From what I read in the book, when a demon beast activates demon mode, it turns its body completely unlike a normal beast. Sometimes it has mutations, like multiplied eyes, or more legs. And there are certain parts of the beast that can be looted because it has a use as well as a price.
For example, the claws. When a demonized beast activates demon mode, the claw turns purple. This is because it contains energy, and that energy is incredibly strong.
If only that wolf uses its claw, it's like getting attacked by three magic knives at once, and it can slice me before it even touches my skin. Plus, the claw also turned sturdy, like a magical steel.
So, that's what I'm taking.
Though, the purple hide would be nice. But skinning it will take forever, and I won't just stop at puking after that. Even now, I'm already covering my nose with fresh new clothes.
What will happen to the corpses? If I just leave it here, won't it become a hindrance later? Hmm…
After taking the claws of the demonized wolf, I tied the new clean set of casual clothes to my face and began dragging the corpses all the way to the side of the mountain. I couldn't dig or anything since I don't have a shovel, but it is better to put it away at an empty spot not far from the cave entrance. That way, other people won't be annoyed by the bones once they fully rot.
But as I was pulling the dead corpses away, I sensed another presence coming. I stood straight again and placed my hand on the handle of my sword, but I noticed that it was already walking towards me from the trees.
It's… a human?
A man landed right between the trees, and he began walking towards me with both his hands up. As he arrived in the sunlight, I studied his appearance.
He wears an archer hat while his bow is placed behind his back. His quiver is full of arrows, and I can feel a hint of magic coming from there. His blonde hair was covered by the hat, and under his neck is a mouth guard cloth.
His appearance is like any other adventurer that is an archer… but in his case, it felt like he is more adventurous than most archers.
And the bow behind him… was metallic. They don't look simple nor cheap, unlike his appearance.
He is… a high ranking adventurer.
"Greetings, my lady! My name is Rath."
From his looks, he seemed to be an adventurer. From his tone, I don't like him already.
"Hello. What are you doing here?"
"I was here tasked by my big brother, Jrake, to keep an eye on you. It was meant to keep you from harm, but I guess it doesn't seem to be necessary-"
"Wow, a stalker. How nice of Jrake."
I quickly commented, which startled the archer guy.
"... Well, until now."
He pointed his fingers at the dead bodies of the wolves, and I turned towards them.
"Don't worry about dead corpses of the monsters you kill. The Adventurers Office has our own clean up crew that cleans up after the mess. So next time you go on a killing spree, feel free to just leave the area! They always know where to find the mess, and if they can't, they can always ask you. It's simple, right?"
His cheerful tone is as bright as the daylight, and I disliked it.
If what he said is true, then that means there was no point in continuing what I've been doing. I can just leave the corpses here.
I turned at the corpse of the wolves again, and... Huek…
Nope. I'm not touching them again.
I guess they could use these bodies for something. Who knows, maybe they can sell the fang?
"Do I get paid for killing these beasts?"
"Definitely! You have killed these poor wolves-"
"Poor?"
"-But the mission only asks that you gather the necessary items. I will surely give proof that you killed the beasts to the Office, so don't worry! If anything, the payment will come from the Office, but don't expect it to be much. It's only from those furs being sold after all!"
He pointed at the corpses, and I nodded. I knew the fur has value, but I bet the claws I just took have even more value.
"How much for a single wolf's fur to be sold?"
"Approximately... A hundred Jules?"
"So that is how much I will get?"
"Hey, don't talk business with me! I'm only a man sent by my big bro Jrake."
I looked at him and studied his appearance again. He has a white skin and yellow-greenish blonde hair.
It didn't take long for me to conclude that he looks nothing like Jrake.
"You don't look like Jrake."
"He is not my brother by blood, you see. We are family, everyone at the Office are! Everyone is my brother!"
"Right... Have fun then, sister."
"Wha-I'm a man! Can't you see!"
Yeah, tell me about it.
After that, I left him at that place and decided to go back to the capital. Arriving at the city, I don't feel the slightest tired… Weird.
I met Miss Vane at the gate, and she asked me if I need any piggybacks again. But I said it's fine, and she nodded at my growth. She also asked me why I have blood all over my shirt, and I just completely realized my appearance right now.
Oh fuck, that last wolf spurt out a little too much didn't it?
And I tried so hard not to get it dirty too…
My right side is almost fully drenched, and my right arm is just… red. I smelled too, and I'm not sure how to clean these up without going back to the Office.
After chatting with her for a minute, I walked back to the Office. On the road, everyone looked at me weird. I mean, with all this blood in my shirt and skirt, I would stare at me too.
Arriving at the Office, it's like all eyes are on me. As soon as Klane saw me from the receptionist desk, she immediately panicked.
"Wha-Rize?! Are you-"
"These aren't my blood, so forget it. Here's the stones for the gathering. I'll be upstairs if you need me."
I walked towards the stairs very quickly, ignoring all the eyes that were watching me. Klane was so left out in words, but so was everyone else.
Haha… sorry. I don't bring a change of clothes…
I took my dirty set of adventurer clothes and changed into the old messed up set I brought from my world, and a new set of undies. And a bra. Seriously, I will never get used to this...
I took a bath immediately to clean myself off the blood. By the time I got out, I threw the skirt and shirt away to a cleaning bag immediately, and I needed to put some time away in the future for cleaning them.
It's only a few minutes until the third bell, so I thought I should stay in my room to wait for Klane, since she would be done by that time.
During that time, I basically read all three books that Klane brought me. After finishing the last one, I have decided that I will need more books
More books! Knowledge!!
I think it's for everyone to know that the more things you know about this world, the better chance for me to survive. Even if being a nerd is the answer.
Back in my world, I always read all the books that are related to my studies. That's how I basically obtained second place in my school again and again. I'm the second smartest student of my year.
Looking back, winning stuff was much easier. All you have to do is read a bunch of books, and suddenly you're in second place. Here, you have to truly practice if you wish to avoid death. Just saying, being a nerd here isn't enough, but being a muscle head wasn't any better.
The answer is by being both. I will obtain knowledge, as well as becoming stronger.
I went to the storage room and returned the three books to the shelves. By the time I walked back to my room, I met Klane on the way.
"Rize!"
"Hai Klane. Is your work done?"
"Yeah, I just finished it. Can we talk?"
'Can we talk' she said…?
Looks like it's going to be some important thing, huh?
We went into my room again. I sat at the bed while she sat in the chair.
"I have a few things I have to tell you."
"Start with the worst one, please."
"All right. First of all, you know that this place belongs to the guild, right?"
"Uhh... You want me to move out?"
Hearing me guessing that out of the blue, Klane looked away.
"Not... me. The Office master just returned from a visit to another kingdom. We can't let an adventurer think that this is their permanent bedroom, so..."
"I get it. Next."
"Wait, you do?"
"I understood that this place wasn't mine to begin with. One day, when I can finally make my own money, I will have to stay at another place and pay for it.
And now that I can finally make my own money, I can move to another spot. I also want to talk to you about it, but you came to me first."
I chuckled after explaining, and that somehow placed Klane at ease. She was really having a difficulty figuring out how to tell me this, wasn't she?
"Oh, I-I see... Thank you for understanding."
"No problem! What else?"
"It's about the wolves that attacked you."
"Oh…? What about them?"
Hearing me replying so casually, Klane let out a sigh.
"So there were wolves there after all... I thought it was clear because a Blue ranked adventurer already went there to make sure."
"He clearly didn't do it correctly."
"Nonsense. He's the best hunter. Anyways, you have met Rath, right?"
"That guy…"
"Yep. 'That guy' told me that you killed all four of the wolves by yourself? He saw it with his own eyes."
"Hmm... And?"
Her face is smiling for some reason.
"Don't you get it, Rize!? If there is someone who has seen you kill 4... No, 5... Demonized beasts, and one beast that activated demon mode... You can rank up!"
"Rank up? Why would I do that?"
"You can fight stronger monsters and do harder missions!"
I quickly showed interest.
"Tell me how."
Klane told me everything about ranking up as an adventurer. Basically, the requirement to rank up to Gray rank, is:
You have to do at least two Grey ranked missions or four Red ranked missions. Or you can do one Gray ranked mission plus two Red ranked missions, since a single Gray mission is worth two Red missions. You passed the ranking up test.
Just those requirements… What's so difficult about the test anyways?
"Which means, you only need to do one more Red ranked mission tomorrow, and then you can take the next Gray rank test! So what do you say?"
"Hmm… sure. I'll do one more gathering mission tomorrow. When is the test?"
"In three days. The test conductor will be Jrake."
"Oh…? Oh right..."
I remembered what Jrake told me, and I recalled how he told me he was the test conductor.
"Yeah. Jrake is a Green ranked adventurer, and he is a partner for the Office. So he-"
"W-Wait, Jrake? He's a Green rank?"
"Yeah, I thought you already knew he was an adventurer."
"I didn't know he was a Green??"
Wow... That would explain why he is so experienced with swords. However, Green seemed a little too low than what I expected from him...
"For him to be a Green... I guess it's a little bit unexpected."
"Hmm... Well, let's just say that if it was up to the people, he would be Yellow ranked!"
I turned to Klane, and I spotted a slight grin being worn on her face. It's like she is very proud of Jrake or something… weird.
"Oh right, since there is a witness that you killed the wolves, the Office can give you an extra payment."
She took out a pouch from her magic ring thing, and from the sounds it makes, it's filled to the brim with coins.
The bag looks quite big, and inside are all the coins from my one single mission.
"This is 150 Jules. The 70 is from your mission, and 20 Jules for killing each wolf. A total of 150."
"That's... a lot."
I took the pouch and put it on the bed, wondering if there is any way for me to bring such a large bag of coins without getting stolen.
"By the way, are you free tonight?"
I asked Klane, and she looked at me confused.
"Yes, why?"
"I wish to walk around town again."
.
After leaving the office, me and Klane went to the clothing shop once more. I bought more than one adventuring set this time, the same design as the previous one. I also requested that the new one be easily washed when dusted or got blood on it, because in the future, who knows how many times I will be bathing in blood.
I ended up buying three adventuring sets with the same design as the last one. A total of 130 Jules was gone in an instant (Current balance: 122).
Then I had dinner with Klane. Me paying, because I don't want to rely on Klane anymore. But, bloody hell was the food expensive!!! (Current balance: 92).
Then I went to an adventurer's shop, per Klane's suggestion. I bought tools like needles, a knife, a long rope, and a small bag to keep those things inside. (Current balance: 78).
Then I went to a magic shop, also per Klane's request. Klane said I should get myself a space storage ring, the same ring that Klane was using when she took out those items out of nowhere.
Basically it's like a bag, but the size is nonexistent so you can put as many items as you like as long as it is within the storage's size. The shop owner told me that the ring would tell me if it started to get really full, and I truly wondered how it would feel.
Another thing to note was for me to remember every item when I put them inside. I can sense the item that is inside the ring, but I can't see them all clearly because it was using magic. Meaning if I somehow forgot that the item existed inside the ring, it might just get piled on top of everything else and will just rot there for eternity until I somehow remembered.
By the way, a single ring costs me 50 Jules. (Current balance: 28). I am now very poor.
Klane and I returned to the Office again, with me tearing up after losing all of the money I had saved.
I need to work even harder…