One hundred million gold coins is no small sum.
It took Higashino Makoto almost half a day to finish inventorying the treasures in the vault.
A whole thousand large boxes, each one heavy, filled with gleaming round coins.
They shimmered with a warm glow under the light, illuminating the entire room as if it were dusk.
"Tingyun."
"Exist."
"Send these to Nazarick."
Tingyun looked at the thousand boxes, blinked her Kohaku eyes, and twitched her fox ears slightly.
"My lord, there are so many... The Unassailable."
"Stop acting cute. I'm not asking you to move them, I'm asking the mercenaries to do it. You're in charge of counting them."
Tingyun bowed slightly, twirling her folding fan between her fingers.
"Yes, sir."
She turned around and began directing the mercenaries to move the boxes.
The silver ornaments jingled crisply with each hurried footstep, the fox tail swayed gently behind her, and her long, dark green hair gleamed softly under the lamplight.
Higashino Makoto stood to the side, watching the boxes being carried away one by one, his golden eyes devoid of any emotion.
One hundred million gold coins is nothing to him.
Novas Etier's treasure vault still holds three trillion; taking out one hundred million is like scooping a ladle of water from the ocean.
More importantly, thanks to the large amount of money he spent on in-game purchases before his transmigration, Novas Etier still earns 100,000 gold coins every day, Higashino Makoto is not short of money.
While the Great Tomb of Nazarick was incredibly wealthy, it eventually ran out of resources.
A level 80 mercenary monster costs approximately 50 million gold coins.
Reviving Shalltear costs 500 million gold coins, and 100 million gold coins is only the price of one-fifth of a life.
However, in this world, gold coins are a semi-non-renewable resource.
With no players farming gold and no system refresh, every gold spent is one less available.
While you can still get coins from the "recycling bin," the quantity...
Some of them aren't quite enough to watch.
Therefore, Ainz was quite satisfied with the figure of one hundred million gold coins.
Of course, given Ainz's hoarding nature, he probably wouldn't be able to spend all four hundred billion gold coins in a lifetime.
The transaction was completed late at night.
Tingyun returned to report, a hint of weariness lingered in her Kohaku eyes, but a composed smile still graced her lips.
"My lord, all the gold coins have been delivered to Nazarick. Lord Ainz said thank you."
"You just said thank you?"
He also said he'd invite you again for the next expedition.
Higashino Makoto chuckled softly.
"Does that guy... think I have so much money I don't know what to do with it? Or that I have so many World Item I don't know where to put them?"
He shook his head and didn't say anything more.
He was determined not to tell Ainz if he had the chance.
Tingyun walked to his side, her fox tail gently draped over his leg.
"My lord, are you tired?"
"Not tired."
"Then I'll go make you some tea."
"Need not."
Higashino Makoto reached out and ruffled her hair.
The fox ears trembled slightly between his fingers, and the fluffy touch made him want to rub them a few more times.
"Go and rest first."
Tingyun looked at him, her Kohaku eyes flashing with complex emotions.
Goodnight, sir.
She bowed slightly, then turned and walked towards the door.
After taking a few steps, she stopped without looking back.
"Grown ups."
"Um."
Are you going out tomorrow?
Higashino Makoto thought for a moment.
"Stay home and rest."
Tingyun's lips curled up slightly.
"Then I'll make you sweet and sour pork ribs tomorrow."
"Good."
Tingyun stepped out of the room.
The door closed behind her.
Higashino Makoto leaned back in his chair, his golden eyes gazing at the ceiling.
"The Sand Scepter... Why is the dungeon so much more difficult than the Seed of the World Tree?"
No one answered.
Only the wind outside the window rustled the curtains, making a soft whisper.
The news arrived the next morning.
It wasn't brought by Muninn, but by Ainz.
The communication crystal on the bedside table lit up, emitting a pale blue light.
Higashino Makoto opened his eyes, reached out and picked up the crystal, infusing it with magic.
Ainz's face appeared in the crystal.
A skull-like face, crimson eyes, and a slightly splayed jaw.
"Higashino."
"Ainz. So early?"
"Something's happened in the area where the Great Storm was."
Higashino Makoto sat up, his long, silvery-white hair slipping down his shoulders.
Tingyun opened her eyes beside him, her Kohaku eyes looking at him, her fox tail gently wrapping around his wrist.
What's the problem?
"After you killed that giant, the storm subsided. The yellow sand was blown everywhere, and ruins were revealed."
Ainz's voice was calm, but carried a rare hint of solemnity.
Then, a cavity was revealed beneath the ruins.
"Empty?"
"Yes. A very large cavity. Over a kilometer in diameter, and bottomless. The space inside the cavity is distorted, like it was torn apart by something and then barely stitched back together."
Higashino Makoto's fingers paused for a moment.
"Did something come out of there?"
There was soil, rocks, plant branches and leaves, and fragments of some creatures' limbs.
What kind of creature?
"I don't know. The fragments are too small to identify. But there are remnants of magic on them, and the level of magic is not low."
Higashino Makoto remained silent for a moment.
"I'll go take a look."
I'll be waiting for you there.
The communication has ended.
Higashino Makoto put down the crystal, leaned back against the headboard, and stared at the ceiling with his golden eyes.
"Grown ups..."
Tingyun's voice rang in my ears, tinged with worry.
Are you going?
"Go."
Higashino Makoto sat up and began to get dressed.
"That empty... distorted space... it reminds me of that rumor..."
"It is said that monsters from New World come to this world through Great Storm."
Tingyun looked at him, her Kohaku eyes flashing with complex emotions.
"May I come along?"
"Can."
Higashino Makoto reached out and ruffled her hair.
"But when we get there, you must listen to me. Don't wander off."
Tingyun's lips curled up slightly.
"Yes, sir."
The Dolor Desert, the site of Great Storm.
Higashino Makoto stood on the edge of the ruins, looking down at the empty space beneath his feet.
That hole was so deep, so deep that you couldn't see the bottom.
Sunlight shines in, only to be swallowed by darkness; there is no reflection, no refraction, only pure, absolute darkness.
The cavity is over a kilometer in diameter, with jagged edges, like a wound torn open from the inside by something.
The surrounding ruins tilted towards the hollow, with rubble and yellow sand constantly sliding down and disappearing into the darkness.
But what concerned Higashino Makoto the most was not the size of the cavity, but the space inside it.
Distortion.
It wasn't an ordinary twist, but a more complex kind of twist, as if it had been torn apart and then barely stitched back together.
Space there is not continuous, but fragmented.
Layer upon layer, like a mille-feuille, or like a shattered mirror pieced back together.
The patterns on each layer of space are different; some rotate clockwise, some counterclockwise, and some undulate like waves.
Occasionally, something would fall out from those spatial rifts.
A piece of gravel appeared out of nowhere from the hole, landed on the ground, bounced a few times, and then came to rest.
A leaf, emerald green, shaped like a willow leaf but much larger, with silvery veins on its surface.
A bone, from some unknown creature, half a meter long, with bite marks on its surface.
One eye, the size of a fist, with a vertical pupil, golden in color, which has lost its luster.
A can with strange writing on it, seemingly made in Japan in 1993.
The other packaging bag had a production date of 2014.
"Could it be that this void leads to more than one world?"