Chapter 24: The Guild Master with a Nickname
Fran had learned to control the power of her Stone Bullets, and since the Stone Lance creation had reached a good stopping point, we decided to return to town.
As usual, I had Koo-chan and the others build an inconspicuous “apartment” near the town, left some washed skewered meat there, and then headed for the entrance.
“Carrying Horned Rabbits after so long feels heavy, doesn’t it?” Fran commented.
“Yeah, maybe we should stick to Medicinal Herbs next time. I don’t want to interfere with the business of newcomers, but I don’t like carrying heavy things,” I replied.
“We’re complete rookies ourselves, you know. But just as you said, Shinya-san, no one has tried to target us since then,” Fran said.
“Ah, if the Sub-Masters and the Count’s forces captured the Guild Master and other key figures, there’d be no point in attacking us. Even if they weren’t caught, they’d probably have fled the town. It might be more dangerous for us to go to the surrounding towns now.”
So, the center of the incident has become a vacuum, with all the shady characters having fled.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
When we entered the Guild, the receptionist nee-chan’s eyes widened.
It seems she remembered us well from when we stormed in with the Sub-Masters from Holm the other day.
When I told the old guy at the purchasing counter that we had more than just Horned Rabbits, he casually told us to go to the back.
After we finished lining up five Horned Rabbits and four Orcs, the old guy from the dismantling section looked at us suspiciously.
“Why are their chests cut open?” he asked.
“We hunted them because we wanted their Magic Stones,” I explained.
“Without the Magic Stones, the price will drop by 15,000 Dahla, you know.”
“That’s fine with us.”
《Hey, look at that.》
《They seem pretty skilled.》
《Only wounds on the back of the legs and the neck, huh?》
《What kind of method would result in that?》
The party that had brought in a Horn Boar was comparing us and our prey.
In the meantime, we received an assessment form from the dismantler who had finished appraising our haul. I showed it to Fran, and she nodded.
After thanking him, I took the form to the counter, and the receptionist nee-chan called out to us.
“You two, the Guild Master is calling for you, so please come with me.”
“We don’t recall doing anything to be summoned by the Guild Master,” I said.
“It’s apparently about the Holm matter. Please hear the details from the Guild Master.”
Even if she said it was about Holm, that matter should have been settled already. While Fran and I exchanged glances, she snapped, “Hurry up and come!”
“I have a really bad feeling about this,” Fran muttered.
“But they probably won’t try to kill us here, so let’s go meet him. I’ll call Bee-chan and the others,” I said.
“I’m counting on you… or rather, you’re as cool-headed as ever, aren’t you, Shinya-san?” Fran replied.
“What are you talking about? I’m just wondering if the Potions I have on hand will be enough.”
The receptionist nee-chan knocked, entered the room, said, “I’ve brought the two of them,” and pushed us inside.
Hmm… This Guild Master is different from the one before. No, of course he’s different.
《Master, please open up.》
《It’s my turn to go first this time.》
《Whoever is fastest gets to sting, right?》
《Not yet. Be quiet.》 I instructed mentally.
《Okay~》
“Are these bees your escorts?” the man asked.
“I heard you’re the Guild Master. What business do you have with us?” I asked.
“Yeah, this is bad news for you guys, but the man in question escaped.”
“Haaah… So the Guild Master got away,” I murmured.
“No way…” Fran exclaimed softly.
“How on earth did you let him get away?” I asked, a bit more forcefully.
“The guys who went after you didn’t return, and the Sub-Master from Holm left town with a large number of men, so he probably had them followed. He must have fled as soon as he learned his underlings were caught. The Sub-Masters from Holm brought back those ruffians, but with him having escaped, there’s nothing we can do. Half of those brought back were local ruffians, but the rest were Adventurers from this town, so rumors spread quickly. We’ve stripped him of his Guild Master authority and put out a warrant, so even if he flees this country, he’ll have nowhere to go. That man is Owen the Hellfire, a feared former A-rank. If you ever encounter him, run immediately. Also, a large sum of money has been transferred from the Holm Guild, so just put up with it.”
With that, he waved his hand, urging us to leave.
At the counter, I presented the assessment form and said we wanted to deposit everything into our two accounts. At the same time, I requested a balance inquiry.
“I wonder how much it’ll be,” Fran said.
“We’ll definitely get at least 10 Gold Coins each, but I wouldn’t expect much from what those guys earned,” I replied.
“But there are still three high-quality Magic Pouches left, and we haven’t even looked inside two of them, right?” Fran added.
The payment clerk took both our Guild Cards, made the deposit, and started writing down the balances when his hand suddenly stopped.
He looked back and forth between our faces and the cards several times, tilting his head, then looked at the cards again, confirmed the amount, and started writing.
I received the cards and a slip of paper with the balances written on it and checked them.
6,024,650 Dahla… This is after depositing half of the 275,000 Dahla from the earlier assessment?
Fran’s balance is almost the same, which means that besides the cash, those three Magic Pouches must have fetched a good price.
“Including what those guys had, it turned out to be quite a sum, didn’t it?” Fran remarked.
“I think more than half of it is from selling off the Magic Pouches. Shall we go buy some Potions right away?” I suggested.
“You’re eager, aren’t you?” Fran said with a smile.
“Of course. Our lives depend on it. I’ll buy some more beginner ones too.”
I requested 35 Gold Coins from the payment clerk and tossed them into my Magic Pouch.
He was already surprised by the balances of two obvious rookies, and then he was even more shocked when I casually withdrew 3,500,000 Dahla.
I said my thanks and turned around, just as the party that had brought in the Horn Boar was approaching with their assessment form.
That was close. If they’d seen me withdrawing such a large sum of money, who knows what they might have said.
“Hey, you two, are you working as a pair?” one of them asked.
“Yes, we are. Do you need something?” I replied.
“We saw your haul earlier. You’ve got good skills. How about joining our party?”
“I’m sorry, but we intend to work as a duo, so we can’t.”
When I prompted Fran to leave, the three of them blocked our path.
“We’re just G-rank newbies, so we decline your invitation. Could you please let us pass?” I said firmly.
“Complete rookies, huh? You’ve got some nerve turning down our invitation,” the man sneered.
“Thank you for the compliment. If you won’t let us pass, am I to understand that you’re harassing G-rank rookies? I’ve only recently learned the Adventurer regulations, so…” I trailed off, implying I knew our rights.
“Argh, fine, just go!” he grumbled.
“If we meet in the forest, let’s get along, ‘kay?” another one added with a smirk.
Really, parting shots are pretty similar in any world.
“How pitiful, volunteering to be the next victims,” Fran said quietly as we walked away.
“Eh? Even if we run into them, Fran, are you just going to watch?” I asked.
“Eh? That’s where Bee-chan comes in, right?” Fran replied innocently.
“You should punish them with Stone Bullets. If you don’t practice knocking down those who underestimate you now, you’ll have trouble later. You can easily kill people even with Stone Bullets, so it’s good practice for holding back.”
I ignored her grumbling about having practiced holding back plenty already.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
When we went to the Apothecary Guild, the Elf from before greeted us; apparently, she’s the Guild Master.
She explained that apothecaries are few in number and it’s a small organization, so she’s serving as the Guild Master.
When I told her I wanted one medium-grade and one high-grade advanced Potion each, plus five low-grade, three medium-grade, and three high-grade beginner Potions, she looked astonished.
After paying 34 Gold Coins and 4 Copper coins and receiving the Potions, I asked about the Medicinal Herbs the Apothecary Guild needed.
“They’re all things that can only be gathered deep in the forest. It’d be impossible for you two,” she said.
“Well then, could you appraise these for us?” I asked, placing two Potion vials on the counter.
One was about 1/4 full of Koo-chan and the others’ potent venom, and the other was 3/4 full of Bee-chan and the others’ venom.
“What are these?” she inquired.
“The one with less is Poison Spider venom, and the one with more is Killer Bee venom.”
“I heard a rumor you’re protected by Killer Bees, but you can even collect their venom? And you managed to gather Poison Spider venom too, well done.”
“They sometimes jump out at us when we’re gathering Medicinal Herbs…” I said vaguely.
She was pleased, saying that impurity-free venom is valuable, and bought Koo-chan’s venom for 250,000 Dahla and Bee-chan’s for a high price of 330,000 Dahla.
Fran, who was watching, said, “I’ll collect Killer Bee venom too when I return to my village,” but she was shot down when the Guild Master explained, “I bought theirs for almost double the price because it was high-quality and free of impurities.”
Fran knew very well that even if they caught 10 Killer Bees in her village for poison arrows, they could only collect a minuscule amount.
And she’d said that the thought of collecting Poison Spider venom made her feel faint.
We received 58 Silver Coins. I gave 29 to Fran, and we left the Apothecary Guild to go buy food supplies.
For buying food, we use the loose change from the bandits—Copper coins and iron coins—but since we only use it for food, there’s still plenty left.
Once this money runs out, we plan to start our Adventurer business in earnest, but I still need to thoroughly teach Fran how to use Stone Lance.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
Since Fran can now consistently create Stone Lances, it’s time for shooting practice. However, it seems she didn’t think that if she could shoot Stone Arrows, it would be the same once she could create the lances, because she was bewildered when I told her to do it.
But when I explained that the principle was the same as with Stone Arrow, she understood and did a test shot.
She was so moved, her eyes welled up with tears as it embedded itself into the target tree with a 《THWACK》.
“I never even dreamed… that I’d become able to shoot Stone Lance.”
“The next thing is to see how many shots you can manage, huh. From today, before you go to sleep, keep firing them until you’re on the verge of running out of Magical Power, and get a handle on your own capabilities.”
“How many shots I can fire, you mean.”
“That’s not it. It’s about how many times you can use magic in total, including Shelter and Dome. About two-thirds of that number is what you can use for attacks. No matter how much your attack power increases, if you can’t defend, you’ll die. If attacking doesn’t work, you can hole up in a Shelter, wait for your Magical Power to recover, and then attack again. But if you’re fixated on attacking, and you can’t win… well.”
“Understood. I’ll take it to heart.”