The King

I was King Rodolphin-Carnel-Dl-Tion, King of Tion.

I was very troubled.

The reason for this is that too many uncommon problems had been occurring one after another in recent years.

Dragons are attacking, Evilbore and many other dangerous demons are strutting about.

Furthermore, some of the Knights of the Order had a coup d'etat... no, I'd say this was prevented, but for some reason they had turned themselves in.

And the legendary demon's dark leap........

In each case, a once-in-a-decade event occurred in a few months.

It's nothing short of extraordinary.

Isn't this country cursed?

"Your Majesty, please don't speak out so often.

The Prime Minister, who has heard me talking to myself, comes in with a complaint.

Come on, let me complain.

I know, I know. I won't do it where I belong.

The only people present in the office right now are the owner of the room, I, and the Prime Minister who came to report to him. 

And now this....

'Yes, sir, that's it. It seems to be going a lot faster than we expected.

Originally, we should have had a few more decades to spare, but no more.

"I was hoping you would at least be quiet during my reign...

Of all things, it's utterly abominable that even that thing is starting to move.

"Demon.....

You're not going to be able to do that.

We get a lot of requests to take out demons, don't we?

'Well, that's a lot of poisonous demons too.

After finishing the request, we looked at the request board while waiting for the assessment of the demon materials we hunted on the way.

According to Liliera-san, even if we didn't plan to take the request, checking the request board and gathering information was an essential skill for adventurers.

In fact, even though everyone was fighting over the requests in the morning, there were many requests to defeat poisonous demons stuck on the request board that had only leftovers.

''Poisonous demons are tricky because they need poison removal. Besides, there are multiple poisonous demons listed in every request. No, all you're left with are those troublesome requests.

Are you still there?

Yes, the kind of poisonous eradication you prepare depends on the type of poison, so they don't want to take it unless they have a party of monks who can use poison removal magic that can deal with any poison.

'Huh? If that's the case, why don't you use the Universal Poison Eradication Potion?

'It's not worth it if you're buying such an expensive potion. See, most of your clients are in the village, right? We're not getting paid very well, and we're losing money.

'What? But if it's just the demons on the request list, I think a low-level all-purpose poison eraser should be enough to deal with them. Then this reward is profitable enough for me. As I recall, the ingredients for the lower level universal poison eraser are...

Wait a minute, Mr. Lex! Don't say any more!

And suddenly Liliera-san covers my mouth.

'Mugu?'

'Don't just try to say something great. We're in a guild.

Huh? What's the problem in the guild?

''Well, you know, Lex is really a.... lower level universal poisoner? I don't know if you know how to make the "I don't know," but if you try to eat a recipe for a drug that isn't even on the market, people will be copying it in a heartbeat.

Saying that, Liliera-san looked around, and the adventurers around her turned their faces away at once.

Ah, even the guild staff.

Could it be that they were all listening to us?

''Lex-san is one of the few S-ranked adventurers on the continent, so the information that comes out of his mouth may be obvious to Lex-san, but to those around him, it could be priceless information.

No, no, I don't think it's worth that much for a mere low-grade universal poisonous eraser.

That's where Liliera-san says with a hush in her voice, ''Good Lex-san.

''Good Lex-san. We don't know anything about a low-level all-purpose poisonous eraser. I don't know where you got the knowledge, but we don't know.

Doesn't everyone know about the lower-level universal poisoner? How can that be possible?

In a previous life, it was so common knowledge that not only the priest of the church, but kids from downtown used to make their own food and deliver it to the store to make ends meet.

''And with a demon of this level, the village isn't in danger right now. If you're patient for a little while, patrolling knights will come to inspect the villages in the territory, and if you inform them, the knights will take action. That's what the tax is for.

So, when the villagers are in trouble with demons, they can turn to the Knights of the Order.

My village kills monsters on its own, so I've never been attacked by a monster that I can't rely on the Knights of the Order.

My village is very fortunate.

''It's not like that guy who attacked our village, it's not a demon that can't be handled by the Knights, nor is it an untouchable monster. It's just that there's hope that they can do something about it, these people are better off...

Liliela-san muttered as she narrowed her eyes.

That's right, Liliela-san's village was attacked by the Venom Rex, which has a deadly poison, and they had a serious problem.

''........But then, even more so, shouldn't we teach the people of the village how to make a low-grade universal poison extinguisher?''

What?

'It's true that the demons on the request board may not be as threatening as the Venom Rex. But making a request means that everyone is still in trouble. If that's the case, we should spread the word about the low-grade Universal Poison Eradication concoction so that we can help those in need as much as possible.

I don't know if the concoction method of the lower-grade universal poison eraser has really disappeared from the world.

Maybe it's just a coincidence that in the area around the Forest of Demonic Beasts where Liliella-san had been working for many years, there was no need for low-grade all-purpose poison eradication and no one knew how to prepare it.

But if there are people who are in trouble with the demon's poison, like Liliella and the others in the past, then I don't think it's wrong to want to help them.

Besides, it's just a recipe for a low-grade universal poison extinguisher concoction!

Mr. Lex you are truly a softie.

Liliella-san let out a sigh as if she was dumbfounded, but her face was filled with obvious relief.

I knew Liliera-san was also worried about her clients, right?

Even if she could get them to do something if she waited, she'd still be worried in the meantime.

''Hmm, but how do we go about spreading the recipe for the medicine concoction to the village that's requesting it? If you're going to go all the way to the village, you might as well get the request all together.

Well....

'In that case! Let us, the Adventurer's Guild, take care of it!

''Wow!''

Suddenly, it was the receptionist who came running from the reception desk, out of breath, talking to us.

''I've heard your story. In that case, by all means, let us distribute the medicine through the Adventurer's Guild!

Through the guild?

Yes, through the guild! We, the Adventurer's Guild, have branches all over the world, so when a client comes to us for a job, we can immediately sell the low-grade universal poisonous eradicator that Lex-san was talking about!

'Well, I was going to publish the recipe for the potion concoction, but...'

Yes, I understand what you're saying. But even if there are recipes for making medicines, it doesn't mean that the ingredients are always there. There may be lands where only some of the ingredients are missing, or where demons have devoured the herbs! Furthermore, I think there are some villages where there are dangerous demons in the forest that can't be harvested, or villages that don't have the human resources to prepare them in the first place!

I see. Well, I suppose you're right.

''That's where we, the Adventurer's Guild, come in. We can always ask adventurers to collect from us at all times, so we can always have ingredients for medicines, and we can use that as a new source of income for new adventurers!

Oh, that's one way to think about it.

It's certainly a good thing that the newcomers can get paid and the guild can always have the ingredients for medicine.

''Wait a minute, that would only benefit the guild and not Lex-san.

And that's where Liliera interrupted the conversation.

''Yes, I understand that, of course. Therefore, the guild is going to pay Lex-san a portion of the proceeds of the medicine sales.''

You'll pay me for the recipe in exchange for secrecy.

''That's right. The profit per poison eraser will be negligible, but if it works against any poison, many adventurers will buy it just in case. If it piled up, it would be quite a lot of money. Don't you think that the unearned income from that would be a great source of income after Lex-san retires as an adventurer!

I'm retired?

Suddenly he talks about retirement and I'm amused.

'Yes, the adventurer's job is dangerous. There is a high risk that one day you will suddenly get seriously injured and won't be able to continue your adventurer's work. In such a case, wouldn't life be a lot easier if you had the money you could get from your contract with us?

As I recall, in the adventures of the great swordsman Rygaard, there was a story about a great adventurer who was forced to retire at a young age due to his injuries.

He was drunk, but Reiguard asked him many times to teach him the technique he used to be good at when he was in active duty, and he had no choice but to teach him.

And thanks to the skills he taught Reiguard, he was able to accomplish a difficult request, and the guild hired him to mentor the newcomer.

The receptionist is negotiating with me to make sure that I won't have any trouble making a living even if I have to retire in the future, just like that amazing adventurer, right?

Well, if that's what you mean, I can understand.

Liliella seemed to agree with the receptionist's explanation.

''I understand. If that's the case, I'll give you the recipe for a low-grade all-purpose poison eraser that I know. However, it's only a low-grade poison eraser, so it won't be effective against strong poisons, right?

Yes, I know that, sir! I'll explain it to you at the time of sale!

'Oh, but what happens to regular poisoners? If the lower level universal poisonous eraser spreads, won't sales of that one go down and cause resentment from a lot of places?

Huh? That's scary!

It's enough to make me resent you because of your interests, just like in my previous life!

Don't worry, we'll separate the two by making the price different. As long as it's more expensive than the individual poison pills, you'll be fine.

The receptionist easily resolved Liliera-san's concerns.

Hmm... she's an excellent problem-solver as she deals with rough people on a daily basis.

It's just like the receptionist of the Adventurer's Guild of the King's Capital.

This is how I was able to continue to receive a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the medicine by commissioning the Adventurer's Guild to sell low-grade universal poisonous erasers.

''No, there have been a lot of demons flowing in from the corrosive land lately, so we've been having trouble! It's supposed to make dealing with the request a little easier!

Corroded Earth?

Huh? Do you remember hearing that name from somewhere?