Chapter 54

Ch 54 — Super High Quality Red Serpent

"I've got a purchase request, please . " I announced .

A completely bald ojisan who looked like an adventurer came out . It was just like the Adventurers Guild in Fariel .

"OK, lemme see what you got . " He squinted at my companions . "Oh, you're with Rashu's party?" The ojisan and Rashu-san nodded to each other in greeting . The bald-headed guy seemed to know the members of 'Phoenix' and Rashu-san .

"Well, there's a lot of monsters . . . " When I said that we were led back into the warehouse area .

"Won't be a problem here . Get them out . " he said brusquely .

First of all I pulled out five Orc Generals .

"H- hey, an Orc General . . . and there's five of them?" I started to pull out the Orc King but I stopped when he looked surprised . I'll hold on to the Orc King for a bit longer .

"These too, please . " I took out three Rock Birds . I definitely need to get some Rock Bird meat, it's got a delicious chicken flavour .

"R- Rock Birds too . . . ?" the bald-headed guy and the members of 'Phoenix' were shocked . I'm sorry for surprising them this way but I kept on going since there wasn't nearly enough meat . Fer and Sui eat a lot after all .

"I've got Giant Dodo and Giant Deer as well . " Everyone was stunned but I kept going .

"Murder Grizzly, Black Serpent and . . . Red Serpent . That's all . " I kept back the Orc King as I don't need it for eating yet . The Metal Lizard probably isn't edible the way it looks and what it's called . The Chimera and Orthros are sealed away permanently since they'd cause me serious problems if I brought them out .

" . . . R- Red Serpent?" The bald ojisan broke his stunned silence .

"Yeah, Red Serpent . " Was it a problem?

"Where did you catch it?" he asked, his eyes sharp . I felt intimidated by his stare .

"Well, it wasn't me that caught it . . . " I looked down at Fer lying down behind me as I spoke .

"Oh, right . A Fenrir could do it . . . " The ojisan recognised that Fer is a Fenrir right away .

"For sure, ossan . A Fenrir could catch a Red Serpent or any other monsters of that rank easy . " Rashu-san's words made me worry . After all there's the Chimera and the Orthros . . . . I'm truly sorry .

"What Rashu said . I shouldn't be surprised . " the ojisan said . The Chimera and the Orthros are permanently sealed . I'll never take them out . Please forgive me .

"I'd never see so many monsters like this, usually . . . "

"It's the first time seeing Red Serpent for me . "

"It's the first time I've seen Black Serpent myself . "

"Yeah it's pretty amazing, and Mukouda-san even has an astoundingly large Item Box . "

The other members of 'Phoenix' chimed in .

"Sure thing, it's huge . "

"Yeah, I've never seen anyone with an Item Box this big before . "

"No no, it's not really that big . " I protested .

"Mukouda-san, would you join our party?" one of the members of 'Phoenix' said as they were talking about my Item Box .

Uh, d- don't say that . . . Getting meat here is the main thing, stupid questions are an unwanted distraction .

"Groooowl . . . " Fer snarled at the members of 'Phoenix' and bared his fangs . The threat petrified them .

"Hey you idiots, shut up!" Rashu-san shouted at the other members, his face red with anger .

"Mukouda-san, we're sorry, please forgive us . Can you stop threatening us?" he pleaded .

"Yes . . . Hey Fer, it's okay, you can stop now . " Fer settled down again .

"You lot talk too much . Got it?" said Rashu-san .

"Yes, yes, yes, yes . . . " the other members of 'Phoenix' nodded like bobble-headed dolls, their faces white with fear . I'm sorry everyone but Fer is right . Anyway there are things in the Item Box that are going to stay there . Fer knows about them too, of course .

"Hey, sorry to butt in but can we get on with business?" the ojisan interrupted, trying hard not to laugh . "It's gonna take me some time to get through all this . I dunno, maybe it'll be ready by day after tomorrow?"

The day after tomorrow . . . ? We don't have any meat left . I need at least one monster's meat right now, just to cover today and tomorrow at least .

"Ummm, can you dismantle one monster for me right now?" I asked .

"Just one, huh?"

"Well, to put it simply we need the meat . I want the rest of the meat too and you can buy all the other materials but I gotta have the meat . . . " I glanced down at Fer .

"I gotcha . I'll dismantle one for you right now then . What do ya want?" the ojisan said . Great! But which one? Well it's nearly dinner-time so in that case, the Rock Bird will do .

"A Rock Bird, please . "

"Right you are . " the ojisan said and proceeded to swiftly and expertly disassemble one of the Rock Birds . The internal organs were dumped in a garbage bin . I got an odd look when I asked if they were edible . It seemed they don't eat viscera in this world . It's a pity but it can't be helped .

"Oh, is it possible to eat Red Serpent too?" I asked . It's the first one we've caught and I wasn't sure about it . It's probably OK since we were able to eat the Black Serpent .

"Huh? Sure you can eat it . It's super high quality stuff you know . Us commoners can go our whole lives without ever eating any . "

Eh, really? I wonder what it tastes like . The Black Serpent was delicious too so I've got high hopes for it .

"I'm curious, Mukouda-san, what was the meat we had last night?" Rashu-san asked with an embarrassed expression on his face .

"Well, there was Black Serpent, Cockatrice and Rock Bird . . . oh, and after that Giant Deer and Murder Grizzly . " I replied . When I said that everyone's mouth fell open .

"When we asked for some of your cooking instead of travel rations, I didn't think that . . . I'm sorry!" said Rashu-san . "We're sorry!" echoed the other members of 'Phoenix' . They all bowed their heads deeply to me .

"Hey, hey! Raise your heads please . What's going on?"

"We didn't know the meats were of such high quality, we ate too much . . . " the members of 'Phoenix' nodded in agreement with Rashu-san's words .

"It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance for us to eat such fine food . . . "

"No wonder it was so delicious . . . "

"It was all sooo tasty . . . "

I remember now that they all seemed silently overcome by the taste of last night's dinner . I'm deeply moved at their enthusiasm but it's kinda funny since the meats were all from monsters that Fer caught . They say they're high-class ingredients but it's what I've been eating all along so I can't really understand their feelings . Besides my contribution was only the seasonings and cooking so it's not a problem for me .

"We're really sorry, Mukouda-san . If you ever need something just let us know . We'll help you out any way we can . "

"No, no . Don't worry about it . Your boss brought me to this city . . . "

"No, no . we ate all your luxury meat . . . "

"No, no, you escorted the bandits to the city for me . . . "

"Hey, if I can interrupt you guys, I'm done with the dismantling . " Thanks, ojisan, great timing . I took the Rock Bird meat from the old guy and packed it away .

"Right, I'll come back the day after tomorrow, so thanks . "

"Yeah . " The members of 'Phoenix' led the way out of the Adventurers Guild .

"This Adventurers Guild is a nice place, isn't it?" I commented as we left . "Usually if I go into an Adventurers Guild with Fer I get bothered or stared at but nothing happened here . "

"It's because Leader was with you . " one of the members of 'Phoenix' explained as we walked along . "Leaders of parties like ours are well-known adventurers in this city . Nobody messes with them or anyone they're with . " Oh, so that's how it is . It's lucky I got acquainted with Rashu-san .

"Well, as those idiots say I'm well-known in this city . At the cost of repeating myself, if you run into any trouble just let us know . " Rashu-san added .

"Thank you very much . That's very reassuring . " I said .

"However we're headed off tomorrow on an escort request to a nearby town so we won't be around for about two weeks . . . " he added apologetically . Oh, right . I'm not expecting trouble in this city though .

"You guys were way too greedy . " he told his followers .

"Yeah Leader . " they agreed . There was an interruption .

"Sandra-chan!" One of the members called out .

"Shut up-" his fellows said . Ah, it looks like we had run into Sandra-chan, the gossipy Adventurers Guild staff member . Normies should explode .

"If you're still in the city in two weeks time, you can leave a message at the Adventurers Guild for me if you run into any problems . If I can help you I will . " I told him I was thankful for his help so far . Rashu-san is someone with a very strong sense of duty .

Ah, I forgot something important . "Before you go, can you tell me if there's anywhere I can stay with a contracted beast?" I asked .

"There's the 'Gyphon's Nest' inn, straight along this street . I recommend it . "

"Oh, then I'll try it . " I parted with the members of 'Phoenix' at the door of the 'Gryphon's Nest' inn . I'm finally going to sleep in a bed again after a very long time .