Vikir had gotten satisfying answers from the various appraisers Minpin had referred to him.
"Most of them are low-ranked, I see. A lot of the bodies have been burned or mangled by boiling oil."
"But there are quite a few high grade ones, as there are so many of them."
"As the price of playing is expensive these days, the total sales price is likely to be quite high."
"Do you have any distributors in mind? If not, we can introduce you to some good ones."
Appraisers appraised the corpses of gnolls piled up like a mountain in an empty lot and set prices based on the condition of their skin, bones, internal organs, meat, etc.
1. The best quality is the one with the skin, meat, internal organs, and bones intact.
2. As long as the skin is in good condition, it is a premium product.
3. Even if the skin is damaged, if the meat or internal organs are intact, it is intermediate grade.
4. The skin, meat, and internal organs are damaged, but the bones can still be removed.
Gnoll corpses are welcomed with open arms by all magic labs in the Imperial City.
Even taxidermists sometimes buy them when a large gnoll comes in. This is because they make great teaching tools for beginners.
The skin is in high demand for its durability and softness to the touch, and the meat and organs are also used for food, feed, and fertilizer.
Some specialty cuts of gnoll meat are prized by gourmets because they taste similar to the finest beef.
Scattering gnoll organs in fish ponds and orchards will produce more abundant results than any artificial feed or fertilizer.
The bones were also heavily processed for medicinal and spiritual uses.
Because Vikir fried them with boiling oil, the skin, meat, and internal organs of the dead gnolls were mostly damaged.
However, due to their large numbers, many gnolls remained intact, and even the most mangled corpses still had intact bones, teeth, and claws that could be sold for a decent amount of money.
Of course, it was a small amount of money compared to the price they would receive once they were processed, but it was quite generous considering that they could skip the process of collecting, transporting, and sorting them all together, as well as dealing with retailers who would try to haggle over the price.
"What's more, it's even better that the government has even given us a reward. That's awesome!"
That was the general consensus of Minpin, who had been glued to Vikir's side ever since that night.
He was so impressed with Vikir's efficiency during the extermination of the gnoll horde that he took care of all the menial tasks, from selling the gnoll corpses to collecting the reward money.
Vikir had seen Minpin's loyalty during the battle with Miss Ouroboros, so he knew he could trust him with everything.
As Minpin loaded the gnoll skins into Vikir's cart, he said.
"You can sell all the gnoll byproducts to the Guild, but I suggest you find a market for the skins. Especially in the case of the skins of the Poison Gnolls, I'd rather you put them up for auction privately, though..."
"Then I suppose we'd better take it to the Academy."
Vikir replied with a nod.
The academy in Colosseo rents out warehouse space enchanted with preservation magic to students at a low rent.
And the bazaar, held on the last day of every month, held various auctions, so it was the perfect place to sell things.
"It's a 'bargain' bazaar, not a large-scale auction officially sanctioned by the Empire, so it should be easy to dispose of the gnoll skins."
"Hmm. A bazaar in the Colosseo. Sounds like a good idea."
Gnoll skins have many uses.
Its warmth and texture make it a great addition to armor in winter, and its toughness and elasticity make it useful for knots and decorations on scabbards.
It could also be used as a reagent because it changes color when it comes into contact with poison.
"And I belong to a newspaper club, so maybe I can place an ad in the back of the paper."
Vikir returned to the academy to sell both the gnoll and poison gnoll skins.
Meanwhile, Minpin looked disappointed.
"You're going back to the Academy?"
Vikir's skill in this hunt was beyond belief for a first-year undergraduate at the Academy.
Was that why? Minpin must have realized that he wanted to continue working with Vikir.
... but he had no idea.
Vikir had no intention of letting him go.
"Hey, Minpin."
Vikir called to Minpin in a soft voice.
When Minpin looked away, Vikir asked bluntly.
"Your home doesn't look like it's in very good shape. How are your wife and daughter?"
Vikir asked. Minpin's expression darkened slightly at Vikir's words.
"That's right, it's actually quite difficult to run a guild these days due to lack of funds, and I can't afford to let go of my longtime family members...."
"Why would a guild of your caliber have such a problem? From the looks of it, there are plenty of skilled guides and porters in the guild."
"All hunting guilds are like that these days. The big mercenary guilds have a lot to look out for, and it's a shame to be without a backup."
After speaking, Minpin smiled bitterly.
"Huh, this is all my fault. If I hadn't made a mistake when I was younger, I wouldn't be in such a tight spot financially."
"Mistakes?"
Vikir asked, and Minpin hesitated a bit before nodding.
"When I was younger, I was pretty ambitious, so I made some contacts with brokers to fulfill my dreams… until I got scammed and lost all my savings."
"You got scammed by brokers?"
"Yes. I'm ashamed to say, but yes, I did, and I put my wife through a lot of trouble, and I still feel guilty about it, and I feel guilty about my daughter, By the way. She's going to school next year, and I'm already worried about the cost of her education."
"What was your dream that made you try to get through brokers?"
Vikir asked, and Minpin scratched the back of his head and answered in a rueful little voice.
"I guess it was... Actually, I wanted to join Baskerville House."
Vikir's eyes narrowed slightly at the unexpected words.
Minpin continued.
"A family that slays monsters on the Western Front. Iron-blooded swordsmen, how cool is that? And when you join the Baskervilles, you're taught the invincible Baskerville style of swordsmanship. They give you a house, they give you land, and they give you a wife, so I figured that was the only way to go. Of course, it all went down the drain when I got scammed by the brokers."
"Hmm- yeah?"
Vikir stroked his chin with a finger.
The thoughts I had from the beginning became even stronger.
Vikir asked one last time.
"Hey."
"What?"
"Are you familiar with the ecology of monsters? Their habits, the location of their nests?"
"Of course, I've traveled all over the continent with the Exploration Guild in the past."
"Are you familiar with the monsters of the Western Front?"
"Of course. I can recognize every subspecies, variant, subordinate, and superspecies."
Vikir nodded in satisfaction at Minpin's answer.
"I'm sure I'll need to call on you again sooner or later."
* * *
Colosseo Academy's admissions office and scholarship foundation.
Professor Banshee was filling out some papers with an annoyed look on his face.
" ...It seems like I'm the only one doing all the work for the academy."
The mountain of papers in front of him were all related to scholarships and tuition.
Then.
A knock.
There was a knock on the office door.
"Come in."
A familiar face appeared at the same time as Professor Banshee's voice.
It was Dolores, the student council president.
Professor Banshee hated her because she always showed up when it was time to allocate the scholarship budget.
" ... What else are you here to nag me about?"
"It's an agenda for students who have been neglected by scholarships."
Dolores slid a new set of documents in front of Professor Banshee's eyes.
Students who cannot attend next semester due to disadvantaged family circumstances.
They were filled with stories of students who had to work part-time to pay their tuition and couldn't keep their grades up, or who couldn't keep their grades up to qualify for scholarships.
The students who worked part-time ended up not being able to save up enough money in time, and the students who studied ended up not getting scholarships because their grades weren't good enough.
There were also students who had complicated family situations and were actually disadvantaged, but were not eligible for scholarships on paper.
Dolores says calmly.
"Some of the students who didn't get the scholarships need to be re-evaluated. On the other hand, there are students who have received scholarships who need to be reevaluated."
The number of people who fraudulently obtained scholarships by pretending to be from poor families on paper when in reality they were from well-to-do families and living well was considerable, Dolores said.
She was now reporting this same fact.
However.
The documents Dolores submitted were all neat and well-presented forms, but to Professor Banshee, they were just luggage that needed to be handled while working extra nights.
" ... Scholarships are awarded according to school rules. The same ones you're supposed to uphold and defend as student council president."
"I'm asking you to take a second look at the needy students that those rules miss."
"Are you asking me to do my job twice?"
"As a 'student council president,' I have an obligation to be a voice for student grievances."
"And who's going to take care of my grievances about having to work twice, and you're going to double my salary?"
"Professor Morg Banshee. Today is the deadline for tuition payments. Please listen to your students one more time."
"What does the school rules say I'm supposed to do about that?"
Professor Banshee and Dolores continue to argue, neither of them backing down.
However, as time passed, Dolores's spirit was gradually weakened by Professor Banshee's ironclad attitude.
... Just then.
BANG!
The door burst open without a knock.
Vikir. He strode into Professor Banshee's office.
Naturally, Professor Banshee, who hated Vikir, frowned.
"Vikir-kun, now you're slamming through the door without knocking? I guess your father didn't give you a good home education, did he?"
"Yes."
"...?"
It was a defeat for Professor Banshee, who hadn't realized that Vikir had a fairly strong immunity to parent abuse.
Professor Banshee crossed his arms in frustration.
"I know. Did you know that today is the deadline for tuition payments?"
Deep down, he knew Vikir wouldn't be able to come up with the money.
He'd heard that Vikir had brought back a lot of gnoll skins from somewhere.
But Professor Banshee had heard other rumors as well.
'Two groups of students, one noble and one royal, have declared that they will keep Vikir's arm in check.'
There are two major factions in the bazaar of the Colosseo Academy.
The Noble Faction, made up of elites from the nobility, and the Royalist Faction, made up of elites from the royalty.
As long as these two groups are determined to keep Vikir in check, there is no way that the goods at the bazaar will fetch a fair price.
So Professor Banshee knew deep down that Vikir would have a hard time paying his tuition.
'I don't know where he got that many skins to play with,... but if it's not cash, it's not money if you can't sell it.'
... but.
Professor Banshee's prediction went spectacularly wrong.
Thud!
Vikir placed a heavy sack on Professor Banshee's desk.
The large sack was surprisingly full of banknotes and gold coins.
It was a staggering amount of money, enough to pay for 4 years of tuition in one fell swoop.
"!?"
Professor Banshee and Dolores stared at the pile of gold coins on the desk in amazement.
Standing in front of them, Vikir opened his mouth with his characteristic expressionless face.
"It's for all my friends who couldn't pay their tuition."