“Did we get it?!”
I shouted.
It’s a matter of principle.
“Yeah, we got it.”
But, of course, such things don’t work in this world, and I got a serious reply.
In fact, the Fortress Crab has a hole in its torso, and it’s collapsed… not moving an inch.
If you ask if we got it, I guess we did.
“Ah, the little ones are running away!”
Shio said.
The Soldier Crabs are retreating, huh?
That means the real boss, the Fortress Crab, is really dead.
After this, the Soldier Crabs will grow over years and become splendid Fortress Crabs.
“Alright! Let’s quickly dismantle it and go home!”
“““““Yeah!””””
Time for dismantling.
I took out a large knife from the wagon.
It’s a strangely shaped knife, with the grip of a longsword and the blade length of a dagger.
“Oh, there it is! The ‘Demon Sword’!”
Shio cheered like that.
“Eh?! The Demon Sword Arca?! …A small Arne?”
Xiaolin popped up, smelling money… but, too bad.
This Demon Sword doesn’t have much value.
“This is the most common type of Demon Sword, one that ‘enhances sharpness’. But even that kind of thing is something commoners without connections can’t buy… However, you can get a broken Demon Sword like this.”
“Ah… it’s not useful as a weapon, but it’s perfect as a dismantling tool, Arne.”
“That’s right.”
That’s a lie.
I made this Demon Sword myself with that setting.
“With this Demon Sword… look! Even the tough carapace cuts right through!”
“Ooh!”
“You guys, dig out the meat from the carapace I cut and throw it away. With the weight, we can’t carry it all in one wagon if the meat is still inside.”
“Isn’t there any use for the meat?”
Hanako asked.
“Hmm… well, it could be made into poison or a cure for certain diseases, but… we don’t need this much. You can’t eat it because it’s poisonous…”
“Ugh… that’s too bad.”
With that, dismantling begins!
Everyone uses iron shovels to dig out the meat from the carapace I cut…
“Ugh… it stinks…”
Roa protested with teary eyes.
Indeed, it’s the worst smell, a duet of iron rust and fishiness.
“Here, Roa… is this better?”
“Thank you, Ni-chan…”
I made a triangular fold in a handkerchief and put it over Roa’s nose as a mask. It’s better than nothing.
“Roa? You can’t get worn out by this~? Our Strider jobs are always like this, you know~?”
“Ugh… it’s tough…”
“But we get paid well for it! Today’s job is worth 500,000 Lido, you know?”
“500,000 Lido, how much is that? I still don’t really understand ‘money’…”
“Hmm, it’s about five times the monthly salary of ordinary working people in the city?”
“Oh, so we’re getting a lot more money than ordinary people. I have to work hard…”
And so, after about five hours of dismantling…
“Alright, let’s move a little further away and set up camp!”
The job is done…
Of course, the trip isn’t over until we get home.
We can’t completely let our guard down, but it’s certain that we’ve finished the job and obtained our spoils.
I can’t offer alcohol, but I’ll bring out something a little better for the camp and reward everyone.
“Alright, let’s eat.”
I dumped the contents of the chicken soup jar into a pot, added water, and simmered it.
From the beginning, the flavor is quite strong and there are a lot of ingredients, so it’s a soup that’s meant to be diluted with water.
I added pasta… macaroni-like things to this, to make it filling.
And the boar meat from yesterday. I minced it, chopped it with the herbs I brought, refilled the used jar, and stored it in a cold place.
I wrapped this minced meat in wheat flour dough to make something like Nikuman.
“Eh?”
Huh?
“This… Nikuman, Arne? A local dish from Northern Dahfa…”
Ah…
“I just happened to know something similar.”
“Hagu.”
Ah, she ate it.
“Is it good?”
“…Sweet dough, filling with meat and green onions, seasoned with soy sauce and sesame oil. A spiral-shaped dumpling. It’s Nikuman, Arne.”
Yeah…
“…I won’t ask, Arne. But if someone who knows sees it, they’ll immediately realize it’s unusual.”
“I understand, I won’t do it in public.”
“I’m begging you, Dru-大哥. I don’t want you to disappear, Arne.”
Yeah…
By the way, stop with the Dru-大哥? It sounds like the mafia…
“Oh, right. Do you want to drink tea too? Recently, black tea seems to be popular in the Royal Capital. I got it through connections, so let’s all drink it together.”
“Ugh, it’s bitter! What is this?”
“I made lemon honey, so it’s good to put this in and make lemon tea.”
“Ah, this might be delicious!”
In this way, we relaxed and returned to the city safely…
And earned 600,000 Lido per person. It seems there’s a shortage recently, so it was increased by 100,000, lucky.
“Yay! With this much, I can buy three jars of molasses!”
“My savings for old age have increased, Arne!”
“Yeah, books…”
“Meat!”
“Rice and sake!”
…Hey, Xiaolin is fine, but you guys should think a little more about how you use it?