There were no jobs left to do, so I was originally planning on going home directly, but I decided to drop by the tamer guild. It was evening already, so there were barely any people left in the tamer guild. The reception desk was also empty. But despite it almost being closing time, the receptionist girl didnât make an unhappy face and called out to me.
âWelcome. What may I do for you today?â [Receptionist]
âIâd like to procure some sprint rabbit meat. Iâd like to get as much as I can, but how much would be convenient for you? I can use dimension magic, so please donât worry about the transportation. Also, I caught some goblins this morning and tamed them, so Iâd be much obliged if I could receive some pointers on what to watch out for when raising them.â [Ryouma]
âUnderstood. The sprint rabbit meat needs to be checked first, so please wait for a while.â [Receptionist]
As she said that, she turned to the man that passed by behind her, and asked him to checked the store room, then she turned back to me.
âAs for the goblins, first, can you tell me what you intend to use them for?â [Receptionist]
âFor some odd jobs. Iâm managing the northern abandoned mines, so I was thinking of having them help with the farmlands and with carrying some luggage.â [Ryouma]
âLetâs start with their food then. Goblins are omnivores and can eat basically anything, so theyâll eat anything you give them. Thereâs nothing in particular that theyâre not allowed to eat, so as long as you use some common sense, you can feed them basically anything, even slightly old food. If thereâs one thing you need to be careful of, it would be âfeeding them too muchâ.â [Receptionist]
âFeeding them too much?â [Ryouma]
âYes. If you feed them too much, theyâll multiply quickly.â [Receptionist]
âThe reproductive strength of goblins is said to be their strong point. Itâs also the most dangerous part about them.â [Ryouma]
âExactly. So long as thereâs food and theyâre able to copulate, they can breed three times in a month. If youâre not careful, a horde will be upon you before you know it. Also, this isnât common knowledge, but overfeeding goblins can also make it more likely for hobgoblins and other higher variants to appear.â [Receptionist]
âI see⊠So thatâs why large hordes of goblins are dangerous.â [Ryouma]
Of course, number in and of itself is a threat, but what makes a horde of goblin really dangerous is the fact that when thereâs more of them, itâs easier to procure food, which in turn makes it easier for higher variant goblins to appear. I myself once participated in a large-scale goblin subjugation mission. At the time I was in charge of dealing with the goblins running away, but something like that was probably happening in the nests that the higher ranked adventurers invaded.
âOh? You participated in that mission during spring?â [Receptionist]
âYes, actually, I mainly work as an adventurer.â [Ryouma]
âIs that so? If you were there, then Iâm sure you must understand already, but goblins are really terrifying monsters when it comes to their reproductive strength. Itâs common for people to say things like âbefore I knew it, there was too many of themâ or âI couldnât stop higher variants from appearing and an accident occurredâ. Should your tamed monsters end up hurting others, you will be penalized along with your monsters, so please be careful. Of course, your safety is a matter of concern as well.â [Receptionist]
âThank you. Iâll keep it in mind.â [Ryouma]
âŠThe receptionist girl couldnât hide her doubts from showing on her face, but apparently, hobgoblins are much bigger and stronger than normal goblins.
Because of that there are tamers who want to feed their goblins lots of food to tame a hobgoblin, thus causing there to be many many accidents involving them. Itâs necessary to know oneâs limits and cut down the goblins when needed, but⊠I canât even see the limits of my contracts just yet, and as long as I figure out how to talk with the goblins effectively, theyâll probably be much easier to handle than the clever chickens.
I threatened them at first, but theyâre simple-minded and honest, so dealing with them should be a lot easier on the mind than the clever chickens. Moreover, the clever chickens might look like theyâre all bark and no bite, but theyâre actually a lot stronger than the goblins. Besides, Kohaku is doing his best mediating, so there shouldnât be any problems.
In fact, Iâm sure heâs working even harder when Iâm not looking, so I should really be thanking him for his efforts. Unfortunately, if I give him special treatment, the other clever chickens will get annoying, so any attempt to thank him might just end up causing him more trouble. If anything, not doing anything special for him might actually be the best thing I can do for him.
While I was thinking that to myself, the male employee from before came back and handed a small letter to the receptionist girl.
âSorry to keep you waiting. We can provide as much as 50 sprint rabbits.â [Receptionist]
âIâll take 50 then. Thereâs no need to butcher them.â [Ryouma]
âUnderstood. Weâll prepare them immediately.â [Receptionist]
At that, one hairless rabbit after another that looked like a naked mole rat was brought before me. These rabbits were also bulging with muscles like bodybuilders. They were so big that a child would only be able to carry one of them at a time.
Theyâre rabbits, but theyâre not soft at all. On the contrary, theyâre really hard, and they donât look cute. Although, depending on the person, I suppose they could still be cute, but I donât know. Regardless, thatâs what a sprint rabbit looks like.
â49, 50. And thatâs all of them. That will be 1,500 suits.â [Receptionist]
I paid the amount she asked for. It was quite affordable, really. After all, 1,500 suits for 50 rabbits comes down to 30 suits per rabbit. Thatâs about a third of a normal adultâs daily living expense.
âSprint Rabbits reproduce even faster than goblins, you see. Theyâre beast tamersâ most reliable ally when it comes to raising carnivorous monster beasts.â [Receptionist]
âAt this size and at this prize, the costs of raising beasts can also be minimized⊠By the way, can humans eat these? Iâve never seen a butcher sell them.â [Ryouma]
âTheyâre not poisonous, but youâd better not. Some financially burdened people have tried them before, but everyone always says that theyâre âdifficult to chewâ and âcanât be eatenâ. As you can see, theyâre full of muscles, so their meat will also be quite hard. Iâve heard that there are even some people whoâve broken their jaws trying to eat them.â [Receptionist]
Figures. At this price some people would have naturally also thought about eating them. Still, I canât help my curiosity. Anyway, I threw those mountain of sprint rabbit corpses into my Item Box, and went on my way after thanking the receptionist girl.
The goblins have just joined the ranks of my monsters, and I want to show to them that I intend to keep my promise this morning, so tonight, Iâll let them feast as much meat and potatoes as they want.
As for the higher goblin variants, Iâll talk to them about it.
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