Chapter 362 – Impromptu Interview.

“There is not much left, I guess it’s not the same as hunting monsters…”

“Woof!”

‘These weapons and armor they were using were mostly made out of cheap mithril alloys, no wonder they melted so fast.’

After his victory over the platinum adventurer party, Roland was going through their equipment or more precisely, through what was left of it. The group was composed of lesser tier 3 class holders that apparently didn’t have that much money to buy proper equipment. It made a lot more sense now why they had the alchemist with them as he probably made the battles against the undead a lot easier.

Why all of them were doing down here was still a mystery as the area had not truly been explored. To be on the safer side, an adventurer party wanted to wait for a stronger group to go through all the areas beforehand. The adventurer guild would commission maps from such adventurer parties that would go for quite the penny. Yet, not everyone was concerned about safety and wished to be the first one to discover unearthed riches.

“I’ll probably won’t be able to identify them like this, their cards were destroyed too… You can come out now, I know that you’re there.”

“I uh… I wasn’t trying to peek.”

“It’s fine, they won’t be bothering you ever again.”

While he was trying to find something worthwhile to take from the piles of scrap, his new acquaintance appeared. Rastix Zelbebanin was his full name but he was not part of the noble cast. Gnomes liked to bind their families through last names just like nobles but they didn’t carry as much power behind them.

From the outer appearance, he was somewhat similar to his old boss but that was where the characteristics ended. He could not see that old fart putting himself in this much danger and also failing at it miserably. The two tier 3 elven bodyguards that were around him could have easily dispatched the platinum party here.

“I can see that… Damn ruffians, serves them right!”

After analyzing the situation the small man walked out from behind the rock he was hiding. The battlefield wasn’t all that bloody as his spell had mostly burned away on the flesh of the adventurers. It left most of the cavern sterile and devoid of any blood or guts.

“So… why what were you trying to achieve by coming to this dungeon, Mr. Rastix?”

“Oh well, you know… I was just trying to get some rare ingredients.”

“Rare ingredients?”

Roland somehow knew that this would be the answer but wasn’t sure why the gnome decided to come here. Were the items on this level so important to risk his life? Could he have not been able to get them with the help of gold? Considering his profession should have given him enough money, things didn’t make that much sense.

‘He is a Master Alchemist, so he shouldn’t have monetary problems… unless he got himself into some kind of large debt.’

These were the stats of a non-combatant. People like this alchemist didn’t receive any type of multiplier when reaching a higher tier nor did their base stats increase much. Even though his intelligence was high it did not translate into casting spells or a very large mana pool either. They retained the tier 1 multiplier and could not really compete with any monsters above level fifty that had gone through their second evolution.

‘One hit from a skeleton in this dungeon could turn this guy into paste, what was he looking for here?’

There were a few reasons for a person to come to Albrook as it was a new city with new possibilities. Some people flocked like he did before to establish their positions before it was too late. Considering that this gnome’s Master Alchemist class level was still low, he might have been trying to start his own thing. If he was here alone, then perhaps his contract with a company similar to the one he joined in Edelgard had ended.

Roland didn’t really need to lose time to speculate as the man was right before him. Thanks to his current position and performance he was sure that his new little friend would come clean rather fast.

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“What rare ingredients are worth losing your life for? I don’t think these adventurers had anything like that on them, nor did I see anything in that crypt…”

“Oh well, you know…”

“Hm… do you perhaps have that rare ingredient on you? I will remind you that I am a Valerian Knight. If you are in the possession of any illegal or forbidden substances, artifacts, or monster parts…”

“I uh… damn fine…”

Roland was a lot bigger than this small gnome here. Rastix was also not stupid and knew that a quick search would give away all of his secrets. There was no way to run or hide anymore. If he lied about what he had in his backpack, then his safety was at risk.

“Give me a moment, it’s in my backpack.”

“I’m waiting.”

“Worf!”

Agni snorted from the side as he moved in closer. He planted his posterior behind the gnome who almost had a heart attack from the thud. It was certain that there was no place to run for Rastix who was also probably not sure about Roland’s true intentions. Even though he was identifying himself as a knight, his true identity could have been different. The item was indeed in the backpack and it was brought forward slowly.