"Hey, let's cut a little deeper in there! Let's get those scales off you first!

　Under Grandpa's direction, the knights proceeded with the work while chirping and chirping.
　The work started an hour ago, but they still haven't even reached 20% of the entire process.

　However, it was helpful that my grandfather knew how to dismantle a ground dragon.
　He learned it a long time ago when he hunted a low-grade dragon. It seemed that it was a ground dragon at that time as well, and since he didn't know how to do it, he dismantled it in a half-experimental state, which apparently ruined a lot of the material.
　This time, he's making use of his experience from that time and doing his best not to damage the materials.

Speaking of which, I heard it's the first time in about two hundred years that the royal family has been involved in dismantling a dragon.

　Tida seemed to have researched the earth dragon in the archives, and she had a lot of interesting things to say about it.
　For example, I heard that the flesh of the earth dragon is delicious, but it is quite hard, and unless it is softened in some way, it literally doesn't stand up to the teeth; the last time I hunted a earth dragon, the central figure was the second prince at the time, who seemed to have black hair and black eyes just like me, and when he was born, there was an uproar about the queen cheating on him; the fact that the scales of the earth dragon can be melted and processed like a metal can be done or something....

Hmm, it's like metal...

　I got some good information. I was just thinking of getting a new piece of leather armor for my current leather armor, so I might as well splurge on it.


''I knew it was out!
Take it with you in a hurry!
Don't forget to put it in your magic bag!

　At that time, a group of people who were dismantling the wyvern subspecies at a short distance from the earth dragon became noisy.
　When I looked over there, it seemed that they had just cut open the stomach of the wyvern subspecies, and the upper half of a melting human body was coming out from inside.

''A tamer.......gross.
Pfft.....

　Tida was holding her hand over her mouth, as if she had never seen a (...) dead body like that (...)

'Temma, come here!'

　Jean, who was leading the dismantling of the Wyvern subspecies, is calling me over, holding the tamer's bag.

'What's up?'

Hey, do you think this bag will still work?

　The two bags that Mr. Jang offered seemed to be difficult to repair because they were melted and had holes in some places, but since they didn't seem to be completely broken, the contents could be replaced.

It looks like it's going to be okay. Please bring a replacement bag. Anything of the same size will do.

　A nearby knight immediately brings a bag to my order.
　I take the bag and use granting magic to create a simple magic bag.　
　I connect it to the broken bag and make it share space. All that's left to do is open the new bag and take out the contents.

''How did you do that! Here!

　Mr. Jang is surprised, but theoretically it's a simple one. All he had to do was to make a new opening for the bag that couldn't be opened anymore.
　When I explained that to him, he was impressed, but later he told me that this was a new technology, and he warned me not to tell him about it, as it would surely be used against him if this technology spread.

　As such, I examined the convention magic bag that Tamer had with him and found nothing particularly suspicious.
　However, the same method was used to examine the 'tamer's personal belongings that were left in the care of the attendants', and there were a variety of dangerous items that were found, and Jan and the others were lightly surprised.

　The most common were poisonous drugs, from the strongest to the weakest, fast-acting and slow-acting, as well as those for demons and animals, and even powerful aphrodisiacs and aphrodisiacs.
　The next most common were weapons, and these were even items that seemed to be used for torture.
　The rest were items and foodstuffs that appeared to be stolen, and after confirming these items, Jean paused the dismantling and went to prepare a report and interrogate the rest of the members.

'Excuse me, Mr Temma. Let's just say that the dismantling will have to wait until later, please.

　Tida lowered her head instead of Jan-san, but as for the wyvern subspecies, she didn't mind since she could likely dismantle it on her own.




''Temma-san, the earth dragons have been gutted and sorted out, and all that's left to do is skin them.

　After about three hours after Jean and the others disappeared, we finally got to the skin of the earth dragon.
　Once we've come this far, we can use our magic to crunch through the rest.

''Then I guess we can take a break.''

　Tida told them what I suggested.

"No, that's quite a bone to pick.

　Grandpa comes up to me, rolling his shoulders, but he doesn't look as tired as he says he is.

He doesn't look so tired as to say, "This is a pretty big guy. He's more than one size bigger than the one I killed. Not to prove it, but here, take a look at this.

　Grandpa took out a magic nucleus that was more than 40cm in diameter. By the way, the wyvern subspecies was about 20 centimeters in diameter.

This one alone must be worth more than ten million g's. If I were to sell it at auction, it would be worth twice as much. If it was sold at auction, it would be worth twice as much.

'It's worth quite a bit but I'm not going to sell it and I don't have any use for it at the moment... I think I'll just let it die in my bag until it's ready to go.　

As I was talking with my grandfather about such things, Tida interrupted me as if to say she was afraid.

''Um~ Temma-san. I've been wanting to ask you since.... or rather, I've been wanting to ask you for quite some time now... what is that cow over there with Shiroumaru?

　Tida pointed to the three white wild cows grazing behind Shiroumaru.

Oh yes, I've been wondering about them, too. Do they eat them?

　Grandpa seemed to be curious about it, and said he'd help me process it if I ate it, but I told him I wasn't going to do that.

I rescued him and he took a liking to me, so I brought him here. I thought I'd keep him at home.

　Tida is surprised by my statement.

"Well, okay. We can use an unused backyard or something in the backyard, and if you ask around Martha, she can show you how to take care of them in detail.

　It's a very good idea to have a total of three calves on top of two overweight cows, as if you were keeping a cat and dog.

The problem is the food, but what are you going to do about it?

'I don't have a problem with that. Basically, we can mow the grass in the meadow in bulk and store it in our bags, and I think we can buy any surplus and cheap grain we have left over, and if we want, we can collect it in exchange for cow's milk, Grandpa.　

　A white wild cow looks like a Holstein or something. Well, the white-haired cows are much bigger.
　So we tried milking the cow for the first time in our lives, thinking we could get some milk, but it was amazing.
　At any rate, 30 liters of milk came out lightly. I tried it and found it to be quite thick and tasty, so I kept it in my bag.

The milk from the white heifer is a high quality product. It's hard to get one because we can't breed them. The meat is even more expensive.

　Don't worry. We have meat! So I took the meat out and showed it to him, and Grandpa was quite pleased.
　Tida looked like she wanted to eat it too, so I told her I would share it with her after I broke it up, and she was happy too.

'So, Temma-san,' he said, 'what are the names of those cows? What are the names of those cows?

　He asked me if I had any names in mind beforehand, so I announced the names I had in mind.

'That bull is 'Juve', the cow is 'Hiro' and the calf is 'Tama'.

　From "The Wild Cow Without One Eye" (Yagyu), the bull was named Jube, the calf (female) was named Tama (Garasha), and the mother was named Hiro.
　I couldn't decide whether to name the mother Hiro or Teru, but in the end I decided on Hiro.

Well, it's a funny name, but it's good.

Yeah, it's different.

　After all, the two of them seem to feel a little uncomfortable with the Japanese name, but we can't help what we've named them. We'll let them get used to it.




　After the introduction of the white wild cows, Maria came to us while we were taking it easy.

Tida, Temma, how are you doing? Tida, Temma, how are you doing?

　Maria-sama joined the break and the four of us continued to talk. When I looked in the direction Maria-sama came from, I saw that Lyle-sama was still sitting upright.
　When I asked him if it was okay for him to show up like that as a royalty and head of the military, Maria-sama said something horrible like, ''It's just the usual thing.

'So, what part of the earth dragon will they sell me?

　He asked me, so I told him that I had spoken roughly with Master Lyle and decided to leave it in writing officially.
　The parts to be sold to the royal family are one eyeball, most of the internal organs except for the heart, a few bones, and a few dozen pounds of meat from the earth dragon, and from the wyvern subspecies, both eyeballs, most of the internal organs except for the heart, half of the skin, half of the scales, half of the claws and fangs, and half of the meat.

　They'll be taking more than they originally planned, but they'll color in the right price and give the djinn and the others some extra money on top of the original plan.
　As I thought, Lyle-sama is not even close to Maria-sama in this kind of bargaining.



I don't want it!

　When I quickly declined Maria-sama's words, Tida was quite surprised.

''Well, I knew you'd say that, but.......just so you know, in the case of a title, I'm even thinking of an earl, right?

I don't want it.

　Lady Maria seemed to know I was going to say no, but Tida didn't seem to be convinced.

'Why, Temma, is it that at the age of fifteen, you are probably the first person in history to go from a commoner to an earl?'

　Tida said it best, but that's just for normal people.
　To be honest, I don't think a knighthood is that good for me right now. I don't care about it because I've never had a special position in my life (including in my previous life), and I think I'm better off than any other nobleman out there.
　And since I'm not strapped for money, I can live and do whatever I want.

　But once you become a nobleman, you have to do the appropriate (troublesome) work of managing the estate and calculating tax revenues, and even if you were to receive an honorary knighthood without a fiefdom, you would be involved in conflicts between nobles.
　Moreover, in my case, receiving a knighthood means that I will have to form a vassal band from scratch, and I will have to sort them out, which will only increase the disadvantages rather than the advantages.

　When I told Tida that, Tida had a complicated look on her face, but on the contrary, Maria-sama laughed with an amused look.

''Even though you're not related by blood, you're still the son of Ciria and Ricardo. You look just like them!''

　As Tida and I were stunned, Maria-sama, whose laughter had subsided, began to talk happily.

''Actually, Ricardo refused to be lined up with the nobility as well. He said that Shelia agreed with him.''

　Maria told me for the first time that my father and mother were actually noblemen in the past.
　My father was the son of a knight, the lowest rank, and my mother was the niece of a viscount.
　Well, come to think of it, Mother was Maria's childhood friend and Father was a classmate of the King's at the same school, so at least one of them must be a nobleman.

　When I tried to ask Maria-sama why they were in Kukri village, she said that they were classmates at the same school as the king, so one of them must be a nobleman.

'That would be better spoken of by Master Merlin than by me. That's right, Master Merlin.

　I said to my grandfather, who had been right behind me before I knew it.

I don't know why you are telling me all this," he said. It's not something I want to remember.

'If Temma were a normal girl, I wouldn't have told her either. But this is going to be a pain in the ass, that's for sure.　

　At Maria's powerful smile, even Grandpa sighed and sat down in his chair.

'That's true.......so let's talk about Ricardo first. It's not much of a story. Ricardo was born as a result of Ricardo's mother having a nobleman as her companion. Ricardo lived in the village of Kukri when he was a child, but his father, who was a knight without an heir, brought him to the capital to be raised. A few years later, his father lost his title when he was forced to leave the capital. There was a chance that Ricardo would have dropped out of school, but he was so good that he was able to stay on as a special student.

　It seems that he met the kings at that time. By the way, the school is a secondary school, the equivalent of a middle school in a previous life.

The problem is Shelia's family. I'm related to the family. She is the daughter of my brother, the son of the viscount's heir. She was born after I left home.

　Grandpa was born the third son of a baronial family, and Mom was born the eldest daughter of the second son of a baronial family.
　Grandpa and Mom's father were close in age, and they were close, but they didn't get along with Grandpa's older brother, the eldest son.
　Because of this, Grandpa left home before he came of age and became independent as a commoner (...). It was rare for him to leave home before coming of age, but fortunately he had a talent for magic, so he didn't have a problem with it.
　But my mom's dad ... my grandpa was different. It is said that he didn't have any magical talents and he wasn't allowed to leave home because he was the second son.
　After that, he married and had a mother, but the eldest son also had a boy born who would be his heir, so he was made independent as a knight.
　Immediately after independence, they had a lot of financial difficulties. However, it is said that the eldest son did not support him at all.

　When Grandpa was made independent, he was already quite famous as a famous adventurer, and he took considerable care of him financially.
　Thanks to that, Mom was able to go to school and apparently became friends with Maria-sama (elementary school...........like an elementary school). At that time, Maria was the king's bride, and so later on she got to know him as well.

　Because of this relationship, Mom met Dad and they ended up going out. Grandpa also intended to eventually adopt her as his son-in-law because of her aristocratic heritage and her good grades at school.
　I've heard that Grandpa allowed Mom and Dad to go out with each other and said it would be a good experience to be an adventurer.

　However, the king's eldest son, who misunderstood the king's interest in Mom, put a lot of pressure on Grandpa to make Mom a member of the king's entourage, because the king thought that Mom was his friend's lover and he was close to her.

　Because of this, Grandpa wasn't very healthy to begin with, but he got sick from the stress he was under.
　Worst of all, the eldest son blamed Grandpa for not being able to fulfill his nobleman's duties and tried to adopt Mom.

　Just then, Mom and the others had returned to King's Landing to take part in a martial arts tournament, and when Mom and Dad heard about it, they protested to the eldest son, but he didn't listen to them and tried to get his faction's bosses involved in the plan.
　The king (the crown prince at the time) tried to protest, but Mr. Cliffe came up with a plan and stopped him.　

　Hearing of his plan, Mom and her family participated in the tournament and won the championship.
　When the king asked for a reward for winning, he said, "I don't want a reward.

"I don't want a reward. Let me accept your decision to marry us and disown my family.

　This was Mr. Cliffe's idea of a plan. Normally there would have been a punishment for disrespect, but the crown prince (the current king) and some of the leading nobles (the royalists) had lobbied the king and some of the noblemen in advance, so the request was easily granted and the two were married and moved to the village of Kukri where their father was born.

　On the contrary, the eldest son was forced to be replaced by his father for causing a disturbance.
　Shortly after the replacement of the eldest son, the grandfather died of heartache.

''Moreover, the eldest son (Ciria's cousin), the eldest son, is still in the position of Viscount, so he might harass you with recriminations.　

So one of the counter-measures was to make Temma a count.

　Maria says that's why she's so obsessed with my title. Well, I'm sure that's not the only reason.　

''By the way........by the way......can I kill you, that ex-consultant?''

　Tida was taken aback by my straightforward statement.

'No, you can't do that.
Well, that's not good.

'Yes! Mr. Temma!

　Tida, who is relieved that they disagreed, but....

'Not ready to kill! We'll have to wait and see how it goes a little longer!
Yeah, and we've got to plan carefully so they don't find out!

　Tida is even more donkeyish. In particular, she seems to be most surprised by Maria's statement that she condones killing.

'Tida, do you understand? Sometimes a nobleman has to take a man's life. Isn't it troublesome?

''No, Mr. Temma is not a nobleman.......and besides, it's because of Mr. Temma!

　Tida looks exhausted.
　It seemed that it was too early for Tida to make adult black jokes.



　Such a half-serious, half-playful conversation continued, and before I knew it, it was overdue for a break.

''It's time to get back on track, or it's getting dark.

"Yes, let's get started, Mr. Temma.

　The current state of the earth dragon is in a state where the skin is cut into the ground to be removed. So, I'm going to start by dropping the tips of the head and limbs that are in the way.
　This is my role.

''Well........''

　First, he maneuvered the gigantine to hold the earth dragon in place. Then, he used the sword to cut through the flesh along the cut just below the head.
　As he cut all the way around the neck, the bones were left at the end. As expected, it was difficult to cut the bones, so he put the tip of the sword against the nearby joint and put some force into it.

''Oh~!''

　The earth dragon's head was cut off more easily than he expected, eliciting cheers from the knights who were watching around him.
　After that, the tips of the limbs were cut off in the same manner as the neck.

''That's good, huh?''

　Putting back the swords and gigantos, I went ahead and secured the djinn's portion.
　The knights used their magic on their demolition knives to increase the sharpness of the dismantling knives and cut along the border between the skin and the flesh of the ground dragon.
　Every once in a while an inexperienced knight would make a mistake and cut his finger or failed to peel the meat cleanly, but the work generally went on without any problems.



　And after about two hours, the entire process of work was completed.
　It took about seven hours, and after mobilizing more than twenty knights, the earth dragon was turned into material.

''So that's it!

　Tida is excited that her work is done, but what is finished is the work of the knights (........).

'Tida, your work isn't done yet,'

What?　

　Tida tilts her head at Maria's words.

That's right. This time we need to negotiate the price of the materials for the deal with the royal family. This time it's Tida who's in charge so be gentle with me.

　I said with a deliberate smile at Tida.
　Seeing me, Tida turned pale and looked at Maria nearby, but Maria ignored Tida.
　After all, it was Maria who told me to do this kind of act (...). She's the mastermind, so to speak.

　It's not that I'm saying that I can rip off Teeda for her money, it's just Maria's parental love for her to experience this kind of deal, so to speak.

I understand. Since this is not the place, would you like to negotiate in my room?

　When Tida realized that she couldn't expect Maria's support, she tried to discuss it in her room, but I refused to do so.

''No, let's do it here anyway. I'm sure the knights who participated in the dismantling will be wondering how much value the ground dragon material we dismantled will fetch.

　As Tida gave me the choice of location, I refused without hesitation and suggested that we do it right here in this place where the knights are watching. The most suggestion is that Tida has no choice right now. It's a good idea to be able to have a good time with them.

　Tida, who was defeated by the eyes of the knights around her, agreed to negotiate here. With this, Tida would no longer be able to bargain poorly for the material.
　If you bargain poorly, there is a risk that you will be thought of as 'a succession of kings setting a low price for their work'.

　So far, Tida doesn't seem to have noticed this, but Maria-sama's eyes have become a bit steely.

''Let's go with the earth dragon first. What we can get flexible here is one eyeball, internal organs minus the heart, a few bones, and a few dozen kilograms of meat, is that correct?

No, there are changes to the organs. We'll take one lung, liver, gall bladder and stomach. I'll sell you 200 kilos of meat.

　The parts of the internal organs that are in demand would be the parts I just mentioned. I told Maria that I would sell those to her, but if you're dealing with Tida, it's one thing to try to stick it out.

''Yes, that's fine, but do you mind if we have so much more meat?''

'Yeah, there's still plenty of meat to go around. I'll consume that one if I can.

I understand.

　Sure enough, Tida did exactly what I wanted her to do. To be honest, the meat would be like an extra compared to the value of the internal organs.
　After all, meat can only be treated as edible (...), but internal organs can be used as ingredients and medicine, and of course, edible as well.

　Tida is simply pleased with the increase in the amount of meat, but she doesn't notice that Maria-sama's expression has become grim behind her.

''So the price ... what's the deal with the earth dragons in the past?''

　In response to my question, Tida took out a document that she had apparently made beforehand and began to answer.

'There are a total of five past transactions that have survived as documents. The first case is two hundred years old and is the head, heart, scales, claws and flesh, the second case is one hundred and fifty years old and is the eyeballs and all the internal organs, plus the scales, bones and flesh. The third case is 120 years old and only meat. The fourth was 80 years ago and all but the meat. The last one was 40 years ago and was the one that Mr. Merlin took down, and this time he bought everything. But I heard it was in pretty bad condition, so it's not very helpful.

　On top of that, the cost of living was quite different from now, so they could only use it as a reference.
　It wasn't very useful, but still, it seemed to be a positive assessment for Maria-sama that Tida had made the materials beforehand, and her smile returned a bit.

'Well then, let's go ahead and price them individually. First of all, it's a highlight. How about this one for a million Gs?

Well yes, that price is fine.　

　I said a little bluntly, but Tida nodded easily.

'As for the guts ... how about eight hundred thousand?'

It would be nice if you could get it a little cheaper.

Well, you'll get 700,000.

Thank you.

　The story moves along at a brisk pace. As the story goes on, Maria's expression becomes more grim.
　Later, Tida decided to preach a sermon.
　The expression on her face was as if such a future was in her hands.