kscans

Chapter 41 - Animal Lover

A week had passed since the last Clan War.

Hayato was in his room, busy making the weapon Requiem for Relic now that he had all the materials.

Ney had apparently gone all out, gathering a considerable number of Unicorn's Horns.

A Unicorn is on the weaker side as far as monsters go. But defeating one does not actually cause it to drop a horn. There are various ways to obtain them, but attempting a tame is the quickest. If your Taming Skill is 90 or below, the Unicorn will not become your pet and will instead leave its horn behind.

Ney had repeated this process over and over to obtain a large number of horns. It was an act that seemed a bit questionable to an observer, but this was a game. The Unicorns did not actually lose their horns when they left them behind, so it was a common practice.

She brought back more horns than Hayato had anticipated, so he decided he needed to thank her properly. She asked him to perform maintenance on her armor when he had time, and Hayato agreed with a smile.

(I'll have to thank everyone once the Clan War event is over. And I need to apologize for dragging them all into this.)

Hayato thought this as he checked the other materials.

Ash's group had a large amount of Snow Dragon Hide, so he received it from them. Armor made from this hide has an effect that reduces cold-based damage, and it seemed they had been stockpiling it with the intention of having Hayato craft something for them.

When he said he wanted to use some to make Relic's weapon, they agreed without a second thought. And for free. Hayato offered to pay, but Ash said something very cool, that money was not necessary if it was to strengthen the clan's forces, and handed Hayato all the hide he had.

Hayato said he would repay him someday and gratefully accepted it.

And then there was the Moonlight Grass.

Hayato had gathered this himself from the nearby Eldmull Forest. Of course, not alone, but with Ash and his group.

He also gathered a large amount of Scattering Grass at the same time.

Not as an ingredient for sunscreen, but to make Invisible, a magic powder that grants transparency. The Maid Chief had given him the manufacturing method, so Hayato could now make it as well. He had no use for it at the moment, but he decided to make some just in case it might be useful for something.

(I've been relying on Ash and the others so much. Someday, I'll try to listen to their stories about dragons and curses and see if it triggers a quest. I don't know if I'll be of any use in that quest, though.)

Hayato thought this, but everything would have to wait until after the Clan War. He did not have time for it now. Not only did he need to strengthen their forces and prepare for the Clan War, he also had to create a situation where they would definitely fight a top-ranking clan. There was never enough time.

(I've just been lucky so far. I'll have to keep relying on luck, but I need to do everything I can.)

With these thoughts, Hayato went about making Relic's weapon.

"Master, a customer is here who says they have something they want you to make."

Around three in the afternoon, Esha came to Hayato's room. As usual, Esha did not knock, but he had given up on that.

"Did you hear what kind of item it is?"

He was currently making Relic's weapon. He had plenty of materials, but the probability of crafting it as a five-star item was quite low. He wanted to finish it as soon as possible, so he thought about declining if it was a request that would take a lot of time.

"It is food. They want you to make some pet food. Apparently, they cannot make it with their own skill, so they have brought the ingredients."

"Is that so? Then I guess it is fine. I was thinking of turning them down if I had to prepare the ingredients myself."

Hayato left the room with Esha and moved to the shop area.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, huh?"

There stood the female NPC who had been taming the Lucky Rabbit in Eldmull Forest.

"Oh! So you were the owner of this shop!"

"Master, are you acquainted with this customer?"

Hayato explained the situation to Esha.

When Hayato and Ash's group were gathering wild plants in the forest, they found a rare monster called a Lucky Rabbit and gave it to the woman before them. Furthermore, they supported the woman during the taming process by giving her food and potions. He explained that in return, he received some of the wild plants she had gathered in the forest.

When he finished his story, Esha looked at him with an exasperated expression.

"You gave away a rare monster, helped with the taming, and all you received in return were some plants?"

"If you have something to say, say it clearly, no, don't. It will hurt."

"Um, really, I am so sorry... Now that I think about it, receiving plants as a thank you is strange, isn't it..."

As the female tamer started to look dejected, Esha panicked.

"Please wait a moment. Master, am I somehow becoming the bad guy here?"

Esha approached Hayato and started whispering this to him. Hayato had no way to defend her. The way Esha had said it made her sound like the bad guy.

"No matter how you hear it, it sounds like a sarcastic remark."

"I was simply stating the facts of your pathetic response. Is that not strange? In fact, my sarcasm was directed at you, Master."

"That is even worse. I will smooth things over, so leave this to me."

Hayato approached the female tamer. Then he smiled.

"Please do not worry. This maid is just a pitiful child who immediately blurts out whatever she is thinking."

"Oh, is that right? I kind of had that feeling."

"I am offended that your follow-up was not in my defense. Also, could you please elaborate on why you 'kind of had that feeling', customer."

In the end, it was probably safe to say they all took some mental damage, so it was a draw. They all fell silent, bowed once, and started over.

"Um, thank you so much for the other day! My name is Maris Sola! Please call me Maris! You do not need to be so formal either!"

"Uh, Maris-sa, right. I'm Hayato. This maid here is Esha Crown."

Surprisingly, Maris did not react to Esha's name, but he decided there was no need to explain. Besides, the awkward atmosphere from before had eased up a bit. Hayato decided to press on with the conversation in this mood.

"Could you tell me the details? You want me to make some kind of pet food?"

"That is right. You see, Arnold's, the Lucky Rabbit you gave me the other day, his appetite has been poor, and I thought maybe if I gave him something delicious to eat, his appetite would return."

The idea of a tamed monster losing its appetite made Hayato tilt his head in confusion.

He did not know much about the systems related to tamers or pets. He figured maybe a feature was included where they would start to dislike being given the same food over and over. He could not imagine Maris not knowing about such a system, but he convinced himself that maybe it behaved differently since it was a rare monster.

"Uh, I see. If it is a request where you provide the materials, I do not think it will take much time, so I will get right on it."

"Thank you so much! Of course, I will pay you a fair price, so thank you in advance!"

Maris must have been quite happy. She was practically jumping with joy.

Seeing her, Hayato felt a warm feeling inside. Maris's love for her pet was palpable.

"You must really love animals, or maybe I should say monsters?"

"Of course! When it comes to loving animals, I will not lose to anyone! I could eat three bowls of rice just watching Arnold!"

Just as he was wondering about that, Esha snorted with laughter.

"I cannot let that stand. I love animals too. Let's just say my love for them is so great that my Animal Knowledge Skill has broken its limit."

Hearing that, Hayato recalled Esha's skill composition. For some reason, Esha's Animal Knowledge Skill was at 200. And he remembered something else. Esha's Taming Skill was negative 100.

It was just like Esha, Hayato thought, but he also wondered. Just what kind of character settings did Esha have? Even for an NPC, she had too much going on.

And why on earth was she competing with Maris, a tamer, over who loved animals more?

Esha ignored Hayato's gaze and turned her body towards Maris.

"Allow me to show you my abilities. Since you call yourself a tamer, you must have tamed an honorable cat, yes? Please bring it here."

(An honorable cat...)

"I take that as a declaration of war! Very well! I will not lose a contest of who loves animals more! I will show you my power!"

Maris said this and left the shop.

"Huh? What is this? Were we not supposed to be making pet food? Why has it turned into a battle of animal lovers?"

"Rest assured, Master. I will prove that I am the greater animal lover."

"I could not care less."

After a while, Maris returned. Cradled in her arms was a slightly grumpy-looking cat. Hayato thought it was what you would call a calico cat. He had never seen one in real life, but he had seen them online.

He wondered where she had brought the cat from, but then he remembered the Tamer Guild.

He had heard that it was possible to leave tamed monsters at the guild. The Stables run by the Tamer Guild could house anything from cats to dragons. He guessed she had brought it from there.

"What do you think of my Siegfried! He can even shake hands!"

"You gave him such a strong name. You're right. He's really shaking."

Despite its sullen face, Siegfried placed its left front paw on Maris's right hand.

He could certainly understand the desire to be a tamer. It was said that many players in this game just wanted to own a cat or a dog, and that information was probably correct.

"Even I can make him shake."

Esha said this and then began to eat today's snack, a chocolate parfait, right there on the spot.

"What are you doing?"

"Preparation is necessary for all things."

If asked whether eating a chocolate parfait was necessary to make a cat shake, he could confidently answer that it was not, but it seemed to be a necessary step for Esha. So Hayato said nothing more.

Maris looked at Esha with envy, but perhaps to distract herself, she began to pet Siegfried. She kept glancing at the parfait, so she probably wanted some.

After finishing the parfait, Esha said, "Preparations complete," and approached Siegfried. Then she said, "Shake," and held out her right hand.

In that instant, she was magnificently scratched by its claws.

It was not a cat-slap. It was a full-on scratch attack. Esha's HP decreased.

But Esha was completely unfazed. She even had a smug look on her face.

"How do you like that?"

"Like what? It is pretty clear he hates you, right?"

"You are mistaken. This is shaking. I am absolutely not hated."

"If you are fine with that, then I guess it is fine, but you are taking damage, so a Potion, ah, so that is why you ate the parfait."

Sweet-type items gradually recovered HP and MP. Esha's HP, which had been damaged by Siegfried's scratch attack, gradually recovered.

Once her HP was full, Esha held out her right hand to try for another shake.

This time, she was bitten. And since the cat did not let go, she was taking continuous damage.

"How do you like that? He likes me enough to give me a gentle bite. It is my victory, is it not."

"Anyone can see that is a serious bite. And your HP is dropping faster than the parfait is healing it, so be careful."

"Siegfried is a gentle cat. I wonder why he is being so aggressive?"

(Even Maris the tamer does not know? I wonder if having a negative Taming Skill makes animals hate you...? Or maybe it is something instinctive...?)

Esha looked happy despite being bitten. With her right hand still in Siegfried's mouth, she was petting his head with her left.

Since this was a game, there was no blood, and she did not look like she was in pain, so it just looked like she was playing with a cat. The fact that she was taking damage was sad, but Esha probably did not mind. She was petting Siegfried's head with a nice smile.

It seemed like they would be like this for a while, so Hayato spoke to Maris.

"So, what kind of food should I make?"

"Oh, that is right! I'd like to request Nekomanma Deluxe!"

"...Are you not giving this to a rabbit?"

"It is a top-quality food that even dragons would enjoy!"

(Would Ash and the others enjoy it...?)

That question crossed Hayato's mind. Putting that aside, is not something called nekomanma food you give to cats? He thought so, but since it was a request, he decided to make it as asked.

The ingredients were rice, bonito flakes, fish bones, and miso soup.

Maris handed all of it to Hayato. She asked him to make as much as he could until the ingredients ran out.

Just in case, Hayato took out his beloved knife, the Adamantite Knife - Extreme, and checked the recipe.

(I cannot use this to level my skill, and Kokuryu did not have any tamers, so I did not know about this, but it requires a surprisingly high Cooking Skill. Even at my current level, the success rate is only about 80 percent. The chance of a five-star is 20 percent, which is pretty high though.)

He could not get a 100 percent success rate as he was, so he decided to go to his room and change his equipment before making it. He told Maris this and moved to his room.

"Alright, let's just make as much as I can."

Hayato put on his equipment that increased his cooking success rate and began making Nekomanma Deluxe.

"Here you go. Ten in total. Four five-stars, two four-stars, and four three-stars."

Hayato returned to the dining hall after about five minutes and handed the food to Maris. The five-star creation rate was higher than he expected, so Hayato was satisfied.

However, Maris tilted her head as she accepted it.

"I only gave you enough ingredients for ten, so why are there ten? Even with a Cooking Skill of 100, the success rate should only be 80 percent, so is that not strange? And is it not strange that there are no one-star or two-star items?"

"That is a secret. Let's just say you can do things like that when you master the Cooking Skill."

The reason was more about having the right equipment than mastering the skill, but Hayato said that anyway.

And inwardly, he felt quite smug. He was sure there were other players who could do the same thing, but he thought there were probably few players who had the best equipment for the Cooking Skill.

"As for payment, since you brought the materials, it is free. It was only ten items, after all."

Maris was surprised by Hayato's words. Then she started to panic.

"I cannot let you do that! Please, at least take this 100,000 G! It might not be enough for this quality, but!"

"Master, you should accept proper payment for such things. Underselling your skills is disrespectful to other craftsmen."

Esha, still being bitten by Siegfried, said this. Her HP was below half, but she still was not trying to pull her hand away.

He wondered if she had been like that the whole time, but he agreed that Esha was right.

A skill deserves its proper price. To undersell it is like saying that other craftsmen's skills are also cheap.

"You are right. I understand. I will accept the money then."

Hayato accepted the money from Maris. 100,000 G was by no means a small amount. He was impressed that Maris was the kind of person who could easily part with that much for her Lucky Rabbit.

(Well, she is an NPC, not a person, though.)

Maris asked if she could feed it to him right there, and Hayato gave his permission. He was curious to see if it would actually eat the food he made.

Maris cautiously gave the highest quality Nekomanma Deluxe to the Lucky Rabbit, Arnold.

Arnold sniffed the food, fun fun, and then began to eat it vigorously.

"Oh, it worked! He is eating with such gusto!"

"I am glad. His appetite should be back now."

"Yes! Thank you so much! You have been a great help! ...Um, if it is alright, could I ask you to make food again sometime?"

"Of course. If you bring the ingredients, I will make it for the same price. But I might have to turn you down when a Clan War is near."

"Of course! Whenever you have time is fine!"

Afterwards, Maris left with Arnold, who had finished his meal, and Siegfried, who had been continuously biting Esha.

"Oh, Sieg...!"

"Are you not getting a little too attached?"

"That was the first honorable cat to warm up to me so much. I feel like my heart is being torn apart. I will have her bring him when she visits the shop again. She will not be allowed in the shop unless she is accompanied by the honorable cat."

"Warmed up to you? He bit you until your HP was almost gone, right?"

"A normal honorable cat would go for the neck. Just biting my finger is proof that he likes me."

"Did you do something in a past life?"

After that conversation, Hayato returned to his room to make Relic's weapon.

The next day, Maris came rushing in, her face pale.

"Please! Let me join your clan! There is a clan I absolutely have to defeat!"