Chapter 24: Trade City Heizen (2) – The Greatest Secret of Trade City Heizen
The scene before me was once an everyday sight, and now it felt deeply nostalgic.
The dungeon’s trash dump.
“…………”
I stared twice, blinked, took a deep breath again and again.
No mistake. This air. This scenery.
It was the dungeon’s trash dump.
“…………”
I was speechless for a moment. Unbelievable. This is unbelievable.
What—what kind of thing had my uncle been hiding!?
Just what had he done?
“Huh? A trash dump!?”
“Oh my, oh my, my my… this is quite something…”
“Wh-what is this!? What IS this!?”
“No way. A place like this… Heizen’s secret… this is crazy.”
Everyone else was shocked too. Even the witch was left gaping.
Of course—who besides Alweld would see this for the first time and stay calm?
“Well well, well well… When someone dies on the Heizen Plains or in the Great Heisen Forest, their body and equipment vanish. Just like a dungeon. No, it is a dungeon. So many people spent their lives searching for the hidden trash dump. Never thought someone would actually find it alive, right here.”
“I’ve searched too. Never thought it’d be inside the city.”
“Yep, total blind spot. The more experienced you are, the less you’d consider something so simple.”
“S-sorry. My uncle kept it secret…”
I apologized on his behalf.
“No no, hiding it was the right call.”
“Really?”
“Aye, I think so too.”
“I also think keeping it hidden was correct.”
Everyone sided with my uncle.
“This secret is too big. Without a doubt, this is Trade City Heizen’s greatest secret. If we made this public, Heisen would collapse!”
“That much…?”
“Really?”
“Wof. Shaldina. Think about it. You think the Three Great Houses would sit still?”
“That’s…”
Right. They absolutely wouldn’t.
“The delicate balance between the three houses would collapse instantly. And outsiders might interfere too. No matter what, many people would die.”
“True.”
“Yeah.”
“………”
“Uncle…”
So he stayed silent because he’d thought about all that too.
“Na!”
Dagaa jumped onto a stone pedestal near the trash dump and banged on it. He really does whatever he wants.
A worn book lay on the pedestal, pages open.
A diary. The open page described the discovery of the trash dump.
“Ah, seriously? I knew something was here, but this is way beyond what I expected. Damn I’m amazing—or what have I even found? This is bad. Ugh, what a pain. Such a huge pain. Okay. I’ll do this. I’ll pretend I never saw it. I’m not telling Seiran-san or anyone else. So, sealed. Closed. The rest is someone else’s problem. I’m out.”
“Uncle…”
Terrible. Truly terrible how he just dumped the responsibility.
But that was the kind of person he was—always sloppy where it mattered most.
Everyone read the diary, either sighing or laughing.
And the conclusion regarding this trash dump was:
“Best to stay quiet.”
“Yeah.”
“Aye. Leave it be.”
“Mmhm. We’ll let Kon and the others make use of it quietly.”
“It’s a treasure mountain!”
“………”
The witch was right.
There’s no way we’d leave this untouched.
Shaldina was right too—this was treasure.
“Perfect timing. Wof boy, drink this and try it out.”
The witch took out a small bottle of medicine.
She offered me a pink tablet.
Mineha seemed to realize something.
“That’s the one?”
“What is it?”
“This is a relic-adjustment drug. It adjusts my Wheel of Fortune, narrowing the rarity display to just one category.”
“So you can, like, show only sword rarity?”
“Yes. Exactly.”
“Medicine can do that?”
“Well now, there are many methods, but Con can only use this one. Alright Wof boy, drink it. Let’s try swords only, like Hoss suggested.”
“Yes.”
I drank the medicine and activated Wheel of Fortune.
Instantly, an overwhelming burst of green lights surrounded me, so bright I squeezed my eyes shut.
“Wof, are you okay!?”
“Wof-kun!?”
“Des!?”
“……!”
“Hm hm. How is he, I wonder?”
“What happened?”
“I-I’m okay. There were just… way too many greens.”
It was like a sea of light.
Slowly I opened my eyes, getting used to the brightness.
Wow… incredible. So this is an untouched trash dump.
So many yellow lights too.
The sight shook me.
“Wof, can you manage?”
“Y-yes. I’m fine now.”
“Well now, no pushing yourself. Wof boy, focus only on swords.”
“Yes! Swords… swords… swords…”
I pictured swords in my mind—
Blades longer than knives, things meant to cut.
Weapons I can’t equip…
And then the sea of green lights rippled and vanished.
Only two yellow lights remained.
“How is it?”
“Only two yellow, super-rare points remain.”
“Did it work?”
“Let’s go get them!”
“I’ll go get the swords! Where are they?”
“Shaldina is going too! Tell us the location!”
“Hold it, you two!”
I activated Danger Detection.
Trash dumps are dangerous.
Near each yellow point was one red point.
The black one was deeper inside.
Everyone stared at me.
“Um… there’s danger nearby, so please be careful.”
“Right, your relic senses danger. Got it.”
“We’ll be careful!”
I gave them directions, and Hoss and Shaldina rushed off.
Anna Kreutzen followed out of worry.
Meanwhile, the witch examined the bottle, then put it away.
She pulled a sheathed sword from a nearby heap.
A sword with a finely carved dragon on the hilt.
The leather scabbard was scratched but sturdy.
She drew it in one motion, revealing an unbroken silver blade.
“Looks impressive.”
“This shine isn’t copper. Maybe silver? A silver sword?”
“Wof boy, what’s the rarity?”
“…No glow at all.”
“Hmm. Release the relic and try again.”
“Y-yes.”
I released it and activated the Wheel again—the sword glowed green.
“Well now?”
“Green. But earlier, when I focused only on swords, it didn’t react…”
“Hmm. Seems we still need to adjust the relic.”
“I thought so.”
We shared wry smiles.
Mineha tilted her head at the sword.
“Green? Even though it looks this good?”
“It’s silver.”
“Yes. But it’s low.”
That puzzled even me. The craftsmanship was good enough that yellow wouldn’t be strange.
“Hm hm. Why, I wonder…”
She turned the sword, examining it.
“Oh ho, I see, I see.”
“You found something?”
“This sword isn’t pure silver nor magic silver. It’s likely iron coated with silver. The tip is rusting—see how the coating is peeling?”
“So the inside’s falling apart?”
“Ohh, coating? Does that even help?”
“Hm hm. Hardly usable in battle. Whoever owned this wanted to show off… I expected a family crest somewhere but… hm. Odd. Nowhere. In short, this is basically a decorative sword.”
The witch tossed it back onto the heap.
Bid looked at it.
“Could we at least sell it?”
“What do you think, witch?”
She smiled awkwardly.
“Hm hm. Honestly? The silver layer is thin, and the iron underneath is rusted. It’ll snap if swung. And since the coating is peeling, it’s obvious.”
“What about selling the silver if we peel it off?”
“Hm hm. There isn’t much silver to begin with.”
“I see.”
“And removing it is hard. And you always lose material in the process. Not worth the effort at all. It’s trash.”
A gentle smile accompanied her explanation.
Yeah—peeling silver leaf is pointless.
Mineha then suggested:
“What if we just repaint the tip?”
“No no, recoating isn’t that simple. You’d have to remove everything and recoat the entire sword. And for something with so little value, you’d spend more than it’s worth.”
“So no selling.”
“That’s right…”
Mineha and Bid slumped. They’d planned to sell it, apparently.
And repainting the tip sounded dangerously close to fraud…
Just then—a loud crashing noise echoed as the trash pile collapsed.
“Hoss! Shaldina!?”
I dashed toward them.