Ch 54 — Super High Quality Red Serpent
"I've got a purchase request, please." I announced.
A completely bald ojisan who looked like an adventurer came out. It was just like the Adventurers Guild in Fariel.
"OK, lemme see what you got." He squinted at my companions. "Oh, you're with Rashu's party?" The ojisan and Rashu-san nodded to each other in greeting. The bald-headed guy seemed to know the members of 'Phoenix' and Rashu-san.
"Well, there's a lot of monsters…" When I said that we were led back into the warehouse area.
"Won't be a problem here. Get them out." he said brusquely.
First of all I pulled out five Orc Generals.
"H- hey, an Orc General… and there's five of them?" I started to pull out the Orc King but I stopped when he looked surprised. I'll hold on to the Orc King for a bit longer.
"These too, please." I took out three Rock Birds. I definitely need to get some Rock Bird meat, it's got a delicious chicken flavour.
"R- Rock Birds too…?" the bald-headed guy and the members of 'Phoenix' were shocked. I'm sorry for surprising them this way but I kept on going since there wasn't nearly enough meat. Fer and Sui eat a lot after all.
"I've got Giant Dodo and Giant Deer as well." Everyone was stunned but I kept going.
"Murder Grizzly, Black Serpent and… Red Serpent. That's all." I kept back the Orc King as I don't need it for eating yet. The Metal Lizard probably isn't edible the way it looks and what it's called. The Chimera and Orthros are sealed away permanently since they'd cause me serious problems if I brought them out.
"…R- Red Serpent?" The bald ojisan broke his stunned silence.
"Yeah, Red Serpent." Was it a problem?
"Where did you catch it?" he asked, his eyes sharp. I felt intimidated by his stare.
"Well, it wasn't me that caught it…" I looked down at Fer lying down behind me as I spoke.
"Oh, right. A Fenrir could do it…" The ojisan recognised that Fer is a Fenrir right away.
"For sure, ossan. A Fenrir could catch a Red Serpent or any other monsters of that rank easy." Rashu-san's words made me worry. After all there's the Chimera and the Orthros…. I'm truly sorry.
"What Rashu said. I shouldn't be surprised." the ojisan said. The Chimera and the Orthros are permanently sealed. I'll never take them out. Please forgive me.
"I'd never see so many monsters like this, usually…"
"It's the first time seeing Red Serpent for me."
"It's the first time I've seen Black Serpent myself."
"Yeah it's pretty amazing, and Mukouda-san even has an astoundingly large Item Box."
The other members of 'Phoenix' chimed in.
"Sure thing, it's huge."
"Yeah, I've never seen anyone with an Item Box this big before."
"No no, it's not really that big." I protested.
"Mukouda-san, would you join our party?" one of the members of 'Phoenix' said as they were talking about my Item Box.
Uh, d- don't say that… Getting meat here is the main thing, stupid questions are an unwanted distraction.
"Groooowl…" Fer snarled at the members of 'Phoenix' and bared his fangs. The threat petrified them.
"Hey you idiots, shut up!" Rashu-san shouted at the other members, his face red with anger.
"Mukouda-san, we're sorry, please forgive us. Can you stop threatening us?" he pleaded.
"Yes… Hey Fer, it's okay, you can stop now." Fer settled down again.
"You lot talk too much. Got it?" said Rashu-san.
"Yes, yes, yes, yes…" the other members of 'Phoenix' nodded like bobble-headed dolls, their faces white with fear. I'm sorry everyone but Fer is right. Anyway there are things in the Item Box that are going to stay there. Fer knows about them too, of course.
"Hey, sorry to butt in but can we get on with business?" the ojisan interrupted, trying hard not to laugh. "It's gonna take me some time to get through all this. I dunno, maybe it'll be ready by day after tomorrow?"
The day after tomorrow…? We don't have any meat left. I need at least one monster's meat right now, just to cover today and tomorrow at least.
"Ummm, can you dismantle one monster for me right now?" I asked.
"Just one, huh?"
"Well, to put it simply we need the meat. I want the rest of the meat too and you can buy all the other materials but I gotta have the meat…" I glanced down at Fer.
"I gotcha. I'll dismantle one for you right now then. What do ya want?" the ojisan said. Great! But which one? Well it's nearly dinner-time so in that case, the Rock Bird will do.
"A Rock Bird, please."
"Right you are." the ojisan said and proceeded to swiftly and expertly disassemble one of the Rock Birds. The internal organs were dumped in a garbage bin. I got an odd look when I asked if they were edible. It seemed they don't eat viscera in this world. It's a pity but it can't be helped.
"Oh, is it possible to eat Red Serpent too?" I asked. It's the first one we've caught and I wasn't sure about it. It's probably OK since we were able to eat the Black Serpent.
"Huh? Sure you can eat it. It's super high quality stuff you know. Us commoners can go our whole lives without ever eating any."
Eh, really? I wonder what it tastes like. The Black Serpent was delicious too so I've got high hopes for it.
"I'm curious, Mukouda-san, what was the meat we had last night?" Rashu-san asked with an embarrassed expression on his face.
"Well, there was Black Serpent, Cockatrice and Rock Bird… oh, and after that Giant Deer and Murder Grizzly." I replied. When I said that everyone's mouth fell open.
"When we asked for some of your cooking instead of travel rations, I didn't think that… I'm sorry!" said Rashu-san. "We're sorry!" echoed the other members of 'Phoenix'. They all bowed their heads deeply to me.
"Hey, hey! Raise your heads please. What's going on?"
"We didn't know the meats were of such high quality, we ate too much…" the members of 'Phoenix' nodded in agreement with Rashu-san's words.
"It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance for us to eat such fine food…"
"No wonder it was so delicious…"
"It was all sooo tasty…"
I remember now that they all seemed silently overcome by the taste of last night's dinner. I'm deeply moved at their enthusiasm but it's kinda funny since the meats were all from monsters that Fer caught. They say they're high-class ingredients but it's what I've been eating all along so I can't really understand their feelings. Besides my contribution was only the seasonings and cooking so it's not a problem for me.
"We're really sorry, Mukouda-san. If you ever need something just let us know. We'll help you out any way we can."
"No, no. Don't worry about it. Your boss brought me to this city…"
"No, no. we ate all your luxury meat…"
"No, no, you escorted the bandits to the city for me…"
"Hey, if I can interrupt you guys, I'm done with the dismantling." Thanks, ojisan, great timing. I took the Rock Bird meat from the old guy and packed it away.
"Right, I'll come back the day after tomorrow, so thanks."
"Yeah." The members of 'Phoenix' led the way out of the Adventurers Guild.
"This Adventurers Guild is a nice place, isn't it?" I commented as we left. "Usually if I go into an Adventurers Guild with Fer I get bothered or stared at but nothing happened here."
"It's because Leader was with you." one of the members of 'Phoenix' explained as we walked along. "Leaders of parties like ours are well-known adventurers in this city. Nobody messes with them or anyone they're with." Oh, so that's how it is. It's lucky I got acquainted with Rashu-san.
"Well, as those idiots say I'm well-known in this city. At the cost of repeating myself, if you run into any trouble just let us know." Rashu-san added.
"Thank you very much. That's very reassuring." I said.
"However we're headed off tomorrow on an escort request to a nearby town so we won't be around for about two weeks…" he added apologetically. Oh, right. I'm not expecting trouble in this city though.
"You guys were way too greedy." he told his followers.
"Yeah Leader." they agreed. There was an interruption.
"Sandra-chan!" One of the members called out.
"Shut up-" his fellows said. Ah, it looks like we had run into Sandra-chan, the gossipy Adventurers Guild staff member. Normies should explode.
"If you're still in the city in two weeks time, you can leave a message at the Adventurers Guild for me if you run into any problems. If I can help you I will." I told him I was thankful for his help so far. Rashu-san is someone with a very strong sense of duty.
Ah, I forgot something important. "Before you go, can you tell me if there's anywhere I can stay with a contracted beast?" I asked.
"There's the 'Gyphon's Nest' inn, straight along this street. I recommend it."
"Oh, then I'll try it." I parted with the members of 'Phoenix' at the door of the 'Gryphon's Nest' inn. I'm finally going to sleep in a bed again after a very long time.
