While Adrian is exhilarated by his first hunt and the spoils that came with it, some humans are unhappy with the dunirrs migration.
One of them is Viscount Andrei Aeglen. He came from the House of Aeglen that ruled the land at the corner end of the kingdom for generations. Despite the House of Aeglen having a low peerage and unfavourable land location, it does not mean that their fellow nobles do not respect them.
In fact, this house has more wealth, prestige, and influence than some high-ranking nobles.
This is all thanks to the restaurant business started by their ancestors who sought to change their family's fate. Through their effort and scheme, Aeglen owns the largest chain of restaurants spread across the Kingdom of Vulthalandum.
Their restaurant was called 'Exquisite', a high-end restaurant that serves the kingdom's cuisine.
Everything about it is of the highest quality possible. From using the finest ingredients to skilled chefs, waiters and waitresses, managers, restaurants location, material and interior design.
Not anyone from all walks of life can enter restaurants simply because they have money. One must need an introduction from the already registered customers.
To increase the status of Exquisite, Aeglen introduces a membership system separated into several tiers to their customers.
It consists of bronze, silver, gold and black. Each gives the customers access to a different amount of dishes they could order.
Even with these restrictions, the restaurant racks several million golds each month in terms of pure profit alone.
Noblemen and noblewomen would prefer to form a connection with them. This gives Aeglen leeway in making various requests for their own interest.
However, similar to Earth, nothing is all rainbow and sunshine in this world. Nothing is free either. As high an expectation could get, the stronger the backlash is.
At present, Viscount Andrei is facing a troublesome predicament in his luxurious office, located in Aeglendera City. This is the birthplace of Exquisite Restaurant. One main ingredient for their S-rank dishes across the kingdom is running low.
The dunirrs.
As the name of the ingredients mentioned, these tiny people were used as the main ingredient in many of their S-rank dishes. Exquisites had long served this dish as the main attraction of their establishments. This is how they remain popular. Who doesn't want to live longer right?
The target customers for this dish are of course the black card membership holder; the royalty, high-rank nobles and high-ups in the church who try to increase their lifespan and remain ageless.
Legends about dunirrs may be absurd but there are always some who'll believe it. And sometimes, there is truth in it as well.
In dunirrs case, the legend indeed contains some truth. People who consumed a lot of dunirrs did regress in age and live longer lives.
"Did you find out where they went?" Viscount Andrei looks at two men in front of him with a scowl. They were the investigator hired by him to find the dunirrs settlement.
One of them timidly said, "Lord Viscount, we are very close to finding their settlement after venturing deep into the forest for days...But, they're too fast in running away. Before we know it, all we find is an abandoned village. In such a dense forest, the dunirrs hide their track so well. It is very hard for us to search for clues."
"I don't want to hear an excuse!! I want a result!! How can you call yourself an S-rank adventurer?! Do you know how much I spend to hire you guys? Do you know at the end of next month is the celebration of the kingdom's founding day?" Viscount Andrei was infuriated.
The so-called Master of Detection and King of Hunter were utterly useless. He doesn't even know why these two adventurers are so famous in the capital.
Facing the enraged viscount, the two men can only cast their eyes down and stand still quietly.
The stock of dunirrs in his storage is running low. It can only hold until the beginning of next month. Before the founding day of the kingdom, he needed to restock the dunirrs.
Without dunirrs based dishes, it would be impossible to convince the king and his queen to forge a marriage offer between his daughter and the crown prince. There are many candidates competing for the position of the crown princess but being an Aeglen, they're confident they can secure it.
Yes! After being a viscount for so long, Andrei attempts to form a long-lasting connection with the royal family. All in order to secure the future of their house. If possible, they might have their rank promoted.
This doesn't happen in a spur moment or solely out of greed. Instead, it's a well-calculated decision on Aeglen's side. They recently found out that the capture rate of dunirrs is getting lower and lower in the past few years.
Despite their headquarters and the governed city being next to the dense forest of Lostin, they rarely encountered dunirrs now. It seems that the population of dunirrs has plummeted due to excessive hunting by Aeglen.
Some members of Aeglen suggest building a dunirr breeding farm to ensure the continuous supply of ingredients. It was well received and the project took off quickly. However, the dunirrs produced turned out to be different from the hunted one in terms of meat and blood quality.
It wasn't well received by the customers. So, Aeglen returns back to hunt the dunirrs in the forest.
Seeing the two adventurers remain silent, Andrei let out a long sigh.
"Forget it, I shouldn't pin all my hopes on you. It is a foolish decision on my behalf. Luckily, I found someone that could help you."
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
"Great timing! Come in!"
The maid opened the door. Both the adventurers turn their heads around but all they see is the maid. A question instantly popped up in their head. 'Where is the guest?'
"Down here!" A small voice from below was barely heard by their ears.
To their surprise, it was a dunirr!! The very same creature they tried to locate. What is even more absurd is the viscount is speaking to him politely as if the dunirr was a respected member of royalty.
"Please have a seat, Mr Traikoda." Andrei showed the dunirr his sitting.
"Why do you call me, Andrei? I heard you hired two top adventurers to help you." Traikoda said with a hint of displeasure.
"The thing is these two gentlemen failed to find a single dunirr in the forest. I hope we can cooperate again to locate another dunirr settlement. I promise you the reward this time will be twice as much as before." Andrei said with a slight pleading. He is desperate enough to lower his pride in front of a tiny human he considered inferior.
With a sly smile, Traikoda said to the viscount. "You're lucky today, Lord Viscount. I've got new information about them. Because the information I obtained is hard to come by, the reward needs to be tripled."
"Fine, I agree with your demand."