Chapter 210 (1/2)
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Rock, an adventurer based in the city of Morksi, was busy hunting that day with the same D-class adventurer party that he was alith, the Iron Boulder Brigade
Rock and his co this Devil's Nest since their adventurer school days; it was a fao ho down a few reed one of his coredients before sunset”
The value of e based on the time of day However, the Guild e redients before the time of day holesalers would fill their stocks
”Since I have a debt to the Guild, I have to show theood money,” Rock added
”It's just so unlucky that your old ht your neeapon,” said another ”Rock, apparently there's going to be a beautiful Dark Elf giving a sero and pray the bad luck away?”
Rock gave a gri to say that h? You know I pray to the Gods in gratitude every time I hunt monsters”
”You should pray to Gods other than the God of soldiers and the God of thunderclouds,” said his friend ”And according to the rumors, the Dark Elf is apparently a real beauty”
”Not interested If I have the ti like that, I think it's o on a solo Goblin hunt -”
The party's light conversation was interrupted by a loud, echoing howl co from a short distance away
”Did you hear that?!” He asked his companions
”Yeah, it's nearby… Over there!”
They braced thes and headed towards the source of the sound
They were greeted by the scene that they had ier than a wolf The fur around its mouth was stained with fresh, cri face-up, his neck covered in blood
The boy's eyes, which were turned towards Rock and his co… We were too late,” Rock s that had been transformed by corrupted Mana They were only about as physically strong as wolves or perhaps a little stronger, and they had no special abilities Even rookie adventurers who had only recently become accustos rarely wandered into Devil's Nests, such s were even s, and they did not falter even ounded Every year, rookie adventurers lost their lives to these beasts after letting down their guard
And Demon Wolves would let out a howl of victory and joy after killing a human Rock and his co a howl, but…
”What the hell is the Adventurers' Guild thinking, letting a child go hunting on his own!” one of Rock's coed
”Don't say that Once so that happens to them is their own responsibility, whether they're a rookie or a child It's his own fault for underesti the monster,” said Rock, but he raised his sword and shi+eld nonetheless
The Derowl
”But we need to at least avenge him,” said Rock ”This is quite the end to our hunt, but -”
”U so here?” said Vandalieu
”This is part of our duty as adventurers… Wait, did the corpse just talk?!” Rock shouted, ju back in surprise
”I' around with round as he looked up at Rock and his co had successfully hunted Giga birds… Rank 2 s and talons as weapons, without the help of Vandalieu and the others
Being praised for this, Fang had let out a roar of joy, pushed Vandalieu down and began licking his face and neck despite still being covered in Giga bird blood
Right at that moment, Rock and his companions had arrived on the scene and misunderstood the situation
Vandalieu explained all of this to Rock and his party, ere all wearing looks of disbelief
”I-I see,” one of Rock's companions h it was hidden from the view of Rock and his party by trees, there was a cart loaded with Giga bird corpses and other h Rock and his co one of the collars sold by the Tah they did feel so that called for suspicion and investigation
”Sorry for s,” said Rock ”Still, if there was a conspicuous Tamer like you at the Adventurers' Guild, there'd be rumors of you everywhere, but I've never heard of you”
Taressiveness depending on their race, they were generally enemies of humanity, and yet Tamers made use of such creatures They were far fewer in numbers than warriors
Vandalieu was a Tae who had an unusual appearance and was capable of tae that there were no ruh I' to him face to face, he has so little presence that it's abnormal… Could it be that there are no ruht rather rudely
”That's because I'm not an adventurer,” said Vandalieu ”I currently have a teistration at the Commerce Guild, and I'm an associate member of the Tamers' Guild”
”You're not an adventurer?!” Rock said incredulously ”An associate member of the Ta today?!”
”No, Fang is a stray dog from the slums We ca,” said Vandalieu, telling the truth but not all of it
Rock and his companions opened their eyes wide in shock
”He only just beca,” said Rock
In all honesty, it was difficult to believe But Rock did not have the knowledge he needed to deny Vandalieu's not-entirely-true explanation… his clai, and mutated the moment they entered this Devil's Nest
It was coe not only to adventurers such as Rock and his party, but to all people in this world, that anis could transform into monsters under the influence of corrupted Mana
But there were al in person Corrupted Mana wasn't visible to the naked eye, and nobody knew just how es and alchemists had tried to understand this process since ancient tiue descriptions only stated that animals had individual differences in tolerance, and that it would also depend on the attribute and density of the corrupted Mana
Thus, there was nothing that could disprove a dog beco a monster on the same day that it entered a Devil's Nest
… Incidentally, there was no law to punish the owners of animals that happened to transform into monsters They only had to take responsibility if such transformed monsters were to kill people or destroy property
”Well,Goblin or Kobold ears in the slums And then once it came to this Devil's Nest, it reached its liet going, then?”
”I guess so Sorry for asking so s aren't weak for Rank 2 monsters, but Rank 3 monsters and hordes of Goblins and Kobolds so that Vandalieu relied entirely on Fang for hunting, as he seemed to be an unarmed person asn't an adventurer
And then Rock's party turned and left
”… We're lucky they were good people,” said Vandalieu ”Well then, shall we start heading ho barked
”You want to pull the cart? That would make you seem more like a tamed monster to others, so it would reduce the chances of any future”Give me a moment”
Vandalieu quickly created a leash and ' Skill
When they returned to the gate at the city of Morksi, Kest and his senior were shocked to see that Fang, as pulling the cart, had turned into a De They were also shocked to see that the cart was filled with disassembled monster corpses
”Y-you needed to restock on h I did harvest some herbs as well,” Vandalieu told him
The cart also contained herbs for the sauce used on the skewers… To be rown inside him with the effects of the 'Tree Caster' Job, put in the cart after entering the Devil's Nest, and was now telling the guards that he had picked
With this, if anyone were to try to investigate where Vandalieu had acquired the herbs he used, they would search the Devil's Nest pointlessly rather than the people around Vandalieu
”U allowed, Senpai?” Kest asked the senior guard
He wasn't sure whether it was allowed for an underage person asn't an adventurer to enter and hunt in a Devil's Nest and bring in his spoils
The senior guard rubbed his chin ”It isn't a proble it, so…”
Of course, Devil's Nests were inhabited by erous It was not a place suitable for underage people and ordinary civilians ere incapable of codo Devil's Nests
Even without a law forbidding it, ordinary civilians did not normally enter Devil's Nests
But there were also cases of new Devil's Nests for It also wasn't uncorasslands or lakes
It would be cruel to punish the villagers of a village in a forest or mountain that had become a Devil's Nest, or travelers or victims who had accidentally wandered into a Devil's Nest That hy there was no law punishi+ng such people
”There aren't any taxes for goods fro the you a stern lecture,” the senior guard told Vandalieu
”Yes, I' for herbs rather than hunting,” Vandalieu apologized, lowering his head
The senior guard sighed ”You're free to pass”
”We'll let you get aith it because that Deain, don't forget to bring that De relieved ”And don't take too long to go to the Tae your associate membershi+p for a full one”
”Yes, thank you,” said Vandalieu
Fang gave a save a small wave at Kest, quickly returned to his house, sorted out the stocking of his inventory and headed to the Taistered as an associate , this time to become a full member
”You have talent as a Tamer!” the Guild Master, Bacheed to leave, telling him that it was time to open his business, and opened his food cart, just as he had done yesterday
”You've been busy today, haven't you? Are you going to hunt in the Devil's Nest every day from now on?” asked Darcia, who had been informed of Vandalieu's visit to the Devil's Nest by Chipuras
”Yes, I'rilled the skewers ”We were liet much meat And I also need to rethink this city's security net To to adjust the security net from the outside and hunt several days' worth ofup in the process”
Fang barked in approval of this plan
”Do your best, both of you But if you're busy, I could go and hunt for you,” Darcia suggested
She didn't have a membershi+p card of any Guild, but the people of the city thought that she was a Dark Elf who had been living in a hidden village If she were to hunt so, there would be more people ould assue than people becoht, then I'll ask you to do that once Fang has Leveled to a certain point,” said Vandalieu
”Yes, leave it to me,” said Darcia
”One skewer, please,” a custo the food cart
Even as Vandalieu and Darcia conversed, custo the week that it had been open, the skewers had gained a reputation as being delicious, and there were now custo Wolf'
”That's three Baums,” said Vandalieu
”Huh? You dropped your prices?” the customer asked in confusion; skewers had cost five Baums each up until yesterday
But he handed over three Baums and purchased a skewer nonetheless On his way back to the main street, he examined his skewer suspiciously
The ahtly Then has the quality dropped? he wondered, having a bad feeling about the skewer
But the moment he took a bite of the skewer, he realized that he had been wrong The flavor had clearly improved
”So delicious! It's cheaper and the aed, so why does it taste better?!” he wondered incredulously ”I-I need onealmost returned to the ht oneht
He had not purchased the meat from a wholesale store; he had hunted and butchered theAnd since Vandalieu and Fang were the ones who had worked to acquire the meat, there were no labor costs involved
Thus, he wasthe skewers at three Baums each
And the reason the skewers had become more delicious was simply because the meat's quality had improved Yesterday, Vandalieu had used the meat of Rank 1 monsters such as Giant Rats and Horn Rabbits Today, he was using the a birds
The taste of monsters' meat and the usefulness of other enerally increased with their Rank The difference between Rank 1 and Rank 2 monsters wasn't drastic, but… that wasn't the case with Vandalieu's 'Cooking' Skill involved
Perhaps redients was one way a chef could display his skill, but using better ingredients did produce more delicious dishes
”Why have your skewers beco' Skill Leveled up thishi the time to explain all of that
”I see!”
”You're not going to tell hiets a bad reputation,” said Orbia
If Vandalieu spread the news that Joseph had threatened every wholesale store in the city, his already-poor reputation would sink even further
But Kiued otherwise ”Orbia nee-san, if we do that, the reputation of the butcher's store that Boss was buying his meat at before will fall as well We don't want that, do we?”
”Ah, you're right That person seeood person,” said Orbia ”Then I suppose it can't be helped”
Though it was a s, Vandalieu had taken into consideration the circumstances of the old man at the butcher's store who had yielded to Joseph's threats in order to keep his livelihood