Published: January 12, 2026
“Do you think the materials from armored lizards will sell?”
When asked that, I immediately nodded.
“Of course! You defeated armored lizards? Wonderful. They’re formidable foes even adventurers hesitate to fight!”
An unexpected windfall. To think such precious materials could be found in this village.
Feeling this, Rango and I clasped hands joyfully. I had thought it would be a huge loss, but this was a tremendous miscalculation. Thank you, God.
Rango and I, beaming, followed Lord Van toward the material warehouse he said was built near the entrance. It was a large two-story building located at the far right corner from the village entrance.
I wondered if they had taken care not to expose the materials to sunlight or rain. Admiring this, I stepped inside—and was left speechless.
“Uh, um... what’s this? Could it be that armored lizards twenty or thirty meters long showed up?”
Rango said something foolish and let out a dry laugh. But the sight before us was hardly laughable.
The building I thought was two stories was actually a single story with an unusually high ceiling, piled high almost touching it were the skins of armored lizards. There were also heaps of claws, teeth, bones, and piles of magic cores stacked like stones.
Seeing this, Lord Van asked with a smile.
“When we defeated about forty armored lizards, we also captured thirty bandits. I thought it might be good to have them take the materials away too. What do you think? Ah, I’ll prepare carts if needed.”
“T-this many... if you could give us some time, I’ll gather people from the trading company in a month... no, four weeks. Could you wait until then?”
“That’s fine. We’ll all enjoy the meat together.”
His words reminded me of the existence of armored lizard meat. Considering the amount of skin alone, even if the yield is said to be relatively small, it must be ten or twenty tons.
In other words, a hundred or two hundred people couldn’t consume it all before it spoiled.
“Regarding the meat... if it’s okay, can we stop by the neighboring village to sell it on the way back? It’d be helpful if you could sell it for a bit cheaper.”
At this, Lord Van raised an eyebrow.
“The neighboring village? They have enough to buy armored lizard meat?”
He wasn’t being sarcastic but genuinely curious. Smiling wryly, I held one palm upward.
“No, it’s a poor village. But they apparently can’t save any reserves if taxes are collected this year, so they’ve requested food...”
Later, if I could handle all the sales of armored lizard materials, I could recover more than enough. So, I was thinking of distributing the meat free of charge to the neighboring village.
However, Lord Van looked me in the face and shook his head.
“Most of the meat would probably rot. It’s fine to give it away for free. Also, it doesn’t seem like you’re trying to make much profit there either.”
He said this with a wry smile, and I couldn’t help but gasp.
“...That’s greatly helpful. In exchange, I’ll pay extra for taking in the bandits. Four gold coins per person.”
Twelve gold coins in total. For us merchants, that’s an extraordinary price. Buying and reselling on the spot would barely make a profit. Bringing them back from such a remote place, we’d have to sell each for just one gold coin to break even.
The nobles wouldn’t understand, but for us, this was the utmost sincerity.
In return, Lord Van lightly nodded with a smile.
“Thank you. If you keep coming to this village, I’ll make sure you never regret the deals. For example, quality armor and weapons.”
Upon hearing this, I tilted my head.
“Besides skilled architects and master carpenters, did you even bring in blacksmiths to this village?”
Surprised, Lord Van narrowed his eyes happily.
It was a magnificent sword.
Though somewhat overdecorated, the sword emanated a certain intimidating aura as a weapon.
I still couldn’t accurately judge the quality of the weapon, but at least I knew it had plenty of value as an art piece.