The next day, I slept in until nearly noon. Yesterday I'd ended up going to the Knight Corps headquarters with Geese and the others, so it got pretty late before I could sleep. Today, I'd just spend my time in town.
First things first—breakfast! While getting dressed and peeking into my bag, I found Shiromaru gnawing on a boar bone.
"Wanna eat?"
When I asked, he wagged his tail enthusiastically and let out a little bark. I tossed in yesterday's leftover boar meat and headed for the dining hall… but—
"Tenma, there's no breakfast left. You're a bit late!"
I slumped my shoulders at the old man's words, then headed straight outside instead.
I gnawed on some bread from a nearby stall as I made my way toward the shops. It was about a twenty-minute walk from the inn, but that particular store was said to have the best selection in the entire city.
What I was after was sugar, milk, and flour. I'd suddenly been struck by a craving for something sweet. Might as well stock up while I'm at it.
Sugar first… a little pricey. Well, I've got money now, so that's fine. Ten kilos should do—1,500 G.
Next, milk. Shiromaru drinks it too, so I'd need about 20 liters. That was 600 G.
Last, flour. This could be used for all sorts of things, so I'd buy a generous amount. About 100 kilos. At 40 G per kilo, that came to 4,000 G.
Grand total: 6,100 G. Seemed about right.
After paying, I loaded everything into my bag one item at a time. A few passersby watched my bag with envy.
I returned to the inn and got permission to use the kitchen from the old man. It happened to be a slow time of day, and he tagged along out of curiosity.
"Tenma, what are you planning to make?"
The old man's eyes sparkled with interest.
"I'm thinking of making about three kinds of sweets."
"Sweets! Is there a share for me too?"
The innkeeper appeared.
"I've got plenty of ingredients, so I can make them."
"I'm counting on you!"
Her eyes lit up. I was thinking to myself, as expected, the innkeeper is a woman after all, when—
"Tenma. You're not thinking anything rude, are you?"
She fixed me with a sharp gaze.
"Not at all!"
I straightened up and answered, and behind the innkeeper, the old man was snickering like an idiot.
"Innkeeper! The old man says he'd like to present his share to you personally!"
I fired back a little payback. The old man shook his head denying it, but at the rate things were going, the innkeeper would surely swoop in and claim it.
Glared at by the old man, I got started on the sweets. I'd be making donuts, hotcakes, and pudding.
First up, pudding.
I heated the milk with sugar. Once the sugar dissolved, I cooled it with ice magic, then mixed in Rock Bird eggs—I had a lot, so I'd cracked them into a separate container beforehand. Straining the mixture through a sieve, I poured it slowly into eggshells that had been cut cleanly in half. That gave me four cups' worth.
I loaded them two at a time into a steamer and let them cook over low heat.
Last, I put sugar in a pot and set it over the fire. Once the sugar started to melt, I added a little water, and the caramel was done.
Next, I moved on to the donuts and hotcakes.
First, I filled a large pot with oil and got it heating. Then I sifted flour into a bowl, mixed in a bit of baking soda, and divided it in two. I combined Rock Bird eggs, milk, sugar, and melted butter, split that mixture in half, and gradually added it to each portion of flour.
I kneaded the dough until it was about the consistency of an earlobe, then shaped pieces roughly five centimeters in diameter and one centimeter thick, poking a hole in the center of each.
Once the oil was hot, I dropped the donuts in and fried them until they were a nice golden brown. After draining the excess oil well, I dusted the surfaces with sugar, and the donuts were done. I made about fifty of them.
To the flour and liquid I'd set aside when making the donuts, I added milk and corn syrup and mixed it all together.
Once the batter was nice and runny, I heated a frying pan, melted butter in it, and ladled in batter a scoop at a time to cook. Flip once both sides were golden, and done. I managed twenty of these.
The whole process took about an hour and a half. I loaded the donuts and hotcakes into my Magic Bag while they were still piping hot, and let the pudding and caramel cool with ice magic before packing those too.
For the innkeeper, I presented one pudding in its half-shell with a generous drizzle of caramel, ten donuts, and five hotcakes topped with butter and honey. Her mood shot up so high I thought the meter would snap clean off.
With sweets in hand, I headed for the Guild. When I went inside, I couldn't spot Flute, so I asked another staff member, who told me she was on break. Perfect timing—I had them call her for me.
Almost immediately after the request—
"Did you need something, Tenma?"
Flute emerged from the back room.
"Sorry to bother you during your break. I made some sweets and came to share."
The moment I said it, her eyes lit up at the word "sweets." I offered her two pudding-in-shell caramels, thirty donuts, and ten hotcakes with butter and honey.
"Please share them with everyone."
As I laid out the sweets, a sweet aroma spread through the room. Instantly, the Guild staff—especially the female staff—fixed their gazes on me. Some even threw both hands up in delight.
"This is… Tenma, thank you so much!"
Flute was thanking me, but her eyes weren't on me. They were locked onto the sweets.
While I was there, I brought up the subjugation reward for the Rock Bird. A female staff member nearby handled it for me. I handed over twenty beak parts and received 20,000 G.
When I left the Guild, I ended up being called out to by nearly all the female staff—about ten of them.
Back at the inn, a messenger from the Knight Corps was waiting for me.
"I'm terribly sorry, but we need you to accompany us to headquarters."
I had nothing else to do, so I followed along without complaint. On the way, I heard that regarding the gemstone situation from a while back and Geese's group from yesterday, a reply had come from Duke Sanga to Primera.
"That was quick," I said.
Apparently, the Guild had borrowed a magical communication device to send the report. The device was available at the Guild in the city where the duke resided, and special permission had been granted for emergency use.
Upon arriving at headquarters, I was led to the room where Primera was.
"Tenma, I'm sorry to drag you all the way here. This morning a reply came through the Guild, so I had you summoned."
She started explaining, but—
"I ran into Flute at the Guild just a while ago, and she didn't mention anything?"
"Hm? I specifically asked Flute to let you know as well…"
She tilted her head in puzzlement. The sweets must have made her forget, Flute…
"Anyway, setting that aside, what's the outcome?"
"Ah, yes. Regarding the gemstones, my father contacted us. He'll accept them for a total of 22,000,000 G."
He said he'd "let them go for that price," but really it was more like "settle it at that figure"—half-coercive, in other words.
"Understood. I'll let the other three know myself."
I said, then produced the box containing the gemstones. Primera called someone over, had them verified, and had the box placed in the vault. Afterward, just to be thorough, she had a written receipt drawn up.
"There's also Geese's group. My father would like you to transfer ownership to them as well."
"On what terms?"
"He says a negotiator will be sent shortly, and he'd like you to work out the arrangement with that person."
Those guys aren't in any rush—no need to go through the trouble of sending a negotiator. I wouldn't have minded haggling them down to a low price either…
"Understood. Please let me know two or three days before the negotiator arrives."
I asked. Then, while I was at it, I pulled out donuts and hotcakes.
"Are you sure?"
She asked, but her eyes were already locked on. I said "help yourself," and handed over honey and butter as well.
"Thank you! I'll have some!"
Primera brought a donut to her mouth. I watched her for a moment, then left the room.
On the way back from headquarters, thinking that sweets seemed to be the way to women's hearts, I stopped to buy more sugar.
After returning to the inn, Shiromaru and I devoured every last one of the sweets… but the next day, when I went to tell the three of them about the gemstones, they sulked because I hadn't given them any sweets. As a result, I spent two consecutive days laboring over another batch.
---
The day before noon, two days after I'd made sweets for Lily and the others, Primera contacted me to say the negotiator would arrive at noon three days later. I told Lily and the others too, but they said they were no good at negotiating, so they'd leave it all to me.
Now that I knew the date, I decided to pick up a quest.
"B-Rank: Crocodile Shark." Multiple sightings reported in the river roughly 20 kilometers from Gunjou City. High probability of attacking humans—city-requested subjugation quest. 30,000 G per target.
The Crocodile Shark was basically a shark that looked like a crocodile. It was about five to six meters long—a shark's body fitted with a crocodile's scales and limbs. Despite being a shark, it could operate on land for short periods. However, its limbs were poorly developed, and its hind legs were even smaller than its front, making it extremely slow on land. As a result, its rank dropped to C when it was out of the water.
I brought the quest to the reception desk and presented my card. The female receptionist hesitated about a C-Rank adventurer accepting a quest solo. So I quietly wrapped up five donuts and handed them over—and she approved it without further fuss.
At that moment, I felt someone's gaze and looked around to find Flute smiling brightly at me and beckoning to the receptionist.
The woman approached reluctantly, whereupon Flute bonked her on the head. On top of that, Flute confiscated about three of the donuts. The receptionist handed them over with tears in her eyes, but Flute was in high spirits. When our eyes met, she put a hand over her mouth, gave a little "ho ho ho ho ho…" laugh, and swept away.
The receptionist looked pretty dejected, so I gave her an extra donut as compensation.
After that, the number of female staff who wanted to handle my quests increased and apparently caused quite a commotion, but Flute exercised her authority and forcibly took over more and more of my cases—I heard this later from the male staff.
Anyway, I'd managed to accept the quest without issue, so I prepared and headed straight for the river where the sightings had been reported.
I rode Tanikaze and arrived at my destination in about an hour. The river was roughly 300 meters wide and reportedly around 30 meters deep. When I used Detection, I got several hundred responses. Narrowing it down to ones over four meters, the responses dropped to five. Those were almost certainly the Crocodile Sharks. I couldn't be sure without catching at least one.
I got started on the subjugation. The typical method would be to catch them with nets, but my plan was "rod fishing."
For tackle, I used alchemy to craft a chain roughly 100 meters long and a massive hook nearly 30 centimeters long and about two centimeters thick.
The chain was made by linking five-centimeter oval links, creating a seamless, sturdy piece. I'd made a few of these before, figuring they'd come in handy someday, and linked them together.
For bait, I used the leftover boar meat from earlier. To boost its fish-attracting effect, I cut open a boar liver and threaded it onto the hook as well.
"Preparations complete!"
I wound the chain from the opposite end of the hook around a stake driven into the ground.
I flew out about thirty meters with the bait toward one of the responses, dropped the bait in, and hovered in the air, bobbing the baited chain up and down to attract attention.
About ten minutes later, I got a bite. Timing it just right, I yanked the chain—and nearly got dragged in by a tremendous force.
I didn't panic. I channeled Magic Power through the chain. Once it reached the Crocodile Shark, I hit it hard with a Stun. I'd imagined applying the Stun to the shark's insides, so the other individuals shouldn't have been spooked. Just in case, I'd been using Detection, and while the others had stirred in surprise, they were calm again now.
Soon after, a greenish shark roughly five to six meters long floated to the surface. I flew back to shore pulling the chain, and together with Shiromaru and Tanikaze, hauled the Crocodile Shark up onto land.
It had to weigh an estimated 300 kilograms. The massive shark, covered in bumpy green scales, twitched feebly. I used my original Non-Attribute Magic technique, Cross Shock, to destroy its brain and finish it off.
Cross Shock was a technique in which non-attribute Magic in the form of Shock Waves was fired from multiple angles with equal intensity at the same spot, concentrating devastating damage on that single point.
This allowed me to kill it with minimal external damage. I thought I might try taxidermy with this one sometime.
After using Appraisal and then checking with Detection, all remaining responses turned out to be Crocodile Sharks as well.
From the second one onward, I got the hang of it. The method was the same as the first, but the speed at which I reeled them in improved slightly. Starting from the second one, I simply bled them out to kill them as a matter of course.
I'd smoothly taken down four of them when it happened. During the bleeding process for the fourth one, Shiromaru was drinking river water when I sensed killing intent from the water about ten meters ahead of him.
"Dodge, Shiromaru!"
I shouted the warning, but the suddenness caught Shiromaru off guard. A Crocodile Shark burst out of the river with momentum, lunging to bite down on him.
I'm too late! Even as I thought this, I was about to fire off an Air Bullet—but in that instant, Shiromaru swung his right foreleg upward, and a single large, blazing blade launched out and slashed across the Crocodile Shark, tearing its body vertically in two.
Shiromaru looked like he was grinning… but the next moment, the vertically bisected Crocodile Shark slammed into him.
"Kyiii~n!"
With a cry that sounded straight out of a comedy routine, Shiromaru went tumbling backward along with the shark.
So many things happened in rapid succession that I froze for a few seconds, still in the posture of about to cast a spell.
Snapping back to my senses, I rushed over to Shiromaru. He was splattered with blood from the kill, but he was uninjured and stood up energetically.
"You're not hurt, thank goodness. I was worried, Shiromaru!"
In response, Shiromaru hung his head and tail. I patted his head and used Detection, but all Crocodile Shark responses in the area had vanished. Just to be sure, I changed a few parameters and checked again, but there were still no responses.
Subjugation complete. I had Shiromaru demonstrate his technique from earlier. He concentrated Magic Power in his forelegs and hind legs, and when he swung, blades much like the one before launched out. Not only that, he could increase the number to as many as four. Looking closely at Shiromaru's forelegs, it seemed there were two activation methods.
The first was channeling Magic Power through the fingers (claws) and firing from there.
The second was keeping the fingers spread and firing Magic Power from between them.
The claw method was easier than the between-the-fingers method and produced sharper blades.
The between-the-fingers method, on the other hand, could create larger ones compared to the claw method, but as a result, rather than a slicing action, it was more of a chopping or cleaving blow.
Shiromaru looked quite proud of himself, but when I tried it several times and succeeded, he made a stunned face and sulked.
To cheer Shiromaru up, I petted him, praised him repeatedly, and cooked the Crocodile Shark he'd taken down—and finally got his mood back.
Incidentally, the subjugation proof part for the Crocodile Shark was the tail fin.
As the sun began to set, I had Tanikaze carry me back to town. I arrived in under thirty minutes and went straight to the Guild. The moment I walked in, I locked eyes with Flute.
"You're back early. How did it go?"
She asked, so I handed over the four tail fins as proof of subjugation. Flute's eyes went wide.
"You got this many?! In less than half a day?!"
She exclaimed, and I had her follow me to the processing area. When she saw the nearly intact Crocodile Sharks, she let out—
"Aaahhhhhhhh!"
—letting out a scream so loud that nearby adventurers came running, saw the Crocodile Sharks face-on, and instinctively raised their weapons.
Before anyone could attack the sharks, I explained they were already dead and encouraged everyone to disperse, though a few adventurers stuck around, saying it was a rare chance to examine one up close.
"Tenma! Don't scare me like that!"
Flute was half-crying with anger. "Sorry," I apologized and held out a donut, to which she muttered under her breath while accepting it, "Well… I suppose I'll forgive you…" ……Too easy. Way too easy.
I stowed the Crocodile Sharks and returned to the counter, where Flute stamped the four tail fins with a brand mark.
This brand was applied when the subjugation part had commercial value. It was meant to prevent duplicate submissions—which was why the ones I'd shown her in the processing area had also been marked.
"Here. This is your reward for five targets—150,000 G."
She handed over a bag with the contents. I transferred it into my bag and returned the empty sack. In the distance, I could see people watching me with envy, but nobody tried to invite me into a party.
Those onlookers fell into several camps: those who knew I was raking in money precisely because I took quests alone, those who were too proud to ask a younger kid for help, and those who knew I rarely teamed up with anyone.
In the early days, some people had tried to force me into their parties, but the ones who were especially persistent ended up learning a painful lesson, so nowadays they'd all but disappeared.
"Even though you're C-Rank, Tenma, you're the top earner in this Guild."
Flute said with a smile, but from behind me, glances laced with jealousy and something close to killing intent stabbed into my back. When I casually glanced behind, a few people conspicuously looked away.
Maybe it's about time to leave this place too, the thought drifted through my head.