Chapter 163: Second Day Meeting (1/3)

After supper.

In the same reception room of the residence as last night, the duke and his wife and the two presidents of the two big companies were all gathered together again.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” [Ryouma]

“We were properly informed beforehand. It’s fine. Good job feeding your slimes.” [Reinhart]

“You have so many different slimes and so many of them, it must have been difficult feeding them all.” [Elize]

“Come to think of it, how many different slimes do you have now anyway?” [Pioro]

“Presently, there are 19 variants. And there are four from those that I’m expecting to evolve.” [Ryouma]

“They seem to number in the tens of thousands too. Taking care of them must be difficult.” [Serge]

“I feed them per variant, so it’s not that difficult. Reinhart-san. Thank you for providing even the feed of the slimes. It was a huge help.” [Ryouma]

“A lot of people have been telling me how grateful they are to have the garbage dealt with. Feel free to ask for more whenever while you’re here.” [Reinhart]

As I answered their questions, I sat myself beside the madam.

“Now then, Ryouma-kun. Let’s continue our conversation the other day. Or at least that’s what I’d love to do, but… Today there are two things we have to discuss first. A message had just been brough in.” [Reinhart]

I wonder if there’s a problem.

There was an unusually heavy atmosphere about Reinhart-san as the madam distributed a bundle of documents to all of us.

Flipping through the pages, I noted that a portrait, a crime, and an amount was written on them.

“A wanted poster…” [Ryouma]

“The other half of those documents is information pertaining to damages incurred from bandits. These were reported by chance while I was working today. The three of you travel a lot, so I thought you should know.” [Reinhart]

“Thank you.” [Pioro]

Safety on the roads is the lifeline of peddlers. Serge-san and Pioro-san were both grateful as they zealously looked through the documents.

But I was more concerned about the wanted posters.

“The bounty varies quite a bit from person to person, huh.” [Ryouma]

Even if they committed the same crime, there’s a difference in bounty ranging anywhere from 10 small gold coins to several hundred coins. The biggest bounty fetches a luxurious sum of 2 platinum coins. When I asked why that was, Reinhart-san gently told me why.

“The bounty is decided based on the damages caused by the person and how much danger he possesses, but the nobles and merchants who’ve suffered damages are free to add to the bounty. The bandits with platinum coin bounties on them are from a gang of thieves that specializes in stealing from jewelers. They’re rather famous.” [Reinhart]

They mostly go after jewels, so the damages caused by their actions are really big.

Moreover, they incur not only the anger of the jewelers but also the nobles who wish to buy them.

Because of that their bounty is inflated.

“They don’t commit crimes frequently, but they plan their crimes out and proceed carefully. Moreover, they have several good dimension mages with them, so they’re quick to flee and it’s hard to pick up on their trail. Of course, their victims have guards with them too. So the fact that they’ve continued to succeed until now shows that they’re plenty strong themselves. I’ve never heard of an individual being attacked, but… You should be careful too, Ryouma-kun.” [Reinhart]

“I understand. Thank you for warning me.” [Ryouma]

He’s probably referring to the diamond I was wearing with my suit yesterday.

He didn’t say anything, but as expected, he has a trained eye.

“Next is… Oh, right. About the scavenger slime fertilizer you gave me yesterday. A report was given regarding it.” [Reinhart]

“Oh, really?　That’s rather quick.” [Elize]

As the madam says, was their gardener able to make a judgment on its safety and other factors that quickly?

“Yes… Ryouma-kun. Do you know about the ‘Forest of the Earth Mother God’?” [Reinhart]

Earth Mother God? I would imagine that’s probably Willieris-sama, but I’ve never heard of a forest.

“I see. Artura… It’s a country in the east, but that’s where our head gardener comes from. The Earth Mother God of the Forest has become the object of worship of many people and is a holy land. According to that gardener, the fertilizer you gave is similar to the soil of that place.” [Reinhart]

“Huh?” [Ryouma]

The soil of a holy land is similar to the fertilizer of a scavenger slime?　I never thought I’d hear something like that.

“Rich in mana and highly compatible with the wood magic. If you use too much of it, there’s a danger of monsterifying crops. The effects are basically the same. But the effects of that holy land is much greater than the scavenger slime’s fertilizer.” [Reinhart]

At the country known as Artura, they would take a little soil from the Forest of the Earth Mother God and mix that soil with a lot of normal soil to weaken its effects. That soil is then used as a special fertilizer. It’s also a kind of ritual to share the blessings of the divine forest.

“If we do the same as that ritual, will it be possible to use the scavenger slime’s fertilizer normally?” [Ryouma]

“That’s what the head gardener says. He wants to use the fertilizer you gave and see how things go for a while, but the fertilizer is more than useable. I am a little concerned about it being ‘close to an object of worship’, though.” [Reinhart]

Indeed.

“‘The soil of the holy land’ and ‘the fertilizer produced by slime guts’. Personally, those are two completely different things, but depending on the person hearing it…” [Ryouma]

“‘Unforgivable!’　Some fanatics might say… When it comes to religion, there are extremists like that from time to time…” [Reinhart]

“I think it can pass as a different product, but if you’re going to sell it, then it might be wise to take some considerations.” [Pioro]