Ch 54 -- Super High Quality Red Serpent
"Iâve 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, youâre with Rashuâs party?" The ojisan and Rashu-san nodded to each other in greeting. The bald-headed guy seemed to know the members of âPhoenixâ and Rashu-san.
"Well, thereâs a lot of monsters..." When I said that we were led back into the warehouse area.
"Wonât 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 thereâs five of them?" I started to pull out the Orc King but I stopped when he looked surprised. Iâll 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, itâs got a delicious chicken flavour.
"R- Rock Birds too...?" the bald-headed guy and the members of âPhoenixâ were shocked. Iâm sorry for surprising them this way but I kept on going since there wasnât nearly enough meat. Fer and Sui eat a lot after all.
"Iâve got Giant Dodo and Giant Deer as well." Everyone was stunned but I kept going.
"Murder Grizzly, Black Serpent and... Red Serpent. Thatâs all." I kept back the Orc King as I donât need it for eating yet. The Metal Lizard probably isnât edible the way it looks and what itâs called. The Chimera and Orthros are sealed away permanently since theyâd 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 wasnât 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-sanâs words made me worry. After all thereâs the Chimera and the Orthros.... Iâm truly sorry.
"What Rashu said. I shouldnât be surprised." the ojisan said. The Chimera and the Orthros are permanently sealed. Iâll never take them out. Please forgive me.
"Iâd never see so many monsters like this, usually..."
"Itâs the first time seeing Red Serpent for me."
"Itâs the first time Iâve seen Black Serpent myself."
"Yeah itâs pretty amazing, and Mukouda-san even has an astoundingly large Item Box."
The other members of âPhoenixâ chimed in.
"Sure thing, itâs huge."
"Yeah, Iâve never seen anyone with an Item Box this big before."
"No no, itâs not really that big." I protested.
"Mukouda-san, would you join our party?" one of the members of âPhoenixâ said as they were talking about my Item Box.
Uh, d- donât say that... Getting meat here is the main thing, stupid questions are an unwanted distraction.
"Groooowl..." Fer snarled at the members of âPhoenixâ 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, weâre sorry, please forgive us. Can you stop threatening us?" he pleaded.
"Yes... Hey Fer, itâs 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 âPhoenixâ nodded like bobble-headed dolls, their faces white with fear. Iâm 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. "Itâs gonna take me some time to get through all this. I dunno, maybe itâll be ready by day after tomorrow?"
The day after tomorrow...? We donât have any meat left. I need at least one monsterâs 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. Iâll dismantle one for you right now then. What do ya want?" the ojisan said. Great! But which one? Well itâs 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 donât eat viscera in this world. Itâs a pity but it canât be helped.
"Oh, is it possible to eat Red Serpent too?" I asked. Itâs the first one weâve caught and I wasnât sure about it. Itâs probably OK since we were able to eat the Black Serpent.
"Huh? Sure you can eat it. Itâs 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 Iâve got high hopes for it.
"Iâm 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 everyoneâs mouth fell open.
"When we asked for some of your cooking instead of travel rations, I didnât think that... Iâm sorry!" said Rashu-san. "Weâre sorry!" echoed the other members of âPhoenixâ. They all bowed their heads deeply to me.
"Hey, hey! Raise your heads please. Whatâs going on?"
"We didnât know the meats were of such high quality, we ate too much..." the members of âPhoenixâ nodded in agreement with Rashu-sanâs 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 nightâs dinner. Iâm deeply moved at their enthusiasm but itâs kinda funny since the meats were all from monsters that Fer caught. They say theyâre high-class ingredients but itâs what Iâve been eating all along so I canât really understand their feelings. Besides my contribution was only the seasonings and cooking so itâs not a problem for me.
"Weâre really sorry, Mukouda-san. If you ever need something just let us know. Weâll help you out any way we can."
"No, no. Donât 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, Iâm done with the dismantling." Thanks, ojisan, great timing. I took the Rock Bird meat from the old guy and packed it away.
"Right, Iâll come back the day after tomorrow, so thanks."
"Yeah." The members of âPhoenixâ led the way out of the Adventurers Guild.
"This Adventurers Guild is a nice place, isnât 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."
"Itâs because Leader was with you." one of the members of âPhoenixâ explained as we walked along. "Leaders of parties like ours are well-known adventurers in this city. Nobody messes with them or anyone theyâre with." Oh, so thatâs how it is. Itâs lucky I got acquainted with Rashu-san.
"Well, as those idiots say Iâm 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. Thatâs very reassuring." I said.
"However weâre headed off tomorrow on an escort request to a nearby town so we wonât be around for about two weeks..." he added apologetically. Oh, right. Iâm 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 youâre 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 thereâs anywhere I can stay with a contracted beast?" I asked.
"Thereâs the âGyphonâs Nestâ inn, straight along this street. I recommend it."
"Oh, then Iâll try it." I parted with the members of âPhoenixâ at the door of the âGryphonâs Nestâ inn. Iâm finally going to sleep in a bed again after a very long time.