IGTL Chapter 33

Chapter 33 – Apparently the Value of Recovery Potions Had Gone Through the Roof. That Was News to Me.

“Um… you were Mr. Raynel Goodjob, right? Do you have a letter of introduction from the Adventurers’ Guild or anything like that?”

“Fuhahahaha! You doubt me, do you? Fine, then. Here, this is the Adventurers’ Guild’s letter of introduction! It clearly says I came properly recommended by the Adventurers’ Guild!”

When I took the letter of introduction from Raynel, it contained a recommendation and the employment conditions for hiring Raynel Goodjob.

The condition for hiring Raynel Goodjob, a former S-rank adventurer, was a monthly salary of 500,000 Col. For someone who was, even “formerly,” S-rank, that price was absurdly cheap.

“Huh? You’ll work for 500,000 Col a month?”

It was a pretty naive question, but when I asked, Raynel flashed a bold grin.

“Exactly. If you’ll have me, I’d like to work for you at 500,000 Col a month, just as the letter says. Don’t worry. I may look like this, but I’ve got no intention of losing to the youngsters yet. Besides, even with one arm missing, if it’s only an A-rank adventurer or so, I can send them packing easily!”

When I looked at his left side, he really was missing an arm.

“Um… I feel like you could just use an Elixir and regrow a missing arm without much trouble. Why haven’t you used one?”

There was a monster called an Emperor Slime that lived in advanced dungeons. If you defeated it, there was a low chance you could obtain an item called an Elixir.

If Raynel had been an S-rank adventurer, he should’ve been to advanced dungeons before. There was no way he didn’t know Elixirs existed.

And even if he had to buy one, his income back when he was S-rank should’ve made that easy.

When I asked with my head tilted, Raynel made a troubled face.

“Hm. An Elixir, eh. I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never seen one.”

“Huh? But… doesn’t it drop at a low rate when you defeat an Emperor Slime?”

Raynel looked genuinely baffled.

“…Even if you kill an Emperor Slime, it just turns into sludge. It’s impossible for it to ‘drop’ anything besides a magic stone. Are you sure you aren’t mistaken about something?”

“What!?”

W-What did that mean?

I’d thought everyone knew an Emperor Slime could drop an Elixir at low odds…

Was this another one of those mismatches caused by DW turning into reality?

“…Um, can I ask you something? It’s normal for monsters to drop items when you defeat them, right?”

When I asked the thing that’d been bugging me for a while, Raynel looked even more confused.

“It’s not normal at all. What you get from killing a monster is its meat, bones, fangs, maybe a magic stone. If you want weapons or armor, you have to take materials from the monsters you kill and have a blacksmith make them. If you want recovery potions, you’ve got no choice but to have an alchemist brew them.”

“S-So that’s how it works!?”

“Of course it is. There’s no way a monster just turns into items when you kill it.”

“W-Well… when you put it like that…”

That was a pretty shocking revelation.

I mean, sure, once he said it, it sounded obvious, but still…

It hadn’t even been a full week since DW became reality, and already it felt like DW had become something completely different from the DW I knew. Or maybe I was the only one who was “different.”

“If the world worked the way you’re imagining, where you could kill monsters and instantly get items, we wouldn’t be suffering like this. The reason I lost my arm in the first place was because of an Emperor Slime.”

“S-Seriously…?”

I hadn’t known that.

“Th-Then… if you did have an Elixir, about how much would you buy it for, Mr. Raynel?”

When I asked out of pure curiosity, Raynel furrowed his brow and thought.

“…Let’s see. If such a thing truly existed, I’d buy it for 100 million Col per bottle… No, I’d go as high as 1 billion Col. But it’s a fantasy. In my prime, maybe. Now, I couldn’t possibly afford it.”

“T-That much…?”

Uh… I had a ridiculous number of Elixirs sitting in Item Storage…

“Th-Then what about recovery potions?”

“Recovery potions? Let’s see… A Basic Recovery Potion would be 100,000 Col. Intermediate would be 1 million. Advanced would be around 10 million, I suppose. Though an alchemist capable of making Advanced Recovery Potions might not exist anywhere in the entire country. Well… the Midgard Holy Nation might have an alchemist who can make them, but…”

“I-Is that so…”

So even recovery potions had become precious in this world.

No way. Seriously.

“I see… Thank you. That was valuable information.”

“So? How about it? Will you hire me?”

“Yes, please. I’d appreciate it. Being able to hire a former S-rank adventurer as security is a huge help on my end as well.”

When we shook hands, Raynel laughed loudly.

“Fuhahahaha! Now that I’ve been entrusted with security, you can relax like you’re riding a big ship. I may have lost an arm, but if it’s only some punk-level trash, I’ll chase them right off!”

He was an amazingly larger-than-life guy.

I quickly finalized my contract with Raynel, then had the inn manager show him to a room on the first floor where he’d be staying.

“Oho, as expected of the ‘Drowsing Inn.’ I’m only here to provide security, and yet you even prepare a place for me to stay. That’s real style.”

“It’s not just that.”

After sending the inn manager out into the hall, I pulled an Elixir from Item Storage and set it on the table in front of Raynel.

“…This is?”

“This is an Elixir. If you drink it, you can regrow your missing arm. Since you’ll be regrowing a limb, you may need rehab for a while afterward, but what do you want to do? Of course, if you use the Elixir, I’ll be binding you by contract so you can’t talk about it…”

The moment I said that, Raynel’s eyes sharpened, a fierce light flashing across them.

“…Is it true? That my arm will grow back?”

“Yes. If you use this, you can regrow it without fail.”

According to DW’s item description, an Elixir restored lost body parts and cured any disease, a miraculous medicine.

If that description wasn’t lying, then regrowing an arm should’ve been easy.

“That would be a blessing… So what are your conditions besides binding me by contract?”

“I want you guarding this place in the best condition possible. Aside from that, no conditions. Or that’s what I’d like to say, but… I just heard what an Elixir is worth. So: at minimum, five years. You’ll work here for five years. Naturally, we’ll do it on a rotating schedule with two days off per week… assuming you’re willing.”

“Hoh. Minimum five years of security… and that alone will heal this arm…”

“Yes. That alone. What do you say?”

Back when DW was still a game, S-rank adventurers were everywhere. But now that everything had been reset, S-rank adventurers were rare.

If handing over an Elixir let me hire a former S-rank adventurer at rock-bottom cost, that was a deal I’d take all day.

And buying goodwill with a former S-rank adventurer who was originally from this world, not a player, would probably come in handy later too.

Raynel closed his eyes and thought.

Then he opened them slightly and asked, almost under his breath.

“…How many Elixirs do you have left?”

“Let’s see. At minimum… I’ve got five more.”

In truth, I had ten thousand, but I wasn’t about to say that.

And there were even more stored in My Room’s warehouse, but that stayed secret too. I couldn’t rely on My Room anyway, since I never knew when I might lose access to it.

“Five… Lord Kakeru. Those five Elixirs. I want you to give them to me. Please.”

“Huh? All five Elixirs??”

I didn’t really mind, but…

Didn’t he just say he couldn’t afford them?

“…I’m fine with that, but what are you planning to use them for?”

“One of my comrades was badly injured during an Emperor Slime subjugation. I want to heal them. All five are former S-rank adventurers. If you’ll give me those Elixirs, then the six of us including myself will guard this inn day and night for ten years… no, twenty years. We’ll do other work too. Of course, we won’t require wages. How about it?”

“…That’s an attractive offer.”

If I only had to provide five Elixirs out of my stash of ten thousand to get six former S-rank adventurers guarding the inn, that was practically a wish come true.

“…But then you wouldn’t be able to make a living, would you? I’ll provide the Elixirs, but your wages will remain 500,000 Col per month, with two days off per week on a rotating schedule. Let’s make the security term ten years. We’ll value each Elixir at 100 million Col, so once you finish repaying the total 600 million Col for all of you, you can quit earlier than ten years. And even if you don’t, once ten years pass, you can leave with no repayment required. If those are the conditions, I’ll accept.”

When I laid it out, Raynel’s eyes went wide.

“A-Are you sure? Considering the value of an Elixir, those terms are nowhere near…”

“It’s fine. Having former S-rank adventurers on hand is more important.”

I wasn’t going to be at the inn every day, after all. If former S-rank adventurers were guarding it, I could relax.

“…Understood. Then I accept those terms.”

“Then let’s sign the contract. From what you said, those people’s injuries are severe enough that they can’t move, right?”

“Yes. Then…”

I drafted a contract with the new conditions and urged Raynel to sign.

This contract was one of the paid items. Once it was formed, it had to be fulfilled, no exceptions.

Raynel checked the contents, then signed the contract. After he signed both the original and the copy, the contract glowed.

“…With this, the contract is established. Now then, please take these Elixirs.”

I pulled out six Elixirs from Item Storage and lined them up on the table.

“S-So these are Elixirs…”

Raynel picked one up and drank it down. Light flared at his left shoulder, then that light took shape, forming an arm.

When the glow faded, a brand-new left arm had been fully restored.