Hearing Guilliman's half-joking words, Valesa actually considered it seriously for a moment before replying:
"Currently, besides the wyvern, there don't seem to be any powerful monsters near our village."
"However, Witcher, the village plans to expand soon. If you're looking for a monster hunting commission, you could help us clear out the monsters in the forest."
At this point, Valesa whistled towards a spot behind her. Soon, a capable-looking male elf, dressed in leather armor and carrying a longbow, jumped down from a tree and approached the two.
"This is one of our village warriors. He will accompany you, but he won't provide combat assistance; he'll only guide you."
"You can follow him to areas where monsters are active. Your remuneration will be calculated based on the number of monsters you hunt."
This was likely a plan Valesa came up with on the fly. She pondered for a moment longer, then continued:
"The most common monsters in the forest, like ghouls and endrega insects, will be exchanged at three orens each. For drowners in the water and swamps, I recall your Witcher price is about two orens."
"Let's do it this way: for forging your weapons, you still owe me four hundred orens. If you also want to make that high-grade leather armor later, besides the main material—the wyvern hide—which you'll need to provide yourself, I'll charge you another four hundred orens for the craftsmanship and other materials."
"These eight hundred orens will be the payment for this commission."
"If you can kill that many monsters."
Another eight hundred orens!
Although it was to offset his debt,
Guilliman was still somewhat shocked after hearing Valesa's words, and he deeply felt the wealth gap between common people and the rich.
Although he hadn't been in this world for long and his concept of wealth wasn't yet so concrete,
Madam Judith's commission was twenty orens, and he even had to use his own body. Herbalist Tomira's commission was thirty orens, which the villagers pooled together. The dwarf blacksmith's commission was also thirty orens, but the rare ores he collected should be considered well worth the price.
These three tasks took him a full three days, not counting the time spent resting and traveling.
Compared to these commissions, the monster hunting commission offered by this pure-blood female elf was truly extravagant and incredibly generous.
Of course, Guilliman also understood that what the other party was actually giving up was just a bit of time and some rare materials, not as much as he had imagined.
Nevertheless, such a low-level monster hunting commission still made him feel a bit hot-blooded and highly motivated.
He didn't want to waste time resting. He nodded to Valesa, promised to take on the commission, and then left with the male elf.
For the next three days, Guilliman hunted low-level monsters in the forest during the day, and at night, he brought back the herbs and monster materials he collected to brew Witcher potions and alchemical items.
Unfortunately, brewing Witcher potions requires high-purity strong alcohol; the higher the quality, the better the potion's effect.
And making sword oils requires high-quality fats, with bear fat being particularly effective.
Both of these are scarce items. The former is relatively easier to find; you can buy some in more prosperous cities or in taverns skilled at brewing. The latter, however, unless you're willing to use low-quality fats like lard or dog fat, getting bear fat is purely a matter of luck.
If calculated at normal prices, even if most herbs and monster materials are gathered by himself, the average cost per potion would be between five and twenty orens.
And the price of a bottle of high-quality sword oil would be even higher, with a much more complicated production process.
What's more frustrating is that Witcher potions, from the time they are brewed, usually only have a shelf life of about one month. If this time is exceeded, the potion will start to lose its potency, or even turn into a poison, only causing negative effects if consumed.
So, even veteran Witchers like Geralt, Vesemir, and Letho don't prepare too many potions for their everyday battles.
Swallow potion, which heals injuries, is their most commonly equipped choice... Time quickly came to the evening of the third day.
Guilliman sat alone under a large tree outside the blacksmith's shop, drinking, with a small bonfire lit beside him to roast meat and pass the time.
These past few days had truly exhausted him; even with the perfect Witcher body created by the system, he was quite worn out, but the results were also quite remarkable.
He had killed over two hundred low-level monsters, mostly ghouls and endrega insects that live in groups, accumulating over two hundred and sixty points of soul power. His total soul power had already reached nearly four hundred points.
Not only that, he also took the time to brew five bottles of Swallow potion, three bottles of Cat potion, three bottles of Thunderbolt potion, and four bottles of Tawny Owl, totaling fifteen bottles of potions.
Unfortunately, he didn't have the recipe for a sword oil that counters wyverns in his memory, so he didn't make any, leaving him without a crucial weapon for tomorrow's battle.
However, what made Guilliman most delighted was that the Beehive bomb from alchemy succeeded after only a few failures.
A total of ten round earthenware jars, larger than a fist, were alchemical bombs whose power rivaled small hand grenades.
Whether used to blow up monster nests or to deal with groups of monsters, they were excellent weapons, much more powerful than in the game.
And preparing these things cost him about two hundred orens, and that was because Village Chief Valesa didn't inflate prices and provided him with many materials at a low cost.
No wonder Witchers are all poor; the reward for a low-level commission is only enough to cover the cost of one potion and one bomb. If they encounter any unexpected situation, they even have to pay out of their own pocket.
If he hadn't emptied the Verlires family tomb, he probably would have needed to save for several months or even half a year just to afford two Witcher longswords and armor.
Just as Guilliman was considering how to deal with the wyvern tomorrow,
Valesa, the elf warrior woman with a shapely figure, wearing brown leather armor and short shorts that revealed her legs, walked over from the blacksmith's shop.
She held two gleaming longswords in her right hand and two ancient and sturdy scabbards wrapped in animal hide in her left. She walked up to the Witcher, handed him the swords, and said with a somewhat apologetic expression:
"Sorry, Guilliman, the village was busy, and these two swords were only finished today."
"Here, these are your swords. You'd best test their effectiveness tonight, so it doesn't affect your battle tomorrow."
Hearing this, Guilliman didn't ask any unnecessary questions. Instead, he reached out and took the Viper Silver Sword and the Viper Steel Sword, examining them carefully in his hands, and at the same time invited the female elf in front of him to eat the roasted meat he had cooked.
It must be said that Valesa's forging skills were exceptional. Holding the two Witcher longswords, one could easily feel the sharp aura emanating from the blades. Both in terms of material and design, they were several grades superior to the standardized weapons he had used before.
Before he could offer his opinion on the two swords, Valesa spoke again:
"I've already heard about the commission from our warrior."
"You truly are a powerful Witcher."
"The feat of killing over two hundred monsters in three days is now spreading throughout the village."
"Although it's still a little short of the eight hundred oren reward, your resilience and bravery have earned our recognition."
"I wish you a smooth completion of tomorrow's commission. I will prepare a feast in the village for you brave warriors, awaiting your triumphant return."