kscans

Chapter 69 - End Village (Part 4)

"A-anyway, Yuri-kun, are the Gambit Grizzly's bones still stored at your home?"

Seeing Adon's frantic, or rather, terrified demeanor, Yuri wondered if it would be safer to hand them over. Since they were in his Storage, he could take them out anytime, but...

"Um, ah, come to think of it, I just happened to have put them in my Magic Bag."

"Please! Sell them to me! I'll pay you when we get to the other side!"

"Uh, um, well, if it's just the bones, I don't mind, but..."

While Adon let out a sigh of relief at Yuri's consent, the fact that he did not miss the phrase "just the bones" showed that he was no ordinary merchant.

"Yuri-kun, when you say 'just the bones,' could it be that you also have the gallbladder?"

"What? Of course, it's a medicinal ingredient. The bile from a Gambit Grizzly is said to be more effective than others."

"Hey, Yuri-kun, are you going to make medicine and sell it?"

"Of course not. It's for my own use. In a remote place like mine, I don't have the luxury of giving medicinal materials to others."

So Yuri refused, but the truth was that he had a surplus of gallbladders from the Gambit Grizzly's lesser counterparts, the Monocorn Bear and the Thrustboar. On top of that, Yuri was naturally healthy and rarely used medicine. Yet, he continued to make potions to practice his Pharmacology (Basic) skill, so he had them in overflowing abundance. Therefore, even though it was a superior version, the necessity of keeping the Gambit Grizzly's gallbladder was not that high. As if seeing through his inner thoughts, Adon's offensive was relentless. If he needed medicine, he could just get it at a pharmacy in Laurenzen. If he sold the pelt, bones, and gallbladder, he should be able to afford most medicines with ease. When Adon went so far as to offer to write him a letter of introduction, Yuri's resolve began to waver. He thought about bluffing that he did not have it with him, but Adon preempted him, saying he would surely not leave such a valuable material at home and that it must be in his Magic Bag, which undermined his persuasiveness. Old Man Audel, for his part, thought to himself that no one would be bold enough to steal from such a place, but he had no intention of spoiling his old friend's business deal, so he remained silent. As a result, Yuri was cornered into providing the Gambit Grizzly's gallbladder, but the matter did not end there.

"Yuri-kun, is there anything else you can offer? Let's make the most of this. Even if it's something you're not sure about, if it's in your Magic Bag, could you show it to me?"

Now that he mentioned it, it did seem like a good idea to offload things he was having trouble disposing of. He had already provided the Gambit Grizzly materials, so adding a few seemingly safe items shouldn't be a problem. Under this conclusion, which a third party would find highly questionable, what Yuri took out from his Magic Bag, which was actually his Storage, was...

"Whoa, that's one long piece of wood."

"Now what is this? The heartwood of a rotten tree?"

"If this is the heartwood, just how big was the original tree?"

After all, although it was heartwood, it was a piece of timber with a diameter of over twenty-five centimeters and a length of over ten meters. The original tree had been a massive one, over fifty meters tall, but it had broken on the way down. Even then, it was too long, so he had cut it into three sections. He had submitted just one of those pieces as a test.

"As you can see, it's reasonably thick, and it seems sturdy, so I was thinking of using it as a pillar..."

"Don't be ridiculous!"

The force of Adon's bellowing roar left everyone stunned, but Adon himself quickly looked ashamed and offered an apology.

"Yuri-kun, if you would, could you let my company handle this as well?"

"Oh, yes. I don't mind, but..."

Here, a question suddenly occurred to Yuri. Old Man Audel's reaction to his crops, and Adon's reaction to his materials so far. Could it be that he was living a richer life than he had thought?

At the moment he realized this, the option of leaving the village vanished. If he could live a reasonably prosperous life as he was, it would be more forward-thinking to consider how to obtain the things he could not produce himself. Judging from Old Man Audel's and Adon's reactions, it should be possible to trade or purchase things in exchange for his crops and materials. Other than that, perhaps it would be better to acquire or improve his skills, even if it was just a little bit of everything. Considering all this, going to town with Adon this time might have been, unexpectedly, the best possible move.

As Yuri was thinking this, he suddenly noticed the villagers approaching him. The exchange, which could be called a comedy routine, with the merchants had apparently rekindled their interest in Yuri. Their curiosity was primarily focused on why he would choose to live in such a demonic mountain where monsters rampaged.

"Even if you ask me why, it had a roof, a well, and fields. It seemed like there was no better place."

But just as the question of whether he was not afraid of the monsters was about to be asked, Yuri preempted them, saying,

"Besides, it's now a land full of memories with my grandfather. And, I was a little, scared of meeting people other than my grandfather."

As he spun his words, looking down shyly and with a hint of sadness, several women pressed the corners of their eyes and turned away.

How shameless of me, thought the thirty-seven-year-old Isarai Yuuri.

Thus, he appealed to their emotions and sealed off any further pursuit, but when he confessed that he did not know the name of this country, the Rivairein Kingdom, he was met with exasperation from everyone.

"When I was a child, I just followed my grandfather around without understanding anything."

Yuri managed to convince them with that, but...

I feel like I'm becoming more and more of a scoundrel.

He was secretly dejected.