Inside the warehouse, many Guild staff members were still at work dissecting the Crystal Dragon—those confident in their dissection skills, as well as those recognized for their talent and expected to handle dissections at the Guild going forward.
That said, while there were a fair number of staff assigned to the task, the massive amount of paperwork generated by the Expansion Construction currently underway in Gilm meant some had no choice but to focus on that instead. If anything, proportionally speaking, those doing paperwork overwhelmingly outnumbered the rest.
Even so, given the current situation, there were more people now than when Rei had previously requested the dissection of an A-Rank Monster from the Forest of Magic.
"Looks like the headcount has gone up a little?"
"Yeah, with something this big, the previous numbers just weren't enough. ...I thought it'd be fine at first, though."
His words carried a note of frustration, yet also a hint of genuine interest. For the Foreman, the Crystal Dragon was an opponent worthy of that level of challenge. Though since dissection was his primary job, that challenge naturally took the form of dissecting the Crystal Dragon's corpse.
"As for the materials, I'll go ahead and store them in my Misty Ring for now, if that's alright?"
"Yeah, that's fine. You've already worked things out with the Guild, right?"
"...The Guild? You're a Guild staff member yourself, Foreman. Is it really appropriate to put it that way?"
"Don't matter. Right now, my top priority is dissecting this Crystal Dragon's corpse. Everything else has been left to the rest of the Guild. The Guild approved that arrangement."
For the Guild, when it came to an unknown monster—especially a Dragon classified as an S-Rank Monster inhabiting the Forest of Magic—certain exceptions were apparently warranted. In fact, though Rei didn't know it, the Foreman had been granted significant authority by the Guild regarding this matter.
While the contract stipulated that nearly all of the Crystal Dragon's materials, magic stone, and meat would go to Rei, the information obtained from the dissection held tremendous significance for the Guild as well. What kind of body structure the Crystal Dragon had, where its weak points were, and how it moved—that information was worth its weight in gold.
Of course, encountering a Crystal Dragon wasn't something that happened easily. But as long as it was a monster, there was no telling when or where one might encounter another. Gilm in particular was the closest settlement to the Forest of Magic where this Crystal Dragon had existed. Even so, the distance from the Forest of Magic was still considerable, but for the Gilm Guild, they wanted as much information as possible about the monsters within it, including the Crystal Dragon.
While Rei and his party had encountered this Crystal Dragon in the Forest of Magic, the possibility of encountering one elsewhere couldn't be denied. That was precisely why the Guild wanted every scrap of information about it they could get.
In that sense, Guild Master Worker was grateful to Rei for entrusting the Crystal Dragon's dissection to the Guild. ...Of course, for the staff members who had been handed the enormous task of dissecting the Crystal Dragon during such a busy period, with some of their personnel diverted to the job, there were likely a few who found it slightly hard to accept.
Even so, thinking about it calmly, what Rei had accomplished was undoubtedly to the Guild's benefit. Even if they felt dissatisfied now, they would come to understand that in time—of that there was no doubt.
"Hurry up and store the materials. There are plenty of interesting findings, but space is an issue too."
Following the Foreman's instructions, Rei headed toward where the materials were laid out.
Among them, the most eye-catching were the skin and scales. True to the Crystal Dragon's name, its skin and scales bore a color and shape reminiscent of crystal. In fact, the scales looked so much like crystal that one might think crystal itself had taken the form of scales.
Naturally, though, it wasn't crystal. Even though it looked like crystal, the very scale of its existence was on an entirely different level.
(The scales and skin look like they'd be quite versatile. Especially the skin—if it's tanned into leather and made into a robe or something, it'd probably offer considerable defensive power.)
Rei's own Dragon Robe was an item crafted using a Dragon's scales and hide. Granted, it wasn't from a Dragon so long-lived and powerful as to be called an Ancient Dragon, but rather from the materials of one that had lived for a few hundred years.
There were also cuts of meat, some internal organs, claws, and various other things. The absence of fangs was likely because the dissection of the head hadn't been completed yet.
(The head's already been severed, so I'd think it'd be better to start there. Well, it is a Dragon's corpse, so it probably won't spoil easily due to the residual magical power. And it looks like this warehouse has that sort of magic applied to it too, so there's probably no need to worry about rotting.)
If a Dragon's corpse were allowed to rot carelessly, at worst it could result in something like a Dragon Zombie emerging from the Gilm Guild. Naturally, the Foreman and the others had surely thought this through and devised countermeasures to prevent such a thing.
(Above all, it's this meat. ...Just how delicious is Dragon meat?)
Rei stored one block-cut piece of meat after another into his Misty Ring.
As an S-Rank Monster, he'd had Silver Lion meat before. That meat had been truly exquisite—a taste that felt, quite literally, as though one might ascend to heaven.
In this world, meat with a flavor exceeding its rank was fairly common. A familiar example would be the Orc. The Orc was originally a D-Rank Monster, but its flavor rivaled that of C-Rank or even B-Rank. Its D-Rank classification was strictly an individual ranking. Even though a pack could be treated as C-Rank, Orc meat still possessed a flavor beyond what its rank suggested.
Beyond that, the Gamelion, which appeared from late autumn into early winter, was a C-Rank Monster but had a flavor surpassing that of a B-Rank Monster. As such, it wasn't uncommon for monsters to have a flavor exceeding their rank... but even for such monsters, surpassing the flavor of S-Rank Monster meat was impossible. At the very least, as far as Rei knew, no such information existed anywhere.
Thinking of it that way, obtaining this much meat in such large quantities was genuinely a source of joy for Rei.
(I left Seto waiting at home, so maybe I'll make something with this Dragon meat today. ...Though given how good this meat is, it might be better to simply season it with salt and pepper and grill it rather than attempt some clumsy cooking.)
In a cooking manga Rei had read while in Japan, there was a notion that premium meat like A5 grade was better eaten simply—seasoned with salt and pepper and grilled—rather than being fussily prepared. Whether that was actually true, Rei didn't know. After all, he'd also seen the opposite in a different manga: because it was the finest ingredient, putting in extra effort to make it the ultimate dish was the way to go.
However, when it came to cooking, Rei could only manage simple dishes. He had introduced things like udon and nikuman to this world, but that knowledge was solely derived from TV programs and cooking manga he had seen in Japan. There was no way such a Rei could manage a preparation worthy of Dragon meat, and Marina, who was relatively good at cooking, was still only skilled for an amateur at best.
Given that, he concluded it would be better to eat the Dragon meat simply.
After storing the materials into his Misty Ring, Rei called out to the Foreman, who was directing the dissection of the Crystal Dragon.
"Foreman, do you know what's happened to the magic stone I entrusted to the Guild?"
The magic stone of the A-Rank Monster Rei had slain was currently in the Guild's custody. Even from that magic stone, it was possible to glean some information about the monster—though only to a certain extent, and luck played a large role as well.
"Nah, haven't heard anything. They're probably still examining it."
"Anything about it being stolen?"
That was Rei's greatest concern. A magic stone from an A-Rank Monster—and one from a monster inhabiting the Forest of Magic, at that. For someone with the right knowledge, that alone could be turned into significant profit. Beyond that, it was an item alchemists would want badly enough to reach for it with both hands. Given that, it wouldn't be strange for someone to attempt to seize it through some means.
The fact that a large amount of combat power was allocated to guarding the Crystal Dragon could, to those who coveted the A-Rank Monster's magic stone, seem like a tempting opportunity.
However, in response to Rei's words, the Foreman shook his head.
"I haven't heard anything of the sort. Mind you, since I've been in this warehouse the whole time, it's possible the information just hasn't reached me."
"I see. Then, that's fine."
Should he try asking another staff member—perhaps Lenora, his assigned receptionist? He thought so, but it was obvious that if he showed his face inside the Guild building right now, it would unquestionably cause a commotion.
Leaving aside the staff, there were likely adventurers who would try to make contact with Rei to get him to sell materials. Whether they intended to resell those materials to a familiar merchant or use them to craft their own equipment, Rei had no way of knowing. Either way, it was clear such people would appear, and it was predictable that more than a few would have designs on him.
"Anyway, if I ask a staff member who knows the situation..."
The moment Rei said that, the sound of the warehouse door opening rang out.
Who was it? As Rei turned his gaze, he saw Lenora standing there.
"Rei-san, so you'd returned."
"Lenora? Yeah, to collect the Crystal Dragon materials. What about you? Well, since my assigned receptionist has shown up like this, I don't think I need to guess."
Rei recalled that the adventurer he had met before entering this warehouse had said they would inform the Guild of his arrival. Given that, it was only natural for someone from the Guild to come now that they knew he was here. And that the person who came was Lenora—his assigned receptionist—was nothing strange at all. If anything, it was expected.
"We received a report that Rei-san had arrived, so I, having freed up my schedule, came to see you."
More accurately, rather than "having freed up my schedule," the expression "freed my schedule" would be closer to the truth. Lenora had a serious personality, and precisely because of that, she never cut corners on her paperwork. For her to have "freed her schedule" meant she had either temporarily set aside her assigned work or left it to someone else.
Most likely the latter, Rei predicted based on what he knew of Lenora's personality. Or perhaps there was a chance she had dumped her paperwork onto her best friend, Kenny, or someone similar.
"It was terrible after you disappeared, you know? The Guild was overflowing with people who wanted to meet with you and people who wanted to submit Nomination Requests."
On top of already being busy with paperwork, they'd had to deal with all those people as well. Rei did feel slightly bad about that. That said, the Nomination Requests were a bit unexpected.
"Nomination Requests, huh? Just to be sure, were those actually requests that only I could handle?"
"No, they simply wanted to make contact with Rei-san. In that sense, I suppose there was an element of it having to be you, but..."
Hearing that, Rei judged there was probably no need to worry about it. For the Guild it had likely been a troublesome affair, but the Crystal Dragon dissection was undoubtedly profitable even when factoring in such inconveniences. That was precisely why the Guild had accepted the arrangement in the first place.
"I see. Then, you can keep turning down meaningless requests from now on. If it's a request that truly needs me, I might consider it depending on the conditions."
"Are you sure? I think it would be better not to accept any requests at all right now, whatever they may be."
Lenora told him so, her expression filled with concern.