Joseph opened his eyes and sat up in his plush bed. Although he was technically a prisoner, he was still a guest of the Edward family and had been treated as such. A glint flashed in Joseph’s eyes as he looked around the room. There weren’t any windows, and there was only one door leading in and out. Joseph knocked on the door, and a muffled grunt came from the other side.

“What is it?” a gruff voice asked.

“We’ve been locked up for a week,” Joseph said. “Isn’t the auction over by now? Did the king forget to take us away?”

“The auction’s still in progress,” the gruff voice said. “Wait a few more hours.”

“Alright,” Joseph said and nodded despite the person on the other side not being able to see him. “Are my companions alright?”

“Your companions are fine. The Edward family won’t mistreat a group of adventurers as strong as you.”

Joseph grunted. The auction was currently in progress, which meant the terrifying dragon-shaped king was busy. All the other adventurers who loved to meddle around weren’t present either. In that case…. Joseph’s eyes narrowed, and he concentrated his mana into his fist. His weapons had been confiscated, but nothing had been done to restrict his body. A low roar escaped from Joseph’s mouth as he punched forward. The door shattered into thousands of wooden splinters as if it were made of glass.

“What the hell!” An old man shot to his feet and glared at Joseph. He had been sitting in a seat by the door with a cup of brownish liquid in his hand. Now, there were wooden splinters inside of his drink. A sigh escaped from the old man’s mouth as he drew the sword on his waist. “You’re making things difficult for a retired old man like me.”

“Isn’t it the other way around?” Joseph asked, sizing up his opponent. “If I break free, at most, you’ll lose your cushy job. If you keep me here, I’ll die when the king comes back.”

The old man shook his head. “You have your reasons to fight, and I have mine. I might not be what I was in my prime, but the rest of my companions will laugh at me if I lose to someone without a weapon.”

Joseph’s eyes narrowed and charged at the old man. “Some people’s weapons are their fists!”

The old man squinted and held his sword up. Some people were capable of applying their mana to their bodies, making their skin and flesh as tough as steel. Joseph’s fist flew at the old man, and the old man held his sword horizontally, using it to block the attack. However, Joseph’s fist opened, and he grabbed the sword instead of punching it. A hideous grin appeared on Joseph’s face as he kicked the old man’s groin, not giving him a chance to react. The retired adventurer’s face to turn pale, and his legs buckled inwards. Joseph ripped the sword out of the man’s hands and shoved him to the side. “I never said my weapons were my fists. Personally, I prefer using my legs.”

The old man’s eyes rolled up into his head, revealing the whites of his eyes. Joseph stepped over him and dashed down the hall. He had to free his companions, find his items, and escape before the auction ended. The Edward family might’ve hired retired SSS-ranked adventurers as their guards, but years of living in luxury had softened their bodies and relaxed their minds. Joseph snorted. How could they compare to him, someone who had slain dragons?

***

Vur glanced at the object in the Recordkeeper’s hands. It was the thing she had requested for him to purchase. It was an orb with three spiked prongs sticking out of it, all pointing in different directions. Vur couldn’t sense any mana fluctuations coming off of it, and the thing didn’t smell good or look appetizing either. The quality of the material wasn’t much to speak about either. It looked as if it were made of some common mineral.

The Recordkeeper raised an eyebrow at Vur. “Are you interested?”

Vur nodded. “What is it?”

“It’s a treasure finder,” the Recordkeeper said. “Its official name is The Searching Machine Two Thousand. It was given its name by its inventor, someone who named his children C-One and C-Two, short for Child One and Child Two. It can analyze an object’s structure and memorize its characteristics. Then, it can search for objects with similar characteristics in your surroundings.” The Recordkeeper stretched her body over Vur and picked up a grape from the tray held by the maid. Before Vur could push her away, the Recordkeeper sat back in her seat. “For example, if I stab this grape right here”—she impaled the fruit with one of the object’s prongs—“then insert some mana”—the object lit up—”it’ll memorize the characteristics of the grape.”

Vur leaned over upon seeing a few runes appear on the surface of the object. He couldn’t understand them, but there was something he could understand. There was a fairly obvious arrow pointing at the tray in the maid’s hand.

“With that, as long as another grape is nearby, The Searching Machine Two Thousand will point out its general direction,” the Recordkeeper said. “Since it’s an orb, it can also tell you whether the object is above or below you.”

Stella popped her head out of Vur’s chest. “I wasn’t really listening, but you’re saying this thing is basically like a dog?”

The Recordkeeper blinked. “A dog? No.”

“Isn’t it?” Stella asked. “If you give a dog a grape to smell, it’ll find you more grapes.”

“Yes, but you don’t have to feed The Searching Machine Two Thousand, and it doesn’t have to be trained either,” the Recordkeeper said. “Other than that, it can also detect things that dogs can’t.” She gestured towards the crowd. “Do you know why adventurers want this? It can point out orichalcum and mithril. A dog can’t do that.”

Stella narrowed her eyes. “Why do you even need this? You’re not the adventurous type. You should give it to Vur; he’ll make better use of it.”

The Recordkeeper hugged the orb to her chest and shook her head. “This is a valuable collector’s item. There are only seven of them in existence. The rest have been destroyed or lost over time.”

Stella’s eyes gleamed upon hearing that. “Is that so? Interesting. Very interesting.”