We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
We stayed for one night and returned.
“I heard from Folganne. You’re getting married, aren’t you?”
“Heh heh, how enviable.”
“I want to go too. We want to participate too.”
Are the Skinning Monkey beastmen threatening me?!
The Skinning Monkey beastmen, who know about my embarrassing past, asked for wedding ceremony invitations.
Grrr. If I refuse here, my embarrassing past will spread!
“Of course, I won’t say something unrefined like ‘without a souvenir’.”
“W-what kind of souvenir?”
So, it’s about my past, isn’t it?
Is the souvenir a gag order?!
Seeing my strained face, the Skinning Monkey beastmen laughed heartily.
And, I flushed red and crouched down.
“Heh heh. No, no. It’s a proper souvenir. Let’s see, first, as a token of our friendship, I’ll give you Elnea’s favorite fur.”
“And we’ll include some useful information too.”
It seems my worries were unfounded. “Skinning Monkey” is a fearsome name that might cause some misunderstanding, but they were friendly.
They didn’t try to trick me with clever words; they kindly suggested I choose some fur to take home with ordinary kindness.
The Skinning Monkey village has buildings built without a plan, but each building has a clear role.
Houses where residents live, houses to welcome guests, houses where everyone gathers to eat meals. And houses that handle trade goods, and houses used for skinning.
The buildings for skinning are located by the stream adjacent to the settlement. I hear the stream water turns bright red in early autumn.
This is because the demand for fur among the beastmen increases before the cold of winter.
I was guided to a building that handles precious furs and tanned leather.
“Is that, by any chance…”
“Heh heh, as expected of Elnea. You have a keen eye.”
Deep inside the building. There, framed as if by a picture frame, it was displayed on a section of the wall.
At first glance, it looks like a beautiful white horse hide, but the head, which has likely not changed since it was alive, resembles a horse but isn’t. A magnificent single horn grew from its forehead.
Having a horn makes it seem like a Dragon Race, somehow.
Since there are chicken-like dragons and snake-like dragons, there must be horse-like Dragon Race too.
But the fur in front of me isn’t from the Dragon Race.
It has a beautiful physique, like something from a fairy tale. It also closely resembles the legendary appearance often seen in prints sold in town.
Huh?
Come to think of it, when you think about it, you don’t know if the unicorns you hear about or see in prints are really unicorns or not.
I haven’t met one before either.
Could it be…?
No, I shouldn’t think too deeply.
This is a thinking trap that gets deeper the more you think about it.
“Hmm, unicorn hide.”
“Unfortunately, that one cannot be given away. It’s the treasure of us beastmen.”
Uh, you used something you absolutely won’t give away to strip an adventurer bare…
I should be careful not to fall for the smooth talk of the Skinning Monkey beastmen.
The adventurers who were stripped of everything are currently helping the beastmen in the settlement, trying to get back at least their equipment.
Who knows when they will get their equipment back and be able to return to their country.
I look at the furs displayed on the wall and the tanned leather hanging, wondering if there’s anything else that catches my eye.
Which one should I choose?
Besides the unicorn hide, there are beautiful furs and tanned leathers I’ve never seen before, making it hard to decide.
They said “take them,” but I can’t just pick expensive ones without hesitation. On the other hand, if I choose cheap ones, I might be looked down upon if I lack discernment.
This is quite a difficult problem.
I ponder and ponder, appraising the items.
Then, several things caught my attention.
“What is this black one?”
“Heh heh, I can’t believe you’d notice that. That’s Black Serpent hide.”
“Eh, snake hide!?”
The item that first caught my eye looked like smooth, short-haired black fur.
It has a beautiful, glossy black coat.
But snakes have scales, right?
“Try touching it.”
At their suggestion, I picked up the Black Serpent hide.
“Uwah, it’s light. And the texture is nice.”
“I bet. Underneath the short fur are scales, but it’s been tanned carefully. So it’s soft, isn’t it?”
“I can’t believe there are scales under the fur.”
The texture is like the high-quality fur that Yufilia and Nina wear in the royal palace. What’s more, it’s so light and smooth that you wouldn’t think the underside is scaled, and it’s folded as lightly as silk.
The Black Serpent hide was folded multiple times, and it was quite long when unfolded.
I wondered if it was really scaled skin, and when I touched the underside, I could feel the fine scales arranged in a regular pattern, transmitting a fitting sensation to my fingertips.
The short fur grows between the scales, and it’s so covered in fur that you can’t tell it’s scaled just by looking. And the scales are soft, softer than cowhide.
This is a super high-class item.
I can’t possibly receive something like this. So, I moved on.
“What kind of fur is this?”
“Heh heh, you really have a discerning eye. That’s Wolpen fur.”
“Wolpen?”
“It’s a rabbit with wings. A flock of Wolpen flies by once every few decades. It’s rare fur that can only be obtained then.”
The Wolpen fur, laid out in stacks, didn’t have wings.
Wings can only yield bone and feathers, and they’re just a nuisance when making fur, so they’re cut off when skinning, they said.
The colors are multi-colored, like white, brown, and black, and the fur is not as fine as the Black Serpent hide.
Even so, it’s far superior to ordinary fur.
Each piece is about the size of a normal rabbit, and about twenty of them are stacked.
However, hunting opportunities only occur once every few decades. That means this is also a precious item.
“In that case, what about that big one over there?”
“Heh heh heh. Elnea, you’re merciless. That’s Elephant Dragon tanned leather.”
“Is it a Dragon Race?”
“No. It’s an elephant that’s as large and ferocious as a Dragon Race, with six legs. Its thick, long tusks are also valuable, but we’re currently out of stock. It’s said that many warriors of the Lion Species sacrificed themselves when hunting it.”
“When you say ‘it’s said,’ is that from a long time ago?”
“That’s from about a hundred years ago. The Wolpen fur is from about twenty years ago. The Black Serpent tanned leather is also from about a hundred years ago. The unicorn hide is said to be from when our ancestors first came to this land.”
“Ugh!”
Since the beastmen trade by bartering, I thought the items displayed were either recently obtained or second-hand and not particularly valuable.
Aren’t these all historical items?
“The Dragon King, you know. I brought you to the building with the best selection in the village.”
“It’s more like a museum than an exchange facility.”
“What’s a museum?”
“It’s a place where historical items and treasures are displayed for customers to see. With things like this, if you made a facility to display them instead of trading them, human tourists might come.”
“Oh, is that so? That’s good to know. Indeed, we can’t hand over unicorn hide to other races. But we want them to see it.”
“You brought me here to brag, didn’t you!?”
“No, no, we came to give you something. Let’s see, we’ll give you the three items Elnea chose as a wedding gift.”
“Whaaat?!”
I only asked about things that vaguely caught my interest.
The Skinning Monkey beastman who guided me generously presented me with the Black Serpent hide, the Wolpen fur, and the Elephant Dragon tanned leather.
“Happy, happy.”
And Ares-chan, without any hesitation, accepted them and stored them in her mysterious space.
Are you a demon?!
The Skinning Monkey beastman was surprised by Ares-chan’s mysterious space, but I was surprised by Ares-chan’s merciless actions.
“Heh heh heh, next I’ll tell you some useful information.”
“With just this, I’m already very satisfied…”
“Don’t say that. It’s sure to be useful information.”
As we left the building, the Skinning Monkey beastman said.
“If you go further east from here, and then a little north. You’ll find it.”
“W-what will I find?”
“There’s a tribe that grows fruits that are sweet, sour, and make your mouth water. There’s an orchard.”
“That sounds interesting! But how will that be useful to me?”
“Heh heh heh, men are like this.”
“Whaaat, you’re a man too!”
“I’m already married.”
“Grrr, I lost. But I’ll catch up soon.”
“I have five children.”
“Grrr, I’m impressed.”
“And eight grandchildren.”
“Eek!”
The Skinning Monkey beastman smirked victoriously.
I fell to my knees and admitted complete defeat.
No, that’s not it!
I don’t understand, as I’m still single and a man, but what kind of information is useful if you understand it?
When I asked again, the Skinning Monkey beastman told me.
“You’ll be having a grand reception, won’t you? We’ll be participating too! What’s important there is the food served. Women also care about the satisfaction of the guests. But while meat and alcohol can be easily gathered, it might be difficult to gather a certain amount of vegetables and fruits, right?”
Since agriculture has also developed among humans, there should be orchards if you look for them. However, for beastmen and Dragon Race who live in nature, it might indeed be difficult to gather large quantities of fruits all at once.
“They grow precious fruits and nuts to make a living. Surely, they will have things suitable for a reception.”
“I see, that’s certainly true.”
Fruits grown in the Northern Lands, which humans have barely set foot in. Indeed, they would be precious and a highlight.
I deeply thanked them for the valuable information.
“So…”
“What do you mean, ‘so’?”
“Ugh.”
“Elnea-kun, how big do you want to make this?”
“Uh, well, I can’t help it.”
“The beastman guests have increased fivefold.”
“My gratitude to the beastmen has increased fivefold.”
“By what standard is your gratitude fivefold!?”
“Elnea-sama, there’s no way to defend this.”
“I’ve been abandoned by Laira.”
“Elnea-kun, so you’ve given a generous invitation to the squirrel-like beastmen who run the orchard too.”
“As Airi-san says…”
Upon returning to the Dragon Altar, I was scolded by everyone.
I’m reflecting while kneeling in seiza.
I advanced things without consulting everyone, so I expected this.
The problem is me for proceeding despite expecting it; it’s not like everyone else is at fault.
However, I can’t accept that Ares-chan is among those scolding me.
You were actively taking all sorts of things, weren’t you?
I think Ares-chan, who is practically of one mind with me, should also be in a position to kneel in seiza.
“So much, so much.”
“Um. Mei and Grandma are coming too. We’re going to pick them up, Nimia.”
“Let’s call Fior and Rim too, and go together, nyanko.”
The young girls seem very happy.
More guests means more friends, a simple way of thinking. It’s all fun.
They’re chattering happily, munching on the large peaches they got from the orchard.
But as the scale of the wedding ceremony increases, we planners have a hard time.
Or rather, I’m the culprit.
“I believe that lately, Elnea-kun has been acting alone too much.”
“Yes. What Ruiseine says is true. Every time he acts alone, he causes problems.”
“It’s unfair to go on adventures alone.”
“It’s unfair to have fun alone.”
“At least allow me…”
“Laira, you betrayed me earlier, though.”
“Hahahaha, Elnea-sama, I’m on Elnea-sama’s side.”
“Laira-san?”
“Eek!”
And so, a new rule was set for our family.
I will not act alone.
I must always go with someone.
Am I the same as the young girls…?
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