When Cecil and Arisa visited the adventurer space at Crown Headquarters, the atmosphere momentarily buzzed.
It was understandable.
The two, who had never brought familiars before, had brought four this time.
Having reached C Rank, their fame had grown considerably.
Of course, there were others at C Rank or higher, but attention was drawn to the two women who operated with only two slaves.
What’s more, the fact that they were rare Spirit Users among Humans accelerated this.
Even before reaching C Rank, there had been movements to recruit them into their parties, and this had only intensified.
Rumors circulated that they hadn’t teamed up with anyone yet, which is precisely why many people were trying to win them over.
As the two approached the counter, Cecil gave a bitter smile to the gaping receptionist and said,
“If you keep spacing out, your leader will get angry.”
Hearing this, the receptionist snapped back to attention and glanced back, but fortunately, the leader hadn’t noticed yet.
“…I apologize. Thank you.”
The whispered “Thank you” came from behind.
“So, is there something I can help you with?”
It seemed neither of them was holding a request form.
The receptionist assumed they had some other business besides requesting.
“Yes. Today, we’re here to register these children as familiars.”
“Certainly. Would you also need collars?”
“Well, yes. Could you prepare them for these children, and one more?”
The “one more” was for Nana, as requested by Kousuke.
They planned to report back after testing their coordination, and this was the intended time to hand it over.
“We’ll prepare the collars, so please wait a moment.”
The receptionist said so and headed towards the back of the counter.
While waiting, the two filled out the familiar registration forms.
The receptionist returned shortly after.
In her hand were five collars.
Naturally, they were equipped with an imprint officially recognizing them as familiars.
Monsters wearing these collars were officially recognized as familiars and could move freely within the town.
Of course, accompaniment by their owner was still required.
Simultaneously, they were removed from the hunting targets for material gathering.
Familiars were treated as the owner’s property, and stealing them would be akin to stealing the owner’s possessions.
Anyone who hunted another’s familiar without permission would be prosecuted for robbery.
“The forms are… filled out. Then, once the collars are attached, they will be officially recognized as familiars.”
The collars themselves had embedded recognition plates, serving as registration certificates. By registering the owners’ magic power, they would be formally recognized as familiars.
Registration on the plate and registration with Crown (the Guild) were entirely separate matters.
Registration with Crown was necessary for approval to operate within the town, but it was not required when outside the town.
However, collars were necessary to distinguish them from other wild monsters, so collars were needed for that distinction.
By the way, Kousuke had taken Nana and Wanri to Nansen before, but they hadn’t been wearing collars then.
Familiar registration and wearing collars weren’t strictly mandatory, so there wasn’t a problem.
However, it meant they couldn’t complain if they were attacked.
Kousuke didn’t know this at the time and broke into a cold sweat after hearing about it later.
However, he had instructed Nana and Wanri to escape quickly if they were attacked while he wasn’t around, so in either case, it likely wouldn’t have escalated.
The two had successfully completed their familiar registration, but that wasn’t their only task.
“And, could you also purchase some materials?”
Before coming here, they had done some light hunting to test their coordination.
They had accumulated materials from that, and now they intended to sell them.
Even without a specific request, materials that could be sold as goods were always purchased.
Crown, in particular, had a Merchant Division, so they handled purchases at the same counter.
However, purchasing materials required specialized knowledge, so a different person handled it.
“Certainly. I’ll call the person in charge.”
Of course, there were also dedicated counters for purchases, separate from the reception window.
However, going to a separate counter would be cumbersome, so they could also handle it at the same window.
This was an example of Crown’s functionality being utilized effectively.
The person in charge of purchases arrived promptly.
“Sorry to keep you waiting?”
“It’s fine. We’re having you purchase these, so we should expect to wait a bit.”
Since they hadn’t actually waited long, Cecil replied in a safe manner.
In reality, during busy times, it was sometimes better to go directly to the dedicated purchase counter.
“Then, let me have a look.”
With those words, the two began to present their materials one after another.
The capacity of the materials they brought out didn’t match the bags they were carrying.
The bags they had were storage bags incidentally given by Kousuke.
With the cooperation of Kouhi and Mitsuki, the Item Box magic was being used.
Unfortunately, the capacity was reduced compared to using the magic directly, but it was still a coveted item for adventurers.
Indeed, the staff looked on with wide eyes at the amount of material they were presenting.
The person in charge, without showing surprise, calmly appraised the incoming materials.
However, each time they picked something up, they let out sounds of admiration like “Hmm” and “Hoo.”
“Well, these are all in excellent condition. Perhaps the best we’ve ever had brought in?”
“Yes. It’s thanks to these children.”
Previously, the two had primarily used Spirit Magic for hunting.
As a result, the materials often sustained some damage and were not in the best condition.
However, with the addition of their familiars, that had changed dramatically.
Either they would use magic to keep the enemies at bay, or while their familiars were distracting them, they would finish them off with a single spell.
The fact that battles were no longer prolonged was also a significant factor.
“Indeed. How about two gold coins for everything?”
At those words, Arisa and Cecil were surprised.
Their earnings were more than double what they had made before.
They had thought the condition was good, but they hadn’t expected such a difference.
“Are they in such good condition?”
Curious, Cecil asked the person in charge.
“Yes. Especially the hides of the magical beasts. They’re in such good condition that they’ll fetch a high price for coat material.”
Hearing this, Cecil understood.
The wolves had been defeating beast-type magical beasts by biting their tracheas, causing them to suffocate.
Using magic to hunt, the materials often got damaged, but the wolves’ method avoided this.
The person in charge, hearing this explanation from Cecil, nodded in understanding.
“If you can bring them in this condition consistently, wouldn’t you be able to earn a stable income without even taking quests?”
“That much?”
“Yes. There’s always a demand for good quality hides. And they’re not just consumed in Central.”
Incidentally, the hides the two had hunted were from a species found only in Amamiya Tower, so their value was unlikely to decrease anytime soon.
From this point on, the two stopped taking any quests other than those specifically requested, and only brought in materials to sell.
However, as the materials they brought mostly consisted of hides, they would eventually earn the epithet “Hide Hunters” – though that was a story for a bit later.
My original plan was for a stereotypical (lol) adventurer to appear and show off the power of their familiars… but somehow they ended up as Hide Hunters lol.
By the way, some might ask, “Wouldn’t they get stained with blood?” Please just accept it as “Viva! Magic World!” (There are, of course, cleaning spells).
This concludes the interlude for Chapter 20.
Chapter 21 will begin tomorrow.
