abcnovels
Chapter 571 Half My Soul Floated Away
Chapter 571 Half My Soul Floated Away
Chapter 571 Half My Soul Floated Away
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After breakfast, our party headed out for the Adventurer’s Guild.
Naturally, it was to deal with the Leviathan matter, the main reason why we came to the Royal Capital in the first place. According to the message I received, they had finally decided on what parts they wanted to purchase.
Speaking of which, I should mention that after the shopping trip, my familiars came home and immediately demanded dinner.
“Oi, haven’t you had enough to eat earlier?” I was feeling sluggish from overeating and they still wanted more?
“Dinner and outside meals are different!”
[1] Fer and Grandpa Gon immediately declared. Well, I had no idea how this mysterious theory works, but at least Dora-chan was somewhat normal as he rolled onto a pillow and fell asleep almost immediately. Anyway, since I was too exhausted, I just threw some meat and vegetable stir-fry on rice for my three biggest gluttons. Just looking at them eat made me feel uncomfortable, so I only had a cup of black coffee.
It was during this time that Willem-san entered the house.
“Oh? You looked tired, Willem-san,” I said courteously.
He replied with a glare and said, “Who’s fault do you think it is!?”
I flinched at this unexpected outburst. [2] Then, I looked over at my three familiars who were scarfing down their third helping of the meat and veggie don. I swear, Willem-san’s face actually reddened even further at that. Sorry, but I really don’t want to be scolded for something that’s not my fault again.
“Hurrumph, anyway, I’m here to inform you that the Leviathan has been fully dismantled. Please come over to the Guild warehouse to collect the rest of it.”
[3]
“Ah, right, sure,” although I was not too sure what I would see tomorrow, I had a feeling that it would all be very troublesome. From the way those pharmacy people wailed and howled at the spilt blood… yes, very troublesome indeed.
I am kind of scared to find out.
Let’s change the subject, “Um, would you like to have something to eat first? You look like you need it.”
Without waiting for him to say anything, I quickly put together a large bowl of meat and vegetables don, and set the food in front of him along with a bottle of beer.
“I shouldn’t…” Willem-san muttered as he eyed the beer. “I have to go back to work.
“Oh, but surely one bottle is fine? Here, have a cider too?”
I set a second bottle on the table, still beading with condensation. Willem-san visibly swallowed before grabbing the bottle of beer and chugging its contents. Then, he gobbled down the bowl of pork and vegetable stir-fry don (and another) before finishing it with the cider.
“Haahh… I feel a little more alive after that. Well, I’m off now, thank you for the food. Make sure you come to the guild tomorrow, eh?”
[3]
“Alright, sure thing!”
Haahhh… I wonder what awaits me tomorrow…
[3]
“Please allow me to guide you to the warehouse,” said the person at the counter the moment I walked into the guild.
I already knew where it was, but from the gloomy atmosphere surrounding this place and people, it was probably better to go along.
“… …” it looks like the atmosphere at the warehouse was even worse than the Guild Office.
“You’re here, sorry for the wait. The guild has decided on our purchase,” said Bram, behind him were all the other important people including Willem-san. They all looked very grim and exhausted.
Hoping for something else to talk about, I looked around the warehouse and said, “Wow, it looks like you’ve increased the security by a lot.”
“Well, this is a dangerous time after all,” said Bram-san.
“Eh?”
“Before the dismantling, to get one’s hands on the Leviathan, one has to go through your familiars. Even if someone manages to get through the security, it is almost impossible to get a piece of the creature. However, now that it has been taken apart, it was much easier to steal a vile of blood, a chip of bone or even a piece of scale. The cost of even a fragment of the Leviathan is so high that most people could retire for the rest of their lives after selling that piece.”
“Indeed,” Willem-san sighed. “We not only have to guard against outsiders but had to watch our own people as well. This kind of wealth could cause people to become blind from greed…”
“I’m ashamed to say that one of the people we caught included an employee of the Royal Capital Adventurer’s Group,” Bram-san said shamefacedly.
“Oh,” I said weakly. I guess, this would be like having a cleaner or security guard steal something from a jewellery store they work at?
“The guards we placed at your rented house also caught a few lurkers. I don’t know what they intended to do with a Fenrir and Ancient Dragon guarding the place. But, since they are idiots that were blinded by money…”
“Woah, that’s… that sounds dangerous,” I swivelled around to look at Fer and Grandpa Gon, who looked bored by the interaction.
“”Hey, did you detect any strangers around our house?””
“”Umu, there were a few insects around, but they all ran off when we looked at them,”” said Fer with a yawn.
“”They did not stay once we made our presence felt, Master.””
Right, as Bram-san said, it would be foolish to attack a house guarded by these two. Even so…
“Um, if you don’t mind my asking. What happens if they manage to get the Leviathan fragments out?”
“Most likely sell it at the black market. That’s where all stolen, dangerous and prohibited items are bought and sold. Since it’s public knowledge that we have just dismantled a Leviathan, I expect that there would be people watching the black market now.”
Woah, looks like no matter what world we are in, the black market is something that exists.
“Now, let us move on to the topic of our purchase, shall we?”
“Y-yes,”
Things the Royal Capital Adventurer’s Guild ended up purchasing from me were:
– Leviathan Blood x 30 large jars (the width of the jars were about the same as my chest
– Eyeball x 1
– Assorted bone
– Small fang x 1 (although given the size of the creature, it was pretty big)
– Part of the brain
– Part of the liver
“The guild would like to offer 180,000 gold for these, how about it?”
“… …” I was speechless.
180,000 gold.
180,000 gold!!
H-how did it turn out like this??!
“Ahem, if possible, we’d like to pay it in instalments…”
I just nodded dumbly.
To make a long story short, I received 60,000 gold from the Adventurer’s Guild in 600 platinum coins which I silently shoved into my [Item Box].
“As promised, we will send the rest of the payment to the Carelina guild, so please collect the money at your leisure there.”
[3]
My head was starting to throb by now, but I nodded again.
“The only thing left now is to return the remaining materials to you, Mukouda.”
I looked at the stacks of barrels, jars of things, neat piles of bones, teeth, and… is that the other eye floating in a jar?
What the heck am I supposed to do with so many things?
“Um, so, I’d like to offer something to the King and Count Langridge, would that be alright?”
“Umu, if you’re alright with it, I don’t see why not,” said Willem-san. “Rather, I have a feeling that if you don’t give something, you’d probably be even more uncomfortable, right?”
“Ah, Willem-san truly understands me,” I said gratefully. “Is it alright if I give half of these things as tribute?”
“What!”
“Wai!!”
“This-!!”
“Idiot!!”
Oi! Why are you all yelling at me all of a sudden?
“Um, is that not en-”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence!!” Willem-san shrieked.
I knew it was too much, but when it comes to bargaining, one should start big first!
“If it’s too much, what do you propose?”
“I… the skin, 2 or 3 rolls of skin should do it, and 1 small barrel of blood.”
A small barrel is about a third of the standard size.
“No, that’s too few. How about 10 rolls of skin and 5 large barrels of blood. Oh, I should give him some fangs too, right? Surely it would be cool for royalty to have a Leviathan fang sword or dagger? There’s Count Langridge too, um, half of what I give the king should do it.”
“Absolutely not! That’s too much!”
“An overabundance of wealth only invites disaster!”
“Hear, hear!”
The discussion went back and forth with me against an entire group of people. Finally, we managed to settle to give:
The King:
– Skin x 5 small rolls (a third of the original piece that Elland-san had cut)
– Small Fang x 2 (smaller than the one purchased by the Guild)
Count Langridge:
– Leviathan Blood x 2 small bottles
I did my best, but everyone was being really stubborn about it and saying things like, “It’s too much.”
Still, I managed to make them take two fangs for the King. I thought of adding a bit of Leviathan meat, but everyone (including the Gluttonous Four) immediately screamed ‘NO!!’
Anyway, after the tributes and gifts had been decided, I handed the lot over to Bram-san and Willem-san, with a polite ‘Please help me give these to the King and Count Langridge.’
That’s right, I tossed the responsibility of handing over the tribute to them. While I don’t dislike the King and was grateful to Count Langridge, meeting such important people is too exhausting.
Still, that barely made a dent to my stock of Leviathan materials. There were… too many of them. I mechanically shoved the things into my [Item Box], feeling like bits of my soul were being shaved off more and more.
“I just want to go home and nap…”
[Gumihou: Ahhh, isn’t it nice to have this kind of headache? Too much wealth! Too much treasure! Oh noes~]
[1] Work it into something funny yet probable
[2] Give some realistic non-kyaaa! Reaction
[3] Redid the ‘waahhh, Leviathan bits’ reaction to reflect something that’s less repetitive.