I never expected to receive a direct commission from the Provincial Governor, but it made sense when I heard why.
Food supplies are dwindling because hunters aren’t hunting, and the mining sites for Magic Silver have been occupied by Goblins, which is a problem. But the emergence of an Aberration of a Dragon, even a subspecies, is just too much to handle.
The An in question, the Evil Drake, is apparently G to I-rank.
While that’s the same G-rank as the Black Fenrir, this one is an Aberration, making it equivalent to P-rank.
However, since both the Feather Drake and the Evil Drake fly, they might be more troublesome than the Black Fenrir in some ways. The only saving grace is that the Evil Drake is large and lives in forests, which might restrict its movement.
Still, as a Dragon subspecies, its attack and defense power are high. And I’ve heard that the Feather Drake is covered in feathers, and those feathers are quite tough. I’ve also heard that those feathers are a rare and high-class material, so I’d like to secure some if I have the chance.
Mina is going to guide me to a place called Albert Workshop now, but I’ve managed to get tomorrow off anyway. After all, I just arrived in Feel today, and I recently hunted the Black Fenrir and Green Fang. I need at least a day to relax and recover from my exhaustion, and I also need to try on new weapons and armor I’ll be buying, as well as purchase potions and other daily necessities.
The Provincial Governor understood this, so I plan to take it easy tomorrow once I’m done with my preparations. It was helpful to deal with a reasonable Noble.
After that, Prim and I formally accepted the commission from the Provincial Governor and left the Hunter’s Guild after receiving payment for the Black Fenrir and Green Fang. The total payout for the Catastrophe Species and Aberration was 1,424,001 Eld, which is quite a substantial sum. However, Prim refused to accept it again. But since we formed a raid party and are about to buy new weapons and armor, I forced Prim to accept it by establishing raid rules.
The rule is that half of the commission reward and purchase price will be used as raid operating funds, and the remaining half will be split among us. While the commission reward is only for the recipient of the commission, the purchase price is divided by the number of people who defeated the monster. At first, Prim refused, saying that she alone only defeated a few Wind Wolves, Glass Wolves, and Green Wolves. But I insisted, saying that it was thanks to her holding them back that we were able to defeat the Black Fenrir. We almost got into a fight, but we calmed down after Apricot said something to us. Otherwise, we might still be arguing.
This time, due to the complicated calculations, we each received 350,000 Eld, and the remaining 724,000 Eld will be allocated to raid operating funds. Perhaps in the future, if the calculations are too troublesome, we’ll just put it into the raid funds.
I’ve also decided to cover the cost of purchasing weapons myself. I’d like to order not only weapons but also armor eventually, but I don’t know how that will turn out, so I’ve put it on hold for now.
Furthermore, the operating funds now exceed 1 million Eld, as it includes the reward for dealing with the thieves that we received at Zack’s. Oh, and the Hunter’s License fee is considered part of Apricot’s escort commission, so she’s covering it.
Apricot then headed to Marquis Frederica’s residence with Honest. Apricot intended to pay for Honest’s food expenses, but neither Marquis Frederica, Count Sofia, nor Viscount Archlight were willing to accept it. Marquis Frederica owns a Grantpus, and Viscount Archlight owns a Wyvern. Count Sofia has several horse-like monsters called Battle Horses, so they should know how exorbitant food and maintenance costs can be.
Battle Horses look like horses, but they have three-toed hooves from which they can extend claws. They have long, impressive manes, and frighteningly, they eat three times as much as a horse, and they also eat meat. All the monsters used by the Count Sofia family are Battle Horses, so it’s terrifying to even imagine the maintenance costs. It shows how much affection Count Sofia has for his Battle Horses, and as a result, his prized mount has evolved into a rare breed called a War Horse. This is quite a well-known fact, and Count Sofia has been recognized as a P-rank breeder by the Crafter’s Guild for his expertise in raising Battle Horses.
“This is Albert Workshop.”
As I was reminiscing about such things, I realized we had arrived at our destination, Albert Workshop. Albert Workshop was located at the end of the street, further north from the central avenue. Mina was still guiding us.
“Wow. Veil Lake is behind here.”
“Yes. I’m also a little envious. I’d like to live in a house like this someday.”
I can understand that feeling. I’m planning to buy a house as a base someday, so perhaps I’ll look for one like this or build something similar then.
“It seems to be closed already.”
Seeing the “Closed” sign hanging on the entrance, Mina murmured. Albert Workshop apparently sells, crafts, and repairs weapons and armor, but I’ve heard that there have been few hunter visitors for the past half-month.
That’s only natural. With no one going hunting and only freeloaders who bother the townsfolk, there’s no way weapons and armor would sell. I’ve even heard of shops that flat-out refuse to sell to hunters. In fact, this Albert Workshop seems to be one of them. What on earth are these hunters currently in Feel doing?
“The Hunter’s Master was pressuring the Crafter’s Master to provide weapons and armor for hunters free of charge. However, the Crafter’s Master could not possibly accept this. Yet, the Hunter’s Master is using the fact that the Crafter’s Master is not providing weapons as justification for the hunters not hunting. Furthermore, the hunters currently in Feel are not only swarming weapons and armor shops to steal weapons but are also robbing the Trader’s Guild for food and potions, and have clashed with the Order’s Guild multiple times.”
The Hunter’s Master again? Doing all that implies they want to worsen the relationship between the Hunter’s Guild and Amister. What exactly is their goal? The Crafter’s Guild is like a guild for artisans such as blacksmiths and craftspeople, and it was the first guild established in Helios Orb. It was originally called the Smith Guild and focused mainly on blacksmithing. However, as it became clear that blacksmiths alone weren’t the only ones making weapons, armor, and tools for daily life, more and more artisans gathered, leading to its renaming as the Crafter’s Guild. Therefore, it also includes seamstresses, jewelers, breeders, and chefs. The general term for artisans registered with the Crafter’s Guild is Crafter. The reason why the Guild ranks are named after minerals, like the Hunter’s Ranks, is because the original Smith Guild was founded first.
“We’ll think about the Hunter’s Master’s intentions later. The problem is these hunters. At this point, they’re no different from thieves. Shouldn’t we just arrest them all and torture them?”
I agree with Prim. The current hunters in Feel are a menace and offer no benefits. I think it would be better for Feel to lose all its hunters. Although Prim and I can only do so much on our own, I can confidently say we’d be more useful than these degenerate hunters.
“As a last resort, that has been deemed acceptable. However, it’s become common in Feel for Orders to take on commissions that would normally be for hunters, making it difficult for the Order’s Guild to act. For material gathering or escort requests, they can be somewhat flexible, but for urgent requests, they naturally have to prioritize those. It’s understandable that the Order’s Guild is handling commissions. I don’t know how many Orders there are, but they should be roughly the same number as these degenerate hunters. Plus, they’re also responsible for maintaining public order, so they’re clearly short-handed. ‘Also, the difference in combat power between the Order’s Guild and the Hunter’s Guild is a significant issue.’ Ah, I see. The Hunter’s Guild, or rather, led by the Hunter’s Master, has a large number of ruffian hunters, and some of them have even evolved into High Class. Around ten of them, including the Hunter’s Master. On the other hand, the Order’s Guild reportedly only has about five people besides Order’s Master Rex and Sub-Order’s Master Rosemary. In terms of level alone, there is one Order higher than Rex, but levels don’t always equate to strength, and even if they did, the difference wouldn’t be that significant. Moreover, dealing with these ruffians means we can’t predict what they’ll do. Holding the townspeople hostage comes to mind first, but they wouldn’t hesitate to do something like that.”
“Tomorrow was supposed to be a free day, but maybe we should take on a few requests.”
Prim is thinking the same thing. Well, I do need to test out my new weapons and practice magic, so I might as well hunt some monsters for food.
“Thank you.”
“It’s nothing to be thanked for. Hunters are hunters because they hunt monsters.”
“That’s right. More importantly, Mina, it’s already closed, but should we come back tomorrow?”
“No, I’ll try calling them. I’m sure most of them will be here.”
With that, Mina rang the doorbell, which appeared to be for the house section rather than the shop. Apparently, that doorbell is a magic tool that can be heard anywhere in the house, so they can immediately know if there are visitors.
“Coming, coming! Oh, Mina-san? What brings you here at this hour?”
A man who looked older than me came out. With pointed ears, I thought he was an Elf, but his skin wasn’t as pale as an Elf’s. So, a Dwarf then? He’s a bit taller than Mina, so perhaps he’s a tall Dwarf?
“Good evening, Edward-san. The shop is closed for today, isn’t it?”
“Customers aren’t coming in. Lately, I open for just a few hours during the day, and otherwise, I’m just making things commissioned by the Crafter’s Guild. And who are these two?”
The man named Edward noticed me and Prim. He’s looking at us with a suspicious gaze.
“They are Yamato Mikami and Primrose Hydrangea, and both are G-rank hunters.”
His eyes widened considerably at Mina’s introduction.
“G-rank!? Wait a minute! There shouldn’t be any G-rank hunters in Feel right now!?”
So I’ve heard. The ones called the top raid party are the ones who followed the Hunter’s Master, and there are seven S-ranks among them, five of whom have evolved into High Class. These are the highest-level hunters in Feel. Or at least, they were until we arrived.
“We just arrived in Feel today.”
“Ah, you just got here. Wait a minute! There’s a Green Fang outside! The rumors about that should have spread to other towns by now. You mean you didn’t know!?”
“Regarding that Green Fang, these two are the ones who defeated it. And the Black Fenrir too.”
“Hah!?”
I don’t care if your jaw drops. Well, Rex-san and old man Linus were surprised too, as were the nobles of the provincial government, so I fully expected this reaction.
“Ed, what are you shouting about at the entrance… Oh, it’s Miss Mina. What brings you here today?”
It seems my voice was too loud, as another Dwarf emerged from deeper inside the house. This one was shorter, as expected of a Dwarf, and had a bushy beard.
“Good evening, Richard-san. I’m accompanying these two, and I’ve come to explain the commission from the Provincial Governor.”
“From the Provincial Governor?”
“Yes. But before I could tell you, Edward-san froze up…”
“He’s a hopeless fellow. Well, please come in.”
Leaving Edward frozen in place, Richard, the Dwarf, invited us into the house.
