"What part of the bones do you want?"
The negotiation continued regardless.
When asked which part of the bones she wanted, Tida seemed to be struggling with the decision. Even I would have trouble with this one. After all, I couldn't really think of any particular use for them.
If it were for display, the full skull set would be the way to go, but the head had been ruled out of this deal.
That being the case, it didn't really matter which part you picked.
"Then could I take one of the front legs and the hind legs? For 400,000 G."
When I asked her reason, she said she wanted something that would look presentable, since she intended to keep it as a record.
In truth, that was a bargain-basement price for dragon bones, but since the very first use for bones that had come to my mind was making soup stock, I agreed to sell at that price.
"So then, the meat… how about 10,000 G per kilogram?"
That came to 1,000 G per gram (10,000 yen). Even in this world, that was a considerable sum.
As expected, Tida looked troubled.
"There are 200 kilograms, so… could you do 2,500 G per kilogram, please?"
She slashed the price down to a quarter in one go. And before I could even open my mouth, Tida continued speaking.
"I plan to serve 100 kilograms to the knights as a reward. So after deducting storage fees and labor costs, 2,500 G would be appreciated."
At the very end, Tida had turned the surrounding situation to her advantage. The knights around her were beaming at the news of a reward.
In that case, it was my turn to bend.
"Fine, that works. So that puts it at 1 million for the eyes, 700,000 for the organs, 400,000 for the bones, and 500,000 for the meat — a total of 2.6 million G. Sound right?"
"Yes."
With that, Tida began filling in the amounts on the contract alongside her name.
"So, about the Wyvern subspecies..."
"No, let's wait until the dissection is completely finished."
If this kept up much longer, Tida was going to be in trouble in more ways than one.
At my suggestion, Tida nodded without seeming particularly bothered.
Looking at her like that, I had a feeling she'd be thanking me later.
Behind her, Maria-sama was deep in thought. She was probably considering changes to Tida's future education policy.
After Tida confirmed there were no issues with the contract, she handed me a copy.
"Please check to make sure the amounts and contents are correct. I think I can have the full amount ready by tomorrow."
I gave the contract a quick look-over and then tucked it into my bag.
"Well then, I guess it's about time I headed home."
"Ah, let me walk you to the—"
Just as Tida stood up from her chair and started to walk toward me, Maria-sama placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Tida, I need to have a word with you. I'm sorry, Tenma. We'll have to excuse ourselves here."
"Ah, sure. Here—this is the bag with the Wyvern subspecies inside. Please hold onto it for me."
Maria-sama gave me a warm smile, then turned to Tida with a bright grin, and with a gentle push on her back, guided her into the castle.
"Huh? Wha—"
Tida, still not quite understanding what was about to happen, was led away by Maria-sama in a state of confusion.
"Tida... I'll pray that we can meet again tomorrow..."
I pressed my palms together and prayed toward Tida as she was being dragged away—not to any god, mind you.
"Tenma, the Earth Dragon materials have all been handed over. Come on, let's head home."
Grandpa came walking over, holding up the bag that held the Earth Dragon aloft.
It was already starting to get dark, so I hurriedly stuffed my remaining belongings into the bag and called Shiromaru and the others over.
The way Tama-chan desperately chased after Shiromaru as he hurried toward me was adorable, and the knights watching couldn't help but smile at the sight.
Once we got back to the mansion, I'd have to think about Jūbei and the others too. Even if I made them my Familiars, they didn't seem particularly suited for combat, so I figured they'd probably end up helping enrich my diet instead.
"I'll need to research how to prepare Earth Dragon meat too..."
I knew several ways to tenderize meat, but whether those methods would work on an Earth Dragon was anyone's guess, so it would largely be a trial-and-error process. Well, even if I failed, my household had its own "processor," so it wouldn't go entirely to waste.
Once I confirmed that Shiromaru and the others had gotten into the bag, I headed back to the mansion with Grandpa.
When we returned to the mansion, yet another crowd had gathered at the gate.
But this time, the crowd didn't seem to be a group of swindlers—no one tried to approach me.
We slipped through the crowd, passed through the gate, and found that the banquet was still going strong.
The men of Kukuri Village were doing most of the drinking, while the women wore exasperated expressions as they cleaned up and entertained themselves by badmouthing their husbands.
"Umm, I don't really know what's going on, but—cheers!"
"Cheers!!"
There was almost no food left, and the drunks were drinking as though to say they didn't need any snacks anyway.
But mixed in among the crowd were some people who hadn't been there when I left.
"Why are Kelly and the others here?"
"Oh, they came to see Tenma before noon, but since you weren't around, I invited them to the banquet. Man, dwarves really can hold their liquor. Just between them, they went through who knows how many barrels."
Uncle Mark, swaying drunkenly as he spoke, pointed to the empty barrels piled up behind them.
There were certainly more than ten or twenty barrels stacked there. I was curious where they'd managed to get them all, but since they were drinking dwarves, I decided to just assume they'd had them in stock.
"Well, since Kelly is here, this works out perfectly."
I'd been meaning to swing by Kelly's workshop soon to discuss equipment made from Earth Dragon materials anyway.
That's one less trip to make... assuming Kelly isn't too drunk, that is...
"Hey, Kelly! Got a minute?"
"Huh? Oh, it's the star of the show!"
Kelly, who'd been drinking straight from his mug, recognized me and immediately tried to rally everyone for another toast.
"Cheers! — Oh right, I heard you took down the Earth Dragon! Congratulations!"
Kelly drained his mug in the blink of an eye, then offered his congratulations as though he'd just remembered.
"Yeah, actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I was hoping to get a full set of armor remade using the Earth Dragon materials."
Before I could even finish my sentence, Kelly set his mug on the ground. His eyes had changed from moments ago — sharp, focused eyes of a craftsman.
"You want to leave it all to me? I hate to say it, but if you look around the Royal Capital, there are plenty of smiths out there better than me. Honestly, just the fact that Tenma is looking for a craftsman would bring a flood of them begging for the job. Even so, you want me?"
"Lacking confidence?"
At my goading words, Kelly bared his teeth in a grin.
"Don't be ridiculous. There's no smith out there who knows you better than I do!"
Kelly said this with absolute certainty, and I thrust out my hand. Kelly gripped it firmly.
He must have been pretty excited — his grip was strong enough to make my bones creak.
"So, Kelly, have you ever made armor from Earth Dragon materials before?"
"Just once, a long time ago. Back then I didn't have much material, so it was only a small shield. But I used both the scales and the hide, so I know the technique.
Similar materials
— I've worked with them plenty of times, so there shouldn't be any problems."
Or so he said.
He said special preprocessing was needed to work with Earth Dragon hide, so I went ahead and handed over the materials first.
The Earth Dragon hide had been roughly cut, but it was still considerable in size.
When I brought out the hide, the drinking buddies who'd been lounging around nearby gathered out of curiosity. After letting out cheers, they promptly started drinking again, this time with the Earth Dragon story as their chaser.
Kelly gathered all the female dwarves who'd been at the party, laid out the Earth Dragon materials in the center, and the lot of them chattered back and forth about it all. Alongside those materials, the leather armor and other protective gear I'd been using up to now was laid out as well.
"Tenma! Any requests?"
"First priority is ease of movement. Beyond that, instead of locking up the whole body stiff, I'd like it thicker only at the vital spots."
"Reinforce this one basically, got it!"
"Also, if you can make boots too, I'd love a pair."
"Sure thing… well, I'd love to say that, but boots aren't really my specialty, so I'll put in an order with a buddy of mine I trust."
"Sounds good."
Kelly had popped the question so suddenly that I decided to have something similar to my familiar armor made. The boots would be fine too if they came from someone Kelly knew. Apparently they'd need at least a few fitting sessions, but Kelly said he'd come by, so I told him a convenient day.
"It'll cost a fair bit, but that's alright, yeah?"
That was his question, so I told him no problem at all. After all, I'd sold several Earth Dragon materials to the royal family, and on top of my savings from before, there was also the tournament prize money.
If I really wanted to, I could retire right now… Not that I'm going to.
While I was going back and forth with Kelly like that, I heard a voice calling my name from somewhere.
I looked around, and there was an object crawling on all fours heading toward me. Four of them, no less.
"What are you guys doing? All four of you?"
The ones approaching were Amour and the three sisters.
Amour was in the lead, with the three sisters crawling along behind him.
Hearing my words, Amour slowly tried to stand up, but immediately the three sisters latched onto him from behind and he went tumbling down.
Amour fell and clapped a hand over his mouth, looking my way. And then...
"P-pregnant!"
He rubbed his belly while his cheeks flushed pink.
The belly he was rubbing was conspicuously swollen. And the three sisters clinging to Amour were just as swollen in the same way.
"Tenma, look, look!"
"Me too, we got pregnant too!"
"Ah, something just moved...!"
With those words trailing off, the four of them suddenly fell silent.
I remembered that I'd run into a scene like this once before, and slowly turned my back and walked away.
After that, the four of them raised protests, but they quieted down quickly. Still, I didn't look back.
Having left the four of them behind, I went looking for Jeanne and Aura.
I didn't have any particular errand to run, but I hadn't heard a sound from them and was starting to get a little worried.
However, my worry turned out to be unfounded.
Jeanne and Aura were both fast asleep, slumped against the wall of the mansion.
From this angle it was quite picturesque... Yeah, I was imagining things.
Jeanne was one thing, but Aura was a no-go. Total write-out.
Aura, sleeping next to Jeanne, had her mouth hanging open with drool streaming out, and in her hand she was clutching what must have been a glass that once held alcohol.
She looked exactly like a washed-up old drunk.
"...Aina's here."
The moment I murmured that, Aura shot upright with a start.
"Enemy! Enemy attack! Demon! Laggard!"
She was spouting all manner of incredibly dangerous things in her sleep. Since Aina had apparently returned to the Royal Capital, Aura had truly dodged a bullet there.
"Aura, if you're going to sleep, go do it in your room! And take Jeanne with you while you're at it."
"Yesss, roger that... Huh? Master Tenma, welcome back..."
Sleepy-eyed Aura had answered with a yawn before she finally noticed me.
She tried to bow to me with unsteady movements, but ended up snoring away in a bowing position.
"I'll just carry them for now... Slarin, I'm counting on you."
I asked Slarin, who had been behaving quietly in the bag, to carry the two of them to their room.
Slarin bounced its body, swelled up to a larger size, scooped the two of them up, and headed into the mansion.
When picking them up, Slarin had wrapped its tentacles around the two to lift them — though there probably isn't a gentler tentacle play than that... The fact that I'm thinking things like that probably means I'm more exhausted than I realize.
I'd wanted to turn in early today, but first I headed to the backyard, used earth magic to whip up a makeshift cattle shed, set out feed and water, and then took Juubei and the others out of the bag and into the shed.
"I'll build you a proper one soon, so bear with this for now."
At that, Juubei let out a moo and started eating.
That took care of today's tasks, at least. The party seemed like it would go on for a while longer, but it shouldn't be a problem without me there.
So I entered the mansion, cleaned myself up, and slipped into bed in my room.
When I got inside, on a whim I cast a reinforcement spell on the door, set up a Golem as a stand-in guard, and locked the door multiple times over.
...Today there were carnivorous girls around, so I was taking every precaution I could.
Fortunately, my room had its own bathroom, so there was no risk of something dangerous happening — like fumbling with the lock in the middle of the night and running into trouble.
And sure enough, my instincts proved right. In the early hours of the next morning, they found the carnivorous ones who had tried to open the door at night, only to be captured and trussed up like mealworms by the Golems. All four of them, no less...
Grandpa and I headed to the Royal Capital once more today, leaving behind the four of them, the two (formerly) slaves who were suffering from hangovers, and the men of Kukuri Village who were battling headaches while getting berated by their wives.
Jin and the others seemed to have already headed back to their inn, so I stopped by there on my way to the Royal Capital and handed over the Earth Dragon materials.
"Sorry about that. And here's Tenma's cut."
Jin had apparently already gone to cash in the spoils from the hunt, because he handed me a bag containing 40,000 gold.
"Just as expected — every cut of meat fetched a higher price than usual!"
As far as income from a single hunt went, 40,000 gold was a pretty hefty sum. But compared to what we'd earned from the Earth Dragon, it was pocket change… Naturally, I didn't say that to Jin's face…
Jin and the others planned to take it easy until the auction started, so they wouldn't be going on any hunts for a while.
After parting ways with them, I headed to the Royal Capital and arrived at the same training grounds as yesterday — only to find Luna standing in front of me for some reason.
"Luna, what about Tida and Maria-sama?"
I asked about the other two, and Luna — who had been in an unusually cheerful mood — started talking excitedly.
"Big brother is studying with Grandma right now! And because of that, I got set free! Oh, and Grandma talked it over with big brother and told me to sell the Wyvern subspecies!"
After dealing with Tida, Luna was up next? Still, I sure hoped Tida wasn't dead…
But it wasn't as though Luna had come alone. Behind her, I could spot Caesar-sama peeking out and watching me — not exactly hiding from me or Grandpa, but more keeping a watchful eye out of concern for Luna.
"So, where exactly did Maria-sama tell you to sell them?"
"Wherever I like!"
Maria-sama really had given some awfully vague instructions. Come to think of it, did Luna even know how to set a price?
While I was mulling that over, I ended up starting negotiations with Luna. But she didn't seem to have a clear idea of what the Wyvern subspecies actually were, so I started by showing her the real thing.
And once Luna actually laid eyes on the Wyvern subspecies, her one-word response was:
"Sell all of it!"
Even Grandpa was taken aback by that, though he quickly chuckled and said it was the kind of thing a kid would say.
"If you're buying them whole, just how much are you planning to pay?"
Out of curiosity, I asked Luna about it, and she tilted her head several times before speaking…
"Twenty million Gold… or so?"
The moment she casually threw out that staggering number, both Grandpa and I were stunned—and Caesar-sama, who had been eavesdropping, was just as surprised.
"Huh? Was that too low?"
Seeing me go silent in shock, Luna mistakenly assumed I'd quieted down because her offer was too cheap, and she looked over at me with a worried expression.
"So then, is thirty million Gold okay?"
She was raising the price even further. If I kept quiet like this, how high would Luna go? While I was lost in that thought, Caesar-sama hurried over.
"Luna, don't you think that's a bit too much?"
"Huh? Father, you were here?"
At Luna's question, Caesar-sama—who couldn't very well admit he'd been hiding and listening—gave a light cough and deflected with, "I just got here."
"But that Wyvern is rare and precious, isn't it? Besides, Grandma told me to buy whatever I wanted, wherever I wanted, for however much I wanted!"
Hearing that, Caesar-sama held his head in his hands, his face tense with difficulty.
"Why do you want the whole thing, Luna?"
Figuring I'd at least hear her reasoning for wanting the entire creature, I asked—and Luna's answer was simple.
"Because if you're going to display it, the whole thing looks way cooler! If we have it taxidermied and put in the entrance hall, everyone who visits the castle will be floored!"
Apparently, that was her logic. I had to admire the sheer audacity—she really was the King's granddaughter, no question about it.
Caesar-sama seemed to be thinking the same thing I was, because his eyes took on a distant, far-off look. He'd probably already come to the realization that no amount of further education could course-correct Luna at this point.
"Luna, I do need materials from the Wyvern subspecies too, you know. I can't just give it all away."
"Aw come on! Big Brother, you've got the Earth Dragon, so what does it matter? Just let me have it!"
Even after that, Luna refused to back down an inch, and Caesar-sama continued to hold his head in his hands.
And then, just when Caesar-sama's anger seemed about to explode, Luna suddenly went quiet.
With Luna suddenly turning so meek, Caesar-sama lost the timing to get angry.
"Then — half! Half and half! You've got the Earth Dragon materials too, Big Brother, so you won't use all of it, and there might even be leftovers, so just let me have
half
only!"
Half.
Only.
—those were the compromise terms Luna came up with.
But it was clear from her words that this compromise wasn't just a spur-of-the-moment idea; Luna had actually given it some thought.
Indeed, with the Earth Dragon materials on hand, there was no need for every last piece of the Wyvern subspecies materials. There was a good chance there would be leftovers.
"If we split it in half, what would the price be?"
"Hmm, let's see... Half would be around 8 million Gold? For the whole thing, 30 million Gold would be fine too, but since it's only half, and I don't need the internal organs, and Big Brother already has the magic core..."
Luna ticked off the reasons for the lower price on her fingers.
Seeing this, Caesar-sama — who had been on the verge of flying into a rage just moments ago — was quite surprised.
"Say, Tenma. That price seems about right, doesn't it? That's roughly what it should go for."
"Hmm... well, I guess that's fine."
"Really?! Thanks, Big Brother!"
Beaming with joy, Luna eagerly pulled out a contract.
On the contract, only Luna's name and the words "I agree" were written.
All that remained was for me to write my name and list which parts I was selling and at what price, and the deal would be sealed.
I wrote my name and the price, then asked Luna which part I should sell. Luna looked at me with a puzzled expression.
"Half is half, silly! Like this — split it right down the middle from face to the tip of the tail!"
Luna explained with animated gestures... That was quite a difficult order. I had been sure she meant selling half the weight.
Her method would indeed produce a clean split in half, but it would require considerable skill.
While I was mulling over how to pull it off, Luna looked up at me with an innocent face and said,
"Big bro can do it, right?"
Her eyes were completely full of trust. With those words, my retreat was cut off.
"Got it. I'll give it a shot. Grandpa! Hurry over to Kelly's workshop and ask if the weapons I ordered are done. And if they are, bring them back!"
"Understood. I'll head over right away!"
Grandpa said that and took off flying through the sky.
While Grandpa was away, I finished removing all the internal organs from the Wyvern subspecies.
Yesterday I had stopped after slicing open the belly and stomach, so the guts were still packed inside the abdominal cavity.
It was a bit of a hassle, but since all I had to do was scoop them out, it didn't take long.
"Tenma. Is this good enough?"
Just as I was finishing, Grandpa returned carrying two long blades.
"They're complete, but Kelly said if anything bothers you, don't hesitate to bring them back."
Grandpa conveyed Kelly's message as he handed over a halberd and what looked like a great spear.
Both were surprisingly light for their appearance — light enough that I could hold one in each hand without too much trouble.
I gave each a few practice swings, and sure enough, since Kelly had taken his time making them, the balance was absolutely perfect.
The great spear's edge was especially sharp — it cut clean through a strand of hair just from blowing on it.
I figured this would let me handle the Wyvern subspecies without any trouble, so I got started on the preparations.
First, I used ink to draw lines from the tip of the Wyvern subspecies' nose to the end of its tail.
Next, I summoned the Gigant and had it gently pin the Wyvern subspecies down to hold it steady.
"Here we go!"
I gripped the great spear and began slicing along the lines.
Even though it was reinforced with Magic Power, the great spear cut through the Wyvern subspecies' hide and flesh with surprising ease.
However, it was still too difficult to cut cleanly through the bone, so I left that for later.
In less than ten minutes, I had managed to cut through the Wyvern subspecies' hide and flesh. All that remained was to split the bones in two.
From this state, it didn't seem feasible to cut from the head all the way to the tail tip in one go, so I first used the tip of a knife to carefully score a cut into the skull.
"Heave-ho!"
After scoring the skull, I took the halberd and lightly tapped along the cut line.
After striking it in a few places, the skull split cleanly in half with a sharp crack.
"The brain is so small..."
Looking at the brain revealed within the split skull, I couldn't help but mutter.
The brain's diameter was about thirty centimeters. Compared to a human's, it was large, but relative to the size of the skull, it was quite, or rather, very small.
If this creature had a head about the same size as a human's, its brain might not even be ten centimeters across.
In any case, intelligence clearly isn't proportional to brain size.
For now, I stowed the brain in a bag and continued the work.
This time, I switched back to the great spear and began cutting the spine lengthwise.
The spine was quite tough, but by cutting it section by section, the task wasn't overly difficult.
Partway through, the area corresponding to what humans would call the pelvis had slightly thicker bone, but it split open just as easily using the same method as the skull.
And then...
"That's it—it's done!"
With a forceful slash through the tip of the tail, cheers erupted from the scaffolding that had sprung up unnoticed while I was working.
Luna made her way over from the scaffolding, compared the two halves of the Wyvern subspecies, then pointed at one of them.
"Big bro, I want this one!"
The half she pointed to was the one with the left dorsal fin still attached.
As expected, Luna was shrewd about it. If this were Tida, she would have let me pick which half I wanted first.
"You don't need the brain, right?"
"Yep, don't need it!"
Luna refused without even glancing my way. A few people among the scaffolding crowd looked visibly disappointed at her words—they were probably researchers of some kind, likely involved in medicinal studies.
Without paying them any mind, Luna drove a stake into the cross-section of the Wyvern subspecies.
"Hey, big bro. How do you make a taxidermy mount?"
Luna was dead serious about making a taxidermy mount of the Wyvern subspecies. I didn't really know the process either, but the 'Crocoshark' taxidermy I had registered at the auction had been stuffed using a mold made from plaster or something similar.
However, because the inside was plaster, it ended up being quite heavy.
The craftsman I had commissioned for the mount had used clever methods with plaster and wood to keep the weight down, but it still came in at nearly 300 kg. That said, since it was a complete quadruped, it could stand on its own and was stable.
But the Wyvern subspecies I was selling was only half a body, so there was no stability to speak of—and on top of that, it wasn't even Luna's to begin with.
I was curious how Luna would deal with all those issues, but I didn't want to point them out carelessly and have her throw a tantrum demanding the other half too, so I kept quiet and got to work dismembering my share instead.
The Wyvern subspecies was easy enough to skin once you removed the head and wings, so it didn't take much time at all.
I went about butchering the Wyvern subspecies, thinking to myself that I felt an awful lot like a chef today.