“Silversteel Flowers?! Aren’t those only found on cliffs at least 100 meters high?!”

“Are you going or not?” Dad hopped down from the tall table, grabbed a bundle about as big as he was, and glared up at me. The veins bulged across his muscles, and his white beard twitched. He looked ready to leap at me any second and give my head a 3,600-degree chiropractic adjustment.

All my anger vanished in an instant. Like I’d just seen a demon, I hurriedly crouched and smiled apologetically.

“Heh heh… So, Dad, this is kind of a difficult one…”

Over a hundred meters… Who could climb that?!

“Go if you want! If you don’t, then forget it!”

“……”

I groaned inwardly. Why did this feel like a mob boss dressing down one of his underlings?

But then he looked at me, let out a long sigh, and tossed the bundle onto the ground. With a wave of his hand, he headed into the room behind the counter.

I got the hint, hurriedly hoisted the bundle onto my back, and followed him.

“What the heck? Why’s this thing so heavy?!”

Eileen heard me and hurried behind me, pushing hard to help take some of the weight.

But I glanced at her slender arms and gave a wry smile, shaking my head as I activated fivefold strength.

It’s still so heavy!! What’s in here?!

When we reached a back room that looked like a storeroom, I dropped the bundle onto the ground and straightened my back. My whole body crackled.

“Come here!”

Dad’s stern voice came from deep inside the storeroom, startling Eileen and me into hurrying over.

“Here. Take a good look.”

He took out a silver flower that looked as if it were made of steel. Its petals were about 20 centimeters across, and its bud was incredibly hard. The cold glint it reflected made us shiver. I was more inclined to believe it was some kind of man-made artwork—or even a weapon—than a flower.

I tilted my head.

“Dad… You’re not really asking us to pick this kind of flower, are you…?”

“What, you don’t want to?”

I hurriedly waved my hands.

“N-no, of course not! It’s just… As far as I know, these flowers only grow on cliffs, and professionals usually go out to collect them. Eileen and I can’t climb cliffs, and we can’t fly either. How are we supposed to get them…?”

He snatched the flower from me and carefully put it back in its crystal display case, as if he were tending to a prized collection.

“Do you know how much one of these flowers sells for?”

I froze.

“No… Eileen, do you?”

“I don’t either…”

She shook her head.

Dad glanced back at us.

“Five gold coins per flower, and you have to buy at least ten. They’re top-grade material for forging magic swords, and they’re used as magic crystals in all kinds of staves.”

Eileen was astonished and lightly covered her mouth.

My jaw nearly hit the floor!

Fifty gold coins for a bundle?!

Do you know what that means?!

It means the reward for collecting them has to be pretty damn good too!!

I changed my tune, rubbing my hands together eagerly.

“So, Dad… um… if we take this job, how much will we get paid?”

He chuckled, as if he’d seen this coming all along. He stroked his beard and thought for a moment.

“Eight gold coins. No haggling! And you get to keep your Black Iron badges.”

“Eight gold coins…”

That was a huge sum for us right now, but…

It was less than I’d expected…

I’d been about to ask why he’d picked us for this job, but then he dropped a bombshell that left me speechless.

“Oh, right. If you collect thirty flowers, I can line you up with some well-paying jobs. They’ll be easy, and I’ll get to train you a bit too.”

“I’ll take it.”

“Huh?!”

Eileen looked a little flustered when she saw me accept so seriously, without a second thought.

“Big brother! Are you serious?! I can’t climb! And that cliff is over thirty stories tall!”

But I shook my head, pulled her into a corner, and explained what Dad’s offer really meant.

“If we meet his standards, we won’t just get promoted straight to Black Iron! We’ll also build a good relationship with the most important weapons supplier in the city. Chances like this don’t come around often!”

“But…” She still looked troubled.

“Besides! If Dad’s willing to pay us eight gold coins for this job, I’m sure I can negotiate with him too. And you heard what he said—after this, we can skip all those exhausting jobs that pay next to nothing!”

“Mm…”

Eileen still seemed hesitant. Light shifted in her ruby-red eyes as she thought it over.

But soon, she lifted her head.

“All right. I trust you, big brother…”

I patted her little head, got up, and ran over to Dad.

“So, Dad, can you tell us where the job is?”

Three in the afternoon, six kilometers east of Saileda.

“Well, this is…”

I looked up at the cliff that seemed to reach the sky. My throat bobbed as I swallowed—and got absolutely nowhere.

“It’s… tall…”

It reminded me of how I’d felt standing outside the Shanghai Tower and looking up when I visited Shanghai…

“This… has to be over a hundred meters… Maybe even two hundred…”

“I heard this is one of the remnants of the great war.”

Eileen came over and set down a huge coil of rope, then wiped the sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief.

“They say a sword immortal once slew an Abyss demon here. His sword stroke cleaved straight through a hundred-meter-high mountain, splitting it in two and creating this spectacular cliff.”

After hearing her explanation, I gave a wry smile.

Why did this sound like something out of an online cultivation novel…?

But…

I dropped the rope I’d been carrying over my shoulder and ran my hand over the cliff, trying to imagine the power behind that sword strike.

He’d been only a mortal, not yet a god, and he’d still possessed such terrifying strength.

Then… someday, could I…?

“Big brother, are you really planning to climb up there…?”

Eileen’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

I picked up the rope and gave it a hard tug to make sure it wouldn’t break.

“Yeah. The rope Dad gave us should be good quality.”

“But…”

I looked up at the cliff. Silver glints shone in a few spots near the top. Those had to be our targets.

“Well… I’m kind of…”

“Hm?”

The corners of my mouth twitched, and my bones grated with a “krrk-krrk” sound.

“I’m kind of…”

“Afraid of heights…”

Eileen fell silent for two seconds.

“Wha—wha—whaaaat?!”