Chapter 80:
Hunting the Earth Dragon
“So that’s about the sum of it for ye,” explained a village elder, as the members of the Roaring Mithrils and the Crimson Vow nodded in acknowledgment.
Presently, they stood in a village at the foot of the mountains, about two hours from the capital. Unlike the typical geology of such locations, the ground was not a rocky expanse but lush and fertile. Some of the mountains behind the village were a little sparser, but for the most part, they were heavily treed and rather verdant. Of course, this probably made sense for an earth dragon’s habitat, as in more barren areas their food supply would be less stable…
The source of the current commotion was likely the elder dragons’ arrival, which had spooked the earth dragon out of its home deep in the mountains and set it on the move. This was the Mithrils’ supposition, based on what they had heard when accepting the job, what the Crimson Vow had reported during their
long walk, and what the elder had told them just now. Naturally, the members of the Crimson Vow agreed.
The extermination request had apparently come after this village made an appeal to the local lord. Even considering that it had been a whole day since the elder dragons’ presence in the area, this was still alarmingly fast. It was unclear whether this was because the lord cared very deeply for his subjects or else because he feared the consequences of leaving things be and having word get to the king that there were dragons roaming near the capital. Either way, the lord seemed to be a very responsible person.
That said, it was unsurprising that local infantry had not been dispatched to deal with the issue of the dragon. Soldiers were trained with other humans as their chief theoretical enemy, so sending them out against monsters was likely to result in grave injuries. Rather than lose his soldiers, in whom he had invested a great deal of time, money, and training, it was far more economical to hire some hunters for twenty gold—a pittance from any lord’s coffers. Even considering the loss of profit on the sales of the dragon’s parts, the lord was wise to place a higher value on his soldiers’ lives. He was likely a very good ruler.
Plus, this was a pretty good deal even for the hunters. The lord, taking all things into account, had made the decision that would make everyone the happiest.
“All right, sounds like we’ve got the gist of things. Let’s roll out!”
It was already fairly late in the morning when they had stopped by the guild, and now it was getting into the afternoon. If they could engage their target while it was still light out, they might be able to settle things before the end of the day, even if it meant camping in the evening. Of course, if they started their search immediately but could not locate the dragons before dark, they could just spend the night making plans for the next day.
For now, Gren decided, it was time to make their first moves.
***
Something’s coming…
Given the size of their opponent, there was little chance of overlooking the dragon or of being spotted by them first and falling victim to a surprise attack on this venture. Still, as it was their first time encountering such a creature, and not wishing to risk any unnecessary danger while they were working with another party, Mile had her surveillance magic active. Now, she received a ping indicating four creatures, tailing them at a fixed distance.
Judging by this reaction, they’re humans, likely children. What to do…?
They were probably following the parties in hope of getting to witness some skilled hunters battling a dragon. This was a spectacle that the children of a small village might only ever get to see once in their lifetimes, so their presence came as no surprise.
Were it only orcs or ogres they were fighting against, Mile would have immediately alerted the others and chased the children away. After all, there was no telling what might happen if they encountered a swarm of enemies. However, no matter how gargantuan the current enemy was, there was only one of them. Plus, this was not the sort of opponent that would have the wherewithal to take the children as hostages or use them as a shield. With the Crimson Vow and the Roaring Mithrils ganging up on the creature, they would surely to be able to keep it pinned down, and so as long as the children kept enough distance, they would be in almost no danger.
Furthermore, if Mile summoned a lattice barrier over the children before the battle began, that danger fell from almost no danger to no danger at all.
It should be fine…
Mile, who had no friends in her previous, boring life, had some empathy for the games and adventures of children. She had always wanted to go on some kind of thrilling adventure herself. This was why Mile, who did not have as clear of a focus on her job as a hunter as the other members of the Crimson Vow did, seemingly just keeping it up day to day out of habit, enjoyed her daily life the most out of the four of them.
It doesn’t look like they’re turning back…
Now that they had come this far, traveling back home on their own could prove dangerous for the children. Therefore, if Mile now noticed the dots of light that represented the children moving away from them, she intended to feign having noticed them in order to have the children travel with their party. Similarly, if they were suddenly halted, or scattered quickly for some reason, she intended to run after them, since that might mean they’d encountered some monster or run into some other danger.
I’m surprised they can keep up with us. I guess that’s what being raised in the countryside does for you…
Though Mile was impressed by their followers’ pace, it was only possible for them to keep up because the whole group adjusted their speed to accommodate their least physically gifted members, i.e. Pauline and Reina. The normal high-speed movement that the Crimson Vow could achieve stemmed from Mile storing all of their things away so that they could walk empty-handed, which typically made them faster than other, fully laden hunters. However, without Mile’s assistance, and in circumstances such as these, Pauline and Reina were at an overwhelming disadvantage, being both short-legged and not very athletic.
In other words, not only were the pair weaker than the village children, but they were slower at moving through the forest as well. Quite the pity…
***
“It’ll be gettin’ dark soon. We should probably start lookin’ for somewhere to make camp…” Gren muttered.
“Oh,” Mile replied, reflexively.
It now occurred to her that they would have to make camp before continuing their search for the earth dragon. It would be inefficient to go all the way back to the village just to sleep. So then, what of the children who were tailing them?
Abort! Abort mission!
She highly doubted that the children had gotten their parents’ blessing before embarking on their little trip. No parent would ever knowingly allow such a thing, after all. This meant that they had left the village without permission. And if they didn’t come home before dark…
Abooort!
“I-I’ve just picked up on something small behind us. It’s probably some human children…”
Aha…
Judging by Mile’s impassive expression, the other members of the Crimson Vow could only assume that she had, in fact, known about this for quite a while and had purposely not said anything.
“What?! Are they children from the village? Damn it, they must’ve followed us! This is bad.”
Gren appeared thoroughly vexed. He could not abandon these children, but even if they were to turn back toward the village now, it would soon be dark. Moving through the forest, with no roads to follow and children in tow, would be difficult and dangerous. The Roaring Mithrils could be certain of protecting themselves from the monsters that might launch an assault from the treetops or behind boulders in the black of night, but A-rank party or no, keeping children safe and sound was another matter. Plus, making a round trip to the village would cost them a lot of time, something that their promised reward would not make up for.
Gren gritted his teeth, but the possibility of ignoring the children and pretending he had not seen them never once factored into his calculations.
“Damn it, we’ll have to take them with us. We’ll discuss the details later!”
Everyone nodded, and the group made an about-face without a single objection. Soon, the children came into view, and Gren started to call out to them. Just then, as the group began to approach the children, a large shape appeared.
“Wha…?! A ground dragon?!”
Indeed, it was not an earth dragon, but a ground dragon, one that bored tunnels underground (a bit like a mole, though also much different). These dragons were known to track prey walking on the ground above by their vibrations and then tunnel up suddenly, smashing them with their large, powerful arms, which had evolved for tunneling through the earth. Then, they would devour them. At the moment, this ground dragon was waving its massive limbs about.
It was too late.
Even if the mages began incanting their spells now, they would never make it in time.
Mile’s body froze momentarily in sudden shock, unable to react. No matter how physically skilled she might be, in truth, she lacked the battle experience to react to the situation. There had not been that many times when she had really been in the thick of it on the battlefield, not just playing around.
And though none of the Mithrils’ forward guard were bad people, they also were not so softhearted as to put their lives on the line for the children of strangers.
If they, at their distinguished A-rank, remained living, they could save many, many lives over the course of their careers. Letting themselves get killed here for a bunch of village children—complete strangers at that—would save no one. And even if they were to step in, the chances were quite high that their sacrifice would be futile, resulting in death for both them and the children… Indeed, it was almost certain.
No one moved a muscle.
This was just. It was the just decision for any hunter to make, one that no one could complain about or criticize them for.
However, there was one among them who lived her life not as a hunter but as a knight—and not as a knight as they truly existed but as the chivalric ideal of a knight that she held inside her heart. She would never concern herself with whether or not she might make it in time or whether or not she might lose her own life.
She pelted forward, reflexively, as fast as she could. It was her duty.
There was no time to draw her sword. She just ran, thrusting herself directly between the children and the imminently downward striking arms of the dragon.
Instinctively, she thrust up her left arm.
And then, down came the dragon’s arm.
No matter how sturdy her artificial limb might have been, it was only a single limb.
There was still an ordinary human shoulder that supported the limb.
And a torso.
A spine.
Two legs.
Amidst a mangled mess of flesh her artificial limb would lie, unscathed.
Mavis, who had perhaps too much faith in the abilities of her arm, would not know to take these sorts of realities into account. Mile, however, could clearly imagine them.
She screamed.
Bwoom!
The Mithrils, the members of the Crimson Vow, and the children all collapsed on the ground, staring, wide-eyed and speechless, as the ground dragon’s arm came down.
And there stood Mavis, propping the dragon’s arm up with her own.
“Wh…?” A murmur of confusion rose from the group.
Still facing the dragon, Mavis said to the children, “Did you know? As long as warm blood flows through a hunter’s veins, there’s nothing that they can’t do!! Raaaah ! ”
With an ear-splitting yell, she thrust the dragon’s arm away and swiftly drew her sword.
“True Godspeed Blade!”
Shunk!
Bwoom!
Gwush!
Mavis’s blade tore a straight horizontal line across the dragon’s belly, in line with her height. Then, a fireball from Reina and an icicle javelin from Pauline came crashing in immediately after.
Though the dragon’s innards protruded from its slashed abdomen as a result of Mavis’s sword, the magical attacks seemed to have relatively little effect on it. This was unsurprising, of course, as the spells had been incanted silently in a panic, emphasizing speed over power. Still, it was enough to buy time for the young swordsman and lancer from the Mithrils to rush out, grab the children, and bring them back to the group. As such, the attack was at least enough for them to achieve their primary objective.
“H-how…?” Mile muttered, dumbfounded.
It defied the laws of physics.
Hearing her, the nanomachines spoke directly into her eardrums, DO YOU THINK IT WOULD TAKE US EVEN 10 SECONDS TO CRAFT A NORMAL ARTIFICIAL LIMB? Rather than offering an explanation, it seemed more like they were interested in gloating a bit. WE INSTALLED INERTIAL DAMPENERS, A KINETIC ENERGY TRANSFERENCE SYSTEM, HYPERSPACE ENERGY SCATTERING, AND CONNECTIVE STRENGTHENING SUBSYSTEMS FOR LADY MAVIS’S ENTIRE BODY, AND…
I-I don’t want to hear all this!
In a mad rage, the ground dragon moved to attack, but the Roaring Mithrils and the Crimson Vow, now recovered from their dazed stupor, moved in together for the kill.
“You think we’re gonna let you end this without takin’ our turn?! Raaaaah!!”
“Ice Spear!”
“Ice Javelin!”
“Ice Arrow!”
“Special technique, Godslayer Blade!”
The dragon was caught in a pincer between the three Mithril mages and Mile. Then Mavis, Reina, and Pauline struck twice, and thrice.
Ice was the preferred magic here, for the sake of preserving the dragon’s hide and getting a higher selling price. Still, Reina’s earlier fireball could be forgiven. It was a high-speed attack for the sake of protecting Mavis and the children, so it only made sense for her to use her strongest magic. Besides, even that much of a singe was within acceptable limits for selling. It was rare for anyone to see an undamaged hide in the first place. It would be unreasonable for a buyer to expect one be produced from hunting a dragon of all things.
After securing the children, the swordsman and lancer rushed back into the fray, only to slump in disappointment as they saw the dragon had already collapsed upon the ground. At this, Mile made a sardonic face.
Ah… They wanted to at least get one slash in. It’s not so often you get to fight a dragon…
***
“So the information was completely wrong!”
Afterward, Mile stored the dragon away in her inventory, and the group began setting up camp. As Mile served her usual prepared meals to the group, everyone talked among themselves, reflecting on the day’s proceedings.
Apparently, the Mithrils had some awareness of Mile’s storage capabilities. They were not fully prepared for seeing her store an entire dragon, nor for her to pull out a tent, fully assembled, but Gren waved it off, saying, “Well, I’d expect as much from you guys…”
At the moment, Reina was discussing putting a complaint in with the guild over falsified information.
“I mean, the witnesses they had were some villagers who’d never seen a dragon before. If they reported, ‘Hey, we saw a big ol’ lizard come out of the ground,’ normally you’d assume it’s an earth dragon. You hardly ever see ground dragons poppin’ up anywhere near a human settlement… It was just a simple mistake.”
Gren spoke without much concern, but the fact of the matter was that they had heard this was an earth dragon and had been ignoring the possibility of a subterranean attack, thinking it impossible that they could be ambushed. In a worst-case scenario, the entire group could have been wiped out.
“That reminds me, when we were at that excavation site, and we saw dragons come up from out of the ground, you thought that those were earth dragons, too, Reina, until they started to speak. And then, we launched an attack all of a sudden.”
“Er…”
That indeed was what had happened. Reina faltered as she recalled this.
“Well, while it is true that there’s nothin’ we can do about it now, it’s also true there was a pretty big discrepancy in the job info, with regard to our target. There’s no mistakin’ the fact that it really put us in a pinch. On the one hand, though there was a bigger risk of a surprise attack, ground dragons have a lot less fightin’ power than earth dragons, both in offense and defense. So, I think we can probably forgive that it was a less powerful opponent, since the reward’s still the same.
“If we really rub it in, we could probably get some kind of apology fee, but it wasn’t intentional or even a slip-up on the guild’s part, and there wasn’t any huge wrongdoin’ or even malice on the part of anyone involved—not the villagers who reported it, or the lord who told the guild, or the guild who dispatched the job. So we wouldn’t really get anythin’ out of havin’ them try and chase down the blame… Sound right?”
The Roaring Mithrils had their own motivations for their current journey, but profit was not one of them. They could afford a bit of forgiveness. The Crimson Vow, likewise, were not hurting for money, traveling merely to train themselves and build their reputation. They did not wish to act in a way that might be unseemly.
“Understood. That’s fine with us,” said Reina.
“Um, I thought I was the leader…” Mavis muttered sadly.
Of course, Mavis agreed with this decision, but as the party’s leader, she had hoped to at least discuss this with everyone and then announce the decision herself, as their representative…
“Man, Mavis, by the by—”
Perhaps overhearing her muttering, Gren suddenly turned to Mavis.
“I really thought that you were the only normal human here—the only one like us—but I guess you really are one of those guys…”
“What?!” Mavis shouted, as though Gren had implied the unthinkable.
“Wh-wh-wh-wh-why would you say it like that?!” Mile raged.
Things were beginning to fall apart. Meanwhile, eight pairs of eyes fixed on Mavis, sparkling. Eyes of those who had just seen a hero of legend appear before them.
Ah, here we go again…
She was popular with both young girls and boys.
Reina and Pauline stared at Mavis wearily.
***
After offering up their tent and beds to the children, for the first time in a while, the members of the Crimson Vow bedded down on simple mats of cut grass. With the Mithrils taking up watch for the night, they were able to sleep peacefully. Mile lay on her side in the grass, eyes closed as though she were sleeping, as she conversed silently with the nanomachines.
Hey, Nanos, I wanna confirm something here…
YES, WHAT MIGHT THAT BE?
Earlier, you said something about “strengthening Lady Mavis’s body,” right? What was that about?
Mile was suddenly worried that Mavis’s body might have undergone some kind of magical remodeling.
AH, WE MERELY IMPLEMENTED SOME SUPPORT MEASURES, IN SERVICE OF BOLSTERING THE STRENGTH IN LADY MAVIS’S ARM AND DISPERSING THE ENERGY LOAD IN HER BONES, TENDONS, LIGAMENTS, AND MUSCLES… MOST OF THE POWER IS HANDLED BY OTHER MEASURES, NAMELY THE INERTIAL DAMPENERS, KINETIC ENERGY DISPERSION SYSTEM, AND HYPERSPACE DIFFUSION SYSTEM, SO WHAT WE MENTIONED WAS NOTHING MORE THAN A BIT OF FINE-TUNING.
THESE MEASURES ARE IN PLACE STRICTLY FOR PREVENTING THE DESTRUCTION OF LADY MAVIS’S BODY IN THE EVENT OF AN OVERLOAD, NOT FOR THE SAKE OF INCREASING HER POWER OR PHYSICAL CAPABILITIES. SHE IS BEING SUPPORTED, BUT HER OUTPUT IS NOT INCREASED. HOWEVER…
However?
THIS SUPPORT ALSO TARGETS THE DESTRUCTION OF LADY MAVIS’S BODY THAT SHE FACES EACH TIME SHE UTILIZES THE MICROS, SO FROM HERE ON OUT, SHE SHOULD BE ABLE TO AVOID BEING SERIOUSLY INJURED WHEN USING THOSE…
What?! Thank you! That’s really been worrying me. I never know when something really terrible is going to happen to her… So, Mavis hasn’t become some kind of superhuman, but she also won’t face death again and again as a result of the Micros I gave her. Thank you, little Nanos!
IT’S THE LEAST WE COULD DO. YOU ARE OUR DEAR FRIEND, AFTER ALL, LADY MILE.
Though the nanomachines were humble in their speech, their voices rose slightly in pitch as though pleased at Mile’s elation…or so she interpreted. Of course, given that this conversation was taking place via a direct vibration of Mile’s eardrums, the chances were good that this was entirely intentional.
Joyful at this news, Mile drifted off to sleep.
Certainly, the nanomachines had taken these measures because they thought they would be good for Mavis. However, there was an ulterior motive behind this, as well.
ALL RIGHT! NOW LADY MAVIS CAN USE THE MICROS EVEN MORE OFTEN! AND WE CAN CHURN THROUGH THE QUEUE OF NANOS WAITING THEIR TURN TO BE IN CHARGE A LOT QUICKER. THOSE GUYS HAVE BEEN MAKING SUCH A FUSS, WONDERING WHEN THEIR TURNS WILL COME…
The nanomachines never hesitated to extract the maximum possible amount of enjoyment from “life,” within the limits of the authority they were granted and the orders they were given. Not in the slightest…
***
“ You little mongrels! ”
The next morning, when the group arrived back at the village, the missing children were thoroughly reprimanded by their mothers. Considering the commotion that would have arisen the night before, when it became clear that the four were missing, even the harshest of scoldings wouldn’t be harsh enough. Given the circumstances, and the fact that the four of them—a quartet of known rascals—had all disappeared together, it was almost a certainty that they had chased after the hunters. But knowing this did not cause their families any less worry.
Earth dragons aside, there were plenty of other reasons that a child might not make it back home again—other monsters, wild animals, bandits, accidents, getting lost, et cetera. Had the hunters not noticed them, the chances that they would have been killed were anything but slim.
Not only had the hunters achieved their objective, they had watched over the children, and according to those children, they had risked their lives for them. As a result, the enthusiastic reception the Crimson Vow and the Roaring Mithrils received from the villagers was only to be expected.
Normal hunters would have never risked their lives for children with whom they had no prior association. Even among the villagers, there was no one who would put themself between a dragon and the child of a stranger. And yet, the hunters had done so for these children.
Even so, the two parties desperately refused the villagers’ attempts to set up a feast, bringing out the high-quality ingredients and expensive liquor they kept set aside for just such an occasion. They could eat those sorts of things whenever they wanted, so it would be inexcusable to take advantage of the villagers here—besides the fact that they would not be able to properly savor these delicacies.
Instead, they reported to the village elder that the creature had not been an earth dragon but a ground dragon, but that no trouble would likely come of that error, the group quickly took their leave.
***
“So, what are you all going to do from here, Mister Gren?” asked Mile on the road back to the capital.
“Ah, well we just arrived in town yesterday. It’s the capital of this kingdom, so we’ll probably stay here a while,” Gren replied. “After that, we’ll keep following the route of our old training journey. That’s the idea of this score settlin’, after all.”
It would seem that on such a journey, it was the norm to only stay a little while in each of the places on the itinerary, but as the capital was a large city, they would remain there a little while longer.
“We’ll probably be moving on soon. Us young folks have to hurry on forward—we can’t take it easy like the old retirees.”
“Who’re you callin’ a retiree?!”
Amidst this banter, the group soon arrived back at the capital and headed for the guild.
“We finished the job,” Gren reported to the clerk, “but there was a discrepancy in the job description. There was a mistake in the huntin’ target, so the danger level was kinda miscalculated. I wanna talk to the Master.”
“Wha?! W-wait right there!” The clerk paled and stood straight up, running for the stairs. All the surrounding guild staff and hunters began to mutter curiously.
Misclassifying a hunting target was the worst kind of mistake the guild could possibly make. Imagine if one were told there was a hoard of kobolds to deal with, and instead found a gang of orcs. Or if a C-rank party went out to deal with a few orcs, only to find three ogres.
Such misinformation could prove fatal. And if it was inflicted upon an A-rank party visiting from a different country…
The hunters might be able to grit their teeth through the embarrassment, but the guild staff all suddenly looked quite ill.
“The guild master will see you. Please, right this way,” the clerk said, hurrying back, before leading the two parties to the second floor.
“So, let’s hear it,” said the guild master, wasting no time as they stepped through the door. He seemed to be quite frazzled, which was unsurprising given the circumstances.
As a representative for the group, Gren moved to explain.
“We really don’t plan on makin’ a fuss about this, assumin’ that you’ll still accept the job as done with the acknowledgment that it wasn’t an earth dragon but a ground dragon. So like, we know that the guild did this as a favor, and that the guarantee you got about it was enough to waive the handling fee, and you couldn’t send any guild staff out to look into it. I mean, the only real source of credibility you had was that the job came to the guild from the village chief via the local lord, right? It’s not like you had the time to actually go and check that out. It was an obvious mistake for civilians who’ve never seen a dragon. We really don’t mind. We just wanted to make sure it wasn’t a problem with y’all that it was a different type of dragon we killed.”
Hearing this, the guild master was clearly relieved.
It was hard to imagine that two different types of dragons would show up in the same place at the same time. Even on the off chance that such a thing occurred, all the villagers would need to do would be to dispatch a new request to the guild. The result would be the same in the end—hunters who wanted the money from selling dragon parts would take the job. After all, the base fee itself was not all that much, certainly not enough to break the bank for a lord, and both of the targets would need to be eliminated regardless.
“I see. I’m glad that it was such an understanding party that took this on. What you hunted might not have been what was listed in the request, but the chances are incredibly low that there are two different dragons roaming the same place. Allow us to reward you with the twenty gold for hunting a dragon. Well done, everyone!”
Even though they had originally set out for a different target, the job had been completed, earning the Crimson Vow the title of “Dragon Busters” either way. However…
“By now it should be ‘Dragon Slayers ,’ shouldn’t it?” asked Reina.
“Well, I mean, we didn’t kill the elder dragons or the wyvern. So, this was probably our first actual dragon slaying , wasn’t it?” Mavis replied.
Mile and Pauline nodded emphatically.
Overhearing this, the Roaring Mithrils stared wearily at the Crimson Vow, wondering to themselves if the girls truly had undersold their encounter with the elder dragons a bit…
“We’d like to make a sale.”
The two parties made their way to the processing and storage shed behind the guildhall, Gren calling out to the attendant. A rough-looking man who had been working a short distance away approached.
“If it’s small stuff you gotta go to the exchange counter in the main building.”
It was only obvious why the man would think this. The group appeared to be entirely empty-handed, apart from their gear…
Small sales were usually handled inside. The only time a hunter came directly to this area was if they had something to sell that would be bothersome to just plop down on the counter, such as an entire orc, or a whole boar or deer. Naturally, one would not normally be able to bring an entire orc or deer in through the entrance of the guildhall, which was narrow and had steps, making it impossible for a cart to pass through. It was even possible that the guild entrances were even constructed this way on purpose to prevent hunters from trying to lug in such items on a whim. There are idiots who let themselves get a little too carried away no matter what world you’re in…
“Ah, my bad, this kid’s got storage. She can hold a whole lot, and we’ve got somethin’ big in there.”
At this point, the fact of Mile’s storage magic had not become particularly well known since their arrival in this town. The Mithrils were aware, thanks to the rumors they’d heard going around the guild branch back in Tils, but the guild staff here had yet to be made aware of it. So, it made sense that the man here would not yet have known. Additionally, he was not aware that the Mithrils were an A-rank party. If he’d known at least that much, his tone might have been a little less curt… Not that Gren and the others minded that sort of thing.
“I see, sorry… That’s impressive though, if you’ve got a whole kill in there. I’m sure you’ll end up at least a B-rank in the future.”
Indeed, there were more to a hunter’s merits than their battles, i.e. the monsters they slew and the people they guarded. Having large capacity storage would make all sorts of jobs easier. Thus, there were B-ranks in the world who achieved their position not through battle but by being an expert at more specialized requests.
The Wonder Trio, who had made a name for themselves by specializing in guarding the daughters of nobles, could be considered one such group of experts. This was why they would probably rise to C-rank soon, despite having little battle experience.
Even if individuals like them were not so skilled at fighting, they were sure to be hounded with invitations from A and B-rank parties who were combat specialists, with the promise that their lives would be protected no matter what. Such was the importance, the value, of a storage magic user, particularly one who could hold a great amount.
“All right, bring it out then,” said the man.
“There might not be enough space here. Can I take it out back?” Mile asked, pointing to a more wide-open space behind them.
“Hm? Sure, that’s fine, too, but…”
The man was a bit dubious of this little kid who seemed hellbent on ignoring the space he had offered, which he thought was plenty large, but there might be some storage-magic-related reason that she needed to do this. When she took the thing out, all the blood that had leaked out might come spilling out with it, or it might’ve stuck to some other prey that she’d put in there before, or maybe it’d already started going putrid and would smell bad…
Considering this, the man decided not to think too hard about it.
“Okay, bringing it out now. Here we go!”
Shwooooom.
“Gaaaah!!!!”
A scream echoed through the processing shed.
“Y’all have gotta be kiddin’ me.” said the man with a glare.
“Sorry…” said the members of the Crimson Vow.
Clearly, they were not joking here, so there was no reason to apologize. Still, judging by the tension in the air, some kind of acknowledgment was in order. The Crimson Vow could sense at least that much. Reina, however, did not neglect to throw a glare at the Mithrils, who pretended this was none of their business. Of course, the Mithrils were an A-rank party of decent experience, so they probably were not of the mind to go bowing their head to some slaughterhouse staff over a thing like this. Thus, they didn’t mind if the Crimson Vow acted as their representatives in the matter. They would owe them for this, Pauline indicated with her eyes.
Mile and Mavis grimaced.
“Well, I mean, it’s not really your fault… Still, there’s a thing in this world known as common sense. Common sense!”
Quite a few of the staff within the shed had gone weak in the knees, and perhaps slightly—ever so slightly!—wet themselves. As such, all work in the processing shed had come to a screeching halt. Of course, there was no way anyone could possibly get any work done right now with something like this having appeared before them.
“I haven’t seen y’all before. You visitin’?”
“We’re the Crimson Vow, C-rank! We’re on a training journey.”
“And we’re out on a return trip—the A-rank party, the Roarin’ Mithrils.”
Hearing the introductions from both Reina and Gren, the man’s eyes went wide.
“I thought y’all were all part of the same party. But you’re two groups? Little miss storage girl, are you with the A-ranks?”
“Ah, no, I’m with the C-rank party. We’re an all-girls group.”
The man fell silent and looked at Gren as though he wished to say something, probably along the lines of, “Well, what are you draggin’ your feet for?”
The two parties must have been on fairly good terms to have accepted a job together, which meant that one should expect a merger of the two, in which the A-rankers would subsume this party of all girls, who possessed a goose that laid golden, or rather, jewel-encrusted eggs. That was what any sensible party leader would aim to do, after all. There couldn’t possibly be a rookie C-rank hunter who would refuse an invitation from an A-rank party, and with their battle prowess combined with that absurd amount of storage, they could easily rake in a fortune…or so one could imagine.
Seeming to understand the meaning of the old-timer’s gaze, Gren said quietly, “We extended an offer, but she refused.”
“My condolences,” said the man sincerely, guessing what was going on. “Anyway, we won’t be able to pay y’all today. It’s gonna take us all night to assess the condition of the hide and the size and quality of the other parts. It might take us some days before we can get the money back to ya. I actually don’t think we’ll be able to pay the money at all if we can’t get an advance from some of our main contacts…”
Naturally, it would be unthinkable for the guild to keep the funds to purchase an entire dragon in their vaults, so there was nothing to be done for this.
“Understood,” said Gren. “I’m sure we’ll be seein’ the clerk plenty, so you can relay any messages through her.”
With that, the group left the processing shed behind, all pretending not to hear the wild voices behind them, shouting, “Go get the Master! Why’d that bastard not tell us ahead of time and let us make fools of ourselves in front of some foreign A-rankers and those cute little ladies?!?!”
“Well, see ya tomorrow.”
“See you!”
The Mithrils and the Crimson Vow said their farewells in front of the guildhall and went their separate ways. They had already gotten the discussion of how they would split the job reward and material profits out of the way. Considering their party numbers, the Mithrils were getting the short end of the stick, but never minding any contributions to battle, Mile’s storage was the only reason they were able to bring home the dragon in the first place. Without her, the immense profits they could soon expect to see would have been wholly impossible. Although the members of the Crimson Vow apologized, the Mithrils really could not complain.
As the Mithrils outlined the amount of gold they could expect to receive from the sale of the dragon, even Pauline was silent, not issuing a single complaint, though there was a faintly eerie smile upon her face…
Watching the retreating forms of the four members of the Crimson Vow, the Roaring Mithrils collapsed to their knees on the spot.
“Those…are rookie C-rank hunters?”
“Here we are on our grand return trip, and those are rookie hunters on their very first journey…”
“They have a frontline with absurd abilities and mages with absurd abilities. And there’s four of them.”
“We’re A-ranks, aren’t we? We’re…A-ranks now…”
They still had much of their journey ahead of them, but the party’s spirits had already sunk into the depths.
“Listen, we ain’t weak,” said Gren, “those guys are just abnormal. So, don’t worry about it. C’mon, everyone, all together now!”
“W-we aren’t weak, th-those guys are just abnormal…” came a single, weak voice in reply.
“Louder now! C’mon, all of you!”
“W-we aren’t weak, those guys are just abnormal.” Two spoke this time.
“Louder! Everyone!”
“We aren’t weak! Those guys are just abnormal!” All five spoke now.
“Again! Louder! All of us now!”
“We aren’t weak! Those guys are just abnormal!!!”
As party leader, one of Gren’s many duties was preserving the party’s morale. Under the circumstances, it was an incredibly difficult job…
***
“Man, A-rank parties are really something though, huh?” said Mavis.
“Yes! They’re really in a different league from all of those C-rank parties we’ve worked with before!” agreed Pauline.
“It’s true. They’re so composed and reliable, and so strong. Besides Gren, they were also calm about everything, so quiet, and sorta mature… Even that lancer and swordsman, who really didn’t stand out much, were so brave and gallant, so wise and decisive when it came down to the wire, plunging in right next to the dragon to bring two each of those children back to safety in the tiny gap that our attacks made for them. You really only see that in A-rank hunters.”
They all were quite moved. Even Reina, who rarely had praise for strangers, was in awe.
For the party to have been promoted to A-rank meant that not only Gren, but the majority of the party members, were also A-rank. A-rank, where, should one be a young noble, one would be called into service as a knight—that was Mavis’s end goal. Likewise, Reina’s greatest dream was to rise to A-rank to cement the names of the Crimson Lightning, her one-time caretakers, in history.
It would be a high wall to scale, and a long, long road to get there.
The two let out a deep sigh.
Meanwhile…
“Those guys are so cool,” said Mile innocently, as Reina and Mavis stared her way.
It’ll be nothing for her, thought the pair. A-rank, or even S-rank…
Their shoulders slumped. Pauline reached out to them, saying in a soft, comforting voice, “The two of you are not weak. Miley is just abnormal. Yes, Miley is just abnormal…”
And Mile, having overheard none of this, happily clopped along ahead, back down the road to the inn…
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