Chapter 82

"The rule is to evaluate the results of hunting and gathering until sunset. Since there are five days, don't forget to pace yourself."

The next morning, the competition was about to start again with Brantark's greeting, who was a former veteran adventurer.

The participating teams were: me and Katharina as a team, and the mentor as an individual team, while El and the others formed a team of five.

Yesterday, Eina, who rarely lost her temper, had snapped at Katharina's insults, but she couldn't win against her alone.

Forming a team of five was inevitable.

That's how powerful a mage can be.

"Eina, don't overdo it."

"Of course, I'm not that stupid."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll make up for it with numbers. And focus on gathering."

Indeed, it was a clever strategy.

Hunting large monsters yields a high price, but it takes a lot of effort.

Therefore, it's better to limit hunting to self-defense and focus on gathering fruits and expensive herbs to increase the quantity.

It was a calm strategy, typical of Eina.

"The key is to find places where high-value items are located."

"I thought you were making a big fuss, but it's a rather sneaky strategy."

"You, on the other hand, think adventurers should just cast flashy spells and hunt monsters. You're so simple-minded."

"What did you say!"

Katharina provokes Eina, but Eina gets even more agitated by her counterargument.

Indeed, Eina is right.

When adventurers dramatically defeat powerful monsters, it looks cool to the layman, but that's not the only job of an adventurer.

The job of an adventurer is to obtain items that can be sold.

While defeating dragons and powerful monsters can earn money, only a few adventurers can do that, and in fact, most of their income comes from gathering.

The adventurer guild also prefers adventurers who can earn consistently over a long period, rather than those who get seriously injured or die from reckless hunts.

Top-tier adventurers are few, which is why they are top-tier.

In fact, there have been adventurers who never entered the monster's territory, but quietly gathered valuable products in remote forests and earned over ten million cents in their lifetime.

Such people are overshadowed by top-tier adventurers but are indeed hidden successes.

"Misses, no fighting. Resolve it through the competition."

"Understood."

"Understood."

Even Katharina, who was usually a troublemaker, answered sincerely to Brantark's warning.

She can't argue with his impressive track record.

"Then, let's start."

At Brantark's signal, the competition begins, but I don't do anything special.

I enter the monster forest and kill the monsters that attack me cleanly.

I still use the method of piercing their vital points from behind with arrows made from branches, which I magically compress to increase their penetration power.

Since I thought of this method yesterday afternoon, the monsters are even more unfortunate.

"But, they don't learn, do they..."

I thought they would be smarter, but the monsters continue to scratch at the magical barrier I set up.

Then they die from being stabbed in the vital points from behind.

Even the other monsters, who have seen the fate of the first attackers, repeat the same attack and are defeated in the same way.

It might be that their fighting instinct is too strong to let it go.

"Hmm, pickled plums are still the best in onigiri."

I was eating lunch while the monsters were scratching at the magical barrier, but the efficiency has improved, and I have killed more than yesterday.

This way, I won't lose to Katharina.

However, she won't just sit back and do nothing, so I can't be careless.

"To be honest, I didn't really care about the competition."

The only thing left was the mentor, who joined the competition for some reason...

"There's no way he would die, and his strategy is easy to guess."

He probably kills the monsters without injuring them, like he did with the wyvern, by breaking their necks or beating them to death.

I heard the death cries of several monsters in a row earlier, but I tried not to pay too much attention for my mental health.

The rest is how much El and the others can gather efficiently and how close they can get to Katharina's results.

"Shall I continue hunting?"

That afternoon, I continued to hunt efficiently, and this went on for five days.

I handed over the magical bag containing the results to the guild staff, and there doesn't seem to be any interim announcement of the results, like in a quiz show from my previous life.

"Wow, with these results, can we have a competition every day?"

The guild was very cooperative for this competition.

From their perspective, it's a good thing that three mages are competing, as it increases their earnings.

"There's still a lack of demand."

It was good that the monster forest became accessible, but it's too difficult for inexperienced adventurers, who end up as corpses.

Moreover, there are many adventurers who jump into the forest for a quick fortune, but they don't increase the results.

There are also top-tier veterans from other regions, but most of them earn enough in their own territories, so few move here.

"Also, there's nothing here..."

The magic airship comes regularly, but the town was built for adventurers who delve into the monster forest, so it's still underdeveloped.

Even the adventurer guild branch is a makeshift shack, so it's to be expected.

The entertainment facilities are also limited to makeshift inns, peddlers targeting adventurers, and food stalls.

Some rude adventurers even say, "Town? It's not even a village yet!"

"It's not a lack of funds or materials. It's a lack of time..."

"There are also many other places that need development."

Since it was originally an undeveloped area, the priority was inevitably given to the area around Baumburg.

I told the guild staff that we need to be patient for a while.

"For now, we can manage to live. I'm sure more people will come eventually."

"Then, let's announce the results."

First, it was me. By hunting large monsters deep in the forest, I achieved about three times the results of Katharina.

I think it's also because I got used to the magic that kills monsters without injuring them.

I hunted quite a few saber tigers, but none of them were albinos.

It seems that the first day was just a stroke of luck.

"Overwhelming."

"Hmm..."

Katharina must have hunted hard, but the difference in magic power was too great.

Since there were no particularly high-value individuals in her results, the competition was decided before the auction.

"Um, next is El and the others..."

The key was how close they could get to Katharina's results, but the guild staff announced an unexpected result.

"Almost certainly, their evaluation amount is higher than Katharina's."

"What! What do you mean!"

"Well, they made up for it with numbers..."

They gathered a large amount of cacao and fruits with high demand and high prices, and also collected a large amount of high-value medicinal herbs.

Elise, who helped with healing at the church, contributed significantly to the medicinal herbs.

She used her knowledge of where such herbs grow well in such places effectively.

Elise, as usual, quietly demonstrated her perfection.

Moreover, they hunted more than expected.

"There are a few saber tigers too. And they're all unharmed."

"They do exist, but it's the same as Ver."

It seems that all the saber tigers were hunted by Louise.

She dodged their charges and attacks with her excellent dynamic vision, circled around to the back, and delivered a single, magic-infused blow to kill them.

The lack of external injuries is because she used the secret of the magic combat style to tear apart the spinal cord internally.

It's not visible from the outside.

"What is that, quietly scary."

"It's a technique that requires a certain amount of magic power. The mentor's guidance was also helpful."

That's right.

Louise has intermediate to advanced magic power, which she conserves as much as possible using the magic combat style.

While I and the mentor set up magical barriers in advance to protect against enemy attacks, Louise can make split-second judgments.

If she can dodge an attack, she does so without setting up a magical barrier.

"Four of us gathered, and I monitored the surroundings. When the numbers were high, we asked for help from Vilma and Eina."

Louise specialized in hunting the most dangerous saber tigers.

Looking at the other monsters, the ones with cleanly severed heads were Vilma's work, and the ones with stab wounds near the head or heart were Eina's.

"The price of fruits from the monster forest is currently rising. With this much, I think merchants will bid up the prices at the auction."

Merchants have several universal magical bags.

Since the freshness doesn't decline when stored, they can buy fresh produce in large quantities when it's available.

They buy when the price is low and sell when it's high to make a profit.

Even with a large inventory, they don't strain their business because of their financial power, and the prices of monster forest products are unlikely to fall anytime soon.

After all, they can only be obtained here.

So, they buy as much as they can now.

They also don't hesitate to bid up the prices at the auction to outdo their rivals.

"Also, Louise has good luck..."

The guild staff pointed to a white saber tiger cub, which was the second one, but it was even larger than the one I hunted.

"Moreover, it's completely unharmed."

"It's not unharmed inside."

"Speaking of which, what about Master Armstrong?"

Another mentor who joined the competition on his own had astonishing results.

A terrifying number of monster corpses, all with expressions of agony, were lined up, and several guild staff were working hard to evaluate them.

"Um... Master?"

"From ancient times, I have been hunting a large number of monsters like this!"

The mentor was pointing his fist forward.

In short, he killed them by punching, kicking, and breaking their necks with magic-infused blows.

It's a simple and quick method, but in this world, only someone like the mentor can do it.

I just hoped it wouldn't be directed at me.

"Also, I found a ruin deep in the forest! I plan to explore it tomorrow."

"What, the mentor is overwhelmingly in first place, isn't he?"

Indeed, as El said.

The number of his catches even surpassed mine, and he even found an undiscovered ruin.

It seems that joining the competition on his own was worth it.

"Mentor, don't take away the jobs of the young."

"I understand, but in fact, my second and third wives are pregnant, and I want to earn some money before I fall."

"Um? The twentieth, right?"

"Indeed. This time, I want a girl!"

Seeing the mentor's great results, Brantark warned him not to take away the earnings of young adventurers, but the mentor countered that he needed money because his children were being born.

In other words, the mentor doesn't even think about family planning like my father.

However, since he is a top-tier person, no one is troubled by his over-competence.

"If a girl is born, I can marry her to the Baumeister Count."

"Huh?"

"(A girl who looks like the mentor as Ver's wife?)"

Marrying the mentor's daughter.

Before considering the age difference, El's muttered words caught my attention more.

"(A girl who looks like the mentor?)"

The image that immediately came to mind was a girl with a muscular build and a face that looked just like the mentor.

"(I'd rather not. I don't even have the confidence to get aroused...)"

I apologize for the crude talk, but the only image that came to mind was breaking my spine on the first night.

"Master, please don't say that in front of Elise."

"Oh, right. I want you to think about the marriages of my children and grandchildren!"

While I was wondering how to respond, Eina came to my rescue.

By mentioning her beloved niece Elise, she indirectly declined the offer.

"(Eina! Thank you! You really saved me!)"

"Hey! Ver!"

I ended up hugging Eina, but everyone except the mentor looked very convinced.

It seems that everyone had the same image of the mentor's daughter as a female version of the mentor.

"Well, the competition is over."

The mentor was in first place, I was in second, and El and the others were in third.

Since the mentor was originally a top-tier adventurer, it can't be helped.

"Doesn't the ranking really matter?"

When Brantark asked the guild staff, he seemed to agree.

"With such a large number of items, they will be auctioned in the capital for high prices, and the news will spread to other regions."

If it's known that more can be earned here, top-tier adventurers are likely to gather.

That's why the adventurer guild helped with the competition.

"Then, the ruins."

"Yes. The exploration of the monster forest has just begun, and there are likely to be multiple unknown ruins."

If the mentor's discovered ruins yield many results, it will attract many adventurers.

Unknown ruins have a high potential for earning.

In other words, both the adventurer guild and the mentor were trying to gather skilled adventurers to the area around the monster forest to help with development.

Adventurers who can earn money will bring their families, build houses, and live there.

They will pay high taxes, and merchants will come to target them, leading to the revitalization of the area.

"Then, let's explore the ruins tomorrow!"

"Is this group okay?"

Compared to the previous near-death ruin exploration, the team is stronger with the addition of Vilma and the mentor.

It should be fine unless something extraordinary happens.

"Since it's early, let's go home."

"I also want to stay! Please!"

"I do too. Teleport me."

"Sure. Recently, the number of people I can teleport has increased."

After the battle with the black smoke undead giant and the subsequent use of construction magic, my magic power and precision have improved, and I can now teleport up to ten people at once, excluding myself.

"That's convenient. Then, I'll leave it to you."

"Understood."

We returned to the mansion early to prepare for the next day's ruin exploration using the teleportation magic.

But gradually, I felt like I was forgetting something.

"Mr. Vendelin?"

"Elise, did I forget something?"

"If there's one thing, it might be about Katharina, who was in the competition."

"I forgot!"

I remembered that I had been in a competition with Katharina for several days.

The mentor's impact was so strong that everyone, including me, had forgotten about her.

Elise remembered because she is the mentor's niece and has immunity to him.

"Should we go back?"

"It's too much trouble.