The guild I went to was deserted, though I was worried about the weather.

　Well, the guilds in this town are only crowded in the early morning and evening.
　Diora was also sitting at the counter, looking bored, but when she saw us coming in, she lightly bailed and smiled.

Good morning, Mr. Diora. Thank you for taking care of me yesterday.
"No, no, no. It's our job to support the adventurers. It's our job to help adventurers. ...... was a bit of a bargain, too.

"So it was a good deal for both of us.
Yeah, it was. So, what happened today?　Are you off today, Haruka?
Yes, it is. The weather is not good.

I think it's good that it's raining, even veterans can get caught off guard. I think it's a good idea. You guys bring in orcs frequently, so you can afford it. By the way, since you guys are bringing in orcs so often, there's talk of a large nest, do you have any idea?

　Diora said, and Toya and I looked at each other.
　We didn't know if it was large-scale or not, but we had an idea of the nest itself.

　We've been repeatedly finding and killing Orcs in small groups using our scouting and Toya's senses, and based on the range of their appearances, we've been able to guess where the nests are and scout them out.

　Due to skill issues, Natsuki and I went to the place where we found more than 40 orcs in our search range.

　I didn't have a visual confirmation, but I have some experience in this area. There was no doubt that there were at least as many demons as orcs, so we immediately turned around and left the area.

　We've killed a number of orcs since then, so if that nest is the only source of supply, the numbers may have dwindled. .......

Diora, how big is too big?

The standard is if there is a higher species of orc, but there is no set number. As a rule of thumb, if there are more than 30 orcs, a higher species will be born.

"Thirty. ...... Then there's probably a large nest.

I knew it. ....... I thought so, since they were brought in so often. I'm not sure what to do.

　I'm not sure what to do.

We can kill the orcs ourselves.　We can kill orcs with our own hands, so I don't think they're much of a threat.

If left unchecked, they will grow in size and appear in the shallow parts of the forest and even on the roads. If left unchecked, they will expand in size and come out in shallow forests and along city roads.　Orcs, too.

　If they come out to the roads, they're dangerous.

　We've been able to kill Orcs without any trouble now, but if they had come out when we were on our way to Sarstat to look for Natsuki and the others, something might have happened.

　If you think about it calmly, Orcs are even more of an enemy than the Weipu Bears that we struggled with in the beginning.

As long as the adventurers hunt orcs in moderation, we'll be fine. ......
"Orcs aren't popular?　We're making a lot of money.

Well, if you have a certain level of skill and a magic bag, you can make a lot of money, but if you don't, you're kind of half-assed. You see, meat is heavy, isn't it? No matter how many orcs you kill, you can only take one home, right?

　The meat from one orc is about 300 kilos. Even if a party of six were to share the weight, that would be about 50 kilos per person.

　The only reason we were able to bring back two orcs before the full version of the magic bag was because we had a backpack and a "light weight" magic bag.

The price of one orc is five or six gold coins per person, so it's not a very good deal. Besides, orcs don't act alone very often, do they?　If that's the case, no matter how many orcs you kill, you'll end up throwing away all but one, which is quite complicated from an adventurer's perspective.

"Oh, that's for sure. ......

　Even if you know you have no choice, it's mentally tough to throw away something that could be worth over 300,000 yen if you bring it back.

"Recently, thanks to the backpack made by Haruka-san, it's been a little better. Even so, two animals is the limit.

　If everyone has a backpack, you can bring back about one and a half orcs, and if you have the guts, you can bring back two orcs, so it seems that the popularity of orcs is recovering a bit.

　Even so, the amount of money you can earn is not enough to reach ten gold coins, but a party with a rank that can handle orcs can earn a good amount of money.

　But two orcs is too much to ask. You'll be able to get a lot more than that.

　...... No, not if you don't plan on fighting.　I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I'm not the only one who has a problem with this.

If a request is made, will any adventurers go to destroy the nest?
"No, to be honest, not in this city. To be honest, no. In this city, it's not worth it, even if the rewards are a bit higher.

　If you're a low rank adventurer, it's impossible to eradicate the nest itself, and if you're a high rank adventurer, it's not a good way to earn money.
　As a result, it seems that even if you submit a request, they will continue to remain.

What are you going to do then?　Leave it until the damage is done?
No, the government will lose money if there's damage, so we'll get the subsidy just in time and organize a guild-organized strike.

　A guild-sponsored strike is one in which the guild directly asks adventurers to join the strike.

　It's not compulsory, but it's less dangerous to gather a sufficient number of adventurers, and since the guild will also provide a cartage team to destroy the orc's nest, the guild will be in charge of transporting them to the city for a small fee. Therefore, there is enough profit to be expected, and it won't be too hard to gather the necessary number of adventurers.

I wish we could do it sooner, but the guild would be in the red without the subsidy. It's not easy.

　Mr. Diora sighs as he says this.

　It seems that the government will only take action when people walking along the road are about to be harmed, so they won't give subsidies if rookie adventurers entering the forest are harmed.

　The adventurer's guild would like to protect the rookie adventurers, but it is difficult for the guild to take out all the money to kill them. As a result, the only thing we can do is to warn people.

"I see. It would be nice if our party could destroy them. ......



"Oh, no, no, no, no, I'm sorry to complain, but please don't take any risks, okay?　If Toya and the others are harmed because of it, it will be the end of the world.

"Orcs aren't difficult to deal with if you can lure them out one by one. Are the top Orcs really that strong?

"Well, an orc leader is not much of a threat if you have a few adventurers who can kill orcs alone. However, when it comes to the top-ranked Orc King, it seems that adventurers who can deal with normal Orcs will be easily kicked to the curb. I've never encountered one in this area, so this is just anecdotal information.

　Compared to orc leaders and the like, it seems that they are truly an order of magnitude stronger.
　Of course, they're the kind of adventurers we'd be kicking around. I've never seen one around here," Diora said, which was a relief.

"By the way, do orc leaders sell at a high price?

　When I asked that, Diora smiled and opened her mouth a bit awkwardly.

It's not really that hard. The magic stones and skins are more than twice as much as normal orcs, but the meat itself is almost the same. ....... If you only want to make money, it's better and safer to kill a few normal orcs.

　Diora said, and then added, "That's why I can't get a commission.
　More than half of the orc's profit comes from meat sales.

　Orcs are still Orcs, even if they get stronger, the taste of their meat doesn't improve dramatically, so it can't be helped. In fact, the stronger the orc gets, the harder the meat becomes and the less tasty it becomes.

　Incidentally, it is said that skins are sold at a high price because they are harder and stronger than normal orcs. In other words, they are more difficult to attack.

If you become an Orc King, you can sell magic stones and skins for a very high price. Even so, I don't know if it's worth the strength.

　But the taste of the meat is still the same. However, if you're lucky, some noblemen who like rare things will buy them at a high price, so you can have some hope.

If you are lucky, a noble who likes rare things will buy it at a higher price. So an Orc leader is worth 14,000 rares.

Double the price. If you say it's expensive, it's expensive, but ...... meat and skin is more profitable, right?
Yes, it is. The meat is usually more expensive than the oak.
What are the prices of the hides and meat?
...... is the same.

　I see. No wonder there are still requests.
　There's no point in trying to kill the nest, is there?　If I had to give a reason, I'd say it's for our experience. The cautious Haruka is unlikely to agree.

I'm sure you'll be able to figure out the best way to use it.
I'm sure you're not the only one.

　I'm not sure if there is such a thing.
　I'm not sure what to make of it.

I'm not sure.　I don't know.　That's what I'm talking about. I'm not that familiar with it myself.
I'm not that familiar with it either.　Is that okay with you?
Yes, of course!

All right. Let's see, first of all, ...... you know that if you keep killing demons, their defenses will increase to an unbelievable level, right?

Yes. You can't stick a knife in it, can you?

　Toya, that's a metaphor for Haruka.
　See, Diora is looking at you suspiciously.

"Why the knife ......?　Yeah, well, that's the point. There are now two opinions as to why that is.

"Two?　Only?
Yes. To put it simply, there are those who believe there is a principle and those who believe there is not.

　That's too rough!

The "no principle" camp says that it's God's reward for us killing demons, or that we're sucking the mysterious power out of demons, but they all agree that they don't really understand it.

　Hmm, the principle of character level in our case. This is the faction that Haruka was explaining to me.

I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not. But this is not well supported.

"Is that so?　In a way, it makes sense.

If that's the case, wouldn't an elf like Nao have to be much stronger than a human from the start?

Yeah, that's true. If that's the case, doesn't that negate the use of magic to strengthen the body?

That's not quite true. There are people who can clearly display physical abilities beyond the norm, apart from those who have killed demons, and there are people who use magic to do so. There are only a few of them, so it may not be possible for everyone to do it, but it may not be impossible.

I see. ...... In other words, there is no one who can be taught so easily.
Yes, it will be difficult.

　There is a subtle sense of hope, but there is also a sense of hopelessness.
　I'm sure you'll be able to figure out a way to make it work, but it's going to take some trial and error on your part.

I've heard that some masters have crushed rocks with their bare hands or sliced through walls with their swords. I think there is a possibility that magic power is involved in these things as well. If you use a sword to shatter something, you can't normally cut it.



"I see. So it's possible. Thank you.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help. ......
"No, no, no, that's very helpful. Also, would you be interested in buying some Orcs?
Oh, yes. I see you have one today. Let's go to the back.

　Diora urged us to go to the back, and we took four orcs from the magic bag and laid them out on the table.
　Seeing this, Diora smiled and said.

Diora smiles and says, "That magic bag holds a lot, doesn't it?
I don't know how much is common, but it's a lot.　Please keep it to yourself.
Of course. I'm still a guild employee.

　Recently, I've been putting all my hunted orcs in this old bag, and so far it hasn't stopped fitting. Incidentally, to be precise, the magic bag is not this bag itself, but a cloth bag attached to it.

　At first, I was going to say, "It's too difficult to embroider on the leather of the bag, so let's use ink to write the magic circle," but then I thought, "We don't have to do that, we can just put a cloth bag inside. So I re-made a burlap bag to fit the inside of the bag and attached it.

But I don't think you have to worry too much in this city, but you should be careful when you go to other cities.　If people find out about it, there might be people who will try to get it by force.

"Thank you for your advice. What should I do in such a case?　Is it okay to retaliate?

"Well, to put it bluntly, outside the city, killing them is no problem. If they attack you, they're just bandits, and there are no witnesses. If they attack you, they're just bandits, and there are no witnesses. ...... On the other hand, there's a high risk of being attacked.

　You can't keep track of who's alive or dead outside of town, and you won't find "murder" listed in your status awards or punishments.

　There are no restrictions on who can enter or leave the city, unless you're a rich man and you're given a description of yourself.

　It would be useful if there were some kind of magical device that could reveal criminal records with a crystal ball, but it doesn't seem to exist in this world.

In the city, it's a little difficult to deal with them. Basically, it's no problem to hit them back, but you will be punished if you cause damage to others. Also, if the situation is ambiguous as to who attacked first, the attacker may be charged with a crime if he is not careful. If possible, it is safer to run away.

Hmmm, that's quite difficult.
Unless you're in a slum, you won't usually be attacked on the street.

　There are no slums in this city, but in other cities, if you step into a slum, you will be stripped and rolled to the side of the road.

　In those places, the treatment is almost the same as outside the city, so feel free to turn the tables on them. Too scary.

"Okay, here's the price for the meat. I'll return the magic stone to you. The amount will be doubled after the request to kill the orc's nest is issued, so you'd better save it until then.
"Well, are you sure?

　I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that.
　It's great for us, but it's a loss for the guild. It's not strange at all to be told that you're not eligible because you're killing them before they're requested. .......

It's a good thing that you're bringing in orc meat so often, because you're contributing to our profits. Even just wholesaling the orc meat and hides contributes to our profits quite a bit, you know?

It's quite a hassle for us to go and sell the meat too.

　We used to go to the butcher's shop when we first started hunting task boars, but lately we've been selling everything off at the guild.

　It's true that you can get a little more money when you go to the butcher, but it requires a lot of negotiation, and if the quantity is as large as an Orc's, you may not be able to get it from one butcher. The guild is a great help to us, as they can buy all the items at the specified price without having to negotiate in detail.

The request form will probably be out in a few days, so please check it out. I don't recommend taking on the request itself as a party, but it will increase your profits by the amount of magic stones.
"Yes, thank you.

　We thanked Diora, who smiled at us, and headed for the guild's archives.