A Side Job: Middle

It's was twenty minutes later that Shiroa brought Kirou to the area where he would be working. Just a few kilometers away from SC Pier City, in some unnamed forest, a large group of players was currently hunting every monster in sight, as soon as they respawned. Kirou raised an eyebrow at this but said nothing as the duo walked by all of these players.

The duo's entrance did attract the attention of the group, but besides taking a single glance at the duo, the group no longer paid them any attention as they took down the monsters before them. After walking for another five or so minutes, the duo finally arrived at an open clearing where a large number of monster corpses were currently piled up. Along with this, on one side of the clearing, there was a group of players currently working hard to harvest materials from the corpses around them. Sadly, this group was moving too slow. By the time they finished working with one corpse, two more had already disappeared from the pile and thus there was a need to restock.

Before the duo could get close to that area, another group of players walked out from the treeline with a few monster corpses being dragged behind them. Kirou watched as these players tossed those corpses onto another pile before returning to the forest to hunt more. Seeing this in action, Kirou guessed that the group must all be taking advantage of the manual mode setting under the gameplay mode.

Another benefit of playing Immortal Era on manual mode was that it allowed one to move around the corpse of a monster without triggering the system's harvesting option. Looking at the many players before him taking advantage of this gimmick put Kirou in a good mood, as it seems that the players before him have figured out another way in using the gimmick to their advantage and this has inspired Kirou to do some research later.

With enough of the situation presented before his eyes, Kirou then turned towards Shiroa before speaking, "What items should I focus on harvesting and how much of each are you looking for? Also, where am I setting up, Ms. Shiroa?"

Shiroa took a quick scan of the area and pointed to an empty section before speaking, "You can head over to that area and set up for now. I'll go speak with the others to get your pile ready. As for the items you need to harvest, I'll send the list to you in a bit."

Hearing her words, Kirou gave her a slight nod before going over to the empty area. While the working conditions were less than satisfactory for his liking, he'd already accepted the mission and wasted precious time heading to this area so he thought that he might as well get this job over with quickly so that he can get back to his research.

Kirou and Shiroa's entrance had naturally attracted the attention of all the harvesters when they arrived, one being a beautiful elf woman that works with the boss and the other being an unknown player in full black. While a few of them wanted to say something, they were too busy dealing with the corpses before them to say anything.

It was only a few minutes later that the harvesters learned the reason for Kirou's presence. While they were thankful that there was another person present to help with the brunt of the work, the group couldn't stop themselves from inwardly sneering in his direction. To them, Kirou was just another person the boss's associate brought to help. It would be a blessing for the group if Kirou was able to harvest materials with average quality while making use of semi-automatic mode. They wouldn't tolerate anyone who couldn't accomplish that standard. While Kirou had no idea what those other harvesters were thinking, he could feel their stares on him, and based on the feeling he was getting from them, he could deduce their thoughts.

Having deduced the reason behind their stares he was feeling, Kirou said and did nothing as he waited for the players to arrive with the corpses he would work on. He was just there to do a job, not make friends. Besides, these people will learn of the difference between the two of them soon enough so he has no reason to pay attention to them at the moment.

Kirou's wait wasn't long as five minutes later, a few parties returned at the same time with their respective corpses. With the other harvesters still busy and her having already discussed it with them earlier, Shiroa directed those parties to pile up their corpses before Kirou. Kirou didn't start immediately and instead turned to Shiroa, who only now remembered that she had a list to give him. After sending him the list, she gave a quick apology before moving to another area.

Having received the list, Kirou raised his eyebrow a bit as he recognized the use of all the items he would be harvesting. Thinking about it for a bit, Kirou shrugged before taking out his tools from his inventory. Whatever reasons these guys need the materials for aren't his business. Since he had a job to do, he'll make sure to see it through to the end.

Taking a simple breath and closing his eyes to gather his focus, Kirou opened them once more and got to work. Since he was currently being watched, Kirou had no plans on going all out or triggering the system to forcefully remove the corpses before him. Instead, he'll cap his speed and intentionally hold back on his harvesting technique, lowering the quality of his work a bit. Even then, what everyone in the area saw next shocked them.

Kirou's hands weren't moving fast but every movement was precise and no wasted movement was done. Within just a minute and a half, Kirou stripped the corpse before him down to the materials he was tasked to harvest before moving on to the next corpse. The other harvesters in the area had their eyes bulged out seeing this. While Shiroa was already knowledgeable about Kirou's skill in harvesting, even she felt her breath taken away, seeing the grace and precision with which Kirou worked on the corpse.

Before the spectators could even pick up their mouths off from the floor, they were once again subjected to the sight of Kirou moving with the same speed and precision on the following corpses, harvesting all the useful materials and leaving the rest of the corpse alone, treating it like dirt. After just a few minutes, Kirou had already finished working on the small pile of corpses before him, stunning those around him.

Feeling that it would be a waste of time for him to wait on the parties to return with more corpses, Kirou turned towards Shiroa and the other harvesters before speaking, "It seems like it will be a waste of time if I have to wait on the parties to deliver the corpses, so do you guys mind if I work on an already established pile?"

The others looked around at each other before turning to Shiroa. Seeing them staring at her, Shiroa could only contemplate it for a bit before clenching her teeth as she spoke, "You are free to work with all the piles here. If anyone has an issue, they'll have to take it up with me."

Although Shiroa was facing Kirou when she said this, her last sentence was aimed at all the harvesters in the area. Some of them frowned but didn't say anything as they knew they were strapped for time at the moment and Kirou's appearance was a boon for them. They would hate to have to do this on their own after seeing how fast Kirou works. As for the quality of the materials he harvested, the rest would have to be blind and ignorant fools to not realize that it be good quality at minimum, if not better.

Having gotten permission from Shiroa, Kirou nodded before making his way over to another pile of corpses. Like before, he started working on the corpses at his reduced pace but now the group no longer had to worry about corpses disappearing before they could reach them. In fact, the group got to work so fast that all the piles were visibly shrinking much faster than they could be replenished, prompting requests to be sent out to increase the hunting speed.

And like that, Kirou spent the next few hours with the group, working on the corpses.

*******

Blade Warlord just returned to the forest when he, along with the other members of his guild tasked with hunting monsters within the forest received an urgent message to speed up. At first, he was confused about this as he distinctly remembered that the group of harvesters he left weren't even able to deal with the piles of corpses the hunting squad had dropped off earlier. It was only after making some checks with the nearby members that he found out that roughly two hours back, Manager Shiroa had brought a player with her to the area to help with the operation and now they were short on time in providing corpses for this player to work on.

Blade Warlord was excited by this news and promptly joined his men in killing off a few monsters, demonstrating the gap between an elite player and a normal guild member. Following the kills, Blade Warlord had sent a few players to deliver the corpses while he led a group of players around the forest, hunting down all the creatures they ran across and absorbing any single players along the way. This went on for over an hour or so before the group made their way back to the clearing with their latest haul.

After arriving in the area, Blade Warlord was greeted by the sight of four piles of corpses, all over three meters tall, stacked on one side of the clearing. While he couldn't see what was going on over on that side due to the corpses blocking him, he was able to see that the piles kept shrinking after a minute. Looking at the speed of this happening, Blade Warlord went over to Shiroa who was off to the side.

Seeing his approach, Shiroa turned towards Blade Warlord and spoke in a neutral tone, "It took you long enough. How was everything on your end?"

While Blade Warlord didn't like the tone she was giving him, the piles of corpses visibly shrinking before him made him ignore it as he spoke, "We've secured all the items on that end. It's only this set that remains."

Shiroa nodded her head as she spoke, "Very good. It seems that we just might be able to meet that deadline of yours after all. After this, try to remain under the radar as you cannot handle another 'reward' like this anytime soon."

Blade Warlord nodded his head solemnly at those words. He knew full well that it was his blunder that put his branch in the current situation that they are facing. That being said, Blade Warlord currently had his eyes locked on the area with the piles of corpses currently shrinking. Initially, when he had first arrived, he noticed that each pile would get smaller after a minute and a half. Now, however, the speed seems to have increased as each pile shrank a bit after a minute.

Seeing his gaze in that direction, Shiroa spoke, "Curious about the person currently working over there?" To this question, Blade Warlord just gave a silent nod. Shiroa then continued, "As I said in our meeting earlier, this is the guy Navi found to aid the sect in its project over the weekend. Even if none of us want to admit it, he's definitely a very skilled player."

"Has the chairman truly tried and failed to recruit this guy into our sect?" asked Blade Warlord after a moment of contemplation. He then spoke up once more, "With skill like this, all the major guilds and sects will start a fight over him when his skill becomes known."

Shiroa released a sad sigh as she spoke, "The chairman has tried and has failed. Just know that he wasn't moved by the very generous offer that the chairman made after seeing his skill originally."

"Hmm. So that means that if I'm able to recruit him into the sect, I'll be able to receive some merits from this, won't it?" asked Blade Warlord with a hand on his chin and a peculiar light in his eyes.

Next to him, Shiroa heard his words and knew what he was thinking. While she didn't like it, she didn't bother to try and dissuade him. If this player truly did join their sect, and she got him to serve under her, she would manage to strengthen her branch and one up that Navi, killing two birds with one stone.

*******

Roughly twenty minutes later, Kirou had managed to finish working on the corpses and was about to turn them over to Shiroa when someone shouted towards him.

"Hey you, the black geared harvester. I wanna talk to you."

Kirou turned towards the voice, only to realize that a player in plate armor with dashing looks was walking over to him. Kirou recognized the man immediately as this was the person who was in charge of the group that went after Navi and Reya.

Raising an eyebrow, Kirou responded to the man, "What can I help you with?"

"What will it take for you to join my sect?" asked the man after coming to a stop two meters ahead of Kirou.

Kirou instantly replied without batting an eye, "I'm not interested in joining any guilds or sects anytime soon as I already have my hands full with my own stuff."

Blade Warlord was stunned for a moment before laughing out loud. After his laugh, he then spoke, "How about I make you a deal?"

"Not interested." Following those words, Kirou was about to approach Shiroa but the players in the area started to surround the duo.

"At least hear me out before walking away. Don't you know that's bad manners?" When Blade Warlord said this, he had a cheeky grin on his face.

In response to this, Kirou also smiled before speaking, "And what do you plan on doing if I say no? Kill me?"

To this, Blade Warlord neither confirmed nor denied those words but Kirou got the underlying message. Instead of looking at Blade Warlord, Kirou then turned towards Shiroa who was now face-palming herself at Blade Warlord's stupidity.

Kirou called out to her with a smile on his face as he spoke, "Ms. Shiroa, do you mind explaining what is happening here? Is this how the Sanming Sect deals with their guests?"