/
“It’s coming your way, Tia!”
“Leave it to me!”
The horned donkey was much faster than I had heard, but Tia’s sword easily sliced its legs as I pushed it away. Afterwards, as a thorny vine tangled around its thick leg, the raburu donkey collapsed on the spot with a thud.
“Boogie!? Boogie!?”
“Fufu~, How’s that? No matter how strong you are, my [Snare Rose] can shred easily, okay?” Tia declared proudly,
“Ah yeah, that’s true. Well then, my apologies.” I said,
“Boogieeeeeeeeeeeee!?”
I sliced off the head of the rampaging, squealing Raburu Donkey with my sword. I was still using the same sword I acquired in the recent naval battle, and this one seemed to be quite a solid sword.
“Yeah, much better quality than I expected. They’re not only provided with clothes, but also swords like this one. 
. I guess they’re treated better than little town guards, huh?”
“After all, you don’t get paid on a pirate ship
, and this is the third one.” Tia said,
While chatting, Tia swiftly chopped off the horns of the Raburu Donkey. The horns of Rubaru Donkey were actually much harder than normal horns, but for her silver spirit sword enchanted with the highest tier magic, it was not a problem.
“Forty silver coins for a single piece. 
. How much would it be if we took it to the Adventurers’ Guild?”
“Hm? It’s not a permanent request, so it may vary a little, but I believe it was somewhere between ten and fifteen pieces?” I replied,
During the first round, I would normally go to the Adventurers’ Guild to ask about the Hero. From my faint memory of that time, I think it was probably about that much. 
 Well, It wouldn’t be too far off, probably.
“Eh? Why don’t people just sell it as a stand-alone material for more money?” Tia asked,
“Of course, that’s because they are not bought out in the open. The only thing you can make from these antlers is a tiny amount of a dangerous stimulant.”
One of my Banishing skills,, [Rainbow Glass], showed not only the potential of people, but also the potential of goods, 
. i.e., in what ways it could be used, though only roughly. According to the skill, if the powder  shaved off from the horns was used as a material, it was possible to make a medicine that had a very strong cardiotonic effect.
If diluted, it could be used as a normal sexual energizer, but if used concentrated, it could make a woman’s heart beat too fast and cause her to die during intercourse instead of making her squeal, which made it easy to sell and be used for assassinations.
“I wonder if the Adventurer’s Guild knows about this?” Tia asked,
“They know. That’s why they designate it as a part of the evidence of killing. Intentionally.” I replied,
“
..?”
Tia tilted her head after listening to my story. It was true that one might not notice this kind of trick in an ordinary life.
“You see, a proof of killing basically specifies a spot that has no use for that magic beast, right? Like a goblin’s left ear.”
“I guess so. Otherwise, they’ll lose the money that can be gained by selling the material.”
""
“That’s why the guilds want to keep these horns as ‘things of no use’. Besides, when it comes to the parts of the proof of defeat, it is not possible to buy and collect them by submitting a request since they are ‘officially’ forbidden to be sold or traded. It’s intended to prevent adventurers from fraudulently raising their ranks. As a result, these horns, despite being a common material, have become a precious commodity that can only be obtained by taking down a Raburu Donkey yourself, or by illegally buying from the guild, or from unofficial clients like us.”
“There are a lot of ingredients used in dangerous drugs in plain sight, so by limiting the ways to acquire them while making them seem worthless 
 Wow, there are people in the world who think of terrific things like you.”
“It’s impossible to wipe out all the magic beasts no matter how you look at it, and there are plenty of people who will smuggle them in if they find out they’re worth money.”
If people were unaware that there was gold dust on the bottom of a nearby river, they would step on it and cross the river. This method of reducing interest and restricting distribution was very reasonable, and whoever thought of it must be very clever.
“So, what are you planning to do with it? Are you going to give it to them as it is?”
Tia, who had shown a certain amount of acceptance, asked me with a gentle tone. If I said “yes,” she would probably distort her beautiful face and lecture me, but of course my answer was different.
“I will give it, okay? Otherwise I wouldn’t get the money. But not as it is.”
“? What do you mean?”
“Fufu~, It means――”
◆◆◆◆◆
With a click, we returned to the shady bar. Once again, the patrons in the bar looked at us as if we were out of place, but quickly averted their gazes. Perhaps they learned that we were part of Rebecca’s gang.
“What’s up? This isn’t like the guild. You don’t have to report every time you make a mistake.” The Bartender asked
“Hahaha, Not that. Here.” I said.
To the bartender, who said there was no contract, just reward for results, I took three thick horns of Raburu Donkey from my waist bag and rolled them on the counter. The man’s eyebrows lifted in surprise.
“You hunted three of them in such a short time!?”
“Well, I guess we got lucky.”
Actually, I had just used my banishment skill [Akashic Compass] but to someone who didn’t know that, it must have been quite a surprise to have killed three of them in just a single day. That was precisely the reason why the man picked up the horns with his hands and studied them very carefully.
“
 It’s the real thing. It seems a little light though.”
“I don’t know how much it weighs. What, lighter means cheaper?”
“Yes, it is. It will be somewhat cheaper
”
“I see. Then I’m sorry, but I’ll take it somewhere else.” I said,
As I was about to retrieve the horns on the table, the bartender grabbed my outstretched hand.
“What?”
“Wait. No, wait. 
 Okay, I’ll buy it for the amount I promised. Three horns for one gold coin and twenty silver coins, is that right?”
“
 Well, yeah. That was the deal.”
As I relaxed my arms, the bartender quickly tucked away the horns and instead stacked the silver coins on the counter and finally placed a single gold coin. This time I made sure to check the number of coins before tossing them carelessly into the bag at my waist.
“Looks like you’re a lot more skilled than I thought you’d be. What do you think? Care to take on some additional work?”
“No, I don’t think so. I’d like to do some shopping with this money, and I don’t want to miss the ship’s departure.”
“
 I see. By the way, can I ask you something?”
“Is there anything more?”
The man asked me, his eyes slightly averted, with a slight hesitation in his voice.
“I don’t mean any kind of trouble. I 
 was just wondering why that young lady over there has been keeping her face down.”
“Ue!? Ah, uh, 
 that’s because she is a little shy.”
“I-Is that so? I think the last time you were here, she was talking to me face to face like normal. 
”
“Che, it means those days are coming. You’re a grown-up, you know that.”
“







 okay, sorry.”
“See you later!”
Noticing that Tia’s ears were turning bright red, I calmly, but as quickly as possible, left the bar. As we left the bar, Tia looked up and slapped me on the back as hard as she could.
“Ed no baka! What was that!?”
“I can’t help it! I mean, the problem was you overdid it!.”
“Because 
fu, kukukukuk 
”
Tia held her stomach and raised her voice in protest before I could. However, it was not pain that she endured, but laughter.
“Such 
. such a serious face, he said it’s real 
 kukuk kukuk  
.”
“Heheheh, my work is always perfect.”
The bag on my hip that I smacked had three horns in it that I didn’t put in the [Stranger Box] just in case.
The banishment skill [Copy and Fake], the effect of which was to
 create a fake that looks exactly like the original.
“But is it okay? If they cut it down a little, they’ll know it’s fake right away, won’t they?”
“It’s bad to be deceived in the public eye, but it’s even worse to be deceived in the underworld. They’re not going to come forward and say, ‘We’re the idiots who got screwed over’ to get this amount of money back.”
“That means
?
“Yeah, we won big.”
Grinning, I raised my hand and Tia smacked it. The booming sound of triumph echoed pleasantly through the dark back alley.