What emerged from the back of the shop was the clerk who had been there when Rei first arrived, and... a small woman.
Despite her short stature, her sturdy build more or less gave away her race. The fact that Rei had encountered that race—Dwarves—several times before probably had a lot to do with it.
"Welcome to my shop. I'm Laurie, the manager here. Though I never expected an alias-holding adventurer to pay us a visit."
Looking at the Dwarf woman who introduced herself as Laurie, Rei suddenly realized something.
(Laurie... is she called Laurie because she's a Dwarf? Like, the so-called Eternal Lolita type?)
The manga, anime, novels, and games Rei had enjoyed back in Japan... with recent trends being what they were, characters who were girls around ten years old yet immortal, undead, or vampires appeared with a certain frequency. In that sense, Rei wondered if Laurie might be the Eternal Lolita type—but naturally, he didn't say that out loud.
"Yeah, I heard this shop is known for its skill in dissecting monsters. Oh, and here's an introduction letter."
Rei produced the letter he'd had Marina write for him last night from his Misty Ring.
Seeing it, Laurie furrowed her brows slightly as she realized who had written it. She probably hadn't expected an introduction letter from the Former Guild Master, Marina.
"From Marina, huh... In that case, I can't exactly refuse."
If possible, she would have turned him down. That was what Laurie wanted, but Marina had helped her shop in various ways during her tenure as Guild Master. With someone like that writing an introduction letter, Laurie couldn't very well refuse.
"Glad to hear that. It helps me out too. So, how many monsters can you take on for dissection, specifically?"
"...How many?"
At Rei's words, Laurie had a bad feeling. Given how he phrased it, it sounded like he had an countless number of monster corpses.
In fact, she wasn't wrong. Currently, Rei's Misty Ring contained a considerable number of corpses from monsters slain during this promotion exam—even excluding the A-Rank monsters and S-Rank monsters.
That said, Rei didn't intend to have all of them dissected at the Laurie Dissection Shop. For other adventurers, leaving monster corpses as they were would cause them to rot, so they couldn't do what Rei did. After all, it was the height of summer. If it were autumn or winter, there would have been a bit more leeway.
For that reason, Rei was fine as long as they dissected what they could without overdoing it. Once winter came and the Guild's workload settled down, he could always request dissection from them then, or submit a formal request like he had with the Gigant Turtle.
What Rei wanted right now was enough Forest of Magic monster meat to last a while. His desire to let Elena and the others try Forest of Magic monster meat was what had driven him to come all the way to a dissection shop with an introduction letter from Marina in hand. If the shop truly couldn't manage, he could always dissect them himself. After all, he had been dissecting the meat that he and Set ate in the Forest of Magic.
"Ah, I mean how much in terms of quantity. I know this sounds like a lot, but right now my Misty Ring has quite a few Forest of Magic monster corpses. Obviously, I can't ask you to dissect all of them, so how much can you handle without straining yourselves?"
At Rei's words, Laurie breathed a sigh of relief. He had an introduction letter from Marina, and yet he was asking how much they could handle. She must have feared the worst—that she'd be worked to her absolute limit.
"Right. It depends on the size of the monsters being dissected. For example, whether it's a monster about the size of a Rabbit or one about the size of an Orc, the size difference aside, one is still one, right?"
"Well... that's true."
Now that she mentioned it, Rei found himself largely agreeing.
"Hmm, in that case... the ones I want dissected with top priority are the bull monsters that were near the Forest of Magic. Two of them. One is half-dissected, and the other is heavily damaged."
That bull monster's meat had been extremely delicious. So much so that the reputedly tasty Orc meat paled in comparison.
...Of course, given the difference between beef and pork, making an exact comparison was difficult. But in any case, there was no denying the bull's meat was delicious. Given that, Rei definitely wanted Elena and the others to try it.
"Half-dissected? ...Well, fine. First, I need to assess the situation with my own eyes. Come with me."
Saying that, Laurie headed outside the shop.
(Outside the shop?)
Where was she taking him? Rei wondered, but Laurie had already stepped outside. Judging that staying inside served no purpose, he followed her.
The clerk—the man who appeared to be Laurie's relative or something—had already returned to his own work.
Leaving him behind, they stepped outside, and Laurie stared intently at Set, who was lying down a short distance from the shop.
Sensing a slightly bad feeling from Laurie's demeanor, Rei spoke up just in case.
"Laurie, I'm telling you, what we're dissecting is not Set."
"I—I know that. But it's not every day you get to see a gryphon... and a Rare Species at that, this up close. Let me observe a little."
Ah. Rei understood, somewhat, why Laurie was staring at Set so intently.
Laurie was a skilled dissector—enough for Marina to recommend her. But the monsters a dissection shop handled were, naturally, dead.
...There might be people with the strange hobby of wanting to dissect living things, but at the very least, Rei didn't know anyone like that. In other words, Laurie basically never had the chance to see a living monster. That was why she had been observing the living Set with such interest.
"Set is basically friendly with everyone. How about you play with Set a bit after you finish work today?"
"R-really? But I'm a dissector, you know?"
Rei could understand what Laurie was worried about. In short, she thought Set would hate her because she dissected monsters.
Rei could somewhat understand her feelings, but even so, she was worrying far too much. For one thing, Set hunted and ate monsters on his own regularly. In fact, one of the monsters Rei was planning to have Laurie dissect—the bull monster—was one that Set had killed. Someone who made such monsters easier for them to eat was not someone Set would despise or shun. If anything, it wouldn't be strange for Set to feel gratitude toward a person who did that kind of work.
"No problem. From Set's perspective, dissection is a process that makes monster meat easier to eat. In that sense, Laurie, Set might actually thank you."
"No way..."
Laurie didn't seem to fully believe Rei's words, but he hadn't said it as flattery.
Considering Set's abilities, he could normally eat meat even with the skin, fur, feathers, or scales still attached. That was how sharp his beak was. But eating meat that way was obviously less enjoyable than having it properly dissected, with the skin, fur, and other impediments removed.
In that sense, Rei could predict that Set would be grateful to dissectors who made it possible for him to eat delicious meat—not resentful.
...Of course, that was assuming the dissector had sufficient skill. Set wouldn't be grateful to someone who was terrible at dissection despite being known as a top dissection shop.
"...Anyway, work comes first."
Just when it seemed like Laurie might head toward Set, she declared she was prioritizing work and led Rei away from the spot.
Set had naturally noticed the two of them. However, judging from Rei's demeanor, it seemed work wasn't finished yet. Set watched them leave with a disappointed look... and closed its eyes again.
"Ah... I see. So that's how it is."
What Laurie led Rei to was within the shop's premises, but at the far edge. Though hidden from view, there was a ramp leading underground.
What that meant was...
(So the dissection is done underground. Well, that's probably easier than building a warehouse on the premises.)
If one were to build a warehouse or similar structure, it would naturally require repairs as it deteriorated over time. But underground, there was less need for that compared to a surface warehouse.
Though, being underground certainly had its own challenges. Without proper reinforcement, the ground could collapse and bury the underground space. Also, being underground meant there wasn't much airflow, so heat would build up when it was hot. It was generally true that underground was cool, but that had its limits. Furthermore, no airflow meant that smells would accumulate as well. Countermeasures for those issues were necessary.
Especially now, in the height of summer, when temperatures were high. Depending on the conditions, it wouldn't be strange for the underground to become a Scorching Hell.
(I have the Dragon Robe, so I don't need to worry about that sort of thing.)
Thinking that, Rei descended the ramp leading underground as Laurie guided him.
At the bottom was a massive door—one so huge that even the Crystal Dragon could have been brought inside, provided it was laid on its side.
"This is... this underground space is quite a bit larger than I expected."
"Of course. The Laurie Dissection Shop may not look like much, but it's one of the top two most skilled dissection shops in Gilm. You have your dissection done at the Guild, Rei, so it seems you don't really deal with places like this."
"Ah... well, yeah. That's more reliable."
Rei said that, but he also found it a hassle. If he was going to request dissection at the Guild, it was quicker to do so alongside reporting a quest's success or results, or to submit the dissection request there and have other adventurers handle it. Coming all the way here afterward to request dissection... to Rei, that was nothing but a hassle.
Then again, that was just Rei's perspective. Among adventurers, there were quite a few who preferred asking a familiar dissection shop rather than the Guild. Rei's dissection skills were decent, for instance, but it wasn't as if there weren't people who had been adventurers longer than him yet had extremely poor dissection abilities. For such people, a dissection shop was undeniably a lifesaver.
"Well, I'm, you know. Different from the norm in various ways."
"...I'm not sure you should say that about yourself. But it's true, so I can't deny it."
Laurie muttered that with a sigh, went up to the door, and operated something. The door in front of Rei gradually opened to the left and right...
"Huh."
Rei looked through to the other side and let out a surprised voice.
That was because the bloody smell that inevitably accompanied dissection work did not drift through from the other side. Also, nearly twenty people were each dissecting monsters, yet none of them looked like they were suffering from the heat. That meant ventilation and temperature control were properly managed within this underground space.
(Well, that sort of Magic Item is somewhat widespread... thinking about it, it's not that surprising, I guess?)
At the Wheat Inn at Dusk, for example, Magic Items made it possible to live comfortably—warm in winter and cool in summer. This underground space must have been using similar Magic Items.
...Of course, for a space this large. How many Magic Items must have been needed went without saying.
(So the employees can work comfortably... In that sense, the high fees might be understandable.)
That was what Rei thought.