"So Jin and the others didn't know either."
"They might be a particularly rare species of spider."
After parting ways with Jin and the others, Grandpa and I returned and set the carriage up next to the apartment, watching the three spiders inside from there. A while ago, Amour and Branca had come by to take a bath, but they were gone now. Branca had apparently been planning to stay a bit longer, but Amour had tried to sneak into my bed and go to sleep, so she'd forcibly dragged her away.
"Jin and the others are a party that's delved deeper into Seigen than anyone, so I figured they'd have seen one at least... If asking Agri and the others tomorrow doesn't pan out, we'll just have to ask the King and the others."
"Indeed."
I, at least, knew the exact names thanks to Appraisal, but since I hadn't told anyone that I could use Appraisal, I'd taken to calling the golden one 'Golden Spider' and the silver one 'Silver Spider'... Before long, I might start telling the people I trusted about the magic I could use—not everything, perhaps, but some of it. Keeping secrets from Grandpa, especially, was getting harder and harder to bear.
"So, Tenma, can these spiders be tamed?"
"I'm getting close, but they seem to be wary of me right now. The Path is almost connected but won't quite link up."
When I offered them scraps of meat as food, they would eat—but only if I set the food down. If I held it in my hand, they refused. They'd wait a while after I placed it in front of them before finally taking a bite.
"It seems like we need to get them to lower their guard first before anything else, so I'm thinking of letting them roam free inside the bag. As long as I put enough food in there, they shouldn't resort to cannibalism."
"Patience seems to be the only way forward."
"Yeah."
I picked out a slightly smaller one from my spare Dimension Bags and let the three spiders inside. I'd stocked it with plenty of meat for food and vegetables for hydration, so it should last them a few days.
"Well then, good night."
I turned off the room's lights and tried to go to sleep, but the three of them—who'd barely had any screentime today—crawled into my bed, making it incredibly cramped.
"So Tenma isn't delving today. That means Sir Merlin won't be going either... You too, Amour?"
After a light breakfast, Branca asked about my schedule and deduced Grandpa's and Amour's plans as well. Grandpa had said there was no point in entering the dungeon if I wasn't going, when I'd announced my plans first thing in the morning, so he'd be taking it easy today. Amour seemed intent on following me, and once Branca told her about my schedule, she immediately moved to my side.
"Then what should I do... Delving alone wouldn't be much fun... That's it! Tenma, introduce me to that blacksmith you know. I haven't been able to find any good weapons in the Royal Capital."
"If that's the case, it'd probably be best if I went along too. He's the one who looked over my sword and armor—bit of a difficult personality, but his skills are the real deal."
"Leave it to me."
"Well then, let's head out. Grandpa, just lock up when you leave, okay?"
"Ooh, got it. Be careful out there."
After seeing Grandpa off, the three of us (plus Slarin and the others) left the apartment. It was still technically morning, but various stalls were already set up and preparing, and some were even open for business.
"The master's workshop is a bit of a distance away, so why don we take a shared carriage?"
For us, running might actually be faster, but dashing through crowded streets and pushing people aside was out of the question, so we picked a shared carriage waiting nearby.
After about forty minutes of being jostled around, we arrived at the stop near the master's workshop. A ten-minute walk from here would bring us to Master Gantz's workshop.
"Is Master Gantz here?"
"Ooh, who's... Tenma, huh? So you're back. I've heard all about your exploits! Sounds like you really caused a stir!"
The master emerged from the back of the workshop and let out a hearty laugh as soon as he saw us.
"Since you apparently tore things up so thoroughly, I need to check over your gear. Let me take a look, so bring it out."
Before I could introduce Branca, the master asked me to produce my equipment. There was no point in arguing with him, so I obediently took out the gear stored in my bag. I had been maintaining it properly, and since everything was relatively new anyway, there shouldn't be any issues.
"Oh? You got new equipment? Looks like the maker's got some decent skill... Was it Kelly who made these?"
"An acquaintance of Kelly's?"
"Who's this girl? And she's got a big one with her too."
At Amour's words mentioning Kelly, the master finally seemed to notice Branca and Amour.
"I had this made by Kelly and Tenma too!"
Amour proudly displayed the Bandit King equipment she was wearing, showing it off to the master.
"Is this one his work too? He's improved his skills. Still a bit rough around the edges, though."
The master picked up my leather armor, gave it a light tap, and examined something. Once he was done with that, he walked around Amour, inspecting her equipment as well.
"First up is Tenma's work. As leather armor goes, this is top-tier even by my standards. But if I were making it, I wouldn't limit myself to just leather. I'd sandwich a layer of processed Earth Dragon scales between the outer and inner lining. Even just a single, thinned-down layer would drastically increase the durability without adding much weight. Well, if Tenma were using it, he'd want at least two or three layers. Since it's for you, a little extra weight won't matter. If it feels too cumbersome, we can adjust certain parts. Two layers for the chest and back, one for the abdomen—something like that."
Having set down the armor, the master then turned to Amour.
"For this one, there's not much to critique, but you should still pay attention to the abdominal area. If we made pants and a jacket from Wyvern hide, it would likely deflect most attacks."
His words made me feel a little deflated. I had been involved in crafting this equipment, so I must have compromised somewhere.
"I won't be remaking the armor, though. That would be unfair to Kelly. If you really want it redone, get Kelly's permission first. The gear isn't terrible. However, this weapon is superb. The materials are excellent, and the craftsmanship is more than worthy of them."
The Adamantine sword apparently passed muster. The master had seemed unsure what to call the 'greatspear,' but in the end, he settled on the term I'd used.
"This greatspear is a weapon with a concept I've never seen before. Similar things have existed, but they were all small enough to be worn at the waist, and more importantly, never served as a primary weapon. This, however, could genuinely be a main weapon in the right hands. It's just exceptionally difficult to wield."
The master muttered something about wanting to try making one himself as he stared at the greatspear, licking his lips. Realizing that if this continued, Branca wouldn't get a chance to speak, I stored the weapon in my bag and steered the conversation to the main topic.
In short, the master agreed to make Branca's weapon. And at a discount. Before Branca had even placed an order, the master had offered to make a spear cheaply. It seemed my display of Kelly's greatspear had sparked a bit of competitive spirit. Since Branca had originally intended to order a spear anyway, he accepted the master's terms immediately, and the two promptly began talking shop on their own. Amour and I were now completely shut out.
"Well, we'll be heading out then."
Neither of them replied to my words, but Amour and I paid no mind and headed outside, making our way toward the Guild, where we expected to find Agri and the others.
"A date, a date!"
I'd initially planned to take a carriage, but Amour vetoed that, so we walked to the Guild. I flat-out refused when she tried to link arms, but she insisted on walking side-by-side anyway.
On the way to the Guild, we grabbed food from street stalls and window-shopped—activities that looked quite like a date from an outsider's perspective. Amour seemed extremely pleased with this and was in a great mood the entire time. However, when Shiromaru and Solomon, drawn by the smells from the stalls, poked their heads out of the bag, she forcefully stuffed them back inside. Well, after doing so, she did load the bag with a large quantity of food from the stalls, so neither creature complained.
"That spider... I feel like I've seen it somewhere before... Hang on."
Upon arriving at the Guild, we spotted Agri busy in a corner of the first floor. I showed him the spider and asked about it, and he left his seat as if recalling something. That left his unfinished work for me to handle in his stead. Amour, seemingly wanting nothing to do with actual work, was occupied reviewing request forms pinned on the board.
"So, what is this mountain of paperwork, Ted?"
"These are applications to join the Tamer's Guild."
Apparently, applications had skyrocketed since the Royal Capital tournament. To put it simply, when I first met them, there were zero applicants. Now, the number had grown to about two hundred. However, among these applicants were people with clearly no aptitude for being Tamers who simply wanted to join because I'd performed well at the tournament, as well as those who seemed to want to get close to me. To screen them out, they were required to submit documents in advance before their interviews.
"But while that approach might be fine for regular people, couldn't it become troublesome when dealing with nobles?"
"I believe that should be fine. Agri will serve as the representative on paper, but Marquis Samons has been appointed as the vice-representative, with Duke Audrey as the guardian. So if any problems arise, you simply notify one of the two, and they'll handle it accordingly."
This was the first I'd heard of it, but it was probably a gesture of goodwill from the King and the others. Since Marquis Samons himself was a Tamer, it wouldn't be unusual for him to be involved, and as a high-ranking noble, it would also make sense for him to stay on as vice-representative even if he couldn't visit often. As for Ernest... it probably served as a warning as well. For nobles who knew of my relationship with the royal family, it was essentially a message that said, "Don't even think about causing trouble."
Which meant I had to help out in Agri's stead, since I couldn't exactly claim this job had nothing to do with me.
"But seriously, there's not a single decent-looking applicant in the pile... What's this one even saying — 'I have no taming experience, but the Guild should let me in'? Is this guy an idiot?"
The author of this particular document was the second son of some noble, a man in his mid-forties. He was clearly targeting me. After all, his supplementary notes included things like "Daughter available, excellent looks"... Naturally, I tossed this application straight into the rejection box without a second thought. Ted was checking each application I discarded, but he'd read it, immediately fold it in half, and chuck it right back into the box. For reference, so far fewer than ten applicants had made it through to interviews. It was a bit strict, but apparently Ernest had told them to tighten up the screening process. Those who passed the document review were people who either had prior taming experience or had shown signs of potentially being able to tame. It had also been decided that Marquis Samons would secretly participate in the very first round of interviews without the applicants' knowledge.
"Tenma, you're just blasting through these applications... You're barely even reading them. Are you sure that's okay?"
"No problem. Everything I'm tossing out is from nobles who wrote 'no experience'... and on top of that, they're obviously fishing for a marriage arrangement. Same kind of garbage as the one I just threw away."
I was only glancing at the name, self-introduction, and supplementary notes sections, only touching applications that looked problematic. All the non-noble applications had been handed over to Ted entirely.
"I found it, Tenma."
Agri returned from the archives carrying an old, worn-looking book.
"I'd only read it once myself, so it took me a while to remember, but this book does mention it briefly. Let's see... here it is."
According to the book Agri had brought, the Golden Silk Spider and the Silver Silk Spider were both C-rank Monsters, though factoring in their rarity, they were on par with S-rank. Their primary methods of attack were their silk and biting. Their venom was weak but possessed paralytic properties. They could produce silk in colors close to their own appearance, and soaking it in acidic water for an extended period would strip it of its stickiness. If a creature became caught in these spider webs, even a human would be unable to move, and there were cases where prey trapped in a web was subsequently attacked by other Monsters and killed. The silk, once stripped of its adhesive, had superior luster and breathability compared to ordinary silk thread, and in terms of strength, it was dozens to hundreds of times more durable. Nest discoveries numbered around a hundred over the past few decades, but individual sightings were limited to roughly ten, with no live captures ever recorded — only a single dead specimen had ever been brought in.
That was what the book said. The volume Agri had found was written by a Tamer from ages past, documenting the rare Monsters the author had encountered in various locations. It also included entries on Earth Dragons, Unicorns, and Bicorns — a text that I believed was still perfectly relevant even in the modern era.
"Even rarer than I expected... You said 'the past few decades,' but this book itself looks ancient. How many decades ago are we really talking?"
"At least sixty to seventy years, I'd say. For the record, I last read this book over thirty years ago, and it was already quite old back then."
"This could be referring to events over a hundred years ago... Jin and the others said they'd never seen anything like spider webs in those parts either, so it's possible the population has declined even further since then."
"Or perhaps the spiders have stopped building webs altogether. To reduce the chance of being discovered, even by a little."
Afterward, I discussed things with Agri, and we decided that any information about finding spiders in the dungeon would only be reported to the Guild Master. The head of the Adventurers' Guild, Seigen, was said to be understanding toward the Tamer's Guild, so if Agri brought the matter to him, he would at least listen. However, we had no way of knowing what conclusion the Guild Master would reach after hearing the news. He might decide it was better to make it public, but even so, we agreed it was better than making the judgment on our own.
"Tenma, here."
While Agri and I were still talking, Amour — who had been off to the side until now — walked over and handed me a request form. The job was to help transport and move lumber that had been stored outside of town. The clients were a group of several craftsmen, and payment was based on the amount of wood delivered, but apparently not enough people had signed up because they determined it was more profitable to delve into the dungeon instead.
"What's with this?"
"Tenma, you've got a Magic Bag. Just carry everything, and you can make a killing with no effort!"
It was certainly a job he could turn a profit on easily, given his abilities. But for Amour, there was essentially nothing to be gained from it.
"So what's the real reason?"
"A countryside date with Tenma!"
Amour blurted out her true motive without the slightest hint of guilt. If she'd just asked me out on a date normally, I probably would've refused. So it seemed she was using the request as a pretext to drag me outside.
Putting Amour's ulterior motives aside, it was indeed a fairly lucrative request, but not one I necessarily needed to take.
"Why not just go? Having a celebrity like Tenma accept this kind of request is good for both the Guild and Seigen. Besides, making allies of craftsmen is a good thing for you, Tenma. Craftsmen have strong connections among themselves. For someone like you who keeps getting tangled up in trouble, the more allies you have, the better."
"Well, I suppose you're right... It'd be a decent way to kill some time."
After hearing Agri out, I decided to take the request. Ted was snickering behind Agri, which was mildly irritating, but having made up my mind, I needed to hurry. From now, including travel time, I'd only have about five or six hours at most. Any longer and it would be dark.
"We're going to run a bit."
"Alright!"
Amour and I went through the request acceptance process at the counter, then set off at a quick pace toward the designated location.
The designated pickup was the West Gate, and the lumber had to be transported from there to a collection point near the East Gate. However, if you tried to go straight from the West Gate to the East Gate, the roads through the slum district that spread out near the West Gate were far too narrow to pass through with raw, unprocessed lumber. As a result, the request form's instructions outlined three possible routes: carry it to the North Gate or South Gate and take the main road to the East Gate, or haul it directly along the wall to the East Gate.
"But I could go through the West Gate and head straight for the East Gate. If speed is what matters, I could use Tanikaze and run along the outside of the wall."
"Exactly. And for the record, I prefer Tanikaze too."
It took about an hour to reach the West Gate from the Guild. We arrived sooner than I'd planned, but that was because running alongside Amour along the way had naturally turned into a race.
"I'm Tenma, the one who took the request. Is this the meeting point?"
I spoke to a dwarf man who was muttering to himself just outside the West Gate. He seemed to be the representative of the clients, and several craftsmen stood in front of him.
"That's right... but why would a big shot like you take on a job like this?"
The dwarf man seemed to know who I was. When I honestly answered that I was just killing time, he burst out laughing.
"That's fine by me. If killing time adds to our fighting power, I'm all for it. But still..."
The man seemed to struggle with what to say next, then continued:
"There's a lot of weight involved—are you sure you're up for it? This is heavy labor."
According to the man, several adventurers had come before me, but most of them were fresh-faced rookies, and more than half of them turned out to be useless.
"Well, this job does suit someone with brute strength."
Saying that, I looked at the mountain of material piled up in front of me. The request sheet only said:
Lumber
But what was actually there was a massive heap of pillars and boards—things that looked like they'd come from demolished buildings. It was clearly far more than enough for one or two houses. There had to be enough for twenty or thirty at least.
"Why is there so much?" Amur asked.
Hearing that, the man pointed toward the West Gate.
"This is all from illegal structures that were built inside the West Gate, and old buildings that were at risk of collapse. We were the ones who demolished them, and we got stuck with disposing of the material. The problem is, you can't transport lumber through the slums. So we hauled everything outside first. But hardly anyone capable has shown up, so we're way behind schedule."
After saying that, he followed up:
"So—are you taking this job?"
The craftsmen behind him were all focused on me too.
"No problem! Tenma can handle this easy!"
"Oooh!!"
For some reason, Amur answered on my behalf, and the craftsmen let out a chorus of excited voices.
"Then get to it. You can handle the transport however you want. Head to the East Gate—there's a guy stationed there who'll weigh everything and fill in the amount on the completion certificate. As a rough guide, it's two thousand gold per hundred kilograms, though the pay can vary a bit depending on what you're carrying. Count on me."
"Before we start, I have a question. I have a way to move a large quantity of goods in one trip. Nobody's going to complain if I carry more than everyone else, right? There isn't some per-person quota or anything?"
I checked whether I had any contract with the other adventurers specifying how much I needed to carry, but they told me there was no such thing. Apparently, one of the contract conditions was that each trip from here to the East Gate counted as one completed commission, and I didn't need to worry about adventurers who weren't present.
"Then I won't hold back... Slarin, give me a hand."
I asked Slarin, who had been resting inside the bag, to come outside, and had her load timber into the empty Dimension Bags. To efficiently transport all the timber here, we had to pack it all the way to the edges of the Dimension Bags, so Slarin's help was necessary.
Since Slarin had Magic Bags and Dimension Bags built into her body, I first handed her the timber to store internally. Then she climbed into my bag and packed the timber in, starting from the corners. While Slarin worked inside the bag, I used my
*Guardian of Giants*
skill to sort through the timber. Amur was stationed nearby, cheering me on.
After repeating this process several times, all the empty Dimension Bags we had were completely filled.
"Well then, I'm heading out. Remember how many bags I used. They'll count on their end too, so we can verify later."
Saying that to the stunned craftsmen, I pulled the Tanikaze from my Magic Bag and activated it. After confirming that Slarin had climbed aboard, I mounted it as well. Looking at the remaining timber from atop the Tanikaze, it had been reduced to less than half of what we'd had when we first arrived. One more trip should do it.
"Hyah!"
Amur waited until I had mounted, then leaped up and landed behind me. She then wrapped her arms around my waist.
"Just as planned."
I realized now that this was why Amur had been pushing the Tanikaze, but it would have been cruel to leave her behind here, so I let the Tanikaze keep running. The route could have gone through either the north or south gate, but for some reason I headed through the South Gate. Seigen's outer perimeter was roughly a hundred kilometers, so by simple calculation, it was about fifty kilometers from the West Gate to the East Gate. The Tanikaze should cover that in about fifty minutes. If there was anything I hadn't accounted for...
"I'm getting motion sick... blegh."
It was the passenger's endurance, most likely. Riding nonstop on a vehicle going over sixty kilometers per hour was apparently too much. A regular car on a paved road would have been fine for an hour or so, but the Tanikaze vibrated like a horse and ran over mostly unpaved terrain, so Amur hit her limit after about thirty minutes. I had resistance so it didn't bother me, but to let Amur rest, I pulled over just past the South Gate. However, even a short break wasn't enough for Amur to recover. In the end, Amur had to ride inside the Dimension Bag with Shiromaru and the others.
We arrived at the East Gate roughly twenty minutes behind schedule, but the waiting craftsmen were amazed at how quickly we'd managed it — and then amazed a second time at the amount of timber we'd brought.