Transferred to an SSS-rank Production Class

“I owe Metea a great debt. So I’ll help you.”

As it turned out, the gray-haired woman manning the counter was Minerva herself.

Minerva, who had guided us to a hidden room inside, sipped her tea and smiled faintly. It seemed that her earlier bumbling behavior had all been an act.

“So, what are you planning to do? This letter only says to help you to the best of my ability.”

“Are you aware of the secret auction held twice a year in Shella?”

Minerva’s hand, which was lifting her teacup, froze mid-air.

Metea hadn’t introduced this person for nothing. Even from this angle, it was clear she knew about the auction. She tilted her head slightly, as if prompting us to continue.

“We intend to steal the auction’s merchandise.”

“Dozens of treasures pour out at the Shipowners’ Association’s auction. Surely you don’t mean to take everything. What are you after?”

“We’re going to extract the sea people from the auction.”

Minerva, who hadn’t flinched at the mention of stealing auction items, adjusted her glasses upon hearing about the sea people.

I nodded when her eyes silently questioned our sincerity. Minerva tapped the desk with her index finger. She clearly looked displeased.

“Ha, do you even know what you’re talking about?”

“What do you mean? Sea people are sea people.”

At Cha Taeyang’s words, Atera curled her lips and brushed back her bangs. Seeing Atera’s eyes, Minerva let out a disbelieving laugh and crossed her arms.

“How on earth did Metea get mixed up in this?”

“Metea and I are like sisters.”

“I can see that without looking. Metea took you in, right? If you’ve managed to survive thanks to her, why not live quietly? What you’re trying to do now is madness.”

Minerva pushed aside her teacup and pulled out a map from a drawer, spreading it on the desk. She pointed to a small dot next to Shella.

“Here. There’s an island owned by the Shipowners’ Association. The underwater terrain is so treacherous it might as well be a reef field. Only those familiar with sea routes can easily navigate it. The auction is held here.”

“An island? That’s perfect. It’ll be ideal for escaping with the sea people.”

“Sigh, you really don’t get it, do you? Don’t you understand? Everything from entering the island to moving around inside is controlled by the Shipowners’ Association. Especially on the day of the auction.”

Minerva warned us that the security was far beyond merely strict.

She tried to intimidate us, saying that although she knew players were strong, only the Shipowners’ Association’s carefully selected soldiers would be on the island that day, and dozens of ships would surround it.

Indeed, the conditions were worse than we had anticipated.

But Cha Taeyang’s next words made Minerva surrender.

“So what? What does that matter?”

“What?”

“We’re just doing what we have to do. This won’t work, that won’t work. If you have time to make excuses, I’d rather use that time to find a solution. So please, help us, Minerva.”

“…My goodness. You’re just like Metea, aren’t you?”

Bang!

Minerva slapped the map with her palm and gulped down the tea in her cup. She then looked around at our faces and sighed.

“Alright. I’ll help you.”

“Wow! Thank you!”

“I can’t offer much help. It’s not easy to do anything in Shella without the Shipowners’ Association knowing.”

“We’re still grateful!”

Minerva smiled faintly at Cha Taeyang’s words of thanks.

“The island where the black market is held is called Lukrum. It’s entirely under the Shipowners’ Association’s control. This time, the black market opens at sunset the day after tomorrow.”

“Metea said the auction starts at midnight…”

“That’s different from the black market.”

The auction is, so to speak, the highlight of the black market.

Only a select few among an already select group can participate. There’s even a banquet for auction participants.

While there are many items at the black market that require heaps of gold coins to buy, the items at the auction are things that money alone can’t buy.

“Merpeople, or sea people, are the most precious of all. It’s not much of a secret that connoisseurs have been frequenting Shella, wearing down the thresholds, to obtain them.”

“Are you certain they’ll be auctioning sea people this time?”

“Absolutely. Gorgon has been blabbering about it non-stop. That’s why all the inns in Shella are full right now.”

I had no idea, as we’ve been staying at the house. Seeing my expression, Minerva shook her head. Her face said, “How could you not know even this?”

“Gorgon’s loose lips have worked in our favor this time.”

“Pardon?”

“Thanks to that, I was able to obtain these. I was planning to use them myself, but I’ll give them to you as a special favor.”

Minerva reached into the pocket on her chest and pulled out two bronze brooches, sliding them towards us.

The oval brooches had three diagonal lines etched across them.

“You need a token issued by the Shipowners’ Association to enter the island. These are the lowest-ranked tokens, called ‘Drizzle’.”

She explained that the tokens are divided into three ranks: Drizzle, Monsoon, and Storm. Only those with the highest-ranked Storm token can participate in the auction.

“But with these, you can enter the auction hall.”

The Drizzle tokens are for the hired hands working at the auction and the preceding banquet. While you can’t enter as auction participants, you can get into the auction hall.

The people of Shella still haven’t forgotten the nightmare brought by the Avenger. Because of that, Gorgon is having trouble finding workers.

Minerva seized that opportunity to obtain the tokens.

“It’s good to keep an eye on big money transactions.”

“Is it alright for you to give these to us?”

“If this can repay even a bit of my debt to Metea, it’s a win for me. Don’t worry about it.”

Minerva added that if we show the tokens to someone named Chaser at the carriage depot in front of the dock at noon tomorrow, he would take us there.

“The auction is the day after tomorrow, but it takes time to prepare.”

“Thank you so much, Minerva.”

“Save your thanks for Metea, not me.”

After giving us a few more precautions, Minerva shooed us away, saying she didn’t know anything more.

As we left the building, I glanced back to see Minerva already dozing at the counter, her chin propped on her hand.

No, she was pretending to doze. Minerva, who had been watching us through narrowed eyes, waved her hand, urging us to leave quickly. Cha Taeyang waved back cheerfully.

◆◇◆◇◆

After returning to the house, we each began our own preparations.

Since we had to enter the island tomorrow, even I had quite a few things to prepare. I sent Han Cha-hyun a message summarizing the situation and checked my inventory. I also thoroughly inspected all my equipment to ensure nothing was amiss.

“Well, I probably don’t need to check this, but…”

As they say, even a stone bridge should be tapped before crossing. I put on the monocle to check if everything was alright. Hmm, as expected, it’s fine.

[Oh my, Gaho. What’s that crude thing! Don’t tell me you made it?]

“Kalia? What are you talking about?”

[What else? That ugly brooch. Look at all those messy formulas slapped on it!]

“Formulas?”

Kalia scolded me, asking if I really hadn’t noticed.

Formulas on the token? I hastily activated Explorer’s Eye to check the token, and sure enough, there were formulas on it.

[Let’s see. An anti-duplication formula and…]

“A tracking formula.”

[It’s set to activate only in specific locations. Ugh, not only is it ugly, but the circuit is ugly too. Hey, put that away quickly! Quick! Looking at things like that too often will ruin your eye for quality.]

Fortunately, the formula hadn’t activated yet as the conditions weren’t met. It seemed designed to activate only upon entering the island, likely to reduce the magical power needed to maintain the formula.

“Kalia, is it possible to confuse this formula?”

[Of course. Why?]

“We want to hide our location. Completely breaking the circuit might raise suspicions, so maybe we could make it recognize a false location…”

[For something like that, let’s start by tampering with this part of the circuit.]

With Kalia’s help, I modified the mana circuit engraved on the token.

It could have been disastrous if we hadn’t known about the formula on the token. If we had been tracked while escaping with the sea people… The mere thought was terrifying.

Sitting in the house’s living room, I went over the plan again.

Since we only have two tokens, two people will have to sneak onto the island secretly.

It would probably be best if Cha Taeyang, who presumably has a stealth skill, and I, with my ranger-type skills, infiltrate. Can Atera disguise herself as a worker without revealing her identity?

As I ran simulations in my head, the sun had already set.

“By the way, when are those guys coming back?”

Choi Kwon-young and Yun Su-ho, who said they were visiting the Shipowners’ Association, hadn’t been heard from all night. They weren’t even responding to messages.

While they might put others in danger, they’re not the type to get into trouble themselves, so I wasn’t worried. But with so much to discuss, I couldn’t sleep until they returned.

It was much later when the two finally returned to the house, reeking of alcohol.

“Ugh, how much did you drink? And what’s with those clothes?”

They had been wearing casual clothes when we were at Badadkkot, but now Choi Kwon-young and Yun Su-ho were dressed in formal attire. Or could this even be called formal?

The top buttons of their shirts were all undone. Where had they left their jackets, and why did their hair look like that? And the smell of alcohol on top of it all. They looked every bit the prodigal sons of this era.

“Drinking during a quest? Is that acceptable? You both hardly ever get drunk, so what’s gotten into you? Come inside quickly.”

“Hunter Yun Gaho, my ears are wearing out from your nagging.”

“Are you saying you did well?”

“We brought gifts, so cut us some slack.”

Choi Kwon-young handed me something with a sloppy grin. He’s not my drunk father coming home after a company dinner, so why suddenly give me a gift?

What he placed in my palm was a brooch that looked familiar. However, instead of bronze, it was made of gold, and instead of diagonal lines, it had a lightning bolt engraved on it.

“How did you get this, Guild Master?”

“Do you know what this is? You never fail to meet my expectations.”

“Sigh, I’m going in first.”

Yun Su-ho, looking visibly exhausted, quickly retreated to his room.

Judging by the material and pattern, this must be a Storm token. Why would someone who said they were visiting the Shipowners’ Association come back with this?

‘Surely not…’

“Did you cause some trouble?”

Choi Kwon-young looked down at me with an enigmatic smile. Those deep dimples were infuriating.

That face, he definitely caused trouble. In the end, he couldn’t control his temper and made a mess. Right, I wondered why the infamous rebel was being so docile.

“We were handling everything well on our end, so what are we supposed to do if you’ve turned everything upside down? Sigh, did you at least clean up after yourself?”

“I didn’t cause any trouble.”

“Really?”

Choi Kwon-young nodded, but I couldn’t believe him. He flashed that insufferable yet charming smile of his and said:

“It was given to me.”

“By whom?”

“Gorgon gave it to me.”

“What?”

Why would that person give you this?

I looked back and forth between the brooch and Choi Kwon-young with a bewildered expression.