The Unwanted Undead Adventurer: Volume 3, page 22
I suppose establishing one’s limits was wise, as it would be too late after the fact. As such, I suppose some observations by Lorraine were in order. We may yet understand more of my current physiology and capabilities then.
I nodded at Lorraine slowly as the thoughts left my mind.
◆◇◆◇◆
Although we had spoken at length about teaching Alize the basics of adventuring, there were first a few items we had to obtain.
Lorraine’s magecraft lessons only required Alize herself, the textbook Lorraine had written for her, and Lorraine’s tutelage. A short course in the basics of adventuring, on the other hand, required various tools, instruments, and equipment. Given that Alize was blessed with reserves of mana, she could fight as a mage if she so decided, but adventuring wasn’t that simple a business. Alize would run into difficulty should her reserves dry up mid-battle, or if she had come across a monster that reflected or was immune to spells. It was best for her to have some other means of defense.
Even mage-adventurers required a certain degree of martial prowess, as well as physical stamina. Lorraine was no exception, for she was sufficiently trained to handle situations where her magic couldn’t be used effectively. This was precisely why Alize required that same degree of training, in one form of martial arts or another.
An adventurer’s training mainly consisted of going to labyrinths or the outskirts of towns and learning about the monsters that lived there, or understanding where certain materials could be harvested. While knowledge gleaned from books and studies were important, practical application was also important, if only to better understand how to apply one’s knowledge. Adventurers that went about their business without understanding said applications were often inefficient at best.
With all those thoughts in mind, the next course of action was simple: Alize needed a weapon. Since she was an orphan living in an orphanage, however, Alize would have little in the way of personal possessions, much less weapons of any kind. I would have to provide her with the implement, and coin was needed for this venture. Fortunately, a beginner such as Alize didn’t require an expensive weapon. Even so, she needed a weapon of sorts, and I was more than willing to gift her with one. Alize, being the individual she was, though, would hardly agree to such a thing, shaking her head and refusing outright. If anything, Alize would demand the costs of procuring said weapon be added to her tab.
Alize would need a weapon that was relatively well-forged, yet affordable. To this end, funds were required, but my situation in regards to that was somewhat...lacking. There was, of course, the coin I was yet to receive from Laura, on account of not having delivered any blossoms yet, in addition to all the materials I had sold thus far having been used on my own equipment and weapons. I also specifically used a painfully large sum to purchase a high-capacity magical pouch. To make things worse, I purchased a bespoke case for my model airship in the heat of the moment—now that I thought about it, it perhaps wasn’t a particularly wise purchase. Given my current financial circumstances, I was in no condition to pay for Alize’s weapon, let alone pay for the lesson fees I still owed Lorraine.
However, I had my plans with regards to coin, or my lack thereof.
There was a material that I had not yet sold—but of course! I speak of the Tarasque. I had received notification from the guild a while ago, informing me there were certain discussions to be had in regards to the carcass. If I had to guess, the materials had finally been sold; with that, the long winter in my coin pouch would finally be over.
With a tune off my lips, I waved jovially at Lorraine before stepping through the doors of her abode.
“Would they not have simply told you if the thing sold, Rentt? A discussion, however... Not exactly a typical statement. In any case, do take care as you go about your business.”
Just her imagination, perhaps. There was no need for such inauspicious talk.
Without further ado, I merrily made my way toward the adventurer’s guild.
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“Ah, Mister Rentt!”
Sheila’s voice rang out the very moment I stepped into the guild’s halls. It seemed like she had been waiting for me all this time, and she wanted me to follow her.
Just how much, exactly, did that carcass and its materials sell for? It was worth quite a sum, wasn’t it?
Sheila approached me as I became lost in my thoughts of potential riches.
“The Tarasque has sold, yes? How much did it go for, Sheila?”
Sheila only stared at me with a surprised expression.
“Oh...? Rentt... You speak so...smoothly, now...”
Come to think of it, Sheila had yet to see my evolved form. In her mind, I should still be a shambling corpse.
Shifting my mask so it showed the lower half of my face, I removed my hat, wordlessly responding to her query. Sheila’s eyes widened at the sight.
“Eh...? Rentt, is this... What do you call it? You evolved, didn’t you?” Sheila said, in a softer voice than usual. “Evolve” in particular was said in a bit of a whisper.
“Yes.” I nodded. “Just the day before. According to Lorraine, I am now a...Lesser Vampire of some kind. I do look like a human now, yes. Just a little on the pale side, though.”
Sheila laughed nervously at my explanation before nodding slowly.
“Yes, there is a lack of...color, to your face. You do look like how you used to in life though, Rentt. Ah...your skin is...so smooth, too.”
“Yes, Lorraine said as such. A strange side effect...”
“Hmm... Looking at that...smoothness, Rentt. It makes me want to become like you...just a little...”
Matters of the complexion seemed to always be quite the topic with the ladies, if Sheila’s somewhat troubling statement was anything to go by.
I shook my head slowly. “Don’t even think about it, Sheila. I started from a pile of bones, if you recall.”
That was the first stage I had evolved from, after all. If there were any other possible ways, I wouldn’t be privy to them.
With that constantly rattling body, I continued defeating monsters, slowly evolving into a dried-up corpse, then a corpse with some meat hanging off it...finally becoming a Lesser Vampire after having miraculously procured some Vampire blood. Even I understood that it was an extremely difficult path.
Maybe I was just lucky it went so well. Even if an individual was skilled, one had to start from nothing at the very beginning. Maybe that was the hardest part.
Sheila seemed to understand my unspoken train of thought.
“I understand. ‘What would I do even if I really did become like you?’ is what I would have liked to ask, but...it would be inappropriate.
“Ah, yes,” Sheila continued. “Since you now look more or less like your human self, what would you like to do with your old records? You could continue on as Rentt Faina... Or do you prefer to go on as Rentt Vivie...?”
A valid question; however, there was only one answer I could give:
“We should continue using Rentt Vivie either way.”
“Why is that?” Sheila seemed a little confused at my sudden, prompt answer.
“It’s very simple, Sheila. For starters, this mask won’t come off...and there’s the question of why Rentt Faina would have such a mask in the first place. Then there would be the issue of my...heightened abilities. If I were suddenly asked to explain all these things... Well, it’d be difficult.”
There was always an even simpler option: I could just tell them I had become a monster. Even if it made for a convincing argument, I would still be hunted down and summarily executed, so, in the end, it wasn’t the best course of action. As long as I couldn’t say I was human without a doubt, it would be quite difficult to go by “Rentt Faina” in the township of Maalt. Too many people knew me here.
“I see... Well, then, Rentt. I will handle your requests and assignments as requested from here on out. Ah, yes... There was also the matter we had to discuss...”
“Right. The Tarasque, yes? I wonder if it sold for a good sum...”
My expectant thoughts were soon cleaved in two by Sheila’s words.
“Eh? No, that hasn’t sold at all, Rentt. It isn’t about that—as we said, a discussion! In any case, please, follow me to the dissection chambers...” She spoke with a slight expression of surprise.
But...what about my finances...?
Perhaps I counted my chickens far before they had hatched...
There was nothing I could do now, so I gave Sheila the best response I could muster as I nodded along:
“Ah... Ah. Yes. Right.”
I followed after Sheila with a looming feeling of disappointment.
◆◇◆◇◆
“Oh! So you came by, huh.”
Dario greeted us at the entrance as the dissection chambers came into view. It seemed Dario had waited a little too long to see me, and I couldn’t help but wonder what had transpired during the sale of the carcass. From Sheila’s behavior, and from what she had just said, it was hard to imagine the Tarasque materials had even been sold.
“Did...something happen?” I asked, looking straight at Dario, the guild’s Master Dissectionist.
“Well. Ya better come in,” he said, waving us into the facility as he turned.
I had no reason to refuse. I suppose Dario had his reasons, so I nodded as I quickly followed after him.
◆◇◆◇◆
“Well...? Did something happen?” I asked as Sheila and I sat in Dario’s office. Chairs had been kindly provided for us.
“Yeah... Not a big issue, but...”
Dario seemed troubled. Contrary to what he said, it really did seem like a big issue, if his tone was anything to go by.
“The Tarasque ya brought in, see...” Dario continued, somewhat slowly. “We done finished work on it, and by its quality...we thought it best to put it up for auction. So that merchant we work with, he was supposed to come and take her off... It was then...”
What was it? What happened then? I could feel my concern mounting at Dario’s cryptic statements.
Did Dario not mention this Tarasque’s materials were of high quality, that there were few like it across the lands, and it would fetch a good price? I could hardly think there would be any reason for the merchant to find fault with the materials I had provided...
As if reading my thoughts, Dario continued.
“No, it ain’t a problem with the product, see. It’s the opposite. It’s too good... So good that the auctioneer merchant friend of ours wants to take it directly to the client.”
So that was what all the fuss was about...
I suppose things like this happened every now and then. People from all walks of life showed up at auctions, and among them were individuals of great wealth, or some who used great sums of coin for very specific purposes. The Latuules came to mind, as they had great political influence and material wealth.
Those individuals, more often than not, had very special...hobbies. As a result, they would never hesitate to follow their inclinations. Coin was of no object to them—the Latuule family’s hobby of collecting magical tools was one such example.
In a similar vein, a well-heeled client was willing to pay quite a fortune for Tarasque materials that were in good condition—but as to why, I couldn’t quite say. At the very least, the auction merchant involved now felt bringing the shell directly to the client was a definite sale.
None of this was bad news to me. I had tasked Dario with the sale of these materials, and he could do with them as he saw fit. Could he not have just sold it to the merchant? Why the discussion now?
“I don’t mind if you sell it as you see fit, Dario... So what seems to be the matter?”
Dario shook his head, a complicated expression across his features.
“Ya think, no? Would be good if I could sell it. What ya told me to do, that. I’d have liked to do it. Get ya the best deals, yeah, but...this time... It’s a little different.”
I tilted my head dramatically to one side. I didn’t understand what Dario was getting at, not in the slightest.
“Some conditions, ya see,” Dario continued. “Double, Rentt. They be payin’ double yer askin’ price. But in return...they wanna be introduced to ya, Rentt. The adventurer who slayed the Tarasque.”
“That...”
It was as Dario said: this wasn’t something he could decide on his own.
Regardless of the nature of the auction, it was common sense most individuals bid under pseudonyms. This applied to both buyers and sellers; neither party would be eager to expose their true identities at an auction, with the reason being that most items at these auctions were either extremely valuable or rare. If a buyer or seller had exposed their identity, they could be robbed, burgled, or even threatened. Therefore, the need for privacy was paramount in the auction business.
While the auction house itself knew the identities of its clients, having any information leak out would be a disaster in and of itself. If anything like that came to pass, the auction house would lose the confidence of its clients, and, with that, all of its business.
There were exceptions, however, in which case the permission of the client in question was required. In this current case, it seemed like Dario needed my permission to go ahead with the sale.
But something about this transaction seemed a little off to me. The fact that the buyer in question wished to be introduced to me meant they were looking for adventurers capable of hunting down Tarasques. This in and of itself wasn’t too difficult.
It was also all too common for the buy-out price on auctions to be set at a high amount. While bidding occasionally exceeded that, the very thought of doubling the original asking price was a fearsome thought. If they had this much coin at their disposal, they didn’t need to go through all this trouble. All this mystery client had to do was approach the guild and hire the services of a Gold-class adventurer. Why go through all the effort just to ask for me? I couldn’t wrap my head around this.
Dario, still observing me from across the table, probably inferred what I was thinking, so he continued speaking.
“He got a good eye, this client of yours. Came here, once. Looked at the Tarasque ya brought in and was moved... Real moved at the quality. Said somethin’ ‘bout... ‘A perfectly beheaded Tarasque. With no other wounds. Almost perfect, almost. Many adventurers are capable of huntin’ Tarasques...but to slay it and preserve the quality of the material! Few adventurers are capable of that. I wanna know more of this individual. More.’ ...is what he more or less said.”
It almost felt like I was being slathered with praise...
Although I was able to obtain somewhat pristine materials from the relatively intact Tarasque carcass, I knew luck was a large part of said developments. But this mystery client seemed to understand I had purposely taken on the challenge of slaying the Tarasque in this particular way. Even so, it seemed like just a little bit too much praise.
Something about this proposed meeting filled me with unease. What if the client refused to purchase the materials after meeting me? If I wasn’t what they expected? I wished to lay low—if possible, I didn’t want my name, or tales of my achievements, spreading.
If I were to really meet with this mysteriously rich and powerful client, I would hate to walk away from it empty-handed. Coin was a matter of utmost import. If one was poor and penniless, one would have to survive on nothing but a small shred of bread for the entire day. Ah, how nostalgic...just like how I was when I first started out. Back then, I would even venture into the nearby forests, foraging for edible vegetables to sate my hunger... And forage I did, with all of my being. The winters were harsh indeed...
“Oi, ya all right? Don’t be spacin’ out on me now.”
Dario’s words shook me out of my nostalgic daydreams. There was a tinge of worry to his words.
“No...” I raised my head slowly. “Just...something I was thinking about. But, tell me, Dario... This client of yours: would he go back on the sale should he meet with me? This isn’t something I would repeat often, but it is a coincidence I had managed to slay the Tarasque this way. You do know that, yes?”
Lies would do little for me at this point. Dario, however, seemed to have already anticipated this.
“Ya don’t have to tell me that. Client knows it, even I know it. Even if ya say that, Rentt, even if ya lucky, some thought went into the materials, yeah? That much is obvious, see.”
“I suppose that’s true...”
A cursory examination of the corpse would reveal I had gone for the Tarasque’s neck from the very start, not wanting to damage its scales. That was the reality of it.
“Now I’m just guessin’,” Dario continued, seemingly satisfied at my answer, “but I think that client of yours be searchin’ for a discerning adventurer, see. Ya should know many are incapable of that, even in the Gold-class. That’s why they wanna see ya. Meet someone who can...appreciate their concerns. Ya still think they’ll refuse to buy after meetin’ ya? Think about it, Rentt. To have so many conditions, then he ain’t buyin’? Is a shame for people like that, see. Now, if you’ve gotten all them worries outta that mind of yours...how ’bout meetin’ ’em?”
◆◇◆◇◆
Dario’s words only caused me to worry even more, but I was nonetheless not afraid of meeting this client.
There were just some...problems. One problem, in particular...
Namely, the fact that I was a monster. Speaking with people I knew, or was familiar with, was one thing. Speaking suddenly with an individual who wielded wealth and power was troubling to me, especially given the nature of the conversation. If I were found out, I could be hunted down and slain, and I’d very much like to avoid that at all costs.
However, this happened to adventurers from time to time. Such occurrences increased in frequency as one climbed the adventurer ranks. Laura is a good example; she had seen my capabilities, and saw it fit to trust me with a task. The more difficult and high-paying the request, the more likely the client would like to meet with the adventurer in person and ascertain their abilities. Hence the increase in the personal summons.
