"Very well, I need an explanation! And I want it now!"
The voice that rose amidst the confusion was from Lucille Allard, Ferdinand's secretary and currently chosen to represent him in his absence. She had never imagined that her brief time as interim boss would be so turbulent. Just a few moments away from the reception room was enough for the place to become a real chaos. She needs to fix this, and in the name of Ferdinand, she will.
"Lilou, are you calmer?"
"Yes…"
"Then tell me what happened."
"Well… this girl came towards me and then I started my service, but that's when the rooster in her possession jumped off her shoulder, and… started dancing for me." - Lilou managed to say everything in one breath, although her face was still as red as the ripest of tomatoes in a basket.
"Now it's your turn, young lady. My name is Lucille Allard and I'm currently in charge of the guild in Mr. Gautier's absence. Who are you and how can we help?"
"Uh... My name is Inako. I came from far away, and I'm here to sell some monster items."
"I see. But what about this animal? What's it doing here?"
"It's my pet, miss. It's tame, but I think it's interested in the attendant. It did that to show off, I guess."
"An animal flirting with a human..."
"Miss, I know he acted wrong, but please don't hurt it! I promise it won't happen again!"
"It's okay. It's true that he made Lilou uncomfortable, but he didn't cause her any danger. I won't take any action about it, just keep it well-behaved."
"Yes, miss!" - Inako thanked him with a relieved smile as she hugged Rikko.
"It seems we escaped a bad one. Sorry about that, Inako."
It's okay, Mr. Rikko. I know you didn't mean any harm. - Inako replied in a low voice.
"So everything is settled. Let's leave what happened in the past. And that goes for all of you, understand?" - Lucille said, looking at the other attendants and the adventurers who made fun of the situation.
"Yes, miss!" - All those pointed out answered in unison.
"That's better. So, Inako. What do you have for us?"
"It's big, miss. It won't fit on the counter."
"Big? How big?"
"I'll show you."
Rikko was quick to respond. When Inako extended her hand, the item box opened immediately. Two huge snake fangs fell onto the counter to everyone's astonishment.
"Wow, are those Indigo Serpent fangs? Look at the size of them!" - Said an adventurer.
"Lilou, analyze."
"Yes, miss!"
After a few moments of evaluation, the attendant gave her opinion:
"Confirmed. They are Indigo Serpent fangs. The venom deposits are full and the venom is fresh."
The adventurers present were astonished. Apparently it was very difficult to get venom-laden fangs, and even full ones at that. Indigo Serpents usually release their venom jet as soon as they begin their attack.
"The venom of these snakes is very valuable to us. If I'm not mistaken, you said you had something else. Can you put it right here on the floor? We'll find a way to collect it later." - Lucille said, looking seriously at the attendants who had recently left Lilou alone.
"I'm going to need more space, Miss."
"More than that? How much?"
"Hmmm…"
Inako looked around the room while thinking. Then she pointed to the tables where the adventurers had been sitting.
"This whole part."
"…? Are you serious?"
"Yes, Miss."
Surprised that Inako had confirmed the need for more space up to that point, Lucille gave the order.
"All adventurers! Grab the tables and chairs and take them outside!"
Soon all the furniture that was in the way was out of the way. The adventurers who were curious returned, but now they were standing along the walls so as not to get in the way.
"Very well, Inako. Now it's your turn."
Inako moved her hand again, and then, the decapitated corpse of a gigantic snake took up almost the entire hall. The sound of the body hitting the floor caused a crash loud enough to frighten the people passing by the front of the guild at that moment.
"AAAH!" - Lilou screamed in fright.
"WOW!"
"Look at the size of that thing!"
"The skin and scales are really clean!"
"Who could have killed it?"
Lucille gestured with her hand for silence, and after meticulously observing the corpse, she turned her attention back to Inako.
"I don't even need to ask Lilou to analyze it. There's no way this huge body isn't an Indigo Serpent. I'd even say there's never been one this big around here. Now I need to ask: Who killed this snake? Was it you?"
"Huh? Me?"
"Oh crap! I didn't plan this with her!"
"You're not going to tell me you killed this snake all by yourself, are you?"
"Ehhh, well…"
"Inako! Inako! Make something up, but don't say it was me! Don't say it!" - said Rikko.
"So… Miss. I was working temporarily with the adventurer group Les Intrépides as a healer. But we were attacked by a horde of monsters during the mission, and they ended up dying. I was the only one who survived, but I only managed to escape thanks to their help."
"Les Intrépides… yes, I've heard of them. They're originally from Margaux. It's a shame they died. I see now, you're selling the remains you managed to bring with you to survive. That's fair. Do you have an adventurer's license?"
"No, miss. They basically picked me up off the streets. I came from Sake, a country far to the west of here."
"I imagine you must have had a good reason to come from so far away."
"Yes, I do. But for now, I need to sort out my money problems before I can deal with what I came to do."
"I understand. Lilou, please make the appraisal."
"Yes, miss. We have leather, the skin beneath the leather, meat, fangs, and venom. All together… that's eight gold coins in total."
Inako couldn't hide her surprise.
"All that? Miss Lilou, are those things really worth that much?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Lilou is one of our best attendants. If there's one thing she's never been wrong about since joining the guild, it's her calculations. You can trust her completely," said Lucille.
"Yes! Thank you, Miss Lilou!"
"Hmm, it was a pleasure to help."
"Inako, as Lilou said, your reward is eight gold coins. Do you agree?" Said Lucile.
"Yes, I accept!"
"Very well. Follow Lilou to the payment counter, the girls will pay your reward. Isn't that right, girls?"
"Y-yes, miss!" - The three attendants who were waiting for an after-hours lecture nodded fearfully and stumbled to get the required money.
"And boys... since you all have enough free time, how about giving us a hand carrying this snake to the sorting shed? Now, if that's possible."
"Yes, Miss Allard!"
"You're the boss!"
"Wow, that's heavy! We're going to have to drag it."
"I said carrying. I don't want to see the floor dirty. Do you understand?" - With that, Lucille made it very clear what the punishment for the group was after all the funny things they had done.
"IIIIIRGH! YES, MISS!" - With an almost unison response, they held the enormous body above their heads and carried it outside, scaring the passersby who were terrified by the scene.
"Here you go, Miss Inako. Eight gold coins in total. Do you confirm receipt?"
"Yes! Thank you very much!"
Lilou placed a small tray with eight coins on the counter, which were checked by Inako. She bowed in thanks. Lucille, who had just verified that the adventurers had delivered the snake's corpse to the warehouse, had returned.
"Inako, that's a considerable amount to carry around. Would you like to register as an adventurer and open an account with us?"
"Oh, yes! It would be very useful to us - I mean, to me."
"Inako, now is our chance. Talk to her about your problem." - Rikko, who until then had only been watching the reward being received, perched on the counter, commented.
"Oh,really!"
"…? What is it, Inako?"
"Miss Lucille, I need to tell you something. I have a problem that needs to be solved as soon as possible."
"Well, if it's a problem that our guild can solve, we'll be happy to help. What do you need?"
"Really? Thank you very much! Well, what I need is-"
"STOP THERE, GIRL!" - A familiar voice burst through the main door and invaded the place.
"Huh?"
'Holy shit, not again…" - Rikko was not at all happy when for the third time he found himself with the adventurers from Coeur de Lion entering through the door led by Jean, who was furiously pointing his axe at him.
Going back a little in time that same morning, we found the Coeur de Lion group sitting in the main hall of the inn. They had just woken up and were waiting for Claire to come down from her room. Jean was sharpening his axe with a special stone sitting on the porch outside. Axel was dozing in a chair with a visible drool mark on his mask. Henri was taking advantage of the wait by reading one of the books arranged on a shelf while Amélie finished her prayers for the day.
"Tsk! Claire is taking too long up there! I want to go have my breakfast right away! I won't be able to do anything until I've filled my belly!" - Jean complained incessantly.
"Don't be in a hurry, Jean. Boiled eggs and sweet potatoes don't usually run away after they're prepared." - Henri replied, ironically.
"Oh, don't come on! I know your stomach is growling too! Brioches with honey are really tasty in the morning, aren't they?" - He retorted.
"I admit it, but remember that yesterday Claire promised us that she would analyze the feather I collected from that rooster. She should be down any moment."
"AND I DID, ACTUALLY!"
"…?"
They were taken by surprise, to the point that Axel fell off his chair and Amélie gasped. And there was Claire, at the top of the stairs leading to the second floor, in a triumphant tone.
"DAMN, what a scare! I was sleeping so well…"
"You've already slept too much, Axel! And now I, Claire Laurent, proudly come to announce the result of my analysis!"
"OOOOH! Finally! Just spill it already!" - Said Jean, rushing through the door.
"Humpf! You should be more grateful that I took the trouble to investigate this! But anyway… it's confirmed! That rooster has the same mana signature as that tree trunk!"
"AAAAARGH, I KNEW IT! Right now I'm going to make mincemeat of that animal! And just in time for my breakfast!"
"At least leave the thighs for me, Jean! I love roasted thighs." - Axel said.
"T-that's horrible." - Amélie said, covering her ears so as not to hear any more threatening words.
"Calm down a bit, both of you. Even though we're sure now, we still don't know the rest of the story. I don't want anyone jumping to conclusions."
"Damn it, Henri! It's hard to know which side you're on! My axe is heavy and I need to lighten that weight with something!"
"All in good time. Claire, I trust you're one hundred percent right."
"You bet! One hundred percent sure!"
'Did you discover anything else?"
"I did the analysis focusing my skills to the maximum, so I was able to determine that the mana sources were identical. But that wasn't what caught my attention."
"Hmm, so there's more?"
"Yes. A duality."
"...duality?" - The three listeners answered at the same time.
"No wonder they found it strange, I thought so too. For some reason, that rooster doesn't have just one, but two distinct sources of mana that complement each other. A true and complex tangle of mana."
"And that means that…?" - Axel asked, still confused.
"That this is definitely not normal. There's no way of knowing how a second source of mana ended up in the animal, but it was something done by magic, I can tell you that much."
"So that means we have a rooster walking around with unknown magical abilities." - Henri said.
"I would say a monster." - Claire replied.
"M-monster…" - Amélie sighed.
"If it's a monster, then we can kill it and it's all good!" - Axel said, wielding the axe. - "Let's go get that thing!"
"Hey, hey, hey! Slow down there, wall of flesh! I never said it was evil!"
"And does that make a difference now? And don't call me a wall of flesh!"
"Yes, there is, because if you go after him and he doesn't end up being a threat, you'll end up being incriminated, is that what you want?"
"G- God Asclen doesn't like those who hurt without reason." - Said Amélie, once again challenging her own shyness.
"Tsk! It's one problem after another, and all I wanted to do was squeeze that thin little neck!"
"Okay, now that we know all this, what do we do?" - Asked Axel.
"First of all, let's have breakfast. Then we have to go to the guild and report what we found out." - Said Henri.
"Exactly! I barely slept last night, and if I don't have breakfast, I think I might go crazy." - Said Claire.
"Breakfast will be for later! Let's go to the guild right away, I'm dying to put that damned rooster on the wall, and... OOPS!"
Before he could finish his sentence, Jean was forcibly silenced by Claire pointing her staff directly at his nose. The shock caused him to drop his axe noisily, nearly destroying the wooden floor of the inn.
"BREAKFAST. Do you understand?"
"Yes, miss."