Chapter 58

This time, I thought Monta would want to come along on the trip, but he seemed a bit tired from the journey to Mount Ascali and decided to stay behind. Even though he is a wise beast, he is still growing and lacks stamina.

While chatting with the members of the Silver Ridge Guild, the carriage arrived at Yaro, the capital of the Yogul territory.

"Ricardo, do you have a place to stay in Yaro?"

Amadeo of the Silver Ridge Guild asked.

"No, I don't."

"Then how about the 'Yuruyura Inn'? It's our regular place."

Ricardo didn't mind where he stayed, so he followed Amadeo's suggestion and headed to the 'Yuruyura Inn'.

According to Amadeo, the food is delicious despite the low price.

The 'Yuruyura Inn' was a sturdy two-story wooden building. It seemed to target magic beast hunters and merchants, as the first-floor dining room was filled with people who looked like magic beast hunters and merchants.

After securing a room, Ricardo told Amadeo he was going shopping and went out alone.

He searched for a store that handled materials from the magic realm and bought purple jade tree crystals. The price of purple jade tree crystals had risen because it was known that they could be transformed into storage purple crystals.

Previously, a purple jade tree crystal cost about one gold coin, but the market price had risen to about three gold coins.

Incidentally, the method for processing purple jade tree crystals into storage purple crystals was not known to the public. Many magic workers had tried, but failed.

I heard that a famous magic worker who made storage green crystals had also tried but failed.

To succeed, it was necessary to compress the magic power into a needle-like form during processing and perform magic manipulation, but the magic workers performed magic manipulation in the same way as for storage green crystals, so they failed.

However, even if the trick was known, it was uncertain whether it would succeed because a large amount of magic power was required to perform magic manipulation on purple jade tree crystals.

Ricardo obtained twenty-six purple jade tree crystals.

Ricardo bought the purple jade tree crystals to earn money. He had something he wanted to make and planned to process the purple jade tree crystals into storage purple crystals or refrigerated storage purple crystals to earn money.

If he could defeat a group of demon trees Tamiel and obtain many magic power vines, he could make magic power guns and earn money. However, Ricardo thought it was uncertain whether the steel scorpion's poison would be effective against the demon trees Tamiel until he tried it.

He didn't know how reliable Professor Roland's information was, so he couldn't be sure.

The next day, Ricardo and his group set out from Yaro and headed for the Second Magic Realm Gate.

On the way to the Second Magic Realm Gate, there was the Yogul Castle where the crown prince was staying. As they passed by the castle, they were stopped by a soldier.

"Please wait. Aren't you Ricardo of the Magic Guild?"

One of the crown prince's subordinates, who had come out to patrol the area, recognized Ricardo and stopped him.

Ricardo tilted his head when he saw the soldier who stopped him, but he guessed it was one of the crown prince's subordinates because he looked familiar.

"Yes, that's right."

"Indeed. Please wait a moment. I'll inform His Highness the Crown Prince."

Ricardo thought he was in trouble, but he had no choice but to wait since he was told to.

The members of the Silver Ridge Guild looked suspicious. Amadeo, representing the group, asked,

"Ricardo, are you acquainted with His Highness the Crown Prince... or are you?"

"Yes, but I'm not important, so please speak normally."

"Still, just being acquainted with the Crown Prince is impressive."

While Ricardo and Amadeo were talking, the soldier returned and led them inside the castle.

The castle was a rugged stone building. Climbing the stone stairs to the second-floor balcony, they found Crown Prince Gaius waiting.

"Ricardo, did you plan to pass through the Yogul territory without seeing me?"

Ricardo hurriedly thought of an excuse.

"Absolutely not. I intended to come to you after finishing my business in the magic realm."

The Crown Prince, who glared at Ricardo with sharp eyes, shrugged.

"I'll let you off with that. By the way, what are you going to do in the magic realm?"

"I'm going to hunt demon trees Tamiel."

The Crown Prince smiled slyly. When the villainous-looking Crown Prince smiled, it was intimidating.

"Of course, the nobles who learned about the commotion in the capital and that magic power guns can be used must be clamoring for them."

"You are correct."

"What's the situation in the capital?"

The Crown Prince asked.

"The damage to the shopping district and the workshop district is significant."

Ricardo explained the damage he had seen and heard to the Crown Prince.

"Interesting. What kind of support are the officials providing?"

"I haven't heard of any specific support."

Ricardo mentioned activities like the forest union's food distribution and the employment of workers from the burned textile workshops.

"If the prime minister were still alive, he would have taken some action."

The Crown Prince said regretfully.

After discussing the situation in the capital, the topic turned to Ricardo's hunt.

"Hmm. A professor at the Royal Bizer Academy said that the poison of the steel scorpion is effective against demon trees Tamiel. ... Interesting."

The Crown Prince showed interest in the steel scorpion's poison and offered to join the hunt.

"However, the opponent is a group of demon trees Tamiel. It's dangerous."

"I understand. If the poison doesn't work, I'll escape while you buy time, so don't worry."

He was probably joking, but his face was so villainous that it didn't sound like a joke.

Before Ricardo could understand how it happened, the Crown Prince began preparing to head to the magic realm with a dozen subordinates. An hour later, Ricardo was heading to the magic realm with the Crown Prince.

They entered through the Second Magic Realm Gate and began their exploration. As rumored, demon trees were gathered near the gate. They encountered many demon trees Trill, which were subdued by the Crown Prince's subordinates.

When Ricardo showed interest in the branches of the demon trees Trill, the Crown Prince generously gave them to him.

The Crown Prince knew where the group of demon trees Tamiel was located from reports by his subordinates.

Thanks to this, they saved time searching, but the members of the Silver Ridge Guild looked uncomfortable. Their job of exploring had been taken over by the Crown Prince's subordinates.

"Your Highness, we've found the group of demon trees Tamiel."

The Crown Prince's subordinates were competent and quickly discovered the group of demon trees Tamiel and reported it.

Ricardo and the Crown Prince moved to a place where they could observe the group of demon trees Tamiel without being noticed.

Ricardo handed the poison arrows he had prepared to the members of the Silver Ridge Guild.

"There seem to be about thirty demon trees Tamiel. Will that be enough?"

The Crown Prince confirmed.

"If the poison is effective, there should be no problem."

Three members of the Silver Ridge Guild who could use bows moved around the group of demon trees Tamiel and shot poison arrows. They did this to avoid being discovered and attacked by the demon trees Tamiel if they attacked from the same spot.

The poison arrows were effective. The demon trees that were hit by the poison arrows showed signs of suffering for a moment but soon stopped moving.

The surrounding demon trees searched for the attacking enemy but the three members of the Silver Ridge Guild continued to shoot poison arrows without being discovered.

Some demon trees released shockwaves from their magic power vines without a clear target, but these shockwaves only damaged the surrounding trees.

The last remaining demon tree, which had received three poison arrows, was still moving. This individual was larger than the other demon trees Tamiel and seemed to be older.

This demon tree Tamiel released a shockwave from its magic power vine. Of course, Amadeo and the others were not discovered, so the shockwave only hit a tree trunk, tearing it apart.

Amadeo and the others mercilessly shot the fourth and fifth poison arrows into the last demon tree.

Soon, all the demon trees Tamiel stopped moving.

Ricardo fired a [Scatter Spear] at the center of the group.

When it exploded, the nearby demon trees Tamiel were knocked over but remained motionless.

"It seems to be fine."

Ricardo and the Silver Ridge Guild approached the demon trees Tamiel and drilled holes in the lumps of their tree livers to extract tree liver oil.

The demon trees died after losing their tree liver oil. Counting the demon trees, they had subdued thirty-one.

With the help of the Crown Prince's subordinates, they collected the magic power vines. They obtained ninety-three magic power vines from each demon tree Tamiel, which yielded three each.

The magic power vine from the last demon tree that put up a fight was longer than the others.

"Making a magic power gun with that, it should be quite powerful."

The Crown Prince said to Ricardo.

"If I can complete a powerful magic power gun, I will present it to Your Highness."

Ricardo promised to give a gift to the Crown Prince for helping with the hunt. The Crown Prince nodded in satisfaction.

They also cut the branches and secured them for use as rods. The remaining trunks and roots were stored in the storage green crystal.

"Ricardo's storage green crystal seems to be a special model."

The Crown Prince commented on the capacity of the storage green crystal.

"It's a masterpiece with the maximum capacity."

"Indeed. To have something that even a crown prince of a country doesn't possess..."

"If Your Highness has multiple storage green crystals, the total capacity would far exceed this one."

In fact, the Crown Prince had six storage green crystals, all gifts from nobles.

After the hunt, Ricardo and his group returned to the Yogul Castle.

The Crown Prince asked for the trunks and roots of the demon trees they had hunted.

"I'm short on catalysts for the magic cannon staff. Please let me have them."

Ricardo gladly handed over the trunks and roots of the demon trees. He wanted to help since he had heard that the Crown Prince and his subordinates were fighting the magic beasts near the magic realm gate.

Of course, it wasn't free. He received a fair price, though it was less than what he would have received from Bernaldo.

Afterward, the Crown Prince's subordinates, who had obtained a large amount of [Fire] catalyst, successfully defeated the magic beasts near the magic realm gate.

On the way back to the capital, Ricardo had to listen to the complaints of the Silver Ridge Guild members.

"Hunting with the Crown Prince is a joke. How tense I was."

"Me too. I couldn't say a word."

"My face was so tense it felt like it was going to change."

"When the Crown Prince smiled at me, I thought I was going to be killed."

Ricardo listened with a wry smile.

When Ricardo and his group returned to the capital, they went to Bernaldo's shop.

"From the look on your face, it seems to have gone well."

Bernaldo, who greeted them, said after looking at Ricardo and the others.

"Yes, we successfully hunted thirty-one demon trees Tamiel."

"More than expected. Can you have them processed right away?"

"Yes, I'm not too tired from this trip, so I'm fine physically."

Ricardo's face showed a complicated expression, which made Bernaldo suspicious.

"Did something happen in the Yogul territory?"

Ricardo told him about meeting Crown Prince Gaius and hunting with him.

"That was a close call. ... Did you give the trunks and roots of the demon trees Tamiel to the Crown Prince?"

"I couldn't refuse."

"Well, that's understandable. It's a shame, but there's nothing to be done."

For Bernaldo, who dealt in catalysts, the trunks and roots of the demon trees were highly desirable materials, but he had no choice but to give up since the recipient was the Crown Prince.

"What did you do with the branches?"

"I brought them back. A lot of them."

Ricardo decided to hand over the branches to Bernaldo to be processed into rods. There were too many for him to process alone.

When he piled up a large amount of branches on the shop floor, Bernaldo beamed.

"In my entire life, I've never seen such a large amount of demon tree branches."

He also entrusted the tree liver oil to Bernaldo. He asked Bernaldo to sell it to a merchant who dealt in potions and give the proceeds to the Silver Ridge Guild as a success fee.

Amadeo cautiously confirmed,

"How much will the proceeds from the sale of the tree liver oil be?"

"About sixty gold coins, I think."

Hearing this amount, Amadeo and the others were delighted. They were to receive fifty gold coins as a reward, and with the additional sixty gold coins, it would exceed what they earned in a year.

Amadeo and the others left the shop, asking Ricardo and Bernaldo to call them for the next trip to the magic realm.

"While you were away from the capital, we received orders for magic power guns. It was quite a challenge to handle them."

"I think we can make many magic power guns from this hunt, but I don't think we can fulfill all the orders."

"I agree. However, these special weapons often take a long time to make. We can accept orders from customers who are in a hurry for an additional fee and take our time with the rest."

Bernaldo said that delivering fifty orders within a month would be sufficient.

Ricardo's job in making magic power guns was to process the magic power vines and complete the wave generators, while the rest of the process would be handled by the magic workers Bernaldo had gathered.

Ricardo focused on making wave generators from that day on. The workplace was the research room of the Magic Guild. Since no one else could enter this room, it was convenient for working alone.

By the time he completed eighty wave generators in seven days, he could no longer concentrate on the work. He had been doing the same task for a long time and was mentally exhausted.

Since he had already delivered fifty wave generators to Bernaldo, there was no need to rush.

"Maybe I'll go for a walk."

There was a small park between the shopping district and the Magic Guild. He strolled towards it.

The park, which was not much different from an empty lot, had no particular play equipment. It was regularly maintained, and it served as a playground for children.

There were benches made from half-cut logs scattered around, and Ricardo sat on one. He watched the children playing, feeling the strong sunlight and the wind, and let his mind wander.

While he was daydreaming for about an hour, he overheard a group of mothers talking about fire starters.

A fire starter is a magical device similar to a lighter that uses red dragonstone to ignite. The mothers were talking about how it