After confirming the receipt, the man immediately brought out the dissected materials and meat.
As expected of professionals whose primary trade was dissection, their skill was clearly superior to Rei's own.
They would certainly hold their own against the guild staff currently dissecting the Chimera in the Guild warehouse.
In that regard, calling them a dissection shop with top-class skill among private establishments was by no means an exaggeration.
"This is quite something... Marina's recommendation is well justified."
At Rei's words, which slipped out almost involuntarily, the craftsmen who overheard wore proud expressions.
Noticing their reaction, Rei paid it no mind and turned his gaze not toward the materials themselves, but toward the thing carrying them.
It was, for all intents and purposes, a board.
Not a wooden board, however, but one made of hammered metal.
Several legs extended from the underside of that metal plate, and using those legs, the plate had carried over the bull and Orc Naga materials on its own.
Is this... a golem, I guess? Rather than a golem, it's more like... hmm.
The golems Rei knew were mostly humanoid.
Of course, those were golems as monsters—humanoid, yet overwhelmingly larger than Rei. "Giant-type" would be a more accurate description.
Compared to such golems, the one currently before Rei's eyes was something he might call a "table-type."
"Hey, is this a golem? It's a pretty unusual shape, though."
"Hm? Ah, right. Laurie had an alchemist she knows make it. Having this golem around has made the work a lot easier."
"I figured."
Rei could agree with that.
The monsters brought in for dissection were generally on the larger side.
The Laurie Dissection Shop employed craftsmen with some of the finest dissection techniques in Gilm. Since clients came specifically to request such skilled craftsmen, the fees were naturally higher than at other shops.
Rei had gotten a sense of this when he paid the amount while receiving his receipt. Given that, for smaller monsters—ones they could dissect themselves—there would be no need to go out of their way to entrust them to the Laurie Dissection Shop. They would simply handle it on their own.
Of course, if it was a small monster with extremely high rarity value, that would be a different story.
Considering the fees, it was mostly adventurers who could defeat monsters of considerable size who placed requests. When dissecting such monsters, it went without saying that the materials, meat, and magic stones needed to be handled with care.
As for parts that were unusable as materials and could only be discarded, they naturally couldn't just be left lying around—they needed to be gathered somewhere.
What helped in such situations was this golem.
Having it explained to him, Rei nodded in understanding.
A golem for carrying loads. It seems like there'd be quite a demand for that... but then again, making a golem would cost a fair amount. As an operating cost, they'd probably need to use magic stones and such.
If one was a mage, they could replenish magical power directly. Simple magic items like those used for starting fires could probably be used by ordinary people without any particular issue, but when it came to golems, a corresponding amount of magical power was naturally required.
"It looks convenient, but it seems like it'd be a bit difficult for an ordinary shop to use."
"That's true. It's a golem I came up with, so I'd love for it to catch on if possible..."
The one who replied to Rei was a different person than the one he had been speaking with moments ago.
"That can't be helped. If you could make them a bit cheaper, they might see some use. Other than that, couldn't adventurers use them as a porter substitute?"
"That won't work. We had people try it out a few times, but even though it's a golem, it's not that high-performance, so it can only execute simple commands. If you force it to carry out complicated orders, it stops moving entirely. To use it as a porter substitute, you'd need higher-performance magic stones and materials... it just isn't practical for everyday use."
"Then leave it to high-rank adventurers who wouldn't have any problem using such expensive golems?"
For example, Rei's party was composed of skilled adventurers and had no financial troubles.
...Of course, in Rei's party's case, they had his Misty Ring, so there was no point in having golems for carrying loads or anything of the sort.
"Or maybe it could be used for the expansion construction? No matter how many hands you have, it's never enough, and with this golem..."
"I wonder about that. I think it'd be a bit difficult. Like I said earlier, it only accepts simple commands, and more importantly, if you think about the possibility of it being stolen..."
They couldn't easily bring it out into the open, the man continued.
Given that it was an extremely expensive golem, selling it to the right buyer would naturally fetch a considerable sum. A large number of people were currently gathered in Gilm, and among them, it wouldn't be strange for someone to consider stealing such a golem.
"What about installing an anti-theft device?"
"Determining what triggers the anti-theft device to react is also difficult. Especially if you use it in town—unlike here in the underground warehouse, it wouldn't be surprising if completely unexpected situations arose."
"In other words, the anti-theft device might go off while the expansion construction is underway. That's troublesome."
"That's right. That's why, to avoid causing unnecessary confusion, I think it's best used here in the underground warehouse after all."
Nodding at those words, Rei redirected his gaze to the materials and meat resting on the golem.
The first bull Rei had encountered had been partially eaten, so it should have been difficult to dissect. And as for the second bull, since it had been killed by Set's attack, the corpse was naturally in a rough state.
Even so, the craftsmen of the Laurie Dissection Shop had properly dissected it alongside the Orc Naga.
Internal organs—parts where it was unclear whether they could be used as materials—were also properly sorted into containers.
Seeing such thorough dissection, and considering the care given to the containers holding the materials, Rei felt that the Laurie Dissection Shop's dissection fees, which were said to be expensive, were by no means overpriced.
Satisfied with this, Rei stored the meat—along with all the other materials—into his Misty Ring.
Finally, he handed a block of bull meat, about a kilogram in weight, to the craftsmen.
"This is a token of gratitude for dissecting the corpse so cleanly. Divide it among yourselves and eat it. It's far tastier than Orc meat."
At those words—meat tastier than Orc—the craftsmen stirred.
Since they made their living dissecting monsters, they naturally knew that Orc meat was delicious. In fact, in Gilm, Orc meat was somewhat expensive but also quite a common ingredient.
From the perspective of Rei—no, from Rei when he had lived in Japan—it was on the level of regular Wagyu beef, if not quite a branded variety.
In that sense, every resident of Gilm knew as a matter of course that Orc meat was delicious.
...Honestly, Rei thought that given the taste of Orc meat, it wouldn't be wrong to treat it the same as A5-grade branded beef. But the thing was, Orcs had extremely high reproductive capacity. They could produce children with most other races, even those outside their own. And since they willingly engaged in such acts, while not reaching the level of goblins, their numbers were still considerable.
For that reason, Orc meat could be obtained at a fairly high frequency.
Meat that Rei said was even more delicious compared to such tasty Orc meat.
It wasn't as if the question of whether it was safe to eat the meat of an unknown monster didn't cross their minds, but even so, it would have been impossible not to be intrigued by the bull meat Rei offered.
"If you're giving it to us, we'll take it... but are you sure?"
"Yeah, I don't mind. Just eat this meat and focus on dissecting the monster corpses I brought in."
At Rei's words, those listening nodded as if it were obvious.
They understood what Rei was saying, but the craftsmen also had confidence in their own skill. Given that, they weren't about to put extra effort into their dissection just because they'd received meat. In the first place, no matter what monster's corpse it was, the craftsmen always dissected it seriously.
"Regardless of whether there's meat or not, we'll dissect properly."
So saying, the craftsman directed a confident gaze at Rei.
The work they had to do wouldn't change based on whether they received meat or not. Seeing the man demonstrate this, Rei nodded, thinking him reliable.
"I know. I'm not particularly concerned about that. Right, I phrased that poorly. Eat the meat I gave you and work hard. Looking at the condition of these materials, I have absolutely no doubts about your skill."
At Rei's rephrasing, the craftsmen showed satisfied expressions.
With that, Rei expressed his gratitude to the craftsmen, then left the underground warehouse—heading not into town, but back to the Laurie Dissection Shop once again.
To submit a dissection request, it was naturally necessary to register at the shop front, so it went without saying.
Along the way, Set gave him a disappointed look, but from Rei's perspective, he wanted to get the monsters from the Forest of Magic stored in his Misty Ring dissected as soon as possible.
In reality, besides the monsters defeated in the Forest of Magic this time, there were quite a few fresh monster corpses from several years ago also stored in the Misty Ring.
Fresh corpses from years ago... now that I think about it, that's a contradiction, isn't it.
Thinking such thoughts, Rei entered the Laurie Dissection Shop once again.
"Welcome. ...Rei? What's the matter? You already received your materials, didn't you?"
The shop clerk let out a surprised voice upon seeing that the person who entered was Rei.
For a moment, he wondered if perhaps the receipt had been mistaken, but he quickly confirmed that wasn't the case. He had that much confidence in his own work, and at the same time, he had thoroughly checked before handing things over—the fact that Rei's receipt was no longer among the remaining ones was a major factor.
That was why he had no idea what Rei had come for.
"Yeah, I received the materials. They were in a thoroughly satisfactory state. I'm satisfied with that, so I figured I'd go ahead and request a bit more dissection."
"Much obliged."
Judging from Rei's words that this was a business opportunity, the clerk's eyes lit up as he offered a smile.
Rei had fought in the Forest of Magic and defeated many monsters. He hadn't confirmed that specifically, but if one knew of Rei and Set's existence, thinking so was only natural.
For such a Rei to come and say he was requesting more work from the Laurie Dissection Shop, there was no way a business-minded man wouldn't be delighted.
"So, how many monsters can you dissect, specifically?"
How many. With those words, the man was certain that Rei's Misty Ring truly contained a massive number of monsters.
He was certain... but the problem was, as expected, just how many monsters they could dissect.
"Forgive me. We have a rough idea on our end, but for the exact details, I'd need to speak with Laurie."
"Then where is Laurie?"
"She stepped out on an errand."
"I see. Then, some other time..."
"No, no, no. She said she'd be right back, so if you could wait a bit, she'll return. Would you, uh, care for some tea?"
The clerk's attitude was clearly deferential toward Rei. Considering business, that was perhaps only natural.
At any rate, Rei received tea, baked goods, and other light refreshments from the clerk and passed the time.
Perhaps because it was a top-tier dissection shop, it wasn't unusual for famous adventurers to patronize it, and tea and snacks for serving such individuals were always kept in stock.
The clerk also seemed accustomed to entertaining such people, smoothly sharing interesting stories about monster dissections he had experienced, keeping Rei from getting bored.
Having told these stories many times before, the man's account was smooth and easy to follow, and before Rei knew it, he was absorbed in the tales...
"I'm back. ...Rei? What are you doing here? I heard you already received your materials?"
Laurie, entering the shop, asked with puzzlement upon seeing Rei taking his ease.