Published: August 2, 2025
After seeing off everyone from the Duke's household, I headed toward the abandoned mine shaft, running as part of my training. Along the way, I noticed an unusually large number of adventurers and recalled the grell frogs.
Since it was on the way, I thought I’d check the situation and maybe catch a few more.
With that in mind, I took out my chest waders from the Item Box and made my way to the swamp.
“There sure are a lot of people…”
That was my first impression upon arriving at the swamp. There were probably over a hundred people within sight. It seemed like people were also gathering at another swamp, so even more must have been there…
As I scanned the swamp, I noticed several people wearing coveralls and chest waders. Looks like those are selling pretty well. …Oh.
A group of five caught my eye. They were all wearing coveralls and chest waders, and their faces looked familiar.
They were the adventurers who had sold me bloody slime before—the five from Shikum’s pier. Since I had the chance, I decided to approach them and say hello.
As I got closer, I noticed something was up. Mr. Kai looked a bit upset, and the others were lightly patting his back, reassuring him not to worry and that it couldn’t be helped.
“Hello.”
“Hm? You’re Ryoma-kun from before, right? Thanks again for your help.”
“No, no, I got some good slime myself, so it worked out.”
Just then, the guy who had been drunk last time stepped forward.
“You’re the one who bought that slime, huh?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“Right. Sorry about that last time. I’m Sain. I apparently got drunk and caused a scene. I don’t remember much because I’d had too much to drink… But thanks for buying that slime and for the great tip you gave me.”
His demeanor was completely different from last time. When drunk, he was just a sloppy drunk, but now he seemed genuinely serious.
“No worries. But what’s going on? Kai looked a bit troubled.”
“It’s nothing too serious, but a bit of a problem. Before that, let me introduce these guys.”
Kai gestured to the two who had helped carry Mr. Sain last time. He put his hand on the shoulder of a shorter one and said,
“This is Kei, my younger brother.”
“I’m Kei. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too.”
“And this is—”
“Peyron. Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.”
“You know we five form the party called Shikum’s Pier, right?”
“Yes.”
“Actually, we used to be fishermen.”
Fishermen? That was fine, but why bring it up now? Then Mr. Shin took over the explanation.
“Sorry, Kai’s not great at explaining. I’ll take over from here.”
Mr. Shin explained that Shikum is a village by the largest lake in this country.
They grew up there and, being former fishermen, were skilled with nets. Although working in mud rather than water felt a bit different, they were able to catch grell frogs more easily, quickly, and in greater numbers than other adventurers.
They had apparently made a fortune recently and had already caught over 20 grell frogs today. But…
They’d briefly looked away from the basket holding the captured grell frogs, and someone had swapped it out. The basket was supplied by the Guild, and many others had the same type, so they had no idea who did it.
“I see, someone stole your catch.”
“Maybe…”
That ambiguous answer made me curious. Then Kei brought the basket and showed me. It contained over 20 grell frogs, but they were all weak. Two or three were injured and barely clinging to life.
“Actually, there are more frogs in this basket than the original one…”
“Probably some amateur caught them badly. They’re weak because of poor handling. Weak grell frogs lose value, and dead ones are worth even less. If we head back to town now, they might die on the way.”
“And ours were swapped for those, even though ours were in good condition.”
“It’s not like we can’t catch more, but it was still unpleasant.”
I understood… then I had an idea!
“Do you know how much you’d get if you sold these?”