Darsh's POV:
I searched the merchant district up and down, but the only person I could find to match Sanvi's description was some guy running a weirdly named food stall. Who would want to eat from a stall called 'animal fetus grill'. Seeing as looking on my own wasn't going to yield any result I decided to ask around if any had seen him, starting with the strange mortal. However, …
"WHO ARE YOU? OUT OF MY WAY! HEY, LET GO OF ME!"
It seems as though I fell for the trap of an enchanter. I should have known something was wrong once I realized he was a mortal. Though they do exist, there are only a handful of people on this continent who haven't even reached golden core stage.
I let my guard down and ended up getting restrained by a ridiculously sturdy golem disguised as a city guard. I ended up recking the entire alleyway to free myself. By the end of it I ended up smashing it through the ground and collapsing what turned out to be the basement of that trickster. I was going to kill him for making a fool out of me, but…
"WAH! MY CHILDREN ARE GOING TO STARVE ALL BECAUSE OF THE TAMER'S-!"
He started making a scene, but more importantly he kept slandering the tamer's guild. I might be able to tolerate my reputation being dragged through the mud, but the tamer's guild won't stand for this. If their reputation is dragged down because of this, I might get demoted or even fired depending on how far the rumors spread.
"Fine, just shut up! Hm?"
Fortunately, it seems I might have found my target after all.
"You can't keep me here against my will! I want my phone call!"
"SILENCE!" I shouted.
After using a spatial technique to transport this man to the nearest tamer's guild, I had him tied up before dragging him into a private room where we could have our discussions. Unfortunately, the moment I removed his gag, he started spouting a mix of laws and nonsense.
"I know my rights! You got nothing on me! Now let me go before someone drops the soap!"
"A few days ago, you sold this scroll to a woman, correct?" I said as I pulled out the scroll I had borrowed from Sanvhi.
"It clearly states at the bottom of the scroll that I take no responsibility should anything happen as a result of the customer choosing to follow the instructions!"
"So, it was yours after all! I thought so after seeing this!" I said as I held up the fragment of a magical beast's eggshell.
I wasn't sure at first, since it wouldn't make sense for a mortal food stall owner to be selling rare beast eggs, but the pattern on this shell matched that of a rare-grade ground fly's egg. I haven't the faintest why someone would decide to sell sandwiches on the street rather than valuable magical beast eggs, but it doesn't matter.
"It is their own fault if they got hurt or bankrupt from trying to tame a legendary beast! So, let me go!" He said as he started squirming to break his restraints.
"There is no use! Those ropes are made from iron sheep wool! A mortal like you can't possibly break free using brute force!"
"You still haven't explained what you have arrested me for! What crimes have I committed? You have no right to detain me! Is there no justice left in the world?"
"I think you are mistaken! I did not bring you here to punish you!"
"LIES! SLANDER! WHERE IS YOUR-! Wait, you're not?" He said, sounding surprised.
"Why would you think I was, or could it be you have something to be ashamed of?" I spoke, giving him a look of suspicion.
"Well, what was I supposed to think? An official from the beast tamer's guild suddenly tied me up and locked me in this interrogation room!"
"That was because you were being uncooperative! All I wanted to know was where and how you acquired this information as well as the beast eggs! Even if you know some tricks, I doubt a mortal like you could acquire so many beast eggs through normal means!"
"I got the eggs from rock gambling!"
"Hmph! You think I would buy that? Are you determined to make a fool out of me?"
The chances of finding even one beast egg from a geode is one in a hundred. I am not entirely sure how many he had, but I could make out at least 7 different types of eggshells from the debris. It would cost a fortune to acquire that many through just dumb luck.
"I'd say you're making a pretty good job of that yourself!"
"Being uncooperative again? Well, that is fine! I have all the time in the world to get an answer out of you! Though, I wonder how long will your family last, with you locked up in here? You said you have a sick child, correct?"
"Oh, you actually believed that? I was just making a scene to pressure you into paying for the eggs you smashed!"
"…"
"Hey, do you have some snacks or games we can play?" He said, looking pretty relaxed compared to before.
"*sigh* What's it going to take for you to tell me what I want to know? I would rather not resort to torture if at all possible!"
"Let's see! An open mind, some cash and one small favor!" He said, while showing his weirdly flexible body as he scratched the back of his head with his shoe.
"What kind of favor?"
"Oh, nothing special! I just know a guy who really needs a license from the tamer's guild!"
"Your friend? Is he the one you got all this from?"
If he got the scroll and beast eggs from someone else that would explain some things. To open a shop that sells magical beasts or their eggs, you would need to acquire a beast tamer's license from the tamer's guild after verifying their skills as a beast tamer at an establishment affiliated with the tamer's guild. There are many who are not suited to taming beasts themselves and have chosen to sell any beasts they acquire using licensed beast shops as a proxy because they can't acquire a license themselves. Though it is rather strange they didn't choose to go through a well-established shop but given how scarce the carnivorous butterfly spider egg is, it could be because they encountered an issue of finding a place that could accurately ascertain the true value of such a specimen.
"Okay then! Is this enough?" I said as I pulled out a handful of low-grade magic stones.
"*sigh* Sure, but what about the license?" He asked, looking kind of disappointed at the few magic stones I had left after that stunt he pulled out on the street.
"It will take some time to issue one, in addition it requires some of the personal info of the recipient in question, so he would need to show up himself to acquire it!"
"There is no need! I have all the info! So, just get me one and then we can talk!"
"Tsk!" I clicked my tongue as I left the room to go get a blank license plate along with the tools needed to inscribe the info needed to make it official.
Once I got back, I got this strange feeling that something was off, but seeing the room was exactly the way I left it, I shrugged it off as my imagination playing tricks on me.
"Okay, I have the license, so just tell me his full name, nationality and address, so we can get on with it!"
"Let's see, make it out to John Doe, you can just put the magic continent on nationality, and you can just make up something on address since he doesn't have one!"
"Magic continent? He must have traveled far to reach this place!"
"Yep!" He said, not elaborating any further.
"*Sigh* It is done, now would you please tell me where I might find this John Doe!"
"You're lookin at em!" He said, as he broke out of his restraints and swiped the license plate.
"How did you?"
"Iron sheep wools durability drops drastically if it gets into contact with enough water! A quick workout session could theoretically create enough sweat to turn these ropes as soft as clay!"
"Huh? How would you know that?" I said, feeling a little unsettled at how nonchalant he was being about this.
"I've studied and researched monsterology since I was five years old! I know lots of things most people wouldn't, like how to tell if a geode has been used as a storage box by a magical beast! Which is how I got the eggs through rock gambling! Now if you would excuse me!"
"WAIT!" I shouted as I stopped him from leaving the room.
"I told you what you wanted! So, what is it now?"
"You didn't tell me about the scroll! Where did you obtain it?" I said, wanting to get the most important information out of him before he left.
"I wrote it myself! So, could you move? You are blocking the door!" He said, while trying to squeeze past me.
"The Carnivorous-Butterfly-Spider is a rare and solitary predator that is hard to find and even harder to tame! There is very little knowledge of the species, but this scroll details multiple traits that have remained unknown up until now! Where did you acquire this knowledge from, or is this just a hoax?"
"It's not a hoax, but you can believe whatever you want! Now could you move?" He said, realizing he wasn't getting past me and started walking to the other side of the room.
"If you are really such an expert on magical beasts than you don't mind proving it, do you? The beast tamer's guild just so happens to have a test to evaluate someone's knowledge of magical beasts!"
"I got nothing to prove to a bunch of strangers, so I think I'll just-!"
"Come to think of it! You have been selling beast eggs without a license up until now, correct? That is a serious crime you know! Enough to revoke a license even!" I said, cutting off his words as he started climbing out the window.
"…!"
Upon hearing my words, he froze up with one of his feet dangling out the window. Seeing it had an effect on him I continued.
"It would be such a shame if the name John Doe were to appear on the tamer's guild's wanted list for dealing with magical beasts without the prerequisite knowledge! Anyone who is found carrying a license with such a unique name would be immediately arrested!"
"Okay, so what kind of test are we talking here!" He said, as his attitude did a one eighty as he stepped away from the window.
"Thought you might see it my way!" I said as I began explaining.