The Rumored Army
As I walked back to Baruk, I imagined what would happen if Andromalius's corpse fell into the hands of the Necromancer or CocoNenne.
What would happen?
If CocoNenne got her hands on the corpse…
‘Well, that would be a problem.’
Considering CocoNenne's level, if Andromalius's corpse fell into her hands, there was a high probability that something bad would happen.
She was that strong.
But it was also a problem if the dark mage got it.
Although I defeated the dark mage this time… it didn't feel like I saw his full power.
It didn't feel like the dark mage was going all out in the first place.
It was more like she was just trying to take Andromalius's corpse.
It didn't seem like she used a proper sacrifice either.
She seemed to be hiding her power a little when I fought her earlier.
She was probably conserving his strength to escape.
It didn't seem like she was planning on fighting me properly in the first place.
“Ah, annoying…”
Why was she acting so annoyingly?
It would have been easier if she just took Andromalius's corpse.
Thinking such thoughts, I returned to Baruk, and the situation was already settled.
“Hmm.”
Of course, it wasn't perfectly settled.
There were still monsters running rampant everywhere.
But it was clear that it would be sorted out soon.
And at that moment.
Thump, thump-!
From somewhere, along with a heavy sound, I could feel an army approaching.
The presence of mana was also very strong.
So, I carefully turned my head towards the direction of the sound-
“..Oh.”
There was an army approaching in armor.
And I knew the identity of that army.
Because it was a famous army.
‘I heard Ferus is in that army.’
It was the army Ferus was in.
That army was the one dispatched from Lukphelton.
You could say it was an army that traveled around the continent dealing with monsters.
I wasn't sure if Ferus was commanding the army.
It's not like I knew Ferus personally.
“Well.. It's none of my business.”
It didn't seem like it had anything to do with me.
I received a lot of help from Ferus on the forum, but that didn't mean I had to pretend to know him in real life.
I just didn't feel like it.
Thinking that, I opened the forum.
On the forum, CocoNenne and Decadent.
These two were fighting.
They were fighting over who would take Andromalius's corpse.
“No, it's mine, I don't understand why you two are fighting.”
But I couldn't leave a comment.
Thinking such thoughts, I picked up the monster byproducts around me and put them in my subspace pouch, then returned to Baruk.
*
The first place I headed to upon entering Baruk was Amelia's general store.
I had to deal with the monster byproducts at Amelia's store.
Of course, I could have dealt with them elsewhere, but I had said I would come here last time.
Thinking that, I opened the door.
Creak-
As I opened the door and went inside, a sweet smell wafted out.
It smelled like melting sugar.
“Hello.”
I thought Amelia might be inside, so I called out to her.
Then, after a while.
“Oh my..”
Amelia hurriedly came out from inside.
It was always fascinating to see her with her pink hair.
I wondered how human hair could be that color.
As I was thinking such thoughts, Amelia spoke.
“Did you bring the byproducts..?”
“Ah, yes. I brought quite a lot this time.. Would you be able to buy them?”
“Yesss..!”
I wasn't sure if it was to Amelia's taste, but I only brought the byproducts of the monsters that looked strong on the battlefield.
Of course, no one else said anything.
No one knew that I had cast Haste on the battlefield.
That was another reason why I wore a robe.
An unknown person covered in a robe.
Wouldn't anyone think I was a wizard?
Thinking that, I took out the monster byproducts from my pouch.
‘..Well, I guess there's no need to hide it now.’
It seemed like there was no need to hide the subspace pouch anymore.
I was weak back then, but now I was strong.
And I had a house too.
So, I took out the monster byproducts from the subspace pouch and placed them one by one on the table.
Then-
“Oh..! This is quite expensive..”
“Ah, really?”
“Yes.”
Saying that, Amelia began to appraise the monster byproducts.
However, she didn't buy all of them.
“Hmm.. These are difficult to buy..”
“Ah, they're useless?”
“Yes.. There's no use for these.”
“Ah.”
It was the first time I had heard Amelia use such strong words during our conversations.
I wondered how useless they must be for her to say that.
It was a little embarrassing.
“Ah, then how about this?”
Saying that, I took out the monster byproduct I had been hiding.
It was a very important monster byproduct.
A byproduct I had obtained from Koruntum.
It was-
“An Ogre byproduct, how about it?”
It was an Ogre's byproduct.
Of course, I had obtained it from its corpse.
But it would still be useful, wouldn't it?
It wasn't just any byproduct, it was an Ogre's byproduct.
Thinking that, I showed her the Ogre's byproduct-
“Hmm.. This is too contaminated..”
Amelia said shockingly.
“Where did you get this..?”
“Ah, well..”
Should I tell her the truth?
It seemed like she already had a rough idea.
But I couldn't explain it properly, so I just mumbled vaguely.
“There was a corpse, I took a little from it.”
“Aha…”
Amelia nodded her head as if she understood.
It seemed like there was a problem with the byproduct.
“Still, this much.. I think I can give you 30 gold for it..”
It seemed like she was giving me a very generous price even though it was contaminated.
Of course, I didn't know much about monster byproducts, but.
I only took a small piece of the Ogre's flesh, and she was giving me 30 gold for it.
Thinking that Ogres were indeed valuable, I finished the transaction.
“So, in total.. That'll be 120 gold.”
“Ah, yes.”
After selling all the monster byproducts to Amelia, I headed to the Adventurers' Guild.
The reason for going to the Adventurers' Guild was simple.
To deposit the money.
Of course, I could put it in my subspace pouch, but it wouldn't earn interest there.
That's why I was depositing it at the Adventurers' Guild.
And there was also the possibility of losing it.
If I lost the money.. I would be very upset.
Creak-
Hearing the usual eerie sound, I entered the Adventurers' Guild, and there was Esily.
As usual, she was dozing off.
You could say it was cute in a way.
Thinking that, I woke Esily up.
Knock, knock.
I tapped on the table-
“Hmm!”
With a strange sound, Esily woke up.
And then, seeing my face-
“Ah, it's Mr. Eugene.”
“Ah, yes.”
“By the way, what brings you here?”
“I realized I hadn't applied for a Gold Plate Rank upgrade. So I came here to apply.”
“Aha.. It's good to upgrade to Gold Plate Rank.”
Upgrading to Gold Plate Rank meant giving up a portion of my earnings as an investment, but it was easier to think of it as a fee for keeping my money safe.
It felt like a kind of commission.
And if I deposited my money with the Adventurers' Guild, it would earn interest.
Not that the interest rate was that high.
Thinking that, I made my request to Esily, and things went smoothly.
“Then, you can do it here..!”
“Ah, yes.”
I signed the paper Esily brought and handed her the money to deposit.
Then, Esily took 100 gold.
‘..What?’
I was a little taken aback.
She suddenly took 100 gold.
So I asked.
“Um, why did you suddenly take 100 gold..?”
“Oh! You must have heard from others.. It's like a commission fee for the Adventurers' Guild..!”
“..A commission?”
“Yes.”
I was a little dizzy.
I mean, how could a commission be 100 gold?
Of course, I only had to pay it once, but paying 100 gold at once was absurd.
It was my hard-earned money.
As I stared at Esily with that thought-
“Well.. I'd like to cut you some slack.. but there's nothing I can do.. It's the rules..”
I couldn't argue with Esily when she said that.
And well… it wasn't like the Adventurers' Guild was taking the money for good.
They were taking it as an investment.
Wouldn't they give me a share later if the investment went well?
With that thought, I looked around the Adventurers' Guild building.
‘..This building is quite nice.’
I was wondering where they got the money from.
It was clear that they were squeezing it out of the adventurers.
There was no way it could be this nice otherwise.
Sigh.
Letting out a sigh, I deposited most of my money with the Adventurers' Guild and headed home.
To the comfortable house where Basil was waiting.
Read ahead by supporting me on Ko-fi. Access 5 advance chapters with the Wandering Mage Tier ($10) or 10 advance chapters with Academy Mage Tier ($18) For every $15 collected on Ko-fi, I will release an extra chapter. Choose your tier by clicking the 'Support me' button! Join our discord server for latest release updates and novel discussions. Rate and review this novel on NU to help people find this novel. Bonus chapters on reaching milestones. Happy reading!