Chapter 48 - Negotiation 1_2

I blocked the path of a Fallen Elf girl. In exchange, I got a sharp glare from her.

"Why are you bothering me? What do you want?"

That's a good question and should I give her an honest answer?

"... I want to be closer to you."

The end of one side of the girl's lips twitched. "I never expected a girl to say such a thing to me. I'm not interested, so, go away." The girl ignored me and walked to leave me.

A moment later, I realized the meaning of the girl's words. She thought I wanted to be close to her for a romantic reason. Whereas I... I...

Well... Maybe it wasn't a bad decision considering I hated men. Besides, I've been in a relationship with a woman in the past.

I can accept a romantic approach.

But! What I want right now is to get to know her better. A romantic relationship? I can think about that later.

"Wait, miss! Can we talk?" I followed the girl and walked beside her.

"Haa... You don't know the word give up do you?"

The girl glanced at me. A moment later she lost interest in me. She kept walking and I followed her.

"You won't leave even if I ask for it, right? So... I will entertain you. However, if you just say carp things or even further to seduce me, I'll make sure you'll regret it. Now, tell me, what do you want?"

... I fell silent after getting that question. To be honest, I just wanted to be closer to her. I said my true feelings and she didn't accept them.

Now, I don't know things to say.

Should I say I want to be her friend? No, I don't think so. If I said it, she would probably assume I was flirting with her again.

As for inviting her to chat or to lunch together... It's no different than flirting with a girl!

Think harder Eclaite!

Then, do I have to say, I want her to form a party with me? I noticed she was wearing a pretty nice green leather armor. She had a weapon and pieces of equipment that indicated that she was an Adventurer.

Hmm... That's not a bad idea. But, before I could get the Fallen Elf to make a Party with me, Kimi pulled my tail.

"Big sis! I understand that big sis wants to hire the services of a Carrier. But, should you abandon me to do it?" She said with annoyance.

"You want to hire a Carrier?" asked the girl a little surprised.

The words of the two girls brought up an idea in my head! A better idea than to invite her to form a party. At this moment, all I have to do is to follow the flow! So...

"Yes! That's right! I need a carrier!" I told the girl. A moment later, I looked at Kimi. I stroked her hair while saying, "Sorry for leaving you, Kimi."

It's pretty embarrassing and, it looks like I'm doing a bad thing.

I left my sister to pursue a beautiful girl.

Yup! That's a bad thing, I thought.

I nodded my head and promised I wouldn't do it again.

The Fallen Elf girl gave me a suspicious stare. "Why would you want to hire a carrier?"

Good question.

Hmm... What kind of answer should I give? And... I just remember, if I hired her, it would mean we were going to hunt together.

That's bad news. I haven't figured out if Smell Blocker can seal the Heart of Monster side effects. And needless to say, I can't let her see me eating the corpse of a monster.

Ugh! What am I supposed to do now?

"Hey! I'm talking to you. Don't just go silent and answer my question!"

"Ah! I'm sorry," I said spontaneously. Then I thought for a while before saying, "I need your services to process the monsters I hunt. To be honest, I can't process a monster to get material from them."

After I said my answer, the Fallen Elf girl and Kimi looked at me with their eyes wide open. They put on an expression as if they heard something crazy.

"Big sis..." Kimi said with disappointment.

"Your sister is truly unique," said the girl who walked away from us.

Seeing that, I quickened my steps to follow her. Minutes passed and we reached the plaza not far from the market. We sat on the edge of a fountain.

"What do you think? Do you want to work for me?"

The girl didn't look at me but look at Kimi. My little sister who got the look nodded and face me.

"Big sis, what this miss means by 'why big sis wants to hire a carrier' is not to ask the task she has to do. Instead, she wants to know what kind of quest big sis will take that make you need a carrier."

I blinked after getting that explanation. I don't know that and is it normal?

"So... What's your answer?" the girl asked.

"I'm planning to explore the North Forest and I need your help."

"Help to process the monsters you hunted in that forest, right?"

"Yes, that's true."

"I'm not interested."

"Yes?"

"I said I'm not interested in accepting the job offer you gave me. The North Forest was a hunting ground for novice Adventurers. And most of the monsters there were low-leveled. I won't get benefit if I accept a job from you," the Fallen Elf girl explained.

The girl then tied her long hair. After that, he started eating Dry Fruits, she mimicked my sister who enjoyed her snacks.

"What do you mean by not making a profit? We can get five silver coins if we manage to hunt down ten Vargs."

"And I can obtain twelve silver coins by hunting a Leaf Boar within the Foltian Great Dungeon. You need a lot of money to hire my services. Because after all, I am a C-Rank Carrier."

"C-Rank Carrier?"

I'm confused. That's a foreign term for me.

"A C-Rank Carrier is the same as a C-Rank Adventurer. And usually, the price of their services reaches thirty silver per day." After explaining to me, Kimi looks at the Fallen Elf girl.

The girl smiled then said, "Thirty silver is the minimum fee. If you're willing to pay me fifty silvers a day, I'm willing to work for you. Now you know that I'm out of your reach. So, give up, okay?"

Surrender? I don't think so. And she should have known that I wouldn't surrender easily.

Yes, I would say that fifty silver coins are expensive. But, I have something else that's more valuable than money! I know the existence of a Hidden Dungeon. That place would give a fortune of more than fifty silver coins. That's why...

"What if I had a treasure map.. Are you interested in finding that treasure with me? We can divide the profits in two."