Life had been steadily progressing save. It turned out Alice’s recommendation was not uninformed. The rabbit’s quest was, overall, the best quest available. It paid handsomely, and depending on your approach, it is relatively safe.

However, it is not a lottery. The traditional hunting methods are much different than the approach we took. Hunting a single rabbit was a tremendous time investment. The most advisable method was purchasing a rather expensive bait and a specifically-made cage to trap it.

Depending on how lucky and experienced you are, a single trap would take from a few hours to a few days to catch a single rabbit, assuming no other animal or monster stumbles in and triggers it first.

We brute-forced the quest, and by doing so, caused quite the commotion. News spread like wildfire; a D-ranked party managed to hunt eight in no more than two days. Thankfully, no fingers were pointed.

Continuing the myriad of revelations, I figured out why I was getting shunned by several people. Following up on what the healer said; The Great War was the most likely reason. It started a few hundred years ago and ended around 200 years ago.

To understand the meaning behind the war, I had to dig a bit. It’s an established fact that the heroes could only be summoned after a couple of conditions are met, the first being the arrival of the demon lord. The book did not go into details, but the important thing to know is that some time after the demon lord is up and running, the summoning is unlocked, and the heroes can be called into this world.

The highest representatives of all races would gather at an undisclosed location and begin the ceremony. After a few days of onerous praying, four heroes appear, and each race is responsible for training one of them. Now, what set off a war spanning multiple centuries was that only three heroes appeared.

The Beastkin did not receive one. And they were not happy.

The ceremony was verified to have worked flawlessly. The missing hero was reasoned to being taken by one of the other races. This didn’t cause much of an issue facing the demon lord. It was later on defeated by the summoned trio. The main issue was the hero-less nation; Heroes are not only insanely powerful but also tremendously important for the global economy – allowing other individuals to earn points.

The Beastkin were missing out on both, and someone else was getting twice the rewards.

Accusations were thrown, people were killed, and chaos ensued. The book wasn’t very detailed regarding this. Most of this information came from a worn-out book on the history of demons. Anyhow, humans were blamed for the hero theft, and that was that.

While the races were bickering, the demon lord was getting stronger and stronger, the most powerful it had ever been. The goddess was fed up, stepped in, and cursed every race’s capital. It was phrased much differently, though; the benevolent goddess sent a divine revelation and put an end to the needless bloodshed. However, she, unfortunately, could not deal with the demon lord herself.

The history lesson was over, but I managed to find an interesting piece of information. The main reason the demons are at constant war with the other races was that they could not procreate on their own. A child birthed by a demon had to have one of the parents from an ‘Enlightened’ race.

Sadly, I couldn’t continue my interspecies study. Owen did not like me hanging around in the library for too long, and I still had a ton of things to look into. After our first lucrative quest together, Valeriana came to trust me more, and we reached an understanding. We would first pick a quest, thoroughly examine it, and choose the most appropriate method for tackling it.

The suggestion worked perfectly. We finished two quests each day, overachieving in both. Frankly, it worked a little too well, as Valeriana ended up dumping all the paperwork and planning onto me. I can’t exactly complain since now, I have a say in almost every action and step we take.

It took one or two hours, but our next couple of quests were carefully mapped out even though I probably didn’t have to; nothing had been able to outrun Valeriana thus far. I left the guild library, pulling up my hood. I had finally bought a cloak, one not cheap by any means. It’s covered in different shades of grey with some black splashes. The high price tag was due to the material used, I believe. The leather was extremely tough, yet at the same time, still remaining very flexible.

The second exorbitant purchase was a pair of mana-stones named igniters. As the name implies, their temperature increases the more mana they absorb, ambient or otherwise, and reaching a certain threshold, they are hot enough to ignite a piece of cloth or grass-exceptionally useful while camping, but I had other uses in mind.

The only feasible way for me to compete with the absurdity of this world is to seize every opportunity I got, and as obvious as it sounds, money. And quite a lot of it.

The igniter was an attempt at a ‘cheap’ replacement for a fire since the only place shielded from any wandering eyes was the room I’m currently residing in, avoiding even using the inn’s kitchen.

The mana-stone, when removed from its casing, would slowly build up heat until finally stopping and retaining a certain temperature. I doubt it could infinitely run, but for the few hours I left it outside, it showed no signs of cooling down. The main issue was the terminal temperature itself, not high enough to even boil water, let alone cook with. Now, if you happen to be a mage capable of manipulating mana, you could theoretically overload the stone. It required a delicate balance, but the solution worked; however, it raised another problem. I could not hold a scorching hot piece of magic stone in my hand.

Turns out I’m capable of sending mana through the link I establish. The efficiency highly decreased with the increased distance, but it worked nonetheless. What followed were grueling hours of intense concentration. I would create the link once or twice a second and send the mana into the stone without physically touching it. One of the pair cracked at some point. I had one left, but it was good enough.

A practical test confirmed this much. I bought most of the utensils locally. Merchants didn’t seem keen on hiring a mage to sell pots and pans through the shop, and the same could be said for simple ingredients.

Reaching my destination, I stepped inside, the hanging doorbell announcing my arrival.

“The hood, Edward.”

Merchants, however, did not care very much what race you were, as long as you had money, of course.

Smiling as I pulled down my hood, I greeted the ox beastkin. “How are you doing, Brock?”

“Good, good. How are you?” He replied.

“I’m great. Do you my order ready yet?”

“Aye, I do.” He entered a door behind the counter and returned carrying two barrels, one on each shoulder. Placing both down, he left once again, and this time, only had a single barrel.

Rolling his shoulders, he spoke, tapping each barrel. “A cask of Milk, a cask of butter, and a barrel of sugar. This is one giant cake you’re making.”

I chuckled. “Just stockpiling, Brock.”

He hummed in approval. “Smart man. With how close we are to the summoning, times will be hard.”

I nodded as I opened up the barrels and inspected the merchandise. Confirming everything was in order, I took out four gold coins and handed them over.

“We already agreed on three gold and fifty silver.” Waiting for me to nod, he added. “I’ll be right back.”

He came back shortly with my change. “Do you have someone to carry this for you?”

I shook my head. It was a bit premature, but I didn’t expect it to be this heavy, almost 40 kilograms each.

“I can call Johnny to carry it for ya.”

“That would be great. Thank you.”

“JOHNNY” He yelled loud enough for me to wince.

Not a heartbeat later, a kid looking like a miniature version of the Shopkeeper barged in. Johnny glanced at me first and hastily spoke. “Yes, Pa?”

“Get the cart. You’re delivering this for Sir Edward.”

“Aye, Pa.” Johnny replied, dejected.

We were out on the streets soon enough, with my hood back on and the Shopkeeper’s kid beside me pushing the cart, absolutely bored. I couldn’t relate; I still enjoyed the fantasy-like scenery.

Looking to alleviate said boredom and finding nothing to do so, he looked at me and stated. “I never saw a human before.”

Humoring him, I replied. “Really?”

“Yeah, you’re like an elf, but you know, without the ears.” I chuckled. “I mean, you have ears, but… uhh not so pointy.”

“Well, you’re not wrong.”

He rubbed his head. “Goddess, if an elf heard me, they would have cut my horns off.”

I nodded emphatically. “I feel you. I have yet to meet a nice elf.”

“So, what do you do anyway?” He asked.

I removed the pendant from under my shirt, and almost instantly, his eyes widened.

“You’re an adventurer!?” He jumped.

“Yup.” I smiled at how excited he got.

Squinting at my pendant, he spoke. “A blue pendant… you’re D-ranked” Disappointment appeared on his face but did not linger for long. “What kind of monsters did you fight? I heard some of them are as big as a house. Did you fight any of those?”

I didn’t talk much for the rest of the walk; Johnny did so for the both of us. The kid hadn’t stopped talking since, detailing his dreams and aspirations. He, of course, wanted to be an adventurer, get rich, famous, and finally marry a few hot wives. The adventuring dream was told in the first few minutes, and what followed had been different descriptions of his women.

“Mother wouldn’t let me. She says I’ll die out there, but would she know. You’re an adventurer, aren’t you? You probably-”

“Johnny.” I called out.

“-fought tons of monsters. I’m strong too. I can-”

“JOHNNY!”

He jerked.

“We’re here.”

Confusion, fear, and finally awe; he went through all three emotions.

“Th-this is the Devil’s inn. You’re staying here?” He asked in a shaky voice.

I don’t know about the name, but this was Hana’s inn. “Yes?”

His eyes darted back to the inn and finally set on me, reverence clearly visible. He shut his mouth closed, straightened his back, and hastily unloaded the barrels.

I handed him five silver coins, and after some protesting, he thanked me, looked at the inn one last time, and prepared to leave.

“Johnny.” I caught his attention. “Make sure to listen to your mother. I’m sure once you get older, she won’t object anymore.”

That was most likely a lie, but a necessary one. I don’t want a grieving mother blaming me for influencing her impressionable teen. Nonetheless, my white lie had the intended effect as he smiled and left.

With all the barrels safe in my room and Hana not convinced with the ‘adventuring supplies’ explanation, I locked the door and sat down. The next few hours were monotonous boredom of laying down with one hand in each barrel and, slowly but surely, storing all of its contents. All the items I transported were in the same condition when I recalled them, seemingly frozen in time.

With the ingredients safe and sound, I sat next to the pot, threw the igniter-stone in, and surrendered myself to the slow and grueling task. Over the next few days, I adopted a rigorous routine.

Wake up, go adventuring with Valeriana, get back and research more quests, return to the inn and start cooking. The day ended with me exhausted and with a throbbing headache from all the mana-exerting tasks.

The results were worth it, though. I was now much, much richer even though not everything sold out. I am doing a hundred pieces per batch, all of the highest measurements I created. Also, as a nice bonus, my mana-regeneration and overall control improved considerably.

A grin split my face as my thoughts wandered back to the amount of money I was currently holding.

“Eugh!” Valeriana made a sound. “The way you smile under that hood is so creepy. Why do you even wear this? It’s so ugly.”

I was in too good of a mood to bother. “I’m avoiding any… unnecessary complications, and the protection is a nice bonus.”

She groaned. “What are we doing today anyway?”

“A slime quest and hunting a boar-like monster.”

“That sounds too easy. Shouldn’t we be doing C-ranked quests anyway?”

“Have you spoken to Alice recently?” I asked.

“No.”

“She said we’re clearing quests way too fast and can qualify for a rank-up very soon.”

Her ears shot upwards as she brightened up instantly. She was in much higher spirits now, and both quests were over without a hitch. Ditching me, Valeriana returned to the inn and left me to return the quest by myself.

“Amazing as usual, Ed.” Alice commented.

“Thank you, Alice. About the rank up.”

She smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry about this, Ed. I know it’s not fair, but you can take the qualification the day after tomorrow. That way, you both would have been D-ranked for at least one week.”

I hummed in thought, considering the implications of our hasty promotion. We might be drawing too much attention.

Alice mistook my silence and bowed her head. “This is completely our fault. For the first time in the guild’s history, a party was wrongfully evaluated.” Looking me in the eyes, she continued. “I can’t force you to wait, but if you do, it’ll make things much easier in the future.”

I silently contemplated the two pleading eyes staring back at me. Alice was addressing me personally, implying the decision was mine, not Valeriana’s. Did they know something about our party’s dynamic? Were they keeping close tabs on us? Did she even know anything about our situation?

Taking the safest approach, I replied. “We’ll wait, Alice.”

She thanked me with a beautiful smile. Either she was utterly oblivious, or she might be the best actor I had ever seen.

I was almost out of the guild when I heard a feminine voice calling out my name.

“Edward, please wait.”

Sanne was running towards me, delightfully bouncing all the while. No doubt doing it on purpose, catching my eye alongside the rest of the guild. I swear I saw a smirk on her face, but I couldn’t be sure.

We haven’t had any further interactions with the duo, mainly because Valeriana stopped visiting the guild, and I didn’t linger more than necessary.

Putting on a smile, I spoke. “Sanne, how have you been?”

The eyes of the crowd went from hunger to jealousy and disdain. Hanging around her was not good for my health.

“I have been great, thank you, Edward. I haven’t seen you lately; you must have been busy.”

“Yeah, it’s been a busy week,” I replied offhandedly.

“You know, I have been so worried. I thought something might have happened to you.” She placed a hand on her chest and sighed.

I played along. “Nope, I’m perfectly fine. Sorry for worrying you.”

She looked blushed and averted her eyes. I was impressed more than anything. I have never seen anyone blushing on command before.

“I want to hear about everything you did last week. How about we go somewhere quieter?”

Her intentions were clear. She wanted to use me somehow, and I wanted to confirm what she knew about us and maybe have a little fun while I’m at it. I might have paused for too long as she decided to smile and touch my arm. I was about to speak when I felt a familiar, yet unfamiliar, sensation brushing against my head. The bitch just tried mind-fucking me.

I tried my best to keep my face neutral, keep up the façade, and not let her know I felt that, but I couldn’t. My face turned deadpan, and my eyes narrowed into a glare.

She flinched at the sudden change and took a step back.

“Unfortunately, I’m very busy. Another time, perhaps.” I spat out.

Her mask cracked, and she looked absolutely horrified. Remembering her face made me feel slightly better, but I couldn’t get the horrible taste out of my mouth. I returned to my room and continued my schedule, working twice as long that day.