Chapter 118 (1/2)

Volume 2

Chapter 119

Ch 119 — Having a Little Confidence in His Disassembly Skills

We went down to the Guild’s warehouse which was basically the same as the others I had been in, only much larger . Doran was the biggest city I’d visited in this country and it was a Dungeon City as well so it wasn’t surprising that the Guild’s monster disassembly area was larger too .

“So then, please take it out and put it here . ” Elland-san slapped the top of a large workbench in one corner of the warehouse . “After hearing from Rodolpho you had subjugated an Earth Dragon we immediately prepared all the facilities and equipment necessary for its disassembly and we were just waiting for your arrival . We will not waste a drop of blood as I’ll personally disassemble it with the utmost care . ” Elland-san smiled self-deprecatingly . “I have a little confidence in my skills in that regard . ”

Wait, the Guild Master is going to disassemble the Earth Dragon with his own hands? He boasted he has a ‘little confidence’ of his abilities as a dismantler?

“Are you intending to dismantle it yourself, Elland-san?” I asked hesitantly . It didn’t seem like the sort of thing a Guild Master should do . Disassembly was a craftsman’s role, he had a Guild to run, surely that would take up all his time-

“Naturally! I’d never consider giving such a wonderful job to anyone else! Disassembling an Earth Dragon, who else but me could I allow to do it?”

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Oh, it’s like that is it? Rodolpho-san had said that Elland-san had a thing about Dragons but I didn’t think it went quite as far as this, that he would usurp the task of disassembling a Dragon from the regular warehouse staff . Was the chance to do this sort of work really such a wonderful thing for him?

“The last time a Dragon was suppressed in this country was 238 years ago . ” Elland-san mused, a faraway expression in his eyes . “Back then I wanted to join the subjugation party but for various reasons I couldn’t go with them . Afterwards I asked to assist with the dismantling, I asked again and again, but I couldn’t get permission . ” He shrugged . “At that time I was a B ranked Adventurer . I worked hard and eventually rose to S rank but there were never any more Dragon suppressions . Age caught up with me, even long-lived Elves grow old so I retired and joined the Guild’s staff . I always hoped that someday another Dragon would be suppressed and I’d be able to dismantle it at least . I’ve been Guild Master here for 32 years, waiting, hoping, and now . . . ”

Ah, Elland-san? You’re telling me things about yourself I didn’t really want to know . Rodolpho-san said you weren’t a bad person as such but well, what you just said sounds just a bit, ummm, crazy? I decided to interrupt him before he went any further so I took the Earth Dragon from my Item Box and put it on the workbench .

“Here it is Elland-san . ” I staggered back as the Guild Master pushed brusquely past me .

“Oh, Oooooooooooooooooooooh !!!” Please calm down, Elland-san, I thought as I watched him stare lovingly at the not-very-pretty corpse of the Dragon laid out on the bench before him .

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“Th- this is an Earth Dragon!” Well, yes, that’s what Fer said it was . “Oh, oh, becoming the Guild Master here in Doran was the best decision I ever made! The Dragon of my dreams, now within my reach . . . and the pleasure of disassembling it to come . . . It’s a dream come true . ” His words scared me a little . ‘Single-minded’, that’s the word Rodolpho-san used to describe his old Adventurer colleague back in Claire . I was tending towards ‘demented’ or ‘hysterical’ myself now having some first-hand experience of Elland-san .

At a loss for words, I requested disassembly of the Earth Dragon . “Oh, and can we get all the materials back afterwards?” Elland-san’s reaction to seeing the Dragon made me suspect he might, ahem, pilfer some choice parts if he was doing the disassembly himself .

“Well it’s a pity . ” Elland-san recovered enough to think about what I had asked and the Guild Master of Doran came to the fore again . “In truth the Guild doesn’t have the budget to buy in all the materials from this Dragon anyway . It’s a real shame . ” He looked at me perceptively and smiled .

“You were thinking I might steal some of the materials during disassembly?” He laughed . “Don’t worry about that . If something like that were to happen and it became known the reputation of the Adventurers Guild would plummet . Not just that, I’d be sold into slavery or even executed in an unpleasant manner, and I value my life quite a lot . ” He shrugged . “Now that Mukouda-san is here in Doran it’s entirely possible another Dragon will require disassembly soon . It would be a shame to lose that future opportunity by any foolish actions now . ”

Is that so? It sounded like he was more worried about being caught than anything . I settled for that but Elland-san continued .