I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

"..."

"Alright. For some reason, you give me a sense of familiarity... Since you want money, I'll hand over my treasured box of 'Dragon Claws,' is that alright?"

Ayane blinked, staring intently at Shirako, who had suddenly started robbing her, with a look of great curiosity.

What... is this?

They not only fought the dragon... but after defeating it, they even tried to rob it?!

What kind of development is this?!

The dragon was met with Bai Zi's calm, emotionless voice and the sound of a gun being cocked: "Hurry up and take it out."

"...Here, this is what I kept when I changed my claws. I heard that dragon claws are an extremely precious material, they should fetch a high price."

A treasure chest made of luxurious gold and mahogany, filled with dragon claws of various shapes, suddenly appeared out of thin air in everyone's sight, and then fell from a height of half a meter with a loud bang, crashing to the ground and splashing up a large blast of air.

Ayane: "..."

She was on the verge of a breakdown just a second ago, but she immediately stopped. After carefully examining the chest, she realized it looked exceptionally magnificent and that even a layman would know at a glance that it could fetch a high price.

The development is a bit strange... but it seems pretty good too?

As the saying goes, "Wealth can move people's hearts."

Upon seeing the treasure chest that had suddenly appeared, the girls on the countermeasures committee fell silent for a very short time before their eyes lit up—even Hoshino had a strange feeling about her.

Celery: "...Mmm (sound of swallowing saliva)"

I can't believe it actually works?!

That said... even if the dragon claw doesn't sell, this magnificent-looking treasure chest should fetch a very high price on the black market, right?

If this were sold, it would be equivalent to how many months' salary I would earn working?

Nomiya was curious about how this 'treasure chest of the fantasy world' should be priced... what the dragon claw was made of, and if it could be sold, at what price.

In addition, she was also reflecting on the 'fantastic adventure' she had experienced today—the 'ups and downs' of today were probably greater and more intense than anything she had experienced before in her life.

Who would have thought... that their countermeasures committee would actually follow Sensei into the inner worlds of other people and fight against an evil dragon...

Then they even defeated the dragon and demanded the spoils from it.

If I told you this, probably no one would believe it unless they saw it with their own eyes.

"…Anything else?"

Bai Zi continued to point his gun at the lying-down evil dragon, relentlessly.

...For some reason, it has the feel of a "bad girl" who learned bad habits after being "taught" by Huang Mao, and then calmly said "Old Deng, explode some gold coins" while pointing a gun at her father's forehead.

Standing beside Shiroko, Amamiya casually reminded him, "If you don't want to be eliminated by us, you'd better hand over more wealth and treasures... You need to understand, the most regrettable thing in the world is 'having money, but not having the life to enjoy it.'"

'Hey...how strange! Anubis robs Set, doesn't that mean Old Deng is going to get tons of gold coins?'

[Coopetition ability: Fundraising, investment, and operational techniques]

[Assistant: Toranosuke Yoshida (Arcane: Sun)]

During negotiations, you can demand more money and rarer special items from the enemy.

"Gurgle..."

After an unwilling sniff, the dragon gritted its teeth and said, "...Fine, then add this to the list."

A gold pendant shaped like an inverted pyramid, which looked exceptionally valuable, landed in front of Amamiya and was held in her hand.

"This is a special pendant that I finally managed to collect... It's said to be a treasure left behind by the Pharaoh, and it's extremely valuable. Is this alright?"

The girls all turned their heads and glanced at the strange golden inverted triangle pendant.

This is clearly an extremely valuable and exquisitely crafted work of art.

"There should be...more, right?"

Amamiya, playing with this "replica of the Millennium Puzzle," said meaningfully.

"You guys...don't go too far!"

Amamiya met the dragon's angry gaze, which seemed to wish it could kill him with a single breath, and calmly said, "This is the last time. As long as you hand over the item, we will let you go."

"...Is this really the last time?"

"How about this one?"

With a reluctant expression, the dragon produced a scale that was very likely left behind by another dragon.

"This... is my most precious item! It possesses the power of fire... which can protect the wearer from flames and also unleash fire attacks on enemies."

"I'll accept it."

Amamiya hooked her finger and tucked the scale between her fingers.

"Now you can let me go, right...?"

"All-out attack."

"Why?"

Having received advance instructions from Amamiya, the girls on the countermeasures committee, who were well-prepared, opened fire simultaneously. The rattling of guns and the continuous flashes of light drowned out the dragon's dying roar.

"You...have no martial ethics!"

"Who wants to talk about martial ethics with these monsters..."

Serika, having delivered the final blow by pressing the rifle against the dragon's head, uttered a curt remark.

It was clearly their helmeted gang who planned this conspiracy beforehand, intending to kidnap her as a hostage and even abandon her in the desert...

These monsters, who were also transformed from the "helmeted group," are now being forced to "practice martial ethics"?

Are you kidding me?!

If you all lack martial ethics... then why should we be upright and honorable?

The evil dragon, killed by Serika's single shot, howled and twisted, turning into puddles of black mud before finally dissolving and disappearing.

To avoid getting splattered with the black mud, the girls on the countermeasures committee frowned and backed away in disgust... Then, Serika discovered a stack of 'cards' that were still shimmering with golden light while submerged in the mud.

"Hmm...it seems there are other spoils of war?"

"It's credit points, which should be around tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands."

Bai Zi immediately used his "professional" perspective to make a rough estimate of the value of the "golden card" left behind after the dragon's demise.

Qinxiang: "..."

Tens of thousands of credits...

This is the amount that I would have to work hard for several days to accumulate.

This time, all they did was eliminate a 'monster' from another world, and they gained so much...

A subtle sense of 'unfairness' arose in her heart. Serika then followed Shirako through the still-lingering blackish-red mud from the dragon's corpse and bent down to pick up the cards that shimmered with golden light.

These gold cards are all clearly marked with their face value, ranging from several hundred to several thousand.

After compiling these dozens of gold cards, Serika arrived at a fairly accurate figure—this evil dragon dropped 12 credits after its death.

"..."

I felt a mix of emotions, but also a strange sense of happiness.

Amamiya coughed lightly, pointed to the treasure chest carved from gold and mahogany, and then shook the [Replica Millennium Puzzle] and dragon scale in his hand.

"Alright... we've gathered enough intelligence."

"Take these spoils and leave before attracting the attention of other shadows."

Chapter Thirteen: The Hope of Abydos

"..."

Around noon, in the community activity room of Abydos.

The midday sun was dazzling, casting its scorching rays upon the parched earth.

The girls sat around the conference table, each staring nervously at the treasure chest placed in the center of the table, which looked like it had been stolen from a medieval fantasy adventure story. It was made of expensive mahogany and precious metals such as gold and silver.

"……found it!"

Suddenly, Ayane's voice, raised an octave, broke the long silence.

"Huh? You found it so quickly?"

Serika was startled by Ayane's shout and jumped up from her seat.

Then, with a hint of excitement, she moved closer to Ayane, intending to see Ayane's 'search results'.

Amamiya, who had been standing silently with her arms crossed, also went over to take a look with great interest.

Ayane didn't intend to keep them in suspense. She simply flipped the tablet over and showed the search results she had found to Amamiya and the other girls on the countermeasures committee.

"An exquisite mahogany treasure chest...priced at tens, hundreds, thousands, millions, tens of thousands... a total of 13,320,000 credits?!"

Celery took a deep breath, momentarily dazzled by the enormous number before her.

That's too much... How can a treasure chest sell for such an unbelievable price?!

Staring longingly at the enormous sum, 'Black Cat Princess' subtly glanced at the young man standing beside her who seemed unresponsive.

Her cat ears trembled, revealing the turmoil in her heart.

“It’s not over yet,” Ayane said cheerfully, swiping the screen again. “Next up is this… [Pharaoh’s Millennium Puzzle]… Although it’s a replica, its exquisite craftsmanship and rare materials are enough to fetch this much on the black market…”

Hoshino leaned closer and slowly read out the black market price.

"【Pharaoh's Millennium Puzzle】, a precious artifact... Price: 9.98 million credits... Out of stock..."

Does that mean it's available but unsellable?

There's not even a need to find a seller... Just list it on the black market, and it'll sell immediately, earning nearly ten million credits.

After reading out the price, Hoshino's tone was slightly more surprised.

"Wow... it's worth that much? Looks like Abydos's debts are going to be much easier to pay off~"

Her heterochromatic orange and blue eyes shimmered with a subtle luster. Suddenly, the girl smiled lazily, tilted her head slightly to the side, and looked at the tall figure standing behind her.

"Hehe~~ I really have to thank Sensei this time... At this rate, Abydos should be able to pay off his debts soon, right~~"

"You can earn nearly 20 million credits in half a day..."

Nomiya's tone carried a slight sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a complex emotion encompassing both admiration and reflection). However, she wasn't expressing感慨 about the speed at which she made money, but rather about the method she used.

"And the way to make money is to 'kill the evil dragon that dwells in another world'... It sounds like a 'dragon-slaying squad' from a fantasy story."

To be honest, Nomiya didn't think much of this speed at which he made money.

But it's just so incredibly novel.

Fight dragons from another world, and afterwards you can even rob them and collect loot from their remains!

Isn't this much more exciting than school life? Isn't it more enjoyable than being a rich heiress?

Just when things were about to turn out great, Bai Zi raised his hand and calmly poured cold water on the situation.

"But these dragon claws, and this dragon scale..."

"..."

Suddenly, the girls who had been envisioning a wonderful life after paying off their debts became distressed or simply fell into deep thought.

Treasure chests and handicrafts, being relatively "common" valuable items, would naturally find buyers on the black market.

But... how exactly should we sell the dragon claws?!

That said, how should this thing be priced? What is its purpose? What kind of specific group would buy it?

A whole box full of dragon claws, a full thirty-odd dragon claws... This is an extremely huge fortune... It's just a pity that they don't seem to know how to discover the true value of such a fortune.

It's like having a treasure mountain lying around – you know it holds unimaginable wealth, but you just don't know how to use it properly.