Chapter 14: Contest
The value of a Spirit Book is not fixed. There are fighting technique Spirit Books worth a few gold bars, and alchemy secret technique Spirit Books worth dozens of gold bars.
Igor’s Spirit Book was titled "Yowein Continent’s Kayne Realm Travelogue." If the author hadn’t been Lord Soron, this book probably wouldn’t even have had Spirit Power infused into it.
It was a pure utility book, like a dictionary. Although quite useful, there were tons of similar items readily available on the market.
In other words, Igor’s Spirit Book wasn’t worth much money at all. The knowledgeable Great Witch Biggs had "generously" given it to Igor for free, as a bonus accompanying the four Rain Crystal Stones for divination.
But even if it wasn’t worth much, this kind of Spirit Book could still sell for a gold bar at the Daylight Market. After all, it was imbued with Spirit Power.
In this world, where there are bones, dogs will come to gnaw. Where there’s a scent, flies will follow. An ordinary household could live on a few dozen gold coins a month, and this Spirit Book was worth at least one gold bar—which was one hundred gold coins. One could imagine how many flies this scent would attract.
And Igor, that careless fellow, had already exposed his Spirit Book in the tavern, not to mention how frantically he had flipped through it while studying the Concealment Spell.
Moreover, the mountain guides he followed were Liko and Pita...
Guru Mountain was a mixed bag. After Liko and Pita pioneered the guide service, various professions flocked there, naturally including those in shady lines of work.
Even Liko and Pita, that hapless pair, had their own little secrets, sneaking out in the middle of the night with shovels to do who-knows-what—let alone the other "elites."
These "elites" were guides, bodyguards, planners, and nutrition consultants, but they also engaged in sneaking, deceiving, kidnapping, killing, and arson on the side. As long as they could get gold coins, they would do anything.
Of course, these "elites" used to be pure Treasure Hunters. But after being inspired by Liko and Pita, they gave up on finding White Cloud Fruit and started a new way of life on Guru Mountain. When they discovered that stealing gold coins from people and then pushing them down the mountain was easier than being guides, they didn’t hesitate to change their colors.