## Chapter 138 – New Possibilities
“Excuse me, Lenny.”
“Yes, Rent-nim.”
Lenny, whose expression had hardened while looking at Ninya, immediately turned to me with her usual… or rather, a softer smile than usual, as I hoped.
“So, there’s too much, and it seems difficult to take out the orcs and weapons from here.”
“Understood. Then, please take out the weapons from the warehouse as well. I’ll count them at the guild later and give you the payment. Oh, and the payment for the corpses you entrusted yesterday is with Kelvan, so please pick it up from him when you go back.”
“Yes, Lenny. It just so happens I have some business with Kelvan.”
“You have business with Kelvan… could it be…?”
I nodded slightly and smiled at Lenny, who had her eyes wide open.
“Yes.”
“…Thank you, Rent-nim.”
Lenny bowed her head towards me.
“Then, I’ll go see Kelvan.”
“Yes. Thank you all for your hard work today.”
Turning my back on Lenny, we headed back to the table where Kelvan was.
“Kelvan.”
“Hmm? Rent. What’s the matter? Ah, now that I think about it, I haven’t given you the payment for the orc meat from yesterday. Just wait a moment.”
Kelvan took a money pouch out of his inventory on the table while taking a sip of his drink.
“Here’s the payment. Hehehe, it was fun disassembling all the corpses you brought yesterday. Ah, the butchers were also happy because the quality was good.”
“That’s a relief.”
I put the money on the table into my inventory.
“Kelvan, I have something to tell you.”
“Something to tell me? Ah, are you perhaps saying sorry that you couldn’t meet a unique monster on the fourth floor like yesterday? Hehehe, it’s alright. I was too impatient yesterday.”
Kelvan stroked his beard and said.
“Even for you, it’s not easy to meet a unique monster. I was too greedy. You don’t have to feel sorry…”
“No, it’s not that. I caught an orc champion today.”
Kelvan’s arm, which was about to take a drink, stopped.
“What… did you say?”
“I caught an orc champion. So, I’m reporting it to Kelvan…”
“Oh…”
“Oh?”
Kelvan lowered his head and his body trembled.
Ah, déjà vu.
I know what Kelvan will do next.
“Oooooooooh! Renttttttttttttt!”
Kelvan raised his hand with the wooden cup he was holding.
The wooden cup flew into the air, and the drink inside was about to spill.
But without caring about that, Kelvan, with his eyes bloodshot, was already running towards me with tears streaming down his face.
“Oh my, what a waste.”
At that moment, Ninya quickly took out the spear she had on her back and swung it towards the cup.
Ninya’s spear was right against the bottom of the cup, and it moved gracefully, catching every last drop of the drink in the air and then balancing it perfectly on top of her spear.
Meanwhile, I grabbed Kelvan’s sides with both hands as he ran towards me.
“Kelvan, I know you’re moved, but please calm down.”
His bloodshot eyes and tears streaming down his face are a bit scary.
“Ooooooh! Rent! You’re such a wonderful person!”
My evaluation within Kelvan went up from a good person to a wonderful person.
“Ooooh, Ninya is amazing…!!”
“That was so fast!”
Noah and Elsie were impressed by Ninya’s spear skills.
Ninya gently placed the cup from her spear onto the table and smiled with a slight puff of air.
“Hehe, even though I’m solo, I’ve climbed up to B-rank. I have to do at least this much~. Rent, how was I~?”
“You were very beautiful and cool. It was the same when you used the lightning enchant, but I think it’s good to see Ninya showing her true skills.”
Ninya smiled broadly at my words.
“…♡ You know, Noah. Today, I’ll join too…”
Noah immediately smiled and made an X with her index finger.
“No~ way! Today is my exclusive!”
“Aww~.”
“Renttttttttt! Hwaaaaaaah!”
Kelvan was still crying tears of emotion while being held by me.
I can’t just leave Kelvan like this.
I put Kelvan down on the floor and said.
“Kelvan, instead of staying here, why don’t we go to the warehouse?”
Kelvan immediately stopped crying and nodded his head vigorously.
“Ooooh! Let’s do that! Come on! Let’s go quickly!”
Kelvan moved his short dwarf legs quickly and went out of the adventurer’s guild.
We also followed Kelvan out of the adventurer’s guild and headed to the warehouse.
When we arrived at the warehouse, Kelvan immediately turned to me with a very sparkling gaze.
It was a gaze that reminded me of Elsie when I saw her after I cut down an orc with my greatsword today.
“Ah, Uncle Kelvan’s eyes are like Elsie’s when she looks at Rent today.”
It seems I wasn’t the only one who thought that.
“Wha, what?! No, Noah! Did, did my eyes look like that!?”
“Yeah, they were super sparkly. Right, Ninya?”
“That’s right. But when Elsie did it, it was very cute. Jumping around and everything♪”
“Ha, haaaaa…!”
Elsie covered her face with both hands, embarrassed.
I always think Elsie looks cute like that.
But now is the time to worry about Kelvan, who has sparkling but bloodshot eyes.
“Kelvan, I’ll take out the orc corpses and weapons first.”
“Ooooh, yes! It’s good to enjoy the main dish last!”
I first took out the weapons from my inventory and then the orc corpses next to them.
Seeing the pile of orc corpses, Kelvan snorted roughly.
“Huuuuh! There are plenty of high-quality orc corpses today! Hmm? Rent, I see some corpses pierced by arrows or crushed by blunt weapons in between?”
“Ah, that’s… I got a skill called Mana Weapon… and it turned out like that while I was testing various things.”
“Ooooh, I see! Hehehe, it’s natural for everyone to want to test new skills when they get them through inspiration! By the way, Mana Weapon… you’ve got a skill with a lot of applications! Ah, but… could it be that the orc champion…”
Kelvan looked at me with a slightly anxious expression.
He must be worried that I hunted the orc champion with the blade of my Mana Weapon.
I gave Kelvan a thumbs up and smiled, showing my teeth, to reassure him.
“Don’t worry, Kelvan. I broke the orc champion’s neck properly.”
Kelvan’s face brightened immediately.
“Ooooooh! Rent! As expected! I knew I could trust you!”
“It was a promise to catch them in the cleanest state possible. Then, I’ll take out the orc champion.”
“Oooooooooooooh! Yes! Please take it out!”
Kelvan clenched his fists and shook them up and down quickly, expressing how excited he was.
I took out the orc champion’s corpse and the orc champion’s double-bladed axe from my inventory.
And when Kelvan saw them, his mouth dropped open, and he looked like an explorer who had found gold and jewels.
“O, o, ooooo…! This is the fresh corpse of the orc champion…! A clean corpse with the magic stone still intact…!!! Hi, hihihi, hihihihihihihihi!”
Kelvan made a spine-chilling laugh.
“Wow, scary.”
“No, Noah… you shouldn’t say that so directly!”
“His expression is no joke.”
“Ni, Ninya…!”
“Um… Kelvan.”
“Hihihihihihihi! Ah! Rent! What is it?”
When I called him, Kelvan stopped his eerie laughter and turned his head towards me.
He seemed to have a bit of reason left.
The reason I said a bit is that even though he stopped laughing, his expression was still the same, with his lips completely curved into a half-moon shape.
“We’ll be going now. Please give us the payment tomorrow like today.”
“Alright, Rent! But how about waiting a little longer? The orc champion’s meat is comparable to the finest ingredients! If you wait a little, I can immediately slice off a part that can be eaten raw…”
“Ah, then can you cut the meat you’ll give us and store it in our inventory? It’ll stay fresh in the inventory, right? Kelvan, you’ll also need time to focus alone… Please give us the meat with the payment tomorrow.”
“Hehehehe, alright! Then, I’ll do that!”
“Then, we’ll excuse ourselves. Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
“Okay!”
“Let’s.”
Elsie, Noah, and Ninya immediately answered my words.
“Hehehe, take care!”
We received Kelvan’s greeting and immediately left the warehouse, and I immediately closed the warehouse door.
“Hehehe… Hehehehe… Hehehehehehehehehehe! Tonight is a partyyyyyyyy!”
Ignoring Kelvan’s loud cheers that could still be heard even after closing the door, we headed towards the Fox’s Rest at a fast pace.
On the way, Noah gave me a thumbs up.
“Rent, nice! Honestly, I didn’t want to stay there any longer.”
Elsie rubbed her arm and shivered slightly.
“Kelvan… he was very scary like that…”
Ninya tapped her shoulder with her spear and said.
“People’s personalities are so varied.”
“Still, I’m glad Kelvan was so happy.”
It’s rewarding to see someone you’re close to happy.
And personally, I’m looking forward to how delicious the orc champion’s meat will be.
◈
“Welcome~.”
We returned to the Fox’s Rest, greeted by Tina’s bright smile.
As usual, we sat at a table and ordered our meals.
And so that I wouldn’t forget later, I took out the lunch boxes we had eaten today from my inventory and handed them to Tina.
“Ah, now that I think about it, the clothes you entrusted to me. They’re all dry today, so I put them in your room.”
“Really? Thank you, Tina!”
“Thank you.”
“Thanks, Tina.”
“It’s nothing. I didn’t do it alone, I did it with my mom. Oh, and starting two days from now, we’ll have more employees.”
It seems Miranda hired new employees right away today after talking to me.
“Really?”
“Yes. There’s someone who will come early in the morning to work at the store and someone who will be in charge of the kitchen in the morning and evening. Thanks to that, my mom and I only have to clean and make meals for those who occasionally eat here at lunchtime. Ah, but my mom will make your lunch boxes and meals herself.”
Noah made a sly face and said to Tina.
“Wow, then even if we don’t help, Tina can spend all night with Rent, right?”
“Hehehe… Yes♡”
Tina looked very happy.
“Ah, but Noah, your clothes have changed?”
“Hehe~ You noticed?”
“Yes. It’s obvious that your chest is exposed. But… isn’t it a bit small?”
“I made it small on purpose~ Rent will like it more this way♡”
“I see…”
“Besides, I got promoted, so I bought it as a celebration.”
“What? You got promoted!?”
“Yeah! Elsie did too! Right~.”
“Yes. I got promoted in the dungeon today.”
“Wow! Congratulations to both of you!”
“Hehehe, thank you.”
“Thank you, Tina.”
At that moment, Ninya said to Tina.
“Tina~ I’m happy that you’re congratulating Elsie and Noah, but shouldn’t you go back to work soon?”
“Ah, yes! Mom~ Four servings for Rent’s group~!”
Tina took the empty lunch boxes and water bottles and headed to the kitchen.
And we waited for our meals, talking about what happened today, and then Elsie got excited and passionately explained how my appearance today resembled a legendary hero.
Her passionate explanation continued even while we were eating, and while I was embarrassed but happy, Noah and Ninya were sweating a little.
After we finished eating, we decided to take a bath together.
I told the three of them that I had something to tell Miranda and let them go in first.
“Miranda.”
And I, now relaxed, spoke to Miranda, who was standing at the counter for a moment.
“Oh my, Rent. What’s the matter?”
“I heard you’re hiring employees?”
“That’s right. It’s also because of Rent’s advice. Besides, if we hire employees, our Tina will be more comfortable, right? The people we hired are people we’ve known for a long time, like Chersey.”
“Then, that’s reassuring. Ah, and please take this.”
I took out 4 gold from my inventory and handed it to Miranda.
“Oh my, Rent. This is…”
Miranda shook her head and tried to hand the 4 gold back to me.
“It’s okay. I’m happy for Rent’s kindness, but we don’t need Rent’s help yet. Besides, the working hours are short, so we don’t need 4 gold a month to hire employees.”
It seems Miranda is misunderstanding.
“Ah, I’m not giving it to you for that reason. It’s for the service fee.”
“Service fee?”
“Yes. We’re using it naturally, but you haven’t received the payment for Elsie, Noah, and Ninya’s bath service yet.”
“Ah…”
Miranda’s cheeks turned red, and she covered her cheek with her right hand.
“Oh my, I’m so silly… I didn’t even know and just misunderstood. Okay, I’ll take it, Rent.”
Miranda’s embarrassed appearance was very cute.
“Yes.”
“But… isn’t this 10 silver too much?”
I smiled brightly and said.
“It’s a tip.”
I wanted to enjoy the feeling of being a rich person giving a tip for once.
And then, I headed to the bath where the three were waiting.
