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There didn’t seem to be much hope here. Ugh, this was annoying. I suppose I could lay down some bait…

 

“Is that so… You know, we weren’t asking you to make room for us for free.”

“Hmmm…? What do you have?”

“Well, I was thinking about the materials obtained from the monster we just killed. It was a weak old thing and probably not worth much. In any case, sorry to trouble you. We will go and find some other place. Excuse me.”

“Hmph… Then hurry up and go. You are an eye-sore.”

 

As we moved towards the entrance, I muttered to Mister.

 

“Mister. Do you think the horses will be revitalized if I feed the Grendel to them?”

“Uh, no… Well, I don’t know about such things…”

“Wait!”

 

I smirked. He was biting.

 

“Yes?”

 

I turned around with an expression of pure bewilderment.

 

“What did you just say?”

“Huh? I said that we’ll go and search for a different place.”

“After that!”

“Uhh…”

 

I tilted my head innocently.

 

“Damn you. You said Grendel!!”

“Did I indeed?”

“You did!!”

“Perhaps you are right.”

“Are you trying to make a fool of me?!”

“Even if I did say it, what does that have to do with you? We must go and find a place to camp. Please excuse us.”

“Tsk…!”

 

I could see that the fat merchant was now thinking desperately of a way to keep us from leaving. But I could see it. Yes. That leather bag that was practically bursting at the seams. Yes, I saw him glance at it.

 

“You can camp here! And as for this Grendel…”

“Eh? Just give you the monster after everything we’ve been through? Don’t make me laugh. We happen to take our jobs very seriously here!”

 

I roughened my voice as if to suggest I was horribly offended. It was times like these that I was glad about my experience in customer service. It was practically acting lessons.

 

“Tsk…then…”

“Then?”

“I…I…”

 

Was it anger or humiliation? His hands shook as he grabbed the leather bag and offered it to me.

 

“And what would that be?”

“Gold…! Now give me the Grendel! Of course, you may also camp here!”

“Huh… Mister. He is offering us money. By the way, how much is this Grendel thing worth?”

 

Mister was aware of the price of something so valuable, and he looked quite smug as he said it.

 

“One hundred pieces of gold and eighty of silver.”

“There you go. And how much is in that bag?”

“Ggg…”

 

The merchant opened the bag slowly. It contained nothing but silver coins.

 

“This is clearly a waste of time. Let’s go.”

“Wa-wait…wait!”

“What now?”

 

The merchant seemed rather desperate for the Grendel. He pulled out yet another leather bag from behind his chair.

 

“This one is gold…check it.”

“Why don’t we. Mister.”

 

Mister opened the bag over a table and counted the contents. Yes, it was gold. There seemed to be about two hundred. That wasn’t enough.

 

“The Grendel has no large wounds and was frozen in an instant, meaning it’s very fresh. Just one of its arms might cost two hundred and fifty pieces of gold. This will not do.”

“F-fine… I will add another bag!”

“Of gold?”

“Gold!!”

 

The merchant was acting quite self-destructive now. Mister and I looked inside the bag. It had about the same amount as the previous one.

 

“Sold!”

“Tsk…I better make it back…!”

“Well, that’s really up to you, isn’t it? Well, the whole thing is there, so use it wisely. Oh, and thank you for the space.”

 

The merchant suddenly looked very tired as he shook his head. But merchants tended to be tough, and he quickly regained his composure and started to make calculations.

 

I left the tent along with the two merchants, took the bag from Daniela and pulled out the Grendel. I ignored the gasps of the spectators and infused it with ice magic. According to Jack of all Trades, Master of None, it would not melt for at least two days. Then I gave it the merchant and accepted the two bags.

The merchant immediately had the Grendel put inside of his wagon. He also ordered his men to make space for us to camp. That’s when we all looked at each other and smiled in triumph.

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