After conquering the intermediate dungeon, we immediately challenged an advanced dungeon.
The advanced dungeon was filled with powerful beasts and monsters, but for our party of heroes, all over level 100, it was nothing more than a stepping stone.
“As expected of the floor boss of an advanced dungeon. The loot is luxurious, and the experience points are excellent.”
Akini smirked faintly as she pulled an ornate sword out of the treasure chest.
The sword was lavishly decorated with a golden scabbard and encrusted with jewels. I appraised it, but it had zero practicality.
If Akimi swung it even once, it would probably shatter into pieces.
“What’s the point of decorating a weapon with jewels? The blade’s made of crystal, isn’t it? That thing can’t cut anything.”
“It’s just an art piece meant to look impressive. Haruto , don’t go swinging it around and breaking it. Even if it’s useless, it should sell for a high price.”
“True, but do you think the Adventurers’ Guild would even buy a flashy sword like this?”
Worried about damaging it and lowering its appraisal value, I hastily handed it back to Akimi. She stored it in her Item Box with a composed expression.
“Jewelry and gold bars like these fetch better prices at the Merchants’ Guild,” Natsuki said, shrugging as she picked up one of the gold bars that had been packed at the bottom of the treasure chest.
Just one of those bars was worth three large gold coins—about three million yen in Japanese currency. That’s a lot of money for high schoolers. Whether it’s worth risking our lives for, though, is another question.
“Holy relics or similar items, I hear the temples pay a high price for those. Crowns and scepters, too—the royal family seems to want them,” Natsuki added.
“Anything we don’t need, we just sell to whoever offers the best price.”
“Good idea. Converting it to currency makes it easier to ask Tohma -nii to handle shopping for us.”
With how much we were earning now, I wanted to indulge a little. Maybe try all the convenience store bento and hot snacks or see if any new instant ramen flavors had come out. There was also the new volume of that manga I was curious about.
“Now that we’re making good money from dungeons, we might not need to visit the royal castle so much anymore,” Natsuki muttered.
She had a point. Maybe we didn’t need to sell Japanese goods to the royal family and castle staff to make money anymore.
Next to me, Akimi frowned slightly and nodded.
“Yeah… If possible, I don’t want to go near the temples either.”
“Why’s that? I get that the temples weren’t exactly accommodating, but the castle was decently comfortable, wasn’t it?”
“Idiot brother. You need to think things through a bit more. While I trust the individuals we’ve gotten close to, as a nation, they’re a lost cause.”
Akimi’s sharp rebuke left me speechless.
The religious state of Silan summoned us to this world.
Though there’s a royal family, true power lies with the temple that worships the Creator God.
The temple folk hate monsters and demonkin, and they look down on demi-humans, considering them failed versions of demonkin.
(They even despise elves, dwarves, and beastfolk—despite how skilled and cool they are.)
“They worship us as summoned heroes, but I doubt people who naturally discriminate like that truly accept otherworlders.”
“Yeah, I kind of felt that too… like their attitude wasn’t entirely genuine.”
“The royal family that bows to the temple isn’t trustworthy either. Did you know? The castle has a harem where they keep pretty elves and beastfolk imprisoned.”
Akimi spoke with visible disgust, and Natsuki didn’t bother hiding her cold expression.
“A harem? You mean, like, a collection of concubines?”
“I said ‘imprisoned,’ didn’t I? To them, anyone who isn’t human is either a slave or, at best, a pet.”
“Are you serious!? That’s disgusting!”
“And apparently, the harem has both men and women, so they can be toyed with as they please.”
“That’s… horrific. Even Denka isn’t like that, right?”
Denka, the prince, was a good-natured musclehead with no scandalous rumors to his name. I wanted to believe he wasn’t involved.
“This country even allows slavery. It’s not a place we can invite Tohma -nii to.”
“Good point…”
I vaguely recalled someone calling Tohma -nii a “yandere magnet.” Despite his aloof demeanor, he was the doting older-brother type, attracting clingy personalities like moths to a flame.
Most of the time, our family’s guard presence kept things under control, but there were definitely stalker types among them. Natsuki and Akimi had crushed their unhealthy attachments with ruthless efficiency.
“Tohma ’s already popular with strange people. Now that he’s reincarnated as a high elf, he’s probably even more of a target for looks-obsessed weirdos.”
“If Tohma -nii casually visited this country, he’d end up a slave or part of the harem in no time.”
“Over my dead body. If that happened, I’d destroy them,” Akimi said, her voice cold.
The sheer intensity of her statement made me shiver. I didn’t dare ask what she’d destroy.
“I also don’t like how stagnant this country is,” Akimi muttered.
Apparently, the knowledge we had shared for cultural advancement—like paper-making, spices, tea leaves, and cooking methods—had been hoarded by the royal family for their own benefit.
“They’re hindering the world’s progress out of greed.”
“Quality of life improvements are essential—especially for food!”
“Come to think of it, we sold them spices and tea, but none of that ever made it to the city markets…”
Even though the dungeon city was supposed to have active trade, the meals were just as plain as those at the temple.
“Probably because they only circulate among the royal family and high-ranking nobles.”
Disgusting. We were already annoyed about being summoned in the first place, but since it was by divine decree, there wasn’t much we could do about it.
“I really don’t want to get too involved with the country or the temple.”
“Exactly. That’s why I’d rather go on a journey to take out demonkin.”
“Now that’s a great idea.”
I was never one for a constrained lifestyle. Besides, I wanted to explore this world, especially now that I was here.
“We can just keep in touch with the temple and castle occasionally through the guild. As long as we’re working—clearing dungeons and gathering intel on demonkin fortresses—they can’t complain.”
“Right. This country seems shady enough to stab us in the back as soon as we seal an evil dragon.”
I joked, laughing, but neither Akimi nor Natsuki smiled.
“It’s not a joke. Even you’ve realized it—there are threats beyond just the demonkin.”
“Yeah. If even Haruto can notice that, we need to stay on guard.”
“Seriously…?”
Still, it was good to be aware. My clever sister and cousin would come up with countermeasures. I’d just use the instincts Tohma -nii praised to protect them.
“Alright! Let’s hurry to the lower floors. Once we clear this advanced dungeon, we’ll have enough money to leave this city for good!”
“Agreed. Let’s complete this and leave with our heads held high.”
“I heard there’s a fortress three days away that’s been occupied by demonkin. Let’s head there first.”
“Of course—away from the royal capital, right?”
Sharing grins, we touched the teleport gate.
No matter how comfortable it might seem, we had no intention of staying in a gilded cage. The Date family motto was “freedom above all.”
“I’ll get stronger so I can protect Tohma -nii!” Natsuki declared, clenching her fists with determination.
Little did we know, we’d later receive a carefree selfie from our cousin, titled “First Encounter with an Otherworlder!” That single photo would leave Natsuki trembling with both anger and jealousy.
