The next day.
When I showed up at the
"Ah, hey there. I already got the rank upgrade handled."
Who is this guy again?
That was my first thought, but then I noticed the bug-eyed woman standing next to him, and I finally realized they were yesterday's pet kidnappers.
If I remembered right, Jaril and Veskel.
Honestly, it's hard to tell their faces apart.
There are plenty of lizard-faced people in this town.
Another reason I didn't recognize them was the change in clothes. Yesterday they'd been wearing the sort of unremarkable cloth garments that scream "townsperson A," but today it was "adventurer A" in equally unremarkable leather armor.
Both equally plain, but the overall impression was completely different.
"Ah, Mr. Jaril. Thanks for your hard work."
"Wh-what's with that way of talking? It's creepy…"
"I'm being polite. Is that a problem?"
"N-no…"
I fixed him with a stare, and Jaril looked away.
"Ms. Veskel, I look forward to working with you from today as well."
"Ah… yes."
Veskel, as always, was terrified of
And Ruijerd, as always, was glowering at them.
Well, can't really blame him.
Incidentally, she was also dressed in adventurer gear.
"Shall we head inside, then?"
"Ah, yeah."
Jaril looked uneasy but nodded along with my words.
--- As soon as we entered the Guild, the horse-faced guy spotted us and sauntered over.
"Yo!"
"…Hey."
This guy's at the Guild again today, huh… seriously, what kind of work does he even do?
"Oh, out with the 'Pet Hunter' crew today, are we?"
"H-hey, Nokopara. Long time no see."
Apparently the horse-face and the lizard-head knew each other.
"Yeah, long time. Heard about you, Jaril. Raised your rank to C, huh? You sure you're okay? You can't exactly do pet searches at C-rank, y'know."
After saying that much, Nokopara looked back and forth between us and Jaril.
Then he let out a high-pitched neigh of understanding.
"Ahh, gotcha. No wonder the pet search seemed weird. Yesterday's request—you got help from the 'Pet Hunter,' didn't you?"
Pet Hunter seemed to be the name of Jaril's party.
I see. That works out perfectly.
"That's right! While we were looking for a pet yesterday, we met them! They said they'd teach us their know-how!"
I tossed out that fabrication with a straight face.
"Ha ha ha! Even timid little Jaril finally got himself a disciple! And a fake Sperd tribe at that—pfft!"
Just as I'd hoped, he completely bought it.
This guy's easy.
After having a good laugh, the horse-face glanced behind Jaril.
"Hey, come to think of it, I don't see Rouman around. What happened to him?"
"Ah, well… Rouman… he died."
"Ah. That's rough."
Rouman was the guy Ruijerd had killed yesterday, I assumed.
Hearing about his death, Nokopara took it with complete nonchalance.
Maybe among adventurers, people dying isn't that big a deal.
Was I the only one who cared?
Come to think of it, Jaril and Veskel didn't seem particularly bothered by Rouman's death either.
"But if Rouman died, why'd you get a rank-up? Wasn't he the strongest one in your party?"
"W-well…"
Jaril shot a quick glance at me.
Nokopara neighed—no, laughed.
"Ahh, I get it. You don't have to say it. Let me guess. In front of your new disciple, you wanted to look like you were calling the shots, huh!"
Nokopara convinced himself all on his own, gave Jaril a couple of pats on the back, and wandered back into the Guild.
Jaril let out a sigh of relief.
But what's with that guy? He's always coming up and bothering us.
Maybe he's got a thing for me…
No, his eyes were more focused on Ruijerd, if anything.
So in other words…
No, just kidding.
"Now then, let's take a look at some requests."
Upon entering the Guild, some people were giving us weird looks. For now, I ignored them.
Thinking I should probably play the part of a disciple, I peppered Jaril with questions as we went over requests ranging from D to B rank.
"What's the difference between 'gathering' and 'collection'?"
"Huh? Ah, well. Gathering is mostly plants, while collection tends to be more about monsters…"
Senior Jaril's vague answer. But yeah, that pretty much summed it up.
If it's living creatures, it's collection. If not, it's gathering.
For example, a collection request might look something like this: === C ・ Job: Pelt Collection ・ Reward: 6 scrap iron coins ・ Details: 20 Pax Coyote pelts.
・ Location: Outside town ・ Time limit: None specified ・ Deadline: None specified ・ Client name: Adventurer's Guild ・ Notes: We are short on pelts. Your cooperation is appreciated. Do not skin these in the field—bring the intact pelts to the counter as-is.
=== Reading that reminded me—the merchant had only bought mine for 4 scrap iron coins.
We got hosed pretty bad, huh…
Well, this request pays extra because it's commissioned. The normal buyback rate might actually be around what he offered.
"Mr. Ruijerd."
"What?"
"I'm sorry, but for a while I'd like to save up money while raising our rank."
"…Why are you telling me this?"
"Because that other matter will have to wait."
I'd already told Jaril and Veskel to sell our names, but I wasn't holding out much hope.
I'd considered having them take requests with obsequious behavior, but my plan was basically to leave their activities entirely untouched.
If I stayed hands-off, I could claim ignorance no matter what they did.
Even if their criminal activities were discovered, even if they claimed Ruijerd had forced them to do it—well, their adventurer ranks were overwhelmingly higher, and Ruijerd's identity as a fake was already common knowledge.
They'd only end up being laughed at.
"I see. Understood."
Once I had Ruijerd's agreement, I consulted with Jaril and took on several requests.
--- We said goodbye to the gate guard and headed outside the town.
Pax Coyote.
Acid Wolf.
Great King Land Tortoise.
Giant Rock Tortoise.
Apparently, these were the main targets around this area.
Pax Coyotes for pelts, Acid Wolves for fangs and tails.
Great King Land Tortoises for meat, and Giant Rock Tortoises for magic stones.
For now, I'd skip the Great King Land Tortoise. Meat is heavy.
The real prize was the Giant Rock Tortoise. Even small ones fetched a decent price at the buyback counter. Great value relative to size.
Ideally I'd focus on Giant Rock Tortoises for the best gold-per-hour, but they were scarce and never appeared near populated areas.
So in practice, the Pax Coyotes—which traveled in herds and could be farmed in bulk per fight—ended up being the main target.
And so, my request for this expedition was Pax Coyote pelts. Though really, it just meant I could bag several in one go.
When you factored in tracking and skinning time, Acid Wolves weren't that different. So I planned to hunt those too if we ran into any.
I hadn't taken requests for them, but you were allowed to collect materials before officially accepting a request. Once accepted, you just brought them to the buyback counter.
A Pax Coyote herd had at most around ten members.
When you thought about tracking and skinning time, the number you could hunt in a day wasn't that high.
…That's what I thought at first.
We took down the first herd and skinned them. Then Ruijerd started piling the carcasses together.
I was wondering what he was doing until he asked: "Can you use wind magic to scatter the scent of blood?"
That's when it clicked. He was using the blood scent to lure more in.
I did as told, using wind magic to shift the wind direction here and there.
"Giant Rock Tortoises are beyond us, but the surrounding Pax Coyotes will come running," he said.
And sure enough, that day we hunted over a hundred Pax Coyotes.
So many that it felt like we might have wiped out the entire population in the area.
Well, not really, of course.
But it was brutal. The Pax Coyotes kept coming. Ruijerd and
Hard labor.
Once we passed thirty, my arms felt like lead. My shoulders ached, and the smell of blood was making me nauseous.
If they turned into gems the moment they dropped, this would be so much easier…
Despite my grumbling, I pushed through.
Around seventy, I hit my limit and swapped with Eris.
Killing Pax Coyotes with magic was way easier than skinning. I carefully adjusted the power for each one, blasting them apart while trying not to damage the pelts too much.
I'm definitely better suited to this kind of mental work.
Eris gave out around thirty. She really wasn't cut out for shoulder-straining manual labor.
I expected Ruijerd to take over skinning next, but we already had more than enough pelts.
We couldn't carry them all in one trip, so we made multiple runs back and forth to town.
"Wait. Before you move them, burn the carcasses," Ruijerd said before we started.
"Burn them? Are you going to eat them?"
"No. Pax Coyote tastes terrible. Just burn and bury them."
If you left the carcasses out, other monsters would eat them and multiply. Even burning them didn't entirely prevent scavengers from getting to them. And apparently, if you buried them deep without burning, they could rise back up as Zombie Coyotes.
To prevent all that, you needed to burn and bury them as a procedure.
I came up with the golden combo: cleanly strip the pelts → deliberately create Zombie Coyotes → Guild issues extermination quests → collect quest rewards.
But Ruijerd shot it down. Apparently, deliberately increasing monster populations was strictly forbidden.
I wished they'd write local rules like that somewhere.
"But you weren't doing that during our travels, were you?"
"A few carcasses isn't a problem."
So there was a threshold. No idea exactly where it was, but this many corpses could breed disease and whatnot.
No reason to refuse, really. I thoroughly burned everything to charcoal.
By the time we'd hauled it all back, the sun was already starting to set.
That was it for today's hunt. We'd worked hard.
I wanted to get back to the inn and rest. But did that mean I'd have to spend tomorrow doing skinning too?
I'd really like a day off around now…
"We made a ton today! Let's keep this pace going tomorrow!"
Eris was brimming with energy.
With her in that state, I couldn't exactly complain.
--- Three days later.
"Dead End" had been promoted to E-rank.
Pretty fast.
"Great work."
I congratulated Jaril as I handed over ten percent of the day's earnings.
"Ah, thanks."
It wasn't a huge sum, I figured. But could they really live on this?
When I asked, he said he had a separate job in town in addition to adventuring.
"What kind of job?"
"A pet shop."
So he runs a pet store. Stealing pets off the street to stock your own shop—what a crook.
"Don't do anything too shady, okay?"
"I know."
As it turned out, his pet shop operation consisted of catching stray animals around town, giving them minimal training, and selling them as pets.
His species, the Lagonia tribe, were apparently gifted at taming beasts. This taming technique had been passed down as a tradition since ancient times, and they could subdue anything from stray dogs to proud beast-tribe female warriors.
What a hopeless species, honestly.
If Eris and Ruijerd hadn't been around, I wouldn't have just stood by. I'd have begged him to teach me and become his disciple on the spot.
But I digress. The pet shop was also supposedly a wonderful business that doubled as pest control.
The Adventurer's Guild work was more of a side gig, apparently.
"If your pet shop is so great, why steal pets…"
"At first I was just rescuing them. But then the temptation got to me."
So he got a taste and went down the slippery slope.
"But juggling a pet shop and adventuring must be tough, right?"
"Not really. I still have stock."
He kept the shop open until early afternoon, then did Guild requests from evening onward—that was his routine.
"As long as you handle the requests properly, we have no complaints."
"Leave that to us. We may be a ragtag bunch, but we're adventurers. The Dead End name is out there."
Is it really, though…
--- Current funds.
Six iron coins, eight scrap iron coins, and five stone coins.
With a bit of financial breathing room, I decided to buy everyday clothes and armor.
First, I bought some clothes from a random traveling merchant.
Eris was quick to shop. Her criteria were light, easy to move in, and durable. Not a single skirt in her wardrobe—everything was long pants. In trendy youth speak, I guess you'd call them "pants," but not the fashionable kind. A sensible choice for her situation.
Still, I couldn't help thinking she could use at least one girlier outfit.
So I recommended a pink, frilly dress from the corner of the shop.
She made no effort to hide her distaste.
"…You want me to wear something like that?"
"Wouldn't hurt to have one, would it?"
"Then you should buy something more manly,
She tried to shove a fur vest like something a bandit would wear into my hands.
If I wore that, would Eris wear the frilly dress?
For a split second I considered it, then imagined us standing side by side and gave up.
After buying clothes, we headed to the armor shop.
So far, neither Eris nor Ruijerd had suffered any serious injuries. My healing magic could patch up minor wounds in a flash, so armor wasn't really necessary—was what I asked.
According to Ruijerd, armor was still a good idea. My healing magic couldn't fix fatal wounds or missing limbs. And Eris still lacked real combat experience. Carelessness or inexperience could lead to a killing blow.
So armor was necessary, apparently.
I deferred to Ruijerd's judgment.
The armor shop was a fairly impressive establishment. Not as polished as the shops in
Inside, the wares were slightly pricier than what traveling merchants offered. Traveling merchants had lower prices and the occasional hidden gem, but a proper shop had consistent quality and better selection. Plus, having the right sizes was a big deal—we were kids, after all.
We were currently picking out a chest piece for Eris.
Women's chest pieces came in a wide variety depending on bust size.
"It's protecting your heart, so we should get the best one…"
"This'll do."
Eris tried on a leather chest piece that fit her perfectly and asked, "How is it?"
As if I'd miss the chance to stare at her chest.
…Hmm. Growth seemed to be going well.
"Better go one size up, I think."
"Why?"
Why? "We're still growing, so a perfect fit won't stay perfect for long."
Saying that, I handed her the next size up.
"It's loose."
"Trust me, trust me."
Eris grumbled but kept buying protective gear for each body part.
Recent battles had taught her where she was most vulnerable.
Joints and vital points were covered, but what about the head?
Too heavy and she'd lose speed. But the head was also a vital point. Some protection would be good.
"How about this kind of helmet?"
I presented a full-face met similar to something the younger brother of a post-apocalyptic overlord would wear.
Eris's face twisted with obvious disgust.
"Uncool."
One kick.
This generation's taste was lost on her.
I tried several other helmets on her after that, but they were all rejected as too heavy, too dorky, too smelly, or too vision-restricting. In the end, she settled on a headband-style piece—a hachigane, I think it was called—with an iron plate sewn in.
As for her hood, she only wore it to hide her conspicuous red hair. Not much use as armor.
"Something like this. How is it, Rudeus? Do I look like an adventurer?"
Eris struck a pose with the cutlass-style sword Ruijerd had given her at her hip, dressed in light adventurer gear, and spun around.
Honestly, she looked like she was cosplaying. Especially with the chest piece that didn't quite fit.
"You look wonderful, milady. From any angle, you look like a battle-hardened warrior."
"Really? Hmm hmm hmm."
Eris put her hands on her hips, looked down at herself, and grinned with delight.
While she was busy grinning, I haggled the full set down to just one iron coin.
A full set was still pricey.
"Now it's your turn, Rudeus!"
"Don't I not need any?"
"Of course you do! Let's get a robe! A robe! Something that looks magical!"
She'd always dreamed of the classic adventurer setup—swordswoman adventurer with her childhood friend the mage. That was the fantasy she was chasing.
Some nights she still couldn't sleep, but daytime Eris was tough as nails.
Whatever. I'd play along.
"Sir, do you have any robes that would fit me?"
The old man at the counter silently opened a shelf.
"For the small-folk races."
On it were robes in various colors, each with a slightly different design. Five colors: red, yellow, blue, green, gray. All quite pale.
"Does the color make a difference?"
"Monster fur is woven into the fabric. Each gives a slight elemental resistance."
"Red is fire, yellow is earth… what about gray?"
"Just plain cloth."
I see. That explained the half-price tag. The other colors varied slightly in price too—probably a materials issue.
"Rudeus, you're getting the blue one!"
"Hmm, I wonder…"
In close-range combat, I might blow myself back with my own explosive force. Red or green might actually be better.
Fox or tanuki?
"Kid, what kind of magic do you use?"
"I can use all offensive magic types."
"Whoa. Impressive—you don't look that old… Well, this one's a bit pricier, but—"
The old man pulled out a slightly darker shade of gray. Almost mouse-colored.
"Made from Macky Rat hide."
"Mickey Mouse?"
"Not mouse. Rat."
A certain black figure wearing red shorts flashed through my mind. I shook it off. Dangerous territory.
The fabric felt like cloth, but apparently it came from some kind of creature.
"What does it do?"
"No magic resistance, but it's tough."
I tried it on.
"It's baggy. Don't you have anything smaller?"
"That's the smallest."
"There should be kids' sizes, right?"
"No such thing."
It was like a first-time judoka trying on a judo gi for the first time.
Well, I was still growing, so this would do. The fabric was nice—true to its description, it seemed to have decent cut resistance. And the mouse color had a certain appeal. The name fits the person, as they say.
"I think I'll go with this one."
"Like it? Eight scrap iron coins."
"All right then…"
After haggling as hard as I could, I bought it for six. I also picked up two more hachiganes in different colors—for me and Ruijerd. Just in case we needed to hide the jewel on Ruijerd's forehead at some point.
Why did I get one for myself? I didn't want to be the odd one out.
--- While we were shopping, Ruijerd had been monitoring Veskel and Jaril.
I wasn't exactly counting on them, but if they slacked off, it could drag our reputation through the mud. So I'd sent Ruijerd on reconnaissance.
He told me that if I was that worried, I shouldn't have partnered with people like them in the first place.
Fair point.
But thanks to them, we'd made decent money. For now, we were about even.
The long and short of it was—they'd been working hard.
Their jobs were only F-rank, but they did them without complaint and with dedication.
Veskel had taken a pest extermination request today—eliminating the loathsome creatures lurking in someone's kitchen.
Her species, the Zmewba tribe, produced saliva with a toxic property. This saliva also had an attractant effect. Insects that ingested it would die or become paralyzed, making them easy prey for the Zmewba. In other words, pest extermination was right in her wheelhouse.
The client was an elderly woman—a thoroughly cranky old lady with a permanently pursed mouth who would throw you out the slightest thing displeased her.
Ruijerd had picked up that hostile vibe from her. But Veskel, without any friction, swiftly exterminated every last pest. When Ruijerd checked, there truly wasn't a single bug left in the house.
Afterward, she sealed every crack and gap in the home with something like silk, blocking any future entry points.
"Thanks, Veskel. I was really stuck."
"If you ever need help again, just contact 'Ruijerd of Dead End.'"
"'Ruijerd of Dead End'? Is that what you're calling your party now?"
"Something like that."
Veskel exchanged that conversation, then handed the old woman several small pellets of saliva-made bait before parting ways.
Request complete.
She met up with us at the Guild and collected her reward.
"From what I hear, she did excellent work."
"…Yeah."
Her performance had exceeded my expectations. She'd gotten along well with the old woman and even handled follow-up care. Far better impression than me blundering around and monkey-seeing-monkey-doing.
"They don't seem to be rotten to the core after all."
"No, they don't."
Well, I'd had my suspicions too. As long as they kept doing what they were already doing and used the Dead End name, there was no extra burden on them. If they thought they were getting easy money, that was fine by me. It lowered the chance of betrayal too.
"But the fact that they committed crimes can't be erased."
"True. But right now they're working hard. Just like Mr. Ruijerd."
"…Hmm."
Criminals don't do bad things all the time. Them, me, Ruijerd—we were all the same. Besides, they hadn't been doing any pet kidnapping, and I'd never told them to stop.
Well, it had only been three days. The memory of nearly dying when their crimes were exposed would fade with time.
"Though, their current diligence might not last. We should probably keep an eye on them going forward."
At that, Ruijerd furrowed his brow.
"Do you… not trust the people you've formed an alliance with?"
"Of course not.
The only people I trust in this town are Eris and you, Mr. Ruijerd."
"…I see."
Ruijerd reached out as if to ruffle my hair, then stopped.
I trusted Ruijerd. But I felt like the trust from Ruijerd's side was gone.
Well, that was fine for now. My goal was to return to the Kingdom of Asura with Eris. Restoring the honor of the Sperd tribe was a bonus. Being trusted by Ruijerd was never part of the plan.
"Shall we go?"
We walked slowly back to the inn under the glow of the magic illumination stones.
--- You could say the start of our adventuring life had gone smoothly.