Chapter 68- Surprise 

After cleaning up the monsters and the Black Wolves bandit gang, I dashed all the way back to Forxx where I was greeted by the gatekeeper. After I greeted him, I walked through the gates, and entered the city. 

I’ll head to the guild for now, there is still the matter of the clean up operation as well as report about the Black Wolves gang. While I was thinking about that, I headed toward the guild, and soon enough, I was in front of the guild doors, so I pushed them open and headed into the guild.

The inside of the guild was visibly empty, except for the receptionist.

Ohh, it seems like the other members of the guild are yet to return from the operation. We~ll, I guess it's fine, i'll just report to Meru-san for now.

“Good evening, Meru-san. I would like to report about the clean up operation of the Gordo Forest, is this a good time?”

“Yeah, it's alright. So, how much were you able to clean up Yuma? Considering that it’s you were talking about, you were probably able clean up around fifty, right ?”

Saying so, Meru-san gave a pretty sly grin. I feel quite weird seeing that smile, so I thought i’ll surprise her for a bit,

“That’s right. The average strength of the monsters were quite high, but killing 200 or so was my limit.”

“It, it can’t be helped after all. 200 or so……..eh?”

Oh s.h.i.+t, this is bad, but Meru-san’s surprised face is quite cute. s.h.i.+t, I think i'm enjoying this a bit too much. Let's take this a little bit more further.

“Yes, i'm sorry, but I was only able to hunt around 200 monsters. If you think that this amount is lacking, then I'll do a little bit more tomorrow.”

When I said that, Meru-san was visibly exasperated,

“200 monsters is already quite enough! Rather, if what you said is the truth, then that amount is second only to the last Great Invasion!”

“Eh, is that so? Then, can we consider that the Gordo Forest has been cleaned up for now?”

“That's right. Well, i'm sorry for doubting what you said just now Yuma-kun, but can you please show me the proof of the amount of monsters that you have subjugated?”

“It's alright, I don't mind.”

“Then, let's head over to the disa.s.sembly center. If you were to take that much out here then that would cause quite the ruckus.”

And so, Meru-san and I headed over to the disa.s.sembly center.

When we arrived there, the usual ossan calls out to me,

“Oh, if isn't Meru-chan and the Head hunter!? What's happened Head hunter, did you possibly bring another rare monster again?”

Ah, that's right. I totally forgot that I still have the Cyclops materials in my Item Box that I planned to sell. I brought out all the monsters to be dismantled as a start. I’ll bring out the Cyclops as the main theme at the end.

“Well, certain things lead to other things, and the guild ended up on doing a cleaning operation for all the Forests so that the amount monsters left over from the Great Invasion could be reduced, I ended up doing a little too much. And so, it was a no go to bring out the monsters at the guild, so we came here, but is that fine?”

“Aa, thats alright! No matter how many there are, it's completely fine.”

“Thank you very much, then I shall take them out.”

Alright, permission granted. And so, I started to pile up the monsters that I had subjugated today one after the other. 

Ouu, this is making a big pile. After a while, I was finally able to grab the last one from my Item Box and place it on the floor. 

“Yu-Yuma-kun, there is certainly 200 or so monsters in this pile, but doesn’t this pile kind of look like a lot more than the 200 you said casually….”

“Ha ha! You're quite amazing kid! You hunted the majority of Gordo Forest in just one day, how!?

As I thought, the number of monsters that I put down today is quite a lot, and that's even crossing over 200. I think I might have overdid it a little.

Meru-san was visibly surprised, as well as the ossan.

“Ahh, it's alright. It's alright since I only overdid it just a little bit. Also, Meru-san, is this fine?”

“Eh, ah, hmm. I was a bit surprised, that’s why i was dazed. Yes, it has been confirmed. I will report the matter of the Gordo Forest to the guild master properly”

Alright! The clean up operation has just been confirmed that it's completed. 

Next is the dismantling.

“Sorry about this, but all this needs to be dismantled. Is it not possible like I thought?”

When I said that to the ossan, he was visibly disappointed. 

“Ahh, sorry kid. This many monsters is a little too much even for us. At most, I can only do half of this lot here.”

“Understood. Then, I shall request for this 50 here for the job.”

And so, I started to put the leftover monsters back into my Item Box. It's probably best to leave the Cyclops for the future. 

“Then, Yuma-kun. Since the confirmation is complete, shall we return to the guild?”

“Alright. Then ossan, i'll leave the dismantling to you. And as usual, i'll sell them through the guild, please keep the money until I return. I will now take my leave.”

And so, I lowered my head slightly toward the ossan, and then proceeded to head out.

I returned to the guild with Meru-san in tow.

“Ah, speaking of dismantling. Yuma-kun, here, take this.”

Meru-san handed me a small bag that had something jingling inside it. I took it and peered inside the bag, there was 3 white gold coins! Meru-san, what is this for? 

“That money right there is Yuma-kun’s earnings for the Orc King materials.”

Ah, that's right, I got the money for the Orcs and the c.o.c.katrice, but not for the Orc King, I was told that the Orc King would be worth quite a lot of gold, but I didn't know that it would be so much!! If I knew that they were worth so much previously, then I wouldn't have let one of them get hit by the c.o.c.katrice and be turned into stone.

“I see, then I shall gratefully accept it.”

“Fufu, don't spend it all in one place….hmm, Yuma is older than me, right? Is it ok to call you Yuma without any honorifics?”

“No problem at all, please continue to call me as you usually do. And also, Meru-san, there is one more report that I would like to make.”

Meru-san, who was laughing and having a chat with me, turned serious in a moment,

“Yeah, sure, what is it?”

“Actually, when I was done with my job and was about to return to Forxx, some bandits attacked me, they called themselves the Black Wolves or something.”

The moment I mentioned the Black Wolves, Meru-san instantly became tense,

“Yuma-kun! Do you know their leader’s name?”

“If I remember properly, I think his teammates called him Guzarov.”

I took out the corpse of Gusarov from my Item Box, and showed it to Meru-san.

“The contours of the face matches the poster. Yuma, this person right here is without a doubt those famous bandits. They are in a whole different league compared to Red Eyes Lardo. I heard that they had been spotted in the City of Nars.h.i.+sus, but they soon escaped somewhere else, so this is where they were headed to. Yuma-kun, it's a good thing that a capable adventurer such as you was present to take care of this group, if it was any other adventurer, then they wouldn't even know what hit them before they fell.”

Eh. As I thought, these people were quite the famous bandits.

Well, it's true that the average strength of an adventurer in this city would be unable to stand up against these bandits. Guren-san would probably be able to take care of them though.

“I see. Then, I guess it's a good thing that I was able to take care of them before they caused harm to anyone else. Also, is there a bounty on these people as well?”

Well, since there is a warning poster, then there should also be a bounty on their head, i’ll check and confirm it as well. It’s important after all. That's pretty much the reason why I didn't cause damage to their heads.

“Eh, there is definitely a bounty, and it's probably very high as well. To receive it, we would have to contact the Narcihssus city, and that will probably take awhile. It would be much easier to just head over there, and collect it from City Officials directly.”

“Hmm, I guess it’s ok to wait a while for the bounty. I’m not really in need of money at the moment.”

“Understood. Then, I shall contact you as soon as I obtain the bounty.”

“Yes, then my report ends here. I shall head back to Zinnia now. See you tomorrow, Meru-san.”

And then, I lightly shook hands with Meru-san, and headed out of the guild. 

“Alright then, I guess it's almost time for me to return to Zinnia.”

And so, I walked over there.

And in just a few minutes, I reached Zinnia, when I heard, 

“Oh, Yuma-san, welcome back! Thank you for your hard work!”

As soon as I entered the Inn, Sari came out and welcomed me with those words. The conversation sounded as if it was between a married couple. I couldn’t help but retort inside my head about how old she was. It was quite the nice feeling when I was told that though. It blew all the tiredness of today's work away. 

“Umm, Sari, i’m home.”

When I returned the greeting, Sari’s ears slowly turned red. Hmm? She was sneakily taking peeks from her slightly lowered head toward my upper body, and then I remembered what happened this morning. 

And so,

“Oi, Oi, Sari, what happened?”

And so, I slowly crept toward her while  emphasizing my upper body. Her body slowly turned red while sneakily looking at my upper body. And soon, she couldn't endure and,

“Yu-Yu-Yu-, Yuma-san! I totally forgot that I still only have one hour to prepare Dinner! Please excuse me for being impoliteeeeeeeee!”

And so, she ran away with tremendous speed. Did I overdo it a little too much? Well, her reaction was very cute, so it's fine.

Now, I guess I should return to my room, oh shoot, I almost forgot to meet with Saria-san. I'll go now.

“Oh, if it isn't my son-in-law, Yuma. What happened, I just saw you with my cute daughter a moment ago?”

“Haa, hah, aren't you playing with me a little too much? Leaving that aside. i'm planning on extending my stay here, so I came over to pay the room charge. 

And so, I handed over 1 gold coin and 2 silver coins for thirty days rent to Saria-san. I guess this will be enough for now.

“Oya, Yuma, you seem to like this inn a lot. You could choose a better accommodation with the amount of money you have already though.”

“No, there is no better home for me than Zinnia. Now then, i’ll be in my room until dinner time.”

Saying so to Saria-san, I immediately headed back to my room.

I entered my room, and laid down on the bed. 

“Alright, i'll have a rest until it's dinner time.”

While thinking so, I closed my eyes and waited for dinner time to arrive.