Chapter 554

A Farewell Gift for the Wildcat Claws
It was good to learn more about everyone in Dark Green Sprout.
But the problem was when to send off Wildcat Claws.
To be honest, since the Dark Green Sprout—or rather, Lana—still wasn’t reliable, it would be troublesome if the members of the Wildcat Claws left now.
The members of the Wildcat Claws felt the same way, and it seemed they still had concerns about handing things over.
For now, I could only wait and see.

"So, that’s why you came to consult with me."

"Yes. I was wondering when we should send them off."

I had come to Marquis Vardmoi.
There was no point in me worrying alone, so I decided to rely on him.
What one should value most is a dependable senior.

"Let’s see… what about after your debut is over? By then, your current party should be more settled."

"I see. Or rather, I really need them to be settled by then."

"Indeed. If they’re gold-ranked adventurers, they ought to be able to adapt."

That’s right.
Including Lana, they were supposed to be a gold-ranked adventurer party.
But since they specialized only in subjugation, it seems they weren’t very used to other things.

"They’ll just have to get used to a new party. More importantly, about the Wildcat Claws."

"Did something happen to them?"

"I hear you’re planning to entrust them to my retainers?"

"Is that a problem?"

"No, not at all. In fact, those people already know them well. I can recommend them with peace of mind."

"Thank you very much. So, what is it?"

"Aren’t you going to give them some sort of farewell gift?"

A farewell gift… huh.
It’s not like I hadn’t thought about it, but would it make it in time?

"I’ve been considering it. But I’m not sure if the materials will be ready."

"Materials? So, something high-end?"

"Yes. They’re expensive, but more than that, they rarely even show up on the market."

That’s the problem.
The equipment for the Wildcat Claws was last updated when they were serving as my escorts.
Thanks to that equipment being strong enough for even copper rank, there hadn’t been any need to update since.
Weapons aside, most of their armor I made myself with magic sewing, so repairs were quick and easy.
They were practically good as new.

That being the case, the only thing left to update was their weapons.
Those had been made on the assumption of red-rank, so at copper rank their performance was questionable.
So I was thinking of updating them, but the materials…

"I could use my own connections to help gather them. What do you say?"

"I’d be grateful, but even then I doubt they could be gathered. They’re truly rare materials."

"That rare, huh. What are you trying to collect?"

"Geo Crystal weapons. If they had those, I think they’d hold up even at copper rank."

"… Ah. Even with my connections, that would be difficult."

If even Marquis Vardmoi said so, then yeah, it really was difficult.
The Trade Guild had already pulled every string they could and still couldn’t get any.
That’s just how rare those materials were.
Now then, what to do…

What do you think about this chapter?