Chapter 526: Negotiating for Silence

While completing the procedures to freeze his account at the Adventurers’ Guild, Tauro also explained the circumstances to a male receptionist in a private room at the back so he could report the quest undertaken by the B-rank team Fangs of the North Wind on their behalf.

“Y-you participated in Fangs of the North Wind’s quest?”

The male receptionist was surprised when Tauro mentioned the name of the branch’s famous team.

“Yes. As proof, I have letters from the client—the village chief—and from Kantaro, the leader who accepted the request. I also have the head of the basilisk, the target of the request to ‘investigate the unidentified monster and, if possible, subjugate it.’”

Tauro took the two letters and the severed head of the basilisk out of [Magic Storage] and presented them.

“A-a basilisk!? Huh?! When we first heard about it, most people assumed it was a giant Fire-Breathing Lizard…?!”

“It seems so. But just as the villagers of Nor Village said, it was a basilisk, so we took care of it.”

Tauro answered simply.

“I-I’m glad you’re safe… Though, judging from these letters, it seems Fangs of the North Wind was nearly wiped out… I see. All right. The letters appear genuine, so we’ll process the quest as complete and pay Black-Gold Wings its share of the reward.”

The male receptionist compared the basilisk’s head with the letters from Fangs of the North Wind and appraised them. After confirming their authenticity, he began the payment process.

He withdrew to the next room for a moment and returned carrying a leather pouch filled with the reward money.

“…Here is your payment. —And this is a message from the person in charge of the dismantling division in the back. They wanted to ask whether you’d be interested in selling the body of the basilisk you defeated?”

The male receptionist handed Tauro the money and offered to buy the basilisk’s body.

“Oh, right—I forgot. But can you actually sell a basilisk’s body?”

Remembering the basilisk’s body that might otherwise simply remain in [Magic Storage], Tauro asked.

“Of course it’ll sell! In fact, since it’s a legendary-class monster, I think many nobles and wealthy individuals would want it mounted together with the head. And the internal organs—especially the flame sac, the eyeballs that are the source of the petrifying gaze, and the meat—are used for research, and are also prized as delicacies. There’s nothing that would go to waste!”

The male receptionist launched into an enthusiastic pitch to persuade Tauro.

“Delicacies? That sounds great. Then could you buy three basilisks’ worth? It’d help if you could send some of the meat our way.”

Tauro gleefully pulled out three basilisks from his [Magic Storage].

“…Eh? Huh? …T-three of them!?”

Unable to comprehend the sight of three basilisks of different sizes suddenly appearing before him, the male receptionist froze for a moment before crying out in surprise.

“Ah…! We were supposed to have only subjugated one, weren’t we…”

Only then did Tauro realize that, carried away by the talk of buying, he’d also taken out the remains of the other basilisks they’d hunted.

“…Sorry. Please forget that. Just one.”

As the stunned receptionist gaped with his mouth opening and closing, Tauro put the large one and one of the smaller ones back into [Magic Storage].

“Tauro, what are you doing? And you shouldn’t suddenly show that many—if you do, they’ll lowball you and drive the price down,” Aeris said, finally breaking her silence with a remark that missed the real issue.

“You two, that’s not the issue here. The real problem is that three legendary-class monsters appeared in the first place,” Ankh pointed out their mistake.

“Ankh-san, I think the problem is probably even bigger than that, as we—basically a solo team—were the ones who defeated them,” Zion said, correcting Ankh’s slightly misplaced focus.

“Hahaha! I see, that’s it! I was wondering why you didn’t bring out the King Basilisk instead—but I guess I was missing the point too!”

Ragune laughed at herself after hearing Zion’s point, realizing that she had missed the real issue too—though mentioning the King Basilisk at all was itself a mistake.

The male receptionist was overwhelmed by the flood of information and thoroughly confused.

“Eh…? W-what do you mean? And there are three basilisks… And what exactly is a King Basilisk…?”

The male receptionist listened intently, his head on the verge of overheating as he tried to organize the flood of information: the three basilisks that had been in front of him until Tauro put them away, and the unfamiliar mention of a King Basilisk.

“Um… please forget all of that…! We’ll sell this basilisk for whatever price you say.”

Tauro approached the male receptionist with a menacing smile, flashing his honorary viscount insignia.

“Y-yes…! I didn’t see anything, and I didn’t hear anything…!”

The male receptionist nodded vigorously several times, remembering that the team he was facing wasn’t just an ordinary group of children.

“I’m glad you understand. Then we’ll consider the negotiation concluded.”

Having wrapped up the rather forceful negotiation, Tauro felt relieved.

If Black-Gold Wings returned to the Adventurers’ Guild after a year away and immediately announced that they had defeated three legendary-class basilisks, people would naturally become suspicious.

That was especially true because it had happened around Nor Village, where Tauro and the others had just been.

The area beyond the wolf-shaped boulder that served as the landmark was genuinely dangerous—not somewhere ordinary adventurers should approach carelessly.

If word got out that such a dangerous area, where basilisks appeared, existed, it was obvious that reckless adventurers would flock there, hoping to defeat a legendary monster themselves and gain fame.

That would likely cause trouble for the Dragonfolk Village as well.

The dragonfolk sometimes had to protect adventurers who wandered in by mistake, and they had said it caused trouble every time, so Tauro wanted to avoid creating more of those situations.

That was why Tauro and the others were so desperate to keep things quiet.

After making the male receptionist sign a written pledge of confidentiality, Tauro slipped a gold coin into his hand and left the room.