reason he wanted multiple crystals was to have several people who could serve as human walls.
Truly a trump card for emergencies.

“Now then, where’s the Skill Crystal we came for…”

(Lily, isn’t that one over there?)

I followed Talat’s gaze and saw a necklace resting on a pedestal I didn’t recognize.
Set in it was a large, golden crystal that gleamed brilliantly.
That had to be the one.

“Alright… how am I supposed to use this thing?”

(It’s a necklace, so you probably just wear it around your neck.)

“Fair point… Okay, that’s on. Let’s try activating it!”

“Wait, Lily!”

“Huh?”

Plum tried to stop me—but I’d already triggered the crystal’s power.

In an instant, the entire scene around me changed, and before me stood the little hut from when I first arrived in this world.
Talat was still here, but everyone else had vanished.

“Ah… yeah, I’m definitely getting scolded for this when I get back.”

(Well, you kinda brought it on yourself. You used it without thinking.)

Talat chided me gently—and he wasn’t wrong.
… Maybe if I use it again, I can return?

What do you think about this chapter?