Aldred received a lot of looks of admiration from everyone as he approached the entrance.
The guards looking at him didn't even inspect him before they let him enter the city.
"Being famous has its perks," Aldred said as a bunch of beautiful girls winked at him.
He then walked to the adventurer's inn.
The receptionist smiled when she saw him. "Congratulations on your return. How may I help you."
"I want to buy a map of the dungeon."
"Most certainly." The receptionist grabbed a rolled parchment and put it on the table.
Aldred rolled it out, and saw the detailed drawings of the map, and the level indication on the side. So the 10th floor was at the bottom, and going there would be almost impossible without a map because the path was like a maze.
"How much is this?"
"That will be 1 million merit points, sir."
"What? That expensive?"
"It's not an ordinary map, sir. This map is constantly renewed as the explorer team delves within the dungeon. It could tell you which path is safe to take or which route is the fastest to arrive at a destination."
Aldred looked at the map and noticed that it changed. The monster's icon decreased, and dozens of paths turned green which indicate that it was a safe route.
"Alright, I will buy this one."
The receptionist nodded. "Can I please borrow your card for a minute?"
"There you go."
The receptionist put the card on a stone table, and she returned it after two seconds.
"Your merit points have been deducted and that map is now yours."
"Thank you." He looked at his friends. "Do you guys want to buy something?"
"What items can we buy?"
"We have an extensive list of items such as consumables, weapons, armor, tools, books, and even food. Also note that our food is suitable for long travel and can be consumed even after a long time."
The receptionist tapped a few times on the stone table, and a magic light projected a magical screen that showed them a bunch of items and the list of categories.
"What are these strengthening pills?"
"Those pills can increase your endurance, durability, and overall strength of your body. It's very suitable for warrior type fighters."
"Can it be consumed indefinitely?"
"It can. But the more you consume the less potent it becomes."
"What is the amount you can eat before its effect becomes too weak?"
"Five."
"Give me 500 of that."
"I will note that, sir. Do you want anything else."
Aldred looked at Mary and the others. "See anything you like."
"Most of the items are too expensive."
"It's okay. I have 10 million merit points. It's not like I can use them outside the city when we leave. Just buy whatever you want."
The people that heard that felt like their heart jumped out. Ten million merit points! It would take a lifetime to gather that many merit points for them.
Meanwhile, the receptionist was disappointed that Aldred was planning to leave. Most adventurers decided to live here since they made good money and a great living because of the dungeon.
But it made sense. Aldred was a rich man, so he wouldn't be staying here just because of money.
Mary and the others were convinced, so they bought everything that they wanted.
Aldred also told Bartrem and the soldiers to buy anything they wanted to buy.
They gladly took the offer.
"Also, I heard you guys have ores or other materials for shipbuilding?"
"We do. Iolbiatos is the capital city of Paphia, and it's a naval city that needs a lot of shipbuilding materials. Since the dungeon has a lot of suitable materials we started selling them as well."
"What kind of materials do you have?"
"Mostly the armor for the hull, and the sails. The sea is very dangerous as monsters constantly try to bring the ship down."
"Is it that dangerous?"
"Sailors usually go to the sea in groups and bring at least one Platinum Rank warrior to protect themselves. Of course, you can also sail by the shore to avoid stronger monsters, but it will take a long time to arrive at the destination."
"Is Platinum Rank necessary for sea exploration?"
The receptionist shook her head. "Most of the time, Elite Gold Rank warrior is enough."
She then showed Aldred another magic projection that revealed the cost and images of the materials. Aldred raised an eyebrow at the cost.
"The cheapest is at least 10 million. The shipbuilding industry must be raking in money."
"A lot of wealth is made from the sea, sir. Naturally, a lot of people wanted some share of that. Pirates are abundant in the sea, and they are willing to sacrifice their lives to take over your ship. This is why most ship materials are expensive because they need to reach a certain standard against the danger in the sea."
"I understand. But what about flight. Can people just fly over the ocean rather than using these ships?"
"If that was possible, everyone would be doing that, sir."
"Is there something that prevents them from doing that?"
"You cannot fly in the sea. But each area has different restrictions. In one place, your mana might be drained so quickly that you can only fly for a few seconds, but most places prevent people from flying directly. If we can fly over the sea, the winged-race people would dominate the sea by now."
"Then why don't you directly fly over land to trade instead of going to the sea?"
"We cannot bring enough things alone, sir. Even if we use spatial bags which are very expensive and do not have enough space to make the trade worthwhile. We use trains and carriages most of the time. Sometimes we use an air carriage, but those are quite expensive to use."
"Air what?"
"Air carriage. A carriage with wings that can fly."
"Seriously? So you have an airplane as well."
"I have heard foreigners call our air carriage with that name before."
"Let me guess. They come from Duria."
