Chapter 40: The Concession and The Price

I had successfully obtained the qualification, but the purpose of coming here was not to get the qualification.

My purpose was to receive a request.

I earned time thanks to my magic capabilities and thanks to the capacity of my item box. Even so, it was past noon.

It would be great if I could go to Decibator and sleep there by the end of today.

「Do you have any escort request for today? 」

「There is a request board over there, but in the case of you Kaede, since your item box’s capacity is large, there is some discussion about gathering fast and strong people led by the Guild to form a Kaede escort party.」

Eh. Did he say a party to escort me?

Looking at the place where he pointed to, there was certainly a request board. However, that story about the escort party seemed odd since nobody discussed it with me before.

「Eh…Hmm…Well, I don’t mind it. But will it be considered as my escort request?」

「Since you will be carrying luggage yourself, I think so, yes…I mean, putting large amounts of luggage in your item box is, in a sense, the ultimate escort, so I think it will count.」

「I understand. When do you start? How long and how much will I receive as a reward?」

「I can’t say exactly because we have to gather members for the party, but maybe tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. We will have to gather 5 B-ranks in 15 hours or so, but since they will not carry any luggage and will concentrate on the escort job, I think it will be faster.」

「Will it be profitable by bringing in 5 B-ranked adventurers?」

The escort fee alone was likely to be an abysmal price.

「Kaede, do you know how much dried meat, which you can buy here for 200 Tael per kilo, is going to cost in Decibator?」

「About 500 Tael? 」

Carrying 1-kilogram cost 200 Tael, so carrying 20 kilograms cost 4000 Tael. A simple calculation cost would be about 40,000 yen, which was a reasonable daily salary for a decent adventurer.

「It would be a loss. Since it would cost about 2300 Tael. 」

Wait a second. I did not know what he was saying. One could live humbly in an ordinary city with 20,000 Tael just by carrying a luggage of 10 kilos.

Did they not need food over there?

「Excuse me. People fight monsters in Decibator, am I right? Is it not okay for people to eat those monsters?」

If having dried meat was troublesome, then they should eat Yakiniku*.

「It’s impossible. If you eat a monster meat that came out of the monster area, you may get sick, or if you eat too much, you may die because of excessive magical power. Therefore, it’s better to carry dried meat than to do such a leisurely dangerous thing at Decibator. 」

What kind of magic was it that they couldn’t even eat that meat?

「But is it okay to carry a thousand kilos in my item box even though it’s so expensive? The economy will be a mess…」

「It’s okay. The transportation requests from the adventurers of Decibator does not come often, so it’s common to come here regularly to transport food to prevent the food shortage in Decibator. Yes, of course, the strength is reduced by that amount, but there is nothing wrong with it. There is a stockpile of food for the time being, but if food is lost, you will be forced to return to Photoren, which is the last resort.」

Rather, did they actively disrupt the distribution?

It seemed that I could build a fortune if I started the Kaede party in earnest. It would be like becoming the CEO of a huge group. I could even conquer the world economically!

…Still, to be honest, it would not be that much of a fortune, maybe.

「By the way, how much is my share? 」

「The total amount is 200,000 Tael per adventurer other than you Kaede, and a total of 1 million Tael is subtracted. The Guild receives 10% as an intermediary fee from the remaining amount. It’s going to be around these prices, is that okay with you?」

In other words, 500 kilos would be the escort fee, and the rest would be my share.

「Do you carry only dried meat? 」

「No, dried meat is less than a tenth of that amount. Buckwheat flour and wheat flour are the main ingredients, and the price is about 2000 Tael per kilo, so don’t worry.」

Buckwheat flour…He said…

Speaking of which, I felt like I ate something that resembled Sobagaki** on the way here. I haven’t seen noodles or soy sauce.

I shouldn’t expect to see those kind of ingredients in this world.

…Well, I should eat crabs or tuna. If the symptom was excessive magical power, my MP may increase if I ate meat from Decibator. Just like what happened in the coal mine.

「Okay. How much will I carry? 」

「I plan for you to carry as much as you can. I don’t think it will drop below 10 tons.」

Hmm…Would it be 2 million per ton? Even if we shared part of the value with the Guild, it would still be a good start if this were a small company.

But, I had already set up one magic tool workshop with a perfect name.

「Okay. By the way, do you usually transport the goods and sell them by yourself? Why not by the Guild itself?」

「That’s right. The Guild doesn’t want to make much money from the transport business to Decibator. The priority is to supply the goods firmly to Decibator so that they have stock.」

Oh, the Guild was like an ally of justice!

An ally of justice who protected citizens from the hands of demons without seeking profits!

「It’s more profitable to increase the supply of magic stones than to earn from such things. Magic stones are taxed at 10% each time they are sold outside of this territory, but here, they are taxed at 20% since there is urgency in obtaining them. This percentage goes for the Guild’s pocket, which is just like a money tree.」

I was wrong! It was just looking for a different method to gain money! The justice veil covered their money greed!

Even in Japan, we did not double the consumption tax even if it were imposed on ordinary food!

I was furious…But I didn’t say anything. How could I get rid of a Guild that invoked tyranny on its citizens?

Every world had corruption and tyrannical systems. Moreover, the Guild would keep getting profits if the people kept buying magic stones. If the buyer also decided that it would be more advantageous to buy at that price, he or she would still buy it.

I could use the Wisp Core if I did not want to buy magic stones.

…Oops, they could execute me if they heard my thoughts, so let’s leave it here.

「Is that so? They are like feudal lor…No, I will carry the mission with sincerity!」

It was for the sake of my benefit as well as the Guild’s benefit!

「I’m counting on you. Also, it gets more profitable to bring the monsters’ corpses on the way home. But, because I can’t carry anything other than magic stones and especially high items, I often throw them away.」

It was ridiculous to throw them away!

How could he waste such resources! Think about eco!

I had no choice but to carry this properly. If I did it right, it would be a win-win situation.

It was easy to make profits temporarily, but in the end, it would be more profitable to make it sustainable.

「I’ll try to do both.」

「You might be fine if you have that kind of item box. For the time being, is it okay to conclude the negotiations?」

「Yes. I don’t see any problem. 」

「Good. What kind of reward do you want? Would you like a Decibator card?」

「What is a Decibator card? 」

「Well. It’s inefficient to bring bulky and heavy coins to Decibator, so we use a card that records the amount of money like a Guild card. You can withdraw cash in the Guild and charge it in reverse. Thanks to it, I hardly use cash in the Guild nowadays. It’s convenient in many ways, so I recommend you to use that card.」

「How much should I put in? Is there a fee? 」

「If you have a transporter qualification, then it’s free. As for the deposit amount… It’s a good idea to consider buying things at an additional price of nearly 2000 Tael per kilo, and the accommodation fee is 10,000 Tael per night. Well, I don’t think it’s a problem if you put all your property separately as long as the Guild doesn’t perish.」

Hmm, quite convenient. But the prices were high.

「Then, please give me the full reward with the Decibator card.」

Well, that’s all there is to it.

I couldn’t imagine a scenario where I could be in trouble with money. Even if I didn’t have money, I could eat crabs. It was a high-class ingredient.

「I understand. You can receive your reward in the Guild over there.」

「All right. 」

With this, the large-scale transportation plan by six adventurers was completed.

When I thought deeply about it, I thought it would be faster to fly alone on the sea, but if I got lost, I would be in trouble. Therefore, I decided to follow the plan of the people and the Guild this time around.

—

…Two days later, I put 11 tons of luggage in the item box. I gathered in a Guild room along with five adventurers.

It was time for self-introductions and a strategy meeting.

「I’m Uno. As you can see, I’m a two-handed swordfighter, with an annihilation power B, and vanguard expertise. Greetings.」

This guy was a man who seemed to be a fierce and well-built warrior. He carried a large sword on his back.

「I’m Dos. I have annihilation power B and I’m a two-handed swordfighter. Right wing. Nice to meet you.」

This guy looked like a fierce warrior too. He carried a large sword on his back.

「I’m a two-handed swordfighter with annihilation power B. You can call me Tres. Nice to meet you too.」

…This one was similar to the other two.

「Hi. I’m Cuatro, a vanguard shield swordfighter with annihilation power C. I’m good at suppressing attacks.」

Although the weapon changed, he still looked like a bulky warrior like the others.

「My name is Cinco. I am an archer with annihilation power B. Let’s work well together.」

Another muscle man. I had enough of it…

Archers were rare. But I always imagined an elf, instead of a muscular archer.

「Nice to meet you all. I’m Kaede, a magic swordsman with annihilation power C. I’ll leave the strategy up to you.」

I greeted them as well.

Uno answered.

「This time, everyone is fast and has enough annihilation power. Unless we are bombed from the sky, we won’t face big obstacles along the way. In a straightforward manner, the strategy is to run in a group and break through the path until we reach the city. Is that okay?」

「Understood. 」

Well, I was sure that I could handle it, but I decided to leave everything up to them.

Although it was a simple strategy from a muscle-looking man, I thought it was easier to break through the front with enough strength without doing much tricks.

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*Japanese style BBQ is called Yakiniku (焼肉), and literary means grilled meat in Japanese. It’s a popular dish, which originated in Korea.

**Sobagaki (そばがき) means buckwheat mash (buckwheat flour in hot water served with shoyu).

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