VRMMO no Shien Shokunin ～Top Player no Shikakenin～

We left Albert in the training room and waited for him in the lounge.

He returned about ten minutes later with steam coming off his body.

「I’m sorry…that was unbecoming of someone my age.」(Albert)

I gave him a cup of cool water and he thanked me while drinking it all in one go.

In an instant, the steam disappeared and the sweat was gone too.

This is one part where it is like a game and things are simplified. Albert had finally calmed down.

He took a deep breath and looked at Selene-san and me.

「I have no complaints…no, that’s a poor choice of words.

…it was the best I could have asked for. I’m very thankful!」(Albert)

「We have confirmed that we have delivered the Acutus Greatsword and the Acutus Flame Axe.」(Selene)

While saying that, Selene-san bowed her head with relief showing on her face.

I told them a bit about the performance of the weapons.

「Both are first rate + 5, we also used the Durus ore you brought as materials.」(Hind)

「Heh…」(Philia)

Philia-chan voiced her admiration.

The quality (for someone like Selene-san) was so-so, but it was because the alloy was hard to handle.

Compared to the equipment that was mainstream in the game currently, the degree of difficulty was vastly different.

「In terms of performance it’s about the same as what other top class blacksmiths make. As expected, there has to be some numerical values that are not shown…I’m actually quite curious.」(Albert)

Taking out the sword from his back, Albert whispered that as he took it in his hand and looked at it.

It’s still unknown what’s the difference between our weapon and what others craft, however, I’m glad that he is satisfied with it.

It feels as if we have been rewarded for our troubles.

Then, we chatted for a while while having a snack and some tea. Finally, the Albert and daughter duo left Sala.

「Hind…next time, I’ll send you an email…」(Philia)

「Sure thing, I’ll be waiting.」(Hind)

「Hind-san…」(Riizu)

「W-What’s wrong Riizu? An email should be fine, right?」(Hind)

「…?」(Philia)

Though I have no idea what the contents of the email from Philia-chan will be…

The members that still hadn’t exchanged friend codes with them did so, and we tagged along with them until we reached the entrance of Sala.

Even though it couldn’t be compared to the Grado Turks, the parent and child duo came out of the stable carrying a rather big horse.

It seems like they will be leaving the camel they bought here.

Looks like they will be riding a horse together like they mentioned before, however, will it be able to support Albert’s weight in a long distance trip?

「Not only with our weapon, we’ve been in your care throughout our stay.」(Albert)

「Not at all, we have had a great experience too. You’ve saved us in the pyramid exploration and it was fun going together.」(Hind)

Having such words between us, we said our goodbyes.

Being inconvenient for players to travel around could be said to be one of the flaws of TB, though you could also say that it was their intent.

Though, things would definitely change if they released some means of transportation in the air.

「Well then, let us meet again, people of Migratory Bird.

…Hind!」(Albert)

「Yes? -Uwah!?」(Hind)

After I heard my name called at the end, it looked as if he had thrown something like a bag from the top of the horse.

Catching it, I felt its weight and from within, the sound of metal jingling could be heard.

When I raised my head, the horse had left behind a cloud of dust and was already at a distance where my voice wouldn’t be able to reach them.

Wondering what was going on, the others peeked at what I had in my hands. I opened it and took the contents in my hand.

「Looks like they are gold coins…and a large amount at that.」(Hind)

「Ah, there’s a letter inside. Let’s see…it’s the additional reward I promised. I won’t accept any returns. I’ll be counting on you next time…or so it says. Nununu…」(Tobi)

「I see, I got it! It’s because there’d be an high possibility that Secchan and Hind would feel bad taking it!」(Yumir)

「That’s probably the case. Quite the sharp deduction coming from Yumir-san. Considering how messy the writing is, he probably wrote it in a hurry while he was in the training room?」(Riizu)

「Most likely, he really gave us 1.000.000 G as a bonus…」(Hind)

「This is twice as much as what we agreed at the start. It’s certainly true that if he had given us this much directly, we wouldn’t have taken it…」(Selene)

Even if it was an order for fully arranged equipment, the initial price we had agreed on of 1.000.000 G was already quite high.

On top of that, Albert had given us another 1.000.000 G.

In total, we had received 2.000.000 G, it goes without saying that this was quite the amount.

Honestly speaking, we had received way too much.

「Aniki is so cool! Uhyoooooh!!」(Tobi)

「Is that the only thing you can say? However, this time I have to agree with you. Albert is so cool…」(Hind)

Everyone nodded in agreement.

It was probably because the fees for his mercenary work was high, though from what was posted in the BBS it gave the image that he was stingy…

After finishing sending them off, we returned to the guild home and returned to each one’s work.

The deadline for the item contest is close.

First off are Yumir’s Adeniums, regarding these, it’ll be close.

We had quite a few Adeniums that ranged from red to violet, however, it’s hard to say if we’ll make it in time.

Regarding the selective breeding method, it’s by crossbreeding using the magical soil found in the many forests of the Rust Kingdom.

We then use that soil to plant two different types of plants in a single pot.

Doing so, the magical soil will choose characteristics from both plants during the hereditary process…or something like that.

It’s a fantastically convenient soil as you’d expect from a game.

The pot I’m looking at right now, is the one where we planted the Adenium with another flower called Lobelia.

「What generation is this one again?」(Hind)

「Fourth…maybe? The color is questionable, but it’ll be fine by the time of the contest. Probably!」(Yumir)

「You sure are optimistic. Though it’s true that we can pick from many, wonder which ones will be done…」(Hind)

Apart from the Lobelia ones, we have other flowers in the middle of crossbreeding after all.

The speed at which they change color differs from one to another. Within those, there are also cases where the Adeniums disregard color and turn into poisonous plants or medicinal herbs.

Why they react like that is still unknown and it would be hard to find those naturally in the wilderness.

Yumir says that it’s fun to think about how each one will turn out, however, it feels as if we are drawing the lottery here.

「Hind, Hind! Look!」(Yumir)

「Hmmm…?」(Hind)

Inside the pot that Yumir presented to me, there was a red flower the color of a normal Adenium.

What is she trying to show me with this? Just when I was thinking that, I observed it and noticed that a bug akin to a honey bee was lured by the flower’s nectar and stopped inside it.

In order to not be stung by it, I took some distance from it and observed it. To my surprise, the petal the bee was on slowly closed.

The bee noticed the strange occurrence and it started to struggle, but it looked like its leg was stuck to something and it couldn’t get away.

The petal closed like that and the bee was unable to escape for eternity…

「…You, what did you plant this Adenium with?」(Hind)

「An insectivore plant! Though I have no idea what to use it for!」(Yumir)

「…」(Hind)

It can only be used as an insecticide inside our home, even I could not think of any other use for it.

Not like we could show this at the contest and there’s not much time left.

When I told her that, Yumir looked upset and she said this.

「But this Adenium, doesn’t it look just like the queen? “I’m going to eat you!”, It gives that sort of feeling. Honestly, I’m quite satisfied with the result? Let’s show this one in the contest!」(Yumir)

「She’ll get mad…if she realizes what you mean by it, she’ll definitely get mad…something like this is a no go!」(Hind)

「Eh…」(Yumir)

“I’m going to eat you!”. Yumir, who had raised both of her hands when saying that part, returned to her original position looking quite displeased.

After that, we took out the ones that didn’t turn out well. Then, we planted the ones that showed promise in pairs again.

I noted down the results of each combination with the memo function inside the game and all that was left was the simple work of watering the plants.

「Well then, Yumir. I’m taking the medicinal herbs and the poisonous ones. I’ll be leaving the rest to you.」(Hind)

「Umu, leave it to me! …There, be bathed in plenty of water, you guys!」(Yumir)

With that, I left Yumir, who had started to water the plants and headed towards the compounding room where Riizu was currently working.