Chapter 31

Waking up and logging in, it was a pleasant morning.

The sky was beautifully lit by the morning glow.

It seems like something good will happen today.

《There is an operation information. Would you like to check it?》

What could it be?

Did they send more data again?

《Stat Update Notice: The data has been updated to the end of yesterday's service!》

Bingo.

Well, I'll fiddle with the contents later.

I should prioritize advancing the adventure.

Since I had already prepared for the adventure yesterday, I put on my armor and left my master's house.

I sent a message to Adel and Irena to let them know I had logged in.

Irina's reply came not long after.

Let's set the meeting place at Mio's food stand.

Then, I'll summon Crescent Moon and Helix and head to the village of Legias.

In the village of Legias, I searched for Fina's stall and Mio's food stand.

Most of the stalls had already started their business.

The delicious smell hit my stomach directly.

Food.

I want to eat some delicious food quickly.

I reached the stall, but Mio was still in the middle of preparation.

Yuka was helping her.

How frustrating.

Also, since Fina, Rick, and the stall were not there, it seemed they were not open yet.

No one to talk to.

"Hey! But we're still preparing!"

"I'll wait."

I sat on a chair behind the stall.

While glancing sideways at the progress of the preparations, I decided to fiddle with the operation information data.

I looked at the bottom of the raw data.

The number of players is just below 8,300.

It's increasing.

But considering the current congestion of the hunting grounds, I wonder how it is.

If it increases any further, something amazing might happen.

No, considering the next field, it should be fine even if it increases.

I checked the number of players who chose the Summoner class, as I did before.

Since I've seen Adel and Irena in town, the number must have increased quite a bit.

There are 26 of them.

Isn't that too many?

This is a bit of a surprising result.

No, Adel and Irena said they wanted to play solo.

Did something happen to cause a sudden increase at this timing?

I don't really understand.

As before, I arranged the jobs in order of the number of players who chose them, starting with the smallest.

It looks like this.

Lumberjack (Woodcutter) 2 people

Glassworker (Glassmaker) 3 people

Stonecutter (Stonemason) 3 people

Ceramic Worker (Potter) 3 people

Lapidary (Jeweler) 3 people

Fisherman 4 people

Brewer 5 people

Farmer 8 people

Bard 17 people

Summoner (Summoner) 26 people

Alchemist (Alchemist) 34 people

Merchant 92 people

Fabric Farmer (Weaver) 98 people

Pharmacist 122 people

There are no jobs with only one person anymore.

And the number of Summoners has visibly increased, as well as Alchemists.

Well, it just looks that way because the base is small.

There are still jobs that are in the single digits.

I know two out of the three Glassworkers.

They are quite rare.

It's strange how they feel so close to me.

As before, I extracted players who had learned at least one magic skill and filtered them by the number of magic skills they had acquired.

The most acquired is 7 types.

And there is only one person in total.

I'm at the top in some way.

The foolishness of my actions is evident since the next person has only 4 types.

But I don't regret it.

"Alright! The first dish is ready!"

Mio handed me a hot dog.

Well, it's an oval-shaped bun with stir-fried vegetables and minced meat in a stick shape.

I bit into it without even using [Appraisal].

I couldn't hold it any longer.

After finishing it in no time, I called out to Mio and Yuka.

"That was delicious!"

"You're eating too fast to savor it!"

"Thank you for the meal."

Well, everyone reacts differently.

While I was about to fiddle with the data with a warm tea, Fina, Rick, and Fudou came.

"Good morning."

"Oh, you're early."

I greeted Rick and Fudou.

They were also engrossed in the food Yuka offered.

Well, that's the right choice for a man.

It feels like the men here are definitely being captured by their stomachs.

"Keith, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Yes."

Fina, who seemed to be getting serious, handed me a 'Union' application, which I accepted.

She started whispering.

"I have something to talk about. Rather, I want to hear your opinion from your perspective."

"What is it?"

"Have you seen the data from the operation today?"

"I'm looking at it right now."

"Right. What do you think about it?"

I don't understand what Fina is concerned about, but I told her my thoughts from when I was playing with the data extraction earlier.

Fina listened attentively.

"The number of players. Isn't it concerning?"

"Considering the current state of the hunting grounds, I think it's an appropriate number."

"Yes, that's one way to look at it."

What is she concerned about?

"What I'm concerned about is the commercial base of the operation, no, this game."

Commercial base.

Profitability.

No, wait a moment.

I did a rough calculation in my head.

There are several conditions for the subscription based on the number of days, but let's assume 30 days = 1 month is 1,000 yen.

Let's assume there are 10,000 players.

The monthly income is 10 million yen.

But there should be various fixed costs.

Salaries, server costs, development costs, advertising costs, and more.

In the distant future, profit redistribution to investors must also be considered.

10 million yen a month?

With 20 people working a month, it might run out.

Moreover, new players have a free period, so a considerable amount of funds must be invested.

"It's not profitable, no, it's a complete loss, right?"

"Good. I don't have to explain it in detail."

While holding the food Mio offered, Fina continued whispering without eating.

"At the very least, the number of players should be 50,000, and if you want stable revenue, it should be over 300,000. For a popular work, it could exceed 1 million."

"Is that the case?"

"If I were in the position of an investor, a formal release at this scale would be infuriating."

"Are they planning to recover the investment over a long period?"

"No. If there were media mix, it might be possible, but I haven't heard of any such moves."

"Is it to avoid confusion by limiting the number of players because the field is still small?"

"That's something I hadn't considered. They might expand it on a large scale eventually."

"But there seem to be other reasons I can't understand."

"It's a hunch."

A hunch, huh.

Fina seemed to be deep in thought.

There must be some reason for her concern.

"Maybe we should take a break and think about it again. Your food will get cold, too."

"Oh, no."

After canceling the whisper, Mio was glaring at me.

What's going on?

"Let me tell you, I won't let you flirt!"

What is this?

No, that's not the kind of conversation!

Fina, help me, please!

"Good morning!"

Adel and Irena appeared together.

They look energetic.

"Hey! Do you want to eat something?"

"Thank you, we will!"

Mio's focus shifted back to her cooking face.

Good timing.

I'll give them the right to buy and eat whatever they want from Mio's stall.

The menu is limited, though!

Well, it's a good opportunity to get things done early.

While Fina continued eating, I laid out yesterday's loot in front of her.

A large number of evil ant needles and shells, burdock, obsidian, and striped raccoon dog skins.

"Adel, Irena. Leave yesterday's loot here when you have time."

They nodded, as they had food in their mouths, but I think they understood.

"You've brought a lot again."

"They were there, too."

"Don't make those girls gather ants like that."

Oh, I got a warning.

It was fine, though.

Of course, it's dangerous to let your guard down, but the rewards were significant.

They've also leveled up since the first day.

"I'll be careful."

That's all I can say.

I decided to sell the loot from Adel and Irena's bags as well.

I received a wild horse saddle from Fina.

The processing fee was quite high, but since I had a lot to sell, the balance was in the black.

I decided to buy patchwork and cotton clothes from the stall for Adel and Irena.

It was a considerable expense, but I didn't have enough to buy leather armor.

Maybe I should hunt rabbits in the grassland to get their skins.

After waiting for Adel and Irena to put on their new clothes, I announced our departure.

But there was yesterday's homework first.

"Then, let's submit the homework before we leave. What new summoned monsters did you choose?"

"We've decided."

"Let's summon them!"

Behind the stall, both of them started casting the summoning spell.

A horse and a hawk appeared from the magic circle.

"Here's the answer to the homework."

"Sorry, I decided to mimic Keith's fighting style."

"I see."

"From today, we'll work hard to ride the horse together!"

"Well, that's good, but what about the horse equipment?"

"Oh."

Oh, oh.

You're making the same mistake as me.

There's no choice.

I'll let them use the new saddles.

Crescent Moon's saddle is borrowed from my master and has no correction effect.

If it helps them ride better, that's better.

"Use this saddle. You'll also need a bit and reins, so let's go buy them."

"Thank you for your purchase."

Why are you smiling so brightly, Fina?

I couldn't resist.

Are you selling something?

"Rick and I are in the peddling business, so we have horses. Of course, we have spare horse equipment."

"I'll buy it at your price."

It was an unexpected expense, but there's no choice.

"Alright. Have you named them?"

"Yes!"

I'll check with [Identification] just in case.

Horse / Ma-chan Lv.1

Summoned Monster - Standby

Hawk / Sky Eye Lv.1

Summoned Monster - Standby

I can tell which one Adel and Irena summoned by their names.

I started equipping Ma-chan with the horse equipment.

It looks quite good.

Ma-chan, unlike Crescent Moon, is a beautiful gray horse with a shiny coat.

Adel is stroking the horse's body strangely.

She's enjoying the feel of it.

That face is dangerous.

If no one stops her, she'll keep going.

"Adel, let's go!"

I guess Irena will be the one to point it out in such situations.

I can trust her.

I can't do it.

Now, today's menu.

Depending on what summoned monsters they choose, the plan might change, but the original plan is fine.

We'll hunt rabbits in the grassland.

But first, I need to get them used to riding.

After leaving the village and the road, I let Adel ride alone.

Riding a summoned monster at a walking pace is fine, but it's completely different when running.

Without the auxiliary skill [Riding], it should be difficult.

In my case, even with [Riding], it wasn't enough to fight on horseback.

I had to forcibly boost my dexterity with a spell to fight.

They don't have that spell.

I hope the saddle correction will help, but I'm not very confident.

But it seems they had thought about it.

They decided to ride together, with one person handling the riding and the other attacking from the horse.

I think it might be possible if they divide the roles, even though mounted archery is difficult.

The concern is the horse carrying two people, but it seems to be fine as long as the riders are lightweight.

The main concern is whether the arrows shot from the horse will hit.

If they miss, I can have them use their rods as a backup weapon.

We left the forest and entered the grassland.

Immediately, the two hawks started spotting prey from above.

They also found wild dogs and parties hunting wild dogs, but our target is rabbits.

There are few players hunting rabbits.

We quickly found some rabbits nearby.

"There they are. Try hunting them first."

"Okay!"

I gave instructions via whisper and watched their hunting.

The first mounted shot missed.

The next one grazed it. Close.

It's too difficult to hit a moving target.

That's where Sky Eye comes in.

I had it assist by restraining the rabbit from above.

Come on, Sky Eye.

The moment the rabbit stopped, Irena's arrow hit it.

Sky Eye followed up, and another arrow pierced the rabbit's body.

They managed to hunt it.

Well done.

It's a different but interesting way of fighting, similar to mine.

The bow has a range, so the risk of taking damage is lower.

However, it's a more difficult way of fighting.

It should be a good experience, though.

But there are other concerns.

"Riding and attacking, dividing roles is good, but won't their growth be uneven?"

"Don't worry, we'll take turns."

"We both have [Riding]!"

"I also want to summon a horse eventually."

"As for me, I've already decided on a wolf for my next summoned monster!"

I see.

They seem to be thinking about the future.

Well, one of them is mainly thinking about the fluffy aspect.

I let them continue hunting a few more rabbits.

It's taking shape.

It seems the contributions of Ma-chan and Sky Eye are significant.

Since Summoners use summoned monsters, maybe that's fine.

"Let's go to Remuto."

"Huh?"

"We'll check the adventurer's guild in Remuto before continuing hunting."

They looked a bit disappointed, probably because they were in the mood.

Just hunting is fine, but it's easy to lose motivation without a goal.

Let's look for a good quest.

Main character: Keith

Race: Human, Male, Race Level 5

Job: Summoner (Summoner) Level 4

Bonus Points Remaining: 17

Set Skills:

Staff Level 4, Strike Level 3, Kick Level 3, Joint Lock Level 3, Throw Level 3

Dodge Level 3, Block Level 2, Summoning Magic Level 5

Light Magic Level 2, Wind Magic Level 3, Earth Magic Level 2, Water Magic Level 3

Fire Magic Level 1, Dark Magic Level 1

Alchemy Level 3, Pharmacist Level 3, Glassworking Level 3

Coordination Level 5, Appraisal Level 4, Identification Level 4, Cold Resistance Level 2, Grapple Level 3

Riding Level 4, Precision Level 3, Jump Level 1, Heat Resistance Level 3

Equipment: Kay's Rod, Wild Rabbit Chest Armor + Series, Snow Ape Arm Guards,

Wild Horse Boots +, Snow Ape Leather Helmet, Backpack

Item Box x2

Held Items: Skinning Knife

Titles: Apprentice of the Old Summoner (Temporary), Guardian of Livestock

Summoned Monsters:

Volf, Wolf Level 4 (Resting)

Crescent Moon, Horse Level 3

Helix, Hawk Level 3

Obsidian, Owl Level 3 (Resting)

Jean, Bat Level 1 (Resting)

Companions:

Adel & Ma-chan

Irena & Sky Eye