「All right. I’m done processing your promotion. From now on, your rank is E. Congratulations!」
「Thanks.」I said as I took my guild card.
My rank has been overwritten, from F to E. Beside the letter “E” were the words 『Special Promotion』 written minutely. It was most likely proof that I got promoted through a recommendation.
Now then. We’ve gone a bit off-topic. It’s time to get back to the matter at hand.
「By the way, how much will you pay for the materials?」
「The Raging Ape? Every part of the monster can be utilized. Though it’s hard for me to give a proper appraisal.」
The manager perused the guild’s documents while appearing to be deep in thought. After about five minutes, he was done and gave us an answer.
「It’s in good condition… How about 110 million?」
What the… Over a hundred million? How?!
Is this really a world where 200,000 gils is enough for a family’s monthly expenses? 110 million will last for forty-five years. You’ll be set for life!
As I was pondering the absurdity of the amount, Mylia replied.
「That’s a bit low, no? As you can see, its front is unscathed. I think it’s worth more.」she said, showing the manager the monster’s front side.
Mylia attacked it only from behind so there was not a scratch on it which is huge if they wanted to make armor out of it.
「Very well. I’ll give you 120 million for it. Any more is not within my authority to release.」
「That sound good?」Mylia asked me.
「Of course.」
I immediately nodded. The price might go down if I just kept standing there dumbfounded.
「All right. I’ll bring the money so please wait for a bit.」
The manager nodded back as well. Looks like we had a deal.
「There’s 120 pieces in there. Please verify it.」the manager said, setting a heavy bag in front of me.
I peered into the bag to find it packed with platinum coins.
「So a guild office has this much money on hand, huh…」
「The guild provides us with plenty of funds in case there’s a huge request to be undertaken. Though I never expected that an A-ranked monster’s materials in good condition would be brought here.」
「Is the quality really that good? Sure, it’s spotless on the front side, but its back is full of holes.」
「Normally a squad of a hundred men would take on an A-rank monster. The monster would then get attacked from all directions, leaving its body a ragged mess. It’s almost a miracle that what you brought only had wounds on its back.」
…Today I learned, I thought.
「The deal was we split it equally…」
「I narrowly escaped death thanks to you. It’s not right to ask for money on top of that.」
「But a deal is a deal so it’s an equal split.」
I took sixty platinum coins from the bag and gave it to her. She seemed to want to refuse to take it for a moment, but gave in and accepted the money.
「Thank you. Pleasure doing business with you.」
「Same here. It’s not easy to get Raging Ape materials after all. I think we could’ve gotten a wonderful armor out of it if we took it to an armor shop. Was it all right to sell it?」
「Heavy armor will only hamper your movement. I’m content with what I have at the moment. Quality materials should be left to those who can make the best use out of it.」
Mylia regarded my whole body. I wasn’t wearing any armor, of course.
「I just noticed… But did you fight the Raging Ape without any armor at all?」
「Yeah, that’s right. Is there a problem?」
「Problem? I’m surprised you’re still alive after all this time.」
She stared at me, eyes frozen in disbelief. She probably thought I was crazy. I suppose in this world, people can’t train against monsters that’ll kill them in one blow so her reaction was understandable.
I could fight with confidence like I did precisely because of my countless hours of training in BBO. If you died in-game, there wasn’t much of a penalty so I could keep on training without much worry.
「Armor is not enough against a Raging Ape. If it lands a direct hit, you’re dead anyway. So it’s better to make your body lighter by not wearing any armor at all. That’ll make it easier to dodge attacks. Don’t you agree?」
「I suppose you make a good point. But you’re operating under the assumption that you can dodge all of its attacks. I don’t think I can do that.」
「Well, the training is not easy.」
While we were engaged in conversation, I headed out the guild. We’ve split the reward, so that’s it for our party. Then an idea sprung to mind. If the discussion goes well, I can get plenty of levels in one go.