As soon as I entered the Adventurer's guild, I was shown into the guildmaster's room by an employee. Of course, Hati and Groot came as well.
"Now then, just as promised, here's your C-rank guild card."
I took my C-ranked guild card from the guildmaster. It just looked like a silver card, and it wasn't that different from the G-ranked card I already had.
"Well, it might not look all that different, but it's got your rank written all over it. As it happens, it is customary for a new card to be issued once a person goes up in rank."
Apparently ranks F through B get this silver card, but A- and S-ranks get a gold card. It seemed like the gold card was the proof of being A- or S-ranked, and having one meant that you were the best-of-the-best as an adventurer. I hadn't even known about card colors until now, so all I could do was give an appreciative grunt.
"Next is the money you get from selling us all those monsters. Since you've given us some good monsters this time the guild stands to profit quite a bit. That's why we'll waive the butchering fee."
'Ohhh, you're gonna cover it? Thanks!'
"I'll start by explaining what you get for the first batch."
'That group with the red serpent, huh?'
The breakdown went as follows:
The five orc generals went for 12 gold. Other than the meat, the only other useable parts were the testes, just like a regular orc, but apparently, they made for an even more effective virility-boosting medicine.
The three rockbirds came out to 24 gold. The harvestable materials were their beaks and feathers.
The giant dodo apparently had a magic stone, so with that included, the price was 33 gold. It seemed that, like last time, this one had a stone as well, even though it was only a B-ranked monster.
The giant deer did not have a stone, so it was only worth 16 gold. That was the price for its hide and antlers.
The A-ranked murder grizzly earned me 87 gold. Its innards, claws, and fur were all in good condition. Its magic stone was also big even for an A-rank, so that was reflected in the price.
The likewise-A-ranked black serpent was worth 88 gold. Since it had been a while since they'd received one, the poison sac, innards, fangs, eyes, and skin all sold for a slightly higher price. The stone on this A-rank was also quite big, and apparently of pretty good quality, so that also drove the price up.
Lastly, the red serpent was 201 gold. The red serpent is a special variant of the black serpent, and while it was also A-ranked, it was several levels stronger and that much meaner for it. That was why it was so absurdly difficult to kill one, and its carcass was so valuable because the guild would only see one every several years. Its materials were the same as the black serpent: poison sac, innards, fangs, eyes, skin, and magic stone. However, they all fetched a significantly higher price than those from a black serpent. Of course, the fact that the magic stone was so large also drove the price up, but the main reason for the price was that its skin was considered an extraordinarily high-class material, and just having something made of its leather would make one a target of envy.
"So, with all of that, your earnings for the first batch come to 461 gold. Ahh, the meat's being kept in the storehouse, so head over on your way back."
'4... 461 gold? It turned out even bigger than last time. Hati's our house's big earner, huh? Well, he also eats the most so I'm happy he's trying so hard. Not to mention the fact that Groot isn't just eating my trash anymore, it's eating regular meals as well.'
'Hm? Why is it eating regular meals on top of my trash? It's because Groot started saying {Groot wants to eat that, too—} during meals, is that a problem? There's no way I could say no to Groot when it's being so goddamn cute. Don't be so coy — you know that already, don't you?'
'Well, that being the case, I'll be needing Hati to bring home the bacon for Groot's sake.'
"And now, let's talk about pricing the stuff you've added on. Thankfully, we've almost immediately found buyers for this stuff." The guildmaster grinned widely as he said that.
'Ahh, I see. All that stuff I brought out yesterday is turning quite the profit.' According to old man Johan, all of the monsters I brought in yesterday were high-ranking, after all.
"Then let's move on to the breakdown of these monsters."
The four ogres were worth 160 gold. Ogre meat was reputed to be terrible — basically inedible, really — so the materials were just the horn and hide. The horn was used in a lot of different medicines, and so it traded at high prices. The hide, for its part, made for highly defensive leather armor, and was a favorite. Ogres were B-ranked; unfortunately, none of these had any magic stones.
The S-ranked blue ogre was worth 432 gold. It was a special variant of the common ogre, and its horn was highly prized in its own right as some sort of secret medicine. As for its hide, it was used to make leather armor that had extremely high levels of protection against both physical and magical attacks, and so was considered a superbly high-class material. And as expected of an S-ranked monster, its magic stone was not only large, but also of good quality.
'So S-ranks by their lonesome can turn into such stupid amounts of money huh?' I was certainly surprised.
The orc king was valued at 168 gold. It was an A-ranked monster, and its meat was an ultra-high-class ingredient. The guildmaster tried his best to get me to sell it, but I politely refused.
'Sorry.' Other than its meat, its testes, hide, and magic stone were all valuable.
Apparently, the medicine made from its testes would result in certain conception if used, so it seemed that nobles or royalty who were troubled over an heir would sell their own parents to get their hands on some. Its hide was popular for producing items specialized for defense against physical damage. Its magic stone was quite big.
The metal lizard, an A-ranked monster, was worth 169 gold. Unfortunately, I'd been told the meat was poisonous and thus inedible. Just as the name implied, its materials were its steel hide, teeth, and magic stone, which was fairly large. In spite of its steely hide, not only was it light, but it was said that there was no better material for physical defense, so leather armor made from it was a favorite of A- and S-ranked adventurers. Its teeth were used as arrowheads, and, evaluated purely in terms of penetrative power, metal lizard teeth arrowheads were among the best in the world.
The S-ranked lake shark turned out to be 468 gold. Its meat smelled terrible and was inedible, but its teeth, skin, and magic stone were all useable. However, it seemed that this lake shark would be turned into taxidermy after its magic stone was removed. The guildmaster looked pleased as he explained that they were already being swamped by offers from nobles who wanted to buy it. It must have been just that rare to see one, since apparently the only real way to do that was to find a dried-up lake. Its magic stone was also on the large side, I was told.
As for the goblins, the king had a very small magic stone, so it was 18 gold. None of the other goblins had materials of any worth. Instead, there was to be a separate reward for destroying the goblin settlement.
"So for the second batch, the total is 1415 gold. Additionally, the reward for destroying the goblin settlement is 70 gold. All told, with both batches and the reward for the goblins figured in, it'll be 1946 gold."
The guild master placed seven bags of money in front of me, each one making its own *thud* sound.
"Large gold coins and white gold coins are hard to use, so our guild always pays out in gold coins. Is that okay with you? Hm? What's wrong?"
'Nothing, it's just that I'm speechless seeing all this money in front of me. I-I mean, all those bags are filled with gold, right?'
"Th-This... 1946 g-gold coins... yes?"
"Yeah, that's right. Each bag has about 300 gold in it. Ah, and this one is only half filled with 146 gold. Wanna count it?"
I shook my head hard.
"I w-wouldn't even dream of it. I trust you, guildmaster. But even I'm surprised, with 1946 gold..." I had never even dreamed that it would turn into this much money.
"Ahh, I see. I get it. 1946 gold is the largest sale this guild has ever seen."
'Ghh! R-Really?' Thinking about it, there wouldn't be anybody who would hand over this many monsters at once.
'Sorry... I'm really sorry about this. But they were just piling up in my Item Box... I needed meat, but I wasn't really that hard up for money...'
Truthfully, I still had over half the money left from the last time I sold monsters, and I even had the reward from those thieves we had just handed over. With all this money added in, I had over 2000 gold coins.
'I've got over 2000 gold coins.
I've never been this rich...'
Well, it wasn't like I was the one that earned all this. I'd done basically nothing to earn it. I probably shouldn't be speaking for Hati, who was the one who actually earned all this, but it didn't look like he tried very hard, either. After all, most of it was from when he ate food from my world and overflowed with energy, so he just kind of went out and hunted. Even the lake shark was done in by a single spell. And as for the goblins, he was already done and waiting by the time Groot and I finished up with the regular goblins.
'Well, all that means is that Hati is amazing, I guess. I really can't stop seeing him as a gluttonous snackhound, though.'
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
After I finished storing the money bags into my Item Box, the guildmaster started talking as if he'd been waiting the entire time for this.
"So then, as for the requests, I've got two I'd like to ask of you. The first one is to kill a metal lizard, and the other is to destroy a herd of bloody horn-bulls."
I knew what a metal lizard was, of course, having just sold one to the guild. What kind of monster was a "bloody horn-bull," though? Having "bloody horn" as a name sure sounded violent. Since it's a "bull," does that mean it's like a cow? 'A blood-soaked cow... what a dangerous name.'
"Starting with the metal lizard, you can find it two days away by carriage at the foot of this mountain. The mountain's name is Pascual mountain, by the way. The fact that there's a metal lizard there means that there's some sort of ore or minerals around, but we haven't yet sent in an investigative team to find that out. Well, the area has other mines, so we weren't that troubled by it and left it on the backburner, but there's no harm in having more mines available. The reward for this request will be 238 gold."
It seemed that the request had been around for quite a while, but no one would take it, so the reward just gradually increased until today.
The metal lizard seemed fine to do. We had killed one before, after all.
'Well, Hati did, anyway.'
"As for the bloody horn-bulls, they've herded up in some grasslands to the west, where most new adventurers go to hunt. The newbies appealed to us to do something about it, but they aren't near any roads, so this was also left on the backburner. The reward for this one is 324 gold."
Like the metal lizard request, the reward just kept increasing because nobody wanted to take it. According to the guildmaster, the bloody horn-bull was a rhinoceros-sized cow with a really violent temperament. Just like its name implied, approaching the herd was a sure way to get stabbed with two sharp horns and turned into a festival of blood. I was told that, while the bloody horn-bull itself was a B-rank monster, since they are so violent and always move in herds, taking one down requires over 4 parties of B- to A-ranked adventurers.
'Otherworld cows sure are scary... to think they'll gore you with their horns just for getting close...'
"Will you take these two requests?" The guildmaster asked, but I wasn't the one who would be taking them.
"Hati, were you listening? Wanna take them?"
"Of course. There is no way I would not."
Well, that is true. "We'll take them, guildmaster."
"I see I see, that's good."
"Bloody horn-bulls, huh? Their meat is quite delicious. Let us hurry."
Hati sure is motivated... Bloody horn-bulls are delicious, huh? So they really are like cows? I hope that's the case. Orcs are tasty, but I'd really like some beef right about now.
"Ahh, sorry, but can you take care of the metal lizard first?"
"Muh..."
Oh my, it looks like the guildmaster wants the metal lizard taken care of first.
"It's fine, it's fine. The guildmaster said so, so let's just go get the metal lizard first. It's not like the bloody horn-bulls will go away, seeing as how they've settled down in the grasslands. It's probably better to save the best for last anyway."
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you want to try grilling their meat and... using that?"
"By 'that' you mean... that?!"
"Yes exactly, that thing you like that goes so~ well with grilled meat."
"Heh, sounds delicious."
'I knew I could convince the steak-loving Hati like this.'
"Ah, guildmaster, we can keep the bloody horn-bull's meat, right?"
"Of course — the monsters you hunt on these two quests are yours. But bloody horn-bull meat is popular as a delicious high-class ingredient. I'd like it if you'd let the guild buy half of it. We'll even buy it at a slightly higher price, so if possible..."
'So we'd keep half for ourselves and sell the rest to the guild? I guess that's fine. I'm not sure how many there are, but since there's a herd, there should be quite a few, I think. And each one is quite big, as well. Either way, I'd be able to get my hands on a lot of beef.'
"Then we are going to kill the metal lizard."
"No no, wait a second. No matter how fast you are, Hati, if we left now, it'd be in the middle of the night by the time we got back. They'll have closed the gates and we won't be able to get in. Isn't it better to leave first thing in the morning? Then we'll be able to get back by evening."
"Hm, is that right?"
"That's right. Guildmaster, can we wait for tomorrow to go for the metal lizard?"
"I don't mind, but are you sure a single day will be all it takes?"
"Huh? It should be fine. If it's only two days by carriage, Hati won't take too long to run there, and the metal lizard itself shouldn't take that long to kill, either... Hati, how long will it take you to kill the metal lizard?"
"Hmph, there is no world in which I would have trouble with a mere lizard."
"There you have it."
"I-I see... Hearing a Fenrir call a metal lizard 'a mere lizard' and declaring it to be easy prey really did bring home just how unfathomable a Fenrir's might really is. I really want to praise our king for not making enemies of you right now."
'Please don't say that so seriously, guildmaster. Because I'm with that Fenrir 24/7.'
"Then, we'll go to exterminate that metal lizard early tomorrow morning."
"Sure. Sorry, but we're counting on you. Make sure to report in once you're back."
"Understood, One more thing, now that I'm a C-rank adventurer, could you as a guild find out what's going on in Melromarc and how the recently summoned legendary heroes are doing?"
"Oh, I'll see what I can find out. By the time you get back, I should know something."
Leaving the guildmaster's room, I headed to the storehouse. There'd be trouble if I forgot about the meat.
After receiving a large amount of meat from old man Johan, we left the storehouse and the Adventurer's guild behind.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
We left town early in the morning and ran for Mt. Pascual. Of course, Hati was the one doing the actual running while I was sat on his back.
Groot was asleep in my bag. It woke up in the morning and ate orc general steak with Hati and me though. It seemed that Groot got sleepy due to its full stomach.
Groot seemed to like the inside of the new bag, too.
"Is that the mountain that the lizard is supposed to be in?"
We had come in sight of a mountain that I thought was Mt. Pascual.
"From what we heard from the guildmaster, yes. Do you know where the metal lizard might be, Hati?"
"Wait a moment... there it is." Hati raised his speed and moved toward where the metal lizard probably was after he said that. According to Hati, he understood generally where monsters were, so it might just be that sensing presences is just something one picks up if they get strong enough.
"We are almost there." Hati dropped his speed.
"There."
When I matched my line of sight with Hati's from the shadow of a tree, I spotted a cave. "Is that the metal lizard's den?"
"Most likely."
"So, what are you gonna do?"
"Is it not obvious?"
'I'm getting a bad feeling...'
Saying that, Hati went straight into the cave with me still riding him.
"O-O-O-Of course this would happen!!" 'At least let me off first before you charge in like this!!!'
We proceeded through the pitch-black cave and quickly found the metal lizard. In the back of the cave was a large cavern, and the metal lizard was near a wall, munching away at something.
"W-What? It looks like it's shining blue-white..."
"It does not matter. I am going to quickly kill that lizard so we can have lunch."
'D-Doesn't matter? Wow, you...'
I appraised it out of habit, and learned that it was a "Mithril Lizard." 'Mithril? That valuable fantasy metal that's common in novels and stuff?'
"Hati, I tried appraising that thing and it looks like it's a mithril lizard..."
"Then this place must have a mithril vein. It must have changed after eating the mithril ore here."
'A mithril ore vein...isn't this a huge discovery? W-Well, it's not like I can do anything about it.
B-But still, let's pick up some mithril ore anyway, just in case. Having a mithril sword or something sounds way cool. Well, if I don't have enough for a sword, even a knife or something... Mithril sword, mithril knife... yeah. Yeah, cool.
I really do want a knife or sword made out of rare metals. I mean, doesn't the idea of mithril just sound romantic? Fantasy is basically synonymous with rare metals. Of course I'd want one.'
"Magic does not work well against mithril..."
Apparently mithril was light and hard, and it was also a good conductor for magic. Being a "good conductor" meant that unleashed magic would easily be turned aside, parried, or scattered. According to Hati's experience, a spell's normal power would be halved or more by this effect.
"However, all that really means is that you just have to unleash magic powerful enough for the mithril to not be able to withstand." As soon as Hati said that, the sound of thunder rang through the cave.
*BOOOOOM*, *Cracklecricklecrackle*!!! A flash of lightning hit the mithril lizard square on.
I was gobsmacked. Groot, also startled by the sound, peeked out of the bag.
"H-H-Hey, Hati, what did you just do?"
"I used a slightly strong lightning magic to kill the lizard."
'S-Slightly strong? No, man, no matter how you think about it, that thing was in no way only "slightly" strong. It made a ridiculously huge sound as it hit.'
"It is fine already. Retrieve it and let us eat."
"What? Fine? Is... is it already dead?"
"Yes. That lizard died with the magic I used just now."
'So it died instantly by taking lightning magic while it was quietly eating mithril ore, having not even noticed us... That's so sad I might tear up. Uhh, sorry about that, mithril lizard.'
While running through those thoughts and more, I put the mithril lizard into my Item Box. There were lots of pieces of blue-white shining ore just laying around where the mithril lizard had been. So this is mithril ore.
"Hati, I want to take back some of this mithril ore, so wait a bit."
"Mnn... Make it quick."
{Master — you want these shiny rocks? Groot will help.}
"Thanks, Groot. Then, can you gather the shiny rocks and bring them here?"
{Got it!} Groot jumped down and started gathering the mithril ore. I also diligently gathered the ore and stored it into my Item Box.
'Right, this much should do it.'
{Master I have them!}
"Woah! You sure got a lot—!"
The amount Groot gathered could easily fill a light truck's bed. I felt like that was a bit much, but Groot made all that effort to gather it... Thinking that there would be no problems if I had a bit extra, I put it all into my Item Box.
"Hey, Hati, is the mithril lizard's hide the same strength as actual mithril?"
"The ores that that lizard eats become skin with similar properties, so it should be."
"I see. If that's the case, rather than making armor out of mithril, wouldn't it be better to make armor out of the more flexible mithril lizard hide?"
"Hm? Are you planning on making armor?"
"Well yeah, I thought it would be better to have a set."
"But you should not need something like armor. You have my barrier. No matter if you have armor made of mithril or that lizard's hide, it would not even begin to reach the protection of my barrier. It is useless to make something like that."
'That certainly is true. No matter what I say about it, it's thanks to Hati's barriers that I've made it this far without even a single wound. Hmm, but then what should I do with all this mithril?'
'Even if I just leave it in storage for now, I guess I could always just sell it if I need to.'
"Hey, you got your mithril, did you not? Let us quickly leave and have lunch."
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
We decided to have lunch as soon as we got out of the cave, so I was preparing food.
I made pork cutlets yesterday, so I want to eat that...
'Thinking of pork cutlet, it's gotta be that dish. If I'm going to do that though, it'll take a while, so I'll let Hati and Groot have some cutlets and karaage while I'm cooking.'
"I have something I want to make, so eat some of this first."
"Make? Is it good?"
"It's super good. I guarantee it."
"Hohh, if you are that confident... I am looking forward to it."
{Something good to eat?}
"That's right. But it'll take a while, so eat this and wait."
{Yeah! Groot will wait!}
'Great, now that's taken care of. For now I'll have both of them wait while snacking on pork cutlet and karaage.'
'What I'm making in the meanwhile is katsudon. I really, really just want to eat katsudon, a cutlet bowl with gooey egg and sweet and salty dashi soaked through it.'
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
First are the ingredients. I have onions, as well as the spices and seasonings to use in the dashi, so all I need to do is buy rice and eggs from my Online Supermarket.
To start, I need to steam the rice. I wash the rice before leaving it to steam in the clay pot.
Next, slice the onions thin before making the dashi. The dashi is the same as the one I used for the oyakodon. I tried using mentsuyu and a lot of other things, but this one was the best.
Then, break open an egg and lightly mix. Be careful to only lightly mix, and not to overmix.
While the rice is steaming, add water, dashi soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and onions into a frying pan and turn on the heat. Once the mixture gets hot enough that the dashi is starting to boil and the onions become half-transparent, add in the pork cutlet. Let it cook a little so the dashi seeps into the breading before swirling in half the egg.
Prepare the rice while the egg is cooking until half-solidified. Then, finish off the dish by pouring on the rest of the egg and let the residual heat cook it just slightly.
Lastly, put the entire thing on top of the rice, and the gooey egg mixed with sweet and salty dashi katsudon is finished.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
"The katsudon is finished!"
"Let me see... Hm?! This is good. There is an egg mixed in with the orc general meat and it is delicious."
'Right? Right?! It's great!'
{The meat and the gooey-gooey is delicious!}
I see I see, Groot also likes it. I knew it, it's never a bad idea to make a "bowl."
'Now then, I should dig in too. Actually wait, for rice bowls, especially katsudon, I might need something to refresh my mouth, like tea. I used my skill to buy a plastic bottle of tea.
Time to eat my first katsudon in this world now.'
'Oohh, this cutlet mixed in with the egg and sweet and salty dashi is the best!
And once you mix in some rice, it also becomes the most powerful combo. Bowls really are simply delicious.'
*Haumfhaumphhaumgphf*
'And then a gulp of tea to cleanse my palate.
And then once again, a dig into the katsudon. I'm really going through this quick.'
"More."
{Groot too!}
'That was fast.' I quickly made the two some more.
"Here."
The two started chowing down once again. They'd already eaten some karaage earlier, and I made this serving a little bigger, so they should be fine.
It went a little cold, but I still started on the remains of my katsudon.
It was still pretty good, even cold.
*Haumfhaumphhaumgphf*
Whew~, I sure ate. I drank some more tea to wash out my mouth.
{Master...}
"What? More?"
{No, Groot is already full. Umm, is the green stuff master is drinking good?}
"Hm, this? This is called tea. Want to try some?"
{Yeah!}
I poured a little tea onto an empty plate and gave it to Groot.
{Ewww, this is bitter! Not good. Groot hates this. Peh! Peh!}
Groot would eat pretty much anything (actually, it even eats trash from my world), but it looked like Groot hates bitter tastes.
'If little kids hate bitter things... then how about this?' I bought some cola from my Online Supermarket.
"Groot, how about this?" I offered some cola on a plate.
{This isn't bitter?}
"No, it's not bitter. It's sweet."
Groot stretched out a tentacle toward the cola, like it was wary of the stuff.
{!!!} It looked like Groot liked it, as the cola on the plate was gone in an instant.
{Master more of this!!}
I poured more soda onto the plate.
*Glugluglug*
{This is fizzy and tasty—!}
*Glugluglug*
"Hm? Is that good? Let me drink some too."
Hati said he also wanted to try some, so I poured more soda onto the plate.
"*Gulp*...Hm?! W-What is this?! It is bursting on my tongue!"
Wow, Hati is surprised.
"*Glug, glug* Yes, this is not bad. However, this is a new sensation. So the otherworld has these kinds of strange drinks?"
It looked like both Hati and Groot liked the cola, both of them drank a 1.5 liter bottle each.
"Now then, we should head back to town."
"Yes, certainly."
"Groot, we're heading back."
{Yesss.} Groot smoothly entered my bag.
I mounted Hati, and we set off back to town.