Chapter 27: The Post-processing and The Fuel Shop

After the team reassembled, Magis-san gave the following instructions.

「I feel like this quest was not easy at first, but the bandits were wiped out extremely fast. There at least 30 people in there. It felt it ended way too quick to be honest. Kaede was much stronger than I expected. So let’s move on to collect the spoils.」

「How are you so strong even though you’re an E-rank? 」

「Ah, I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, but it seems his prowess is true. He has a strong magical power. In terms of magic and strength, he could be from the A-rank quite easily. If he is this strong at E-rank, then when he reaches the A-rank, he’ll be the top-class wizard in the whole world. I feel that he has already reached a superb level of ability.」

Excuse me… I was not a wizard, but a magic swordsman… Well, I certainly didn’t use a sword this time around.

「Is that so…If Magis-san says so…But, isn’t that a rank fraud…?」

「I’ll talk about that later with the Guild chief. Anyway, let’s finish this. Valen, you stay at the front door, Kaede will watch the back door, and everyone will collect the spoils and give them to me, since I have an item box. If I can’t store them all, I will share it with you appropriately. Can you go now, Kaede?」

「Yes, it’s okay, but I also have an item box. It has a large capacity, so can I use it?」

I didn’t think there was anything that didn’t fit in my item box.

「Thank you, and I am grateful that you want to help us, but I can’t let all the work fall on you, Kaede. If you do all the work, I will fail as the leader of this adventurers’ group. So, can you take a break? Besides, I doubt the enemy will retaliate right now.」

「Okay, I understand. Thanks, I will take a break. 」

I did not have to take a break because I never got tired, but there was no point in trying to work forcibly. I tried to be patient by accepting his words.

Since they tasked me to be at the back door, all I had to do was wait to be called after the spoils collection was over.

—

「Okay. We mustn’t neglect the perimeter on our way home. We have to be vigilant. Kaede will move in the middle. If anything happens, I’ll ask you to cover us.」

Was I being treated well or were they relying on me too much? …Even if I did not have to be vigilant, I would immediately notice movements if they entered the range of my advanced radar.

We arrived at the Guild without any particular attacks. We waited for Magis-san to call the branch chief in the room where we gathered before departure. The branch chief came soon after.

「It seems that you have succeeded in subduing the bandits. I heard that Kaede did most of the job. But are you really from the E-rank? Can you show me the Guild card?」

「Yes, here. 」

「…It seems that you have killed 38 bandits alone, but what were the other guys doing? Don’t tell me that there were more than 100 bandits?」

I apologize for getting my work done so efficiently.

「Valen, Kaede, and I rushed in with Kaede acting as our vanguard. But, I did not have time to support him with magic because Kaede invoked a large amount of rock spears instantly. His attack wiped out all the bandits. I know it sounds unrealistic, but he fired them continuously.」

Well, I would not fire continuously if I did not save power to do so. I felt like he was having a hard time explaining it to the chief.

…Maybe I did not have difficulty in achieving the quest, even so.

「…I see. I have to think about rank promotion. I will contact you later on that, but I feel that your magic is too powerful, but are using it as a consumption catalyst?」

「What is a consumption catalyst? 」

「When you learn magic, you put magical power into the magic stone, right. That kind of thing is called a magical consumption catalyst. It is used for training, so there is almost no practicality at first, but if you carve a strong magic on a large magic stone, the magic will become stronger than usual as it will release the magic within the magic stone…It is strange that you don’t know much about it.」

I’ve never seen a proper magic stone yet. I did see the magic stone of the Metal Lizard, which was only about 3 cm in diameter.

「I don’t remember. Because of my memory loss, the people from Ain helped me. It seems that I have lost many of my previous memories.」

Actually, I was actually the one who helped them by defeating the Metal Lizard.

「Amnesia, huh… I’ve heard about it before, but this is the first time that I meet someone with amnesia. It’s strange that you’ve never heard of it while having such strong abilities. Perhaps, you were born with special characteristics. However, I don’t feel like prying into your life.」

「Is it okay for the Guild to have someone like me? 」

It seemed strange that they accepted me straightaway. I could be a spy from another country.

「It’s not uncommon for a Guild to have humans that share little information about their lives. Prying on other people’s lives would be bad for us. People could start mistrusting us because of it. Instead, it is the custom of the Guild not to explore information about a member’s background. It is a convention.」

「If you do that, won’t the spies get mixed up with regular members of the Guild?」

「I know it sounds confusing, but a spy is not a criminal per se. It’s just a hidden person who tries to grab information. The Guild is careful about sharing information, so it’s not a big deal. In fact, it has been proven long ago that it doesn’t make sense to change conventions just because of that. Well, let’s leave this topic for another time. Let’s talk about the reward for the time being. It seems that Kaede finished almost the entire quest by yourself, but is it okay with you to divide the basic rewards as planned?」

「Yes, of course. 」

I wondered what would have happened if I refused. I was a little curious, but I did not feel like trying it.

「We will settle the reward and the spoils here, so I will be able to complete the procedure for the request tomorrow.」

「Are you going to dispose the spoils for the Guild?」

I thought the spoils were going to be divided among the members.

「It is the same when you normally subdue a bandit, but if you request it from the Guild; you will dispose it in the Guild. That’s why the current method has been adopted, but only for Guild requests.」

Was there such a situation? But, it was natural if I thought deeply about it.

Nobody would be convinced if someone said, “The bandits stole from your house, but I killed the bandits, so the stolen belongings are mine.”

Though the way of thinking was different between Japan and this world to some extent, some human culturally aspects did not change such as the order of things.

「Are there any objections? If not, then this is the end of the discussion. 」

Since there was no objection, the discussion ended.

The subjugation quest of bandits had ended very early. I noticed that it was about noon. I did not think that the dwarves got rid of magical power in the Metal Lizard Metal yet, so I decided to check the process of the coke.

When I went to the fuel shop, someone guided me to the research site where the workers were still experimenting. Although it was a research site, it was a corner near the fuel shop.

「Oh, Kaede-san! This is a great fuel! It seems that it can be used for refining because it has high firepower!」

It surprised me. In the back, I saw something that looked like a coke maker, and an unfamiliar dwarf was doing something over there.

I was wondering what he was doing, but if I talked to him, I felt that he would kick me out. Therefore, I left him alone and spoke with the owner of the fuel shop.

「Have you completed the practical test?」

In a world where technical capabilities were high even though there was no quenching, was the processing technology itself developing moderately without any idea of the real process?

Speaking of which, I heard that the reason why science did not develop much near the equator zone of Planet Earth was the environment. In other words, humans had no need to develop science since nature provided everything they needed to survive. Nature acted as a blessing, so humans in the equator zone had no need to develop science.

「No, it seems that efficiency will increase if you put them side by side, but it’s not done yet. But even at the current level, it is profitable enough, so I was planning to start production after getting your permission. Oh, yes, I’d like to introduce you to Igug-san from the Coal Mining Association.」

「Ah, I am Kaede. Nice to meet you. 」

I did not feel like speaking to him sooner because I had the feeling that he would kick me out.

Igug-san finally raised his face when we talked about coke properly.

「Oh, you are Kaede? This is a great technology. But what are you going to do?」

「What do you mean by “going to do”?」

「You’re giving us your idea. I’ll leave the details to the accounting department, but this should make a lot of money. I’m not sure if the current Coal Mining Association can afford a big amount of money.」

Speaking of which, I thought it was good to make this technology in the new world, but I did not think about how to sell it.

I thought there would be no problem if I taught them an unfamiliar technology; however, it was a different talk if this technology that could generate a considerable amount of money.

「What should I do? 」

「It seems you’ve never thought about this! You will be deceived one day!」

The dwarf admonished me. Regarding the money… Should we create a patent first? Was it the right thing to do?

「Well, why don’t I just give the technology for free. And if you make a profit, I could get some of the profit too. What do you think?」

「Do you mean something like “tokkyo*”? I’ve heard about that before. It is certainly a good option for those who don’t have much money at present. Are you sure about it?」

Was “tokkyo” a technical fee, or something like a copy of an artifact in this world? Was it tax-related? I wondered if it had the same patent system as in Planet Earth.

People told me that selling this technology would make a huge amount of money, but was that really true? Well, it could make money temporarily, but it was up to them to sell it in a strategic way.

It would be a waste to sell it in vain. The place who bought it could be monopolized. If I had a system where I could get money every time they made coke, I would always be able to make profit. Moreover, the technology would spread not in vain.

Okay, let’s do it. Great.

「Yes, I don’t mind. 」

「Oh, then I’ll call the accounting guy. Wait a moment. 」

Igug-san went somewhere with agility that did not suit his height. Suddenly, the fuel shop owner who had been silent until now talked to me.

「By the way, will I earn from it too?」

「Yes. I think you will have to deal with supplies for the equipment processing. I think you will make a reasonable profit too.」

「Good. I was worried that I would lose my job and shop. But, if what you say is true, then I might have to increase the number of people to work on the coke.」

…And Igle-san came back. He came with a man of the human race. Were all the accounting procedures left to the human race?

「Kaede-san, we talked about technology a while ago, but you want a patent-type contract. How about 50% of the patent fee from the profits?」

50%…What…?

Previous | Next

*Not to be confused with Tokyo (the capital of Japan). Tokkyo (とっきょ) is patent; special permission; license; concession; franchise; charter.

—————–

Thank you to the Patrons for the continued support!