Since Nise said he would prepare the reward money, I headed out first into the town at dusk and decided to buy out the food stalls.

That said, it was already evening, so buying everything would probably cause problems for the people living there. Therefore, I’d buy a bit of everything from each stall.

...Huh? Do I have money?

Of course I do~! The other day when I sold half of the monsters I hunted, I had also sold the other half at the same time!

The money I earned last time was almost entirely used up buying out the food stalls, but now I can take the reward for the other half I had entrusted and use it as campaign funds to hit the stalls again.

Before entering the town, I changed back into my robe, but I had forgotten to take out my mage staff.

I pulled the mage staff out of my sub-space compression storage.

Yep, now the Great Mage Yabe is born.

"Ohh, Boss! Been a while!"

"Boss, Boss! Buying out again today?"

"Hey! Mr. Big Spender!"

The stall owners greeted me one after another.

"No, no, if I buy everything out at this hour, the townspeople will resent me. Let’s see... I’ll take ten portions from each stall."

"""""You got it~!"""""

『Whoa! This smells absolutely wonderful!』

『As the chick, I desire those meat skewers grilled over charcoal!』

Both Logan and Captain Hiyoko seemed excited to shop at the stalls with me for the first time.

"Wait, old man. I’ll take another ten portions of the skewers too."

"""You got it!!"""

The skewer stall owners replied energetically.

"Boss~, that’s pretty cruel."

The orc stew stall owner looked at me with a bitter smile.

"What? If I buy another ten portions, won’t the local regulars who frequent these stalls resent me?"

I shrugged my shoulders theatrically like a suspicious foreigner and raised both hands.

"What are you talking about, Boss! Everyone’s been putting extra effort into preparations so you can eat your fill. We’ve got enough spirit that even your tamed beasts can eat until they’re full without emptying the stalls! Right, everyone!"

"""""Yeah!!"""""

"Alright, alright! You guys got me. Give me another ten portions of everything!"

"""""Yeah! As expected of the Boss!!"""""

I received the freshly made dishes from the lively stall street and tossed them into my sub-space compression storage.

"Boss really is an amazing mage. The food just disappears..."

"Hahaha, well of course! I am the Great Mage after all!"

I’m truly glad I was able to protect this town. From the bottom of my heart.

・・・・・・

"Hey, Nise! You ready~?"

When I returned to the Adventurer’s Guild, the receptionist Lam came out from behind the counter.

"Yabe-san, we’ve been waiting. I’ll show you to the Guild Master’s room. This way, please."

She guided me inside.

Because it was dusk, the Adventurer’s Guild was quite crowded. The adventurers lined up at the reception counter to report completed requests all turned to look at us at once.

As soon as I entered the guild, I casually called the acting magistrate by name instead of the Guild Master.

It can’t be helped if they think I’m some crazy person.

Maybe I should reflect on that a little.

On top of that, the popular receptionist Lam-chan abandoned her counter to personally guide me, so the stares from the other adventurers were painful. If I had a weak heart, I might have collapsed.

I really don’t want the typical template adventurer guild entanglement. No thank you.

Let’s get into the Guild Master’s room quickly.

"We’ve been waiting, Lord Yabe."

Acting Magistrate Nise called out to me.

"Yabe, the reward is ready."

Zoria said with a smile.

"I wanted to start with the Adventurer’s Guild... but our budget is pretty tight. So we decided that the monetary reward would be handled by Magistrate Nise. Therefore, as a special exception from the guild, your adventurer rank will be—"

"Ah, that’s fine."

"Why!?"

"I don’t like being forcibly called something. No thank you."

"You’ll get all sorts of special discounts from the guild!"

"Still not interested."

"Nuuuuuuuuh!"

"In that case, how about this? As long as Lord Yabe continues to sell monsters to the Solenari Adventurer’s Guild, we will provide dismantling services free of charge?"

"Oh. That sounds good!"

"Ehhhhhhhh~"

Vice Guild Master Salina made a rather attractive proposal, so I was happy, but Guild Master Zoria looked dissatisfied.

"Yabe deserves more than that..."

While Zoria grumbled, Salina whispered something into his ear.

("...Guild Master, at the moment, Lord Yabe does not seem to like being tied down to any one organization. If so, it would be best to make it beneficial for him to come to this guild so he will return in the future. Leaving that as one bond is the optimal approach...")

Zoria, who had been listening to Salina’s quiet whisper, suddenly grinned.

"Understood. Then, as Guild Master Zoria of the Solenari Adventurer’s Guild, I guarantee the following: As long as Yabe sells monsters to this guild, the guild will cover all dismantling costs."

"Got it. Looking forward to it." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

I stood up and offered my right hand for a handshake.

The right hand I extended from my robe sleeve revealed not just the gloved hand but also my forearm. However, it wasn’t green slime nor a slime tentacle — it was unmistakably the skin-colored arm of a human.

Zoria glanced at it.

"...I’m counting on you, Yabe. From now on too. Ideally I’d like you to stay in this town forever, but that probably won’t happen. When you leave town, at least give me a heads-up."

He said that with a fierce smile.

Well, I do like this guy quite a bit. I don’t intend to treat him poorly.

"Yeah, I’ll do that."

"Then I’ll go handle the guild procedures and notify the dismantling department."

Vice Guild Master Salina said and left the room.

Now only Magistrate Nise, Guild Master Zoria, me, and Irina remained in the room.

By the way, Logan and Captain Hiyoko were waiting in the stables next to the Adventurer’s Guild.

The guild girls who were on break were probably bringing them food and petting them. Last time, when Logan came into the guild with Captain Hiyoko on his head, he walked boldly all the way to the Guild Master’s room and knocked elegantly with his front paw. The guild girls instantly became fans. At first they braced themselves thinking he was dangerous, but seeing him walk so dignified and majestic, no one could stop him — and that was apparently cool. Afterwards, Vice Guild Master Salina apparently bragged endlessly about how fluffy Logan was. What are you doing, Salina-san...?

...Well, it’s much better than Logan and the others being feared forever.

"Then, let us proceed with paying the reward to Lord Yabe."

Saying so, Magistrate Nise took out several large bags from under his feet.

Thud!

He placed a very heavy-looking bag on the table.

And there were four of them.

"One bag contains 500 gold coins. Four bags total — a reward of 2,000 gold coins."

Whoa! Suddenly rich! You’re so generous, Nise!

That’s what I was thinking when—

"Lord Yabe, this pains me greatly, but since I must submit a report to the Margrave and the royal capital while keeping some details hidden, I cannot be too flexible with the amount. If I report everything accurately and receive instructions, a reward of over 10,000 gold coins would certainly be possible. However, that would also bring troublesome restrictions. I believe that is not what Lord Yabe desires."

I nodded. If I only thought about money, there might be other ways.

But I don’t know much about this world, or rather, this country. My knowledge is severely lacking. In light novel worlds, lacking knowledge often leads to fatal patterns later. There are mountains of stories where the freshly reincarnated protagonist swings his cheat powers around thinking the summoning country is just, only to find it rotten and using him as a tool for war... Actually, that pattern is more common, isn’t it?

...Well, light novels are fictional stories, so that makes them more exciting. But the world I live in is reality. Steady safety is more important than excitement.

"No problem. I appreciate your consideration, Lord Nise."

Come to think of it, when I sold D~C-rank monsters and popular edible horn rabbits to the guild, the buyback price was a bit over 200 gold coins. Ten times that is impressive, but the number of monsters this time was overwhelmingly larger, and the danger level was higher too. Though most of the monsters I defeated were orcs and goblins. So maybe this reward is actually reasonable? My sense of money is getting messed up. Well, as long as I don’t have to worry about food, it’s enough.

"Additionally, after my report reaches the Margrave and the royal capital, there is a possibility that people will come to verify. I intend to keep your information hidden as much as possible, but there may be cases where that is impossible, so please keep that in mind."

"I understand, Lord Nise."

Nise is a government official. No matter how much he accommodates me, there are limits. Especially when asked for details by the Margrave he directly serves, he’ll have to reveal some information. That can’t be helped.

Nise looked slightly relieved at my reply.

"Lord Yabe, thank you so much this time. Thanks to you, this town was saved. It is unfortunate that we cannot thank you publicly, but we will never forget this debt. If there is anything we can do, we will help you as much as possible."

"Yeah, and thank you again from me too. Yabe, you really saved us. The Adventurer’s Guild will always be on your side... Well, since you’re F-rank, you might get looked down on in other towns. Try not to go too far in those cases."

He’s warning me while assuming I’ll cause problems.

I plan to elegantly avoid all those template situations, heh heh heh.

"Got it. By the way, is it okay if I ask a few things?"

"Yes, ask anything."

"In this country, how does the har... I mean, the slave system work?"

""??""

Both of them had expressions that said "Why don’t you know something like that?" I haven’t explained my circumstances, so it can’t be helped, but can’t you be a bit kinder to someone lacking common sense?

Squeeze!

Hm? What?

Irina hugged my head tightly, pressing it against her chest.

She was wearing leather chest armor right now, so it wasn’t soft. I’m a slime so it doesn’t hurt, though.

"What’s wrong, Irina?"

Looking at Irina’s face, she looked exactly like the teary-eyed Princess R○ana from that cliché daily-life "The Strongest in the World in a Normal Job" 4-koma. I suddenly remembered that god-tier work by the great White○ra-sensei — taking the daily life from the god-tier light novel "The Strongest in the World with a Normal Job" and turning it into a high-tension gag 4-koma. It’s such a god×god masterpiece that I don’t even know how to praise it enough. Irina looked at me with eyes full of tears, like upside-down slightly-toasted mochi. Did something happen?

"Slaves... no... absolutely not..."

"Ehhhh~ cough"

I cleared my throat lightly. Looking over, both Nise and Zoria were sending me warm gazes. Stop! Don’t look at me with those eyes!

"What do you mean, Lady Irina?"

"...Call me... Irina..."

Irina started sniffling and crying. She didn’t even use her signature "Kuoka"... Not that I want her to right now.

"What’s wrong, Irina?"

"Slaves... I don’t need them... I’m here for Yabe..."

"Umm..."

To summarize:

I have Irina.

So I don’t need slaves (other women).

Therefore, no harems.

Is that what she’s saying?

"Hey, Irina. Just because I asked about the slave system doesn’t mean I’ll stop needing you or throw you away... though the way I phrased that is weird... You want to stay by my side, right? That’s why we’re together, isn’t it?"

Irina nodded with a small kokun. Her eyes were still full of those upside-down toasted mochi-like tears.

"So even if we gain more companions or I end up buying slaves in the future, as long as you want to stay by my side, you can stay with me forever. I won’t ever dislike you, no matter what happens. You can do whatever you like, Irina."

I spoke as gently as possible, slowly like I was talking to a child.

Irina nodded cutely over and over and held my hand with both of hers.

...She’s kind of adorable.

During all this, Nise and Zoria continued sending us those warm gazes.

Stop that!

Cough "I’ve been devoting myself to researching magic deep in the forest all this time, so I don’t really understand how the world works. I also have a girl named Irina under my care. I thought it would be good to learn some common sense about society."

I explained while looking off into the distance. My right hand was still being held by Irina.

"I see, I see. I’ll teach you anything I can answer."

"Yeah, ask anything. Especially about the har— whoops, I mean the slave system. Nise is the magistrate of this town, so you should know the details."

Nise spoke with a smile, and Zoria spoke while chuckling.

Zoria, you definitely said that on purpose!

The grip of Irina’s hands on my right hand tightened just a little.