I'm a Immortal Tavernkeeper, But My S-Rank Daughter Doesn't Know That!

Pyaxu, always the most effusive of the group, couldn’t contain his frustration as they walked together to the Hunters’ Association building.

"It’s unfair, Victor! You won a hero’s legendary sword and now we won’t even get recognition for what we’ve done!"

Riggilo, the more measured one, tried to calm things down. "Pyaxu, this is no time for that. Victor did what was necessary to convince us to defeat Gravisk and protect the village. Rewards come in many forms, not just material objects."

Although Riggilo’s words made sense to Orie, he was also visibly annoyed.

"Come on, cheer up. At least you have an incredible story to tell. Who else can say they’ve faced a demon and survived to tell the tale?" Victor argued.

"The hard part won’t be telling the story, but believing me back in my village." Orie said, and a bead of sweat ran down his forehead.

As they walked through the narrow streets of the village, the shops were already open, children were playing in thick clothes in the street and old people were chatting on their balconies.

Agocester had grown a lot in recent years, but it had retained the culture of a small village and when Orie, Riggilo and Pyaxu saw it again, they finally understood what they had helped to preserve.

When they arrived at the Hunters’ Association building, the place was a little more crowded than in the morning, but nothing too alarming.

Ruby, the red-haired, big-eyed receptionist, was still on her shift.

"I see you’re finally back. Did you manage to find the evil spirit?" She asked with a smile when Victor and the rest of the group stopped in front of the counter in slightly torn and dirty clothes.

"Actually..." Pyaxu raised a finger and was about to mention the demon, but Riggilo pulled him by the arm.

"Victor and Orie, take care of things around here, will you? We trust you. Pyaxu and I will wait here in the waiting room."

The white-haired hunter thanked them with a nod and looked back at Ruby.

"About your question: yes, we found the evil spirit. However, something unexpected happened." Victor began to explain. "Our cleric, Riggilo, instead of using a lethal spell, opted for exorcism magic. This not only freed the evil spirit from the woods, but also purified it, preventing us from causing it any more harm. That’s why we didn’t get the ectoplasm."

Ruby arched an eyebrow. "Exorcism? Hmm... That complicates things a bit. The mission called for an extermination, so the spirit had to be eliminated to ensure the safety of the forest, the village and the nearby farms."

Victor recognized the validity of Ruby’s observation. "Yes, we understand that now. Riggilo made this decision based on his beliefs and the nature of the magic he masters. He believes that the evil spirit will no longer pose a threat."

Orie, who had been silent until then, stepped up to support Victor’s explanation. "I believe the spirit has found its way to redemption anyway and the woods are safe again."

Ruby pondered for a moment, looking at how dirty the hunters in front of her were, and then she gave in with a smile. "Well, you’ve solved the problem anyway, right? I’ll need to report the situation to the Branch Master to decide on the release of your reward. Do any of you have an address nearby so that a letter can be sent?"

"Yes, the others and I have been staying in a rented house for a few weeks." Orie said, placing one hand on the counter. "The address is..."

As the discussion about the evil spirit’s mission continued, Victor pulled out a leather bag adorned with magical symbols from inside his worn cloak. It was a medium-sized bag, about the size of an open hand, and he looked inside it to check that everything was in order.

After Orie had finished talking to Ruby and gone to report the situation to the other boys in the group, Victor said to the receptionist:

"We also found some Blights in the forest. I heard there’s a mission to exterminate them, is that still available?"

"Yes, it is. No Rank-C outside of your group came by today to do missions, so this mission is still pending. Would you like to take it?"

"Actually, I think we’ve already completed it." Victor carefully opened the leather bag on the counter, dropping out several crystallized roses, each one emitting a soft luminescence. "These are the Blight cores we collected during our other mission. We were surprised by how many we found. It seems the woods were particularly infested."

Ruby was amazed at the number of Blight cores that came out of that small bag. She had never seen so many.

When it seemed to be over, Victor shook the bag a little and another rose fell out, then he shook it again and suddenly a black sword almost came out of the bag, but Victor caught it before it did.

"Oops, that’s not a core." said Victor and stowed the leather bag inside his torn cloak again.

"W-well, sir, it’s really surprising how many Blights you’ve killed to have obtained so many cores. It seems that the numbers of this species of monster far exceeded our expectations for this mission. I believe that this amount of cores is more than enough to prove that you have completed this. However, we only need one core to prove it, what would you and your colleagues like to do with the other cores?"

"We want to sell them to the association."

"I’m sure you’re doing the right thing. We at the Hunters’ Association can’t offer as good a purchase price as specialized stores or parallel sellers, but we can make sure that all the products and cores go to their proper destination."

"I know. Now, how much are you offering me for these cores?" Victor fiddled with the candied roses on the counter and asked.

Although inflation in the Athina Kingdom wasn’t a problem, the prices of products like this could have changed in recent years and Victor didn’t want to risk losing money just by proposing a low price in the first round of negotiation.

"There are twenty-five Blight cores here. They’re rare creatures, think about it carefully." He offered the receptionist a simple smile.

Ruby blushed slightly and looked away from the cores. "Hmm. The Hunters’ Association’s set price for Blight cores is around five silver coins per core." Ruby informed.

"I don’t think that’s a fair price for such an unusual product. The alchemists and apothecaries will buy from you for three times this amount. How would you feel about buying them for ten silver coins?"

"That would be impossible. Yes, they are rare products that will sell quickly, but twenty-five Blight cores for ten silver coins would be more than two gold coins. I’d need to inform the Branch Master and he’d have to make a request to the central office, it would take more than a week." Ruby argued, denying it with her head. "To save us the headache, I’m offering six silver coins per core and I’m at my limit."

"If you can’t afford ten, offer me nine pieces of silver then."

Ruby snorted. "Eight and that is indeed my limit. If the Branch Master knew what I was doing, he’d crack down on me."

"We have a deal." declared Victor and offered his right hand to seal the deal with Ruby, who thanked him with a smile.