Chapter 168: Identification
“Well then, the talk about the dragon is over, but I have something I’d like to discuss with your friends. Is that alright?”
“May I be present?”
“Of course.”
Wondering what he was about to say, I turned around to see everyone looking at me.
I don’t know what the Royal Family is thinking, but they know they’ll suffer greatly if we become hostile, so they probably won’t do anything strange.
I gave everyone a nod and moved to the side.
“As you all probably know, rumors are circulating that he was the one who performed the Dragon Subjugation. And from now on, the Royal Family’s requested portion will be dismantled. Once the dismantling is finished and the auction begins again, others besides him will also attract attention.”
So they noticed that, huh.
If he’s pointing that out, he must have a solution.
“When that happens, never mind the nobles and wealthy merchants within the country, you’ll also face interference from the church and people from other nations. Since he possesses the Queen-sama’s Identification, nobles and wealthy merchants won’t lay a hand on him. Possessing a Royal Family Identification means it will also be difficult for the church and people from other countries to interfere with him. We would like to welcome you as vassals of the Royal Family, but since you don’t seem inclined to do so, I have a proposal… We will grant you Identification that signifies a certain status, but as a condition, when Dragon Subjugation is necessary, we want you to be considered employed by the Royal Family and subjugate the dragon. The subjugated dragon will then be sold preferentially to the Royal Family.”
“Is that the same as the Identification I have, where there’s no need to pledge loyalty, and it can be returned at any time?”
“That’s right. It’s an Identification for a Kingdom official, but Magicians will be treated as having Earl status, and others will have Viscount status. As long as you don’t misuse the Identification, it will be granted for one generation.”
“Why such generous treatment?”
“You must understand. Even if the Magicians employed by the Royal Family and nobles grow stronger, they likely won’t surpass your combat strength. We cannot let that combat strength fall into the hands of other countries or the church.”
“We’ll discuss it, so could you wait a moment?”
Prime Minister Brighton nodded, so I led everyone out of the drawing-room and asked them what they wanted to do.
“What will you do? This is your problem, and I’m not in a position to say much.”
“That’s quite an attractive proposal.”
“I like the part about not having to pledge loyalty to the Royal Family.”
“Not having to worry about nobles and wealthy merchants is also appealing.”
“But, if we’re dragged into a mansion, an Identification won’t be of any use, will it?” Fran said.
“Fran, you understand well.”
“Because I’ve experienced it many times,” she replied.
“In that case, you just have to prepare yourself and go on a rampage. If the commotion gets big enough, the other party won’t escape unscathed. That’s what having a Kingdom Identification means. Even if they try to frame you and turn you into a criminal slave, they can’t just sweep it under the rug,” one of the men said.
“I’d gratefully accept it. With that, we can use the passages for nobles, right?” another asked.
“Yeah, you can. But if you do it too openly, scummy types will flock to you, so you need to be careful.”
“At the time of a compulsory summons, if we’re considered employed by the Royal Family, subjugate a dragon, and sell it to the Royal Family, it’s a better deal than a compulsory summons, so I think we should accept,” someone suggested.
“That’s true, if we’re compulsorily summoned by the Guild, we can’t move freely.”
“If we have to subjugate dragons anyway, I think it’s better to earn more.”
“Leader, let’s accept. Just not being hassled by the Guards will be enough.”
“Yeah, Shinya-san, we’re fine with accepting,” Felzan said.
When Felzan answered on behalf of his companions, the rest also voiced their agreement, and it was decided that everyone would accept the Prime Minister’s proposal.
Returning to the drawing-room, for the final confirmation.
“Prime Minister Brighton, other than what you just said, there are no other orders, or rather, requests from the Kingdom, correct?”
“Of course. If you present your Identification and are still burdened with unreasonable demands, just inform my adjutant, and I won’t let things turn out badly for you.”
“They all say they accept the proposal.”
“I’m grateful. I’ll send someone in charge tomorrow, so please hear the details from them.”
Following the Prime Minister’s words, the adjutant stepped forward and handed Identification to the five Magicians.
The rest also received them, and on the spot, they pricked their fingers for blood to confirm there were no errors in the registration information.
It was an item with the Kingdom’s crest, a blue border, and stars lined up below. They were taught that three stars were equivalent to an Earl, and two stars were equivalent to a Viscount.
However, unlike Earl or Viscount treatment, it apparently indicated their status as officials, not nobles.
When the explanation finished, saying, “Someone in charge will come tomorrow to convey the details,” he left with the Prime Minister.
“So this is an Identification equivalent to a Viscount-sama, huh.”
“Since it’s an Identification for an official of the Kingdom of Wilandall, if even nobles do something careless, they’ll be glared at or crushed by the Royal Family, so I don’t think they’ll make unreasonable demands.”
“No, no, I have no intention of brandishing something like this and confronting a noble-sama!”
“That’s right, I’d rather not get punched.”
“But still, the Royal Family is quite generous, aren’t they?”
“A Rank 12 Magic Bag with a time delay of 180, they just casually give it to us.”
“With this, we can hunt without worrying about Magic Bag capacity!”
“Shinya, take us to the magic tool merchant.”
“After you hear tomorrow’s explanation.”
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After finishing listening to various explanations from the person in charge of Identification management, we immediately headed out to the magic tool merchant, but since everyone from each party was going to register, it looked like it would be a big ordeal.
As we approached the magic tool merchant’s shop, the guard out front, with a tense face, was reporting something inside.
Well, “A suspicious horde of Adventurers~” is probably what he’s saying.
I had everyone wait in front of the shop, and I alone stood before the guard and showed my Identification.
“You recognize this, right?”
“I am aware, but… those people behind you?”
Showing him the Magic Bag with the Royal Family Crest, I said, “There are five more identical ones, and I want to register users and set user restrictions for each, so tell the shopkeeper that.” Saying that, I entrusted my Identification to the guard.
“Please wait a moment,” he said with a tense expression, taking the Identification, and disappeared into the shop.
“I see~, so that’s how you use it.”
“This is quite a learning experience.”
“But, if you give it to someone suspicious, they might not return it, or they might claim it’s a fake,” Fran commented.
“Fran, you’re as much of a worrywart as ever,” Linna said.
“Yes, because I’ve experienced it several times with Shinya-san,” Fran replied.
“Well, yeah. In times like that, I’ve just crushed them.”
“If only we could do that…”
“Hey, hey, are you sure about that?”
“It seems better to only use it when Guards or the like talk down to us.”
“You were taught how to distinguish a real Identification from a fake, right?”
“This is strange, isn’t it? If you mutter, 《I question the authenticity of this Identification issued by the Kingdom of Wilandall…》 and channel Magical Power into it, well, isn’t that mysterious,” Linna mused.
“Linna, you were warned not to say it loud enough for others to hear, weren’t you?” Ariela chided.
The guard from before appeared with a man who seemed to be the shopkeeper, and they both bowed.
“You must be Shinya-sama. We apologize for the wait, please come in,” he said, offering my Identification.
“Is it alright if everyone comes in?”
“Of course, sir.”
Since it was past noon and there were no other customers in the shop, we had the user registration and user restrictions done immediately.
One after another, Magic Bags with the Royal Family Crest were brought out, and the shopkeeper also looked puzzled.
It’s understandable, since five Rank 12-180 Magic Bags appeared.
Once everyone’s registration was complete, I also presented an unregistered one, but the shopkeeper froze.
“Umm… This is?”
“Hmm? It’s something I received from the Royal Family, is there a problem?”
When I answered that, a deflated “Haaah” came back as a reply.
“Shinya, that’s different from ours, isn’t it? You have the same one too, right?” Ariela pointed out.
Ariela, she doesn’t miss these kinds of things.
“This is one I received before. The one I got during the subjugation will probably be useful eventually, so I’ll keep it stored away.”
As if reverently holding the Magic Bag with the Royal Family Crest, adorned with glittering gold embroidery, he performed the user registration and set the user restrictions.
The registration fee for six Magic Bags was six Gold Coins. High-quality items are expensive, huh.
As we left the shop, seen off by the shopkeeper’s deepest bow, a storm of questions came from the women.
“Shinya-cha~n, that Magic Bag is more expensive than ours, isn’t it?” Linna asked.
“It was a gift, so I don’t know the price, but I think it’s probably top-grade.”
“How is it different from ours?” Ariela inquired.
“What’s its capacity?” Fran asked.
“You, how many Magic Bags do you have?” Ariela pressed.
“I probably have more that I’ve received as gifts than ones I’ve bought myself.”
“How much does that one from earlier hold?” Fran asked.
“Hmm, it’s also Rank 12. But the time delay is double.”
“By the way,” Felzan began, “I have some Beasts we hunted during the Dragon Subjugation, but the Royal Capital’s Guild is probably busy with dismantling the dragon. If we take them, will they buy them?”
“Shall we go tomorrow? I’ll ask the Guild Master.”
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I headed to the Adventurers Guild with the leaders of each party, showed my Guild Card, and asked them to call the Sub-Master.
“What’s this, quite a crowd. This is unusual.”
“Let me introduce them. They went on that subjugation with me, the leaders of five parties.”
Each of them stated their party name and their own name, and greeted him.
“It’s not just an introduction, is it? What’s your business?”
“Regarding the Crimson Snake, as per our agreement, Tanza also holds the rights. The Dragon Subjugation was a request from the Royal Family, and we were involved in that subjugation alongside them.”
“Wait a minute! Then you guys too…”
“Sub-Master, you’re being loud.”
“Oh, my bad. Come to the meeting room upstairs.”
The Sub-Master instructed the receptionist not to let anyone upstairs and then rushed up the stairs.
“You guys also… the Dragon…”
“Sub-Master, you’re jumping to conclusions. I told you the Dragon Subjugation was a Royal Family request, didn’t I? The Beasts other than the Dragon are our prey, though.”
“If you went to the hinterlands, they must be big game, huh?”
“Of course. I imagine you’re busy with dismantling the Dragon, but would you be willing to handle these for us?”
“That’s not a problem. We do purchase Beasts, but for dismantling, we transport them to Driban’s or Heinz’s Guild and have them do it.”
“Our names as the subjugators won’t get out, right?”
“Yeah, once we’ve purchased them… if they’re from the hinterlands, they’ll go to auction… though.”
“Sub-Master, we’re fine even if it’s for less than the auction’s estimated price.”
“As long as we’re not lowballed, it’s better if it’s not known that we were the ones who subjugated them.”
“The subjugators have been listed as ‘unknown’ before, right? You’ll make sure the dismantlers keep quiet, won’t you?”
“Hold on a moment. I can’t decide that on my own authority.”
He stomped out loudly, but the sound of his footsteps quickly vanished, so he must have gone to the Guild Master’s place.