I must have a lot of luck with people. A master craftsman like Porta made me such amazing equipment.

Despite being difficult-to-handle obsidian, every part of my equipment was adorned with gems. The more I looked, the more jealous the 18th Terrarium became—what a precious talent. I wanted to wear it forever.

If I could provide my guild members with equipment like this, they could become even stronger.

“I need to pay for the equipment. How much is it?”

At my question, Porta hesitated greatly. I had already expected that such extraordinary equipment would come with an exorbitant price. The amount didn’t faze me much, but it would be different for ordinary people.

“Well… the diamonds you paid when you bought a large batch of beginner equipment from our store before…”

So, one set of equipment I’m wearing is worth the price of dozens of beginner equipment sets.

But isn’t it quite cheap? The first equipment set I got in the 26th Terrarium cost 150 diamonds, but at this equipment store, beginner sets were sold for 250 diamonds each due to their good quality.

Since I bought most of the beginner equipment in the store, the final transaction price was probably around 15,000 diamonds without discounts. That’s likely why Kirken’s eyes turned into diamond shapes when she saw me—that deal must have played a part.

Is walking around in equipment worth over 10,000 diamonds per set within the range of what ordinary people can understand? But higher-level players than me would be draped in even more expensive gear, right?

“It’s double that… I used up most of the materials inherited from my parents…”

Porta added in a very quiet voice. Double would be about 30,000 diamonds?

Since it’s such good equipment, considering it as the price of my life, it’s a bargain. Though it’s comparable to wearing 100 Dryad fruits all over my body.

“With a large transaction suddenly bringing in big money, I think I got too greedy in using materials without thinking… The equipment needs to be good quality, but it should also fit a reasonable price range for trading…”

With a pale face, she rambled on, listing the materials used in the equipment as if making excuses. She said that while obsidian was overwhelmingly expensive, the fabrics and leathers used were all top-grade as well.

“I wanted you, Jae, to wear this equipment… I can’t stand to see it dismantled or handed over to someone else now… I know it’s an absurdly large amount. So instead of paying all at once, you could take years to pay it off in installments. You don’t even need to put up collateral…”

“If I had known I could get equipment like this for just tens of thousands of diamonds, I would have bought it long ago! I can pay the full amount right now.”

At my words, Porta turned even paler.

“I’m that administrator. There’s no way I can’t handle that many diamonds, right?”

“But as an administrator, the taxes that should go to the terrarium…”

“Ah, that just now sounded like an evil official bleeding the residents dry to live in luxury. It’s diamonds earned from a separate business. You can rest assured, as I can use them entirely for myself. How should I pay you the diamonds?”

She eventually went to fetch the box used for diamond payment. Even while walking, she kept looking back at me, as if giving me a chance to reverse the decision at any moment. Even if it’s over 30,000, it’s a quantity that wouldn’t fill our dwarven city.

To put the diamonds into the box Porta brought, I turned on the <Infinite Diamond> screen for the first time in a while.

[Master! Have you come to use diamonds?]

Today, the screen inside Infinite Diamond was different from usual. Behind the diligently working dwarves, there were dwarves about half their size mixed in. Was it a loading glitch? It was my first time seeing small dwarves.

Among them, at the front of a line of small dwarves, one holding a flag was waving it wildly, as if to catch my attention.

[Master! The young dwarves have come to observe future jobs!]

[Master! The young dwarves will work hard to mine diamonds for you too!]

They were budding talents who would soon compel me to use diamonds. Having only ever seen default-sized dwarves, seeing these small, young ones gave me a strange feeling that <Infinite Diamond> was no longer the game I knew.

It felt oddly like peeking into a corner of the world where real dwarves live.

[Now, look here. Soon, our master will show you how to use a ton of diamonds!]

[Wow!]

The small dwarves hopped up and down and stared at me with sparkling eyes all at once. It was a burdensome gaze.

[This is a rare opportunity. Watching the master use diamonds is a sight only the chosen, skilled dwarves can see!]

[Since the young dwarves are watching, the master will definitely take a lot of diamonds!]

[The more diamonds the master takes, the more jobs there will be for the young dwarves!]

Once again, the small dwarves cheered like chirping birds. It felt like if I didn’t take a lot of diamonds here, I’d become a heinous person crushing the dreams and hopes of the young dwarves.

“That’s 32,000 diamonds in total…”

Porta’s words made even Siedling’s expression falter. So it’s indeed an absurdly large amount, even to your ears.

I flipped the phone over as I looked at the number written on the box. Cheers from the dwarves, louder than usual, mixed together until I felt dizzy.

I paused for a moment when I had emptied out ten thousand diamonds.

“Just a moment.”

Then I turned my back to Porta and looked at the <Infinite Diamond> screen. The dwarves were staring at me with looks of regret plastered all over their faces.

[Master! The young dwarf children have come for a field trip for the first time in a while!]

[Master! If you only take this much, the young dwarves will doubt their future careers and end up wandering!]

[Master! Please show the young dwarves the amazing sight of you taking a ton of diamonds!]

As expected, ten thousand diamonds were a shocking amount to others, but among our dwarves, it was a quantity that didn’t even get a nod.

Actually, the reason I stopped mid-pour was to play hard to get. Even if I emptied out thirty thousand diamonds at once, those kids would definitely not be satisfied, so I tried applying the trick of the three at dawn and four at dusk.

“Since it’s a special occasion, should I use a bit more?”

When I said it quietly so only the dwarves could hear, both adults and children jumped up and down.

I poured another ten thousand diamonds into the box. Then I looked at the phone screen. The expressions, seeming a bit more relaxed than before, greeted me.

[Master! You need to set an example for the young dwarves!]

[Master! Take more diamonds!]

[If Master doesn’t take more diamonds, the young dwarves will go home today and write sad diaries!]

“Then, just a little more for the young dwarves?”

At my words, the screen inside Infinite Diamond once again turned into a festival atmosphere. As I filled the diamond box to the remaining amount, Porta muttered that she never thought I’d give it all at once in a single go. She staggered away carrying the diamond box.

When I looked at the phone screen, regretful expressions were everywhere, but still, they seemed somewhat satisfied.

“Ah, I originally had no intention of spending more, but you know I used a bit extra because the young dwarves were watching, right?”

[Master! You’re the best! But it would’ve been even better if you’d taken more!]

But then, the young dwarves started rubbing their eyes with their tiny hands.

[We’re moved, Master! We’ll grow up fast and become miners who dig diamonds for you!]

[We’ll dig even more diamonds for Master!]

If this was enough to move them to tears. I felt I should keep showing appropriate performances going forward.

Porta, who returned after setting down the diamond box, opened her mouth with a much improved expression.

“That equipment isn’t something others can handle easily, so if you ever need repairs, you’ll have to come back to me…”

“I’m planning to go down to the backward terrarium, so it seems hard to stop by the 18th terrarium again… I’ll have to make sure there’s as little need for repairs as possible.”

“If you don’t deliberately set out to break it, since it’s sturdy… repairs will hardly be necessary. And you must never entrust it to someone else for enhancement… Occasionally, there are people who call low-quality gems ‘inferior enhancement stones’ and offer to mount them for diamonds, but no matter how top-quality the gem, that equipment can be completely ruined the moment it’s mishandled by someone else.”

“Wow, I’ll be careful and never let anyone else handle it!”

Even though the chance of enhancing all the gems Porta decorated is remote, even if I were to fully charge their abilities, I must not entertain the slightest thought of setting new gems.

Leaving the equipment store, I took Siedling to a shopping store to pass the time, then headed to the alchemy tower. I was eager to set off on the journey now that I had new gear, wanting to leave the 18th terrarium before the day ended.

Romgato seemed surprised that I returned sooner than expected. In contrast, his junior researchers looked bright-faced.

“It seems I need to leave quickly, so could you please give me only what’s completed for now?”

In the box he brought upon hearing my words were six bullets filled with the power of elder, containing a white, hazy mist. I felt a bit disappointed with the quantity, less than ten. The Tail Mistletoe bullets in the other box had only increased by exactly six rounds.

“Six rounds is a stingy number even for trial use. Is there no way to know what power is in the elderflower bullets?”

“It seems they contain a power slightly different from recovery abilities.”

If it’s not elder healing, that’s a bit disappointing. So what kind of power is actually in them?

“If it’s the power elder uses, maybe it casts a shield… or could it be a buff that boosts elder’s luck?”

“If so, even without using those bullets, just carrying them could make a fine talisman. Isn’t the mother plant itself used as a luck charm flower?”

Elder’s luck buff has a very long cooldown. The power imbued in the bullets is weak, but if it can support that long cooldown, it would be quite good.

I packed all the bullets and left the alchemy tower. Finally, it feels like everything is ready for the long journey.