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Chapter 170

Rei tilted his head at the name of the monster that was spoken by Hasta, the adventurer sitting opposite him in the guild tavern.

「Gamelion?」

Rei was puzzled at the monster name which he hadn’t heard of before. He looked through Zepairu’s knowledge, but there wasn’t a monster called Gamelion in it.

「I’m sorry, but this is the first time I’ve heard of this monster. What kind of monster is it?」

「Huh? You don’t know? It’s a famous monster in this city.」

At Hasta’s justifiable response, Rei involuntarily gave a wry smile.

「It hasn’t been that long since I came to the city of Gilm. Even if it is common knowledge in Gilm, there are still many things I don’t know. So please tell me about it if you don’t mind.」

「Ah, now that you mention it……」

He seemed to recall something at Rei’s words. With a small nod, Hasta was about to speak again……

「Sorry for making you wait.」

The waitress at the tavern brought the ordered dishes.

Thanking her briefly, Hasta reached out for a skewer after paying for them.

「Let’s eat first. It’s courtesy to eat the food while it’s still hot.」

「I certainly don’t want to have to eat cold skewers.」

Rei agreed with Hasta’s words and asked a question as he reached for a skewer as well.

「So did you say a Gamelion? Tell me what kind of monster it is.」

「Ah, yes. As I mentioned earlier, Gamelions are a monster that appears in the grasslands near the city of Gilm during the season change from autumn to winter. It’s appearance……that’s right, I guess a huge rabbit would be the best way to describe it?」

「……A rabbit?」

After more than a year since he was promoted to D rank, Hasta, who could now be considered a veteran, had asked Rei to help him to hunt a monster. Although not as far as a Dragon, Rei had imagined a monster that was on a similar level to the Spriggan he had fought in the dungeon.

Are you serious? Although Rei’s question included that meaning, Hasta nodded with a serious expression.

「Yes, it’s a rabbit. But even though I say that, of course it isn’t an ordinary rabbit. It’s a ferocious monster which just happens to have a similar appearance to a rabbit. It’s about 3m in length and the fur that covers it’s body gives it very high defense that makes it hard for bladed weapons to cut through. It’s main methods of attack are it’s long ears, which are as sharp as blades, and its fangs, which it uses to bite and inject poison into its target. Their tails are usually about 1m long and can be swung like a whip. As these are all instantaneous high offensive power attacks, characteristic of rabbits, it’s a very difficult rank C monster.」

「……A rabbit?」

Rei asked the same question as before.

Speaking of rabbits, Rei would occasionally see them in the mountains near his parents house where he lived before he came to Elgin. They were about 30cm in length, so at the very least, 3m rabbits were outside of his imagination.

「Yes. It’s a rabbit. However, as I said earlier, it only looks like a rabbit in appearance, its nature is that of a monster.」

「……I guess.」

Rei tried to visualise the explanation he was told in his mind, but it was hardly what he could call a rabbit.

「So what do you think? Could you lend me a hand?」

At Hasta’s question, Rei chewed his bread and drank some soup before speaking.

「I want to hear a few things first. Depending on the result, this request……no, I will decide whether to accept this request or not based on it.」

「Yes. I understand.」

Rei asked his questions after seeing Hasta nod docilely at his words.

「First of all. What the benefits of accepting your request? You told me that you couldn’t post a request through the guild because you didn’t have the money to pay the reward. In that case, isn’t it obvious that you don’t have the money to to pay me anything either?」

「That is right. However, I’ve heard that Rei-san is a collector of magic stones. In the end, what I want is the meat of the Gamelion to use it in the eatery. Regarding the magic stones and materials, you can take them all.」

At those words, Reid suddenly recalled what he had heard from Kenny.

「If I’m not mistaken, when you formed a party previously, I heard that there were problems with that arrangement?」

「Ahh……so you heard. That is certainly so, but it’s not a problem if we’re just dividing the Gamelion this time only right? All I want is the meat. What Rei-san wants is the magic stone. I can hand all the materials over.」

「I see. Well, I’m fine with that. This last question has nothing to do with the request, but why do you know that I’m collecting magic stones?」

Rei hadn’t openly declared that he was collecting magic stones and he hadn’t told a lot of people either. He wondered how Hasta knew it and asked……

「Eh? Rei-san, you didn’t know that you are famous among the adventurers in the city of Gilm?」

Hasta responded as such with a surprised expression when he was asked.

「……What?」

「In the first place, the materials and proofs of subjugation that Rei-san has brought to the guild is abnormally high for a solo adventurer. And for that reason, it’s become pretty well known that the magic stones, that can be sold for the most, does not match the amount of materials that are sold.」

「Is that so?」

「Yes. It’s rare for a solo adventurer to earn that much. So, when the person in charge of selling materials noticed that the number of magic stones didn’t match up with the amount of materials, it became widely known.」

「……I see.」

Hearing the harmless answer, Rei involuntarily gave a sigh.

If the guild wasn’t where adventurers gathered, maybe he should have sold his materials directly to stores……Rei thought about it to himself, but he dropped the thought as soon as he considered the troublesome price negotiations he would have to go through. After all, as Hasta said, the amount of materials Rei provided was closer to that of a party of adventurers than someone working solo. If he had to negotiate with sly merchants every time, instead of having to negotiate, he would rather sell the materials to the guild, who would at a fixed price, even if it was for a little less.

Ahem.

Clearing his throat, Rei continued talking.

「So, going back to the main topic. Since you asked to work with me, have you considered what to do if I turned you down? For example, going to hunt the monster by yourself. If you did that, you wouldn’t need to bother with splitting the meat and materials.」

「Of course I had considered that possibility. However, I received advice from a certain person. If I explained the circumstances to Rei-san, he probably won’t bluntly refuse.」

Rei’s cheeks twitched at those words.

There weren’t many people in the city of Gilm that he was acquainted with. Even then, he couldn’t think of who would say something like that.

「Who was it that told you such annoying things.」

「That is, it was Pamidor-san, a blacksmith in the neigbourhood.」

Pamidor, a blacksmith. Hearing those two words, a tough looking face that reminded Rei of a bandit popped into his mind.

「That guy.」

「Yes. Although it hasn’t been long since he moved here, he’s quite famous around the area. The gap between his looks and his personality is amazing.」

「……I guess.」

(That said, if Pamidor introduced him, I don’t have a reason to decline. What I heard from Brazos was that he is one of the most talented smiths in the country. When Azoth Firm my enemy, he ignored the order to not do business with me. I want to get along with someone of that character. If he doesn’t forget any favours, I won’t forget either.)

Rei quickly calculated in his mind before speaking.

「It can’t be helped. If it’s an introduction from Pamidor, I can’t really refuse it. I’ll help you to hunt some Gamelions. It’s hard to ignore magic stones from monsters that only show up at this time.」

「Thank you very much.」

「So, since I’ve agreed to that, when are we actually heading out there……」

「That is, before that, I would like to confirm, but is it really true that you have an item box?」

「Mm? Ah. So it’s about that. Here.」

As soon as he said that, Rei took out a sheathed dagger from the Misty Ring.

Seeing that, Hasta gave a beaming smile.

「Wow, it really is an item box. ……It’s the first time I’ve seen the real thing.」

「It seems there are only a few in existance, so why do you need to confirm that I have one?」

「Yes. That right. As I said, Gamelions are about 3m in length……that is to say, if possible, would you mind letting me use your item box to store the meat?」

「……」

「Of course, I won’t ask you to do it for free!」

Although Rei was just lost in thought for a moment when he asked about the item box, Hasta immediately continued the moment he saw Rei pause.

For Rei, it was what he usually did, so there weren’t any problems in particular. But for ordinary adventurers, it felt like it was a very great honour to be able to use such a rare magic item that the item box was.

(In that case, I can check how serious he is with this.)

Thinking to himself, Rei spoke up while looking at Hasta.

「But you said that you basically have no money, what do you have to offer me?」

「Certainly, I don’t have that much money to spend. Because of that, I can provide labour.」

「Labour?」

「Yes. Rei-san has defeated a lot of monsters, but you’re not that great at stripping materials and dismantling the monsters right? Since I was small, I’ve helped to dismantle monsters in the eatery at my house, so I’m used to that work. Because of that, I believe I can be Rei-san’s strength in that sense. Of course, I won’t say for forever from now on……but how about I can strip materials for you for free 10 times from now?」

「……Hou~.」

At that unexpected proposal, Rei nodded in admiration.

As for Rei, he was quite attracted by Hasta’s proposal, since stripping materials and extracting magic stones wasn’t really something he was that good at. It was also obviously beneficial to Rei that he didn’t have to take the trouble of going through the guild. At the very least, he didn’t need to go through the time consuming interviews.

「That’s certainly an attractive proposal. ……But, why do you just want the meat of a monster like a Gamelion? I guess if it only appears in this season, it would be quite rare.」

Hasta stayed silent for a few seconds, but eventually started talking.

「Actually, my parent’s eatery currently has a small debt. I want to return it as soon as possible.」

「A debt?」

「Yes. Ah, of course, we didn’t borrow from a nasty merchant or take over a friend’s debts. That debt is purely from when we borrowed money to expand our eatery’s facilities. The loan didn’t carry particularly high interest. ……But, since my childhood, my parents have brought me telling me how to lend and borrow money. Seeing their current circumstances of debt……I don’t feel good about it.」

With some embarrassment, Hasta drank some of the soup, that was already starting to go cold.

「So, your solution to the debt is the Gamelion?」

「Yes. As a rank C monster, its meat is considerably delicious. More than anything, it’s also really rare because of its seasonality.」

「……But if you have a debt, isn’t better to have the magic stones and materials rather than just the meat?」

「Ahahaha. I also said that, but my father shouted『We are not so unreliable to have rely on our children to bear our debt!』. As a compromise, instead of bringing them the usual monster meat for the eatery, I decided to bring in the meat of higher raking monsters that can be used for higher priced dishes.」

「I see.」

Rei nodded, but predicted that even if it was used to cook more expensive dishes, it wouldn’t be possible to sell it all right away. Anyhow, there weren’t really that many people who could order higher class dishes.

(Well, if it’s a monster about 3m in size, they can probably sell all the meat before it starts going off.)

As Rei nodded, Hasta, who had answered cheerfully up until now, hesitated to speak up.

「That’s right. Actually, I heard a story from one of my father’s acquaintances a while ago.」

「A story?」

「Yes. My father’s acquaintance owns a street stall, the kind that sells simple snacks like sandwiches and skewers. So, he said that after receiving a little advice from Rei-san, the taste of his dish improved and his sales also increased. Because of that, I was wondering if you could give some advice about our eatery.」

Saying that, the owner of a street stall who often gave sandwiches to Set appeared in Rei’s mind. Since that owner loved Set, Rei often bought sandwiches for him at that stall. As thanks, Rei taught him a simple toasted sandwich recipe. It was pretty much just a sandwich that was toasted, it was a recipe that couldn’t really be called a recipe. But at the very least, it seemed that toasted sandwiches didn’t exist in the city of Gilm and it became a pretty popular item. However, the cooking method quickly spread as the only difference was that the bread with the fillings inside was toasted before being cut.

「Normally, people don’t think of toasting sandwiches. But, it’s delicious when toasted. Especially with cheese or ham. ……Depending on the ingredients, there are also some things that don’t match. Because of that, with that knowledge, I was wondering if I could ask for a dish that could become a specialty of our eatery.」

「……I’m actually an amateur in cooking you know? Toasted sandwiches are just made from toasting bread, anyone could come up with it.」

「But that fact that you actually thought of it is really amazing. ……Could you think of one for me?」

Seeing Hasta’s petition, Rei was troubled for several seconds……but as soon as he thought of something, he gave a small nod.

(There are no noodle dishes in Elgin. No, perhaps there are some in other cities or countries, but there are none in the city of Gilm. Then this might be a good opportunity? If there’s wheat flour, salt and water, udon noodles could be made. ……However, the problem is that I don’t know how udon noodles are made myself. If I had made it at home before, I could probably do something about it? ……No, that’s the job of a professional chef. If I provide some hints, I should be able to leave the invention to them.)

After deciding on his thoughts in his mind, he called out to Hasta.

「That’s right. I have an idea of a dish I want to try, this would be a good opportunity to realise it. However, I only have the idea, whether or not it can be created will depend on the chef’s skill.」

「Thank you very much!」

At Rei’s words, vigourously bowed his head.