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Chapter 4: Making Money
It was night by the time we arrived in Eunesgo, the capital of Vanderouge. The high-speed liner that Tork had prepared for us truly lived up to its name. I’d been told before we left that we’d reach our destination in a day, but I hadn’t believed it until it happened. What an incredible ship, despite all that metal everywhere. There had been a slight delay due to the skysquid attack, but we still managed to arrive the same day.
We spent the rest of our day relaxing in the hotel as originally planned. If we’d arrived when it had been lighter out, we might’ve had the opportunity to take a little wander around town, but it wasn’t such a big deal.
A luxury hotel room had been reserved for us because, ostensibly, we were here on invitation of the second prince of Altoire, Hiero Altoire. We had originally planned to pay for our own accommodations, but apparently the prince had always wanted to meet me, so he had paid for us. I was thankful for his kindness. However, given his background, there was no way he was going to make us stay in a cheap hotel, and so he’d chosen one of the most prestigious luxury hotels in the empire.
“Um, excuse me, young lady...?” Unfortunately, the hotel was so luxurious that we were stopped at reception—specifically because of how I smelled.
Though we’d informed the authorities for legal purposes, this visit was a secret one, so we’d decided not to use the Liston name at the hotel. To them, I was nothing more than the assistant of the adventurer Leeno.
Е̇ ńu̇ mа̃
Our current appearance was far from playing the part of the clientele of a luxury hotel—nothing about us looked aristocratic. Since we’d been booked under the prince’s name, the experienced receptionist wasn’t averse to our presence, but it seemed the smell was too much.
“We ended up in a fight with a skysquid on the way here,” Leeno explained. “She did end up touching it, so the smell must have gotten onto her.”
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“I’m terribly sorry, but our establishment cannot permit you entry before you bathe and acquire a change of clothes...” he said, truly looking guilty. I wasn’t sure if he actually believed Leeno’s explanation. To put what he was trying to say bluntly, he didn’t care about the reason; he just needed us to do something about the smell. It seemed like a reasonable response to me. The fact they hadn’t immediately kicked us out was its own kindness.
Honestly...I was getting a bit self-conscious, thinking that those around us could smell the horrible fish stink. I’d gotten so used to it that I couldn’t smell it anymore.
“We have a change of clothes, so could we possibly have a bath arranged here?” Lynokis asked.
“Of course.” The receptionist nodded and rang the bell to call for a female employee. “Please guide her to the baths, if you would.”
W е̂ b n̈о̌v̊е̃ l̊ E̊ǹu m̊.а
“Yes, sir.”
I should follow her then?
“Ah, let me go with— Oof!”
I had a feeling she was going to say such nonsense, so I was glad I was prepared. The moment she started suggesting it, I shut her up with a slap to the thigh.
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“I want you to go ahead to the room. Understand?”
“Yes, Young Mistress...”
Wе̊ bňov̆еl Е̂ nu_ṁ а̃
For goodness’ sake, don’t embarrass me even while we’re abroad.
“Where did you come from, young miss?”
“From the Kingdom of Altoire. I arrived not long ago.”
After I was taken to the large employee bathroom, the staff member seemed to have decided I was too young to be left unattended, so she stayed and chatted with me while I washed my hair and body twice, then slowly soaked myself in the water—I truly felt refreshed after. I had been able to get most of the sliminess off in the airship, but it had been impossible to completely get the grime off without the proper facilities, especially the gunk in my hair. With this, the mysterious mucus was completely washed off along with the smell.
I got changed into my spare clothes and asked if my old clothes could be put in the wash. Upon returning to the lobby, the receptionist gave me a once-over and then finally let me through to my hotel room.
Aristocrats were referred to as nobles in Vanderouge, and their rooms were designed so they could stay with their servants. Grade of the room aside, it was basically the same setup as the dorms back at Altoire Academy.
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“This outfit really feels much more natural on me.” Lynokis—who had been waiting in the room—had changed into her attendant’s attire and had already set everything up to ensure she could pour me a cup of tea when I arrived.
“You got changed even though we’re about to go for dinner?”
“But of course. I don’t need to wear such troublesome adventuring gear while in the hotel.”
There was a very different level of hassle between wearing regular clothes and wearing gear for adventuring.
I took my time having a cup of tea while we confirmed our schedule.
“We will be leaving for the islands tomorrow morning,” Lynokis said.
Ẁ е̇ b́ń оv̈е̊ l̈ Ẽ n̈ ŭ ṁа̄_
“Mm-hm.”
There were limited days left in our winter vacation, so we wouldn’t be able to extend our time here. We needed to follow the schedule as closely as possible and waste little time. Our goal for this trip was three hundred million krams, one hundred million at the minimum.
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“Cedony Trading will handle all of the logistics such as the airship transport to the hunting locations. All we have to do is go to the docks and hunt monsters. Cedony will also deal with the trading of the materials we acquire.”
“They’re really doing a lot for us, aren’t they?”
“It’s their job, after all. We’ve already paid so there’s no need to worry about it.”
I still thought we were being treated exceptionally well. The fact that they had arranged an express liner was only proof of how hard they were working to make our adventure as smooth as possible. Honestly, I wasn’t a massive fan of working up a tab with a merchant—if we were going to be indebted to them, I’d prefer only a small debt to repay... Though perhaps that was an outdated way of thinking.
E̊num̂à
“When do we meet with Prince Hiero?” I asked.
“I gave the date and time of our arrival, but his schedule is still undecided, it seems. I believe we will have to wait for contact from them.”
It was still undecided, hm? Honestly, it would be a bit of a nuisance to have him interrupt our schedule, but...not a lot I could do about that. His visit to Vanderouge was related to magivision, so I couldn’t say it was unrelated to me. Meeting with him was to be treated as an absolute priority.
And yet...something still made me feel uneasy.
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“I’m starting to get the feeling that something unexpected is going to happen with the prince.”
“Young Mistress, you’re going to jinx it.”
Ѐ n úmӓ
Was this the old wives’ tale that said anything you said would come true?
Hm... Perhaps that would be the case. Preferably, we would meet with the prince and then part ways soon after, just as we’d planned, but whether because I said them out loud or not, my hunches often came true.
The capital of Vanderouge, Eunesgo, was also a floating island. It was pretty big as far as floating islands went, but as the capital city of a country, it was on the smaller side. The capital of Altoire was built upon one of the continents still attached to the sea, but from the perspective of the rest of the world, we were actually unusual.
It wasn’t the widest-reaching country in the world, but ignoring the size, Vanderouge possessed more floating islands than Altoire. In fact, that was the most likely reason their flight technology was so advanced. Not only was the capital city a floating island, but they also had numerous other floating islands within their borders, and that meant they needed an efficient way to connect the people and allow them to travel from island to island. There were as many settlements as there were floating islands, and for each settlement, there was another set of rules and ideologies. Apparently in the past, quarrels and other sorts of conflicts between the islands had been the norm.
In order to bring everyone together, a method of smooth communication was essential. As such, their flight technology had grown into the most unparalleled airship technology in the world. They had gone from previously being unable to communicate efficiently between floating islands—even ones within the same borders—to having some of the best and simplest airships that were naturally integrated into the citizens’ lives.
At least, that’s what they’d said in class.
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The most important thing in terms of our goals for this trip was that, regardless of size, Vanderouge had many floating islands. As a result of adapting to the rapid environmental changes caused by the Great Float, each individual island had ended up with a unique ecosystem. In the most extreme cases, incredibly valuable medicinal herbs and ores could be found in the wild on a floating island that was directly next to yours, and the appearances of animals you knew well could look so different over there that you barely recognized them. It wasn’t unusual for there to be such drastic differences between islands.
The reason I’d chosen Vanderouge for this adventure wasn’t because they had a lot of unexplored islands. Rather, it was the complete opposite; it was because the details of the floating islands were well-documented. The level of detail obtained by each scout could vary, but there were as many ecosystems as there were floating islands, and a limited number of monsters within those ecosystems.
What kind of monsters could you find where? What kinds of dungeons could be found on which islands? If you knew that information, you could efficiently search for monsters within each individual island, hunt those monsters, and make money. Simple.
After spending the night at the hotel, I took a bath—this time in our own room—early the next morning and then got myself ready to head out. The magic hair dye would last several days, so I didn’t have to top it up yet.
We headed to the hotel’s restaurant while it was still dark. Unsurprisingly, there were no other guests at such an early hour. Even the chefs were still in the middle of setting up. We tried our luck and asked one of the chefs if they could make something simple for us, then discussed our plans for the day while we ate.
“First, we hunt the sword deer, right?” Leeno—not Lynokis—asked.
Еnū mа
I, her student Lily, nodded. “Mr. Tork has requested we hunt three at minimum. He’ll pay the most if the antlers are not broken and the pelts left in good condition. If possible, he also wants them with their manastones still intact, as well.”
Due to all the preparations that Cedony had to put in, from the procurement of the express liner to the complete support on the field to the negotiations concerning the skysquid attack, Tork had placed in quite a number of requests to compensate. According to Lynokis, he’d been quite brazen with his demands, despite the reserved look on his face.
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Well, it wasn’t as if we would be working for free, so I’d try to fulfill as many of his orders as possible. If he was going to buy them from us at a fair price, then that was perfect. We weren’t merchants, and if we were unreasonably greedy, we’d have our feet swept out from right under us. Rather than have that happen, it would be much more efficient if we saved the time and effort of selling our hunts by ourselves. If the one doing the transaction was someone we trusted, then all the better.
“Cedony have been fairly cooperating with us, haven’t they? If we’re happy with their work, then we should agree to as many of their requests as we deem reasonable,” I said.
“Well, if you’re okay with it.”
“Are you saying you’re not?”
W_e bnо̇v̊ ѐ l Е̃.nu̇mǎ
“If there’s someone who would buy the monsters off of us for more, I’d much rather sell to them. If I’m fighting with my life on the line, I’d rather have our spoils sell for more.”
I see. Well, I could understand where she was coming from.
“Master,” I replied. “Money is important, but it’s very clear what we have to do to raise it, right? Meanwhile, trust is very different. There is no sure way to cultivate it or nurture it. If you lose one’s trust too thoroughly, you may never be able to get it back. If you intend to be dishonest with Cedony, then you should cut them off completely.”
“I won’t. I was just thinking it would be nice.”
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Good. That was fine then. I’d tried to implicitly include the meaning of “You should think a little more about my trust in you, as well,” but it hadn’t gotten across to her whatsoever...
From her always saying that she wanted to co-sleep with me, to her saying that she wanted to bathe together, to her viewing Sanowil back at the academy as an enemy, I had no idea what was wrong with her. She never stopped acting suspicious—and she didn’t even understand her master’s true strength. A teacher always wanted to be thought of as amazing by their students; they wanted to be respected. Did she understand that? She was innocently chomping away on carrots, looking very much like she didn’t.
Ẅ е b̂.nоv̈ е l. Ĕnu m̌ ā
After that breakfast where just a glimpse of dissatisfaction could be seen, the receptionist from yesterday saw us off as we headed to the port and boarded the airship that Cedony had arranged for us.
From the arrangement of the airship, to preparing a captain who knew all about Vanderouge, to the crew who were built enough they probably carried cargo for a living, to the application to the adventurer’s guild to allow for our activities in the country and the provision of any necessary supplies...all of it had been arranged with Cedony’s support.
I really was thankful. All Lynokis and I had to do was go to the islands and hunt—we didn’t have to worry about anything else. They’d taken such good care of us that it honestly felt unreasonable to ask for a higher cut of the monster sales.
That’s enough of that for now though. My fun, enjoyable days of hunting down monsters without reserve, of freely swinging my fists around every day were about to begin. I was so excited. I won’t ask for too much—just give me a monster stronger than that skysquid!
Now off to where the fun awaited!
“Will they really be okay?”
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Bande had received the answer to that question yesterday.
“I hear she’s quite renowned in Altoire.” Though that had been his response to Jude—his longtime crew member—Bande, the captain of the ship, admittedly held the same doubts. Yesterday, the young master of Cedony Trading had warned them to not show any disrespect because there would be an incredibly skilled adventurer coming with them.
But then the adventurers who came on board were...
“One’s a young woman not even my daughter’s age, and the other’s a literal kid.”
Jude’s words were exactly what the captain had thought too.
“All right, enough with the gossip and get back to work.” Bande chased away the understandably worried Jude and returned to the wheel. The ship had already set sail—it wouldn’t be long before they reached their destination.
Ėnum̈а́ .і̄ d
One’s a young woman not even my daughter’s age, and the other’s a literal kid.
Bande was well aware of that. His job was to bring the girls to the floating islands where the monsters lived. The next president of Cedony Trading, Tork Cedony, had unmistakably directly ordered him to do so. There were no misunderstandings, no mistakes; this was his job.
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Those girls were going to the floating islands to hunt monsters. In other words, they were going to a dangerous place to take down dangerous creatures—those two young girls.
Of course he wasn’t without worry or anxiety. What Jude felt was also what Bande felt, and no doubt the rest of the crew, as well. However, there was no mistake that this airship’s duty for the day was to ferry those girls to their destination. Even if they were younger than his son or his grandchildren, bringing them to that dangerous island was their job. It wasn’t time for him to be complaining about how reluctant he was to do it—he was hired to do this, and so he would.
The morning Vanderouge sky was as dark as always. It was the same as always, but the heavy feelings he was left with made everything look so much darker, despite the fact a day trip was such a rare and easy job.
But when they arrived at the island, their fears and worries were immediately chased away.
Èn u m a
The first island they visited was more commonly known as Autumn Island. Due to the effects of the Great Float, winter never arrived on the island. Or to be more precise, the temperature differences between the seasons had gotten all messed up. Summer would pass, fall would come, and then the temperature and climate would remain the same as it moved into winter. The temperature did drop by midwinter, but never so low that there was any ice.
Autumn Island was rich in vegetation and was therefore home to many herbivores, but it wasn’t home to many people. Any attempts at agriculture were always quickly ravaged by the monsters, so the island had been established relying on the monsters as their primary resource. The island was left as natural as it could be while hunters and adventurers would come to hunt the monsters.
The girls’ goal here was the sword deer. These were deer monsters known for their aggressive temperament, troubling carnivores, hunters, and adventurers alike.
As their name suggested, sword deer had antlers as sharp as a sword’s edge, which they would swing around and stab into their enemies. They had a timid side akin to that of a regular deer, running swiftly away the moment they were detected, only charging towards the person if the situation called for it. When they reached maturity, they were twice as big as your average deer—if they were to tackle a person directly, the victim wouldn’t get out without a notable injury. What was worse, their antlers were like weapons in their own right; if they were to impale you, you’d be dead then and there. They were also generally found in herds.
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For a novice hunter, they could be a difficult monster to go after.
“This island is very pleasantly warm, Master.”
Ѐ n̊ ů m̀ а̌
“Indeed. I suppose they do call it Autumn Island for a reason.”
With just a short walk from the harbor—which was a settlement of around two hundred people—you’d find yourself in the forest rather quickly. On the road leading to that forest stood the woman who looked like a fresh-faced adventurer, and the child no older than ten by her side.
“We’re going to head off now. We won’t take long, so please be prepared to depart,” the adventurer turned and told Bande, running off into the forest without waiting for a response.
Make preparations to depart? The crew was out here worrying if the two would even come back safely, and yet those girls were already thinking of their next step. The adventurer exuded the vibe of being new to the job, and she didn’t even look that strong. Hell, she was bringing a child with her.
There were many reasons that Bande’s face twisted unhappily, yet he turned around and called out to his crew, “We’re heading out shortly! Get ready to depart!”
This was his job. No matter how worried or anxious he might be, his job for the day was to be their wings. If he was ordered to fly somewhere, then he would do just that.
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“Hey, Captain, are they really gonna be okay?!”
“Like hell if I know! Shut up and get ready!”
Bande felt exactly what Jude did—of course he did!
But then, while they were preparing to depart...
“Captain! Could we have a skiff, please?” That novice adventurer came dashing out of the forest carrying a massive burlap sack, even though she had literally just entered it moments before, and even though Bande was still in the middle of confirming their next destination.
“Huh...? What? A skiff?”
Еn ùm̄ a . і̊d
“To carry our spoils. Could you please carry the deer we’ve hunted?”
“Excuse me?”
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Bande stood there, still unable to comprehend the words spoken to him as the adventurer dropped the bag in front of him.
“These are some dragonheads. They attacked us so I killed them too. We can sell them, can’t we?”
“Um... Ah, yes.”
A skilled adventurer. This young lady was a skilled adventurer. Comparing this sight with what information he had been given beforehand...it had been completely true.
Ẃ e_bn̄ o̊ vе̌.ĺ En um̀ а
“Jude! Get the cargo skiff out!” Bande shouted. Jude stopped whatever work he was doing and looked confused as he deployed the skiff and went with the adventurer into the forest. Once they were gone, Bande looked inside the bag that had been dumped at his feet.
As the adventurer had said, there were in fact the carcasses of several dragonheads inside.
Dragonheads were huge rats with manes. They were named as such because their silhouettes looked like dragons’ heads. Normally, they would only feed on plants, but they were ferocious little things and would attack even creatures bigger than them if they were starving. Even for adults, they were dangerous monsters to face if one didn’t know how to fight.
Well, even a novice adventurer should be able to hunt this many of those pests.
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“Hm...?” He realized he couldn’t smell any blood. There was the distinctive odor of a beast but no blood. Out of curiosity, he pulled one of the dragonheads out of the bag—and sure enough, there were no external injuries. The rat was definitely dead though.
“How did she manage this...?”
Е̃ńu m̆а̄
The adventurer had a shortsword hanging by her waist, so she must’ve used that to fight with, and yet there were no signs of it having been used on these rats. Bande, at least, couldn’t see any kind of injury. Did they use poison? he thought to himself. But there was no pungent smell indicative of poison, so it probably wasn’t that either.
“Damn... We really may have stumbled onto a winner here.”
It was just as the young master had said. Don’t be rude, because they’d be working for a very skilled adventurer. He’d been telling the truth. Bande had been judging the book by its cover and that had been his biggest mistake.
The girls were scheduled to visit several islands and take down the monsters there. Honestly, it was a crazy schedule that would be difficult even for a skilled adventurer. This was the kind of thing a mercenary corps or a famous clan would do—that was what he had been expecting.
But instead, two young girls had boarded their ship.
All of that had happened this morning, but upon seeing those rats, he understood. “Hurry up with the preparations to disembark!” Since a skilled adventurer really had come and they would be continuing according to schedule, their time on each island would most definitely be short.
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As Bande carried on with his own work, Jude returned on the skiff, a number of sword deer loaded on top. The confusion hadn’t left his face.
There was no confusion now: if they were going to continue according to schedule, today was going to become one hell of a busy day.
Today’s results:
- Sword deer x8
- Dragonhead x16
- Assassin eagle x3
Én u m а
- Polar slime [huge] x1
- Snow tiger x2
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- Snow arrow x7 (and eggs x4)
- Fire sea serpent [massive] x1 (plus a bunch of fish that got caught up in its struggle)
- Mythical Beast: aqua horse (We were told we’d be cursed if we hunted it, so we let it go.)
- Illumifly x33
W̄ ê b̂ n̊ о vёl̇ Еñ ū mä
- Foot mushroom [huge] x1 (Manastone only. We ate its body on-site. It was delicious.)
And that marked our first day.
Time really did fly when you were having fun, and before I knew it, the sun was already starting to set. By then, the captain had told us they’d struggle to fit anything more on the airship, so we decided to call it a day. I still had plenty of energy, and I was only just starting to get my battle sense back, but I supposed I could stop for now.
The ship’s deck was piled with mountains of monster carcasses. Looking at it all stacked up like that, we really had hunted a lot, but my body still felt like it was just getting warmed up. Not a single one of those monsters had put up a good fight. I’d tried to devise ways I could enjoy myself—changed my moves and methods, climbed mountains and jumped down valleys—but the monsters were fundamentally too weak.
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It was like stomping on an ant as an adult—what was fun about it? Then again, I wouldn’t say I hadn’t enjoyed myself. It had still been surprisingly fun, probably because I’d finally gotten the chance to let loose without reserve, regardless of how weak the monsters were.
A world where things could be resolved with a single swing of the fist really was so much more convenient.
W̄ е̇ ḃ n ȯ vеl̇ Ê n̂um̈ а̀
The one experience that genuinely had been a lot of fun was the Mythical Beast that we had been stopped from hunting, that so-called aqua horse. It was a mysterious horse made of water. Physical attacks were completely ineffective, so it had given me the chance to use a kind of chi I didn’t get to use very often; it was a valuable experience.
“Trust Master Tork to leave us with such incredible adventurers...” The captain and the crew had been overjoyed after our first hunt, and they had cheerfully flown us to the next floating island, but now their faces looked far more taut.
“Please, you’re exaggerating,” Lynokis calmly replied. She looked so unabashedly smug even though I had hunted the vast majority of the monsters, and she had been begging for me to stop before I made them all go extinct. I shouldn’t complain though—she wasn’t wrong to take credit, so it wasn’t a problem. This was the perfect chance to further sell the name of Leeno the adventurer.
After that, we cooked the foot mushroom that Lynokis had rendered unsellable when she blew off its top half with Rumbling Thunder and ate it with everyone as we headed back to Eunesgo. You know...this is delicious, and it smells sublime. Would the hotel cook a proper meal for us if we brought some of it back? It already tastes this good by just grilling it; I feel like it could only taste better in the hands of a proper chef.
It was still early evening, and I personally thought it was far too early to be leaving, but they’d said we couldn’t continue because no more monsters would fit on the airship. Still, calling it quits so soon really felt like we were wasting our time. I wasn’t sure exactly how much money today’s haul would sell for, but it seemed decent. Our plans to go for the real high-value monsters would actually begin tomorrow. Today had been more of an opportunity to feel the monsters out, since it was my first foray and all. Or, well, it would’ve been if we hadn’t bumped into that skysquid yesterday.
But the monsters in this area weren’t all that strong, so perhaps getting a feel for them hadn’t been necessary. I could’ve gone straight to targeting one of the dangerous ones. Apparently, there were monsters going for tens of millions—surely they would be strong with bounties like that. It likely made them more dangerous, but that was ideal for me; I’d wanted to feel a little danger. I would pray they were as strong as I was expecting.
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When we arrived at the port, Lynokis and I went straight back to the hotel. Cedony Trading would deal with all the annoying business stuff. They really did make everything so much easier for us. I appreciated all the support they were providing.
“Ah, please wait! Wait, wait, wait! Please wait!”
When we made it back to the hotel, the receptionist stopped us just as he had the previous day—likely because of how I looked. A few times, Lynokis had failed to kill some of the monsters in one shot, so they had ended up with external injuries that had sprayed me with blood—and only me. Lynokis really did still have a long way to go...
Oh, we have pieces of this mushroom from our hunt, by the way. Can you make anything with them?
Nia Liston was brought to be cleaned in the employees’ bath again, while Lynokis cleaned up in the bath in their room.
“You’re back already?”
Ėn̈ ŭ m̂а̌.і d
At the same time, at Cedony Trading’s Eunesgo warehouse, Tork Cedony was exchanging information and sorting out purchases when Bande, one of their airship captains and a trusted veteran of the company, came to find him.
Tork had asked him to be Leeno’s wings while she was in the country. If she wanted to go somewhere, he was to take her there and abide by her wishes as much as possible. Once Leeno returned for the night, Bande was to report to him. Those had been Tork’s orders to him.
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According to what Leeno had said to him on the ship to Vanderouge, she never hunted overnight. While in unfamiliar territory, she would only operate during the daytime. It was a smart decision. But...
“That was fast.” When he looked through the door of the dimly lit warehouse, there was still an evening glow outside. Since it was winter, days were much shorter, so they definitely had to have finished early. Or had they returned early because of some unexpected incident? Tork’s mind started conjuring up all manner of worst-case scenarios and a variety of injuries Leeno could have sustained.
“Well, you see... Something somewhat unexpected happened...”
It appeared Tork’s fears were unfounded.
Е̇ n üm̌ă
“Run into some hassle?”
“No... It’ll be easier if you see for yourself. Are you available right now?”
“What happened?”
“Would you believe me if I told you she hunted so much we couldn’t fit it all on the ship? You wouldn’t, right?” Bande turned to go out whence he’d come.
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He was right; Tork didn’t believe it. He fully assumed he’d misheard. Whatever the reality was though, it sounded interesting—interesting enough to take a look.
“All right, I’ll go with you,” Tork said, quickly walking to catch up to Bande. Certainly, he was aware of Leeno’s skill, but hunting so many monsters they couldn’t fit them all on the airship? Surely that was an exaggeration of the truth. Regardless, it did seem like they’d had a good hunt, so he’d like to check how much they’d managed to get. Being aware of how much Leeno could make in a day was closely related to determining future schedules and profits.
Ẅ é b̀ n̂o ṽ_e̊l È n̄ u m̀ а̌
And then he was standing face-to-face with it.
“You’re... No way...?!”
A cloth was draped over the merchant ship docked in the port in order to hide it from view. At first glance, it was hard to tell, but as someone who knew what was kept under that fabric, Tork could tell that there was an unnatural mountain of something under there—and he was pretty sure it was as the captain had said, despite how preposterous it sounded.
Bande wasn’t one for jokes, so Tork hadn’t thought he was making it up, but he had thought he had been exaggerating. And yet, it turned out he hadn’t been. It wasn’t exaggeration; they really had caught more than could fit on the airship. A whole mountain of monsters—of treasure—had been brought back from their venture out.
“How many sword deer did they hunt?!” Tork asked as his feet sped up of their own accord.
“Eight of them,” Bande responded, frantically chasing after his boss.
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Eight sword deer. Fantastic! Tork had ordered three, but he’d presented that number as a bare minimum. An obscene amount would’ve been an issue, but he’d more than happily buy eight from them. If he were to buy them for around five hundred thousand krams a head, process them, and sell the materials, they’d get about a one to two million kram profit.
Sword deer antlers had high artistic value due to their swordlike appearance, and depending on the quality, a deer could sell for as much as one million krams for that alone. He just had to hope he could find some in this haul with only a few scratches.
“Is there a snow tiger?!” By the time he finished jogging up the ramp, he was already out of breath; he was beginning to despise how heavy his body was getting from lack of exercise.
“Two!”
What? Two?
“Any damage to the furs?”
Ӗ ǹ u m̂ а̊.і̀ d
“None!”
In that case... Tork began calculating the possible value of the covered treasure before him, but before he came to an answer, he stopped short on the deck.
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“Remove the cover!” he instructed a nearby crew member who was sorting the ropes.
Finally, he was able to see the mountain of treasure with his own eyes...and he could only stand there speechless. So many treasures came into view at once that he couldn’t figure out what to focus on—he decided to start at the front.
First were the sword deer. These monsters were ferocious large deer with antlers as sharp as the blade of a sword. Usually, it would take several adventurers working together to set up traps to take one down. Furthermore, they were quick to escape due to their timid herbivore origins. Of course, if adventurers were to use traps, the value of the hunted deer would often decrease due to damage to the antlers and hide.
And yet, would you look at that, all of those magnificent sword deer lined up on the deck had retained their original forms.
Ӗn ü m̈.ӓ .і̊d̃
“How did they kill them? Poison?” They had been bled and gutted but otherwise appeared unscathed. Leeno had wielded a sword back in Altoire as well, but none of the monsters she’d hunted ever had injuries that looked as if they had been made by a blade. In fact, that was why she had been praised so highly by Cedony in the first place.
If Cedony just wanted the beasts hunted, they could ask any old adventurer. What was significant about Leeno’s game was how beautifully she ended their lives—the kills were so clean that they could trust the value of the materials from her hunts.
He had never imagined the day would come when he would bear witness to such skill with his own eyes—or even to such a large pile of monsters. If they’d used poison though, the venison would no longer be edible. Sword deer tasted delicious; if the meat was in good shape, there were plenty of restaurants and nobles who would purchase it.
“She said she broke their necks, same with the snow tiger.”
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No way. His focused gaze began to blur. Enough of this. Let’s look at the snow tiger next.
Sword deer were a hassle to deal with, but snow tigers were even worse. One alone was so strong that it could wipe out a team of a dozen veteran adventurers. Some had nicknamed them the Blizzards of Death. Snow tigers traveled with snowstorms and hunted their prey from inside the chaos of the storm. Before you could fight a snow tiger, you had to battle with the weather first. If you were unfortunate enough to bump into one, you’d be better off preparing yourself for death.
Е ñ.um а
And yet Leeno had taken down a snow tiger while preserving the beautiful fur coat with nary a scratch. Could a human even manage such a feat? This would almost definitely fetch a price of over five million— Wait!
“What is that?!”
Tork’s eyes couldn’t decide what they wanted to focus on. His sight was still blurring and his excitement was off the charts. The palpitations that had been building since he climbed the ramp hadn’t stopped—he hated his lack of exercise.
“They’re illumiflies.”
“I can see that! But they’re in bottles!”
What was significant about these was that they had been caught alive. Several small bottles were lined up, each giving off a soft glow. Illumiflies were butterflies whose wings emitted light. Their biology wasn’t quite understood, but since their bodies contained small manastones, they had been classified as monsters. They were rare butterflies and difficult to find.
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The glowing wings of the dead butterflies would continue to emit light for a whole half a year after their death. That beautiful, ephemeral light was very popular with some collectors, and they sold for quite the price.
This was the first time Tork had seen one alive. And Leeno had caught over thirty of them total. How much were live butterflies worth? No... Perhaps this should be seen as a new business opportunity. If they could figure out how to breed them, they might make a whole new industry.
There were also several dragonheads and snow arrows, though they had notable injuries. Apparently, they had been hunted by the child that had accompanied Leeno, so it made sense that they weren’t in as good condition, but learning that such a small girl was still plenty strong herself was its own surprise.
What especially caught Tork’s eyes was the large fire sea serpent. He had placed an order for one of those as well, but it was incredibly rare to get one so big and in such pristine condition. How much would that alone sell for?
In any case, there were so many monsters and so many different kinds of monsters that Cedony Trading ended up asking for assistance in calculating the total profits well into the night.
Today’s profits:
Е̄.n̊u̇ m̊а .і̆ d́
- 4,000,000 krams, sword deer x8
- 2,600,000 krams, dragonhead x13 (good condition)
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- 50,000 krams (each), dragonhead x3 (damaged)
- 900,000 krams, assassin eagle x3
- 700,000 krams, polar slime [huge] x1 (body destroyed, manastone only)
- 4,000,000 krams (each), snow tiger x2 (exceptional quality)
En̆ uṁ а̇ .і́d
- 500,000 krams, snow arrow x5 (good condition)
- 30,000 krams (each), snow arrow x2 (damaged)
- 20,000 krams (each), snow arrow eggs x4
- 10,000,000 krams, fire sea serpent [massive] x1 (plus 2,000,000 kram bounty from the adventurer’s guild)
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- Fish caught in fight with the fire sea serpent (too many to count, set aside for now)
- 1,000,000 krams, Mythical Beast: aqua horse (only for information on its sighting)
Е n̆ ü m̊ а̌
- 2,800,000 krams, illumifly x28 (dead)
- 300,000 krams (each), illumifly x5 (alive)
- 200,000 krams, foot mushroom [huge] x1 (manastone only)
In total, that made 34,490,000 krams.
Then we were on to day two of our adventuring.
“Good morning, Leeno.”
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We headed down to the port early again, where we met the captain and his crew already waiting. They were all the same men as the day before. When we parted ways yesterday, a lot of them had seemed a little wary after seeing how much we’d hunted, but today, they all looked ready and raring to go.
“You won’t have any problems today,” the captain reassured, throwing up two fingers with his right hand. “We’ve prepared two ships, so we’ll be able to take a lot back today.”
They’d prepared two whole ships for us? That had to have been because we had hunted too many monsters to fit on the one ship yesterday. In other words, Tork was ready to earn as much money as possible without hesitation? This was him basically saying we could hunt as much as we wanted without worry?
Perfect. Then I’d make sure to meet his expectations.
“Also, we received the quote for yesterday’s hunt from Tork. If you could, please take a moment to confirm it. If you agree to the price, we’ll have official documents for you to sign later.”
“Yes, of cour— O-Oh...” Lynokis’s eyes traveled down the list, and then she saw the value at the end and couldn’t help but let out her surprise. She leaned down to whisper in my ear as she showed me the documents. “Young Mistress, this is an incredible amount of money. If we continue at this rate, we might even be able to raise two hundred million krams.”
Е ń u ṁ а
Stop, I’m not interested in seeing numbers. I don’t intend to look at anything resembling math unless it’s my winter homework.
“I’ll leave it to you. All of it. Put it away.” Ugh, I really despised numbers. What the hell did they think they were? I didn’t need to be able to calculate eight-digit numbers in my life. “We can deal with that kind of thing later, can’t we? Can we just go already?”
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Hunting was much more important right now. It wasn’t like we had all the time in the world.
And so, we kept our greetings brief before boarding the airship and beginning our voyage at Leeno’s command.
We had two airships, both cargo ships. The second one followed along behind us.
We could hunt a lot of monsters today, could we?
Ŵ ë b n оv е̊ l̀ Eñu̇ ma
“Master.” I headed for the control room where I found Lynokis and the captain standing around an aeronautical chart, discussing the day’s plans. I’d had to leave many duties to her, and as Leeno, she bore the brunt of it. I did feel a little guilty shoving it all on her though...
Well, regardless.
“Since we have two ships now, it would be okay to adjust our schedule, right?”
Our hunt schedules would be adjusted based on time, weather, and load capacity. Before coming to Vanderouge, we’d put together a schedule after thinking long and hard about the most efficient route between the islands. That plan we’d made determined how many monsters we would hunt at one location before moving on to the next. This planning was a necessary task due to our limited time.
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However, now we had an unexpected second ship at our disposal, so I didn’t think we had to strictly go by our original schedule anymore. Our goal was one billion krams; we couldn’t waste such a precious opportunity.
“We were just discussing that, actually,” Lynokis told me. “This will make for a good experience; you should join us, Lily.”
Ѐ ǹ.u m̃а̊
Oh, so I’d never had to suggest anything in the first place. I accepted Lynokis’s natural invitation so I could give my own opinion with ease. I was terrible with both tedium and using my head, but this was about the enemies I would be facing on the islands—of course I’d want to join in with the discussion.
“Then going back to what we were discussing...” The captain was kind enough to recap what they had already covered, even though on the surface, I was really just someone coming to assist Leeno. I was very grateful for his consideration. “Tork has placed an additional order. There’s some monsters he really wants you to hunt, and he’ll pay extra for them.”
The request seemed very easy to fit into our schedule at least; our hunt the day before had already covered most of Tork’s previous requests. We had taken the time to get a general lay of the land yesterday, especially since it was my first hunt in this life; it had served as a nice warm-up. I’d wanted to confirm just how well I could do in this body. That skysquid had been both an unexpected test and it had been weak. So for the first day, we’d prioritized Tork’s requests.
It was just as well, because we’d decided that we’d stay on schedule starting day two, once we’d gotten the feel for things. We’d be prioritizing money from this point on, so there had been the possibility we wouldn’t have the flexibility to pick up any more requests.
“The additional requests are snow tigers, fire sea serpents, bellwoods, calamity bees, blood cross crabs, and swordsman mantises... They’re all infamously dangerous monsters,” the captain explained.
Yup, I’d heard all those names before, and they were all monsters we’d planned to target anyway—perfect.
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“What monster would you like to see, Lily?” After hearing the names of all the monsters we were to hunt, Leeno casually asked for my opinion.
“All of them. Let’s go round up as many of them as possible, Master.”
“Are you sure? Well, if that’s what you want, then let’s go for that.” Our interaction made it look like a child was making an unreasonable and reckless suggestion and the teacher was simply going along with it with a smile. She looked so dependable in that moment that both the captain and the crew busying themselves around us stopped to look over at her with respect and admiration. The figure of Leeno the adventurer, overflowing with confidence—as if she were declaring that no monster could ever hope to stand against her—was the figure of not a novice adventurer but of a renowned hero.
This is it. Leeno’s name is undeniably gaining power in this moment.
Still, it wasn’t as if Lynokis’s confidence was unfounded; it was true that no monster would stand a chance. I would be the one taking them down, after all.
We arrived at the ninety-first-lowest island by the time the morning sun had climbed up the sky and chased away the dark.
En̆.u m а . і̃ d̃
The Empire of Vanderouge’s islands had all been given code numbers. Since the islands under their control were so numerous, it would be ridiculously tedious to try and give them all distinct names. Some islands had names for their towns or popular nicknames, but officially, they were only referred to by their codes. If you frequently looked at an aeronautical chart of the country, the numbers were far easier to remember. Even in the case of the first island we’d visited yesterday, “Autumn Island” was simply a nickname.
The floating islands were then split into further groupings: highest, high, middle, low, lowest. The lowest layer was close to the ocean, with some even still attached to it.
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In any case, Lynokis and I took a skiff down to an island that was halfway under the sea. The airship would wait in the upper skies and then fly down to pick us up once we were done.
Now then...
“Is this that blood cross crab they were talking about? It’s very big.” A striking red shell stuck out on the wide beach. We’d been able to see it from afar when we were in the sky, but standing on the same beach as it, I realized now it was the size of a small mountain—not as big as the main school building, but at least as big as the dorms.
The crab’s shell was a vivid red, as if bathed in fresh blood, its right pincer unnaturally larger than its left like it was showing off its favorite weapon. Its shell had a pattern that looked like a bloodstained cross. I’d heard that because it carried such a thing on its back, it brought forth a kind of religious awe from many people.
E n u mа
But I just see a big ol’ crab.
This one crab alone would probably fill a whole ship, but that was exactly why we’d made it our first hunt. We’d load it onto one of the ships, and it would drop it off at Vanderouge, then meet back up with us. We could do that now that we had two airships at our disposal.
Incidentally, there was a bounty of 20,000,000 krams on that crab’s head—it was the monster that would make us the most money from this hunt.
“They really put the craziest of prices on monsters that simply boast a big size,” I remarked.
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“A regular person couldn’t take this down, you know,” Lynokis said with a wry smile. Apparently, hundreds of people had challenged the crab and died in the battle. In fact, the presence of the crab had completely halted any progress on the exploration of the island. A little less than a century had passed since this monster was first discovered...
And now this crab would become a part of its own bloody history.
Е̄.ǹ um a. і̌d
It was a little heartless of me, but it’d already killed plenty of humans in other serious matches—this was a natural conclusion. I didn’t blame the crab for its bloodshed, but we were about to have another one of those serious one-on-one matches, and as a result, he would die. It was as simple as that. I was stronger, after all.
“Would Rumbling Thunder even work on something like that?” Lynokis asked.
“Probably not. It’s too big, so it would likely be ineffective. Roaring Thunder may be more appropriate.”
“Gandolph’s Technique, huh...” Lynokis—who viewed all of my students as her rivals—looked unhappy at that fact.
“Even an imperfect Roaring Thunder would have an effect,” I told her. Chi Fist: Roaring Thunder was the Technique I had taught Gandolph. Opposite to the speed-oriented Rumbling Thunder, Roaring Thunder focused on sheer destructive power. That diligent man was no doubt practicing his Technique right this very second.
“Well, let’s stop hanging around.”
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The crab still hadn’t noticed our presence. Or did it simply not deem us tiny humans as worth its attention? Whichever the case, we began our approach.
“Can you win?”
“What a silly question. Didn’t I just say that the only thing significant about this crab is that it’s big?”
As we got closer, I could see the marks all over its shell. It detailed the history of its battles. All were scars showing how this crab had lived. I was jealous. How nice it would be to die in battle.
Dying in battle was a much better death than growing old and feeble and dying without even losing to anything. That was the death I had wished for and ultimately never been granted.
The crab’s eyes finally looked towards us. It raised its rocklike right arm as a threat...and then swung it down at a startlingly fast pace the moment I unflinchingly stepped into its attack range.
Е̌ń u ṁа
There was a heavy impact sound and a vibration that shook the whole beach, sending me flying into the air. Our eyes met.
Etch my figure upon your soul, crab. Consider it a souvenir for your next life. I doubted my intentions made it through to my enemy—it was only a crab, after all.
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“Young Mistress!” Lynokis ran after me as my tumble through the air sent me a shorter distance than I’d hoped it would.
“I’m fine,” I said as I made sure to land on the sand safely, stood up, and cracked my neck. It wasn’t half bad. Its speed was surprising, its weight exactly as I’d expected. That was all. “I’ve got a sense of it now.”
As I was right now, I would struggle to take it down in one hit. The hardness of the shell, its weight, and the thickness of its skin made it impossible. Which is absolutely fantastic. Finally, an opponent that won’t bend after a single strike.
If we’d had the time, I’d have loved to play around with it, but unfortunately, we didn’t. I’d deal with it quickly. Thankfully, I remembered a Technique that was perfect for a situation like this.
Ẃёbǹ_о̌v̊ е́ l Е nū m̂а́
“Lynokis, watch closely now. Though it’ll likely be a while before you can learn this yourself.” Upon saying that, I took one step forward. I was sure the crew was watching us from the airship, but we were far enough away that they wouldn’t be able to see the details of the battle even with a telescope.
Let’s get this over with.
“This is a Technique a level above Rumbling Thunder—Comet.” A few seconds after I said that, I was already by the crab’s feet. Had either Lynokis or the crab even been able to see me? Most likely not.
With a large bang, one of the crab’s legs burst off. It was a speed that allowed not even the blink of an eye, and a physical energy that could barely even be registered.
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Chi Fist: Comet. With one step, you began your advance; with two steps, you crossed the speed of sound; with the third, you met the speed of light. It could be a punch or a kick—when you reached my level, the form no longer mattered. It was an okay Technique that provided an okay level of strength and required a run-up, but against an opponent of this standard, this was more than enough.
I wasn’t actually sure I could’ve gone any higher with this body... If I had, the bones in my body would have shattered, and my tendons would all have severed. At worst, I would have imploded.
Enu̇ m̆ а̀
Well, that was okay. I didn’t make it a hobby to torture living creatures, but it was also impossible for me to take it down in one shot. What was impossible was impossible, unfortunately. I’ll have to cut down your life little by little. Forgive me, crab.
Today’s results:
- Blood cross crab [massive] x1, [huge] x6
- Calamity bee x133 (plus very large hive x1)
- Bellwood [huge] x1 (along with its fruit)
- Swordsman mantis x3
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- Snow tiger x2
- Assassin eagle x6 (and eggs x2)
They had all at least heard the rumors of the new, obscenely talented adventurer who had appeared in the Kingdom of Altoire. Some had sharp ears, some knew the value of information, some simply overheard by chance, some heard the rumors from a friend of a friend—the ways in which people first learned of her varied, but that morning was the moment when her name became truly known in the Empire of Vanderouge.
“Hey, you lot! The crab was taken out!” The news from the ecstatic veteran adventurer reached the ears of the adventurers and bounty hunters who had gathered at the guild to find work, but...
“What crab?”
No one had any idea what he was talking about and they began whispering between themselves. What crab? What was he talking about? What kind of crab?
Ê n u m а́
Of course, every adventurer in Vanderouge knew of that one gargantuan crab. Those a little older had dealt with the crab in some way or another, whether because they’d participated in hunting squads, investigated the island while trying to stay out of its path, or observed the Imperial Army’s large-scale attempts to take it down. At some point, though, they had all become accustomed to its presence on that island. They’d simply accepted it was there, believing that one day it would grow old and die. No one could hunt it, so they might as well leave it to die of natural causes.
Because it was such a massive creature, almost no one even considered fighting it anymore. If they didn’t get too close, no one would get injured, so why bother with it? Anyone who did go after it tended to be some fresh face or someone who had lost a loved one to it and so was out for revenge.
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Everyone knew how dangerous the crab was. They had all acknowledged it was something that humans had no chance of standing up to, so they had simply gotten used to the fact that it lived there. That was why they couldn’t understand what the veteran adventurer was talking about.
That crab wasn’t something that could be dealt with by a single person. In fact, people had even begun speculating that in the far future it might be designated an elite monster, just like Moumou Lee, Vikeranda, or the Nightruler, whose name brought ruin to any who dared utter it.
“What do you mean, ‘what crab’? The blood cross crab. You know, that giant one,” the guildmaster said, coming out from the back to confirm the news.
The lobby fell into silence for a moment, before immediately erupting with noise. Some cried out in disbelief, some asked anyone and everyone how high its bounty was, some swore out of personal resentment, some looked as if a weight had been lifted off their shoulders—the reactions were varied, but what was most important was that the crab had been killed.
We̊b ṅ ov ёĺ Е nûmӓ
The guildmaster had been called in because he would be the one to handle the payout, and so he’d gone to inspect it for himself. The beast had undeniably been the colossal blood cross crab that even the army hadn’t been able to take down.
This was how the name of Leeno the adventurer spread through the country—as the one who had taken down the infamous blood cross crab.
Meanwhile, the same news was brought to Vanderouge’s Imperial Army.
“That huge crab was taken down?!” the Ground Force’s commander in chief, Gawin—who had been busy doing paperwork in the commanders’ office—exclaimed in surprise, eyes wide. Kakana, the commander in chief of the Air Force—who was also busy doing paperwork—could only frown in disbelief.
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Numerous squads had been sent out by the country to try and take that crab down. The Ground and Air forces had initially been on bad terms, and they’d been competing to see who could take down the crab first, eager to outwit the other and take credit for its disposal.
However, upon realizing they wouldn’t be able to take down the crab alone, they had joined forces and launched a joint operation to attempt to kill it—and yet, they had still failed to defeat it, leaving a bitter mark on their history. The damage and losses incurred in that operation prompted the country to forbid any further attempts on the crab’s life. Giving a single island over to nature wasn’t such a big loss given the breadth of Vanderouge’s territory. It was a choice made placing more importance on the real physical risks over the honor of the state and military. They had to remain on guard against the neighboring Mech Kingdom, so they couldn’t lose any more of their men, but...for those in the army who’d had their reputation completely ruined, that crab’s continued existence was a scourge. You could even call it their fated enemy.
Еn̆ú ṁа̂
And yet, that exact crab had now been hunted down.
“Are you serious? Where did you hear that from? Did you confirm it with your own eyes?” Kakana rattled off, glaring at the young soldier.
Her disbelief was understandable. A joint operation of the army’s forces had been unable to take it down, despite several attempts, so they’d assumed no one ever could. That perception was especially strong among those who had taken part in those operations.
“M-Ma’am! It was one of our patrolmen who confirmed it! He accompanied the guildmaster of the adventurer’s guild who evaluated it as genuine!” The new recruit’s response was more than clear, even as he cowered slightly under Kakana’s exerted pressure.
“If the report was made by our own soldier, then it’s hard to think it’s a lie,” Gawin reasoned.
“I know. It’s just hard to believe.” In her head, Kakana knew that the report wasn’t a lie. But as she said, it was simply that hard to believe; it barely felt real—especially because she herself had been one of the people who had faced off against the blood cross crab. “I’m going to go see for myself. Recruit, prepare me a skiff. I’m heading out.” Unless she saw it for herself, she wouldn’t be able to believe it. There was no way.
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“Yes, ma’am!” The soldier saluted and left the room.
That crab had stolen the lives of so many of her men, of her colleagues. How could she not hate its existence? Kakana wanted to see with her own eyes just what sorry state its corpse was in. And then she wanted to make an offering to the graves of those men, to show them that the monster who had taken their lives was now dead. It was frustrating she hadn’t been the one to land the final blow, but...beggars couldn’t be choosers. Just being able to tell them it was gone was more than enough.
“Hm... All right, I’ll go with you,” Gawin decided as he watched Kakana put on her hat and coat from the rack.
“I’ll go first, Gawin. Being seen with you would just be embarrassing.”
“Don’t be stupid. We’re going to the same place. If we don’t go together, people will think we’re fighting.”
The former disagreements between the two forces had had an effect not only on the army but also on the city itself. In the past, people had strangely split into two factions that made it much harder to work: one on the side of the son who led the land forces and the other for the local shop’s daughter who had become an air force officer.
E ṅ ù mа
“Tch... Fine, but I’m not riding the same skiff as you.”
It was because of that turmoil that the commanders’ office had been created where the two could work together to show that they did in fact get along. If their commanders were getting along, then neither the soldiers nor their families should fight.
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“Aw, you’re so mean, Kana-kana.”
“Don’t call me such a childish nickname! I’m thirty-one years old, you know!”
“Yeah, and I’m thirty-seven. I’m gettin’ old over here. I’d really love it if you considered marrying me sometime soon.”
“Shut up! I’m never getting married!”
Еn̈ u m̄а̂
“Even though we live in the same house? Even though we return to the same home every day?”
“I’m leaving!”
Whenever they were alone, the two acted as they always had since they were young. The dynamic of their childhood friendship continued, even after their relationship had developed into cohabitating lovers.
The harbor was overflowing with onlookers when the pair reunited with their old enemy, the blood cross crab. It had been mercilessly dismembered, its pincers, its legs, all of it taken apart, but it was unmistakably that old crab. Its unusually big and thick shell still bore the light marks of the cannonballs they had fired that day—this was undoubtedly the exact crab they had fought.
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Seeing it again, bitter memories of that fierce battle rose to the surface... But there was something more pressing to address.
“Who killed it?”
Еnŭ m̂ а . ǐd́
Who in the world had managed to take down a monster that even a whole army couldn’t—and how? That was what they were most curious about right now. Had it been some famous mercenary corps that had happened to come their way?
“Leeno the adventurer from the Kingdom of Altoire...?”
This was the moment they first heard that name.
“Kakana, can you come here a minute?” Gawin called just before Kakana could ask for more information.
“Why? Don’t get in the way of my investigat—” Kakana turned around, not even hiding her displeasure, but when she saw how calmly Gawin was smiling at her, she followed him without further complaint. “What is it?”
Kakana knew that was the face he made when he had something he wanted to say in private—something he didn’t want those around them to hear. On the surface, Gawin’s expression was relaxed, as if he wasn’t taking anything seriously when it was actually the opposite. He made that face precisely because he was thinking very seriously. Kakana knew that expression well, thanks to how long they’d known each other.
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“Don’t get involved with this any further,” he whispered.
“Are they making their move?”
“Sure are. This is a matter for them to handle.”
Gawin glanced to the side. Kakana followed his gaze as naturally as she could and left his side. “All right. But if we’re able to make contact with the adventurer, I won’t let them take charge on this case. Is that clear?”
“You’re such a kind girl, Kana-kana.”
“Shut your mouth. I just don’t want to get foreigners involved in our affairs. I would rather avoid an international incident. Do you have a problem with that?”
Е n̂ uḿ а
“Nope. I agree with you, actually.”
After their exchange, Gawin started to move. He pushed his way through the crowds there to see the crab and made it to the corridor at the side of the warehouse.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“We’ll handle them. Is that clear?” a man’s deep voice whispered. Before Gawin realized it, there was a large, brawny man standing before him. In reality, he had always been there; he had simply been hiding his presence as if he were one with the shadows.
“No, if it seems they’ll respond to our summons, we’ll deal with them.”
The figure was silent for a long moment. “Fine. I’ll allow it. If they don’t respond though, we’ll make our move.”
Those were all the words they exchanged before the large man vanished.
Е̌ ňuḿ а̌
“What a lively old man he is,” Gawin muttered as he began walking again.
The large man was Oltar Ixas. He was the former commander of the now-defunct Sixth Division Special Operations Unit of the Imperial Army’s Ground Forces. Long ago, he had been the sapper of a small unit of elites that served as a commando unit. Their name had changed with the passage of time and, with the further passage of time, disappeared entirely. Having been in an era of peace for so long, the higher-ups had questioned the need for their existence, and they had ultimately been disbanded.
Oltar Ixas had been the last commander of that unit. He had been involved in the training of military juniors for a while before then returning into the shadows to protect the empire. These days, he led a secret vigilante group that eliminated those neither the army nor the law could touch. He’d gathered a bunch of thugs and army dropouts, trained them up, and turned them into a formidable force.
From Gawin’s point of view, they were more like a private army, but at least they weren’t causing any problems for now.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Though Oltar was an old war veteran well over fifty, he was still very active. That small interaction was enough to let Gawin see that his patriotism still guided his actions. He was likely still managing his troops as well as always too.
The real issue was what would happen to that vigilante group once Oltar passed away. It was made up of those who originally came from rough backgrounds—both their personalities and characters had been problematic before Oltar picked them up. What would happen when the man who was holding them together was gone?
Ŵ е̊b̌n̂о v̄е l Е ǹ ù m̊ a
They would most likely descend into anarchy, perhaps even ending up merged with the mafia families. Oltar’s men, his students, were strong. Because they were strong, they could be capable of using their power to get whatever they wanted, living in luxury and growing more arrogant. If things turned out that way, they would become a hindrance and threat to the empire. The leaders of the country tacitly approved of their vigilante existence because they were able to be controlled, but if that stopped being the case...
Well, the time might come when the military would have to dispose of them.
Those were the thoughts that lay behind the gentle smile that sat on Gawin’s face.
Later that evening, another report came to the two in their office. Apparently, many more monsters that had been marked as threats in the area had been hunted down one after another. The two decided to return to the port to confirm it for themselves.
This is becoming more and more like a job for them,Gawin thought to himself. There was no way they wouldn’t try to learn about an adventurer this skilled, and there was no way they would just leave this newcomer alone either. Whoever this was, they were a clear threat. They wielded power that shouldn’t belong to a single person.
If this Leeno woman responded to the calls from the army, then everything would be fine. If she didn’t, then Oltar would most definitely make his move. He was a pigheaded old man who couldn’t keep up with the times. His thoughts, ideologies, and methods were all stuck in the old ways.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Regardless, Oltar was strong. As an individual, even including the current active duty military, he was likely the strongest. He was never afraid to use his love for his country as a reason to be rough with people. Whatever the outcome, there would probably be trouble.
Gawin prayed that Leeno would answer their call. Things would go smoothly and end amicably if she did. He’d already sent a message to the hotel she was staying at requesting a meeting with her.
Today’s profits:
- 20,000,000 krams, blood cross crab [massive] x1
- 6,000,000 krams, blood cross crab [huge] x6
- 13,300,000 krams, calamity bee x133
Ěn.ů m а̀ . і̇ ḋ
- 2,000,000 krams, calamity bee nest [huge] (with young bees inside)
- 5,000,000 krams, bellwood [huge] x1 (fruit attached)
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
- 3,060,000 krams, bellwood fruit x102
- 9,000,000 krams, swordsman mantis x3
- 4,000,000 krams (each), snow tiger x2 (pristine condition)
- 1,800,000 krams, assassin eagle x6
Е̇n ü ṁ a. і d
- 50,000 krams (each), assassin eagle eggs x2
Combining today’s total of 68,260,000 krams with the previous day’s earnings, they had made 102,750,000 krams.
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