Tamer 38
BGM: [MV]Vernal Days Dreamed by the Stars - Mika Kobayashi
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Chapter 38: Profit First
TL : Cnine
ED/PF :
Part 1
Anyway, one thing’s for sure: Rag was 100% under the influence of my Monster Taming Skill. No doubt about it.
Since we’re here anyway, I might as well ask in a bit more detail and put my mind at ease.
「Mind if I ask a question?」
「Sure.」
「Why do you do what I tell you?」
「Ah… well. You did save my life, sure, but it’s more like… I just get the feeling I’ve got to listen to you. Even if it’s something I don’t like, it feels like, ‘guess I can’t help it.’ Hard to put into words.」
I see.
Stripped of its vagueness, Rag’s words amounted to this: the very idea of resisting my instructions never even properly forms.
So this is what happens when the Monster Taming skill affects a human.
Part of me wants to try using this skill on every person I came across, but abusing it would obviously be a bad idea.
That said, I did not even know whether the Monster Taming skill could be used outside a dungeon, so talking about abusing it was just me getting ahead of myself.
I would very much like to test it, but to use the Monster Taming skill on a human, they would first need to be weakened.
Against monsters, weakening them was no longer a necessary, but when dealing with humans, I had this feeling that I had to weaken them first.
Which means that, inevitably, I would have to resort to violence against people outside the dungeon.
Violence outside a dungeon would not just be trouble, it would be an outright incident.
Worse still, if I happened to step on a job-nullifying trap, the brainwashing-like effect could temporarily wear off, and there was a real chance this information could leak to someone else. The risk was absurdly high.
Unless I was completely backed into a corner, I should avoid using it on humans altogether.
「By the way, how old are you?」
「I'm 22」
「Whoa! You’re my senior?! I’m terrible with polite speech, so cut me some slack, yeah?」
「Yes.」
There was no need to fuss over polite speech to begin with.
From now on, I would be able to control this Rag, a member of the Brave Saint Sword Demon party, however I liked. At that point, formalities were irrelevant.
「Don’t tell anyone that I saved you here. Got it?」
「Okey!」
「Every now and then, when I say so, come here. And sell magic stones for me.」
「Leave it to me!」
Just to be safe, I exchanged contact details with Rag so I could boss him around whenever the mood struck.
「For now, this is all you need to cash in today.」
「Lea-- Wait, isn't it a bit too much!?」
「You could hunt this many in a day, couldn’t you?」
「“I mean, yeah, technically. But won’t it look dodgy if I sell them as a proxy? My level hasn’t gone up enough to justify this many magic stones.」
「Fair point.」
I handed Rag the rubbish bag I had prepared in advance, filled with magic stones, and he made a good observation as he accepted it.
As expected of a high-rank explorer. Unlike monsters, a human notices things that only a human would.
As he pointed out, selling only magic stones while Rag’s level had not increased would look far too unnatural. Being suspected of fraud would be a hassle in many ways, so it was best avoided.
The bag I handed to Rag contained roughly four hundred ogre magic stones.
An ogre gave around 38 EXP.
Taking Rag’s skill that multiplies gained experience by seven into account, the total experience comes to 7x38x400=6400EXP.
Which meant that Rag’s level should have gone up by two.
However, if I were to hunt Skeleton Generals at 151 times efficiency, I could gain 90600 EXP, so even if there was a slight discrepancy, it should be enough to eliminate the unnaturalness of selling the magic stones.
But my method was something I never want to see spread. For that reason alone, I would rather not let even someone under the influence of Monster Taming witness it.
In that case… The Wind Dragons from the 28th floor would be enough.
Defeated normally, a Wind Dragon yields 5000 EXP. With Rag’s 7x EXP boost, that becomes 35000 per kill. Three of them would come to 105000 EXP.
Compared to the EXP of the magic stones I handed over, the numbers balance out.
「Earning EXP purely to balance the books.」
「Yeah! Which floor are we going to?」
「This floor will suffice.」
There was a summoning magic circle on this floor.
The magic circle I always use for my resummoning combo.
「We’ll use this magic circle to summon monsters. I’ll weaken them, then you finish them off.」
「Leave it to me!」
I placed the Wind Dragon’s magic stone onto the magic circle, then pulled out a mithril sword from my item bag, the one I’d bought from Mr Ueda Akitomu for thirty thousand yen.
Once the Wind Dragon was summoned, its heart would probably be around here, so I adjusted the sword to that position in advance.
After countless repetitions, I’d mastered the resummon combo. Angle, position, distance. I could practically see the monster before it even appeared.
「What are you doing?」
「Preparing to kill a monster.」
「Preparing? To me, it looks like you’re just fooling around...」
「Focus. This monster is a tough one.」
「Y-Yeah.」
I could hear him swallowing hard.
It would probably be better to face this with at least this much tension…
「COMING!!」
「GROAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--- Aaaaa!? 」
The Wind Dragon’s heart had appeared right where I’d just placed my sword, and it hit with a sickening precision. From the moment it spawned, the beast recoiled in agony, letting out a scream so fierce it could shatter eardrums, teetering on the edge of collapse.
Well… I suppose any creature would keel over if a sword plunged straight through its heart.
「Come on, finish it!」
「P-Pardon?」
「NOW!」
「Y-Yes...」
With a single, perfectly-timed slash from rag, the Wind Dragon’s strength drained entirely, it collapsed to the ground, and dissolved into a puff of smoke.
「No way!? That’s 35,000 EXP from just one swing!」
「Is this really the time to be celebrating? When I give the order, attack immediately. The Wind Dragon almost died before you even struck.」
「M-My bad」
「Well, that went smoothly.」
If it hadn’t, I’d have had no choice but to reveal a brute-force strategy that relied purely on overwhelming level difference.
And there was absolutely no reason to let him see how I truly fight.
◇◇◇
Rag’s EXP farming wrapped up smoothly. All that remains was selling the Magic Stones and collecting the cash.
I’d love to say that means my finances are secure for a while, but I fully intend to pay Mr Ueda Akitomu about twice the weapon’s price to ensure he keeps quiet about the whole intimidation business.
That means 400 Ogre Magic Stones were far from enough.
Should I start operating as a high-rank Explorer in five days as I originally planned?
Wait. Hold up.
「I want to sell the Magic Stones directly to you.」
「Sure.」
Really?
「I know you want to hide your strength. You want me to buy your Magic Stones, hold onto them, and then, once you’ve done some experience grinding, I’ll sell them. That way, it’s all sorted, right?」
「That's the plan.」
That was surprisingly fast. Smooth. No fuss.
「So… how much should I buy?」
「Well... Maybe around 2.5 million yen.」
The plan was to pay Mr Ueda Akitomu 2 million and keep 500,000 safely in my own pocket.
「2.5 million is quite a lot. Every magic stones in that garbage bag alone won’t even cover it.」
「How about this?」
I handed over the garbage bag containing the Demon Magic Stones.
Judging by weight and bulk, there was around 250 magic stones inside.
「Oi, oi, oi… what kind of monster these Magic Stones came from? Definitely stronger than the Dullahan, aren’t they?」
「Don't worry about such trivial matter.」
「Of course I’d worry! That’s 10,000, no—15,000 yen per magic stone you know? Maybe even more if we can sell it right…」
I see.
「Then let’s sell them at 15,000 yen each.」
「Huh? That’s going to put you at a loss!」
「It’s fine. After all, we just became friends.」
I’m planning to drag him along for all sorts of experiments after all.
If I curry favour early, then later when I make absurd demands, I can casually go, “Think of it as returning a favour,” and it’d all be fine.
That said, since Rag is a high-rank Explorer, it would be a waste to mark the experiments as failures. I’d at least like to have one test subject in front of him…
「Even if we’re friends, c’mon…」
「Think of it as your cut for handling the Magic Stones sale.」
「Well, if you’re calling it a cut, alright then.」
「This will suffice.」
The difference between the actual sale price and this sum was my advance payment to Rag for his future cooperation in experiments.
Truth be told, I’d love to hand him even a single grain of rice and have him jump straight into helping me. But dealing with a person who already had a solid sense of self, a reward that tiny could easily spark more rebellion than gratitude.
◇◇◇
That day, I sold 471 Ogre Magic Stones and 160 Demon Magic Stones to Rag, netting 2,588,400 yen in cash. Then I went to Mr. Ueda Akitomu’s house and smacked him across the cheek with a wad of bills.
I told him, “Go on, feed your daughter something nice,” and, for some reason, he thanked me and handed over a dagger made of Magic Silver.
I didn’t need a weapon, but since he was giving it away for free, I took it.
He also said that if I ever needed anything regarding weapons or armour in the future, I should consult him, so I’ll do that if the need arises.
Honestly, Mr. Ueda Akitomu might not be so bad—as long as he hadn’t touched the booze. I had briefly considered using him for experiments, but I’ll let that slide.
This guy seems more profitable as an asset than as someone to push to the limit.