The Ear's Scheme
Vera turned to me—an E-rank adventurer—and asked, "What exactly were that woman and that demon from earlier?" She was still curious about the pair we'd seen back at the Giant Hog habitat.
"The demon race possesses the power to command monsters," I said.
"Wh-what?!"
"Shh."
"Ah... y-yes..."
Eos had likely realized it the moment she laid eyes on the demon. That the demon obeying a human's orders was a slave, just like her. And that they'd used that power to drive the Giant Hogs toward the eastern farm.
"It's safe to assume the two of them are controlling the monsters together."
"Controlling monsters... Doesn't that mean those people are using them to attack the farms?"
"Exactly."
"Why the hell would anyone do something so disgusting?" Vera demanded, her face twisting in revulsion. As a knight raised with a strong sense of justice, she clearly couldn't stomach it.
"It's nothing you need to lose sleep over. It's just one of the ugly shapes human greed can take."
"You keep telling me not to think about it! Just explain it properly!"
"Knowing too much could put you in danger."
"I don't care. I want to know."
Vera only had a fragment of the picture—that 'people were attacking people'—and it was the only part gnawing at her.
"Think of this farm village as running more than just wheat fields. They're operating an adventurer farm, too."
"An adventurer farm?"
Vera flinched at the term, and Eos gave a small nod.
"If you looked at the adventurer guild bulletin board, you'd see an absurd number of requests. Under normal circumstances, that's impossible."
"Not unless someone is deliberately manufacturing them."
"Eos is correct. The woman and the demon we saw at the Giant Hog habitat earlier must have set it up on purpose."
Between the overflowing requests on the board and the presence of that demon and woman at the habitat, the answer was obvious. Most of the adventurer guild commissions in this area were intentionally created.
"It looks like humans raising human adventurers for profit."
"That's...!"
Vera's face twisted in horror at Eos's words.
This wasn't some rare or fascinating phenomenon. People could become crueler than anyone when money was involved. Especially in a lawless otherworld like this, such operations were bound to pop up.
The wealthy farm village of Kron existed because of the underground power of The Ear operating beneath it. The general store owner had said the organization's influence reached every village in the region, so turning the town itself into a profit engine wouldn't have been difficult.
"That's not something a decent person would do," Vera growled.
But from a wider perspective, it was actually beneficial for adventurers like us. Command the Giant Hogs in the forest to attack the farms. The rich landowners would naturally post requests at the guild. Adventurers would arrive, complete the jobs, grow stronger, and earn money. Then they'd spend that money in the village.
The flow of coin was perfectly, almost beautifully, efficient.
It wouldn't stop at Giant Hog requests. Ratmen. Monster locusts. Maybe even the Frog Mother inside the Waterfall Dungeon had The Ear's fingerprints on it.
"It's something only humans could come up with."
"I'd never do anything like that!"
"Not even if they offered you thousands of gold?"
"Th-thousands of gold..."
I watched Vera's righteous fury falter at the number.
"People can turn cruel at any moment for money. Nobles and royals are no exception."
"But still... making money this way..."
"Didn't you see it yourself? Thousands of adventurers visit this village every single day. Every one of them is money."
"From what I can tell, if they simply manage the monsters properly, adventurers will swarm the place like bees," Eos added.
Just as she said—if the monster requests kept coming, adventurers would spread the word and flock here in droves.
They've got quite the capable mind running things.
The Ear. I didn't know who led the organization, but they clearly had an excellent head for business. They understood human psychology and knew exactly how to use adventurers' rumors. It was like they'd turned the entire village of Kron into some twisted adventurer theme park.
"Like I said before, you don't need to worry about it. Just focus on gaining real combat experience."
"Even so... it still feels awful."
Vera understood the mechanics now, but her personality made it difficult to simply watch villains carry out their schemes with open eyes.
"Then get stronger."
"..."
"Become powerful enough to wipe out an organization like this. And while you're at it, take responsibility for all the villagers who would lose their livelihoods."
"That's... true. Getting angry when I'm still weak is just my own selfishness. I can't take responsibility for anything yet..."
Still, Vera wasn't the type to throw her entire life away for justice. A hint of the rogue adventurer in her showed as she tried to come to terms with the situation.
"Fine... I'll return to the territory. I'll go back and become stronger."
Perhaps reflecting on her own shortcomings, she announced her decision to head back.
"So you get stronger too, Black-hair."
Her words stirred something deep in my chest.
"Because if you're weak, I won't let you join me when I hunt ogres."
"Understood."
It wasn't as if I lacked the desire to grow stronger. I wanted to become powerful enough to rise above the discrimination in this world.
"Um... It's cute that you two are playing knight and all, but..."
"Hm?"
I turned toward the familiar voice. It was Syucali, standing beside Eos.
"I'm hungry."
"Syucali, when did you get here?"
"Just now."
While we'd been talking and walking, we'd already entered the village proper. Both Syucali and Eos stared at me like baby birds waiting for their mother to feed them.
"...I'll prepare something."
There was no need to make anything complicated for dinner. We could simply barbecue the Giant Hog we'd just caught. We picked out the cleanest specimen, brought it to the butcher, and received the meat already broken down by cut.
We kept the best portions for ourselves and sold the rest.
Clink. Selling the meat, leftover cuts, hide, claws, and tusks earned us twenty gold.
"Tonight we'll grill these."
"We caught it ourselves, right? This is going to be good."
"Meat is always welcome."
"Master Kang Seo-ja, I'll prepare the wrap vegetables!"
We settled into the clearing behind the inn and pulled out our cooking tools from the pack. I made a crisp salad and sauce, then began grilling the meat.
Siiiiizzle...
"Whoa... whoa..."
Gulp...
Just the sound of meat hitting the grill drew admiring noises from Eos and Syucali. They'd tasted my cooking before, so their reactions were enthusiastic.
"Why are you two so impressed? It's just grilled meat."
"Tsk tsk tsk. That's because you don't know Master Kang Seo-ja's cooking skills," Syucali said.
Eos nodded in agreement.
"His grilling style is completely different from everyone else's."
"Come on, I've never tried cold noodles or handmade dumplings, so I wouldn't know about those. But grilling meat is grilling meat, isn't it?"
"That's not entirely wrong."
I took Vera's side while continuing to grill. All I really did was control the heat properly and use spices to reduce any gamey odor before cooking. Nothing particularly special after that.
Siiiiizzle...
I placed mushrooms in the rendered fat and grilled them together, almost like frying. Once they were done, I let the meat rest briefly before placing a piece on each of my companions' plates. Then I went back to grilling more.
"Thank you for the meal!"
"Thank you, Master."
Syucali stared at the glossy hog meat with open delight before popping a piece into her mouth.
"Mmm!"
The moment she started chewing, her eyes curved into happy crescents as she gazed at me with pure affection.
Eos quietly picked up the next piece and ate it in silence. They say familiarity with a taste is a dangerous thing. She'd already finished her portion and was now staring at the grill, waiting for more.
"You two are exaggerating... nom..."
Vera put a piece of meat in her mouth and chewed.
Squish...
"!!"
Her eyes flew wide open. As she chewed the second time, she looked straight at me.
Gulp. "Wh-what is this meat juice...?"
"See? I told you it's different," Syucali laughed, clearly enjoying Vera's reaction.
"No, I didn't even grill it that differently. How can it taste like this... Om! Chew! Chew!"
Vera's hands refused to stop moving.
"The Giant Hog is simply that delicious."
"That can't be right, Master," Eos disagreed even as she chewed another piece.
"She's right. If the cook burns it, even meat this good would taste terrible."
It seemed the meat was delicious enough that both Syucali and Eos felt the need to defend my skills.
"This time let's try it wrapped~"
I wrapped the meat and salad in a fragrant leaf and took a bite.
"Ufufufu."
Syucali made disturbingly lewd noises as she prepared her next wrap.
"Master..."
Eos wrapped one for me first.
"Thank you."
I accepted it and savored the perfect harmony between the rich hog meat and the fresh wrap.
"Delicious."
It was an unbeatable combination. The herbs and seasoned vegetables cut through the fattiness of the meat, creating a cycle that made you want to eat forever.
The three of them attacked the meal with even more passion than they'd shown in battle.
"Whew~ I'm so full~"
"Thank you for the meal, Master."
"So this is Black-hair's cooking..."
All three of them sprawled on the ground, rubbing their bellies. They'd completely devoured the enormous amount of meat.
I cleaned myself with a Water Ball and changed clothes.
"Get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Black-hair, where are you going?" Vera asked, tilting her head up at me.
"I used it, so I have to earn it."
I showed her the sex request form and turned away.
"You just got here today, took a hunting request, cooked dinner, and now you're going out to earn more money..."
"Mr. Kang Seo-ja is quite diligent. And with his monstrous stamina, I've never seen him tire," Syucali said.
"Is that so..."
Vera's mind drifted to the memory of me shaking my hips all day at yesterday's campsite.
"Mmm... He really is a monster at night."
Vera's face flushed crimson as she watched the black-haired man walk into the distance.