Monster Meat For Dinner?!

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"I see… but what can I use when I want to buy something that cost less than a lunch and dinner?" asked Frank.

"For that, there are smaller coins, the ones that cost the less, they're still bronze coins, but smaller, these," said Clishya, showing a small coin.

"This is a quarter bronze, a bronze coin costs four-quarter bronzes," said Clishya.

"I see…" said Frank.

"I see that you're quick to understand, as you can see, you earned yourself a lot of money! But you're in a party of four, so you'll divide it within the four?" asked Clishya.

"Indeed, could you divide it for us, Clishya?" asked Frank.

"Of course!" said Clishya, as she began to change coins, grabbing back the silver coins.

"It would be… 55 bronze coins for each of the four! And there are two left bronze coins, you can keep them as you are the leader," said Clishya while giving Frank a small wink.

"Haha, alright, everyone, take your part," said Frank, distributing the money with everyone.

"W-Woah… 55 Bronze Coins?! I have never had so much money before…! This is nuts!" said Asterion.

"I can buy whatever I want now! Adventurers really have it easy!" said Hilvera.

"Don't be so hasty, you two, it is better to save up the money and then buy some strong equipment, or resources to help us cultivate," said Annabelle, saving her money in her little pouch.

"T-That's right…" said Asterion.

"Indeed, we shouldn't be hasty!" said Hilvera.

Ding!

[You have acquired 55 Bronze Coins!]

Frank was greeted by a System notification, and as he inspected his system status, he found out that a new section showing his current amount of coins appeared, he was also able to store his coins within the system, making it the best bank and the most secure one.

Of course, he stored the money by putting it on his pouch and then making it disappear, bringing it 'inside' the System as if they were Contribution Points.

"I am done…"

An enormous Minotaur, Asran, showed up from the backdoor again, bringing a leather bag filled with Mana Cores freshly extracted from Monster corpses.

"16 Mana Cores, there are 15 F-Grade and a small D-Grade one, thanks for your patronage. Here are the fish that you wanted as well, the rest has been bought by the Guild," said Asran, walking away.

"Oh, that's quite the loot," said Clishya.

"Frank-kun, do you want to sell some to the Guild? F-Grade Mana Cores cost twenty Bronze coins, and a D-Grade one of that size would be one silver coin," said Clishya once again, glancing at the shiny crystals.

"So those are the prices? No, sorry, I am planning on keeping them for now, as I have some plans for them…" said Frank.

"Oh, are you planning to practice alchemy? Amazing!" said Clishya.

"Oh… Yeah, that," said Frank, saving the Mana Crystals inside of his Inventory.

"I see, well, that would be all. The ones that made up the requests will most likely come to grab what they wanted tomorrow morning, as we had already sent them notifications that their quest has been completed, thanks for your patronage! Ah! You can also check the second floor if you want to see our Adventurer-exclusive shop! There are equipment, potions, pills, scrolls, and even grimoires!" said Clishya.

"Oh, that sounds interesting, but for now we'll be walking back home, the mothers of these kids will get angry at me, it's already pretty late…" said Frank.

"S-Sure, see you… tomorrow!" said Clishya.

"Sure thing, see you tomorrow, Clishya," said Frank, waving his hand as he left with his party.

"See you soon, Clishya-san!"

"Bye!"

"Good night!"

The little party of younglings made their way to the streets, quickly walking back home, towards the outskirts of the town.

They had to go through that one restaurant that Annabelle pointed out, as the fur bought four goblin sandwiches for the cheap price of one bronze coin.

The sandwiches were made with hard bread that was smoothened with water and baked again, made a bit more appealing, the goblin meat was marinated in a savory sauce, and the slices were very generous and juicy, there was also a bit of tomato in slices and some lettuce.

Although Annabelle, Hilvera, and Asterion found it surprisingly delicious, Frank could not help but think 'this lacks ketchup and mustard'.

As they walked through the road, Frank finally could see Gwendolyn's house, where the two mothers were awaiting their children in the door, with their arms crossed… and a bit angered.

"So there you are! I was about to go look for all of you myself, little lady, you're way too late!" said Gwendolyn.

"And you two as well! Frank, you said you would bring them early!" said Cathyl.

"Ah well, it took longer than we thought, the three of them were a lot into it, and earned a lot of experience in combat too… If it wasn't because we went too late, we wouldn't have come back so late though," said Frank.

"Hmmm…" murmured Gwendolyn as she waved her tail in anger, Cathyl was crossing her arms with a bit of anger as well, but their moods quickly changed as Frank showed them the enormous fishes they brought.

"T-That's… fish!" said Cathyl, her eyes shining brightly.

"Fish? Is this a monster of the dungeon? Oh, these are the man-eating fish?" asked Gwendolyn.

"Indeed, the kids wanted to taste them, so we thought about making them for dinner," said Frank.

"Sure! Leave it to me!" said Cathyl, grabbing the enormous, almost one meter long fishes and bringing them inside the house.

"And we also made a big fortune!" said Hilvera.

"I-Is that so?! How many monsters did you kill?" asked Cathyl.

"We killed around sixteen! We made 55 bronze coins each!" said Asterion.

"W-What?! 55 Bronze Coins each?! T-That's insane! By Abraddon-sama!" cried Cathyl, almost falling unconscious over the surprise! Her children earned more than her in a whole month in just a day! Of course, she would find it incredible!

"That's… indeed a bit of money, Adventurers earn a lot, but that's because they risk their lives a ton too! If it weren't for Frank's help, all of you wouldn't have gotten past a single goblin," said Gwendolyn.

"I am sure that they will be able to do it on their own now, they had practiced a lot, and are getting more used to their weapons and magic," said Frank.

"I see… Well, I earned even more by working as a soldier, so that is not so surprising to me, and well, Adventurers spend a lot of money maintaining their equipment, buying provisions, potion, food, and lodging, so that money would quickly disappear within less than four days, don't let that money get into your heads, alright?" said Gwendolyn.

"O-Okay…" said Annabelle.

"Mmm… We'll use it to support mommy!" said Hilvera.

"Hm, we can use it to buy delicious food and maintain the house," said Asterion.

"M-My little angels… Y-You, don't really… No, save it! It is for your future…" said Cathyl as she hugged her children with her strong and muscular arms.

"Okay, okay, but you stink like fish!" said Asterion.

"Ueeggh…" said Hilvera.

"H-Hey! Be more emotional, your mother was about to burst into tears!" said Cathyl.

"A-Anyways, I know the dangers, and although we came late, I made sure to bring them unharmed, they're just as they went away from the house, see?" asked Frank.

"T-That's right, I guess you kept your promise," said Gwendolyn.

"Let's make grilled fish!" said Cathyl, completely forgetting everything and jumping into the kitchen.

After a few minutes where the party took turns in the bathroom, the dinner was ready, grilled fish alongside salad and freshly baked bread.

"Let's taste this sewer fish…" said Frank, biting it with his eyes closed.

Everyone else also began to dig in.

Frank felt the flavor… it was, just like fish, but a bit saltier and the smoky scent of it being grilled was rather entrancing.

"It doesn't taste bad?" asked Frank.

"Well, the water where they come from is quite nasty, but it doesn't mean that the fish themselves are… And well, we washed them well beforehand, the meat is tender and nice," said Gwendolyn.

"Hm! This is a fine fish! I love fish, in fact!" said Cathyl.

"Mommy, but we have never eaten fish before!" said Asterion.

"Yeah, how do you love it if we never ate it?" asked Hilvera.

"That's because I used to live in a port town, that's where I met your father… I used to eat fish every day, and I loved it! He used to be a fisherman before enlisting into the army… Ah, the taste of fish reminds me of my youth… Those tender times… I was piss poor just like now, but I enjoyed them," said Cathyl.

"We'll make sure to bring you fish whenever we can!" said Asterion.

"Yeah, so you can always remember dad!" said Hilvera.

"I-I see… My little angels… You're the most precious thing in my life, never forget it, okay?" said Cathyl with a tender voice.

"Okay, okay… B-But you're embarrassing us in front of Frank!" said Asterion.

"Y-Yeah, you say it every day!" said Hilvera.

"Sheesh! But that's because I mean it!" said Cathyl.

Frank could not help but feel warmth grow on his heart as he experienced such tender moments in this world, it made everything be worth it.

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