The Purpose of a Thing's Existence
"Ada... what?"
(Adamantite... that's what I am.)
It was a word I wasn't used to hearing.
But it was a word even I knew.
Adamantite, the legendary treasure of myth.
The hardest material in the world, appearing in countless fairy tales and used to forge holy swords and divine blades.
If this really was genuine adamantite… it would turn the whole world upside down.
As I stood there staring blankly at the ore, Lufen poked my cheek.
"Dyrel, what's wrong?"
"Well... this ore says it's adamantite."
The name of the legendary mineral made Lufen freeze too.
Not surprising. Lufen knew way more than I did. There was no way she hadn't heard of it.
"... Are you serious?"
"I've got no reason to lie."
"True... but what if it is lying?"
"No chance. There's no benefit for objects to lie to humans."
Besides, I'm the only one who can talk to objects in the first place.
These were all things I'd only just met. It wasn't like they'd even think of deceiving someone.
Lufen folded her arms beneath her chest and thought for a moment.
Then she looked up and held up two fingers.
"There are two possibilities. First, it really is adamantite. Second, the former owner always referred to it as adamantite, so the ore mistakenly believes that's what it is."
"... Yeah, that's possible."
If that was the case, there was no way for us to tell. So what were we supposed to do?
"For now... should we take it back to that old guy?"
"... Yeah. But don't say the word adamantite. If it's genuine, someone will definitely try to steal it... or kill us for it."
It's that dangerous!?
Now I wished I'd never found the thing.
But pretending I hadn't seen it would just leave it nagging at me… guess we'd better go.
Just to be safe, let's pick out a few things that at least looked like treasure.
As I silently apologized to the mansion's former owner, Lufen slowly looked around the room.
"Still... who would've thought this house was hiding a place like this?"
"You know about this mansion?"
"Of course I do. It's famous around town… though I guess it's only natural you wouldn't know, Dyrel, since you don't exactly talk to people."
Sorry for being a loner.
"Well, 'famous' is a bit of an exaggeration. People just know that the owner disappeared overnight decades ago. He originally ran a huge trading company and was apparently a very famous merchant."
"A trading company... so that's why there are so many foreign goods here."
To me, they all just looked like junk.
I tilted my head, unable to appreciate the quality of the weapons and ornaments.
Just then, Lufen quietly started laughing. Uh, why? That's kind of scary.
"Hehehe... This is an incredible find, Dyrel! You did great!"
"What do you mean?"
"What do I mean? Look at this mountain of treasure! We're trying to become merchants, remember!? This is practically free merchandise!"
Wow, that's cold.
As bad as I felt for Lufen, whose eyes were sparkling with greed… I couldn't think that way.
Sure, none of these things were being used anymore. But they had originally belonged to the mansion's owner.
Was it really okay to just sell them off so casually...?
"... Hey. What do you all think?"
(Who knows?)
(No idea, so we don't really care?)
You guys are awfully indifferent.
(But... not being used makes us a little sad.)
(We were created to be used.)
(Our reason for existing is facing extinction.)
Ah… they’re right.
Even if they couldn't communicate with people… being left unused had to be lonely.
"... Lufen. Can I say something?"
"What is it?"
"Selling these guys... well, I'll reluctantly agree to it. But let me choose who buys them."
If they ended up with another collector… that would be far too cruel to them.
I looked straight into Lufen's eyes.
For a brief moment, she looked like she wanted to say something. Then she quietly exhaled and smiled.
"All right. I'll leave it entirely up to you."
"Th-thanks...!"
I didn't know when it would happen. But I swore I'd entrust every one of them to someone who would truly treasure them.
"All right, Dyrel. Let's head to the ore shop. We need someone to take a look at our self-proclaimed adamantite."
"Yeah. Let's go."
◆◆◆
"””W-what the heck is all this!?"””
The next morning, we brought the treasures to the ore shop first thing.
The old man, and a whole crowd of other old men, shouted in unison.
"Look at this! It's magic ore with one hundred percent purity!"
"This one's holy lava! It only comes from the southern volcanic region!"
"Unbelievable! Deep-sea ore with seawater trapped inside it!"
They were all bustling around like little kids who'd just gotten new toys.
Good. So these really were legitimate treasures.
The ornaments, on the other hand, didn't attract much attention.
We'll just take those to a jewelry shop later.
"Man, you're incredible, kid. I never thought you'd actually bring back treasure."
"Haha... m-more importantly, there's one more thing I'd like you to look at."
Lufen pulled the (supposed) adamantite out of a leather pouch.
Several of the old men leaned in to examine it, all frowning.
"I've... never seen this before."
"It doesn't look like an ordinary stone..."
"Look at these wave patterns. Could it be Ripple Dragonstone?"
"The color's different."
"I've never seen such a clear steel-gray stone before."
Lufen and I exchanged glances.
If even professionals who specialized in stone didn't recognize it… that only made it seem more likely.
"Kid, did you find this in the mansion too?"
"Yeah. It was just... behind a pillar by chance."
"Hmm... This might actually be the real treasure. Hang on a second."
The old man began writing something on a piece of paper.
Just like Jingo the Sharpener…
Did everyone in business have to know how to read and write?
… I'll have Lufen teach me sometime.
"Here. This is a letter of introduction from me. Take it to someone named Farel in the Royal Capital."
"Farel...? Who's that?"
"A woman with the Appraisal skill... one who knows all things."
What do you think about this chapter?
