Chapter 3

The next morning, while on their way back to the base, Gurugan and the others found a sign for buying monster materials and rushed in.

"We have materials at our base of the 'Crescent Claw.' Can you take them? We have a mountain of them and are really struggling with them."

"Isn't this the place where you kicked Gaius out...? Well, since he asked me to take care of you yesterday, I have no choice... Normally, you should bring them to the store. You'll have to pull the carts yourselves."

"Got it! Pulling carts is no big deal!"

The old shopkeeper led Gurugan and the others to the back, where Gurugan and Ben pulled two large carts. This was no problem for them. The shopkeeper, Hanna, and Liliacia rode on the carts.

It was early in the morning, and there were few people around, so they reached the base without hindering any carriages. However, the shopkeeper's face turned sour when he saw the yard.

"What's wrong? You don't often see materials from dragons or griffins, right?"

"...You guys really don't know much. How long have you been adventuring with Gaius?"

"Um... We started as a group of four three years ago, and then after a year, I joined, so it's been two years."

"Hmm, whether it was good or bad that you hired Gaius when you were still beginners... Large monster materials are only bought by the castle, and only when they are recruiting. You should store them in your item pouches!"

This was the first time they had heard of such a system. Gurugan and the others panicked but asked if the shopkeeper could at least take the materials he could buy. The shopkeeper glanced around the yard and looked at the materials from medium-sized monsters.

His gaze was stern. There were a considerable amount of medium-sized monster materials, but he picked up one or two and sighed.

"Are you trying to sell me this junk...?"

"What?! Junk?!"

"Yes. Well, it's not completely useless... but if you sell it to me, I'll have to take the money and dispose of it. After all, the only use for it is as kindling for the fireplace or bonfire, or to wrap around the tip of a torch after soaking it in oil. —I think it would be better to keep it for your own camping needs."

Gurugan and the others exchanged glances. Indeed, they could use it for camping, but the amount was... Moreover, paying to have it disposed of would hurt their wallets. It wouldn't be a large amount, but the item pouches could probably hold this much.

After some deliberation, they decided to buy a larger pouch and leave the mountain as it was.

They also wanted the shopkeeper to look inside the house, but they would do that after putting useful items like recovery potions in the pouches. The shopkeeper said he could take the materials from medium-sized to small monsters for a disposal fee to save Gaius's face, but they declined.

Feeling frustrated that they didn't know better and should have tried to become good customers by paying, they had the shopkeeper ride back on the cart with Ben and Gurugan.

As a result, the shopkeeper, who had wasted his time and effort on the 'Crescent Claw' who knew nothing about business, was left with a bad impression. He thought, "Gaius wouldn't have done something like this."

The rumor of Gurugan and the others wasting the shopkeeper's time without even paying for his trouble spread quickly throughout the capital.

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Gaius passed through the town's checkpoint and started hunting in a nearby forest, both day and night. He could have bought all the food he needed, but he also bought feed for the Draconic and thought it would be safer to reduce the number of monsters near the town.

He drew his magic bow and killed a few Horn Rabbits with headshots. He left about five and skinned them carefully to make high-quality leather.

He diluted the blood with water and buried it with the bones to eliminate the smell. The smell of Horn Rabbits could attract other strong monsters, but with the Draconic around, camping in most places was safe.

He gathered some useless herbs that couldn't be used for recovery potions and wrapped the meat in them to remove the odor. He carried them in his bag instead of putting them in his inventory, where they would be stored indefinitely without any time effect.

"Hey, Shukuru, what did they do with the monster materials...? At least they should have bought a new item pouch, right? I have enough to buy a top-quality 30 square meter one."

"Ga?"

"Sorry, sorry, I guess I had some attachment to them. On the other hand... I wonder if it would have been better to bring everything, even if they called us item thieves..."

"Ga, Gua!"

"You're right! There's no point in dwelling on it. I already told the people in town to take care of them, so they'll be fine!"

However, they were already in a situation that couldn't be resolved, but Gaius didn't know about it yet.

Shukuru was happy. Gaius took good care of him and never neglected his feed. Moreover, Shukuru was the leader among the mount beasts.

It was only natural, as the human who rode Shukuru took care of everything. He knew that after a few days, his subordinates would give up and follow him.

So, even though Gaius didn't understand, Shukuru began to howl frequently to let his subordinates know where he was. It was the only thing he could do to prevent them from being mistreated.

The anger towards the 'Crescent Claw' was not limited to humans.