He was in the right ballpark.
“Also, I’m sorry, but I’ll need you to sell the orc corpses to the guild. If the guild doesn’t occasionally supply monster parts to the stores, it reflects badly on us.”
“Got it.”
A female guild employee led me back to Helen at the front desk. She told Helen what the guild master had said and returned to her own work.
“Ms. Yuna, congratulations on your rank increase.”
“Thanks.”
Helen put the guild card on the crystal panel and started tinkering with it, reminding me that I still didn’t get how the crystal panels could share data across the world.
“The guild has a request,” she said, “if you would be so kind.”
“What’s that?”
“Could you avoid killing wolves in this area for a while? You are free to kill things, of course, but it causes trouble for beginner adventurers trying to make a living.”
“Well, I’m supposed to be a beginner, too.” I hadn’t even been an adventurer for that long.
“I wouldn’t call you a beginner. Beginners can’t defeat goblin hordes, goblin kings, and orcs.”
She had a point. “I got it. I just need to not battle them for a while, right?”
“Thank you very much. We would like low-level adventurers to be able to gain experience and rise in rank, and the most suitable things for them to fight are wolves and goblins.”
“Wait, so should I ease off the goblins, too?”
“Goblins multiply quickly, so you don’t need to hold back there. If anything, please kill as many of them. They’re an unpopular target, since you can’t sell the parts.”
I took my guild card back. I was at D-rank now. “So can I go home now?”
“Yes, you may. But sell the material before you go.”
I left the guild and headed next door.
Chapter 18:
The Bear Sells Things
I LEFT THE GUILD and headed to the exchange counter next door. Two of the three counters were serving customers, so I naturally went to the open one.
“Yo, bear girl. You selling wolves again?” Mr. Gentz said, smiling as he greeted me.
“I have other monsters, too.” I pulled ten wolves out of my bear storage. The adventurers in the room broke into slight consternation at the sight of them.
Mr. Gentz called over two employees from the back and directed them to move the wolves. When the counter cleared, I pulled out ten horned hares next. The commotion around me in the room grew even louder. Incidentally, horned hares were meter-long bunnies. They looked cute, but they could jump like hell, and if you didn’t have good defenses, they could run you through with their horns.
“What? You’ve even got horned hares? These all look fresh, too.” Mr. Gentz called into the back again and directed them to take away the hares. “As always, you didn’t butcher them.”
“I don’t know how to, and it’s a pain in the butt.”
“Well, it gives the guild work, so we’re happy to do it, but you’re going to lose money if you don’t learn.”
“I’ll learn,” I told him, but I had no intention of doing anything of the sort. It might have been more accurate to say I didn’t think I could learn. I’d only stopped being grossed out by monster corpses. Butchering them was just too much for me.
“So, just ten wolves and ten horned hares for today?”
“There’s more. There’s something the guild master told me to bring.”
“The guild master told you to bring something?”
I pulled out an orc.
“Hey there, you’ve even got an orc? Wait a second. You’re not going to tell me you’ve got ten whole orcs, are you?”
The smaller orcs were about two meters tall; larger ones could grow up to three. It was impossible to carry one in alone, and it’d get in the way if I put them all on the counter.
The assembled adventurers started whispering again. “There’s no way that’s an orc.” “But that’s definitely an orc.” “Did she beat it alone?”
I ignored their fussing and answered Mr. Gentz’s question. “I do.”
“Seriously? What kind of bottomless bag is that? We’ll be in a fix if you pull ten orcs out here. Come over to the refrigerated warehouse in back.”
I followed Mr. Gentz’ behind the counter to the warehouse, hearing the adventurers’ voices as I went. “There’s no way she could have ten of them.” “How’d she beat them?” “It’s because she’s a bear.” “The Bloody Bear could do it.” “Don’t diss the Bloody Bear.” “What’s the Bloody Bear?” “You don’t know…”
What was that about a “bloody bear”? I thought. I wanted to pause and listen in, but I couldn’t risk losing sight of Mr. Gentz.
The inside of the warehouse was lined with ice mana gems that kept it chilly. “Make sure to close the door once you get in, or you’ll let in too much warmth,” Mr. Gentz directed.
I shut the door behind me. There were countless cuts of meat, and hair, horns, hide and other parts of butchered monsters piled up inside. The wolves and horned hares I’d just taken out had been brought in, too. The employees were clearly earning their paychecks.
“I know it’s cold but bear with me. The meat rots if we let it get warm.” Mr. Gentz headed towards the largest table in the back. Even then, there was only enough space to lay down one orc. “Can you put one on top of this, then lay the rest down on the floor nearby?”
I pulled them out of the bear storage like he asked.
“Thanks. It must be hard to carry them around. Are you sure about this? You get a smaller cut if we butcher them for you.”
“I can’t butcher them, and I don’t need the money, so it’s fine.”
“I guess you’re still selling a lot. What’s your rank now, bear girl?”
“I just got to D-rank.”
“D-rank, huh. That would be the case if you can defeat orcs. Could I ask you for something?”
“What’s that?”
“You can’t skin or butcher them, right?”
“…”
“So, could
