Tedela stared at Li Xiuman with a look of mixed fear and curiosity as he disposed of the corpses.
A skeleton that possessed intelligence and was capable of speaking and communicating.
Li Xiuman used Water Magic to clean the clothes he had stripped from the corpses, putting them on to conceal his terrifying skeleton.
At the same time, he threw on a cloak to cover his skull and neck.
Then, he walked back toward Tedela.
“Now, it is time to settle the reward for saving you.”
Li Xiuman spoke. Aside from a small sense of justice, his goal in saving this woman was also to obtain her help.
However, he was a skeleton.
His race was naturally opposed to humans, so he could not easily trust one.
He would not entrust his life and safety entirely to a woman he had just met.
Even if she was a beautiful woman, good looks did not equate to justice.
Having just escaped from a succubus den, Li Xiuman understood this truth all too well.
“O-Of course!”
Tedela swallowed hard and continued.
“I am a merchant, and I understand the concept of equal exchange.”
Li Xiuman could see Tedela's reluctance.
“Now, you have two choices.”
Li Xiuman held up two skeletal fingers.
“First, you give me a sum of money that you feel matches the value of your life and leave, and we will have nothing to do with each other.”
“Second, help me blend into human society. But if you choose this path, your life must be in my hands for me to feel at ease.”
Because Li Xiuman had only just mastered speaking, his speech was slow and his voice raspy.
Equivalency was important.
Because he was a skeleton, once he entered the human world, his life would depend entirely on this woman's whim.
Thus, in exchange, he had to hold her life in his hands as well to truly feel secure.
“I choose... the second option.”
Tedela looked up, her answer exceeding Li Xiuman's expectations.
“Oh? Why?”
Li Xiuman asked, slightly puzzled.
“I want to gain your favor in exchange for your help.”
“You are more trustworthy than humans. I am willing to pledge both my wealth and my life. Besides, since you are entering human society, you won't put me in danger in the short term, right?”
“My name is Tedela Reby, a merchant of White Bear City.”
“Li Xiuman. Skeleton.”
Without any further nonsense, Li Xiuman reached out with a skeletal finger and pressed it against Tedela's neck.
The bone at his fingertip began to grow, transforming into a necklace of white bone that wrapped around her neck.
The circumference of the necklace was smaller than her head, making it impossible to take off.
“If you betray me, this necklace will pierce straight through your neck.”
Li Xiuman explained the necklace's function in simple, concise terms.
“It is a very beautiful necklace. Thank you.”
Tedela put on a casual front.
However, Li Xiuman could still sense the fear hiding beneath her relaxed expression.
“If you are afraid, you can still back out now.”
“No!”
She shook her head firmly, her red hair swaying like dancing flames.
“That is good.”
With that settled, Li Xiuman and Tedela began walking in the direction of the town.
Li Xiuman had already revealed his intelligence to Pound, and he had killed so many succubi.
If nothing went wrong, Lucia would certainly hunt him down.
To evade her pursuit, a human city was the best hiding place.
From his conversations with Tedela along the way, he also learned of their current location.
The territory of White Bear City, located within the Duchy of Mande of the Lantes United Kingdom.
The Lantes United Kingdom was a massive country composed of nine duchies.
The primary race of the kingdom was human.
White Bear City was governed by a noble, Count Wit.
Entering White Bear City without drawing the attention of the guards, Li Xiuman finally let out a sigh of relief.
Passing through the towering, seemingly endless city walls, they entered the city proper.
The houses were neatly arranged, and the architecture did not differ much from the medieval style Li Xiuman had envisioned.
However, the streets did not suffer from the filth and chaos typical of real medieval streets, perhaps because of the presence of magic.
The most conspicuous landmark in the city was likely the giant tower situated right in its center.
“What is that tower?”
Li Xiuman looked toward Tedela.
“Huh? You do not even recognize a Landmark Tower?”
“Do you not have any memories from before you became a skeleton?”
Tedela looked at Li Xiuman in surprise, as if looking at a caveman.
Since Li Xiuman was a transmigrator to begin with, the premise of having no memories from before becoming a skeleton suited him perfectly, so he “admitted” to it.
“No wonder, then.”
Learning that Li Xiuman had no memories of his past life, Tedela stopped being surprised.
“A Landmark Tower marks a dungeon. Beneath every Landmark Tower, there is a dungeon.”
“And every town has a Landmark Tower and a dungeon.”
“A dungeon?”
“Dungeons contain countless monsters and resources.”
“Ninety percent of this world's magical materials are harvested from dungeons.”
“Some high-grade magical items and equipment are also obtained from them.”
“Even class change scrolls for non-faith classes are found inside dungeons.”
“In ancient times, the intelligent races were incredibly weak, even teetering on the brink of extinction at one point.”
“It was not until the dungeons appeared and the intelligent races conquered them—gaining the opportunity to change classes—that they gradually relied on dungeons to claim dominance over the world.”
“...”
Tedela patiently explained all of this to the “amnesiac” skeleton.
Li Xiuman listened in silence, digesting the information.
“Although they are called dungeons, they are not actually underground.”
“A long time ago, people tried digging down from the Landmark Tower, but they never managed to find the dungeon.”
“The only way to enter a dungeon is through a Landmark Tower.”
“They are only called dungeons because their floors extend downward, layer by layer.”
“It is said that the deeper floors of a dungeon feature landscapes indistinguishable from the surface, where one can even see the sky.”
“Of course, the dungeon in White Bear City doesn't have that many floors.”
“Floors?”
Li Xiuman asked.
Hearing Li Xiuman's question, Tedela quickly continued.
“Dungeons are divided into different ranks based on their floors.”
“The deeper they go, the more dangerous they become, but the resources also grow richer.”
“Based on their floors, they can be divided into ten ranks.”
“Dungeons with ten floors or fewer are Tier 1 Dungeons, twenty floors or fewer are Tier 2 Dungeons, and so on.”
“All the way up to Tier 10 Dungeons, which have ninety floors or more.”
“...Why are Tier 10 Dungeons described as having ninety floors or more?”
Seeing how actively Li Xiuman was asking questions, Tedela caught her breath and continued.
“Because no one knows the exact number of floors in a Tier 10 Dungeon.”
“No one has ever fully conquered the deepest floor of a Tier 10 Dungeon, so it remains uncertain whether there are only a hundred floors, or if it goes even deeper.”
“I see. So it is just a mob-grinding instance.”
“Grinding what?”
Now it was Tedela's turn to look puzzled.
“It is nothing.”
Li Xiuman looked at the Landmark Tower of White Bear City once more, still feeling a bit strange in his heart.
The existence of these dungeons felt just like a game.
“What tier is the dungeon in White Bear City?”
“It has forty-six floors, making it a Tier 5 Dungeon.”
“We have arrived. This is my merchant association.”
“If you are interested in the dungeon, why don't you take a look inside my merchant association?”
“My association mainly collects materials and items from adventurers who conquer the dungeons, and wholesales them to secondary processors.”
“We also do some retail selling ourselves.”
Tedela led Li Xiuman to a halt in front of an imposing building.
The building stood four stories tall, with visible sales and trading counters.
Groups of adventurers could be seen entering and leaving, trading the spoils of their battles.
A rich woman!
“Don't misunderstand, this place is rented,” Tedela added, seemingly noticing Li Xiuman's shock.
“Oh.”
Li Xiuman did not show any further emotion.
Tedela then led him into the merchant association.
“Greetings, President.”
“Thank you for your hard work, President.”
“...”
The employees greeting clients at the counters called out to her one after another, while their gazes swept over Li Xiuman, seemingly trying to guess his identity.
“So, given your status, why did you go outside the city alone?”
Li Xiuman felt puzzled.
“I was set up,” Tedela said, a slight shiver running through her body.
“Besides, my status is nothing special.”
“In White Bear City, the two things we have no shortage of are adventurers and merchants like me.”
“The ones who are truly high and mighty with noble status are the aristocrats.”
By now, the two had reached the president's office on the fourth floor.
She sat down in her presidential chair and looked at Li Xiuman, now carrying some of the dignity of a president.
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