Kujonin

     [>

Kujonin
Author: Hanabokuro
—

"Is it alive?"
"No, it"s about dead."
The locust hopper was twitching within Velsa"s hand.
It was written in Lisa"s Monster Notebook that locust hoppers are locust monsters that live in the desert, and break out in huge quant.i.ties from time to time, causing extensive harm in the surrounding areas.
As someone in the extermination trade, these are monsters I can"t ignore.
Gra.s.shoppers in my previous world have even caused disasters along the lines of calamities.
I want ascertain a method for extermination if a request comes to us some time in the future.
"Then"
I took a recovery potion out of Velsa"s rucksack, and when I held it up,
"H,hang on. Just a bit. Don"t use an entire bottle on such a small monster!"
Velsa said to me, and s.n.a.t.c.hed the recovery potion away.
"But either way, there"s no bottle to put the locust hopper in, so isn"t it fine to empty a bottle?"
Velsa ignored me and put just a tiny bit on the locust hopper, and it quickly became energetic.
"Using this superior recovery potion so frivolously will cause some inside me to collapse."
Like what? Your sense of value?
Whether it"s high grade or whatever, for a recovery potion, I can make as many as I want as long as I have the ingredients, though.
That said, it seems like one bottle goes for 1 gold coin, so I give up because it can"t be helped.
When I was about to use it on the collapsed feehorse, I felt like the presence of a human with the Search Skill.
When I looked, about 100 meters in front of us, a man with a medium build and average height with a turban wound around his head was walking unsteadily.
He seems weakened, so it should be fine to use the recovery potion on that man.
"Excuse me! Are you alright?"
So saying I went to move closer to the man, but Velsa said, "Wait, it could be a zombie," so I shut up and watched him, but the man suddenly collapsed.
When I got closer to investigate, the man was muttering, "Water, water…"so I handed him my water bag.
While watching the man loudly gulping down water, I looked around with Search Skill.
I could see people gathered at a place a little bit away from here.
When I looked in that direction, there was only a covered wagon stopped in the gra.s.slands.
Is it a wagon regularly used for travelers1?
If that"s the case, why are the people inside remaining on the wagon?
"Are you a slave trader?"
"Gulp, haa, haa, yes! The feehorse suddenly went on a rampage and I hurried to chase after him but … haa, haa."
"Aa. That feehorse, it"s fainted over there. You, you don"t seem to have any injuries, huh?"
"Eh? Well, yeah."
Then I can"t use the recovery potion, na.
Velsa was running after me, and she finally caught up.
"Are you that feehorse"s owner?"
"Yes, that"s right."
"We were attacked by that feehorse. I don"t know the laws in this country, but when a monster owned by somebody attacks another person, either the owner pays the victim"s side compensation or the victim obtains the ownership over the monster and the right to determine its life or death, correct?"
The man"s face gradually turned pale.
"Y,you are correct."
Somehow Velsa"s begun some difficult negotiations, so I headed in the direction of the horse-drawn wagon.

There"s someone with bad statuses in the wagon.
When I opened the awning, within were humans, beastmen, and hobbits and other demihumans, all sorts of various races, but all of them were slave women.
Slave collars were firmly fixed around their necks.
When I opened the awning the slaves, seeing I wasn"t the slave trader, seemed to be frightened and retreated further within the wagon.
Within was a human woman with a painful sounding cough.
A respiratory sickness, huh?
"Uh, hi. That sounds painful. I might be able to heal it, so how about it?"
Showing the recovery potion, I tried appealing to her.
We stared at each other then, as she was wondering what she should do, she looked uncertainly at the other slaves.
"Whaat, right now, that human guy who brought you guys here, the slave trader is in the middle of negotiations, so you don"t have to worry about the medical fees. And also, if that sickness infects everyone, that slave trader will be losing profits."
I said, smiling at her.
While coughing, her lips quivering, the slave woman nodded at me.
I entered the wagon and held the slave woman.
"At any rate, it can"t be healed. I"ll become a ghoul one day."
The slave woman said, seemingly losing hope, into my ear.
What"s a ghoul? Is it something like a zombie?
It was a monster that ate corpses, right?
"I don"t know what happened, but life isn"t just full of suffering."
I took the slave woman outside and drew the induction heater magic circle on the ground.
I placed the recovery potion bottle on top of the magic circle and boiled it and had the slave woman breath in the evaporated fumes.
Her blank eyes widened and her face regained more vitality than before, but her lips are still blue.
"How is it?"
"It"s a lot better than before, but the headache…"
the slave woman said and held her head.
So it"s a disease that can"t be healed with the recovery potion?
The bad status is also unhealed.
Is it a poison or a curse?
Whatever the case, I only brought recovery potions along with me, so I can"t cure it right now.
"Has it always been this way?"
When I asked the other slaves, they nodded.
When I saw that the other slaves that have been riding the wagon together with her don"t have the illness, it seems it"s not something that"s contagious.

"O-i! Naoki! Bring that wagon over here-!"
Velsa"s negotiations seem to have gone well, and she waves her hand at me.
"Got it-!"
Waving the emptied bottle around to cool it, I erased the magic circle.
Putting the locust hopper in the cooled bottle, I hung the bottle from my waist.
I carried the slave woman to the wagon, told the slaves to "Hang on," and pushed the wagon.
The slaves seemed to be surprised that I could push the wagon.
I wonder if I"d be popular if I showed off my strength.

"Did your negotiations go well?"
I asked Velsa.
As for the slave trader, when he saw me push the wagon, he froze with his mouth wide open.
"Yah, I"ve secured a fixed regular income."
When I asked what she meant, it seems the feehorse has become the property of our company and the turban-wearing slave trader will be paying 5 silver coins a month to rent it.
Furthermore, if we need slaves he"ll sell to us cheaply, it seems.
What should I say about this negotiation-jutsu?
That kind of skill has probably appeared for her, I bet.
"Looks like it was a good idea to register the company to the Merchants Guild."
Velsa whispered to me.
The fainted feehorse had its foreleg broken where I had grabbed it.
When I took a recovery potion from the rucksack and put it on him,
"Burururu-."
It said and got up.
Velsa didn"t stop me from using the recovery potion on the feehorse.
""Cause it"s ours."
She said.
It"s just, when she saw the locust hopper in the bottle hanging from my waist she asked, "What did you do with it?"
"I used it on a sick slave."
When I said so, Velsa told the slave trader, "1 gold coin is enough."
The slave trader, while he was at a loss for words, also agreed. Looks like he"ll pay for the medicine in the future.

We attached the feehorse to the wagon and set off.

The slave trader said his destination was Floura.
"We are also returning right now."
We are walking next to the wagon.
"Is it alright for you not to have escorts?"
Velsa asked the slave trader.
"We had them until we entered the desert. We got separated by a flash flood."
A flash flood, huh?
I"d heard from somewhere that the main cause of death in the desert is by drowning.
It seems that, when it rains in the desert, the water isn"t absorbed and gathers all at one place forming the flash flood.
I suppose it"s rained in the desert recently.
"Then we"ll escort you."
"Thank you very much!"
And that"s what happened.

The feehorse"s speed is slow, so I drew wind magic circles on its legs.
Even so it"s slow so, in the end, I pulled the wagon and the feehorse ran along behind.
From the wagon you could hear the shouts and screams of the slave trader and slave women, but I ignored it.
While we were running through the forest, I heard a bad sound coming from the wheel axel, so I felled a tree, used a magic circle to reinforce it, and replaced the axel.
Thanks to having the Craftship Skill and Magic Tool Production Skill at max, the work was done in 30 minutes.
"If I can do this with a single knife, won"t I be thought of as a dangerous guy?" I told Velsa.
"Don"t worry about it. Anyway, we already think of you like that."
So saying, Velsa looked inside the wagon.
Within the wagon, the slave traders and slave women were sprawled on the floor, praying to G.o.d.
I hope your prayers are answered.

We reached the city of Floura before the sun set.
Entering the Merchants Guild with the slave trader who was walking with shaking legs, we made the contract for leasing the feehorse.
Currently we don"t have a particular headquarters or branch divisions, so it will be paid through deposits to the Merchants Guild.
The Merchants Guild also seems to operate as a bank, so it"s extremely convenient.

The slave trader"s legs were shaking so much that the Staff-san suspected whether or not we were threatening him, but when Velsa courteously explained she understood.
Furthermore, she told us that 5 silver coins a month is extraordinary.
Even if that slave trader breaks the contract, it seems like we"ll be able to find someone else to lend it out to immediately.
After we exchanged information on where the slave trader"s shop is and where our inn is, we parted ways.

When we returned to the inn, Merumo was sleeping with a bad complexion.
When I asked whether she had caught a cold,
"Ah, president. When I tried on those clothes, the coverall, my magic power ran out."
She said weakly, while pressing on her head.
Because we used the magic thread, it conducts magic power well, so just putting it on would use magic power, she said.
"Thanks to that I"ve gotten the Magic Tool Production Skill, but I can"t wear those clothes."
"I see. Velsa, what about you?"
I asked Velsa, who was wearing the same kind of coverall.
“I don"t particularly feel like my magic power is being reduced."

"I"m back." (Ayl)
"We"ve returned!" (Seth)
With perfect timing, Ayl and Seth returned.
The 2 people are also wearing the new coveralls.
"Welcome."
I tried asking those two whether they feel bad wearing the coveralls, and if they ran out of magic power as well.
"I didn"t feel anything." (Ayl)
"Running out of magic power? I haven"t felt like that -ssu." (Seth)
It looks like these two also don"t have any troubles.
"It might be that Merumo just doesn"t have enough magic power. From tomorrow, you"ll go hunting with Ayl and Seth in the forest.  I"d like you to at least have no trouble wearing the coverall."
"Th,then, I"ll also hunt monsters?"
Merumo was surprised.
"It will be fine. Ayl will also be there."
"I,I got it! Ayl-san, which weapon will send the most monster blood flying?"
"Let"s see. A mace or something would be fine?"
While having that kind of conversation, all of my company employees headed to the cafeteria.

On top of the table was the one-should bag that I had requested from Merumo.
Even though she ran out of magic power, looks like she properly got her work done.
I feel like I"ve asked too much of her.
But if you run out of magic power, does your complexion get bad and you get a headache?
If so, then that slave woman…

"Naoki! Hurry up!"
"Ah, I"m coming now."
With Ayl and Seth urging me on, I locked the door to the room.

     [>