episode_0017

A place where there are 10 distorted causal laws.

Among them, we headed to the closest place.

The distance took about a week, and there were villages and a city in between.

After stopping by several villages, I was able to arrive at one city.

The name of the city was called Leita City.

There were many grave robbers and scholars doing research here.

I heard that there are quite a few ruins in Leita City. In addition, it is said that the number of scholars and grave robbers has increased because the relics found in the ruins are of high research value as they are items from ancient times or hundreds of years ago.

Many people come to this place where a kind of symbiotic relationship is maintained, where grave robbers legally excavate artifacts from the ruins and scholars pay a certain price for them.

‘Because there is no law that says it must be sold only to scholars.’

Those who rob this place said that because the relics are so valuable, even nobles often stop by to buy them.

An official auction house is opened and many people participate.

I was quite curious as it looked quite different from a normal city, so I wandered around and saw many sights that I had not seen in other cities.

‘It’s fascinating.’

There is an absolutely irreducible status gap between commoners and nobles.

But not here, in Leita City.

Although the class system did not disappear, grave robbers were often seen as superior to nobles.

No matter how bad a relic is, its value is so high that even the nobles cannot even dream of it.

As a result, since the nobles are in the position of Eul and cannot retaliate later, touching the grave robbers in Leita City is considered an attack on that city.

What that meant was that scholars were also moving.

Scholars who study relics are basically very important human resources and have such high authority and power that even nobles cannot do anything about them.

It was truly amazing to see the nobles completely taking Eul’s position here.

Basically, this is because nobles have high pride and tend to look down on commoners.

However, it was worth seeing the nobles trying to argue with the commoners, the grave robbers.

As I was moving forward and looking around the city, a thought occurred to me.

‘I’d like to try stealing relics too.’

I don’t think I’ll ever experience something like this again.

I thought it would be fun to try, so I looked into it.

From what I found out, there was a guild that was qualified to legally excavate artifacts.

The screening process was quite strict, and you had to have the basic skills necessary for excavation.

The value of the relics is preserved depending on how well they are excavated without damaging them.

Even if you become a grave robber, you are rated accordingly, just like a mercenary.

The grades of grave robbers range from Class S to Class D, and grave robbers always had to be accompanied by a scholar when entering a ruin.

As such, being a grave robber was complex in many ways, so it was not easy.

This is because even the lowest level grave robbers have the skills to excavate relics.

In fact, it is impossible for someone without the skills to excavate.

But I didn’t think it was a big problem.

‘How many times have I dug into the ground?’

When I was traveling with my colleagues, there was a time when I went in and out of the ruins as if I were eating a meal.

Of course, it wasn’t to excavate relics like it is now, but I thought it wouldn’t be that difficult since I would have memories of that time.

I went straight to the guild to obtain qualifications related to grave robbing.

After arriving there and receiving various instructions, I waited for a while.

Since there were people who were already taking the test ahead of me, I had to wait until they finished.

As I closed my eyes and rested for a while, someone called me.

“Hey.”

“… ”

A beautiful woman’s voice resonates in my ears.

I carefully opened my closed eyes and turned my gaze toward where the voice came from.

There was a woman there who looked more like a scholar than a grave robber.

The woman was looking at me with an air of displeasure.

I said to the woman with a faint smile.

“What’s going on?”

“Is this your first time? Coming here.”

“That’s right. Is there any problem?”

The woman reacted as if she was shocked by my words.

“There are a lot of people who come here and invest a lot of time to become grave robbers. But do you know how rude it is for you to take the test without any preparation or knowledge about it? I don’t even know that basic common sense.”

“Aha.”

“Aha what!”

The woman shouted and sighed.

Then he spoke again.

“Anyway, please leave while I have good words to say. If you don’t want to look bad.”

“In short, it is better to take an exam on a topic that has no basis. Is it like this?”

“Accurate.”

I thought carefully about the woman’s words.

It’s not that I don’t understand what you’re saying.

They put in a lot of effort to come here, but someone who didn’t even seem to have properly learned excavation skills suddenly showed up and wanted to take a test.

It may be unpleasant, and I understand that you are dissatisfied.

But I understand it to a certain extent.

That’s no reason to listen to her.

There are no restrictions on taking the test.

Anyone can take the test, so what does it matter to her whether I take it or not?

There is no reason to listen to her or care about her.

I felt like I wanted to pick on a woman.

‘This is cute enough.’

As someone who has lived for many years and met many people, the woman’s appearance was just cute.

It was completely understandable that she had a narrow view of the world due to her young age, and the woman was purely angry that someone who was not qualified was taking this test.

Because people themselves are not bad or anything.

‘So I have to tell you.’

That what you see is not everything in the world.

I thought I would use this opportunity to make it clear.

“Then how about betting with me?”

“Bet?”

The woman showed interest.

I smiled and nodded.

“If I lose this test, I will apologize and never set foot in this city again. Not even close. Instead, if you lose, you must give me a sincere apology and listen to me for a month. Of course, you don’t have to worry because it won’t do anything weird. Do you want to do it?”

Conditions that are fleetingly advantageous to you.

In particular, this type of person never considers their own defeat.

The woman accepted the bet as if it were natural.

“Good! I will never let you set foot in it!”

“Good.”

I thought as I watched the woman showing her enthusiasm.

‘I need to take this opportunity to tell you how scary the world is.’

As someone who has experienced the world beforehand.

I personally planned to teach a child who was just entering the world how careless he or she should be with words.

“Next tester, please come in!”

Soon, the employee’s words spread.

We, the next people in line, went inside.

***

Originally, the word grave robber was used to refer to someone who secretly excavates ruins.

Grave robbers in Leita City are a profession.

Like mercenaries, they are divided into ranks, and the higher they are, the more easily and quickly they are able to dig up relics.

As it is a task to excavate relics, it is a task that requires delicate work and high concentration.

Therefore, basically, becoming a grave robber is quite difficult.

The proctor of the test to select grave robbers was quite strict.

And Zetsu, the grave robber test supervisor, was watching the testers who had entered their prepared locations through a magical photography sphere.

“Is this a failure again?”

He looked at the testers who entered and shook his head.

Even though the test hadn’t even started yet, it was already obvious what it would be like.

If I had to pick one person, it would seem that this woman has considerable skills…

‘It’s probably obvious over there.’

A person who catches his attention.

He clicked his tongue as he looked at the typical handsome young man with pure white hair and a tall face.

There is no equipment brought in separately, and only the basic equipment prepared by the guild is carried.

How on earth did they have the confidence to not bring any equipment?

For a high-level grave robber, the basic equipment would be more than enough, but as he had seen many grave robbers for a long time, all he could think of was that he was a beginner.

‘My attitude was terrible.’

With the intention of quickly seeing the next tester, he announced the start of the test to the connected communication port.

Just as I was about to set my sights on the only woman I thought had a high standard.

[It’s done.]

It is completely excavated in just 10 seconds after the test begins.

This is a handsome young man who I thought would definitely fail.

Seeing the young man looking at the screen and thinking that this was enough, Zetsu felt like his common sense was being denied.