“Would you allow me to examine these?” Helen accepted our mana gems and operated some equipment inside the desk. “Ah—yes, there is no mistake. They are mana gems from creatures slain today. I also heard something about a goblin king. Was that true?”
“Yes, the nest was run by a goblin king.”
“Is that true? In that case, you should have sent an urgent quest for a C-rank party…”
“It was fine. Yuna defeated them.”
“She defeated a goblin king all on her own…” “The bear defeated a goblin king.”
“The bear…”
“The bear…”
Echoes of those last two words spread across the guild.
“Is that really true? If you have the mana gem, could you please show me?”
“Well, we brought the corpse instead.”
“Ah, so it must be in your bear of holding, right Yuna? Um, it must be quite large. If you could make your way to the room next door…”
The adventurers trailed behind us like goldfish poo.
“Could you take it out here, please?”
I held up the white bear and pulled out the corpse. Gasps, shouts, groans, and all kinds of sounds came from around us.
If looks could kill, everyone laying eyes on the face of the goblin king’s corpse would have dropped dead then and there. Our entourage cringed at the sight of it. They could see the many wounds on the goblin king’s flesh, which spoke to the fierce battle we had.
“Thank you very much. May we buy the corpse from you here right now?”
“You can use it?”
“Yes. Unlike goblins, a goblin king’s skin is tough and durable, so we can use it to make protective gear. Its bones can also be used for weapons and enchanted items, as can its mana gem.”
“I’m fine with that, but what about you, Rulina?”
“I’m fine with it too.”
“In that case, would you return to the front desk with me?”
We returned to the desk, still trailed by our goldfish poo string of onlookers.
“Rulina’s party accepted this quest. Since Yuna helped, how would you like to proceed?”
“Please count this as a collaborative quest with my party and Yuna.”
“Rulina?” I questioned.
“You’re the one who defeated it, and we can’t take credit for that. All I did was harvest the mana gems and talk to people.”
“Understood,” said Helen. “Then we will treat it that way. Could all of the party members, Ms. Rulina included, please present their guild cards?”
“I’m fine.”
“Lanz?”
“I didn’t do anything. I actually thought she’d come running back here and was just watching. All I did was laugh at her and think she could never defeat a whole goblin horde all on her own.”
“Gil?”
“I don’t need it either. I didn’t do anything.”
“Understood. In that case, we will process this quest as being fulfilled by Ms. Rulina and Ms. Yuna. Are you fine with that?”
“Yes, please do that.”
“Then this will be the sum for buying back the goblin mana gems and the quest fee. In addition, this is the bonus money for buying back the goblin king.”
She handed us two bags. Rulina handed the goblin king bonus to me, and also divided the quest fee money in half before handed that to me, too. I accepted it modestly and put it in my bear storage.
“Sorry for what happened before. I’ll talk to Deboranay for sure. Lanz, too.”
“No, it was fun for me! Plus I got to practice magic on a goblin king.” That had been an enlightening experimenting.
When we left the guild, Rulina invited me out to dinner with the party. We ended up eating at a restaurant she liked with Lanz and Gil. Lanz finally lowered his head and apologized. Gil also apologized for not coming along to slay goblins. I accepted their apologies and paid for the meal.
“Are you sure?” they asked.
“Yeah. I got the goblin king bonus, and you can think of it as Deboranay’s medical treatment fees.”
“I see. In that case, we’ll gladly accept the meal.”
“Thank you.”
The four of us enjoyed the food and went back to the inn. I told Elena that I didn’t need dinner, went back to my room, and climbed into bed without even taking a bath.
Chapter 15:
The Bear Takes a Rainy Day Off
Part One
IT STARTED RAINING the next morning and didn’t stop, so I holed up in my inn room and read my bestiary to pass the time. Most of the creatures in it were the standard fantasy fare you’d expect to find in RPGs, light novels, and manga. Maybe I could travel the world trying to find as many of them as I could.
After reading a while, my stomach told me it was time for food, so I went downstairs to get lunch. Despite the rain, there were tons of customers in the dining room. When I asked Elena about it, she said, “Oh, it’s because the rain apparently did away with all the street vendors. The customers gather at places where they’re protected from the downpour.”
I looked around the dining hall and couldn’t seem to find a place to sit. I didn’t really want to share a table, so I was about to leave.
“Ms. Yuna, sorry, but it seems we don’t have seating, so would you be able to eat in your room?”
“Yeah, that’s fine. Please bring me the special for today.”
“Understood. I’ll bring it to your room right away.”
About five minutes after I got back to my room, there was a knock at the door. That was faster than I expected, I thought.
“Ms. Yuna, could you open the door?”
When I opened it, Elena was carrying a steaming meal. Because lunch fees weren’t included in the cost of rent, I put the meal on the table and paid Ms. Elena.
“Thank you.”
“Break a leg out there, Elena.”
“Yes, this is the time for making money,” she answered me lightheartedly before going back to work.
I gratefully ate the meal on the table. It was a veggie stir fry with meat in it, and warm soup with freshly baked bread. I nibbled at the bread, though I was starting to yearn for rice. I wanted to have ramen,
