Volume 2 - CH 157

We were bitter when we saw Lequam’s wanted poster on a large board.

We knew he was alive, but to actually see the wanted list made us want to kill him.

We would have gone to go get him right now if it were possible, but we weren’t ready to do that yet.

I was more than a little irritated by this, so I quickly looked away and spoke to Reizen.

“Reizen—”

“Aniki! Let’s definitely climb up to the S rank!”

“Huh!? O- oh, of course.”

When I called out to him, Reizen turned his head and rushed toward me.

I was surprised by his spirit, but I think it made me calm down a little.

Yes, what’s the use of getting angry at a place like this? If we have time to get angry, we should do what we can do now to catch up with him.

I’m sure that that guy is preparing to kill me.

Then we must move and become stronger in order to destroy them.

I was a bit uncomfortable with Reizen’s admonishment, but it helped me regain my composure this time, so I decided not to say anything.

“So? What about the request?”

“Aniki, let’s take this one!”

What Reizen showed me was a gathering type of request.

However, the number of medicinal herbs and mushrooms to be collected was so large that it was unlikely to be accomplished in a day by a very small group of people.

In return, the reward was 15 silver coins, which seemed quite generous, so I decided to accept the request.

Reizen, who has no experience in accepting requests yet, goes to the reception counter and accepts the request.

I thought it was great that he took the request with ease, perhaps because he still had some sense of the game from his previous life, but the receptionist was a little taken aback by his outfit.

He had a cape and some useless metal ornaments.

It was understandable that the receptionist would be surprised and taken aback by someone wearing equipment that was not necessary, coming to a low-ranked reception counter.

Reizen didn’t seem to care about that at all, though.

“Alright! Let’s all go!”

“Oh!”

“…They’re so lively”

“RIght……”

From the side, they resemble a guardian and a child.

Although, it’s good to be in high spirits, so I didn’t really dwell on that, and was about to walk out of town, but before I could …… I was stopped by Uchikage.

“First, we need to gather information.”

“Eh? I’m sure we’ll find something like this when we get out of the city, right?”

“You see, Reizen. You didn’t forget what happened in the Kosh village, did you?”

“Ugh.”

In the village of Kosh, it took us a long time to gather information because of Reizen’s attempt to rush ahead.

He had a tendency to rush into enemy territory without doing any preparation, and I should have strongly told him so at the time, but at that time I didn’t have enough time to give him a sermon. ……

This time I had plenty of time, so I really wanted to give him an hour’s sermon, but that would have caused trouble for both of us, so I held back and gave him a sermon with a few simple jabs.

“Fubeh!?”

“ah”

I thought it was a light jab, but…… Reizen’s reaction was unexpected.

Since I’ve evolved, it’s become a bit more difficult for me to hold back.

Although this would be fine against Reizen, I feel like I shouldn’t physically attack a normal human being.

If it weren’t for this auto-activated skill, 【 Defense Penetration】 , I think I could go easy on him to a certain extent. ……

No, wait. Come to think of it, I have been able to go easy on Irza.

Hmmm…… what does this mean?

I couldn’t go easy on Reizen, but I could go easy on Irza ……. Why?

Well, there are some things I can’t understand even if I think about it.

“My bad, Reizen. I made a mistake.”

“Did you do that on purpose?”

“Didn’t I say I made a mistake?”

Laughing jokingly and rubbing my forehead, Reizen woke up with a whimper and joined in the conversation.

Now, as Uchikage said, it is very important to gather information, but where can we get books and other materials that describe the details of the medicinal herbs and mushrooms mentioned in the request form?

I think the book area would be appropriate in my opinion, but this would take too much time.

I would like to gather information in some other way, but I can’t think of any …….

“Uchikage, do you have any good ideas?”

“The book contains basic information, but it’s ridiculously expensive and people rarely buy it. I guess you can read them at a big library. But there are other ways to get information easily.”

“And what’s that?”

“By asking people.”

I don’t think Uchikage is wrong, but isn’t …… too generic……?

While it is good to hear what they have to say, I don’t think there is anyone who is willing to take the time to accomplish what people ask of them.

“It depends on the person, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it is. Therefore, we try to negotiate. Ouren-sama, do you still have some of the Poz Grass?”

“Yeah, I have 40 more. I was going to sell them, but they were so cheap that I decided not to.”

“Then let’s take them to the pharmacy.”

“”Pharmacy?””

After hearing this, I understood what Uchikage was trying to tell us, but Alena and Reizen didn’t seem to understand.

Seeing is believing, so we decided to go to the pharmacy without telling Reizen and Alena the answer.

◆

After walking for a while, we arrived at our destination, and Uchikage entered the building without hesitation.

We followed him into the store and decided to watch Uchikage’s negotiation skills.

As soon as we entered, the smell of chemicals hit our nose.

The room seemed to be neat and tidy, with no particularly dubious items, and shelves filled with various medicines and herbs.

As we passed through a narrow passageway, we saw a counter right in front of us.

There sat a kindly old man who appeared to be the owner of the store. After confirming our visit with his eyes, he put away his magnifying glass and some seeds in his hand in his desk and went into a service mode.

“Welcome”

“I’d like to sell you some poisonous plants.”

“What kind and how many?”

“Poz Grass. Forty of them.”

Uchikage gently places the bundle of Poz grass I handed him beforehand on the counter, and the owner observes the plants intently.

“It’s a very nice Poz grass I’m sure I can extract a lot from it, so I’ll get you the money for it.”

“Ah, then give me only half of the amount that you have decided on.”

“Mm? You are willing to sell this to me for half price?”

“Yes. In exchange, please tell me where to collect the mushrooms and medicinal herbs mentioned here.”

With that, Uchikage presents the request sheet and shows it to the old man.

The old man takes out his magnifying glass and reads the names of the medicinal herbs and mushrooms written on it and writes them down on another piece of paper.

Reizen and Alena, who were watching the scene, seemed impressed. They said ” Whoa!” at the same time.

“I see…… that’s the way to make a connection……. ……”

“I’m learning a lot. ……”

“…… not to mention Alena, you should be aware of it too Reizen.”

Reizen must have been doing that kind of work for a living in his previous life……. I wonder why he didn’t notice something as simple as this.

But then again, I didn’t notice it either until Uchikage suggested we go to the pharmacy, so I’m not quite there yet either…….

While we were talking, the old man seemed to have written down all the spots where we could collect the samples, and handed them to Uchikage.

“You’re a clever one, aren’t you? You keep on patronizing me and I’ll teach you a thing or two, won’t I?”

” Well, that’s very kind of you, old man. I’m still a newcomer to this party, so I may be in trouble a few times, so I’d appreciate it if you could help us out.”

“I will be happy to help you then. Then, let me pay you for the Poz grass. I have already taken half of the money out. Eleven silver coins. Please confirm it.”

“?! ! Eleven silver coins?!”

I was surprised that the amount was far more than I had expected and raised my voice.

The reason was that the amount was crazy.

When I asked the guild to buy it, they said they would buy it for two silver coins.

The reason for this is that the price is so much higher than the guild’s price.

These bastards …… was taking advantage of the fact that I didn’t know the market price of medicinal herbs ……

“Is there something wrong?”

“Ah, no, when I tried to get the guild to buy it for me, they said they would buy it for two silver coins…….”

“Oh …… the guild will buy anything, but they buy it for less. If you want to get a good price out of your materials, you should go to a specialized place. However, materials for S-ranked demons may be too expensive for armorers and blacksmiths to buy, so it’s better to take them to a guild for those items.”

“I’ll keep that in mind ……”

I vowed never to sell anything other than monster materials again, and I took the old man’s words very deeply in my heart.

I mean,…… if there is such a big difference in the amount of money, there will be no need to take the requests posted in the guild seriously.

I feel like….. there is more of a problem within the guild than with the pharmacy or apothecary. ……

Perhaps not, but do we have to complete requests in order to increase our ranks?

Mm? But. If so many adventurers go to apothecaries and pharmacies to sell medicinal herbs, why are apothecaries and pharmacies submitting requests to the guilds to deliver Hipo grass?

…… perhaps there is a fundamental lack of medicinal herbs?

“You know, old man. Do you know why the request for Hipo grass was posted all over the guild?”

” Hmmm, no idea why. Recently, there are no more people coming to sell me herbs. I have no choice but to submit requests to the guild.”

It might be better to ask an adventurer for more information.

An adventurer who actually lives around the country would probably know something about it.

“I see. Thanks for your help.”

“Mm-hmm. Be safe.”

“Good-bye, Uncle.”

The old man waved us off.

I followed behind the three of them, thinking that something strange was about to happen again.