"Huh? You mean you've already finished the Harpy dismantling?"
It was the day after Rei had finished processing the mountain of monster corpses with the members of Eternal Power. He had just informed Phron and Brasso, who had stopped by his inn, that the Harpy job was already done.
"Yeah. As you know, I put out a request for help with monster dismantling, right? We finished that yesterday, so I just handled the Harpies while we were at it."
"...I see. Well, the request didn't specify which monsters, so I suppose that works out."
Phron tilted her head slightly, but she seemed to recall the wording of the request Rei had posted. She gave a small nod of acceptance.
"We were out there until pretty late, though," Rei muttered with a sigh. "The days are getting shorter, so we had to scramble toward the end."
By the time they had finished yesterday, the sun had already begun to dip below the horizon. Outside the city walls at night, the world belonged to the monsters. The members of Eternal Power, whose equipment was mostly in the shop for repairs, had worked with frantic desperation as they watched the light fade.
"You really are something... or rather, I guess that’s just you being you," Phron said with an exasperated look before refocusing. "In that case, regarding the Harpy materials, we’ll stick to the agreement."
"Aye," Brasso added. "Two magic stones for Rei. The rest we sell to the guild, and the coin from that is added to our share to compensate for the stones. That was the bargain, wasn't it?"
"I'm fine with that. Shall we head over now?"
At Rei's suggestion, the group prepared to leave for the guild, but—
"The sky looks a bit dicey," Rei noted, glancing up as they stepped out of the inn.
Heavy, somber clouds blanketed the sky; it looked ready to pour at any second.
"Well, at least it didn't rain while we were working yesterday."
"Mmm. Weather like this is best spent relaxing in a tavern, I say. I was too worn out yesterday to properly enjoy a drink."
"Don't give me that. You were camped out in that tavern all night."
Rei left the two of them to their usual bickering and headed toward the stables to fetch Set.
"Here, Set! Have some!"
A boy of about five held out a sandwich toward the griffon.
"Guruuu."
Watching the familiar, heartwarming scene, Rei took a bite of a grilled skewer he’d bought from a nearby stall.
"Hey, Rei, why not try one of these? Kelpie skewers."
"Kelpie, ye say?"
The skewer stall owner had called out to Rei, but it was Brasso who reacted instantly.
"A Kelpie's a Rank C monster. Rare to find its meat for sale."
Phron, who had been watching the children play with Set, looked over in surprise.
"They're a bit pricey. Vetman's caravan is in town, you see. The goods they brought have finally started hitting the market."
"Ah..."
The owner’s words reminded Rei of the affable merchant he’d met at the Dusk Wheat Inn.
(Come to think of it, what happened to those adventurers they captured? Now that the Azoth Firm incident has settled down, I assume they've been released. Well, they attacked the stables, so they got what they deserved. Not my problem.)
In reality, the adventurers Vetman’s group had caught had already been handed over to the knights. They were currently being held for the crime of attacking the inn's stables. However, Galahat, the new chairman of the Azoth Firm, was arguing that the men had simply been following Boruntar’s orders. He was currently paying their bail to recruit them into his own ranks.
The Azoth Firm exported monster materials and enchanted weapons unique to the frontier. Given their damaged reputation, they were desperate for capable guards to protect their shipments. Even Margrave Daskar, the Lord of the City of Gilm, allowed the bail-outs; if the firm’s exports stalled, his tax revenue would take a hit. He simply warned the adventurers that a second offense would be their last.
"Still, to put Rank C Kelpie meat on the open market... that caravan must have some real talent," Brasso muttered happily as he bit into his own skewer.
The meat was incredibly tender, requiring almost no effort to chew. Yet, with every bite, a rich savoriness flooded the mouth, perfectly complemented by a salty sauce. The meat seemed to melt away like a mist, leaving only its deep flavor behind.
"Gah, it's good! Shopkeep, two more... no, make it five!"
"Easy there. Even with the caravan in town, I only have so much Kelpie meat. I have to limit it to one per person."
"Bah... I see. In that case, maybe I should take a Kelpie subjugation mission soon..."
Phron’s fist promptly descended on the back of the dwarf’s head.
"Guh!?"
"Don't be an idiot. I'm not taking a dangerous Rank C quest just to provide you with snacks for your ale."
"Not even for a taste? Phron, if ye just tried a bite—"
"Quiet! Don't make me say it twice. Rei, Set, stop eating and let's get moving. We have Harpy materials to sell."
Phron began dragging Brasso away. Rei and Set followed after bidding the locals farewell.
...Naturally, they made sure to buy a few more skewers and sandwiches first.
"Oh? You sold that mountain of materials and magic stones just yesterday. Do you have more business today? Or perhaps you're looking for a new request?"
Lenora greeted them as they entered the guild.
The haul from yesterday's dismantling had been so massive that every available guild staff member had been pulled in to help with the appraisal. Culotte, Schola, and the rest of Eternal Power had vanished the moment they were paid, leaving Rei to handle the paperwork alone.
"There's no such thing as an easy payday," Culotte had groaned, a sentiment that had stuck with Rei.
"I'm here to sell more materials," Rei answered.
"Wait... what? But just yesterday..." Lenora stammered. Beside her, even Kenny, who was usually biased toward Rei, looked flabbergasted.
Rei gave a small, apologetic smile. "This is for the Harpies. From the request I did with these two."
He gestured to Phron and Brasso. The two veterans were currently staring at Rei, wondering exactly how much he had carried in that magic ring.
(By the way, regarding the Water Monkey eyeballs that Schola and I argued about... it turns out Schola’s book was right. A decade ago, they were valued as alchemical catalysts, but a cheaper, more effective substitute has since been found. They're obsolete now. My book was just out of date. Since I couldn't really blame anyone, I just had to swallow the loss on the preservation cases. Still, with the rest of the profit, it was barely a dent.)
"Don't worry, it's not nearly as much as yesterday," Rei said. He began pulling the Harpy parts from the Misty Ring: the right ears, the talons, and the tail feathers. Finally, he produced the magic stones.
"You're right, this is much more manageable. I can appraise these right now."
Lenora picked up a right ear. "Kenny, handle the proof of subjugation side, please."
"You got it! I have to do my best for Rei-kun!"
"...It’s because you’re like that that I can’t trust you with the material appraisals. You were far too generous with the prices yesterday."
"Ahaha... but hey, the quality was top-notch, wasn't it?"
Kenny gave an evasive laugh while Lenora sighed and focused on the materials.
"These... Oh, did you have the people from Eternal Power handle this? The stripping technique is identical."
"Yeah. But since these were from the quest with Brasso and Phron, I couldn't just sell them without them present."
"That's responsible of you. We occasionally hear about parties breaking up because someone sold materials behind the others' backs. ...Anyway, the condition is excellent. Especially these tail feathers. They make for high-performance fletching, though you’d need quality arrowheads to match."
Lenora nodded, carefully setting the feathers aside before picking up the talons.
"I heard those are useful too. How so? For alchemy?"
"That, and for armor. You can mount them on the surface of plate or leather to create 'offensive' armor for ramming or grappling. They’re also embedded into the heads of clubs. They’re quite popular."
Finally, Lenora checked the magic stones. "No chips or cracks. These are high-quality."
She took the items to the back for final processing.
"Just a moment. Kenny, how are we doing?"
"All set! Here’s the payout for the proof of subjugation parts."
Kenny placed several silver coins on the counter. Lenora nodded and left Rei to Kenny while she finished the paperwork.
"So," Kenny said with a grin, "did you hear about the Azoth Firm?"
The topic was the talk of Gilm.
"More or less. New management, right?" Rei answered evasively, mindful of his hush money.
"Exactly. Some of the merchants registered with the guild are saying the weapon trade is much more transparent now."
"Merchants registered with the guild?" Rei tilted his head.
Kenny beamed, happy to be the one explaining things. "Didn't you know? There are a few merchants who act as their own adventurers—they hunt the monsters, gather the materials, and forge the weapons themselves. Then they either use them or sell them."
"I see."
(Cutting out the middleman by being the adventurer, the blacksmith, and the shopkeeper... It sounds efficient, but doing all three at once must be exhausting.)
"I don't know the specifics of what happened to the firm, but it's a good change for the city," Kenny continued. "Hey, when you're done with work today, do you want to go check out one of those merchant-blacksmith shops with me? It would be good experience for you, Rei-kun... Ow!"
A hand reached out from behind Kenny and yanked her cat ear.
"Honestly, I look away for one second and you're already at it. Have some self-restraint," Lenora scolded.
"Hey! That's uncalled for!"
"Thank you for waiting, Rei. This is the final purchase price."
Lenora ignored Kenny's pouting and handed over the pouch. Rei took it with a wry smile, watching the usual comedy routine.
Later that evening, Rei returned to the inn. He tried to have Set absorb the Harpy magic stones and even tried cutting one with the Death Scythe, but no skill absorption occurred. The two stones ended up being a waste.