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Chapter 318 – New Sales Outlet
I sat cross-legged on a large boulder and took my lunch break, enjoying my favorite mysterious fried rice.
I closed my eyes and looked at the status screen to get a handle on my current situation.
Transparency Lv3: Makes the body transparent for a set period. Effect Duration: 1.5 seconds. Magic Power Consumption: 30.
I managed to stabilize it at level 3, but I wasn’t sure how much further I should push it.
I wanted to stop hunting and think this through calmly. Hmm, I still can’t decide.
Just looking at the effect, it’s undeniably an excellent, unique skill.
Even at level one, the Fisher Chameleon didn’t just turn faintly transparent or leave visible bones like a skeleton—it vanished completely.
However, it has many drawbacks. First, the duration only increases by 0.5 seconds per level.
Seriously, what’s with this minuscule increment?
It’s only 1.5 seconds now, and even at level 10, the estimated effect time is 5 seconds.
It’s clearly short, yet it also feels like a meaningful duration for a last-ditch, life-saving trump card.
However, the magic power consumption is pretty high.
It increases by 10 per level, meaning 30 is consumed for 1.5 seconds. If I spammed it, I’d run dry in minutes.
This skill only makes you temporarily invisible; your physical presence doesn’t disappear from the spot.
When the Fisher Chameleon moves while invisible, it leaves footprints on the ground. These can be detected by Presence Detection, Investigation, or Magic Detection.
Therefore, it’s possible to strike while invisible. When this happens, a rather inexplicable phenomenon occurs: only the separated blood appears first.
I figured out that the invisibility works on everything, including the equipment I’m wearing, thanks to that.
“Hmm… If the enemy unleashes an area attack on the spot, it’s meaningless. But if the level of Concealment is high enough, it could block their investigative skills.”
I’m imagining a PvP fight against a strong opponent.
I’m vaguely imagining combat that incorporates this skill and weighing the effort required against the extended effect duration. For now, it’s skill level 4.
Since I’m waiting for Quad-san’s preparations anyway, after reaching level 4, I’ll do some mapping. Depending on the wait time, I’ll aim for level 5 as well.
Reaching level 5 requires about 1,150 kills, which still seems realistic.
Since it can potentially be a one-hit kill skill if used first, raising it moderately shouldn’t result in a loss.
“Alright, let’s do this!”
With that decided, all that remained was action.
Gathering my resolve, I began the hunt, ready to slaughter every monster in sight.
▽ ▼ ▽ ▼ ▽
That night,
“I’m home!”
“Oh, you’re late tonight.”
“Did you guys already eat?”
By the lakeside, two people were enjoying an evening drink: Lodge and Zeo.
“Ah, it’s fine, it’s fine. Huh? Where’s Carla?”
“He’s riding a pig in the back. He really liked the souvenir from Loki, it seems.”
“Got it. I’ll have Carla handle the monster dismantling. If you want any of the materials, just let me know. Here’s a list of parts that fetch good money at the town’s dismantling site.”
I handed them a wooden board, and they immediately turned their attention to it.
“Oh, Rock Turtle shells are in high demand for shield materials. Hydra Scorpion exoskeletons are also relatively good for armor.”
“Hmm… I remember Axe Beak and Rock Turtle meat being delicious.”
“Then let’s secure some. We can smoke it to have with our drinks.”
“Leave that to me. I’ll give Carla 100 of each for now. If we run short on either, let me know.”
“Nah, I think three of each should be plenty.”
Lodge is being surprisingly modest, but I’ve already been turned down in the nearest town, Antimoa.
“I’ve never seen anyone bring in such a huge amount!”
For some reason, the old guy at the dismantling site got mad at me. Plus, Org-san’s place just got overloaded recently.
If I don’t release them, they’ll just keep piling up. At this rate, my storage will reach its limit tomorrow, and my magic might start draining.
If I dump everything at the base, Zeo will get mad. If I’m going to overload in Rosberia, it’s better to overload with dragon types that have good cash conversion efficiency. Oh!
That’s right! There was a town where materials of this rank were reasonably priced.
I’m also curious to see how the post-processing turned out. If I’m going to show my face, now seems like the perfect time.
I entrusted some of the materials to Carla, who was playing with pigs behind the house. Then, I wrapped up the next day’s hunt early and headed for the town I needed to visit.
I moved to Guinier.
“Hello! Is Rad-kun here?”
My first stop was Rad-kun’s mansion.
I knocked on the front door, and an old man with a demonic expression appeared at a second-floor window.
“Where did you sneak in from, you rude brat? Stay right there!”
“Huh?”
I heard the sound of someone running noisily through the house. Is this really acceptable for a noble residence? I wondered, but waited obediently. Then, an old man with a withering body and hair appeared, wielding a wooden stick.
He looked like a matchstick. Could he be the new butler?
Judging by his attire, it seemed possible.
“You intruder! There should have been guards! How did you get through the south gate?!”
“Um, I just flew in. Is Rad-kun away? I came to check on how things were going after that.”
“Hey! Grandpa, you’re being annoying! This is a noble’s house, you know. Wait, isn’t that Loki-san?”
“Ah, Anri-san.”
A girl around Rad-kun’s age emerged from the side, holding a pot lid. It was the same girl who’d shielded him first before.
Seeing someone familiar was a relief, but Grandpa?
“What? Anri’s friend?! But even so, this won’t do! This won’t do at all! Flying in? What a stupid thing to say! And calling Viscount Nogmaia “Rad-kun”? That’s downright disrespectful! This one deserves a good spanking!”
“Ah, stupid things…”
“This person is special, so it’s fine! Loki-san saved Rad-sama’s life and helped this town, you know? You were saved by him, too, Grandpa!”
“……What did you say?”
“… “
“Fu-fuhaha! Well, then, why didn’t you say so sooner? No, no. Guinier’s savior is truly something—small but full of presence. All right, I’ll have them bring you some of my special sweet bread later.”
“Grandpa! Forget that—we need to get to Rad-sama’s place now!”
Hmm, this is the lord’s mansion, right?
It’s surprisingly down-to-earth. It reminds me of a friend’s house I visited back in elementary school.
Still, it looks pretty empty inside.
“Rad-sama! Loki-san is here!”
“Oh! Come in!”
Opening the door revealed Rad-kun in his second-floor office, surrounded by stacks of wooden planks.
His voice sounded energetic, but the dark circles under his eyes were unmistakable—he was clearly overwhelmed with work.
“Hello. You seem incredibly busy, as usual.”
“Thanks for coming! Since that incident, I’ve had a mountain of work piling up.”
I heard that Rad-kun went directly to the royal capital, Grazil, with the captured remnants and relayed the entire situation to the kingdom himself.
As a result, the royal family seems to have formally recognized him as the head of the Nogmaia family. Until administrative support arrived from the kingdom, he managed with a few trusted people close at hand.
His childhood friend, Anri’s grandfather, and the old woman who had brought tea and then sat down beside him apparently usually helped with cooking and cleaning around the estate. The manpower shortage here was severe.
But it’s not just people who are lacking.
“What else is currently in short supply?”
“It’s no exaggeration to say everything. When I went to the capital, I learned that Guinier was recognized as a highly dangerous town. Since travelers, merchants, and hunters all avoided this place, it became isolated, and the town’s activity ground to a halt.”
“People’s rumors aren’t so easily dispelled, after all.”
“Exactly. For better or worse, merchants spread rumors. Right now, I’m personally buying goods at high prices to encourage more merchant traffic, but it will still take considerable time.”
In a world without the internet, slow progress is just how things are.
Still, Rad-kun is a smart, decent kid who thinks ahead. He gets savvy merchants moving first and spends money to invigorate the town.
Then I’ll do what I can.
I’m not planning on doing any charity work, but let’s make it a fair trade.
The situation afterward was pretty much as I imagined. Today, I brought a large quantity of monsters that can be used as ingredients for food and daily necessities. Are you interested?”
“What… These aren’t monsters from Mount Lanseal, are they?”
“Of course not. They’re C- to D-rank monsters from the Kingdom of Ortran to the south.”
I showed Rad-kun a wooden board similar to the ones I’d given Lodge and Zeo the other day.
“So these are the names of the monsters and the usable materials. The numbers beside them are the prices.”
“These are the actual purchase prices from the Hunter Guild in the nearest town to Ortran. The monsters aren’t dismantled, so the listed prices are for whole monsters.”
“Whole bodies… That’s so typical of Loki-dono.”
“Since the monsters are from a neighboring country, the materials might have been brought to this town before. However, the prices would have included markups for intermediary costs and transportation. This time, however, I’m handling both procurement and transport myself. If you need it, I’ll sell it to you at this purchase price as is. Of course, you’re welcome to go through the Hunter Guild first if you prefer.”
“Let me see, then. I’ll take a look.”
The old woman sitting beside us, sipping tea, snatched the wooden board and gave it a quick glance.
“For Bay Blizzard and Fisher Chameleon hides, there are plenty of skilled folks in town who can process them. For equipment materials, C-rank stuff can be handled by Tinilo and his son. There should be plenty for the hunters here to use for armor. It’s all reasonably priced, easy-to-handle material that hasn’t come in properly for nearly a year now. The prices are shockingly low.”
“I see. If we’re talking whole monsters, that could create significant employment in town. Could we assign work to people who’ve had their legs amputated?”
“No problem. With five types of monsters that can be used for food, meat processing alone would provide plenty of work.”
Damn…
Rad-kun doesn’t seem to doubt it, and this old woman is doing a solid job as an advisor.
She isn’t just some ordinary Amanda-san.
“All right, then. There’s no reason not to buy. But Loki-dono, the price seems quite low. Are you pushing yourself too hard?”
“It’s fine, really. In exchange, there’s a huge quantity, so I’d be happy if you could buy it all at once.”
“Hehehe, Loki-dono’s ‘huge quantity’ is truly terrifying. In that case, I’ll have Anri handle it. First, please take it to that warehouse. I’ll have her look for other empty spaces, too.”
And so began the material dumping spree, which lasted nearly two hours.
Partway through, Anri-san and Cyral-kun joined in. Cyral-kun still had grass and straw stuck all over his body. They counted the items as the materials were dumped into the warehouse.
This was far more meaningful than selling them off haphazardly somewhere else.
That was the idea, and if they’re this happy about it, then bringing them here was definitely worth it.
This should mean the townspeople won’t have to worry about meals for the time being.
“For monster materials up to around C-rank, we’d like to continue purchasing them from you.”
Hearing Rad-kun say this made me feel relieved to have secured a major buyer, but I also had the thought that it probably wasn’t good to make them too dependent on my supplies.
These thoughts arose, but upon reflection, hunting C-rank monsters or lower for extended periods wasn’t common.
Therefore, I concluded that choosing Guinier as an occasional buyer shouldn’t be much of an issue. After checking on the town’s situation and the matter of the enslaved soldiers since then, I left Guinier.
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