Chapter 29: Harvest and Storage Bag

Raine stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Kaelin. The flickering firelight danced across her pale face, illuminating the complex emotions in her emerald eyes—gratitude, hesitation, and a trace of unspeakable heaviness.

"I am indeed curious, but everyone has secrets they'd rather keep hidden," Raine replied straightforwardly, his voice echoing clearly within the cave. "If you're willing to share, I'll naturally listen. If not, you must have your reasons."

His candor took Kaelin slightly by surprise. She pursed her lips and involuntarily lowered her gaze. "I'm sorry. This matter involves a lot of things and doesn't just concern me alone, so please allow me to keep it a secret for now."

"Understood." Raine nodded. "Then we can wait until the time is right." He turned and continued walking toward the cave entrance without pressing the issue further.

Watching his back, Kaelin felt a warm current swell in her heart. His unquestioning respect gave her a sudden sense of reassurance. She took a deep breath, quickened her pace to catch up, and walked side by side with him once more.

The two returned to the site of their recent fierce battle, holding their torches high, only to find that Matthew and David had nearly finished their work. A pitch-black hide gleamed with an oily luster in the firelight. Two arm-thick tusks had been carefully set aside, sharp back spikes were bundled together, and neat piles of butchered meat cuts lay nearby.

"Good workmanship," Raine praised sincerely. Though Matthew's Archery was mediocre, he was surprisingly adept at field dressing. The hide, in particular, was unexpectedly intact; the slashes from their battle were barely visible.

Kaelin's gaze lingered for a moment on the pair of tusks that had nearly claimed her life. She raised an eyebrow slightly. "It really isn't bad."

"You two, we're just about done butchering it!" Matthew walked over excitedly, an unconcealable sense of accomplishment written all over his face. Being able to perfectly harvest such a powerful Magical Beast was an incredibly valuable experience for him—something he could brag about for years! This remained true even though his dagger and David's Woodcutter's Axe had both suffered severe edge rolling and were clearly beyond repair.

"As agreed, you get first pick." Kaelin took a step back, gesturing for Raine to choose his spoils.

Raine pondered for a moment before stepping forward to lift the seemingly heavy black hide. It felt soft to the touch, possessed excellent toughness, and was much lighter than he had imagined. A wave of joy washed over him. While his Composite Cotton Armor was warm and moisture-resistant, its defensive capabilities were ultimately limited. This Razor Beast hide, however, was clearly superior in hardness, toughness, and weight to the crude Leather Armor that was typically valued in Silver Lions. It could easily be worth one or even two Gold Coins!

"I'll take this," he decided without hesitation. "Perhaps I can find a craftsman to make a fine set of Leather Armor out of it."

"Then I'll take these." Kaelin pointed at the curved tusks. To her, they weren't just good crafting materials, but a memento of a hard-fought battle.

As for the sharp back spikes, Raine looked at Matthew and David and nodded. "You guys can split half of these razors and meat."

"R-really? Thank you so much!" Matthew's eyes widened in pleasant surprise, and even David, who was still busy working, jumped for joy. Receiving such a bountiful haul was clearly far beyond their wildest expectations!

However, once their excitement subsided, the group quickly realized a practical problem. How were they supposed to transport all these materials back to town? They needed to leave the forest as soon as possible. Even if they could carry everything, the sheer bulk would drastically slow them down. Worse still, the lingering stench of blood from their spoils could easily attract other Demons.

Just as everyone exchanged helpless glances, Kaelin pulled an inconspicuous gray leather pouch from her coat. It looked utterly plain, but fine silver Runes occasionally rippled across its surface, faintly shimmering with the faint glow of Magic under the firelight.

"Let's use this." Kaelin's fingertips gently brushed over the Runes, and the mouth of the pouch slowly opened before them with a soft WHOOSH.

"Huh?" Staring at the pouch in Kaelin's hand, which was no larger than a pot lid, Matthew and David were momentarily dumbfounded.

"Is that a Storage Bag?" Raine, on the other hand, quickly realized what it was as he stared into its seemingly bottomless opening. This miraculous Magic Item had been mentioned numerous times in the Sloppy Ranger's thrilling tales of adventure. The man had even proudly claimed to have worn a whole row of such bags around his waist back in his prime, though Raine had never actually seen him produce one.

As the name implied, a Storage Bag was a spatial inventory. It utilized Magic to connect to an independently existing miniature Half-Plane, meaning its internal capacity was far greater than its exterior suggested.

At the time, Raine hadn't understood the concept of a miniature Half-Plane, but the Sloppy Ranger's explanation had been simple and clear:

"Kid, the Prime Material Plane we live in is just a part of the Multiverse. This world is far vaster and more magnificent than you can imagine.

"You can think of our Prime Material Plane as a vast ocean.

"The principle behind a Storage Bag is to create and stabilize an independent 'bubble' beside this ocean, and then use a sturdy 'Magic Rope' to firmly anchor the bubble to a physical container.

"And the Storage Bag is that miraculous physical container."

Raine pulled his thoughts back to reality, unable to help his surprise. Storage Bags were exorbitantly expensive. A dockworker could toil under the sun and sea breeze for a lifetime and still never afford one. Generally speaking, only powerful Adventurers who had stepped into the halls of Professionals, or aristocratic families with profound heritage, could possess such an item.

Kaelin clearly didn't belong to the former category. Coupled with the slight reserve and decency she had occasionally revealed earlier, could she truly be of noble descent?

No, more accurately, she was likely a noble from the Grim Kingdom.

During one of his drunken stupors, the Sloppy Ranger once declared that in his brash youth, he'd had an ambiguous entanglement with a certain noble Lady from the Grim Kingdom.

"I can still vividly remember her silky blonde hair. Have you ever seen the first ray of brilliant sunlight piercing through the dark clouds after a thunderstorm? Yes! It was exactly that kind of feeling—absolutely dazzling!" he had said, revealing a rare, intoxicated expression before tipping his head back to chug another mouthful of booze.

He had mentioned in passing that, unlike the pampered noble ladies of the Solan Kingdom, the nobles of the Northern Territory were renowned for their bravery and martial prowess. Even their women were exceptionally fierce. They abhorred wearing skirts, despised tea parties, and loathed Lady etiquette classes, vastly preferring axe-throwing and bear hunting instead.

"She was truly wild, really," the Sloppy Ranger had said, clutching his lower back with lingering trauma. It was as if certain experiences from back then still made his legs go weak in retrospect, though Raine never knew the exact details.

"Looking at it this way, it's highly possible that Kaelin really is a noble from the Northern Territory," Raine thought, nodding thoughtfully.

"That's right, this is indeed a Storage Bag." Kaelin gave a slight nod. "Without further ado, let's begin packing immediately."