"Is this the result of the mission?" asked one of the receptionists with a solemn expression.
"Yes, and here are the fragments we picked up." Locke handed over two fingers, a severed limb and a crocodile's scale.
The staff picked up the instrument and examined it before nodding in confirmation. "Not bad, your performance in this mission is excellent." After saying that, he imprinted a mission completion mark on the mission silk for Irene and handed them their mission reward.
Two hundred gold moores was much more valuable than the rewards other low-rank Knechts received. It was obvious that the information they brought back was valuable.
Locke didn't ask for a single cent of the two hundred gold moores. He'd already gotten a great deal this time. The severed limb, the crocodile's crystal core and body parts, and the three stalks of unknown red grass were all worth far more than two hundred gold moores.
Irene was a little embarrassed at first because she didn't do much during the mission, but she could only accept it after seeing Locke's unyielding attitude.
Not long after Locke and Irene left, the receptionist who'd just finished appraising their mission turned around and went to the upper floor of the mission hall.
The mission hall was located in the centre of the academy's gates. It was more than ten metres tall and had five floors. Apart from the first and second floors, outsiders were not allowed to enter the third and higher floors.
The receptionist went to an office on the fourth floor.
An old man with long grey eyebrows and a pair of monocle was reading a book in his hands seriously.
"Sir Prido, bad news. Look at this." The receptionist pushed the door open and handed the materials to the old man.
Pulido, the old man with long gray eyebrows, slowly put down the book in his hand before accepting the item handed to him by the staff.
"Oh?" The old man didn't look at the crocodile's scale for too long. Instead, he focused his attention on the two severed fingers.
"Why would Cave Dwellers appear nearby?" The old man muttered. No one knew what kind of species the Cave Dwellers he spoke of were.
"These demi-humans rarely exist in Missia. They only exist underground along the southeast coast." The receptionist didn't seem to be an ordinary person and seemed to know a lot.
"Hmm …" The old man muttered to himself for a while before saying, "Issue a few missions. Get the Knights and Mages to capture more Subterrane Dwellers. It would be best if they could find their nest."
"Okay." The staff member agreed and then left to issue the task.
After the staff left, the old man put down his finger and couldn't help but glance at the giant crocodile's scales. The scales weren't as hard and sharp as before. Instead, the scales had become blunt after a few head-on collisions with the giant crocodile.
"What an energetic young man!" The old man sighed. To be able to beat the Giant Frost Crocodile into such a state, this Horseman who had completed his mission was also a genius.
After he returned to Princeton, he wasn't in a hurry to go home. After saying goodbye to Irene, he went to deal with his spoils.
In a pharmacy and grocery store on Waltz Street, Locke poured out the ice that contained the Subterrane Dweller's limbs and the giant crocodile's scales, claws and other items.
This store was one of Billie's businesses. Locke had previously sold his spoils here after completing missions. Since they were acquaintances, he wasn't afraid of being cheated.
The appraiser in the store was a yellow-haired middle-aged man. He was holding the ice that contained the Subterrane Dweller and studying it curiously. It seemed that the ice was more attractive to him than the mid-rank major monster, the giant crocodile.
Locke wasn't in a hurry. He asked for a cup of tea and sat quietly on the chair, waiting for the appraiser's results.
The middle-aged appraiser only finished his inspection after the maidservant served Locke three cups of tea.
"I didn't expect that there would be Subterrane Dwellers in Aomar," the middle-aged appraiser sighed.
"How much is this thing worth?" Locke asked the question that concerned him the most. He'd chosen to bring the remains back after seeing that the demi-human had resisted the giant crocodile for a while. In his eyes, even if the creature wasn't a major monster, its body was probably as valuable as one.
Moreover, it was light and small, which was why Locke had chosen to bring it back.
"This thing isn't worth much," the appraiser said after organizing his thoughts. Before Locke could respond, he continued, "But we're more interested in the location where the creature appeared."
The appraiser reassured him, letting him know that the things he brought back weren't completely worthless.
"How much?" Locke asked. They'd worked together a few times before, so he didn't mind giving Billie's store a friendly discount.
The middle-aged appraiser had a high status in the store. After some consideration, he gestured the number seven with his fingers.
"Deal!" Locke smiled. Seven represented seven hundred gold moores, which was equivalent to what he'd get from completing two trial missions.
"As for the giant frost crocodile's scales and claws, we can only offer you a hundred gold moores for them due to the degree of damage," the appraiser reminded him.
"Alright!" Locke had already kept the most valuable crystal core, so it wasn't a loss for him to exchange it for a hundred gold moores.
After telling the appraiser the name of the territory next to Elaine's house and verifying it, Locke tried to ask, "What exactly is the Subterrane Dweller?" He'd heard the appraiser call the creature a Subterrane Dweller.
The middle-aged appraiser knew about the relationship between Locke and his mistress, so he didn't hide it. "Subterrane Dwellers are creatures that mainly live underground. Their origins are still unknown, but they're often sold as slaves due to their strength and low consumption rate."
"Slaves?" Locke widened his eyes and looked at the appraiser in confusion.
"That's right. Slaves. They only need a little moss as food and they can live normally for a day," the appraiser gestured.
Although Locke had only seen the battle between the Subterrane Dweller and the giant crocodile once, he could sense that the Subterrane Dweller was at least a low-rank Knecht. Someone actually wanted to enslave them?
Locke wasn't in the mood to care about the fate of creatures that didn't belong to his race. After thanking the appraiser, he received his reward and went straight home.
What he didn't know was that three days after he handed in the mission, missions to capture Subterrane Dwellers appeared in the academy's mission hall, the bounty lists of other organisations and even the black market.
This kind of ugly, short demi-human species seemed to be in high demand in the eyes of the major forces.