Inside the second layer of the Thirteen Heroes' ruins, Kazehana and the others collapsed onto the ground as if their strength had been completely drained.
And yet, as they looked at the piles upon piles of mithril armor scattered across the floor, bright smiles spread across their faces.
"This time, we really got lucky. I never imagined Yuri-san would be a top-tier martial artist who's mastered Fa Jin. Being able to receive help from both of you… that's the greatest stroke of fortune we could've hoped for. With your strength, even if you're only ranked Bronze right now, it won't be long before you stand alongside us as Adamantite-class adventurers."
Although they hadn't fully cleared the ruins yet, everything they had gained so far already left the members of Blue Rose more than satisfied.
Setting everything else aside, just the sheer amount of mithril equipment lying here would fetch an enormous sum if sold outside.
And the reason these magic items had been preserved so perfectly… ultimately came down to Yuri.
As a high-level martial artist, she had used Fa Jin to destroy the cores inside the mithril knights without damaging their armor. Once those alchemical constructs lost their cores, they became nothing more than lifeless shells—perfectly intact equipment strewn across the ground.
After overcoming the mithril knight encounter, the group arrived at the boss chamber of the second layer once more.
This time, what awaited them was a massive blue wyvern.
Although it was only a subspecies—and one capable of casting magic—it still reached a level of around 50. By the standards of humanity, it was nothing short of a despair-inducing monster.
However, aside from its advantage of flight, it didn't possess the bizarre resistances that the previous enemies had.
In the end, under Blue Rose's coordinated suppression, it met its demise beneath one of Ren Kuroda's seventh-tier spells.
Just like the ironclad spider before it—an instant kill.
It was certainly astonishing, but after everything they had witnessed along the way, the members of Blue Rose were no longer as shocked as before. They were… getting used to it.
After defeating the boss, the group claimed the treasures of the second layer.
Compared to the YGGDRASIL gold coins from the first floor, the loot here was far more varied.
There were numerous YGGDRASIL recovery potions, low-tier scrolls, and a collection of magic equipment and enchanted items.
Among them, the most valuable item was a pair of daggers known as Crimson Devourers.
According to Kazehana, they were similar in origin to her own magic sword—once wielded by a thief-type member of the Thirteen Heroes.
Their effect was fairly standard by game mechanics: life-steal. Each strike not only damaged the enemy but also restored the user's HP.
Ren casually tossed an appraisal skill onto the daggers—and immediately lost interest.
The life-steal ratio was pitifully low, and both their level and attributes were mediocre at best. Compared to Shalltear's divine-class weapon, the Spuit Lance, they were laughably inferior.
In short, to Ren, they were practically junk.
Even the battle maids of the Pleiades would be equipped with weapons far superior to these.
And yet, this very "junk" had Kazehana and the others shouting in excitement, completely lacking the composure expected of the kingdom's top-tier adventurers.
Since they were daggers, neither Ren nor Yuri had any use for them.
But for the twin kunoichi—Aya and Saya—they were perfect.
After a brief hesitation, Kazehana approached Ren, looking slightly embarrassed as she made her request.
She knew it was a bit much. After all, among all the treasures here, the most valuable item was precisely this pair of daggers once used by one of the Thirteen Heroes.
The other items, while rare, were mostly consumables and couldn't compare in value.
And more importantly—without Ren and Yuri, they wouldn't have made it this far in the first place. Kazehana was fully aware that her request bordered on unreasonable.
But these daggers were simply too suitable for Aya and Saya. With them, Blue Rose's overall combat strength would increase significantly.
And since Ren and Yuri weren't dagger users anyway… she swallowed her pride and made the request, offering to concede more favorable shares of the remaining loot in exchange.
"Kazehana-san, there's no need to worry about it," Ren replied calmly. "Like I said before, we accepted this job as hired adventurers. As long as you pay the agreed reward, that's more than enough. As for the spoils of the ruins, we don't need a share."
"If we're going to call ourselves adventurers, then we should act like it. Coveting a client's wealth… I'd like to think I still have at least that much professional integrity."
"And besides, we were only able to enter these ruins thanks to your family's key. Just being able to witness the legendary ruins of the Thirteen Heroes… that alone has been more than rewarding for us."
If it had been something truly rare—or even a World-Class Item—Ren wouldn't have hesitated to compete for it.
But the problem was… everything left behind by the so-called Thirteen Heroes looked like nothing more than trash to him.
The magic items and equipment here probably wouldn't even catch the interest of mid-tier NPCs in the Great Tomb of Nazarick—let alone someone like Ren, who had once been a heavy spender in YGGDRASIL.
Yet Ren's words left every member of Blue Rose deeply impressed.
They all felt that Ren was completely different from any adventurer they had encountered before.
Although the ruins of the Thirteen Heroes did indeed have a third layer, after clearing the second, Kazehana—after some hesitation—ultimately decided to stop.
Treasure was valuable… but they only had one life.
The wyvern at the end of the second layer was already a level 50 monster.
There was no telling what horrors awaited in the third layer.
For all they knew, the final boss could rival the Thirteen Heroes themselves.
Kazehana judged that their party had already reached its limit with the second layer. Continuing further would put their lives at serious risk.
She wasn't willing to gamble her comrades' safety for the sake of more treasure.
And with the time limit before the ruins closed drawing near, they had already gained more than enough.
Thus, she chose to withdraw.
Since the client—Blue Rose—had made that decision, Ren and the others had no reason to object.
At first, Ren had been quite interested in these so-called ruins of the Thirteen Heroes.
But after seeing the enemies of the first and second layers—and the so-called "treasures" they yielded—he no longer had any real expectations for what lay beyond.
The Thirteen Heroes may have been players from YGGDRASIL.
But clearly… they weren't very high-level ones.
And given their apparent level—
there was nothing here that could truly catch Ren Kuroda's interest.