"That'll be a total of 28.34 million flons. Here’s your payment."

When we returned to the guild after lunch, we were ushered into a private room by the receptionist. There, the detailed assessment of the various parts of the monster was presented, but to be honest, I barely registered the breakdown. Hearing that the meat alone was worth over 10 million flons had left me completely stunned.

"…Ah, right. Thank you," I replied mechanically.

On the table were a variety of coins: two platinum coins, eight large gold coins, three gold coins, and four large silver coins.

I carefully deposited the coins into my leather pouch, one by one. I hadn’t expected such a high price—it was almost unsettling.

"It's unfortunate we couldn’t buy the blood. The creature was already bled out," said Buildine, the guild’s sub-master, who had apparently decided to join us in the room.

"Blood? That’s valuable too?"

"Of course. For a B-Rank creature like a Murder Raptor, its blood can be used for alchemy and even as a luxury ingredient."

So that’s how it is… It reminded me of the blood sausages made from pigs back on Earth. From now on, I’d better skip the bleeding and just toss such monsters directly into the time-stasis storage.

"A Murder Raptor is B-Rank?"

Rio's surprise mirrored my own thoughts. That explained why the payout had so many extra zeroes.

"What, you didn’t even know its rank?" Buildine gave us a suspicious look.

"This is the first time we’ve heard."

"…Are you saying you two took this thing down yourselves?"

His gaze narrowed, as if doubting we could have managed such a feat.

"Of course, we did!"

Rio, clearly annoyed by his skepticism, defended us. Truthfully, I couldn’t recall if it was me or Rio who had landed the final blow. What I did remember was that it hadn’t been a struggle requiring both of us.

"Taking on an opponent without knowing its rank is reckless!"

Ah, so that’s what he was getting at. He wasn’t accusing us of lying outright, just pointing out the danger of going in blind. Fair enough—it did make sense that someone might suspect we hadn’t been the ones to kill the beast.

"And how did you kill it without leaving any visible wounds? Even A-Rank adventurers would struggle to pull off something like this."

His words turned sharp as his gaze bore into us.

"What exactly are you two?"

Huh? He doesn’t know we’re summoned heroes?

"Excuse me?"

Tilting my head, I waited as Buildine elaborated.

Apparently, when adventurers kill monsters of the same rank, the creature’s body is typically left in poor condition. Even then, they rarely get the full value from a sale. At best, they’d receive half the listed price, and in worse cases, less than a tenth, which then gets divided among party members.

"So, the fact that you delivered an unscathed Murder Raptor means you two are at least on par with A-Rank adventurers. The guild not knowing about such capable adventurers is a serious issue."

D-Rank meant being a full-fledged adventurer. C-Rank signified a veteran. B-Rank made one renowned even across neighboring cities. The reputation of an A-Rank adventurer? That spoke for itself.

"Sounds like a problem for the guild, not for us," I said.

"What?"

Having realized our cover was pointless now, I decided there was no need for further secrecy.

"Well, we’re still just E-Rank adventurers."

We casually held up our guild IDs for Buildine’s inspection. He stared at them, dumbfounded, as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.

After letting him take a good look, I stashed the IDs back in my pouch and stood up.

"Alright then. Thanks for everything."

"Wait, we’re not done here!"

Buildine’s sharp command stopped us in our tracks just as we were about to leave the room.

"What now?"

"I asked you—what are you two?"

"I already told you: E-Rank adventurers."

Even as his temple throbbed with frustration, his glower didn’t faze me. Compared to my master’s training, his attempt at intimidation barely registered.

To be honest, I wondered if I could pull off some intimidation of my own. Drawing on the image of my master, I concentrated, visualizing myself closing the gap and slashing at Buildine’s throat.

"Adventurers with your kind of strength don’t just appear out of nowhere… I mean, if you could just share some of your background… please?"

He trailed off as sweat started to bead on his forehead, trickling down. Huh. It felt like my little experiment with intimidation had worked. Could this be… a new skill?

"Hey, Shu?"

Rio’s voice snapped me back to reality before I could fully fall into the skill’s allure.

"Ah, sorry."

Considering the situation, maybe it was time to share a bit about ourselves. Plus, it might be a good chance to gather information about the other summoned heroes.

"Fine. Let’s keep this simple," I said, locking eyes with Buildine.

"We’re summoned heroes—called here by the third princess of this kingdom. Does that clear things up?"

Buildine’s eyes widened in shock.

"…Summoned heroes, you say?"

That reaction told me he knew something. Maybe now we’d get some answers.

Satisfied, I shelved my intimidation tactic—for now.