"When do you think we'll open the shop?" June asked.
"Soon. Probably right after we finish this mission. Why?"
"I'm just excited to see people visiting and buying our items. Well… your items, technically. Anyway, if your shop grows, I know we'll grow too. So let's work hard to make it happen."
June and Christy had spent a long time trying to land a decent job after graduating, but nothing was really worth it in the smaller towns they went to.
And now that Silas had offered them a good job with excellent pay, well... they wanted to work hard to keep it — and maybe even earn a raise down the line.
Silas liked that. Honestly, there was nothing better than having employees who actually cared about growing the business. And he was absolutely willing to reward them if the shop really took off.
"I'm glad to hear that," he said. "But first, let's focus on killing that rank B beast. No distractions, alright?"
They kept climbing higher and higher, until eventually, they found the beast they were looking for. It was a massive blue bird that could use lightning magic to attack, along with its huge wings, razor-sharp talons, and a powerful beak.
The creature was at least seven meters tall. Silas was stunned when he saw it. It was the first time in his life that he'd seen something this incredible.
And strangely, the fear he had felt before vanished the moment he realized how easily June and Christy were handling the creature.
June used earth and plant magic. With almost no effort, she summoned giant vines from the ground that wrapped around the bird, completely immobilizing it.
Then Christy followed up with her water magic, launching a devastating attack that injured the beast and made it unable to fly.
Silas stood back, watching from a distance. The fight lasted maybe a minute at most. They had left the creature weak enough for him to finish it off himself.
"Told ya it'd be easy for us," June said with a playful smile. "Impressed, huh? We accept raises for jobs well done."
She was clearly joking, but honestly, Silas was about to earn a million dollars for killing that beast. If more missions like this showed up, he was definitely open to paying them more.
"I'll think about it," Silas chuckled. "But… uh… how exactly do I kill this thing? I'm not even sure if my attacks will do any damage."
June seemed like she was already expecting that question.
"I brought a dagger made of magical materials. It's more than enough to deal damage to the creature. And… you can keep it. Consider it a gift."
She handed him a dagger made from some kind of black metal, with a wooden handle. It was a beautiful weapon — simple, yet elegant — and the blade looked incredibly sharp.
Silas could tell right away that this wasn't an ordinary weapon. It carried a unique aura, almost as if it was alive.
"Isn't this kinda expensive to just give me like that?" Silas asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nah, not that expensive. Just... a bit hard to find. But it's fine. Keep it."
Silas felt genuinely happy receiving that gift from her. Without wasting time, he walked toward the bird, which was still completely restrained by the vines June had summoned.
Up close, the monster was even more terrifying. It looked massive compared to him.
Holding the dagger tightly, the blade shimmering under the sunlight, Silas took a deep breath — and slashed its throat.
It was a clean, fatal strike. The blade sliced through with shocking ease, as if the beast's tough skin was nothing.
Right after, a notification popped up in front of his eyes.
[Mission Complete][+1,000,000 dollars added to your wallet]
That was a lot of money. Plus, he still had the $300,000 he would receive for completing the "Open Your Shop" mission — more than enough to get started on building his stock.
"So? How do you feel?" June asked, grinning.
To them, it seemed like Silas just wanted to fulfill some weird dream of killing a powerful magical beast. A strange dream, sure, but they were trying to take it in good humor.
The truth, of course, was that Silas was doing this purely for the money. But there was no way he was gonna say that out loud.
"Not exactly the feeling I expected… but yeah. Feels good. Should we head back now?" he asked.
Christy shook her head. "Not yet. We're spending the night here. We want to harvest the valuable materials from this thing before it starts to rot. Is that okay?"
A rank B beast had plenty of valuable materials — feathers, bones, meat, mana cores, and more. That's one of the reasons adventurers hunted monsters like this in the first place.
Even though June and Christy had a solid job now with good pay, they weren't about to waste a chance to make some extra cash.
Silas didn't mind at all. He'd already gotten what he came for — the money, and even a magic dagger as a bonus. Staying a little longer on the mountain didn't seem bad at all.
"Sure. Take all the time you need," he said with a nod.
Silas took the opportunity to admire the view from the top of the mountain while the two girls worked on extracting the useful parts from the beast.
The wind was cold, but the scenery was more than worth it. From up there, he could see a large part of the region — forests, rivers, and even some small villages far in the distance.
For a moment, he considered checking his phone to look at his balance, just to confirm how much money he had now. But since June and Christy were around, he decided not to take the risk. He'd rather check those things when he was alone back at the shop.
It took over an hour for the girls to finish cutting the bird apart and storing the valuable materials.
By then, the sun was already disappearing behind the mountains. The sky turned darker, and the temperature quickly started dropping.
Silas glanced around, taking a deep breath.
"We should just camp here for the night," he suggested. "Going back down tomorrow will be way easier and way less exhausting than climbing up."
June nodded. "Fine by me. I brought enough food, so we're good."
Christy agreed as well. "Yeah, let's set everything up."