Forgotten Gourmet Hunter

After eating his fill of the spider meat, Gerald decided to purge any remaining strugglers inside the cave to prevent any future troubles.

After cleaning up, he took a few spider legs and tied them in a bundle, and fastened them to his back.

From the distance, it looked like he was carrying a few logs instead of legs. They were big and heavy, which slowed him down considerably on his return trip.

During one of his many rest stops, he once again timed his recovery to see if there was any change after killing the Broodmother.

What he discovered gave him a nice surprise. His Mana recovery increased to 6.5 MP/min, jumping up by a whole 0.3 MP/min!

"Wait, what?! It changed so much?" He opened his eyes wide in disbelief, but thinking further about it, it made sense.

Xilia already told him how older people were better at controlling magic, so it made sense if more mature animals followed the same principle.

That meant that the thousand small spiders combined were worth less than a grown-up Broodmother!

After contemplating on the discovery, Gerald realized that the growth he experienced after drinking the first few Mana Elixirs probably came because of the death of the Earth Dragon.

If that was the case, it meant that killing stronger opponents would bring many more benefits than killing some weak young animals.

"Huh, this is weird… As far as I know, other people don't have this ability to absorb the 'mental strength' of defeated enemies. I wonder if it has anything to do with me being teleported from Earth?"

Unable to come up with any good explanations, Gerald focused his energy on recovering faster and he was soon gliding through the skies once more.

The first thing he did after arriving back in the town was to get his hands on a few dried spices before heading to the Guild to finish the job.

He tried to act as unassuming as possible and from the talk with the receptionist he discovered that to get the reward one had to go and meet the Lord who set it up, personally.

The latter was apparently unsatisfied with the degree of competence the warriors displayed and decided to handle the distribution of the reward by himself. That way he could make sure the job was done properly before paying.

The Lord's residence was out of town, on a hill to the west, not too far away. If you would connect Freka, Spider cave, and the Lord's mansion with straight lines, you would almost get an equilateral triangle.

As such, Gerald had to travel the same distance once again.

"This running back and forth is really…" He rubbed his glabella in frustration before deciding to get a room at the Guild and only start on the road in the morning.

Another spider's leg disappeared that evening and Gerald almost cried from the heavenly taste of the meat.

"If just a spider tastes so good already, I wonder if other monsters will be the same? I can't wait to try them!" He came to a decision that night, and that was to have a taste of all beasts he would get his hands on going forward.

***

Lord Tullius Woodsen was the man that set the bounty on the infamous Broodmother. As a member of the lower-ranked nobility, he was placed in an awkward situation.

His status was higher than common folk, as such, he didn't often associate with them, but at the same time, he was also shunned by the higher nobles, excluding him from their high-standing parties and friendly competitions.

For those reasons he often found himself bored to death, as there weren't many people of the same status with whom he could have some fun.

But there was one thing that always cheered him up, and that was hunting. Nothing could beat the thrill of silently stalking his prey for hours, to then capture or kill it, for it to be added to his trophy collection, or be turned into a pet.

But even this simple hobby went awry a few months ago. A powerful beast made its nest in the middle of his hunting ground, driving most wild game away and making it increasingly difficult to hunt.

He already tried to kill the beast by himself, but when he saw the horrendous face of the Broodmother, and after his arrows simply bounced off the extremely tough exoskeleton, he decided to request for professional help.

But who would know that the warriors in the surrounding area were even more useless than him? Some miserable people even came close to losing their lives by being overconfident. And after the young spiders were killed, the blasted Broodmother would devour even more animals in the area, making the whole situation even worse.

He even increased the prize money, but nobody came even close to clearing out his problem.

"My Lord, a man is at the door requesting your presence. He said it's about Lord's spider problem," the butler calmly reported to his master, who was relaxing on a sofa.

The old Lord's eyes opened wide in anticipation and he swiftly jumped up, "Did someone finally do it? Or did they make even more of a mess than the last time?"

After a moment of happiness, the old Lord Tullius Woodsen's face scrunched up after remembering the last report. After the previous team went inside the cave, a few days later the animals, especially birds, almost disappeared from his lush forest.

"He did not say…" the butler answered with uncertainty.

Tullius Woodsen decided to take a quick look to satisfy his curiosity and also because he was bored. Even if things were bad, at least he could be angry about it…

Still better than having nothing to do.

The mansion he was living in was at the edge of a forest, surrounded by trees from all sides except the front. Silver-like gray cut stone made most of the building, with parts around windows and doors being made out of white limestone.

Green vines snaked up the walls, giving the place an ancient look, with large glass windows that only the rich could afford.

At the front door, a figure in a dark gray cloak stood, with most of the face and body hidden behind the rough cloth.

"Who might this friend over there be?" the Lord asked with a polite smile, as expected of a nobleman.

Gerald, hidden under the hood, spoke a few short words. "The Broodmother is no more. I'm here for the gold."

"Oh?" The Lord was pleasantly surprised, but he quickly became suspicious. The man before him was alone, did he single-handedly take on the nest and the beast inside?

"This friend… It's not that I don't believe you, but do you have any proof? Otherwise, we will have to go and check the cavern…"

Gerald wordlessly shook his body and a cloth bag fell off his shoulder. With a light tug, the head of the Broodmother came rolling out.

"Oh! Is this… Is that the beast's head? I have never seen it up close!" Lord Tullius Woodsen was amazed and fascinated by the scary face with giant fangs and multiple evil eyes.

He carefully picked up the head, like he was holding the most fragile treasure in the world.

"The gold…" Gerald reminded.

"Yes, of course…" The old Lord gave an order to his butler, and the latter soon came back with a money bag.

Gerald casually counted the coins to confirm the amount. With the twenty-five shining gold pieces, his investment in the cannon was more than doubled already.

"I will have to ask you to return the head, please," Gerald said and opened the cloth sack towards the Lord, gesturing him to put the spider head in.

The old Lord made an unwilling expression and gripped the head tighter, "Why? Isn't this the proof for the job? I already paid, why would I have to give it back?"

Gerald nodded under the hood and stated, "It is indeed the proof, but the pay was for the extermination, I don't remember the dead beast being a part of the deal. I plan to keep it as a trophy, so please, don't be difficult!"

"But…" The old man made a face like he was forced to give away part of his soul. Then suddenly, an idea was born in his mind.

"Wait! What if you sell this to me? I won't let you take a loss on this deal!" His eyes were wide open, without blinking, as he stared at Gerald and waited for his answer.

"Sell it?" Gerald made a gesture like he was thinking deeply about it.

"Alright, that could work… What's your offer?"

As if a weight was lifted off his chest, the old Lord's mood lifted and a genuine smile surfaced on his face. "It's a rare and unique creature and I'm also feeling generous, fifty gold coins!"

"Fifty gold coins?!" Gerald asked in disbelief. 'That's so much! I expected ten, maybe twenty, but this…'

"It's not enough?" Lord Tullius Woodsen made a complex expression and then gritted his teeth and said, "I… I can offer you… One hundred gold coins! But that's the most I can do, I'm only a small countryside Lord after all. My finances aren't that good."

He made a hopeful expression, afraid Gerald would reject him.

"Deal!" Gerald shouted immediately, afraid the old man would change his mind.

As such, the transaction was soon completed, and Gerald flew away as soon as the mansion disappeared from his view.

"I have really struck it rich this time!" The Lord even offered to buy any exotic animals from him, dead or alive, should Gerald get his hands on any.

He, of course, made no promises, but it was always good to know where he could get some easy money in the future.