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Negotiation Report
With my feelings simmering down, I thoughts drifted towards the two I had sent out to negotiate.
I wonder if Ralf and Esta were doing fine at the capital.
The distance between Realzard and the capital was, going by the map, about a half-day’s walk. Even considering the time needed to search for Brad, they should still be back home by now.
While looking forward to their result, I continued my way to Realzard.
There were no problems going through the inspection as usual, and I continued walking towards [Shangri-la hotel].
To be honest, I wanted to go to the church and get my ability assessed as well but, the sun had already set and I was still hurt, so I decided to postpone it to a later day and decided to hear the news from the two and focus on that instead.
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When I entered the room, I found the two relaxing as usual.
Looks like even Ralf who was feeling depressed a week ago had finally recovered.
“Chris-san! Welcome back—–Oh, are you okay!?”
“Your armour’s in tatters and I can see blood here and there too


damn, you look a lot worse than normal.”
“Got a attacked by a real freakish monster in the forest. SO I ran back without bothering to wash myself at the spring.”
“Any injuries

Are you hurt anywhere?”
“A bit. Got a couple bruises but nothing serious.”
“For you to call something ‘freakish’ like that, what kinda crazy thing did you run into? Doesn’t that mean that forest is a no go now?”
“It was 5 times my size yeah. But don’t worry, I plan to go back.”
“Look I ain’t gonna tell you to stop but

.don’t go dying on us okay. We are a party after all.”
“I don’t plan on dying so easily so don’t you worry. Anway, I bought some skewers, here.”
“
Hm? OOH! You did? Hell yeah!”
I handed over some skewers to the two who were looking at me all worried.
Ralf quickly turned all smiles as he bit into the meat. Now where did all that worry go eh?
He can be a pain sometimes, but it’s nice he’s simple enough to handle easily.
While giving him a side glance, I turned towards Esta to ask her of their work in the capital.
“So Esta, how did it go for you two? Did you find this Brad safely?”
“Yes we did and met him as well. He was living in the black market, and seemed to be pretty down on money at the moment.”
“So how did the negotiations go?”
“Went really well. At first he wanted 15 platinum coins but we kept haggling until he was begging us to let him take the job for just 5 platinum coins.”
“Just Five!? Now we can really start taking this seriously.”
The original 20 platinum coins was basically impossible for us, but if its just 5 then we should be able to manage if we work hard enough.
The only worry is the fact that the surgery could be a failure considering the kind of doctor we were employing but people in our situation have to take such risks.
“To be honest, even 5 platinum still seems crazy expensive to me but

..is that good enough?”
“Nonsense, You did great. We made the party with healing his leg as the prerequisite in the first place. Not to mention, we’re gonna have you learn magic as well alright Esta?”
“



Yes. Chirs-san, thank you very much!”
“by the way, I’ve been thinking but can you drop the formal speak with me already. We are the same age, and equal members in the party after all.”
“No, I’m sorry but I cannot agree with that.”
I suggested it because she always very uptight and formal with me but, the idea got refused almost instantly.
Well it’s not like I mind it, so if she wants it that way, so be it.
“Sho? Bhat bout u Gris guh?”
“Don’t talk with food still in your mouth.”
“

.gulp. So how did it go for you! Did you run without anything after the attack?”
“No, I gathered a lot of stuff before that. I only got attacked a day before I originally planned to leave.  The haul this time around was really good.”
“is that so

..which means, you’re gonna get even stronger than us than before no?”
“You should be more happy about that. If I don’t get stronger, I won’t be able to make money to help you two you know?”
“I know I know. It still hurts my pride. It’s about feelings!”
It must be a complex feeling for him as it showed on his face as well.
He gets happy from the things I give directly, but deep inside he’s not the type to just let go of debts I suppose.
I guess being the same age, he doesn’t want to be constantly on the receiver’s side and doesn’t want to lose to me either.
“Sure sure. Oh, and Esta, that Oblaat you told me about was of great help. Thanks for the tip.”
“Really? I’m glad to be of help.”
“With that, I can increase the pace of my consumption. I’m surprised you knew of something like that.”
“The shopkeeper of [shichifukuya] was the one who told me about it.”
Man, that guy really knows his stuff huh.
I guess you need to be knowledgeable to be running a pawnshop but still, he seems in a whole different level in my opinion.
“Umm

.sorry to change the topic, but what’s the plan from tomorrow onwards?”
“I don’t really have a specific request so continue the goblin hunt and earning money. If I need you to gather info on something I’ll tell in advance.”
“Understood. I’ll do it whenever you want so please don’t hesitate.”
“yeah, thanks.”
While having such chats with the two, and then eating more of the Reizen grass and genpei mushrooms that I had gathered, I entered my bed to get rest for tomorrow.
From tomorrow, I also plan to restart my adventurer work and take on my first non-designated quest.
My target was the Stray Cowbird that I had Esta gather info for.
Since I have already learnt of where you can find them, I should be able to start hunting them regularly within a couple of days.
But in the wild there’s always a chance to encounter something like that bear-like monster so I must not lower my guard.
Recalling the attack once more, I began thinking up other attack patterns than the one I used before I slowly drifted into my sleep.