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「A-rank monsters are the limit to what can be found in the lowest strata regular hunters can reach. After all, there appear to be no S-ranks challenging the den.」

The official report is that the other hunters have only progressed through half of the den’s area. Still, there might have been hunters that traversed beyond the 50th strata without reporting it, so who knows if this is reliable. Come to think of it, if people were to actually reach the deepest strata―Tur’s area―what would happen? They’d fight Tur… and probably lose. And will they die there, or will they be returned to the surface?

It’ll likely take centuries for mankind to actually reach Tur’s area, so we can just ask before then.

「Then is it different for you, Miss Ailneige?」
「I’m E-rank, you know?」
「Oh, right, that certainly is. My apologies.」
「The information you desire should be identifiable with your resources, is it not?」

Cielmer’s actual hunter rank; it should be easy to know with a quick inquiry. We don’t really hide how we’re A-rank. But we do hide the fact that we’ve defeated S-rank monsters.

「I understand. Now, about the magic core, if this is true, then I cannot make the final judgment on my own. It doesn’t appear to be within my financial means to begin with…」

How much money does the princess have access to? While royalty, she is low in the succession line; however, her standing should be relatively important still.

Additionally, I have no idea how much an S-rank monster’s magic core is priced. I could use the price of an A-rank core as a reference, and since we’re the ones selling, we can probably inflate the price a fair bit, and they’d still buy.

However, we’re not particularly doing this for profit, so we don’t plan on selling it at an expensive price. Still, we don’t plan on giving it for free either. We could just give it to the princess and count it as a debt of gratitude. However, there are conditions I want to set with the princess.

Since it might be better to discuss those in advance, I instructed Ciel to do so.

「Allow me to present the conditions for this transaction in advance.」
「Is it to keep the fact that this was purchased from you a secret?」
「That’s also included, but please only utilize the magic core for sorceric tools that are not exposed to anyone’s eyes.」
「Understood. It will be difficult to keep it completely away from the public eye, but we will make sure to utilize it in places only a limited few are allowed to witness.」
「I shall trust your words.」

In the end, if they use it at places accessible to more people, there’s a chance that it might get stolen, so I’m glad that she accepted.

As royalty, there should be one or two hidden contraptions they can use it for, and honestly, they can probably replace the palace’s existing energy sources with these magic cores instead.

「Now then, since you may need a sample to make an appropriate decision, I will hand one magic core over in advance. You do have a magic pouch on hand, right?」
「…! I do, but… you have multiples of that magic core?」

Princess Leshimiiya asked with a tone of bewilderment. She should understand that the fact that we possess multiple S-rank magic cores means that we are powerful enough to procure them. Well, there wasn’t any specific mention of us defeating monsters alone, so she might believe that we gathered them with multiple people. Either way, the fact that we’re at least a member of a party that can subjugate multiple S-rank monsters should hint that we’re quite capable.

I’m sure she hasn’t really doubted the power of Ailneige—of Fiiyanamia’s daughter—but it should feel more tangible with physical evidence like this.

Humans are creatures that can still get surprised even by things they should already know as information.

「I won’t divulge the exact number, but I certainly do. As such, I don’t mind if you wish to purchase as many as I have in stock.」
『What should we do about the price?』
『It might be best to have them decide the price. We don’t really know how to assess the value, and even if they end up under-pricing, it won’t be particularly painful for us.』
『Fair point.』

With a nation as the buyer, even if they under-price, they probably won’t haggle it down that badly. But now that I think about it, we should probably make things clear just in case—we’d rather avoid making this a transaction between the kingdom and Central.

We don’t want them to think that they are indebted to Central or that they are doing Central a favor.

「I’ll leave the pricing to your end. However, please remember that this must remain a private transaction with me. It will become a complicated matter if Central gets involved.」
「Understood. I’ll make sure to relay the offer exactly as you have said.」

Anyway, we’ve achieved our goal for the day, so Ciel was about to leave when the princess halted her.

「Thank you very much for your consideration.」
「It was simply a good opportunity on my part, so please don’t mind.」

*It seems like the magic core issue has been a really big problem for them*. With that thought in mind, we left the princess’ room.

◆◆◆

The magic core Miss Ailneige has shown me—one larger than any I’ve seen in my life—was left sitting on the table.

I hurriedly stored it in my magic pouch as Miss Ailneige exited the room, but this familiar magic pouch I’ve always used now feels like a priceless article that must not be touched lightly.

The truth of the matter is, it’s not as if we are immediately at risk of running out of magic cores due to the unusual stampede this time. We have reserves stored in the palace, and the establishments handling magic cores should have a fair number of stock remaining. This issue is only a problem for the royal capital area, so while it takes time to gather enough magic cores, we do have the option of purchasing from nobles with their own fiefdom.

Even so, Miss Ailneige’s offer is greatly appreciated.

That’s because, regardless of how we resolve it, it will be difficult to maintain the current living standards of the populace without great burden in our current situation.
There are even rumors of nobles using the magic core situation to steer the public sentiment against the royal palace.