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Tondemo Skill - 542 - 10 Days Later
🕑 Added 2023-08-01 15:44:18 +0000 UTCGumihou: Adjusted the progression of the text so that Mukouda appeared more casually badass (as he should be) and addressing a plot hole at the same time. Marked mostly by Note 2
The warehouse they brought us to was larger than any other warehouse that I had ever been to. In this world anyway.
“Hmm, if it’s here, I supposed we could at least take out the head,” said Grandpa Gon.
[1] That’s right, that’s just how enormous the Leviathan was. I know it is difficult for most people to comprehend, but… picture this. Grandpa Gon himself in his original form was already 20 storeys tall. His first attack against the Leviathan was an uppercut to the chin of a creature that was big enough to wrap around a whole island. Just how big do you imagine the head of such a creature could be?!
“Wait, the head…? Why just the head?”
I smiled innocently at the elders, “Because it’s just too big.” I answered simply.
These important people already dismissed me as kind of stupid, so I won’t waste my words explaining anything. They can just see it with their own two eyes.
Under the stares from the said eyes, I walked to the very edge of the warehouse and after much huffing and puffing, tugging and dragging, finally managed to barely pull the head of the Leviathan into the warehouse. Well, most of it anyway.
“… …”
“… …”
“… …”
“… …”
“… …”
“… …”
Ah, wow, these important people are so stunned that their jaws have literally dropped wide open, even Willem-san was staring with his mouth wide open next to them. Well, it was one thing to know that a Leviathan had been caught, but quite another to see the real thing.
Haha.
I totally understand you guys.
The Leviathan is ridiculously huge.
“Oi, can you dismantle it?” Fer snapped.
All six of them jumped.
Guild Master Bram-san said, “… it would be the Royal Capital Guild’s loss if we miss this opportunity. What do you think?”
“Yes, I believe so too…”
“This would be my biggest challenge since I got involved with Guild management…”
“Yes, we must complete this mission.”
“Indeed.”
“How should we do this…”
“Oh, the reaction seems positive,” said Grandpa Gon with satisfaction.
“Fenrir-sama, Ancient Dragon-sama, we respectfully accept the mission of dismantling the Leviathan,” said Bram in a formal voice.
Fer and Grandpa Gon immediately brightened.
“Good!”
“Do it!”
Fer’s furry tail was wagging non-stop, even Grandpa Gon’s reptilian tail was flopping about enthusiastically.
“Then, in two weeks, no, 10 days! We can begin in 10 days!”
[2]
*Cough!*
“10 days?”
“Begin?!!”
The tension that flooded inside the warehouse seemed to suck all the enthusiasm out of the Elders of the Royal Capital Adventurer’s Guild.
“… …” Should I help these so-called Elders? Then again, they did look down on me a lot just now…
“P-p-preparations needed to be made, expert dismantlers needed to be called in and- and we have to call in most of the high ranking Adventurers who are not on a mission, there is also…”
Ah, Bram-san seemed to have wilted under the double glares.
“A-ancient Dragon-sama, Fenrir-sama! Please be understanding, not only do we have to secure the place to dismantle the Leviathan, but we also have to manage the temperature and have wizards in to cast preservative spells and cold spells…”
“What do you mean to secure a place?” Grandpa Gon asked. He was speaking in a neutral voice, but it still sounded kind of threatening.
I can’t say I’m not enjoying this.
“Th-that… once word got out that a Leviathan of this size is at the Royal Capital. There might be… someone may covet...”
“Nu, are you saying some impudent little insect has its sight on my food?!” Fer roared.
“Gunununu, such insolence, I shall destroy them!!”
I coughed and stepped between the stiff-looking elders and my disgruntled familiars. “Ahem, now, now, don’t be losing tempers over situations we can’t control-”
“I will stomp on insects seeking to steal my food!!!”
“Yes, yes, very impressive. However, that’s not very helpful right now,” I said sternly. I turned a beaming smile at the stiff-looking elders, “I expect we can’t dismantle the Leviathan here?”
One of the elders picked up on my guiding words enough to say, “Um, no…”
“I see, I see, then where might we dismantle this Leviathan? Do you have a suggestion?” [3] It was kind of like those few times back in Japan when I had to negotiate with customers that did not know exactly what they wanted to properly reveal what they have in mind. The trick is to not make it obvious that I was guiding their decision. I used to have a senpai who was excellent at this, but I have enough experience to make it work.
“Well, a field would be best. Perhaps somewhere secluded for security…”
“We would have to set up protection arrays and…”
“… level the trees and…”
“Fumu, just do it in the field in front of this city,” Fer snorted.
“Eh?”
“What?”
“Um…”
“Indeed, the area there should be large enough for the Leviathan. There is no need to waste time levelling trees for a flat field.”
“Uh… security…”
“Magical array…”
“My barrier could stop Fenrirs and Ancient Dragons,” said Fer.
“Mine too, we shall cast two barriers to protect the Leviathan,” sneered Grandpa Gon.
“… oh, uh, that would work,” said Bram-san in a daze. “In that case, there is no need to call too many Adventurers in for security…”
“We still need to spell casters for Ice Magic, Water Magic too for cleaning if nothing else. Also…”
“Dora-chan and Sui are very good at Ice and Water Magic,” I helpfully supplied. “Please take them into consideration too.”
Otherwise, I would never hear the end of it.
“Th-then…”
“I- I supposed the only thing we needed to do is locate more dismantlers and magic users?”
“Security will be personally conducted by Fenrir-sama and Ancient Dragon-sama…”
“I- I’m beginning to see how this mission could be completed!”
“We shall soon carve our name in history!”
“OU!!”
Well, at least these fellows are enthusiastic.
In the end, there was no way we could start the dismantling process immediately. In the first place, dismantlers and magic users must be called in. The Elders may be important people, but they are mostly from fighter backgrounds, and someone wanted to call someone with a deeper knowledge of Leviathan anatomy (That way, they could remove more meat in better condition, so stop complaining, Fer). There are also issues such as gathering enough ladders, ropes, knife sharpeners… basically, a thousand and one other little details that beasts like Fer and Grandpa Gon never thought of because they would just chomp into the Leviathan, eat as much as they could before discarding the carcass to the side.
Well, the talk soon became too boring for my familiars.
[2]
When Fer started complaining about wanting to leave, one of the Elders jumped forward with a key to a mansion.
“We have secured a mansion for you,” he said in a much more cheerful tone than the one he had used before. “Please rest and recuperate. Ah, the place has already been paid for so there’s no need for Mukouda-san to worry about anything~ Willem, please lead Mukouda-san to this place…”
“I… see,” that's nice of them.
We followed Willem-san to the house. He looked a little dazed. The place he led us to is a moderately sized mansion with a large garden. Huh, it looked pretty much like most of the places we rented.
So, why was Willem-san staring at the mansion with those disbelieving eyes?
“Do you guys always rent such luxurious places to stay in…” he finally asked.
“I guess? We mostly rent such places for the garden.”
“… the garden…”
I think I heard him mutter something derogatory about ‘rich people mindset’, but I was too busy admiring the stuffed chair in the living room. The large, comfy chair was completely different from the types seen in this world. Although their furniture looked exquisite, how comfortable could wooded chairs be? There’s nothing like an over-stuffed chair or sofa for comfort.
With a sigh, I settled into the chair and made a note to get one for myself later.
“…this place is… really something…” said Willem-san.
“Master, I’m hungry.”
“Umu, it is a good time to eat. Looking at the Leviathan's head just now made me hungry…”
“”Same! Food!! Gah! I should have taken a bite out of the Leviathan just now…”
“”Sui wants food too~~””
It was kind of difficult to roll out of the nice chair, but I managed somehow. After getting to my feet, I sighed and said, “Yes, yes, food, I’ll make it now…”
Eguchi Ren: The dismantling of the Leviathan will happen in the coming chapters!
Gumihou: Small scenes could be made interesting too, I hope everyone enjoyed this edited version!
[1] Added details to the description so that readers can get a better understand the sense of just how big the Leviathan is
[2] Add details on Fer and Grandpa Gon being unhappy with the 10 days. It wasn’t mentioned at all, like, nu uh, unlikely. Plot hole covered with the second half of the dialogue which happened in a house Mukouda was resting in. Like, this conversation should really have happened earlier.
[3] Some service industry magic happening to guide clients into revealing what they really want.
