Volume 2 Chapter 64

After coming back from the store, I met up with Jeff-san and the others, who were now properly attired.

“Since my job’s done, I’ll be going then.” [Jeff]

“Jeff-san, thank you so much!” [Ryouma]

“It’s fine, it’s fine! See ya!” [Jeff]

Since his part was done, Jeff-san left.

I bowed to him as he left, then I took Corkin-san and the others with me and brought them to the guild.

By the way, I brought them to register at the merchant guild instead of the tamers guild. I asked them which guild they preferred, and apparently, they all preferred the merchants guild, so that’s where we went.

When we got to the guild, as usual, we were brought to the reception office, where the guild master met us.

“Are they the new employees you were talking about?” [Grisiera]

“Yes. An acquaintance of mine introduced them to me.” [Ryouma]

“You move as fast as ever. Didn’t you just talk to me this morning?

But then again, being able to move quickly is advantageous to a merchant, so I guess it’s fine.

So, you three will be working at this kid’s store?” [Grisiera]

“Yes!” [Corkin, Robelia, Tony]

When they said that, I felt like the guild master opened her eyes wide.

“Ho ho… Ryouma, just what in the world did you do? For some reason, I can feel an odd ambition from these three. Moreover, they seem unlikely to double cross you. Didn’t you just meet today?” [Grisiera]

Her eyes are as good as ever…

Maybe it’s because they were all slime researchers at one point, but after realizing the worth of the cleaner slimes, they’ve since looked at me highly despite my age. It’s probably because I was the one who discovered the cleaner slimes.

On top of that, they also carry a grudge. Just the possibility that they may be able to clear their name has probably made them happy, and to make things even better, they can now make enough to support themselves. So, it’s not that surprising that although it hasn’t been long since we became acquainted witch each other that they’ve already taken to me.

Putting the reasons aside, the guild master decided nothing was amiss and gave us authorization. Like that we completed their registration and contract.

With the guild personnel as our witness, we signed a contract that put them in charge of my cleaner slimes, but restricted them from handing them to anyone else.

There are several types of contract forms, but the one we used for our contract was one that’s usually used for big contracts. It was a special contract form, so to speak.

No spells were used or anything, but the paper itself is proof of an important document. so it can neither be forged nor rewritten. There’s also a heavy punishment associated with breaching it.

As an exception, they may hand over the cleaner slimes should I increase my stores once again. After all, without an exception like that, I won’t be able to increase my stores.

After completing the necessary paperwork, I thanked the guild master, then left the guild with the three new employees.

After that, there was only one place we would go: the store. I decided to introduce them to Carm-san and the others as soon as possible and get them starting immediately.

“Customers number 13, 14, 15!”

“Numbers 38, 39, 40. I’ll leave the laundry here!”

Also, along the way, I found out that Corkin-san was apparently a former noble. Because of that he spoke a bit arrogantly. As such, we had him carry the laundry.

Tony-san was a day labourer, so he had a lot of stamina. He too was tasked with carrying laundry.

Robelia-san’s previous work gave her plenty of opportunities to interact with people, so we put her in charge of the reception desk. Although we put her there just like that, she was able to do the job pretty well.

Actually, it seems she might have learned a trick or two from her previous work, as she’s already enchanted several adventurer customers.

It’s not like she’s wearing anything revealing too, but I guess it doesn’t really matter whether she’s dressed scantily or not. Appearance isn’t everything, after all.

Anyway, the enchanted male adventurers will probably become frequent customers.

Speaking of which, I just realized this, but it seems all the women in this store are gorgeous… Or maybe the average level of this world is just higher? I mean I don’t think I’ve met anyone unattractive just yet. Even the older ones have aged quite well.

While I was thinking that, a loud voice suddenly resounded from the store.

“Corkin, is that you, de aru!? Why are you here, de aru!?” [Raypin]

“That manner of talking… Raypin!?” [Corkin]

“…You two know each other?” [Ryouma]

Corkin-san was in the middle of carrying some laundry, while Raypin-san was leaning over the counter with a shocked expression.

While the two of them were looking at each other, petrified, I called out to them.

“Y-Yes. Raypin is a former colleague of mine.” [Corkin]

“We used to work at the same research institute, de aru. It’s been years since I left the place, but who would’ve thought we’d meet again here, de aru. Corkin, when did you come to this town, de aru?” [Raypin]

“That’s…” [Corkin]

Sounds like this is going to be complicated.

“Corkin-san, go ahead and take a break. Raypin-san, come in. We can talk in the office.” [Ryouma]

I brought the two of them into the store’s reception office.

A few minutes later.

After hearing of Corkin-san’s circumstances, Raypin-san heaved a deep sigh.

“I didn’t think you were in this town long before I arrived, de aru… I thought for sure you’d just come.” [Raypin]

“…Didn’t think you’d be in this town either. I thought for sure you’d be running all over the place chasing after monsters here and there in between towns.” [Corkin]

“It’s true I like to go around, but I need to have a town that I consider as my base. Still, what a great coincidence it is for us to have met like this, de aru.” [Raypin]

“I thought we’d never meet again too. I’ve thought about it countless times, but I really think I should’ve taken you up on your offer when you left the lab.” [Corkin]

“I told you, de aru. We may be both researchers, but our nature just doesn’t suit research institutes.” [Raypin]

“Unlike you, I don’t have any talent in magic. On top of that, I don’t have any ability to tame monsters either. Adventurer work is too dangerous and I didn’t think I could keep up, so I refused. I don’t think I made the wrong decision back then, but…

I should’ve washed my hands clean of the institute a lot earlier. If I’d done that, then at the very least, I wouldn’t have lost all my fortune.” [Corkin]

The atmosphere started to turn sad because of Corkin-san, but it was also him who cleared that atmosphere.

“But from today on, I will be working at this store, so maybe it’s not such a bad life after all. If it’s from here, then I think I can turn to those who laughed at me before and look them in the eye. And although it hasn’t been more than a few hours since I learned about them, but after hearing about the cleaner slimes, all that time I’ve spent researching slimes be it out of frustration, regret, or habit, has suddenly felt like it wasn’t so useless after all. That’s why I’m really grateful to the boss.” [Corkin]

“I’ll be relying on you from here on out, so please do your best.” [Ryouma]

“Of course.” [Corkin]

“…Well, at least your safe, de aru. If you’re going to be working at Ryouma’s store, then your livelihood will also be secured, de aru.” [Raypin]

Speaking of which, why did Raypin-san come here? It’s not like he brought any laundry with him either… Oh, did he store them in his Item Box?

“By the way, Raypin-san, did you come here to get your laundry washed?” [Ryouma]

“Oh, no, de aru! I got a lot of my laundry washed yesterday, so I’m okay on that front for now, de aru.” [Raypin]

Oh, so he came when I wasn’t around.

“I came here today to notify you, de aru. Do you know of grell frogs, de aru?” [Raypin]

“Yeah, it’s that monster that’s supposed to have an outbreak in the marsh near this town, right? Its hide can be used to make armor, while its guts can be used to make medicine.” [Ryouma]

“If you know, then that’ll make this quick. That outbreak is about to start.” [Raypin]

“Really!?” [Ryouma]

“The peak is expected to be about 3 or 4 days later, but starting tomorrow, job postings looking for grell frogs will start appearing in the guild. Grell frogs sell handsomely because they’re medicinal ingredients, so it’s a good time to make money.

Other than that, the rimel birds that feed on them are also popular among monster tamers and nobles.

If you can tame a rimel bird, you’ll gain a lot of prestige. The guild’s appraisal of you will also go up. You should give it a try if you’re interested.” [Raypin]

True. The opinion of the guild aside, from what I’ve heard, rimel birds seem to fly fast, so having one around should make for a convenient method of communication.

“Thank you for the information. I’ll be needing a fast way to communicate once I start putting up branches in the other towns, so I’ll give taming one a shot.” [Ryouma]

“I see, de aru. Good luck, de aru.” [Raypin]

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door and called for me.

I think it’s Carm-san, but he sounds like Carla-san, so it’s a bit hard to tell if it’s really him just from the sound…

“Boss, the adventurer, Asagi-sama, is here with 4 other adventurers. He says he has something to talk to you about.” [Carm]

I wonder what he wants me for. Anyway, I glanced at Corkin-san and Raypin-san, and after confirming that they were done, I replied to Carm-san.

“Please bring them here.” [Ryouma]

“Understood.” [Carm]

After Carm-san left, Corkin-san also went back to work since he could meet with Raypin-san anytime now. After they left, Asagi-san, Miya-san, Wereanna-san, Mizelia-san, and Syria-san came.

“Welcome, everyone. What’s the matter?” [Ryouma]

“Sorry for dropping by without a word, nyaa— Nyaa? Rapyin, you here, nyaa?” [Miya]

“I came here to notify Ryouma about the grell frog outbreak, de aru.” [Raypin]

“You too, huh. The reason we came here is related to that, actually, de gozaru.” [Asagi]

“I’ll cut to the chase. Ryouma, those work clothes you wore before, could you tell us where you bought them?” [Wereanna]

“Washing our clothes here works, but it’s a pain having to go back and forth. Especially, for dragonewts and beast tribe members like us. So we really would like to get our hands on some clothes that don’t dirty as easily.” [Mizelia]

Ahh, I see… Good timing. I can use this to introduce them to Serge-san’s store. I’ve already given him the waterproof cloths, so he should’ve started making them already.

“The Morgan Company of this town sells them. The product isn’t that well known yet, so there’s not a lot bof demand for them just yet. As such, I don’t know if they have any in stock. If they don’t have any, well… you’ve all met their president, Serge-san, so with my introduction, you should be able to get in touch with him.” [Ryouma]

With this, I haven’t refused them completely.

“Really!? Thank you so much!” [Syria]

“This much isn’t really worth talking about.” [Ryouma]

“No, really. Thank you. Beast tribe members have way better noses than humans think, so it’s really a huge help to us.” [Mizelia]

“The leftover smell really sucks too…” [Wereanna]

Is it really that bad?

“Thank you, Ryouma. I’ll be going to Morgan Company then, de gozaru. Please excuse me.” [Asagi]

After saying that Asagi quickly left.

“What was that? A bit odd.” [Wereanna]

“Yeah, normally, if he shows up to someone’s place so suddenly, he’ll spend a lot of time apologizing…” [Raypin]

“Ahh!?” [Syria]

“Nyaat’s happening!?” [Miya]

“The clothes Ryouma-kun was wearing! There’s a chance it might run out of stock, right!?” [Syria]

“!!!” [Miya and Co.]

“That’s it!” [Mizelia]

“Asagi didn’t want to miss out on any, so he left as soon as he could!” [Wereanna]

“We can’t be wasting time here, nyaa! Hurry, nyaa! Ryouma, thank you so much, nyaa!” [Miya]

Miya-san and the others quickly left.

Do they really hate the smell that much?

Beast tribe members and dragonewts… Just how good are their noses?

“What a noisy bunch, de aru…” [Raypin]

“Raypin-san, you’re not buying?” [Ryouma]

“I’m used to bad odor and filthy things. It’s an indispensable part of being a researcher. Besides, I intend to capture grell frogs with magic, so I won’t need to enter the marsh, de aru. I won’t get dirty much, de aru.” [Raypin]

“I see.” [Ryouma]

I continued to chat with Raypin-san about monsters after that.

Apparently, when grell frogs are purchased at the guild, each grell frog goes for 1 medium silver coin because the medicine made from their guts have various effects.

After hearing that, I checked with the medicinal knowledge I was given after coming to this world, and it seems there are about 50 different medicines that use grell frog guts as ingredient. Vitality medicine and nourishment medicines make up the most, though. And they sell particularly well to noble men.

What’s important is the processing of the ingredients. An unskilled person will cause the quality to drop. The ingredient can still be used even if it’s of a lower quality, but the resulting medicine will also be of a lower quality. There are times when the ingredients are so bad they can’t make the medicine too. That’s why the guild warns its adventurers never to attempt disemboweling themselves.

Of special note when it comes to processing grell frogs is the blood draining. If the blood isn’t drained properly, the quality will turn sour real fast… Huh? Wait a moment. Doesn’t that mean that the bloody slime is like actually really good for this?

And then after draining the blood, you have to dry the frog and its parts to preserve them, but drying them normally would damage the goods, so you have to use wind magic and dry quickly. The speed of drying directly affects the quality. I’m pretty sure I can just alchemy for that part.

The process seems simple enough, there’s plenty of ways to make use of it, and preservation isn’t a problem.

Unless you’ve taken a job, it’s usually hard to find a buyer for grell frogs. And if you do manage to find one, usually, they’ll try to drive the price down real bad. But it seems you can also just capture the grell frogs and take the job later like I do with the herb collection jobs. Maybe I should hunt them to ensure I have a good supply of medicinal ingredients.

Time passed as we chatted like that.

“It’s this late already? Sorry for keeping you up so long, de aru.” [Raypin]

“It’s fine. I had a lot of fun.” [Ryouma]

After sending Raypin-san off, the store closed too without anything out of the ordinary happening.

After confirming the proceeds of the store, I went back home.

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