Gwenvair remained silent at the Eccentric’s description and her mother stepped in to take over, her need to know palpable especially in light of her request.

“You have killed Master slimes?”

Joe looked at them carefully before sighing deeply and nodding, “Please do not spread this, but yes.”

Her mother retreated, happy for the news but Gwenvair erupted, demanding to know more.

“How many?”

“Uh… three? Four? I’m not sure. I can remember three, but there might have been four.”

“You only need four people to kill a master slime!?”

“What? No. I’ve killed three or four.”

“Oh. How many did you fight with?”

Joe paused at that, glancing back and forth between the two before sighing even more deeply and shaking his head, brushing a hand through his hair. He looked back at the two of them before grimacing and continuing.

“Privacy, right?”

Both glanced at each other, concerned with this statement. Maybe he’s more of a soft clanner who has others fight for him? But, that doesn’t match at all with who he is! Why would he be … what would he need to hide except that his great adventurer skill is a façade? Gwenvair nodded quickly during her mental jaunt, her mother having already done so and Joe sighed as he continued.

“I killed them alone.”

Both gasped, her mother stunned into silence even as Gwenvair crashed forward in her seat and began peppering him with questions. The Eccentric answered them all quickly enough, but all proved both less entertaining and more impressive with each answer. He’d killed them quickly and easily, once even defending a village and saving a commoner which had just been eaten. His descriptions of the fight seemed threadbare and simple, or the fight had ended in a matter of minutes. She fell silent after a couple of questions, uncertain of any other question and her mother interrupted, her words much calmer and subdued, but throbbing with intensity because of the ramifications.

“You killed them so quickly!”

The Eccentric nodded without fanfare, simply retelling the story without exaggeration, “You have to, or they’ll kill you. It takes a lot to pin one down, and even more to kill it. They’re very dangerous once they hit Master slime level. I’m not even sure what higher levels would be like, although they’re pretty dumb and careful planning and traps would kill them.”

Her mother nodded, thoughtful, even as the Matriarch warred to be released so the Matriarch could try to entrap him in their clan. Her mother wasn’t a fool, though, and the Matriarch stayed safely subdued and she simply nodded at his retelling.

“It is good to know we have such a great defender and warrior in our city.”

Joe blushed once again, and the tension in the room that had been building up between the two women quickly flushed away as Gwenvair began giggling and her mother joined her shortly after, chuckling in laugher.

“You are embarrassed by such a simple complement?”

“Great complements… meaningful complements are rare amongst my people and not easily given.”

Her mother and her laughed even louder, the laughter growing as his blush grew in equal measure to their joyful laughter. The tension and shock quickly faded and the easy camaraderie returned, helped by the meal that arrived shortly after their laughter died. All three ate their meal slowly, enjoying the company and food.

The Eccentric proved to be adequate to the task of eating a polite meal and engaging in conversation that wasn’t too disruptive to their meal, although he began speaking more and more quickly. They refrained from more serious talk and finished the meal pleasantly, he continuing with his fruit dish at the end. It was a bit strange, but then, eccentrics are named eccentrics for a reason, although more for their unusual and extreme power than their unusual eccentricities. In any case, the meal ended well and her mother retrieved the twenty perfect slime cores and the single perfect master slime core.

When she did so, she bowed her head quite deeply in thanks, “Eccentric, we truly are grateful for your help and the offer of these twenty cores, but the perfect cores are… too much. We must pay our taxes and the twenty cores will be … extremely conspicuous and will draw much attention. We ask that you retrieve your cores. We cannot offer them as they will bring attention and questions. I know you wish privacy, and…” Her mother trailed off, ending her statement with an obvious innuendo of the ramifications.

The Eccentric seemed to pause, his thoughts rapidly whirling through what her mother had said before he cautiously replied with a flat statement, “Perfect cores are… rare for your plane.”

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The statement sent lightening through her spine, shock spiking through her as she, in turn, understood the ramifications of what the Eccentric was saying, she glanced at her mother before facing the Eccentric again, cautious wonder hidden under her schooled face. Her mother took a deep breath before she nodded.

“Yes. They are quite, quite rare. You could easily gain the favor of the greatest of clans.”

The Eccentric thought for a moment before replying bluntly, “Or their ire.”

Her mother smiled slightly as she nodded, but offered no reply. The Eccentric continued in silent thought for a few moments before he shrugged and reached down pulled a pouch from his belt and laid it on the table. He pulled the drawstrings and opened it before casually spilling hundreds and hundreds of cores on the table, careful to keep his cores separate from their twenty.

The easy display of wealth that exceeded even their own clan’s left both mother and daughter literally gaping, and the Eccentric smiled before sighing a bit.

“Privacy, yes?”

Both clicked their jaws shut before they nodded vigorously. Joe smiled and pushed forward a small group of cores, “Well, then choose ones that are not perfect. That should solve the problem, right?”

Mother and daughter quickly nodded their heads before eagerly picking up core after core. Almost all of them were slime or spark cores, although most were slime. But as they emitted mana through the cores again and again, they all proved to be perfect cores. They only tested a few dozen before both mother and daughter looked on at the incredible amount of useless wealth before them. They both looked up at the Eccentric with numbed shock, no longer able to comprehend who or what they had come into contact with.

The Eccentric smiled and sighed, “They’re all perfect.”

Both woman nodded, too shocked to be affected by the statement or its ramifications. The Eccentric looked up at the two, seeing their despair and finally just shrugged. He picked up a core and looked at it carefully. He spent some time slamming it with his mana, controlling it in some unusual ways that left Gwenvair excitedly wishing to ask him questions, but her mother had laid a hand on hers, stopping her. After a few moments of doing so, the Eccentric frowned in frustration and seemed to shift his efforts, staring closely at the cores.

He then picked up a spoon and slapped it against the core. The core cracked, then shattered to core dust on the table and he sighed. Gwenvair gasped, shocked that he would casually destroy a perfect core, her mother proving to be made of sterner stuff but still unable to conceal her utter shock.

The Eccentric ignored their shock and picked up another and proceeded to do the same thing. He destroyed another seven perfect cores before smacking a core which seemed to tinkle then crunch in some way. The core remained intact and the Eccentric quickly smiled.

“Hah! Finally.”

He quickly emitted mana through the core and frowned at what happened, taking some time to emit mana at the core for a few moments before smiling in satisfaction.

“Right. Here you go, an imperfect core!”

Her mother blinked at him, then at the core in his hand before accepting it with mixed feelings, revulsion warring with hope and gratefulness. She emitted mana through the core and sighed with some consternation. The core was no longer perfect, and now perfect for their needs. She passed it to Gwenvair who did the same and offered the same sigh. Both looked up and Joe and watched in shock as he continued to do the same thing to another thirty three cores, destroying twenty one cores to make nineteen more imperfect cores.

Her and her mother remained silent throughout it all, uncertain how to respond, a feeling of anger erupting from them as so many perfect cores were destroyed even as their dilemma was resolved. They were careful to separate the two piles of cores, keeping the damaged ones in a pile of their own.

When he was done, the Eccentric offered a genuine smile, not upset or concerned at the destruction of such phenomenal wealth.

“There. Done! That should solve it, right?”

Both sighed deeply before nodding. Gwenvair replied with deep gratitude, “Thank you. So much. Truly.”

“It was as much my problem and fault as it was your problem. We helped each other.”

Neither said anything, simply pocketing the twenty now imperfect cores in their pouch. The twenty proved to be typical of cores, varying from trash to average with two excellent quality cores that would be a welcome surprise and greatly gain the favor of their overlord clansmen while also not raising any surprise. After the cores were in their pouch, they pushed there twenty perfect cores back to him, once again offering thanks.

“Thank you so much,” Gwenvair opted for a less formal thanks although her mother remained much more formal.

“As always, we are truly grateful for your great help, Eccentric Joe,” her mother offered.

The Eccentric saw them push their pile of perfect cores back into his pile and he cocked his head in surprise, “What are you doing?”

Gwenvair smiled, “You have already spent forty one cores for the twenty we needed. Our deal was only for twenty cores. We owe you much more than could possibly be repaid.”

The Eccentric looked confused, smiling bemusedly, before he replied, “So how much is one perfect core worth?”

Gwenvair smiled, “Entire greater clans could not pay for the true value of one.”

“So they’re really expensive,” the Eccentric replied with blunt playfulness.

Gwenvair’s good humor returned as she smiled at his statement, “Quite.”

“Worth hundreds and hundreds of imperfect cores?”

“Hundreds of thousands and millions!”

“Even millions?”

Gwenvair smirked, “Yes!”

Joe smirked in return and pushed the pile of twenty perfect cores towards them, then pulled a single perfect core from their pile and held it up, “So this single perfect core could easily pay for my forty one very poor and badly collected imperfect cores!”

Both gasped, eyes widening at the statement and Gwenvair nodded, dumbly.

“So you owe me nothing. Some idiot paid you in perfect cores. If he had been smart, he should have paid you as promised, with just twenty cores. Fool! His loss is your great gain.”

Both breathed deeply a moment before Gwenvair broke into riotous laughter for the third time that night, her emotions now a roller coaster she found difficult to control. Her mother joined her as well, although her laughter was one of disbelief and not Gwenvair’s relief.

The Eccentric smiled at their laughter for some time before nodding and pulling his pile of cores back into his pouch. The cores fell back in easily enough and when they had all returned to their pouch, Gwenvair found the will to calm herself, joining her mother in quiet observation of the Eccentric as he cleared the table. Both were silent again, uncertain how to respond, before Gwenvair bowed deeply.

“Thank you. Truly.”

The Eccentric laughed and smiled, “You paid me fair and square for it, honestly. And it helps me as well. Thank you.”