Earth With Dungeon: Saving the World With an Economic Boom

Chapter 203. Skill Crystal

A dimly lit room. There are no window panes. Though there are no windowpanes, it’s not a cramped, suffocating room. It’s spacious enough for a party, with depth, chic wallpaper, a long-pile carpet, and a single antique table placed in the middle.

The ceiling light brightly illuminates the room. The single table is covered with a clean, white tablecloth, making the room feel excessively spacious.

Facing each other at the table are Sakimori and one of the inner city’s power brokers, the oldest and most cunning of the Gosanke, Takauji Ashikaga. Numata-kun had some business and left, probably not coming back. A straight return home. The Amatsugahara Corporation is a gentle, white company with minimal overtime.

The table is laden with various dishes. There are meat and fish dishes, salads, and the presentation is so elaborate it looks delicious. It’s clear a lot of money was spent, but the exact cost is unknown. If there were wine, it would be perfect, but oddly, it’s sake, which feels mismatched.

“It’s dry junmai daiginjo. It’s delicious.”

Takauji’s old man smirks, holding a crystal glass like a shot glass, so I respond with a wry smile.

“It’s a Western-style room, so get Western alcohol.”

“Sake tastes better than wine.”

He offers the bottle boldly, so I hold out my glass for him to pour.

“Such a selfish old man.”

I laugh wryly, looking at the clear, fragrant sake. After drinking it in one gulp, I rest my elbow on the table and squint.

“So, we just happened to run into each other and decided to have a drink. Didn’t know there were places like this in the outer city.”

This room is a basement in a building on the boundary between the outer and inner city. There’s no signboard, making it a secret restaurant. The old man guided me here. Since he’s treating, I feel a bit important. I used to treat Captain Anayama before.

“It’s occasionally used for secret meetings. It’s hard to be monitored here.”

“Yeah. The rich might not adapt to the ways of the outer city.”

I grab the bottle Takauji is holding, pouring myself a drink. The inner city folks aren’t all rich, but they live in a clean and peaceful world. They might stand out if they infiltrate the outer city for surveillance. Those guarding openly can easily spot such people.

One might think it’s better to leave surveillance to someone from the outer city, but before a cunning old man like Ashikaga, using low-level people for surveillance is out of the question.

“Why not make an appointment?”

“If I did that, it’d look like I’m trying to outmaneuver the Taira or Minamoto families. I wouldn’t do that. We just happened to meet and decided to have a drink and chat. Right?”

“Yeah, just a chat. It’s common to go for a drink after running into someone.”

The Ashikaga family is still far behind the Taira and Minamoto families. In the recent oil field creation, the Minamoto family made a significant impact. They secured some rights to the oil field under the pretext of a handling fee. The Taira family plans to take Rei to a night party with the Amatsugahara Corporation, showcasing their connection. The leader, Konoha, is becoming famous and popular for being capable.

Shizuku has been invited several times to get a dress tailored. In high spirits, Shizuku went to an inner city store,

“I’ll take everything from right to left.”

She declared with excitement. Apparently, she wanted to say that. In stories about girls from another world, it’s common for the male partner to show off his wealth. I made her return everything. How many formal suits did she buy? There was even a backpack. In reality, the shelves are full of various things.

Despite Shizuku’s usual eccentricities, as Ashikaga, who is becoming accustomed to being number three, couldn’t stay silent. That’s why he made this sudden move.

It’s easy to see my schedule, so my public schedule is an open book. Everyone probably thinks Amano Sakimori can’t handle espionage. That suits me just fine. Secretly, I act without anyone noticing, and no one has realized it.

The Knights of the Clown are composed of multiple people, so others might think that way. Since my actions are transparent, people think others are working behind the scenes.

It’s unclear if Takauji’s old man has realized my strategy. But even if he has, it’s no problem.

The old man, who isn’t the type to be made into a tanuki hotpot, gestures with a wave of his hand.

Following his signal, a man with a trunk case approaches quietly and opens it for me to see.

“Hmm… what’s this?”

“Don’t play dumb. You recognize it, right?”

Takauji tries to read my expression as I reach out and take the contents of the trunk case.

Gleaming in my hand is a small crystal. It resembles a monster core but shines differently. The pure white crystal is a popular accessory at Amatsugahara Corporation. It’s a skill crystal.

“Well, Narashino City sold it to us. It was quite expensive. Is it a present for me?”

“Using that crystal, you can learn a skill. It’s an amazing technology. The skill is [Combat Technique]. Everyone is desperate for it.”

“Indeed, [Combat Technique] is essential for using martial arts.”

A basic skill obtainable from Dungeon Core D, it’s an absolute must-have for any warrior. Actually, it can also be obtained from rare Monster Core D. It’s a common basic skill.

So, it’s fairly easy to get. For someone like me who has an equal exchange store, anyway. By the way, I remember getting the maximum efficiency conversion for the combat technique as a bonus. It was treated as just a bonus.

“Even if you get a skill potion, it’s meaningless if you don’t get a skill in the first place. And even if you touch a dungeon core, you might not get [Combat Technique], right?”

“Yeah, unless you’re lucky, some people might never get it.”

I stab a fork into a cut piece of steak and put it in my mouth. It’s tender, the flavor spreads through my mouth, and it’s delicious even when cold. It seems to be made with the assumption that it would cool down. Amazing.

“This crystal is an astonishing technology that overturns the existing methods.”

“That’s right. With this, we can conduct efficient dungeon raids.”

We can strategize our skills and train soldiers with efficient skill compositions. No wonder the inner city is so excited.

I eat another piece of meat and look at Takauji’s old man. As expected, his eyes are gleaming.

“Narashino City brought three of these crystals to the inner city as samples. It caused quite an uproar. Scientists were getting sacked left and right for not discovering this. No one expected Narashino City to analyze the core store to such an extent. It was believed that Narashino City’s core store analysis was a bluff.”

“So it was true. Impressive, Narashino City.”

“Strangely, even though only three of these precious crystals were given to the inner city, some special zones have obtained them in large quantities. Isn’t that odd?”

I’ve been distributing skill crystals like water to my elite subordinates, starting with Shingen. There are plenty of rare Monster Core Ds.

“We’re just sharing a bit to deepen ties between special zones.”

So don’t worry about it. Small special zones need to help each other to survive.

“Yeah, I’m sure the special zones’ friendly meetings were a blast. The scientists fled on a mysterious flying battleship, and Narashino City collapsed as a dungeon emerged. Amatsugahara Corporation’s secret unit cleared the dungeon and saved Narashino City at the last minute. Quite a spectacular friendly meeting, huh?”

“From what I heard, it was a lot of fun. A grand welcome and no shortage of souvenir stories.”

I say in a hard-boiled manner, raising my hands in mock surrender. Takauji twists his mouth and takes a big gulp of sake, then turns his sharp gaze towards me.

“The skill crystals are too valuable to be mere souvenirs. Let us in on it. Amatsugahara Corporation’s technology is too dangerous to keep secret.”

“You understand, right? Amatsugahara Corporation couldn’t handle this technology. Narashino City could. That’s why they have the main control now.”

“So you’re saying you’re prioritizing getting skill crystals from Narashino City? Can’t you share that technology with the inner city?”

Well, that’s the obvious request. But I can’t hand over that technology. I have a solid reason prepared.

[Narashino City’s core store technology is ten years ahead of the inner city.]

[Even if they get the same technology, it will be easy to catch up.]

Shizuku proudly raises one hand and speaks up, but she’s wrong.

“I’ve already handed over the equipment. It might stop working, but for now, it seems to be operational.”

I handed Narashino City some suspicious equipment. It has a shutdown device. If Narashino City betrays us, the device can stop it.

“Hmm… Is that so…”

Takauji looks at me suspiciously, but I focus on eating the fish dish. This carpaccio is delicious.

What about it? It seems he’s half-convinced. The underground museum in Narashino City, which is said to produce skill crystals, where a fox girl was almost sacrificed, is under extremely tight security.

Intruders will be welcomed by dark tigers and dark snakes. Only Sei can enter that room, and no one can peek inside. Later, I’ll have Celica place some plausible-looking machinery there.

“Then it can’t be helped. I’ll give up. So, how much will Amatsugahara Corporation sell the skill crystals for?”

“You haven’t given up, have you? Just buy them from Narashino City.”

“Northern City’s skill crystal sales volume is limited. They only sell about ten per month. We need at least three times that. Do you know about the recent monster activity? High-rank monsters are starting to appear. And they’re small types. Kyushu is nearing its limits because of that. Skill holders are needed. There’s always a demand for skill potions and skill crystals.”

I frown at this unexpected information and look at Takauji, who seems serious. Judging by his expression, it doesn’t seem to be a lie.

“Ashikaga is becoming the point of contact for skill crystals, isn’t it? Despite the seriousness, you’re focused on maintaining power.”

“There’s no harm in solidifying Ashikaga’s position. It eventually helps people. Can’t you manage to supply more, given that you’re procuring large quantities from Narashino City?”

“We don’t have that much surplus either. Selling ten per month is the limit—one billion each. Plus, I want high-rank monster cores as a contract fee. You’ve got some lying around, right? With core store analysis progressing, they’ll be valuable.”

Covering my mouth with my palm, I adopt a troubled look to solve the difficult problem. I’m hiding a smirk. Hand over the high-rank cores, old man. I’ll put them in the equal exchange store.

I’ll get high-rank cores effortlessly. Fantastic. I’ll send Dark Crow to scout the Kyushu area a bit.

“High-rank… You want the A-rank ones the inner city has? I can give you about ten from Ashikaga’s stock. But from now on, Ashikaga will be the point of contact for skill crystals, right?”

“Okay. So Amatsugahara Corporation’s skill crystals will be sold through Ashikaga.”

With a reluctant Takauji, I make another proposal. It’s an extremely important matter.

“And we want to conquer the monster line fortress soon. We need support from fighter planes.”

I want to connect Amatsugahara Corporation and Narashino City by land route. We need to prepare in advance.