“Breeding slimes, you say?”
Royce, one of Kenerusen’s Six Marquises, tilted his head as he faced Kousuke.
From Royce’s perspective, it was as if Kousuke had suddenly brought up an unexpected topic.
Kousuke had arrived unexpectedly with Schmidt.
This was at a time when Kenerusen had just decided to become affiliated with Amamiya Tower and was in the midst of busy preparations.
Given that Kousuke and Schmidt had arrived during this period, Royce had assumed their visit was regarding the affiliation.
However, the question that suddenly came up was whether slimes could be bred.
It was natural for anyone, not just Royce, to be bewildered.
Nevertheless, Royce was one of the Six Marquises.
His mind immediately began to process the inquiry.
Kousuke and the others likely came because Royce had a strong background in animal husbandry among the Six Marquises.
This could be inferred from the nature of the question.
However, even for Royce, breeding monsters was something he had never heard of.
“Unfortunately, while I’ve heard of keeping stray monsters, I haven’t heard of breeding them,” Royce said honestly.
Schmidt nodded in agreement.
“So it’s as we suspected. We had a hunch…”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help…”
“No, no, that’s alright. We expected that might be the case,” Kousuke said, waving a hand to reassure Royce, who appeared disappointed.
“The main point is whether slime breeding is possible.”
Upon hearing this, Royce wondered if it was some kind of joke.
He couldn’t fathom the purpose of breeding monsters in the first place.
However, seeing the expressions on Kousuke and Schmidt’s faces, he realized they were serious.
He immediately began to consider the feasibility of Kousuke’s proposal.
“…Frankly, it’s something we won’t know until we try,” Royce stated.
Kousuke’s expression shifted to one of admiration. He had expected Royce to say it was impossible.
“If breeding is successful, how much would it cost?” Schmidt asked, posing a practical question.
“That would depend on how you intend to use them, wouldn’t it?” Royce replied.
Because he was asked directly about breeding, Royce hadn’t yet inquired about the intended use of slimes.
Naturally, the cost would vary depending on the application, so he couldn’t give an immediate answer.
“You’re right,” Schmidt said, nodding. He then presented something to Royce.
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“This… is a lighting fixture?”
That was the first thing Royce said upon seeing the item presented.
Lighting fixtures were expensive magic tools typically found in the mansions of nobles and wealthy merchants.
The reason for their high cost was the advanced technology used in the mechanism that allowed magic to sustain light, and the effort required to imbue them with the necessary magic power.
Those who had their own mages could manage, but that was limited to the aforementioned two social classes.
Of course, the magic tools themselves were also incredibly expensive.
What puzzled Royce was the connection between lighting fixtures and slimes.
“Yes. Actually, this lighting fixture is designed so that slimes can be used as fuel,” Kousuke explained.
Kousuke wasn’t merely imitating existing magic tools.
He had experimented extensively to create something that could be used by ordinary households, and the prototype Schmidt was holding was the result.
By the way, Kousuke hadn’t intended to reveal it yet, but Schmidt had overheard him mentioning it.
When Schmidt insisted on seeing it, Kousuke reluctantly showed him.
Kousuke was dissatisfied because the need for fuel meant the cost would be significant, deviating from his original goal of providing an affordable solution.
The result of Schmidt’s subsequent consideration was their visit to Royce.
Royce listened and nodded, seemingly convinced.
“I see, so that’s where the slimes come in.”
Slimes were, after all, famously ubiquitous monsters.
Considering this, their assumption that breeding would be easy was understandable.
Furthermore, the slimes required for Kousuke’s magic tool were Oil Slimes, a species known for being easily defeated by anyone.
They were also famous for having no practical use despite being easy to defeat.
Other types of slimes, while inexpensive, had their uses and served as a means for adventurers in the lower ranks to earn pocket money.
However, Oil Slimes, lacking any purpose, had been ignored by everyone until now.
“However, if this becomes widespread in ordinary households, it’s possible that wild ones alone won’t be enough,” Schmidt added.
Royce was greatly convinced by this statement.
Even for monsters found everywhere, it was clear that adventurers could deplete their numbers through over-hunting.
While the exact amount of fuel needed for lighting was unknown, it wasn’t guaranteed that enough could be captured to supply all ordinary homes.
Consequently, the fuel itself would become expensive, rendering the entire endeavor pointless.
“…This is a field I’ve never touched before, so I can’t give you a definitive answer without trying,” Royce said.
“Is that so?”
Seeing Schmidt’s disappointed expression, Royce made a “wait a moment” gesture with his right hand.
“What I mean by not being able to give an immediate answer is just that. Could you give me a little time? I’ll try breeding slimes experimentally,” Royce offered.
Schmidt’s expression brightened upon hearing this.
“Oh! Then…!”
“I’ll start considering it right away. If that’s the case, it won’t make sense unless we can keep the costs as low as possible,” Royce declared with conviction.
Thus began an unprecedented project to breed monsters.
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In the world of Asgard, monster tamers and monster trainers existed.
However, there was no profession similar to breeders who raised monsters.
Kousuke believed that since the breeding of horses and other animals was common, a monster breeder shouldn’t be out of the question, but it wasn’t that simple.
The aforementioned two professions were established by capturing and taming monsters that existed in the wild.
Given that monsters were generally considered targets for subjugation upon discovery, it was natural that the idea of breeding them didn’t arise.
Despite these circumstances, the slime breeding project, which began with Royce, proved to be more successful than he initially anticipated.
Perhaps choosing slimes was a good decision.
They required little specific food and ate almost anything, making them less demanding than other animals.
As a result, Royce quickly determined its profitability and began breeding slimes on a large scale.
Once Royce had a plan for slime breeding, Schmidt began selling Kousuke’s magic tools to the public.
Since the initial goal was to make them affordable, even ordinary magic tool artisans could produce them, enabling mass production.
The resulting inexpensive lighting fixtures were quickly adopted by the public.
The initial concern about the depletion of Oil Slimes turned out to be unfounded.
While the slimes were not over-hunted, the number of adventurers needed to meet household demand was insufficient.
The price of a single slime was negligible, which was a major reason why it was avoided by all but rookie adventurers.
However, by that time, Royce’s slime breeding had begun to show results, so there was no significant confusion.
Ultimately, the affordable lighting fixtures devised by Kousuke spread to ordinary households.
These were practical magic tools developed by Kousuke.
This endeavor not only succeeded in creating magic tools but also in breeding monsters.
This latter achievement was credited more to Royce than to Kousuke.
Whether Royce would later be known as the progenitor of monster breeders… is uncertain, lol.
