The day after his experiment with the firestorm, Rei returned once more to the Adventurer's Guild. It was mid-morning, and the number of adventurers inside was quite low. Few people were drinking in the tavern area so early; only a handful of adventurers were having an early lunch in preparation for their afternoon requests.
Still, it couldn't be said that no one was drinking, as a few individuals were nursing mugs—perhaps they had designated today as a rest day, or maybe they were celebrating the completion of a quest.
The Guild was enjoying a peaceful lull that made the usual morning bustle seem like a dream. Rei walked through the quiet hall and headed toward the counter.
"Ah, Rei-kun. Are you here to take a request?"
Kenny, the receptionist who had spotted him immediately, waved with a beaming smile. Rei returned the smile but shook his head.
In a rare turn of events, Lenora was nowhere to be seen at the counter; Kenny was the only receptionist currently on duty.
"No, today I'm here to sell the materials and magic stones I harvested yesterday, and to cash in my proof of subjugation parts."
"I see. In that case, let me see... is what I'd like to say, but how much is it? Since you have an Item Box, Rei-kun, you must have a considerable amount stockpiled, right?"
Rei sighed and nodded at Kenny's sharp observation.
"Yeah. It’s turned into quite a lot, one way or another. I’m a bit doubtful whether it’ll all fit on the counter."
"Really? Then let's do the appraisal in a separate room. I'm just about free anyway..."
"Wait a second, Kenny. What are you thinking? What’s going to happen if there isn't a single receptionist at the counter?"
A voice called out from further back behind the counter. It was Lenora’s voice, a familiar sound to Rei by now.
It seemed she wasn't off today, but had simply stepped into the back room.
"If you're going to complain, Lenora, then you come work the counter."
"Listen, we just swapped places ten minutes ago. Besides, you're too soft on Rei-san, Kenny. You'd probably overlook things during the quality check. I'll be the one to handle Rei-san."
"Hey, that's cheating!"
"I've already received permission from above. ...Look."
Lenora glanced toward an elderly man positioned deep within the counter area.
The elderly man, Epoca, gave a small nod in response to Lenora's gaze.
"No way, Epoca-san... That's mean."
"Consider it a consequence of your daily behavior. Now then, Rei-san, could you please head to the 2F... to the meeting room we used for the Orc business and your Rank Up Exam? We'll conduct the appraisal of the materials and magic stones there."
"Yeah, I'll count on you."
And so, he followed Lenora to the meeting room on the Guild 2F.
The meeting room was empty, with no sign of anyone else using it. Once inside, Lenora began gathering the tables into the center of the room, efficiently organizing the space to create areas for laying out materials and sorting the items once they were appraised.
"You're well-practiced at this."
When he reflexively murmured that, she spoke without pausing her work.
"Yes. If you look at the counter downstairs, you'll see it's not actually that large. That's why, when a large party or multiple parties work together on a request, we confirm the materials here in this meeting room. At those times, they bring carts or wagons full of materials to the Guild, and then they have to carry them all up to this second floor, which is a real hassle. ...Honestly, we should build a larger, dedicated space on the 1F, but the Guild Upper Management is complicated; proposals get made and then rejected over and over again. ...Now then. Everything is ready, so please bring them out."
Following Lenora's words, Rei brought out magic stones, materials, and proof of subjugation parts from his Misty Ring one after another. Lizardmen, Lizardman Generals, a Giant Spider, Water Monkeys, a Rare Species Water Monkey, an Ogre, a Spriggan, and Emerald Wolves. Additionally, a large volume of other creatures he had slain while traveling to the dungeon or during camping piled up on the tables.
Fortunately, the bulk of the numerous creatures like the Water Monkeys and Emerald Wolves were still mostly stored within the Misty Ring. Even regarding the magic stones, since the ones used for Seto and the Death Scythe's skill acquisition were gone, the number of magic stones—which would normally be the highest-priced items among the materials—was surprisingly small. From a Guild official's perspective, it was a somewhat suspicious lineup.
"I've heard that the reason for the small amount of monster meat is because you give it to your tamed monster, Seto... but why are there so few magic stones? There are almost none except for low-rank monsters. Even though there's a significant amount of the materials themselves."
"Ah—no. Actually, I've developed a hobby of collecting magic stones. I'm keeping two of each type for myself. For storage and display."
"...Well, I know that adventurers can be eccentrics, so I'll let it pass. Still, collecting magic stones? You've developed quite a strange hobby."
(As I thought, was that a bit of a stretch? But it's better than having them suspicious every time I sell materials without magic stones... or so I'd like to think.)
"As you know, I have an Item Box. No matter how many magic stones I collect, I won't have trouble finding a place to store them."
"It is convenient, isn't it? Well then, I'll start checking the materials. Oh, please place the proof of subjugation parts on that table over there. It would be helpful if you could separate them by species."
While Rei followed Lenora's instructions and categorized the proof of subjugation parts, she performed the material appraisal beside him.
For a while, they both worked silently and diligently on their respective tasks, but then Lenora suddenly spoke.
"Rei-san, did you strip all of this yourself?"
"Hm? Yeah, after all, I work solo. I can't exactly have Seto strip materials from monsters."
"Isn't it hard to strip this much by yourself?"
"Well, certainly. It depends on the size of the monster, but it takes about thirty minutes per creature."
Whether it was a small monster or a large one, the act of skinning took an unexpected amount of time. Especially considering the quality, one couldn't just peel the skin off haphazardly; it required a careful process. Even though he had become somewhat accustomed to material stripping, his stripping speed was only just reaching the average compared to other adventurers.
"But like I said, since I'm doing this solo, it can't be helped."
(I might be able to pass off the magic stones as a collecting hobby, but I can't let the people around here know about Seto's skills... the ones a Gryphon shouldn't originally possess. ...Yes, not to just anyone.)
At that moment, the image of a beautiful woman with golden hair crossed Rei's mind. Elena Kerebel. The person who knew the truth about Rei and Seto and yet continued to interact with him without changing her attitude. If it were with someone like her, he might be able to form a party without having to hide anything...
(Well, realistically speaking, that's impossible.)
He reached that conclusion easily.
After all, she was the Duke's Daughter and the Princess General who served as the symbol of the Noble's Faction, the largest faction within the Kingdom of Mireana. Even if such a person said she wanted to become an adventurer, those around her would never allow it, regardless of her own feelings.
"It's not like I can go looking for party members just to strip materials."
The words escaped his lips as a quiet murmur, but Lenora reacted to them.
"It's possible, you know? Of course, I don't mean a fixed party."
"...What?"
Rei, who had been lining up the tips of the tails—the Lizardman Proof of Subjugation Parts—reflexively turned around.
Lenora was busy checking an Emerald Wolf Fang.
"That's why I said it's possible. Ah, to be precise, it's not a party. You recruit adventurers to do the material stripping and dismantling as a request."
"...There was that option."
Honestly, because he had been an adventurer until now, he had only ever thought of himself as the one receiving requests. The option of issuing a request himself had never entered his mind. Certainly, if he requested material stripping, the effort of processing monsters could be drastically reduced. However...
"I think there would be various problems, but how would those be handled?"
Naturally, stripping materials meant that the adventurers would be touching the monsters Rei had defeated. And among adventurers, there were more than a few of poor character...
"Regarding that, I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do on this end. I think you'll just have to judge for yourself by interviewing the adventurers who take the request. However, once you establish a connection with a good party, from then on you can use a nomination request, or do it without going through the Guild... Ah, please pretend you didn't hear that last part."
"A request without going through the Guild? Tell me more."
"...Sigh. Since I'm the one who let it slip, it can't be helped."
Lenora sighed and placed a Lizardman General's Eyeball, which was in a preservation case, onto the table before speaking.
"Occasionally, a client will bypass the Guild and make a direct request to an adventurer. Naturally, most of those requests are not decent ones. They range from semi-criminal to, in bad cases, outright crimes. Requests of that sort usually offer rewards several to dozens of times higher than the ones posted at the Guild, so adventurers who aren't familiar with those circumstances sometimes get caught. Well, there are cases where a client simply doesn't want to pay the commission fee to the Guild..."
"I see. So for the time being, it's more reliable to go through the Guild."
"That's how it is. The Guild can't operate unless we receive commission fees. So, please be especially careful of those kinds of requests, Rei-san."
"Huh? Why me?"
Rei stared at Lenora's face blankly.
Lenora continued her explanation with an entirely serious expression.
"Listen, alright? It hasn't been long since you registered with the Guild, Rei-san, but within the City of Gilm, you're already the fastest adventurer to reach D-Rank. In other words, while you have the strength, you aren't familiar with the underworld of being an adventurer. ...And you seem slightly bad at socializing."
"No, well. I can't argue with that when you put it that way."
"In short, being skilled but ignorant of the dark side means you're likely to get caught up in the crimes I mentioned earlier. ...Well, in your case, Rei-san, I feel like you'd just crush the other party once you realized you'd been framed."
She shook her head slightly with a sigh.
"Ah, but since you're famous in the City of Gilm for having a Gryphon as a tamed monster, those people might find it hard to approach you anyway."
"...So, in the end, what should I do?"
"Who knows? In that regard, since you're an adventurer, it's ultimately your own responsibility. You can choose to struggle and strip monster materials yourself, or you can choose to hire adventurers to do the material stripping for you. The most I can do is tell you about the reputation of the party trying to take that request."
"Is it okay for you to tell me about the reputation of other parties?"
"It's not particularly unusual. For requests that involve pre-interviews, it's a standard service provided by the Guild."
At those words from Lenora, Rei, who had finished lining up all the proof of subjugation parts, thought for a short while and nodded.
"I see. Then I'll try putting it out as a request for now. Once this appraisal is over, I'll ask you to handle the paperwork."
"Yes, understood. The appraisal will take a little longer. ...Even so, you've become quite good at stripping materials."
Lenora murmured admiringly as she checked an Emerald Wolf Hide.
"That's because I'm doing it alone. You'd get good at it whether you liked it or not. I was also taught the tricks by Elk."
"Elk-san? From the Axe of the Thunder God? ...Ah, come to think of it, you became acquaintances through that Orc business."
Lenora recalled the man, one of the top adventurers in the City of Gilm, who possessed a personality like a mischievous boy who had simply grown larger. His skills were undeniable, but thanks to that personality, he sometimes caused unexpected commotions. Lenora had been caught up in the resulting Guild troubles several times because of him.
Continuing their conversation in such a manner, Lenora proceeded to check the materials and magic stones, finishing everything in about thirty minutes.
"You're certainly used to that," Rei murmured. He had been watching her work after finishing his own task.
Lenora gave a small nod, a smile playing on her lips.
"It's just practice, Rei-san. Just the same as for you."