Chapter 48: Reunion
I arrived at the royal capital’s guild just before sunset, but when I tried to enter the dismantling area after checking in with the purchasing clerk, I was stopped.
“Hey, kid, where do you think you’re going?”
“Huh? I brought in orcs and rush wolves the other day. I also have the items Holtz asked me to bring.”
“Items Chief Holtz asked for?”
“If you don’t believe me, I’ll show you a Gray Fox at the purchase counter.”
“Ah—fine, go on.”
Since it had been nearly a month since my last visit, I suppose it’s natural they didn’t remember my face. With so many adventurers lining up before sunset, the place felt just as big as I remembered.
I searched for Holtz but didn’t see him, and there were no free dismantlers nearby, so I joined the tail end of the line.
“Hey, I heard you’ve got a Gray Fox.”
One of the men who lined up behind me called out.
“Yes.”
“Where’d you get it?”
“From the forest north of the west gate. Head left after leaving the gate and go straight north.”
“Oh? There are foxes around there? And you mentioned Chief Holtz earlier—are you acquaintances?”
“He told me to come see him whenever I had something he asked for.”
“Hmm, a special request, huh? You look like a solo adventurer, but pretty capable. Holtz is over behind that pillar. If you’ve got business, tell one of the dismantlers there and they’ll call him.”
I looked where he pointed and saw Holtz appear from behind a thick pillar and look my way. I waved at him. After two or three waves, he seemed to notice and beckoned me over. I slipped out of the line—
“Hey kid! Quit wandering around and get back in line!”
Came the inevitable yelling, and even the dismantler nearby came over glaring. But when I explained I had something Holtz asked for, pointing toward him, and Holtz waved me over again, they let me through.
“Leon? Leon, is that you? When did you come to the capital?”
I turned toward the voice calling my name… Where had I seen him? Someone who knew my name and knew I planned to come here… Jäger, maybe?
“Was it… Jäger-san?”
“Yeah. I’ve got something to talk to you about—wait for me outside once you’re done.”
“It shouldn’t take long.”
I said only that and hurried over to Holtz.
“Well? Did you hunt anything?”
“More or less.”
“Good. Line up the Chikki chikki Birds and Runner Birds first.”
He grabbed my arm and dragged me to a worktable, urging me to unload everything quickly. Impatient, as always.
I had things to do too, so I took them out immediately:
- Chikki chikki Birds: 23
- Runner Birds: 16
- Green Birds: 28
- Red Chickens: 17
- Orcs: 8
- Big Elk: 1
- Big Horn Boar: 1
- Gray Fox: 1
“Not bad. This should help me save face a bit.”
“You’re getting that many orders?”
“No matter how big they are, they’re still birds. Preferences vary, but bird meat demand is strong. We’re always short. If you reach Silver Rank, you’ll start getting designated requests.”
“No thanks. I like taking it easy. Bronze is enough for me.”
While chatting, he filled out the appraisal form and handed it to me.
Chikki chikki Birds were priced at 70,000 dara each, and even Runner Birds were valued at 42,000. Just the birds came to 3,575,000 dara, and with the beasts added, the total reached 4,568,000 dara.
I nodded, satisfied, and he called out, “Keep it coming.”
Jäger was still in line, so I told Holtz I’d wait outside and left the dismantling area.
Inside the guild…
“Seems like he’s bringing in a lot of birds.”
“That dome of his was impressive, but he seems skilled at hunting too.”
“Solo at that age, and he’s taken down plenty besides birds—those were orcs earlier, weren’t they? And a Gray Fox at the end.”
“A single Red Chicken should fetch 20,000 to 30,000. Looked like Chikki chikki Birds and Runner Birds too.”
“He might’ve been blessed with more than just wind magic.”
“You think he’ll take the offer?”
“No idea. But judging by that amount of prey, his detection and presence-sensing must be excellent.”
Reunion
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Let’s talk over drinks.”
Jäger marched forward carrying a big mug of ale and a plate piled high with snacks and claimed a table near the center of the tavern.
I felt uneasy—everyone around us looked like high-ranked adventurers, all wearing custom-made gear similar to mine. Jäger and his companions were dressed well too, now that I looked closely.
“So, when did you get here?”
“A little over a month ago. I didn’t know my way around, so I was wandering aimlessly.”
“I see. You could’ve asked for us—just mention Fang and we’d have found you sooner. Anyway, it’s good we met. How tough is that dome of yours? Depending on what it can block, we want your help with a subjugation.”
“A subjugation?”
“Yeah. We’ll handle the actual killing, but we lack defense. It’s a job to cull one or two Armor Buffalos from a herd. But if the herd charges, we’re done for. If your dome is sturdy enough, we think it can block them.”
“Armor Buffalos, huh? I’ve heard of them—warhorse-sized, with crazy charge power, right?”
“Up until now, our earth mage made a bunch of stakes for defense, but…”
He shrugged—so the mage must have died or been injured and retired.
“The client is pushing us, but we don’t want to die, so we’ve been stalling.”
A big-game hunt means the client is likely a rich merchant or noble. That might be worth considering.
“If you help, we’ll split the reward evenly.”
“Is that okay?”
“I already told you—we can’t hunt them safely without defense.”
“And you’re confident you can kill them?”
“Yeah. We’ve got a lightning mage. They can weaken one enough for us to finish it. But if we overdo it, the meat becomes unusable.”
That made sense.
“I know the dome can withstand a Black Bear’s attacks, but I’ve never tested it against anything stronger. We can test it outside the capital, and you can decide after that. Also—who’s the client?”
“That concerns you?”
“Yes. I’ve been forced into travel before because of nobles, and I’ve had bad experiences with merchants too.”
“Do you attract calamity or something?”
“Please don’t say such unpleasant things.”
“The client is Jaycee Grandiz-sama — a jeweler who’s granted the status of Count. He was the one we were guarding back then.”
He whispered it into my ear, since he couldn’t say it out loud.
If that’s the case, he might know something about the movements of Chairman Warrens of the merchants’ association, and maybe he could even look into it for me.
“If you’re satisfied with the strength tomorrow, I’ll help you — but when that time comes, you’ll listen to my request too, okay?”
“If it’s something I can do.”
We agreed to meet at the south gate the next morning, and I headed for the Martins Hotel.
“Jager-san, is he that skilled that you’d actually ask him for a favor at that age?”
“I once took shelter from the rain with him. His magic was something. Among the beasts he lined up at the dismantling station earlier, there were seven or eight orcs. There’s no doubt he’s got real skill — but what I value is his defensive power.”
His companions, seated with him, nodded in agreement, so the man who asked the question felt he shouldn’t ask any further.
The south gate was quite far from the hotel, and I panicked thinking I might be late, but I arrived just in time.
Since I didn’t know the layout of the capital, I asked them to take me somewhere adventurers normally avoid.
The place they brought me to was sparse, barely even grass — the kind of area where neither herb gathers nor herbivores would show up.
“No one comes here. Almost no adventurers, either.”
“Figured. Everyone, please stand back a little.”
Once they’d retreated more than 20 meters, I created a dusty Dome! and then moved slightly to the side to create a Vertical Rotating Ring!
I intentionally mixed in a little dust so the ring would be visible, and murmurs rose from Jagan and his group.
After telling them to watch carefully, I tossed a stone about the size of a human head into the rotating ring, throwing it underhand to match its motion.
BOOM — a satisfying thud rang out as the stone slammed into the dome and rolled down.
After firing three shots, I looked over to Jagan’s group — they were all completely frozen.
I picked up the stones that had fallen by the dome and returned them to my magic pouch, then asked Jager for his thoughts.
“Well? Do you think that could withstand an Armor Buffalo’s charge?”
“No no no, you’re something else entirely. With that much power you could attack an Armor Buffalo!”
“I really don’t want to do that.”
“Why not?”
“Whoa, that was insane power!”
“My lightning can’t compare!”
“If you combine that dome with that attack, Leon could probably take down an Armor Buffalo solo.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to… it’s that I can’t.”
“Hm? Why not?”
“What you just saw can’t be fired repeatedly, and there’s no way to defend while doing it. It hits because the target isn’t moving, but if the enemy is moving, even a hit probably won’t be fatal. If they counterattack, I’d die.”
Technically, I could fire from inside a large dome through a small opening, but it would still only be one shot — and I had no intention of teaching this to anyone.
I was already dealing with hassles just from hunting Chikki-Chikki Birds; if I hunted prey worthy of special-request bounties, the trouble afterward would only multiply.
I made more than enough hunting birds — anything beyond that was unnecessary.
“True, without defense and with only a single-shot attack, it’d be dangerous.”
“But that defense of yours is top class.”
“The question is whether it can withstand an Armor Buffalo charge — but I think it can.”
“What if we set up smaller domes around the main one? That could work.”
“Leon can cast spells consecutively anyway. It’s worth testing.”
“Then it’s settled. Help us out, Leon.”