Elena looked up.

"Next."

Arthur stepped forward.

He placed his storage device down.

"Shared items first," he said.

Elena nodded.

The same process.

Then his personal haul.

Slightly more than the others.

Elena didn’t react much.

She was used to it now.

"You pick more than the rest," she said.

Arthur shrugged. "I move faster."

Torren scoffed behind him. "Here we go again."

Elena finished the count.

"Is that all?"

It was a routine question.

Courtesy.

Arthur shook his head.

"No."

That made her pause.

He reached into his storage.

Then..

Placed it on the counter.

A dark core.

The air around it felt... off.

Not strong.

But wrong.

Elena’s hand stopped just short of it.

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"...Where did you get this again?"

Arthur leaned lightly on the counter.

"From the dungeon."

Simple.

But his slight smirk gave it away.

There was more to it.

And they both knew it.

Elena didn’t touch it at first.

Her hand hovered just above the dark core, then slowly pulled back like she didn’t trust it.

"...You found another one?"

Her voice dropped, no longer in that usual calm tone she kept at the counter.

Arthur leaned on the edge, relaxed. "Yeah."

"That fast?"

He shrugged. "Same kind of dungeon."

Elena finally picked it up, but carefully this time. Her eyes stayed on it longer than needed, like she was trying to see through it.

"This doesn’t make sense..." she muttered.

Arthur watched her for a second, then glanced at his team. They were already paying attention, even if they tried to act casual.

Elena looked back at him. "Do you know how rare this is?"

"Not really."

She exhaled softly. "The last one you brought... the research team has barely started testing it uses. They were already surprised it even existed."

She paused, then lifted the core slightly.

"And now you’ve brought another one."

Arthur scratched his cheek lightly. "That bad?"

"It’s not bad," she said quickly. "It’s... strange."

Arthur could already tell where her thoughts were going. She wanted to ask more, but she wasn’t sure how to.

Where did you find it?

Why you?

How are you the one always bringing these?

He could almost hear the questions she didn’t say.

He sighed a little, then leaned closer, lowering his voice.

"It’s from the ritual formation."

Elena froze.

"...What?"

"The ones in mutated dungeons," he added. "That’s where I found both." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Her grip on the core tightened just a bit.

"Ritual... formation..."

She repeated it slowly, like she was trying to lock it in her mind.

Arthur straightened. "Yeah. Both times."

Elena looked down at the core again, and this time her expression changed completely.

Not confusion.

Focus.

"That changes things..." she said quietly.

Arthur gave a small nod. "Thought so."

She looked back at him. "You’re sure?"

"Wouldn’t say it if I wasn’t."

There was no hesitation in his tone.

Elena believed him.

She took a breath, then nodded. "This helps. A lot more than you think."

Arthur smiled faintly. "That’s the idea."

He wasn’t doing it for nothing.

This wasn’t just about money.

If the research team figured something out, it would come back to him and his squad one way or another.

He wasn’t the type to hold onto information just to feel special.

Not when it could actually be useful.

"I’ll pass this to them immediately," Elena said, already turning slightly to store the core safely.

"Do that."

"And Arthur..."

He looked at her.

"...Thank you."

He waved it off. "Just make sure it’s worth it."

She gave a small smile. "We’ll try."

That was enough for him.

She reached under the counter and brought out a pouch, placing it in front of him.

"Same value as before. Twenty-five yen."

Arthur picked it up, weighing it lightly in his hand before tucking it away.

"Nice."

Behind him, Torren let out a low whistle. "Wait... hold on."

Arthur didn’t turn yet.

Nox stepped closer. "Since when were you selling stuff like that?"

Selene added, "And when did you even find it?"

Arthur finally glanced back at them. "Relax."

"Relax?" Torren raised a brow. "You just dropped something weird and got paid for it like it’s normal."

Arthur smirked. "It is normal. For me."

"Of course it is," Selene muttered.

Ryn stepped forward slightly. "Explain."

Arthur sighed, but not like he was annoyed. More like he expected this.

"The first one was by chance," he said. "I didn’t even know what it was."

"That explains why you didn’t say anything," Nox said.

He nodded. "Yeah. I thought it was just another core."

"And the second?" Ryn asked.

"I looked for it."

That got their attention.

"You what?" Torren asked.

Arthur shrugged. "Same kind of dungeon. Same weird feeling. So I checked."

Selene crossed her arms. "And you found it again."

"Yeah."

There was a short silence.

Then Torren clicked his tongue. "So you’ve been making extra money on the side."

Arthur gave him a look. "It’s not like that."

"It is exactly like that."

Nox laughed. "You didn’t even tell us."

Arthur scratched the back of his head. "...Yeah, that’s on me."

That surprised them more than anything.

There was no excuse and no deflection.

Just that.

Ryn watched him for a moment, then nodded. "Fair enough."

Selene sighed. "You could’ve at least mentioned it."

"I didn’t think it mattered yet," Arthur said. "Now it does."

Torren folded his arms. "And the money?"

Arthur smirked. "Mine."

"Of course."

Nox bumped his shoulder lightly. "Selfish."

"You would do the same."

"...You’re not wrong."

They laughed a little.

The tension didn’t last long.

Ryn shook her head. "Next time, just tell us."

Arthur nodded. "I will."

That was enough for them.

They didn’t drag it further.

They understood.

Some things only made sense after they became important.

Ryn turned slightly. "I’ll report this."

Arthur didn’t argue. "Go ahead."

"It’s too big to keep quiet."

"I know."

There was no resistance in his voice.

If anything, he expected it.