Chapter 73 – Dismantling and Materials Part 1

Translator: SFBaka

Editor: Thor’s Stone

When I went down to the dining hall in the morning after taking a bath, I found everyone already sitting in front of a table. They were all up pretty early today.

“What are your plans for today, Alan?”

“Nothing in particular. It looks like everyone’s interested in the dismantling work on the dragon though. How about we set today as a day off?”

“”Yeah!””

I also want to see how they’ll dismantle a dragon corpse too. I’m sure they’ve already stripped off all its scales, so they should be starting the next phase right about now. I’m also interested in the use of each material they’ll get to harvest.

When I announced the day off, everyone started eating breakfast with gusto. It looks like they wanted to finish their meals as soon as possible so they could see the dragon. I guess I’ll hurry up as well.

Cleria and the others finished eating before me, but they still waited for me to finish my own meal.

Everyone from our party then headed out to see the dragon corpse.

“By the way, it seems that there were quite a lot of people who were trying to apply for our Clan early this morning as well.”

“Is that so… Did they get turned down by someone?”

“Yes. Adjutant Dalshim turned them all away with a scary look on his face.”

“I see. Okay then. Let’s put up a poster saying we’re currently not recruiting Clan members in front of the gate later.”

In more normal circumstances, we’d probably take the increase in applications as quite a blessing. But we’re holding quite a number of secrets within our group after all. Right now, the demerits of letting in unrelated outsiders to the group weigh more than the merits of increasing our manpower.

When we reached Gantz city’s main gate, we found a lot of people crowding around already. There were probably more than a thousand people currently present. They were all trying to peer at the worksite outside the gates.

Well, if you heard a dragon corpse was currently being dismantled just outside the city gates, you’d probably get curious after all.

“It looks like a lot of people came out to watch huh, Alan-sama.”

The one who called out was Walter, who probably came to observe as well. He also had a good number of the other Clan members trailing after him. It seems they couldn’t get close to the dragon due to the wall of people blocking the way.

“Yeah, that’s right. How are we gonna go about this then?”

“We’ll open a path for you. We’re related to the dragon anyway, so I’m sure there will be no problems.”

“Yeah. Standing here like this won’t get us anywhere. Yosh, let’s go then.”

Walter and the other Clan members pushed some of the people aside in order to clear a path for us. Of course, there were some complaints raised here and there, but Walter and the others didn’t pay attention to any of them. We soon reached the rope fencing the worksite.

When we passed through the rope fence, members of Gale rushed in immediately, but when they saw our Clan badges, they allowed us to freely pass.

The dragon’s scales have already been completely pulled off as I expected, and the dismantling work was just about to begin in earnest. Since Karina-san was present at the site, I went over to get a feel for the situation from her.

“Good morning, Karina-san. How’s the work going?”

“Alan-sama! Good morning to you as well. As you can see, we have just finished stripping off all its scales and are about to drain its blood.”

“Hou. Will you still be able to draw its blood even if quite some time has already passed after it died?”

“Yes. According to this manual, there would be no problems if we drain its blood within three days after death. Dragon’s blood is extremely valuable after all, so we do not wish to waste even a single drop.”

The blood I touched on the ground back then had already thickened and it seemed it wouldn’t be long before it completely hardens up. So I guess the blood that’s still within the body is a different story huh.

“By the way, what’s the use of dragon’s blood anyway?”

“You do not know!? Dragon’s blood is a very essential ingredient for making a panacea.”

“Panacea!?”

There were no such things available in the empire. Well, we did have nanoms though.

“Yes. A panacea isn’t really able to cure all illnesses. However, if, for example, you get a nasty cold, you can take a diluted dose, and it will be completely cured immediately.”

“A cold huh… What other illnesses is it effective against?”

“Let’s see. If you make a person with a weakened constitution drink a panacea, it will serve to rejuvenate the strength of that person, and if one applies a diluted solution to one’s thinning hair, it will grow back again.”

The heck. So it’s a nutrient drink and a hair growth solution huh. Uh, I don’t think calling it a panacea with just those effects is appropriate though. No, maybe it has other effects aside from those.

“That’s all it can do?”

“Um, well… uh… It can also serve to invigorate males who’ve lost their, uh, drive, so to speak.”

I see… It looks like I ended up asking something weird. Oh well. I guess asking this much is enough. Anyway, it’s called a panacea, so I’m sure it has even more uses.

If I manage to get my hands on one, I’ll have Nanom perform a composition analysis on it. It would be nice to secure some just in case some Clan members get sick or something.

“So, just how valuable is a panacea, exactly?”

“That’s…… The truth is, we’re not sure. There have been no panaceas sold in the markets for the longest time. Even if some do exist, they are all treated the same as national treasures.”

Well, if a dragon’s blood is one of the main ingredients for making it, then I guess it’s only natural that none are freely available on the market. But if that’s the case, then I don’t think they’ll be able to earn a decent sum from it.

“It will probably be auctioned off. I cannot even imagine just how much it will end up costing.”

“Are you saying it will sell for a very high price?”

“But of course. We informed all Commerce Guild branches around the world yesterday about the dragon subjugation and our acquisition of materials. By this time, influential and wealthy merchants from all over the continent are probably flocking over to Gantz.”

Hou! It looks like it would be something to look forward to after all.

“And what about the scales? What’s the use for those?”

“The larger ones will be used to make full armor sets. The smaller ones will most likely be used for hauberks. In any case, both items will be highly sought out and will be treated the same as national treasures as well.”

It looks like this one’s worth looking forward to as well. I wonder what other kinds of materials they can get from the corpse?

“Besides the blood and scales, what other valuable materials can we harvest from the dragon corpse?”

“Let’s see. Dragon meat is quite exquisite, and its skin will be turned into leather for leather armor. Its fangs, bones, and eyeballs are also used for armor decorations, art pieces, or fine jewelry, among other things. The problem is the lack of artisans capable of working with these materials. There aren’t many of them after all. We can probably make more profit by auctioning them off as materials instead of processing them ourselves.”

I see. That makes sense. I see. But what about the meat and other things that can’t be preserved for long?

“Are you going to turn the dragon meat into jerky then?”

“Of course not! We will keep it fresh by having it frozen. They are now busy clearing up spaces in the vaults of the Commerce Guild and Adventurer’s Guild for that very purpose.”

“……Do you have something that can keep all that meat frozen? Don’t tell me it’s an artifact!?”

“No. It’s not an artifact, but it is still a very valuable magic facility. Gantz city serves as a treasury for countless materials after all. Our guild facilities are different compared to the others.”

Now that’s interesting. I’d like to get a load of that storage facility myself now too.

“If I want to see that facility, am I allowed to check it out?”

“Alan-sama is an A-rank guild member after all. You’re also our client for this occasion. Of course, we’ll be more than happy to show you around.”

“Thank you very much. I’m glad to hear that!”

This is quite an unexpected harvest. I’d like to check out the magic circle powering the whole thing as well if possible.