Chapter 33 - Marcelo Company Launch
In July, the Marcelo Company was officially launched.
The Marcelo Magic Tool Shop was expanded, becoming a business that spans three sectors: magic tool development and sales, water and sewage management, and monster extermination.
The idea originally came from Paul-san.
During the Revenant incident, Angelica-san created a soil dragon. Paul-san was deeply impressed by the mastery of its craftsmanship—the beautiful fusion of curves and straight lines—and it seems he tried to scout Angelica-san as the technical lead for the Water and Sewage Management Office as a result.
As for the structure, Marcelo-san is the Company President. The magic tool division restored the name of Angelica-san's brother to regain his honor, returning to the name Albert Magic Tool Shop, with Marcelo-san serving concurrently as the shop manager. Angelica-san became the technical lead for the Water and Sewage Management Technical Division. The Class of 175 was contracted to handle the Monster Extermination Division. Regarding monster extermination, since it's unclear how much profit will be made, we, as subcontractors, are on a commission basis.
When you list the names like this, it gets a bit confusing, but essentially the only difference is who hands us the money directly; in practice, not much has changed. It's just that Paul-san has been added to the mix.
The reward money we receive for monster extermination decreases by ten percent for the protection money... I mean, the brokerage fee paid to the company, but in exchange, we can use the teleportation circles installed by the Marcelo Company for free and receive hunting technique instruction from Paul-san, so it shouldn't be a loss. Above all, for us, who want to produce results in fox extermination, it was a satisfying arrangement.
By the way, Paul-san himself is a contracted technical instructor.
Until now, his contract was with the town, but now it's through the Marcelo Company. Since the other technicians remain under contract with the town, what he does hasn't changed. He uses high-level wind magic, is the current technical lead of the Water and Sewage Management Office, and since he's a hunter, instructing us in monster extermination is right up his alley... or so it seems.
Well, that's how things were decided.
The town remains in a state of lingering excitement from the previous battle with the Revenants, but we can't stay immersed in a victory mood forever. After all, our livelihoods are at stake.
Last month's reward exceeded two gold coins, but that was for three people, and my share vanished just paying for one month's living expenses. Without the extra income from scroll-making, pelts, and medicinal herbs, I wouldn't be able to save anything.
When I talked to everyone about resuming monster extermination as soon as possible, they were very sympathetic, and we decided to discuss future plans with the Mayor immediately.
As a result, in the second week of July, the Marcelo couple, Paul-san, and the three of us from the Class of 175 gathered to face the contract negotiations with Mayor Adolf.
First, Marcelo-san, who became the Company President, gave an explanation of the company's launch.
Though, he's just calling himself that on his own; it's not like he's actually become someone important or anything.
After the explanation, he got straight to the point.
"Actually, there is one thing I would like to consult with you about."
It was Marcelo-san. From here on is our main topic for today.
"Currently, the scope of the Class of 175's monster extermination is limited to the sewers and the water source. Since Paul-san will be acting as their technical advisor following the company's launch, would it be alright to expand their range?"
I leaned forward instinctively. Whether or not we can officially make a name for ourselves as monster exterminators depends on this.
"Is it within the scope of the Town Guard's duties?"
"Of course it is."
This question from Adolf-san was only natural. If it falls outside the Guard's scope, reward money generally won't be issued. The Guard's job in monster extermination is to eliminate monsters that cause harm to general residents. It is fundamentally different from hunters who chase monsters deep into the forest to earn money by selling the meat and pelts of the monsters they hunt.
"Will Paul always participate?"
"Yes. He is the technical advisor, after all. He will participate until they can be completely independent."
"Hmm. Even if we have them do rat extermination twice a week and fox extermination in the Northern Forest once a week, if it goes beyond that, Beowulf's duties will become nothing but monster extermination..."
That was the problem. Beowulf has her duties as a member of the Town Guard. She can't participate in monster extermination every day.
"Since we will report every single time, could you leave it to us to some extent? If you approve, in addition to the twice-weekly rat extermination and once-weekly fox extermination, we will also be able to take on perimeter security twice a week. I believe this will also reduce the burden on the Town Guard."
Perimeter security refers to exterminating monsters living in the forests near the town. Currently, the Guard periodically heads to several forests to spend the whole day on monster extermination, and we thought we'd take over two of those. The monsters that appear in the forests near the town are foxes and boars, which apparently occasionally ravage farmers' fields or attack chickens.
When I asked Hans-san privately beforehand, he said he'd leave it to the Mayor's judgment, so if I can persuade Adolf-san, it should work out somehow.
In the end, Adolf-san gave his approval.
Not only that, but it also became possible for us to participate as support for dispatches based on emergency reports from residents of the entire Nakanohara region, not just the town's surroundings.
Emergency report support had been a no-go, but Paul-san, the former hunter, stood his ground.
Paul-san's reasoning was the Marcelo Company's combat power.
The Marcelo Company has three high-level mages: Marcelo-san, a high-level spatial mage; Angelica-san, a high-level earth and water mage; and Paul-san, a high-level wind mage. Furthermore, Marcelo-san was originally a priest and could use high-level holy magic. Even though he can now only use mid-level holy magic after returning to secular life, the power and frequency of his holy magic are not merely mid-level.
Currently, there are said to be eight high-level mages registered in Nakanohara Town, so the Marcelo Company's influence as a group of mages is actually quite significant.
Setting us aside, our backing is powerful.
On top of that, financially, the town's expenses don't change at all.
In the end, we were able to contract successfully.
With this, even a stray like me will suddenly become busy.
According to the schedule, we have rat extermination on Monday, the nearby forest on Tuesday, fox extermination in the Northern Forest on Wednesday, the second nearby forest on Thursday, a second round of rat extermination on Friday, scroll-making on Saturday, and Sunday is a day off.
Among those, rat extermination will be done by the three of us—Paul-san, Beatrix, and me—while fox extermination and the nearby forests will be done by four people, including Beowulf. I've been told that eventually, the two of them will handle the rat extermination. Entering the forest three days in a row is physically demanding, but this schedule was set because Beowulf goes on night shift from Friday evening until Saturday morning.
Today is Friday, so it's a rat extermination day, but the repairs to the sewer walls have only just finished. It became a day off. The start will be from next Monday. For this past week, between cleaning up after the Revenant incident and the handover between Paul-san and Angelica-san, I haven't gone on a monster extermination, so I have energy and stamina to spare.
Let's do this!
However, I wonder if it's some kind of fate that the first monster extermination as the Marcelo Company will also be rat extermination.
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For the Goblins, it began as an utterly unpleasant event.
They had barely managed to survive the battle against the human army that had ended in defeat. Just when they thought they had escaped across several more mountains, they ended up being enslaved by a human man who used strange techniques.
That human man had wandered into their newly built nest deep in the mountains all by himself. After muttering something, he suddenly killed the pack's boss. Moreover, that boss had died by cutting off his own head with the sword he held.
While everyone watched, paralyzed and unable to move their bodies, the sight of the strongest Orc boss in the pack crying for help while beheading himself was nothing but terror.
Afterward, when they saw the monster the man had summoned, their will to resist was completely crushed. The pack became subservient to that man.
The man conveyed his intent to the pack. He said he had come to enslave them.
It wasn't through words. Just as humans cannot speak the Goblin tongue, Goblins cannot speak the human tongue. However, the man's intent entered their heads directly.
The pack was dominated. It was similar to when a messenger of the Demon Lord came to tell them to join the Demon Lord's army to fight the humans.
They were forced to hunt and provide food. The Orcs were kept alive only to become food for the monsters the man had brought. When they were taken one by one to the place where the monsters were once every ten days, they never returned.
They were also ordered to dig the holes that would serve as the dens for the monsters the man brought.
They were even forced to build cages to keep the Orcs from escaping, and the few surviving Orcs were locked inside.
The Orcs, who had tormented and bossed the Goblins around until that man came, became beings that merely spent their time in cages until they died as food.
The man had told the Orcs that if they behaved, he would spare only the very last one. So, he told them not to fight.
The man made a declaration to the Goblins.
He said he would not kill the Goblins. However, he told them that if even one Orc escaped, he would kill them. Therefore, he told them to watch so they wouldn't escape.
Even the usually fierce Orcs could do nothing before that man. Those who made a fuss were knocked unconscious on the spot. They had slammed their own heads against the wall with all their might.
After that was repeated a few times, they finally became quiet. The last one was truly forgiven and went away.
When the Orcs were gone, they thought the Goblins would become the food next, but that didn't happen. Instead, they were ordered to hunt monsters to take their place.
Goblins are weak monsters. They can hunt small animals, but when the opponent is a monster, the positions are reversed. They have lived by following stronger monsters in order to fight natural predators.
In a sense, they are used to being dominated. Even so, being dominated by a human was utterly unpleasant.
However, that man treated the Goblins well. He secured his own food and did not touch the Goblins' things.
The females for breeding were taken hostage. In the beginning, permission was even required for the act of breeding. However, as for the order of the acts themselves, he treated everyone fairly. That, too, became free by the time the Orcs were gone. Of course, he did not allow the males to force the act upon the females. Males who tried to do so were severely punished. That became the catalyst for the females to place their trust in the man.
When hunting large prey to serve as food for the monsters the man kept, he went out to hunt with them and gave instructions. He used magic to ensure things were accomplished with minimal damage.
When a Goblin was injured, he prescribed medicinal herbs and treated them. He was strict about designating places to throw away trash or relieve oneself and making them follow those rules, but as they did as they were told, the number of those falling ill decreased.
Gradually, the Goblins began to think that they might have encountered a good boss.
The Elder of the pack says he might be a Monster Tamer.
It is a story from a long time ago, when the humans who now boast of their prosperity were few in number. There were humans who used magic to rule over monsters and coexisted with Goblins. He says there is such a legend.
Monster Tamers exterminated monsters that harmed both humans and Goblins together with the Goblins. At times, they even fought together in conflicts between humans.
It was said that the humans who used those techniques lost the ability to use them and died out due to interbreeding with humans who came from across the sea. Perhaps there was a survivor.