The Price of Stealing Someone Else's Prey

"Man, we were on fire today!"

Lyle happily bit into a sausage.

Fat sizzled, and its savory aroma spread across the table.

In the tavern, with midday light streaming in, his voice alone seemed strangely loud.

Four Horn Rabbits in a single morning.

That wasn't just a good result—it was almost too good to be true.

"Don't get carried away."

Elena chided him.

But an irrepressible smile played on her lips.

Kai, meanwhile, remained as expressionless as ever.

But Kai's hands told the truth, as he silently kept bringing sausages to his mouth.

"We shouldn't look too pleased with ourselves."

I lowered my voice and casually surveyed the room.

The tavern was pleasantly busy at midday. Laughter, clinking dishes, the smell of alcohol.

Mixed in with it all were occasional glances in our direction.

"Ah, right. Good point."

Lyle nodded readily.

Still, the fact that we were eating here probably made our earnings obvious.

If we couldn't hide it, perhaps it was better to own it and be open about it.

That might attract trouble, but being out in the open would also make it easier to deal with.

After we finished eating and stepped outside, the sunlight seemed even brighter.

The road to the grasslands was dry, and our footsteps made a soft sound against it.

"All right, this should do. Noah, please."

I nodded at Lyle's words and focused my attention.

I slowly spread the mana welling up from deep inside me.

I soon picked up a response.

One was light. It was definitely a Horn Rabbit.

Farther away, there were five more, scattered about. Humans.

The Horn Rabbit that had touched my mana turned in our direction.

The grass shifted ever so slightly.

At the same time, the distant presences began moving, too.

"One's coming."

I announced briefly.

The next moment, a white shape burst through the grass.

Kai stepped forward and raised a shield.

Kai took the charge head-on, absorbing its force.

Without a moment's delay, Lyle stepped in.

His blade came down, and the Horn Rabbit stopped moving.

Only the faint rustle of grass in the wind remained.

But the silence didn't last long.

The sound of grass being pushed aside. Several footsteps.

Five men appeared.

Their gear was shabby, but well-used.

They were also clearly older than us.

The burly man at the front looked down at us.

"Hey. Thanks for taking down our prey for us."

His tone was casual, but there was no smile in his eyes.

"H-Hey, that was our prey!"

Lyle raised his voice.

"You went after the monster we were driving this way. Just hand it over."

The man stepped forward. The other four spread out to either side, blocking our escape.

I picked up the Horn Rabbit at my feet, secretly cast Heal on it, then held it out.

"...Here you go."

"Hey, runt, at least you know what's what. You'll live a long time."

With that, the men walked away, laughing.

"Hey! Noah, what the hell was that for?"

Lyle came over to confront me.

His anger and frustration were plain on his face.

"Calm down."

I continued in a low voice.

"There are five of them, and they're older than us. If we get hurt and can't work, we'll end up as slaves."

Lyle's expression wavered slightly.

He clenched his fists and fell silent.

At last—

"...Damn it."

He spat the words out, then reluctantly nodded.

Kai, too, stayed silent, looking unconvinced.

But Kai didn't argue.

Kai must have understood the situation.

Elena broke the tense silence.

"Well, it's just one rabbit."

She clapped her hands.

The sharp sound was carried away by the wind.

"Let's get back to hunting."

With those words, the tension eased.

After that, things went smoothly. We took down three more and stopped for a short break by the river.

The water was clear, making a soft sound as it flowed over the stones. The wind was cool, and the sweat slowly cooled on our skin.

We watched the river ripple by while we waited for our prey to cool.

"Things are so much more efficient with you around, Noah."

Lyle smiled, looking satisfied.

His smile was so cheerful that it seemed to erase all his frustration from earlier.

"Hey, Noah, can you use magic?"

Elena leaned closer to peer at me.

"Why do you ask?"

I tilted my head.

"You use mana when you scout, don't you? And did you do something just now, too?"

—Now that I think about it, Elena had Magic Detection.

"Yes. You noticed?"

I replied with a smile.

"My magic is a little unusual, and it's not much use in combat... But you might see something interesting when we get back."

With that, I stood up.

When we returned to the Guild, there was a commotion at the delivery counter.

"Why should we have to pay for it?!"

The five men from earlier were shouting in protest.

"Why wouldn't you? You brought in a rotten Horn Rabbit, and when it burst, it ruined the rest of the meat!"

The clerk spat out the words.

—It went better than I'd expected.

When I'd handed over the prey, I'd used Heal to make the bacteria more active.

It seemed the Horn Rabbit, swollen tight with gas, had burst right there at the delivery counter.

"Two gold coins. If you can't pay right away, you'll be sold into slavery."

The clerk's voice was cold and absolute.

"That's outrageous!"

"Adventurer Regulations, Article 12: 'Interfering with business by intentionally bringing in hazardous materials.'"

"I've never heard of that!"

"It's posted behind the reception counter. It's your fault for not reading it."

"But... we can't read!"

Their angry shouts were cut off by the men who appeared from the back.

"Take them away."

The five men were dragged off despite their futile resistance.

Watching them go, Elena let out a quiet breath and exchanged glances with Kai.

"...Wait, Noah, was that your doing?"

I answered their questioning looks with a smile.

I was more interested in the regulations.

—The Adventurer Regulations, huh.

I'd have to check them over carefully later.

"Oh, it's you guys. Hold on. Those idiots made this table unusable."

The clerk noticed us and quickly started clearing off a table farther inside.

"All right, bring them over here."

Lyle lined up the Horn Rabbits he'd killed on the table.

"You guys handled them perfectly. Take this appraisal slip to the counter."

With that, the clerk handed us the appraisal slip.

While Lyle collected our reward at the counter, I looked toward the area behind reception.

Sure enough, the Adventurer Regulations were posted on the wall behind it, written on parchment.

I skimmed through them and spotted an interesting passage.

Perhaps I could use it to expand my options as an adventurer.

"Then, after the deduction, that'll be one silver coin and two large copper coins."

The clerk held out the coins.

"Um, I'd like to use the reference room mentioned in the Adventurer Regulations."

When I asked, the clerk looked surprised.

"Oh? You can read? All right. The fee is one silver coin."

"Wha... That's way too much!"

Lyle groaned despite himself.

"I understand. That's fine, right, Lyle?"

When I asked him, Lyle nodded, though his shoulders drooped a little.

"Well, if that's what you want... What we earned this morning is enough to cover the inn, anyway..."

His hand lingered as he returned the silver coin to the clerk.

"Then take this. It's in the annex."

I accepted the wooden tag he held out and turned around.

"I'll go look at the materials, so you can head back first."

"Yeah, don't be too late."

The three of them waved goodbye with smiles and left the Guild.

Alone, I quietly headed for the annex next door.