Another Elgin

[Whew. That was one hell of an annoying encounter.] Cecily rolled her eyes in displeasure.

'I didn't really mind. At least now they know that I wasn't just boasting without proof.'

[Aren't you worried that they will now catch up on your power? They will eventually grind like you too, right?]

'Huh? Do you think that I'm the type to slack off? I'm going to make sure that I stay on top. No questions allowed.' Elgin declared. 'Besides, grinding levels is actually pretty fun after you get the hang of it. It comes naturally.. like playing a game. I like it. It was tedious at first, but not anymore.'

He realized this after one day passed. Hunting became fun. It was repetitive, but not mundane since the monsters felt like achievements to him. The more he got, the prouder he felt.

[...Are you actually enjoying- Nevermind. Whatever you like, as long as I get to have fun and complete my mission~] Cecily decided to shake it off, accepting whatever Elgin said.

As they were talking, Elgin was unloading his entire inventory in front of the butcher shop's daughter, Emilia. The numerous amounts of corpses he had gained from his hunting session. One by one, it kept on going on and on without stopping.

When Elgin finally stopped, several minutes had passed from when he took out his first victim.

Emilia was dumbfounded. Did the man in front of her hunt for a month straight before coming here to deposit the corpses? Did he ravage the entire forest?

"Ah.. all of this.. W-We can't pay for the entire thing. I'm sorry, this is too much.." Emilia bit her fingernail.

She roughly counted the amount of bodies. It was in the hundreds, most certainly. She began to imagine how much time and effort that would translate to and got lightheaded. She then thought about the accumulated expenses and almost fainted.

How could this kind of thing happen?!

Elgin made a mistake.

He was under the assumption that he could dump all the materials, but he forgot that even the characters did not have unlimited money when it came to transactions with Players. It was probably in order to keep a balance. Whenever the world's next phase began, he was given a moderate amount of money, just enough to sustain and stimulate his career.

In his previous life, his economy thrived quite well since both Players and normal residents came to ask him for potions. Buying things from merchants was the only way he kept on surviving. Other than eating, he realized that he didn't really spend much money in comparison to ones he gained.

The materials he brought, especially the Crystal Rabbit's parts, were priced at a threshold that a beginner butcher store won't be able to pay off.

He just wanted to get rid of his inventory as much as possible, and move on with the money he would gain for it. Money was important for various reasons.

"Hmm.. Alright, you guys prioritize the meat, right? I will take the materials and the rest of the meat with me. You can pick the meat you want to purchase. Does that sound right?" Elgin decided that this would be the best option.

This butcher shop would usually also take the materials since there wasn't a specific Adventurer's Guild in Ulya. However, the residents here don't really need the materials except for a select few, whereas they frequently sought meat.

He was able to take the materials with him and sell it off in the next city, or even preserve some for experiments.

"Y-Yes, it does. However, for this amount of corpses.. I'm afraid that it would take quite a long time. We only have three people, and even if we work on this all day long, it's going to take days." Emilia said, her expression slowly changing into relief.

"No, that's fine. Also, since it will be a lot of hard work, I will pay you handsomely. If I'm satisfied with the result, I will increase the price above your base charges. I'm counting on you three."

"If that's the case.. Then we will take this challenge on! Please leave this to us!" Emilia cheered up, getting a little enthusiastic.

Indeed, it would be tough, but this kind of task was not something you could encounter every single day. Emilia decided to take it as a learning experience.

Elgin paid the deposit for the butchering service before leaving the shop, going to his next destination.

There was something he was most curious about in Ulya.

He entered this body. The body the Goddess built for him.

What happened to his old body?

Earlier, he hesitated on going to the potion store because of this. The potions he bought before hunting were from the general drug store, which shared the same location along with the rations he picked up.

He skipped past his previous home. It just didn't feel right.

He did linger his eyes on the store for some time. He noticed that the building's appearance looked the exact same as the one he lived in before.

When he asked Cecily about it, she confirmed his theory that the one inside the store should still be 'Elgin'. The body of Elgin, that is. The one created in the original world's character list.

After all, he was an anomaly. He wasn't meant to be 'himself' according to the list.

What did that make him? In what position did he stand in?

It was strange to think of it.

'If I'm here, then who is in that body? Who is occupying it?'

[The Goddess must have all of it covered. I was directly sent here to aid you, so I don't really know, but there must be some kind of precaution about that.] Cecily assured him.

Elgin agreed. But still.. it would feel weird seeing your old body in front of you, with a completely different mind working inside it. It might cause an existential crisis.

He walked up to the store and cleared his throat. It was time for him to check what was inside.

"Hello.. I'm here to buy some potions." Elgin peeked through the door.

A light medicinal smell attacked his nose, bringing him memories of the countless years he spent brewing potions for the Players and the people.

"Hi! Welcome to my store!" A voice rang as a reply.

It came from a familiar figure standing by the study desk.

His old body was there.