Reiki reached the section of stalls that were selling food as there were a variety of choices, he thought. … Seafood feels light on the stomach so that’s a pass… He turned his head and saw a stall selling stew made using monster boar meat. He continued his train of thought. Too messy to steal in large volumes… He walked down passing the stalls until the last stall in line was selling grilled meat, Reiki thought. Target acquired. He made his way to the stall and saw that it had a decent line of people.
In the stall were a pair of guys one was in charge of the charcoal grill while the other was in the middle of butchering a large four-legged monster mammal. Reiki stared at the monster meat and thought. I wonder if they’ll tell me where they got that if I asked… The man who was attending the grill smiled at Reiki and said. “Smells good right?” Reiki nodded, he looked up to the man and said. “Yeah… Can you tell me where you got that meat?” The man flipped a few of the skewers on the grill, he said. “We bought it from a seller, there’s someone who’s been breeding cows with monster cows.”
Reiki’s brows furrowed, the man placed down a row of brown paper bags behind the grill and started filling a couple of them. Reiki said. “Monster cows?” The man finished filling a couple of paper bags with skewers, he said. “I say monster cows because they wanted to keep the breed of the offspring.” He passed a bag to the person in line as he received a handful of silver coins, he opened a drawer that was half filled with silver coins and threw more coins in it.
The man closed the drawer as he pointed at the monster cow his friend was slowly trying to butcher off an entire leg, he said. “That’s my co-founder and friend of the stall, who's currently failing to butcher the cow.” Reiki stared at the meat on the grill and said. “Did the person who sold you the cow give you a business card?” The man who was in the middle of butchering the cow stopped as he glanced at Reiki while the man attending the grill filled a bag with skewers and said. “Why do you want to see the business card?”
He passed the paper bag filled with skewers to the person next in line as he received a handful of silver. Reiki looked at the man and said. “Then can I see your business card?” He thought. I doubt you two have one seeing your location. The man partly opened the drawer and placed more coins in it, he said. “... No, we’re just starting.” He glanced at the man who finally managed to cut off the leg of the monster cow as he placed the knife on the counter and moved the leg onto a different counter.
The man attending the grill passed another bag with skewers to the next one in line, he said. “Thank you for your patronage.” Reiki glanced at the butcher and thought. All I want is the contact information, I’m not interested in the small amount of money you two make. The butcher lightly tapped on the steel counter a couple of times as the man attending the grill took out a business card from his back pocket and handed it to him. Reiki took the card off his hands, the card had one of the edges slightly folded as it was slightly crumpled.
Reiki thought. Nanami, personal number, email, and the address to their business… Ok, memorized. He passed the business card back to the man and said. “Looks like a piece of paper to me.” The man attending the grill took out more bags from a different drawer while rearranging the skewers on the grill, he said. “A-Already?” He quickly took the business card off his hands, pocketed it, and started placing more skewers on the grill. Reiki faked a yawn and said. “I just wanted to see what a business card looked like. I asked a man in a suit once and they just laughed it off-.”
Reiki felt the ground beneath him slightly shake, he thought. Earthquake? But there wasn’t any warning from my phone. He looked up and saw the man attending the grill looking to his right, Reiki leaned back and saw two groups on the brink of fighting. The grill man said. “That’s the third conflict this day. Haru, ten copper that they don’t fight.” Haru placed down the large cleaver he was holding, he placed it on the counter, and said. “You’re on Aoi. I say someone gets injured.” Aoi made his way to the grill as he looked at the two groups while everyone in line was also watching.
Reiki thought. Perfect, a distraction. He glanced at the Aoi and Haru who were busy watching the two groups of adventurers. Reiki looked around his surroundings and saw that everyone was waiting for the fight to break out, he said. “How frequent are the fights?” He carefully placed skewers in the paper bags behind the grill while Aoi said. “Too common, but luckily no one gets seriously hurt.” From the distance he could hear the adventurers arguing, a male said. “Stop using smoke to hunt goblins! You guys aren’t the only group with the quest!”
Reiki worked quickly as he overfilled two of the paper bags with almost all the meat on the grill except the recently placed ones leaving roughly five on the grill. He heard more from the distance, a male said. “Then just buy a mask.” It followed a short pause and continued. “Better yet, since your group has a mage, why can’t you have him use magic?” Reiki thought. Q, I need you to go into the pouch and turn into an apple for me. Reiki slightly opened the tattered pouch as he gently picked up the paper bag and placed it into his pouch.
Reiki said. “That’s one way to get a mage to quit from a party.” Haru let out a sigh as he shook his head sideways, he said. “They’ve gotten creative with all the new rules.” Reiki placed the two paper bags that were overfilled with skewers as something black slid from the inside of his sleeve and into the pouch, he said. “Is a low-level mage even worth recruiting?” Reiki intentionally placed the tattered pouch back into his pocket with the top slightly sticking out of his pocket.
Aoi bluntly said. “Nope, but word is that mage knows a shock spell. Which has a chance of paralyzing and if the monsters are close enough can bounce to another target.” Reiki a hint of interest appeared in his eyes, he thought. Ok, that’s useful. I need to ask Mora if she can teach me something similar… A few seconds later the line at the stall started letting out sighs of frustration mixed with the sound of clicking tongues. Aoi spread out his arms and said. “Boo!” Reiki leaned back and saw that a lean male holding a worn-out wooden staff was whispering something into their leader's ear.
Reiki thought. I wonder how much I can sell that wooden staff for?… Nah not worth it, I’ll have a hard time finding a buyer. Haru let out a chuckle and said. “Pay up.” Aoi searched his pockets in frustration, he said. “That mage is a coward! It’s not like his spell is going to kill anyone.” He took out a handful of bronze coins from his pocket and counted them on the palm of his hand. Haru said. “Mages are all about thinking long term, he just decided it would be better to retreat.”
Reiki watched as the two groups in the distance went off in opposite directions, he thought. I wanted a free show. The guy next in line saw the empty grill and said. “Guys, you might want to grill more meat.” Aoi passed ten bronze coins to Haru, he said. “I just placed more meat a minute ago-,” He moved his gaze onto the grill and saw it was almost empty as his eyes widened in disbelief. Haru quickly looked over at his friend's shoulder and saw the empty grill, his gaze wandered onto Reiki as he noticed a pouch peeking out of his pocket.
Haru’s eyes narrowed, he pointed at the pocket with the pouch and said. “Can we see what’s inside that pouch for a moment?” Aoi quickly placed more skewered meat on the grill as he glanced at his friend from the corner of his eye, he thought. … You think this kid stole all that meat?... Aoi skillfully rotated the skewers on the grill, he said. “Haru.” Haru raised his hand and said. “If he’s innocent he won’t have anything to hide.” A few people in line glanced at the kid while Reiki smiled at Haru and Aoi, he said. “Sure.”
Haru kept his eyes on him while Reiki casually took the tattered pouch from his pocket and revealed an apple inside. Haru maintained his expression and thought. … Who carries a plain pouch with them?... Aoi stared at the apple, he said. “You carry an apple on you?” Reiki raised the apple at them to give them a better look and said. “This isn’t just an ordinary apple.” Haru spoke in a sarcastic tone, he said. “Is it a magic apple?”
Aoi elbowed his friend in the stomach which made Haru bend forward from the pain. Reiki continued. “This is from Aomori, a fuji apple to be more specific.” Aoi flipped the meat on the grill as his brows furrowed in confusion while Haru was staring at the apple with discerning eyes. Aoi said. “Can’t you just buy an apple from the store?” Reiki took the apple out from the pouch and spun it on the tip of his index finger which got the crowd's attention, he said. “I’ve had store-bought apples before, this fuji apple. Tastes better in my opinion.”
Haru glanced at the empty pouch in his hand while Reiki lightly threw the apple in the air as he caught it mid-air, he said. “Plus my older sister bought a box with twenty-eight apples…” He pretended to think and continued. “It cost about eleven yen under fourteen thousand.” Haru moved his gaze to the apple in his hands, he thought. Fourteen thousand?! That’s five hundred yen an apple! Aoi opened the fridge below the grill to see the amount of skewers left, he said. “Haru, I need you to get me the shoulder.” Haru watched Reiki use his shirt to clean the apple as he placed it back in his tattered pouch.
Reiki pocketed the tattered pouch as he looked up to Aoi and said. “The two groups of adventurers who almost fought… How much money were they arguing over?” Haru scratched the back of his head, he thought. If he didn’t steal them… Then who did?... He made his way back to the monster cow at the back and picked up the large cleaver on the counter. Aoi placed skewers in the paper bag, he did some numbers in his head, and said. “About half a gold coin more or less?”
Reiki thought. They were at each other's throats for twelve thousand eight hundred yen?... Aoi passed a bag full of skewers to the person in line as he received a handful of silver coins. Reiki had a pondering expression on his face, he said. “Do you happen to know those two groups rank?” Aoi placed the coins in the drawer that was partially opened before he could say something Haru was in the middle of making light incisions on the monster cow's shoulder. Haru said. “Average rank here is E. Their slightly better off than those at the bottom of the barrel.”
Reiki thought. Rank E?... The adventurers here are around level forty-five to sixty and they still have to scrape by? His brows furrowed as Aoi took more skewers from the fridge and placed them on the grill, Reiki said. “How much do those two groups make on a monthly basis?” Aoi turned the meat on the grill on its other side, he opened his mouth to say something but paused for a moment and said. “... Haru, kid’s got a question for you.” Haru was about one-fourth way done with the monster cow's shoulder, he leaned on the counter to think. He said. “Give me a minute.”
Aoi placed a few skewers in the paper bag while Reiki thought. It can’t be that bad… He heard Haru mumbling to himself, he said. “They accept seven quests a day…” Reiki’s eyes had a hint of disbelief, he thought. Seven!? Haru continued. “About sixty thousand worth of monster materials…” Haru turned his head to the side to look at the kid and said. “Somewhere between two hundred to three hundred thousand.” Reiki thought. … So, they risk their lives to hunt monsters… Only to earn three hundred to two hundred thousand less than the average salary… Being an adventurer sucks…
Aoi placed another skewer in a paper bag as he passed them to the next person in line, he said. “Thanks for your patronage.” He glanced at Reiki from the corner of his eye and said. “Kid you’re not planning on becoming an adventurer like them? I’ll save you the trouble, don’t waste your time.” Reiki looked up to him, he said. “You speaking from experience?” Aoi nodded while Haru kept slowly making incisions on the shoulder of the monster cow with each next one being deeper than the last.
Haru said. “Aoi and I both. The two of us barely managed to pass the promotion exam for E rank.” Reiki thought. Oh, so you two are weaklings. Aoi had a wry smile on his face, he placed more meat on the grill and said. “Don’t put it like that, we just didn’t have the resources.” Reiki quickly said. “What kind of resources?” Aoi shook his head sideways, he paused for a moment and said. “It would be faster if I told you which limited ones we had at our disposal...”
Aoi let out a regretful sigh, he continued. “The usual, spells, martial arts, body tempering… All we had was… A second-rate academy and a medicinal herb we had to split between us two.” Haru turned his upper body as he pointed the cleaver at his friend, he said. “I still think that herb we bought off that woman was fake.” Reiki raised a brow, he thought. My money is on Aoi was the one who bought the ‘herb’. Aoi let out a carefree laugh and said. “Dude, you need to move on from that.” Haru turned his upper body back on the monster cow's corpse, he said. “We paid that woman half a platinum coin for that defective plant.”
Reiki thought. One hundred and eighty thousand yen… Not that much. Aoi passed a bag filled with skewers as he passed it to the next person in line, he said. “Thank you very much.” He turned his head to the side and continued. “We’ve already made more than that.” Haru shook his head as he went back to butchering the monster cow's shoulder. Aoi placed the coins in the drawer while Reiki said. “Is two hundred thousand yen considered good for their rank?”
Aoi’s brows furrowed, he flipped the skewers on the grill and said. “Are you still planning on becoming an adventurer?” Reiki shook his head, he said. “No, can’t afford it.” Aoi nodded as he placed a few skewers in a paper bag, he said. “Being able to make somewhere between two hundred to three hundred thousand a month by hunting monsters sounds good on paper.” He placed a few more skewers in a paper bag and passed it to a customer as he received coins for it. Aoi continued. “... The moment you see the daily expense, you’ll understand why the majority of adventurers have fights over easy quests…”
Reiki thought. Daily expense… Equipment maintenance, potions, food, emergency rations, and if the group is traveling payment for inns or hotels… He said. “Since you and Haru were adventurers, how much was your daily costs?” Aoi glanced at Haru who barely managed to cut off the monster cow's shoulder, he carried it with both his hands and carefully placed the large cleaver on the counter. Haru placed the shoulder on a different counter along with the leg he cut off, he said. “On a good day, it was a hundred thousand yen.”
Reiki thought. What?... Were you two eating lobster and wagyu for snacks? He said. “Maintenance for weapons is that expensive?” Haru made his way to the monster cow, he picked up the cleaver and said. “The maintenance for the weapons wasn’t the main expense…” He shook his head sideways and continued. “It was the potions… The cheapest one goes for one gold and they're at best used for light wounds…” Reiki said. “How big were the potions?” He thought. Since the cheapest one goes for twenty-five thousand six hundred yen, it should be about the same size as a cup.
Aoi gave him an odd look while Haru turned his head sideways and glanced at him for a couple of seconds before going back to butchering the monster cow corpse. Aoi said. “You’ve never been to a potion shop before… Have you?” Reiki shook his head and said. “No, why?” Aoi flipped the skewers on the grill, he said. “Kid, do you know what a test tube looks like?” Reiki nodded, he said. “You mean those things that can hold somewhere between twenty-five to thirty milliliters?” Aoi passed a bag of skewers to the next person in line as he received the payment, he said. “Those cost one gold coin.”
Reiki kept a straight face and thought. Those small cheap tubes filled with either red or blue liquid go for that much?... Perfect, nothing like disrupting the market with a superior product. He said. “I think you meant one silver coin.” Aoi shook his head and said. “Gold coin.” He gave a paper bag to the next customer as the person gave Aoi a handful of silver coins. Haru moved his shoulders around, he said. “Since a bag of holding was too expensive we had to carry them around which made us a target for poor adventurers. In other words every single F rank to a handful of desperate E rank.”
Reiki thought. Yeah, that sounds accurate. People are willing to steal from others, whether it’s 1 yen or a billion yen. He said. “How about using the pocket inside your shirt?” Aoi shook his head sideways and said. “That was the first thing we tried, when hunting goblins the glass broke when one of them bashed a shield at me.” Reiki’s eyes slightly narrowed, he thought. Humanoid monsters can wield weapons, noted. Haru was massaging his right shoulder with his left hand, he said. “Then we bought a portable box where we put our camping supplies and made a hidden compartment for the positions…”
Haru turned his head to the said and continued. “Even then we could only use the potions when it wasn’t an emergency which was counterproductive.” Reiki pretended to think for a moment, he said. “I’m guessing you two eventually stopped buying potions.” Haru didn’t reply as Aoi passed a paper bag to a customer, he received payment and placed the coins in the partially opened drawer. Aoi faked a cough and said. “So… That apple, where did you plan on eating it?”
Reiki intentionally paused for a moment, he said. “... At first I was planning on eating in an empty area around here but when I saw those two groups fighting… I think I’ll just find a bench somewhere else.” Aoi nodded at him and said. “That’s a sensible decision.” His gaze wandered onto his right shoulder which had an odd pattern of red on it and continued. “Is that design popular with kids these days?” He pointed at it while Reiki turned his head to the right and saw that Cherry used his shirt to wipe the blood off her talons, he thought. … Huh, so that’s why the stares stopped…
Reiki said. “It’s not, just some blood a crow wiped off on me.” Aoi nodded as he picked up a skewer, he said. “Blood that a crow wiped on you, sounds simple.” The skewer was in the paper bag as he didn’t let go and froze in place while Haru who was in the middle of butchering the monster cow corpse stopped as he turned around and saw the blood stains on Reiki’s shoulder. A few people in line that were near the young boy glanced at him as a streak of white appeared as an albino crow was on Reiki’s shoulder.
Reiki rubbed the top of Cherry’s head and said. “Oh, hi Cherry. Did you enjoy flying around the area?” Cherry let out a soft caw and flapped her wings, Reiki moved his gaze onto Aoi. He said. “Meet the crow responsible for the blood on my shirt.” Everyone in the front of the line stared at the albino crow while Aoi was put off by Cherry’s blood-red eye that was piercing his very soul. Haru almost lost his grip on the cleaver in his hands as he caught it before it slipped from his palm.
Reiki nodded at him and continued. “Thanks for answering my questions, if it helps when I was watching the two groups fighting I saw something move from the corner of my eye… Though it was only for a split second.” He waved at them, let out a yawn, and made his way down the stalls. Aoi’s brows furrowed, he thought. … So someone stole our skewers using a speed-type spell?... Haru watched the boy walk down the stalls as he smelt something slightly burnt, he moved his gaze onto the grill and said. “Aoi, you’re burning meat.”
Aoi snapped back to his senses, he let out a gasp and quickly started turning the meat on the grill.
Reiki reached the section of stalls that were selling food as there were a variety of choices, he thought. … Seafood feels light on the stomach so that’s a pass… He turned his head and saw a stall selling stew made using monster boar meat. He continued his train of thought. Too messy to steal in large volumes… He walked down passing the stalls until the last stall in line was selling grilled meat, Reiki thought. Target acquired. He made his way to the stall and saw that it had a decent line of people.
In the stall were a pair of guys one was in charge of the charcoal grill while the other was in the middle of butchering a large four-legged monster mammal. Reiki stared at the monster meat and thought. I wonder if they’ll tell me where they got that if I asked… The man who was attending the grill smiled at Reiki and said. “Smells good right?” Reiki nodded, he looked up to the man and said. “Yeah… Can you tell me where you got that meat?” The man flipped a few of the skewers on the grill, he said. “We bought it from a seller, there’s someone who’s been breeding cows with monster cows.”
Reiki’s brows furrowed, the man placed down a row of brown paper bags behind the grill and started filling a couple of them. Reiki said. “Monster cows?” The man finished filling a couple of paper bags with skewers, he said. “I say monster cows because they wanted to keep the breed of the offspring.” He passed a bag to the person in line as he received a handful of silver coins, he opened a drawer that was half filled with silver coins and threw more coins in it.
The man closed the drawer as he pointed at the monster cow his friend was slowly trying to butcher off an entire leg, he said. “That’s my co-founder and friend of the stall, who's currently failing to butcher the cow.” Reiki stared at the meat on the grill and said. “Did the person who sold you the cow give you a business card?” The man who was in the middle of butchering the cow stopped as he glanced at Reiki while the man attending the grill filled a bag with skewers and said. “Why do you want to see the business card?”
He passed the paper bag filled with skewers to the person next in line as he received a handful of silver. Reiki looked at the man and said. “Then can I see your business card?” He thought. I doubt you two have one seeing your location. The man partly opened the drawer and placed more coins in it, he said. “... No, we’re just starting.” He glanced at the man who finally managed to cut off the leg of the monster cow as he placed the knife on the counter and moved the leg onto a different counter.
The man attending the grill passed another bag with skewers to the next one in line, he said. “Thank you for your patronage.” Reiki glanced at the butcher and thought. All I want is the contact information, I’m not interested in the small amount of money you two make. The butcher lightly tapped on the steel counter a couple of times as the man attending the grill took out a business card from his back pocket and handed it to him. Reiki took the card off his hands, the card had one of the edges slightly folded as it was slightly crumpled.
Reiki thought. Nanami, personal number, email, and the address to their business… Ok, memorized. He passed the business card back to the man and said. “Looks like a piece of paper to me.” The man attending the grill took out more bags from a different drawer while rearranging the skewers on the grill, he said. “A-Already?” He quickly took the business card off his hands, pocketed it, and started placing more skewers on the grill. Reiki faked a yawn and said. “I just wanted to see what a business card looked like. I asked a man in a suit once and they just laughed it off-.”
Reiki felt the ground beneath him slightly shake, he thought. Earthquake? But there wasn’t any warning from my phone. He looked up and saw the man attending the grill looking to his right, Reiki leaned back and saw two groups on the brink of fighting. The grill man said. “That’s the third conflict this day. Haru, ten copper that they don’t fight.” Haru placed down the large cleaver he was holding, he placed it on the counter, and said. “You’re on Aoi. I say someone gets injured.” Aoi made his way to the grill as he looked at the two groups while everyone in line was also watching.
Reiki thought. Perfect, a distraction. He glanced at the Aoi and Haru who were busy watching the two groups of adventurers. Reiki looked around his surroundings and saw that everyone was waiting for the fight to break out, he said. “How frequent are the fights?” He carefully placed skewers in the paper bags behind the grill while Aoi said. “Too common, but luckily no one gets seriously hurt.” From the distance he could hear the adventurers arguing, a male said. “Stop using smoke to hunt goblins! You guys aren’t the only group with the quest!”
Reiki worked quickly as he overfilled two of the paper bags with almost all the meat on the grill except the recently placed ones leaving roughly five on the grill. He heard more from the distance, a male said. “Then just buy a mask.” It followed a short pause and continued. “Better yet, since your group has a mage, why can’t you have him use magic?” Reiki thought. Q, I need you to go into the pouch and turn into an apple for me. Reiki slightly opened the tattered pouch as he gently picked up the paper bag and placed it into his pouch.
Reiki said. “That’s one way to get a mage to quit from a party.” Haru let out a sigh as he shook his head sideways, he said. “They’ve gotten creative with all the new rules.” Reiki placed the two paper bags that were overfilled with skewers as something black slid from the inside of his sleeve and into the pouch, he said. “Is a low-level mage even worth recruiting?” Reiki intentionally placed the tattered pouch back into his pocket with the top slightly sticking out of his pocket.
Aoi bluntly said. “Nope, but word is that mage knows a shock spell. Which has a chance of paralyzing and if the monsters are close enough can bounce to another target.” Reiki a hint of interest appeared in his eyes, he thought. Ok, that’s useful. I need to ask Mora if she can teach me something similar… A few seconds later the line at the stall started letting out sighs of frustration mixed with the sound of clicking tongues. Aoi spread out his arms and said. “Boo!” Reiki leaned back and saw that a lean male holding a worn-out wooden staff was whispering something into their leader's ear.
Reiki thought. I wonder how much I can sell that wooden staff for?… Nah not worth it, I’ll have a hard time finding a buyer. Haru let out a chuckle and said. “Pay up.” Aoi searched his pockets in frustration, he said. “That mage is a coward! It’s not like his spell is going to kill anyone.” He took out a handful of bronze coins from his pocket and counted them on the palm of his hand. Haru said. “Mages are all about thinking long term, he just decided it would be better to retreat.”
Reiki watched as the two groups in the distance went off in opposite directions, he thought. I wanted a free show. The guy next in line saw the empty grill and said. “Guys, you might want to grill more meat.” Aoi passed ten bronze coins to Haru, he said. “I just placed more meat a minute ago-,” He moved his gaze onto the grill and saw it was almost empty as his eyes widened in disbelief. Haru quickly looked over at his friend's shoulder and saw the empty grill, his gaze wandered onto Reiki as he noticed a pouch peeking out of his pocket.
Haru’s eyes narrowed, he pointed at the pocket with the pouch and said. “Can we see what’s inside that pouch for a moment?” Aoi quickly placed more skewered meat on the grill as he glanced at his friend from the corner of his eye, he thought. … You think this kid stole all that meat?... Aoi skillfully rotated the skewers on the grill, he said. “Haru.” Haru raised his hand and said. “If he’s innocent he won’t have anything to hide.” A few people in line glanced at the kid while Reiki smiled at Haru and Aoi, he said. “Sure.”
Haru kept his eyes on him while Reiki casually took the tattered pouch from his pocket and revealed an apple inside. Haru maintained his expression and thought. … Who carries a plain pouch with them?... Aoi stared at the apple, he said. “You carry an apple on you?” Reiki raised the apple at them to give them a better look and said. “This isn’t just an ordinary apple.” Haru spoke in a sarcastic tone, he said. “Is it a magic apple?”
Aoi elbowed his friend in the stomach which made Haru bend forward from the pain. Reiki continued. “This is from Aomori, a fuji apple to be more specific.” Aoi flipped the meat on the grill as his brows furrowed in confusion while Haru was staring at the apple with discerning eyes. Aoi said. “Can’t you just buy an apple from the store?” Reiki took the apple out from the pouch and spun it on the tip of his index finger which got the crowd's attention, he said. “I’ve had store-bought apples before, this fuji apple. Tastes better in my opinion.”
Haru glanced at the empty pouch in his hand while Reiki lightly threw the apple in the air as he caught it mid-air, he said. “Plus my older sister bought a box with twenty-eight apples…” He pretended to think and continued. “It cost about eleven yen under fourteen thousand.” Haru moved his gaze to the apple in his hands, he thought. Fourteen thousand?! That’s five hundred yen an apple! Aoi opened the fridge below the grill to see the amount of skewers left, he said. “Haru, I need you to get me the shoulder.” Haru watched Reiki use his shirt to clean the apple as he placed it back in his tattered pouch.
Reiki pocketed the tattered pouch as he looked up to Aoi and said. “The two groups of adventurers who almost fought… How much money were they arguing over?” Haru scratched the back of his head, he thought. If he didn’t steal them… Then who did?... He made his way back to the monster cow at the back and picked up the large cleaver on the counter. Aoi placed skewers in the paper bag, he did some numbers in his head, and said. “About half a gold coin more or less?”
Reiki thought. They were at each other's throats for twelve thousand eight hundred yen?... Aoi passed a bag full of skewers to the person in line as he received a handful of silver coins. Reiki had a pondering expression on his face, he said. “Do you happen to know those two groups rank?” Aoi placed the coins in the drawer that was partially opened before he could say something Haru was in the middle of making light incisions on the monster cow's shoulder. Haru said. “Average rank here is E. Their slightly better off than those at the bottom of the barrel.”
Reiki thought. Rank E?... The adventurers here are around level forty-five to sixty and they still have to scrape by? His brows furrowed as Aoi took more skewers from the fridge and placed them on the grill, Reiki said. “How much do those two groups make on a monthly basis?” Aoi turned the meat on the grill on its other side, he opened his mouth to say something but paused for a moment and said. “... Haru, kid’s got a question for you.” Haru was about one-fourth way done with the monster cow's shoulder, he leaned on the counter to think. He said. “Give me a minute.”
Aoi placed a few skewers in the paper bag while Reiki thought. It can’t be that bad… He heard Haru mumbling to himself, he said. “They accept seven quests a day…” Reiki’s eyes had a hint of disbelief, he thought. Seven!? Haru continued. “About sixty thousand worth of monster materials…” Haru turned his head to the side to look at the kid and said. “Somewhere between two hundred to three hundred thousand.” Reiki thought. … So, they risk their lives to hunt monsters… Only to earn three hundred to two hundred thousand less than the average salary… Being an adventurer sucks…
Aoi placed another skewer in a paper bag as he passed them to the next person in line, he said. “Thanks for your patronage.” He glanced at Reiki from the corner of his eye and said. “Kid you’re not planning on becoming an adventurer like them? I’ll save you the trouble, don’t waste your time.” Reiki looked up to him, he said. “You speaking from experience?” Aoi nodded while Haru kept slowly making incisions on the shoulder of the monster cow with each next one being deeper than the last.
Haru said. “Aoi and I both. The two of us barely managed to pass the promotion exam for E rank.” Reiki thought. Oh, so you two are weaklings. Aoi had a wry smile on his face, he placed more meat on the grill and said. “Don’t put it like that, we just didn’t have the resources.” Reiki quickly said. “What kind of resources?” Aoi shook his head sideways, he paused for a moment and said. “It would be faster if I told you which limited ones we had at our disposal...”
Aoi let out a regretful sigh, he continued. “The usual, spells, martial arts, body tempering… All we had was… A second-rate academy and a medicinal herb we had to split between us two.” Haru turned his upper body as he pointed the cleaver at his friend, he said. “I still think that herb we bought off that woman was fake.” Reiki raised a brow, he thought. My money is on Aoi was the one who bought the ‘herb’. Aoi let out a carefree laugh and said. “Dude, you need to move on from that.” Haru turned his upper body back on the monster cow's corpse, he said. “We paid that woman half a platinum coin for that defective plant.”
Reiki thought. One hundred and eighty thousand yen… Not that much. Aoi passed a bag filled with skewers as he passed it to the next person in line, he said. “Thank you very much.” He turned his head to the side and continued. “We’ve already made more than that.” Haru shook his head as he went back to butchering the monster cow's shoulder. Aoi placed the coins in the drawer while Reiki said. “Is two hundred thousand yen considered good for their rank?”
Aoi’s brows furrowed, he flipped the skewers on the grill and said. “Are you still planning on becoming an adventurer?” Reiki shook his head, he said. “No, can’t afford it.” Aoi nodded as he placed a few skewers in a paper bag, he said. “Being able to make somewhere between two hundred to three hundred thousand a month by hunting monsters sounds good on paper.” He placed a few more skewers in a paper bag and passed it to a customer as he received coins for it. Aoi continued. “... The moment you see the daily expense, you’ll understand why the majority of adventurers have fights over easy quests…”
Reiki thought. Daily expense… Equipment maintenance, potions, food, emergency rations, and if the group is traveling payment for inns or hotels… He said. “Since you and Haru were adventurers, how much was your daily costs?” Aoi glanced at Haru who barely managed to cut off the monster cow's shoulder, he carried it with both his hands and carefully placed the large cleaver on the counter. Haru placed the shoulder on a different counter along with the leg he cut off, he said. “On a good day, it was a hundred thousand yen.”
Reiki thought. What?... Were you two eating lobster and wagyu for snacks? He said. “Maintenance for weapons is that expensive?” Haru made his way to the monster cow, he picked up the cleaver and said. “The maintenance for the weapons wasn’t the main expense…” He shook his head sideways and continued. “It was the potions… The cheapest one goes for one gold and they're at best used for light wounds…” Reiki said. “How big were the potions?” He thought. Since the cheapest one goes for twenty-five thousand six hundred yen, it should be about the same size as a cup.
Aoi gave him an odd look while Haru turned his head sideways and glanced at him for a couple of seconds before going back to butchering the monster cow corpse. Aoi said. “You’ve never been to a potion shop before… Have you?” Reiki shook his head and said. “No, why?” Aoi flipped the skewers on the grill, he said. “Kid, do you know what a test tube looks like?” Reiki nodded, he said. “You mean those things that can hold somewhere between twenty-five to thirty milliliters?” Aoi passed a bag of skewers to the next person in line as he received the payment, he said. “Those cost one gold coin.”
Reiki kept a straight face and thought. Those small cheap tubes filled with either red or blue liquid go for that much?... Perfect, nothing like disrupting the market with a superior product. He said. “I think you meant one silver coin.” Aoi shook his head and said. “Gold coin.” He gave a paper bag to the next customer as the person gave Aoi a handful of silver coins. Haru moved his shoulders around, he said. “Since a bag of holding was too expensive we had to carry them around which made us a target for poor adventurers. In other words every single F rank to a handful of desperate E rank.”
Reiki thought. Yeah, that sounds accurate. People are willing to steal from others, whether it’s 1 yen or a billion yen. He said. “How about using the pocket inside your shirt?” Aoi shook his head sideways and said. “That was the first thing we tried, when hunting goblins the glass broke when one of them bashed a shield at me.” Reiki’s eyes slightly narrowed, he thought. Humanoid monsters can wield weapons, noted. Haru was massaging his right shoulder with his left hand, he said. “Then we bought a portable box where we put our camping supplies and made a hidden compartment for the positions…”
Haru turned his head to the said and continued. “Even then we could only use the potions when it wasn’t an emergency which was counterproductive.” Reiki pretended to think for a moment, he said. “I’m guessing you two eventually stopped buying potions.” Haru didn’t reply as Aoi passed a paper bag to a customer, he received payment and placed the coins in the partially opened drawer. Aoi faked a cough and said. “So… That apple, where did you plan on eating it?”
Reiki intentionally paused for a moment, he said. “... At first I was planning on eating in an empty area around here but when I saw those two groups fighting… I think I’ll just find a bench somewhere else.” Aoi nodded at him and said. “That’s a sensible decision.” His gaze wandered onto his right shoulder which had an odd pattern of red on it and continued. “Is that design popular with kids these days?” He pointed at it while Reiki turned his head to the right and saw that Cherry used his shirt to wipe the blood off her talons, he thought. … Huh, so that’s why the stares stopped…
Reiki said. “It’s not, just some blood a crow wiped off on me.” Aoi nodded as he picked up a skewer, he said. “Blood that a crow wiped on you, sounds simple.” The skewer was in the paper bag as he didn’t let go and froze in place while Haru who was in the middle of butchering the monster cow corpse stopped as he turned around and saw the blood stains on Reiki’s shoulder. A few people in line that were near the young boy glanced at him as a streak of white appeared as an albino crow was on Reiki’s shoulder.
Reiki rubbed the top of Cherry’s head and said. “Oh, hi Cherry. Did you enjoy flying around the area?” Cherry let out a soft caw and flapped her wings, Reiki moved his gaze onto Aoi. He said. “Meet the crow responsible for the blood on my shirt.” Everyone in the front of the line stared at the albino crow while Aoi was put off by Cherry’s blood-red eye that was piercing his very soul. Haru almost lost his grip on the cleaver in his hands as he caught it before it slipped from his palm.
Reiki nodded at him and continued. “Thanks for answering my questions, if it helps when I was watching the two groups fighting I saw something move from the corner of my eye… Though it was only for a split second.” He waved at them, let out a yawn, and made his way down the stalls. Aoi’s brows furrowed, he thought. … So someone stole our skewers using a speed-type spell?... Haru watched the boy walk down the stalls as he smelt something slightly burnt, he moved his gaze onto the grill and said. “Aoi, you’re burning meat.”
Aoi snapped back to his senses, he let out a gasp and quickly started turning the meat on the grill.
