Chapter 234: Glasses Boy Meddling and Grilling Meat

The hunt concluded in the morning.

Three Maton wild boars, and one Ash Cat were the spoils.

We borrowed the cart we used with Lisse last time and headed back to Krozheit.

The load was heavy, but even Florentine couldn’t carry it due to its bulkiness. Not because of the weight, but simply because it was too much to handle.

“Hey, it’s you.”

The bartender at the tavern, a substitute for the adventurer’s guild, remembered my face.

Oh yes, it’s me, the glasses-wearing guy who you tried to rip off last time.

“He’s brought down another big one.”

We managed to keep it under control this time.

The hunt was going so well that we almost started thinking of hunting more to earn extra, but we have other plans, so we decided to call it a day.

Out of the six of us, four are troublemakers, but all of them are promising assassin candidates.

Their skills are undeniable, even if their heads may be a bit lacking.

So it was a straightforward job.

If only they could earn like this every time before I had to step in. It’s a bit of a nuisance.

“Four heads, huh… And an Ash Cat too. The market price…”

Perhaps reminded of our last failure, the bartender grimaced slightly but offered a fair price.

“Could you sweeten the deal a bit? I’m looking to buy some better liquor.”

“Huh? …Fine, just a bit.”

But he looked pleased that the liquor was selling. His emotions were written all over his face; maybe this guy isn’t great with negotiations after all.

The old man returned to the shop for money and sake, while the shop assistant carted away the goods along with the monsters.

With that, negotiations were concluded.

Now all that remained was to collect everything, split the money six ways, collect the fees, and disband.

Of the troublemakers here, only Lisse and I would be joining Geodine and Belge, who were currently out shopping.

The troublemakers could do as they pleased.

They would have their chance to prove themselves in real combat; for now, they didn’t need to push themselves.

“Chace, could you handle the sake payment?”

“…Huh!? What are you talking about!? You want me to pay for the drinks!?”

I told one of the troublemakers who had been silenced by the assurance to handle negotiations, and he was utterly surprised.

“They’re actually charging for the sake, that guy.”

“Meow… Eil’s impression has changed too much since this morning…”

“No! E-Eil isn’t that kind of person! It’s a mistake! She’s a much nicer girl! …Oh, could it be someone else!?”

“That guy with the sake… No, never mind.”

Lisse and the other troublemakers were saying something, but I ignored them. Also, Lisse, please stop talking about the times when I drink sake. I’d rather not know.

“Are we going to get the spears now?”

On the way to the hunting ground, Chace mentioned something about his spear being almost finished.

Next on the agenda was the extermination of the zombie legion, he said, possibly in time for that.

It was about the spear he had commissioned from the blacksmith, Tatsunami.

It was a custom-made spear using the horn of Queen, the horse-king horse’s queen, tailored to fit Chace.

From the specified date and time, it wouldn’t be strange if it were already completed.

It seemed like Tatsunami put a lot of effort into making it, even in his spare time between the lengthy blacksmithing tasks, to the point where Lisse’s knife was finished earlier, and he did it for free.

That’s definitely not good.

“You’re not planning to pay him in the end, right? If not, at least give Tatsunami a souvenir or something.”

“A souvenir? Like that sake? …What would I even say while giving it to him? Besides, considering his personality, he probably wouldn’t accept money anyway.”

Yeah, probably.

He’s stubborn, so once he makes a promise, he won’t take money. Money is…

“Even though he did such a good job for free, it’d be bad to just leave it like that. You should at least accept this as a token of gratitude or something. That’s how you should approach it.”

“Do we really need that?”

“I think you should consider the future. What if there are maintenance issues or problems with the spear? Are you going to rely on Tatsunami again? If you rub him the wrong way, he might not help you again.”

“…………”

“Well, if you don’t want to, it’s fine. Sorry for being meddlesome. I’ll buy the sake.”

“Wait. I’ll buy it. And I’ll take it.”

Ah, I see.

That sounds good to me.

I think it’s a bit too meddlesome for me, but if we leave it like this and Chace ends up being disliked by Tatsunami, it could be trouble.

A good weapon shows its true worth when it’s well-maintained.

Even the finest sword will quickly deteriorate if left unused and neglected, rusting or breaking down.

If it were a transaction where payment was exchanged between a shop and a customer, it might be different, but this spear-making at the end of a somewhat problematic deal…

Even if I gave him a souvenir, I don’t think it’s necessary spending or unnecessary consideration.

“I see. Is it for giving as a souvenir?”

“Hehehe. Eil really can be considerate.”

“I believed in her from the start! I always did!”

“Eil, about the alcohol… Never mind.”

Again, Lisse and the other troublemakers were saying something, but I ignored them. And Lisse, please stop talking about when I drink sake. Please, really stop.

“Wait, it’s… expensive!? I’ve never drank such expensive sake before!?”

Upon hearing the amount for the sake brought by the old man, Chace was once again surprised.

Well, it’s something you give to others, so it can’t be cheap sake.

After dividing the money from selling the prey into six parts and distributing it, they disbanded on the spot.

Chace went to get the spear accompanied by Harriatan, while Florentine and Trawllul went to eat sweets.

It seemed there was really no consideration to accompany them for shopping.

Even if it’s not sincere, just a casual “Want to come along?” can really change the impression.

Well, whatever.

They’ll work hard in the operation.

“Where are we meeting?”

“At the barbecue place. Belge said he wanted to try it once.”

“Oh, the famous dish from Krozheit. It sounds rustic, just calling it ‘barbecue’.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Lisse, have you been there before?”

“I see. It’s hard to go alone.”

Yeah, I guess so. No way around it.

“I’ve been a few times myself, and it’s good. Even if you just lightly grill horse meat on the surface, you can eat it semi-raw.”

“Huh, really? Is it safe?”

“Yeah. It’s delicious.”

“Oh, I see. Looking forward to it.”

With that kind of conversation, they reunited with Geodine and the others.

By evening, they finished up all their shopping and returned to the Tower of Bryne.