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Chapter 168

「Huh? Have you already stripped the materials from the Harpies?」

It was the day after he finished stripping the materials from all the monsters with the members of Eternal Power. That was Freon and Brazos’ reply when then came over to the inn after Rei had told them the Harpies had already been dismantled.

「Ah. You know I had posted a request for stripping materials from monsters? I finished that yesterday and dismantled the Harpies as well.」

「……No, that is……ahh, since you didn’t specify what monsters were going to be dismantled, I guess that’s fine.」

Freon looked a little puzzled, but then remembered the contents of the request Rei had submitted. She gave a small nod in understanding.

「Well, I was out late dismantling monsters yesterday. Because sunset is starting to come early, it got quite busy near to the end.」

Rei said that with a sigh.

By the time yesterday’s request was completed, the sun was already setting. Naturally, when night fell outside the city, it became a world where monsters lurked. Especially since Eternal Power had most of their weapons and armour being repaired, they started hurriedly dismantling the monsters as the sun fell.

「You are quite……no, in a sense that’s just Rei.」

Freon said that in amazement but pulled herself together called out to Rei again.

「In that case, regarding the Harpy materials as had been agreed on.」

「Mm. Rei will take two magic stones. Everything else, including the remaining magic stones, will be sold to the guild.」

「I don’t have any problems with that. Well then, shall we go?」

Nodding at Rei’s words, the three of them were about to head for the guild.

「The sky is quite dark.」

Rei muttered as he left the inn and looked up to the sky.

The sky was filled with clouds and it wouldn’t be strange if it started to rain.

「Well, I guess it’s good that it wasn’t raining when I was dismantling monsters yesterday.」

「Mm. At times like this, it’s best to relax at a bar. I was tired yesterday and couldn’t take my time drinking.」

「Don’t lie, that’s a lie. You stayed at the bar the whole time.」

The two of them were already having their usual exchanges as Rei headed to the stables to pick up Set.

「Here, Set-chan. Eat this.」

A five year old boy held a sandwich in his hand as he held it out to Set.

「Gururu~」

While watching this already familiar scene, Rei ate some skewers he bought at a street stall with relish.

「Rei, here, how about this. Kelpie skewers.」

「Kelpie is it?」

The owner of the skewer stall called out to Rei, who was watching Set play with the children. But it was not Rei but Brazos who responded.

「Speaking of Kelpies, they’re a rank C monster. You’re great to get your hand on that.」

Next to Brazos, Freon, who had also been watching Set, spoke in surprise.

「That’s quite expensive. Hey, is there a merchant team led by Vettman in Gilm right now? Products they sell have started to come out.」

「……Ah.」

At the skewer stall owner’s remark, Rei remembered the sociable merchant he had met at the Dusk Wheat.

(Come to think of it, I wondered what happened to the adventurers I asked them to secure? I think they should have freed them since Azoth Firm’s matter has already been settled. ……Well, if they prolonged their restraint, it’s probably because they will benefit from it somehow. I don’t need to care about that.)

Rei thought to himself, but actually, the adventurers captured by Vettman had already been escorted out by the knight who came to the inn yesterday. Even if they called it a request, conducting a surprise attack in the inn……or to be exact in the stables of the inn, was still a crime. Galahat, now the president of Azoth Firm, was currently steadily increasing his forces by bailing the adventurers that had committed crimes from Bolton’s orders.

In any case, Azoth Firm exported unique monster materials that could only be found at the various frontier cities and villages. They also exported weapons made from those materials. However, it wasn’t so easy with their poor reputation, so they needed a combat force that could serve as an escort.

For Daska, the lord of the city of Gilm, tax revenue paid would decrease if Azoth Firm’s sales declined, so he allowed the adventurers to be released on bail.

However, that was after they were warned that there would be a corresponding punishment the next time they committed any crimes.

「Even then, to put Kelpies, a C rank monster, onto the market……those merchants must be quite skilled.」

Brazos spoke in satisfaction as he held a Kelpie skewer.

The meat was so soft that you could bite into it without any effort from the jaws. However, as you chewed and savoured the meat, the salty sauce used, meat juices and seasonings exuded an exquisite taste in the mouth. And the next moment, the meat would disappear like mist, only leaving that taste in your mouth.

「Kuu~, it’s delicious. Owner, two more……no, five more.」

「Ah, I’m sorry. Even though I said I have Kelpie meat, I don’t have that much. My apologies, but please make do with one.」

「……Mm, is that so. I wonder if I can take up a Kelpie subjugation mission in the near future……」

At the owners words, Brazos muttered to himself unintentionally. But the next moment, Freon’s fist swung down at the back of his head.

「Guh!?」

「Don’t say stupid things. I won’t accept such dangerous subjugation requests just so you can have snacks with your liquor.」

「……Why isn’t that possible? Freon, if you try it, you’ll understand.」

「Shut up. Don’t make me repeat myself again, seriously. Hey, stop eating and follow Rei and Set. Don’t we have to sell the Harpy materials at the guild?」

Freon said that while dragging Brazos along. Seeing that, Rei and Set apologised to the people in the surroundings and left the place.

……Of course, that was after he bought some skewers and sandwiches.

「Hm? You brought over a lot of materials and magic stones to sell yesterday, do you need something at the guild again? Ah, are you looking for a request?」

Lenora called out to Rei when he entered the guild.

After all, the amount of materials and magic stones he had obtained from yesterday’s dismantling was enormous. All the staff available in the guild were tasked with dividing it up to assess it all.

Of course, Culotte, Scola and Eternal Power in general weren’t going to stay for that. They quickly went home after collecting their reward from Rei, leaving him by himself.

「Work that is both profitable and fun is rare.」

Those words from an exhausted Culotte left an odd impression on Rei.

「No, I’m here to sell materials today as well.」

「……Eh!? No, but yesterday……」

Lenora had a stunned expression at Rei’s words. Next to her, Kenny, who showed some favouritism towards Rei, also had a stunned expression.

Seeing the similar expressions, Rei gave a wry smile.

「What I brought today are Harpy materials. Here, this is the request I took with those two.」

Saying that, Rei looked behind him towards Freon and Brazos.

The two of them looked back at Rei, wondering how large an amount of material he had brought in.

……In addition, for the Water Monkey eyes, which Scola and Rei had differing thoughts on, it turned out the the book Scola had was right. To be exact, Water Monkey eyes were still bought as materials 10 years ago. It was a material that alchemists had stopped using because a more effective and cheaper catalyst had since been found. In an area where materials were scarce, not at the frontier, someone might use it. But at the very least, they were no longer used in the city of Gilm. In addition, because there was no one who would transport them due to the difficulties in preserving them the price of the eyes was almost nothing.

Such a situation occurred because the book Rei had was old, no one could be blamed so he had no choice but to sigh and give it up. Even so, the guild had bought a large amount of materials so he wasn’t really worried to cover the cost of the extra expenditure.

「In other words, you don’t have to worry so much. There aren’t that many materials.」

Saying that, he took out the right ears of the Harpies, which were the proofs of subjugation, their claws and their tail feathers, which were the other materials he had stripped from them. Lastly he also took out their magic stones.

Of course, the two magic stones which had been promised beforehand as Rei’s share had already been taken by him.

「That’s certainly not as much. We can appraise these right away so please wait a moment.」

Saying that, Lenora promptly collected the right ear proofs of subjugation.

「Kenny, proofs of subjugation, please.」

「I understand. Since it’s for Rei-kun, I have to work hard.」

「……Because you’re like that I can’t trust you with material appraisal. Even yesterday you appraised the materials too kindly.」

「Ahahahaha. Yes, but look here. Considering the state of the materials as a whole, it wasn’t so bad right?」

At Kenny’s mischievous smile, Lenora gave a sigh and went back to appraising the materials.

「This is……ahh, did you ask Eternal Power to do this as well yesterday? The characteristics of how the materials were stripped are similar.」

「Ah. But regarding the Harpy materials, it was part of Brazos’ request. I can’t cash them in on my own can I?」

「That’s true. Sometimes I hear stories about people selling off materials in the guild or at other stores without any issue, but I’ve also heard cases where there was trouble after it because of that. In some bad cases, the party even breaks up because of it. ……Heh~, it was the same yesterday, but these materials have been stripped quite nicely and are in good condition. Especially the Harpy tail feathers. If used to make arrows, they should be able to make some high quality arrows. Of course other parts are necessary as well.」

Nodding in admiration, Lenora carefully gathered up the Harpy tail feathers. Next, she looked at the Harpy claws.

「……I heard that Harpy claws can also be used as materials, but how are they actually used? Are they used by alchemists?」

「In addition to that, there’s also a method to attach it to the surface of armour. It’s like an aggressive set of armour that can be used to hook onto the body of the enemy. It can also be embedded to the ends of clubs. It’s a material with quite a lot of uses.」

Saying that in a good mood, the last thing Lenora looked at were the magic stones.

「There are no chips or scratches here……it’s a good magic stone.」

As for the magic stones, she just quickly looked at their outer appearance before taking them and the materials to the back of the counters.

「Please wait a moment. Kenny, how is it?」

「I’ve already prepared everything. Here it is. This is their share for the proofs of subjugation.」

She had already prepared the amount. There were several silver coins inside the counter.

Lenora checked it, gave a small nod and left Kenny to handle the procedures with Rei.

Of course, Kenny wouldn’t complain at having a chance to talk with Rei……no, rather, to start a happy conversation with him.

「By the way, have you heard about Azoth Firm?」

The topic that Kenny brought up was in a sense the topic that was garnering the most attention in the city of Gilm.

「Ah, more or less. I heard the president has changed.」

Because he had been given some hush money, Rei couldn’t really talk about the details, so he talked along to pretend he didn’t know much.

「Yes, yes. The merchants registered with the guild haven’t said anything, but it seems the space has opened up considerably compared to before regarding the trade of weapons.」

「……Merchants registered with the guild?」

Rei tilted his head unexpectedly at Kenny’s words.

While internally raising a cheer at Rei’s expression, Kenny nodded with a smile.

「That, you don’t know about it? A few merchants hunt monsters themselves to collect materials and make weapons. They can then use the weapons they make or sell them」

「I see.」

(Certainly, if they can supply the materials themselves and make weapons and armour, they can sell them and save on the cost of paying other adventurers to purchase materials. ……On the other hand, an adventurer and blacksmith at the same time as well. That means that they’re doing the three roles of a weapons shop by themselves……is that possible? No, well, I guess it is possible since there are people doing it.)

Kenny kept talking with a smile as Rei thought to himself.

「I don’t know the details of what happened, but it’s good for the city of Gilm. Ah, yes, yes. After today’s work is over, would you like to head over to a merchant’s shop together? I think Rei-kun will learn a lot. ……Ow!」

A hand extended out from behind Kenny, who had just invited Rei, and pulled on her cat ears.

Naturally, the person who did that was Lenora, who you could call Kenny’s close colleague.

「As expected, this happens as soon as I take my eyes off you. Please restrain yourself. ……No, in this case, you should rather scorn yourself.」

The pronunciation was the same but those words had two different meanings. Kenny pouted and protested.

「Wait, that’s not nice!?」

「Sorry for making you wait. This is the amount we will purchase it for.」

Lenora handed the money over to Kenny who then passed it on.

Seeing their usual interaction, Rei received the money while smiling.

On a side note, after they got back to the inn, Set tried to absorb a Harpy magic stone while another was cut by the Death Scythe. But because no skill absorption happened, the two magic stones were wasted.