“Hello~! I brought Cockatrice’s eggs~!”
Raiz was knocking at the back door of an inn located in the main street of Dekuch.
After some clattering sounds, a chubby woman opened it.
“I’ve been waiting for you~! Today there’s a lot of orders for them. If you were late, I’d have gone grabbing some myself.”
“Sorry, I always have a hard time when I collect these, but I’m glad I could make it in time. How many do you need?”
“Uhm… Three, please. The place is quite crowded.”
“Here, thank you!”
Raiz unloaded the eggs from the wagon and handed them over.
At first sight, he looked like a delivery guy from some animal husbandry, the only difference being that those eggs were ten times bigger than a chicken’s.
“You really came here to sell them… I didn’t expect an inn to buy them.”
“Yeah, this inn has the best cuisine when it comes to cockatrice’s eggs dishes. The owner of this place, who’s also a master chef, was pretty interested, so she tried to buy some and that attracted quite the number of customers, so now she’s a regular.”
“It’s pretty rare to find someone who cooks them, you know? People are curious to know how they taste!”
The woman brought the articles in the store nonchalantly, then exited again and handed over a leather bag.
“Here. Make sure there’s everything.”
He took it and started to count the money.
“A silver coin and fifty copper coins. Nothing is missing.”
He pocketed his payment and returned the leather bag to the woman, who glanced at Lety.
“By the way, who’s that girl? She’s pretty and dressed nicely! Don’t tell me she’s…”
She raised her pinky to allude to something.
“?”
The soldier tilted her head without understanding what she meant.
“She’s just an old colleague.”
“How boring! A man shouldn’t be indecisive!”
The woman started to slap him on the back with her hand.
“Let’s talk about it when it happens.”
“What are you saying?! Youth ends before you know! It’s now or never!”
“Hahaha, I’ll do it sooner or later.”
“C’mon…”
Taken aback by his answer, she let her hand fall back to her side.
“Well then, we’re off.”
“I’ll call you again when we run out of eggs!”
Raiz kept waving his hand while returning to the wagon. When he looked at Lety’s face, she was looking angrily at him.
“What’s up?”
“A cockatrice’s egg for fifty copper coins?”
Normally, ten chicken’s eggs were worth ten copper coins.
Cockatrice’s eggs were ten times bigger than them, so their price should have raised accordingly, but Raiz was actually selling them at five times their hypothetical price.
Still, thinking about how dangerous was to collect them, fifty copper coins were ridiculously few.
The one who laid them could turn people into stone, after all.
Not to mention how big and deadly were its claws and attacks.
Running for your life only to gain fifty copper coins was crazy.
“Well, Cockatrice isn’t too aggressive, and I know how to collect her eggs, so it isn’t that hard for me.”
“But she attacks you anyway! If you make a wrong move, you might be seriously injured!”
The memories of what happened before sent shivers down her spine.
“Well, I want to strengthen my connections in the city.”
“What do you mean…?”
“Didn’t you hear the inn’s owner? Now cockatrice’s eggs are a specialty of this city, and people love those kinds of things. Once that shop makes a name for itself, merchants and adventurers might start coming here only to taste them. The Dragon Express’ last stop is here in Dekuch, so don’t you think people might use it to taste this rarity? And the brand, little by little, might extend to other shops around the city.”
Raiz explained carefully why he priced them so cheaply.
“So, you’re trying to become someone necessary for this city?”
He nodded firmly.
“Are you kidding?! Why are you wasting your time?! Isn’t returning to the army thousands of times better than this?! If it’s a matter of money, we can discuss it!”
Raiz understood that she really wanted him again with them.
He knew, thanks to Cat Sith’s information, that she only wanted the best for him.
Still, hearing it from someone else and from the person in question ware totally different things for him.
The only ones who didn’t treat me differently were Lety and Merck…
He remembered well when they first met.
No one cared about the intimidating guy who used monsters as weapons.
There were others like him, but, thanks to his powerful beasts, he was a step above even them.
Raiz knew very well that being too powerful had its downsides, but those two were exceptions. They didn’t care about his reputation and got closer to him anyway.
Lety wanted to have a match with his dragon, and Merck acknowledged his monsters’ strategic value.
They ended up being very important comrades for him.
“While we’re here, wanna see my monsters at work?”
“Eh?”
Then, he pointed in front of them.
Lety looked in that direction wondering what he was talking about.
Then, she saw a dressed humanoid bird, a kikimora.
“Is that another of your monsters?”
“Yes, she is a great weaver. She is really good with her hands.”
“A weaver? But isn’t it a monster?”
She was puzzled.
Usually monsters are dreadful, that’s why tamers tried to tame those who held powerful combat abilities.
“Yes, but she never participated in a battle. When she went to help an old weaver, the woman was so satisfied with her skills that asked her to keep working in her shop.”
“That’s great.”
Lety couldn’t help but nod at his words.
“Yeah, it’s said that even the other wavers were really impressed by her skills, and she’s currently recreating patterns, clothes and embroidery techniques from different countries. I’m not an expert in that field, though.”
“That’s amazing!”
She was so enthusiastic that she started to yank him.
She’s psyched. Do girls like this kind of stuff?
“Why don’t we ask her for a sample?”
“Really?!”
Since she was so happy, Raiz thought that letting her see how hard his monsters were working would improve her mood even more.
“C’mon, let’s see what my other subordinates are doing.”
“Sure!”
◆
After they finished checking how everyone was doing, Lety’s fiery nature quelled.
While they were walking, she tried to start a conversation.
“Seems like they’re having fun.”
“Yeah, and the citizens are not that scared by them anymore.”
“I couldn’t contain myself when I saw Unicorn so popular with grannies.”
Witnessing his despair when surrounded by old women, she couldn’t suppress her laughter.
“They all looked so happy…”
Whispered her while wearing a complex expression and bringing a hand to her chest.
She was ordered to bring him back for the country’s sake.
She knew that was the right thing to do.
But they’re happy here, and so are the citizens…
She was astonished by that.
She only saw monsters on the battlefield, where they were merciless beasts.
Lords of the sky, destroyers of the earth, rulers of the water.
They showed their destructive power to allies and foes alike.
She couldn’t believe that they could spend time so peacefully with normal citizens.
I thought fighting was the only things they could do… but Raiz’s monsters are different. What am I here for, then? To bring them back to the battlefield and steal their smile?
A choice laid before her: listen to her heart and make Raiz rejoin the army, or leave and let those monsters live peacefully.
She didn’t know what to do.
“Hey, are you hungry? Wanna grab a bite?”
“Eh?”
His sudden question brought her back to reality.
“Since you came this far, you should taste something you can eat only here!”
She would have remembered that meal forever.
“Hello~! I brought Cockatrice’s eggs~!”
Raiz was knocking at the back door of an inn located in the main street of Dekuch.
After some clattering sounds, a chubby woman opened it.
“I’ve been waiting for you~! Today there’s a lot of orders for them. If you were late, I’d have gone grabbing some myself.”
“Sorry, I always have a hard time when I collect these, but I’m glad I could make it in time. How many do you need?”
“Uhm… Three, please. The place is quite crowded.”
“Here, thank you!”
Raiz unloaded the eggs from the wagon and handed them over.
At first sight, he looked like a delivery guy from some animal husbandry, the only difference being that those eggs were ten times bigger than a chicken’s.
“You really came here to sell them… I didn’t expect an inn to buy them.”
“Yeah, this inn has the best cuisine when it comes to cockatrice’s eggs dishes. The owner of this place, who’s also a master chef, was pretty interested, so she tried to buy some and that attracted quite the number of customers, so now she’s a regular.”
“It’s pretty rare to find someone who cooks them, you know? People are curious to know how they taste!”
The woman brought the articles in the store nonchalantly, then exited again and handed over a leather bag.
“Here. Make sure there’s everything.”
He took it and started to count the money.
“A silver coin and fifty copper coins. Nothing is missing.”
He pocketed his payment and returned the leather bag to the woman, who glanced at Lety.
“By the way, who’s that girl? She’s pretty and dressed nicely! Don’t tell me she’s…”
She raised her pinky to allude to something.
“?”
The soldier tilted her head without understanding what she meant.
“She’s just an old colleague.”
“How boring! A man shouldn’t be indecisive!”
The woman started to slap him on the back with her hand.
“Let’s talk about it when it happens.”
“What are you saying?! Youth ends before you know! It’s now or never!”
“Hahaha, I’ll do it sooner or later.”
“C’mon…”
Taken aback by his answer, she let her hand fall back to her side.
“Well then, we’re off.”
“I’ll call you again when we run out of eggs!”
Raiz kept waving his hand while returning to the wagon. When he looked at Lety’s face, she was looking angrily at him.
“What’s up?”
“A cockatrice’s egg for fifty copper coins?”
Normally, ten chicken’s eggs were worth ten copper coins.
Cockatrice’s eggs were ten times bigger than them, so their price should have raised accordingly, but Raiz was actually selling them at five times their hypothetical price.
Still, thinking about how dangerous was to collect them, fifty copper coins were ridiculously few.
The one who laid them could turn people into stone, after all.
Not to mention how big and deadly were its claws and attacks.
Running for your life only to gain fifty copper coins was crazy.
“Well, Cockatrice isn’t too aggressive, and I know how to collect her eggs, so it isn’t that hard for me.”
“But she attacks you anyway! If you make a wrong move, you might be seriously injured!”
The memories of what happened before sent shivers down her spine.
“Well, I want to strengthen my connections in the city.”
“What do you mean…?”
“Didn’t you hear the inn’s owner? Now cockatrice’s eggs are a specialty of this city, and people love those kinds of things. Once that shop makes a name for itself, merchants and adventurers might start coming here only to taste them. The Dragon Express’ last stop is here in Dekuch, so don’t you think people might use it to taste this rarity? And the brand, little by little, might extend to other shops around the city.”
Raiz explained carefully why he priced them so cheaply.
“So, you’re trying to become someone necessary for this city?”
He nodded firmly.
“Are you kidding?! Why are you wasting your time?! Isn’t returning to the army thousands of times better than this?! If it’s a matter of money, we can discuss it!”
Raiz understood that she really wanted him again with them.
He knew, thanks to Cat Sith’s information, that she only wanted the best for him.
Still, hearing it from someone else and from the person in question ware totally different things for him.
The only ones who didn’t treat me differently were Lety and Merck…
He remembered well when they first met.
No one cared about the intimidating guy who used monsters as weapons.
There were others like him, but, thanks to his powerful beasts, he was a step above even them.
Raiz knew very well that being too powerful had its downsides, but those two were exceptions. They didn’t care about his reputation and got closer to him anyway.
Lety wanted to have a match with his dragon, and Merck acknowledged his monsters’ strategic value.
They ended up being very important comrades for him.
“While we’re here, wanna see my monsters at work?”
“Eh?”
Then, he pointed in front of them.
Lety looked in that direction wondering what he was talking about.
Then, she saw a dressed humanoid bird, a kikimora.
“Is that another of your monsters?”
“Yes, she is a great weaver. She is really good with her hands.”
“A weaver? But isn’t it a monster?”
She was puzzled.
Usually monsters are dreadful, that’s why tamers tried to tame those who held powerful combat abilities.
“Yes, but she never participated in a battle. When she went to help an old weaver, the woman was so satisfied with her skills that asked her to keep working in her shop.”
“That’s great.”
Lety couldn’t help but nod at his words.
“Yeah, it’s said that even the other wavers were really impressed by her skills, and she’s currently recreating patterns, clothes and embroidery techniques from different countries. I’m not an expert in that field, though.”
“That’s amazing!”
She was so enthusiastic that she started to yank him.
She’s psyched. Do girls like this kind of stuff?
“Why don’t we ask her for a sample?”
“Really?!”
Since she was so happy, Raiz thought that letting her see how hard his monsters were working would improve her mood even more.
“C’mon, let’s see what my other subordinates are doing.”
“Sure!”
◆
After they finished checking how everyone was doing, Lety’s fiery nature quelled.
While they were walking, she tried to start a conversation.
“Seems like they’re having fun.”
“Yeah, and the citizens are not that scared by them anymore.”
“I couldn’t contain myself when I saw Unicorn so popular with grannies.”
Witnessing his despair when surrounded by old women, she couldn’t suppress her laughter.
“They all looked so happy…”
Whispered her while wearing a complex expression and bringing a hand to her chest.
She was ordered to bring him back for the country’s sake.
She knew that was the right thing to do.
But they’re happy here, and so are the citizens…
She was astonished by that.
She only saw monsters on the battlefield, where they were merciless beasts.
Lords of the sky, destroyers of the earth, rulers of the water.
They showed their destructive power to allies and foes alike.
She couldn’t believe that they could spend time so peacefully with normal citizens.
I thought fighting was the only things they could do… but Raiz’s monsters are different. What am I here for, then? To bring them back to the battlefield and steal their smile?
A choice laid before her: listen to her heart and make Raiz rejoin the army, or leave and let those monsters live peacefully.
She didn’t know what to do.
“Hey, are you hungry? Wanna grab a bite?”
“Eh?”
His sudden question brought her back to reality.
“Since you came this far, you should taste something you can eat only here!”
She would have remembered that meal forever.
