Chapter 73
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The next morning.
I had told them I was at the “Golden Lion” base, so it would be a bit bad if Iris and the others came to call for me.
Thinking that, I set my alarm clock to wake up early, and after getting up at that time, I finished my breakfast and getting ready before becoming invisible and heading down to the ground.
After that, I appeared as “Mose,” pulling a cart with some supplies I had put together, and headed towards the “Silver Orchid” base.
”Good morning, Mose.”
”Good morning, Mr. Mose.”
”Ah, good morning.”
As I waited a few hundred meters from the entrance of the base, the guards noticed me and brought Iris and the others over.
After exchanging morning greetings, Iris checked today’s plans.
”We’re hunting in the 4th District today, right?”
”Yeah, that’s right.”
Yesterday, I had told Ferris I would go back to the city alone, but before leaving the “Silver Orchid” base, Iris and the others asked me to hunt in the 4th District.
Iris had heard that the rabbits here aren’t too dangerous during the day, and she suggested it would be a good chance to help Seria grow.
She then mentioned she wanted to join too, and in the end, we all decided to go hunting together.
The goal this time was to make the “Silver Orchid” base usable for Iris and the others, and since it turned out she was a noble, we should avoid unnecessary risks.
I might have tried going into the 5th District alone, but… I don’t have a map of the 5th District, and I’m not keen on taking Iris and the others to an unknown place.
If that’s the case, it might be better to have Iris wait at the “Silver Orchid” base instead of taking her hunting. However, it seems she wants to see the moment she gets the magic item to break the curse with her own eyes and be sure it’s real before she feels safe.
Because of that, it’s decided that Iris will join the hunt, so today she’ll focus on collecting magic stones.
Just as I was thinking this and about to start hunting rabbits, Seria made a suggestion.
”Um, are we only collecting magic stones today? If so, how about we give the rabbits themselves to ‘Silver Orchid’?”
”Ah…”
Iris looked like she agreed with Seria’s suggestion.
I decided to ask them about the situation.
’What does that mean?’
”Well, it seems that ‘Silver Orchid’ doesn’t have that much extra capacity to manage things, so I thought it might be better to give them away rather than just leave them.”
”Recently, there have been more women to protect, and it seems Ms. Ferris and the others can’t go far anymore… They seem to be gathering numbers nearby, so for now, it doesn’t seem to affect the company’s maintenance, but since we’ll be relying on them in the future, I thought it would be better to pay a price.”
’Hmm…’
I had thought that Ms. Shirley, who I could say is a noble, came from a noble or similar background, so I assumed there would be enough funds for the operation of “Silver Orchid.” But here we are again with money issues.
It’s good that they are protecting women targeted by men at this base, but if those women can’t become a fighting force, the more of them there are, the more they need to earn.
However, I think Ferris’s very presence acts as a deterrent, so even if she’s not at the base, it should be okay to some extent.
When I asked about that… Iris and Seria looked around and answered my question in slightly lowered voices.
”Last night, I heard from some people who recently came to this base that… the ‘Gem Snake’ has been moving a lot lately, and it seems suspicious.”
”It doesn’t seem like they’re directly targeting ‘Silver Orchid,’ but how should I put it… they seem to be getting less cautious around ‘Silver Orchid.’.”
’Does that mean… they’re not afraid of Ferris anymore?’
Iris answered my question.
”Maybe? Since they haven’t attacked ‘Silver Orchid,’ I don’t think they’re completely fearless, but…”
’So they are actively targeting other women. Does that mean they plan to increase the number of women under ‘Silver Orchid’s’ protection to weaken the organization?’
””Who knows…?””
Iris and Seria both tilted their heads in response.
Well, since they’re not directly involved, it’s hard to make predictions with so little information.
Hmm, this is troubling.
Regardless of whether my guess is right, I negotiated to use the ‘Silver Orchid’ base because I thought I could safely leave things to Iris and the others.
Well, if they haven’t gotten involved with “Silver Orchid,” it might be safer than being in the city… I mean, Iris getting harassed at the city entrance and attacked in the dungeon might have been part of the increased activity of “Gem Snake.”
Anyway, even though maintaining the base isn’t a problem, they still need to take care of things, and since I planned to leave it alone, we decided to give the rabbit we extracted the magic stone from to “Silver Orchid.”
When I told the “Silver Orchid” this, it seemed like the proposal was accepted, and a group with a cart and Nina came over.
”I’m the marker.”
When I asked Nina why she came, she replied like that and waved the flag she had yesterday.
It seems she came so we could continue hunting normally while the cart team transported goods to the base.
This way, even if the transport team loses sight of us in the tall grass, they can find us quickly.
The transport team has 5 people, with 2 handling the cart and the other 3 acting as guards.
The 3 guards are in charge of security, so they can fight to some extent, and since the rabbit groups are smaller during the day, it should be manageable.
So, including Nina, there are 6 of us.
There will be more people around, but in a place with tall grass, it should be harder to notice if I secretly use magic thread.
Ferris, who might see that, hasn’t come out from the base, so I should be able to set up threads for the rabbits in advance and control their movements as needed to make hunting easier.
Thinking that, I decided to lead Nina and the others to start hunting in the 4th District.
* * *
After a while, one of the transport team members raised their voice.
”Um, I think we should transport this back to the base soon.”
Behind her was a cart filled with rabbits that had their magic stones removed.
It had probably been less than an hour.
We had defeated the rabbits and collected the magic stones, and they had drained some blood before loading them onto the cart. Since I could sense the rabbits’ locations with the magic stones, we were able to hunt quickly, and it didn’t take long for the cart to fill up.
Being in a grassland where we could go straight to our prey was one reason for this.
Nina and the transport team already knew my strength from testing it with Ferris, so they weren’t surprised.
After sending them back to the base, soon after, another group of women arrived with an empty cart.
”With that amount at this time, huh?”
According to one of the new transport team members, it seemed they had switched to a 2-team rotation.
So, I moved the rabbits from my cart to theirs, and then we continued hunting almost non-stop.
As a result, when we finished hunting and headed to the “Silver Orchid” base, Ferris greeted us with a tonfa in hand.
”You overdid it.”
It seemed they had gotten too busy processing the meat and skins, which delayed the meal preparations.
There should have been more when there was an attack on the base at night, but in that case, dinner was already done, so it wasn’t a problem.
It seems that depending on the land and financial situation, they also have meals during the day at this base.
Of course, Ferris had lunch too, and it was prioritized for preparation, but today it was delayed, and since dinner was also likely to be late, she seemed a bit grumpy.
According to Iris, Ferris eats quite a lot, so they pay a lot of attention to meal times, amounts, and quality.
Speaking of which… Lunamaria also cared about taste in her human form, and while she ate less compared to when she was a Dragon, she could still eat a fair amount.
Hmm.
Even though Iris and the others were allowed to stay, it wouldn’t be good to upset Ferris for no reason.
Thinking that, I made something in my wooden box and offered it to Ferris.
’Here, if you’d like.’
”Hm? …What’s this, dried meat?”
Ferris took the small leather pouch I handed her and started checking the dry meat inside.
”Sniff sniff… It smells pretty high quality. Can I eat it?”
’Yes, please do.’
”Then… nom.”
It seemed Ferris didn’t suspect I was up to something, as she quickly put the meat in her mouth and started chewing.
”Mmm… gulp. What is this? It’s really delicious. Nom!”
After giving a simple review, Ferris immediately took more meat.
It seemed to be well-received, which was great.
This meat was a well-known beef jerky from my previous life, and I had made just the filling.
In the city, rabbit meat is common, orc meat is a bit rare, and beef is quite expensive and therefore rare.
Well, it’s rare but not impossible to find, so the only question about me having it would be about the taste.
However, if she eats it quickly, there won’t be a chance to investigate it closely, and I thought she wouldn’t find out it was “Imitation.”
”Nom nom… gulp.”
Ferris was pretty hungry, so she kept putting beef jerky into her mouth and quickly finished the whole bag.
She seemed to like the smell too, holding the bag to her face and breathing in the air inside.
”Suuhhh… Haaahhh…♡”
Her expression was so alluring that anyone watching might misunderstand and think she was doing something naughty.
After a while, Ferris came back to her senses and suddenly grabbed my shoulder.
It seemed like she was using a lot of magic power, as her grip was quite strong.
’W-What is it…?’
When I asked, Ferris smiled and replied.
”Is there none left? Where did you get it?”
*Bzzzzt…*
As she spoke, Ferris increased her magic power consumption.
I had chosen something that didn’t exist in this world or this time, thinking it would raise some suspicion… but now she liked it too much and wanted to know where it came from.
I had to find a way to dodge the question.
’I don’t have any left. I can’t reveal who makes it, but if I can get more, I’ll bring it to you.’
I answered, but Ferris kept pressing about the maker.
”Why can’t you tell me who makes it?”
’There’s a limit to how much can be made, so it’s sold only to trusted people to prevent powerful people from monopolizing it.’
”So, I just have to make that person trust me, right?”
’Well, the fact that you want them makes it unlikely they’ll trust you.’
”Ugh…”
’Of course, if you try to force them to make it, they’ll refuse. If someone like that comes along, they’ve said they’ll destroy the recipe and never make it again.’
”Ughh…”
Ferris looked regretful at my words, but she didn’t pursue the matter further, as if she understood the content.
I said there was a separate manufacturer because if I said I was the manufacturer, I might be asked for unlimited requests, and by saying this, I wanted to create a situation where there were restrictions, but I could still get things from me.
I didn’t aim for it, but… with this, I thought I could have some cards to play in negotiations.
Just as I was thinking that, Ferris said to me and Iris,
”Come here. You guys wait there.”
And then she dragged me, still gripping my shoulder firmly, into the conference tent at the center of the base.
’Er…?’
I tried to ask what she wanted, but Ferris turned around and…
Gwi, barun!
She pushed the front of her cheongsam together at the center, exposing her chest.
”As for the rabbit, I don’t care, but the meat from earlier is my personal business. You can touch these if you want.”
*Squish*
Ferris lifted her chest and shook it to show it off.
She probably chose this as a price because she felt my gaze on her several times.
’So you liked it that much? But you didn’t have to go that far…’
I was a little bothered because I intended to use this as a negotiation card, and now I was being paid this price.
I couldn’t just casually offer a different product now.
I don’t know if Ferris sensed my thoughts, but she came closer to me, shaking her chest.
*Swish, swish…*
*Shake, shake…*
”If you create a strange debt, you might be asked to repay it in a troublesome way later. Come on, take off your gauntlets.”
Saying this, Ferris leaned back, offering her chest, and shook it with her hands.
Hmm… if I hesitate strangely, I might be thought to be considering a negotiation.
It’s not a free pass, but I’ve been allowed into this base and even given such a reward.
So, it’s definitely a good relationship right now, and I shouldn’t give a bad impression that would ruin it.
That being the case… I make one request of Ferris.
’Um, I’d prefer it from behind…’
It would be unnatural to touch her without taking off my gauntlets, and it’s not good for her to see me connected to the removed gauntlet with magic thread.
After all, this armor is supposed to be a magic item independent of me.
Ferris didn’t mind me taking her from behind, but she showed that she minded something else as she turned her back.
”Huh? It’s fine, but… you’re not going to insert anything, are you? I might crush your thing.”
’Yes, I understand.’
I replied and, like taking off normal gauntlets, I took off the Magic Armor gauntlets and placed them on the table,
”Here you go~♪”
I reached out to Ferris’s twin peaks, which I hadn’t touched in a few days, through the left and right armpits that Ferris had opened.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Report Error Chapter
by
Tags: