SIAW Vol. 1 Chapter 17
Chapter 17 – The Family of the Traveling Merchant Soran
We ditched a bawling Gust in the training grounds and hurriedly returned to the reception. The guildmaster talked to the receptionist.
“Has Soran’s family arrived already?”
“Yes, I took them to the conference room, as per your orders, sir.”
“I see. Is Ranga here too?”
“No, I haven’t seen him yet.”
Ranga not showing up was an issue in itself, but at least he wasn’t waiting with Soran’s family, smelling like booze.
“Tenma, looks like Ranga isn’t here, but can you take care of the explanation on your own?”
“Hmm, yes, I don’t see any problems, but the money and list of items we recovered are with Ranga…we expected to give them back to the family, and…”
The guildmaster turned towards the receptionist.
“Listen, can you please go to the Napping Cat Inn and have Ranga give you the things Tenma just mentioned? Make sure Ranga and Soran’s family don’t meet. Lock him up in a room somewhere!”
“Right away, sir.”
The guildmaster then looked at me.
“Tenma, please come to the conference room with me. You’ll have to explain what happened to Soran’s family, but I’ll help in any way I can.”
“Understood. We shouldn’t keep them waiting any longer, let us hurry.”
～
We then followed the guildmaster to the conference room, on the second floor of the guild.
There we found a stocky man in his forties, the picture of a merchant, and a woman in her twenties, who looked particularly distraught, her eyes red, pressing a handkerchief against her mouth.
“I apologize for the wait.”
The guildmaster immediately apologized to the family.
“That is alright, we have just arrived. More importantly, we are grateful that the guildmaster has come in person to meet us today.”
The merchant-looking man and the woman then stood up and bowed.
The guildmaster then introduced us to them.
“These people here, coming from the Pioneers’ Village, are the ones who recovered Mr. Soran’s belongings.”
“Thank you all so much. I am Soran’s older brother, Caron. I own the Caron Trading Company, a shop in Ronda. Next to me is Raana, Soran’s wife.”
“My name is Tenma. These are Misha, Jeet, and the big one here is Zlatan. There is another member in our group, but he is feeling under the weather today, so he is resting at the inn.”
“I suppose we should all sit down first.”
Encouraged by the guildmaster, we took a seat on the sofa across the family.
The guildmaster sat in the middle and continued.
“I have explained the gist of the situation to Mr. Caron yesterday, so Tenma will go into more detail today.”
“I will tell you everything we know. More than one month, Mr. Soran…”
I explained everything that happened until our arrival in town:
- Soran had visited the village as usual a little more than one month ago, and left without trouble, accompanied by his escorts.
- After that, though, one month passed and he wasn’t seen anymore, leaving the village without supplies.
- We headed for Ronda, to buy supplies and see what happened to Soran, and found an overturned carriage on the road.
- On that occasion, we were attacked by a Forest Wolf pack with over 30 members, and somehow managed to repel them.
- We recovered Soran’s luggage, returned to the village, then departed again towards Ronda in order to deliver the luggage and inquire about Soran’s safety.
～
Caron listened with his eyes closed. Raana started crying when I mentioned the overturned carriage.
“The village elder thought that, since there were no horses or bodies near the carriage, Mr. Soran might have returned to Ronda. He thus wrote a letter for Mr. Soran. We arrived in town yesterday, with the letter in question and a report for the Adventurers’ Guild.”
I stopped talking, and all that could be heard in the room were Raana’s quiet sobs.
Then, someone knocked at the door, and the receptionist came in. She gave the guildmaster some papers and a leather satchel, whispering something in his ear. The guildmaster looked at the papers, then gave everything to me. I quickly glanced at the papers and checked that the money was inside the satchel.
The guildmaster then spoke.
“The Adventurers’ Guild received their report and the letter from the village elder. As its representative, I would like now to announce the guild’s official decision about the matter. On the basis that Soran and the adventurers who escorted him have been missing for over one month and the report previously mentioned, they will be considered as deceased. Consequently, the Adventurers’ Guild acknowledges that the request we received to safely escort Soran has ended in failure. The compensation we received to fulfill the request will thus be returned to Soran’s spouse, Ms. Raana.”
Raana began to cry louder.
“Regarding the search request received from Mr. Caron, as the party of adventurers entrusted with the request has failed to report for several days and their whereabouts are unknown, that request will be considered a failure as well. The compensation for that request will be returned to you afterwards, Mr. Caron. As guild representative, I wish to offer my deepest apologies for such regrettable failures.”
The guildmaster stood up and bowed his head to the two.
Caron spoke up, a distraught tone in his voice.
“The report we heard was very much unexpected for both me and Raana. Even adventurers lost their lives. It is extremely regrettable, but we do not think the guild is at fault. We will be counting on the support of the adventurers’ guild in the future as well.”
Ooh! Both the guildmaster and Caron are handling the matter like proper adults!
After that, all of a sudden, Caron changed the topic.
“If you may allow me a question, though…with all due respect, the pack of over thirty Forest Wolves was really dispatched by these young men?”
“Indeed, I understand how that may sound hard to believe. I felt the same when I first heard the report. I did not know about the presence of the higher tier monsters as well. I have personally gauged their ability earlier today, however, and can attest to the fact that they have excellent balance, and one member of the group used to be a rank D adventurer a few years ago. They would surely be able to deal with such a situation. Tenma, especially, possesses exceptional talent. With him present, it is no wonder that they could eliminate the monsters in question and survive unscathed.”
Oof! I really messed up in the rank F exam, didn’t I…
“If the guildmaster says as much, it must be true. Tenma looks like a boy just come of age, but the explanation was really clear and easy to understand, much better than many adults out there…I suppose I am convinced.”
Please stop! Don’t make me stand out even more~~!
I had to change the topic, so I thought of giving them the list of items and money we collected, so I stood up. The guildmaster noticed and spoke up.
“The letter from the village elder said that they wished to return to Soran’s family the items collected from the site of the accident. I suppose the same was written in the letter you received?”
“Yes. Part of the items was purchased by the village, but they would return the rest.”
“About that, we would like to make sure the matter is solved without trouble or misunderstandings. In case the owner passes, their belongings are transferred to the person who finds or collects them. As Soran is considered deceased, the rights to his property belong to Tenma’s group. Normally, the family of the bereaved has the right to buy them back for half their value. I understand you wish to return them for free, but if we allow such an exception, there might be criticism from other adventurers. I thus would like to ask you to consider these circumstances, and act accordingly.”
“Half the value, you say…”
Caron seemed positively troubled, so I interjected.
“Guildmaster, let me ask a question: do the rights belong to us, even if we were out on an assignment received by the village elder?”
“Generally, the rights belong to whoever collects the items in question. In some cases the requestors complain, but the law says that whoever collects the items acquires the right of property.”
“How about we do this, then? We will return the items for free, but in exchange Soran’s family will continue his activities as traveling merchants. If we decide on the period of time they will have to keep their promise, in essence it will be the same thing as a financial payment, is it not?
“I believe the elder decided to return Soran’s belongings for free because he wishes them to continue selling items to the village, so he would not be disappointed with the outcome. In addition, if they send one more request to the guild, to dispatch the monsters roaming from there to the village, I think both the village and Mr. Soran’s family could be satisfied with the settlement. What do you say, everyone?”
Misha, Zlatan and Jeet all smiled and nodded.
“We would be very grateful, that’s for sure. We just wished to have the horse carriage back, to continue selling our goods.”
Caron agreed too.
The guildmaster then spoke.
“If both parties are content, then the guild has no objections. To form such a binding contract would require a great amount of money, surely higher than the amount that would be paid to the village in this case. If Mr. Caron wishes to continue the traveling merchant business, there will be no actual burden on him either. I think it is a fair proposal. The Pioneers’ Village elder meant to return the collected belongings for free from the start, so it is only natural that they would not be dissatisfied, I presume. Just in case, do you mind if we prepare the actual contract?”
Everyone agreed, and the guildmaster left the room to have the guild staff prepare the contract.
～
After that, I showed the list to Caron and Raana, gave them the money and had them confirm the amount.
Lastly, as the proper adult I was — I was 48 years old mentally, after all — I offered them my condolences.
“Ms. Raana, life at the village relied on Mr. Soran’s expeditions. The whole village always looked forward to his next visit. What happened is truly unfortunate and regrettable, but Mr. Soran’s job was invaluable for many. I am truly sorry for your loss.”
Not only Raana, but Caron too shed tears after my words.
“Our grandfather started this business, which was inherited by our father, then I started my trading company. Ever since we were children, grandfather always said that the traveling merchant was a business that connected lives…listening to you, Tenma, made me realize once again how true his words were. I will tell Soran’s children that their father did an admirable job, a job that connected lives to one another. Thank you so much! Sniffle!”
Caron firmly shaked my hands, water leaking even from his nose. Raana too nodded through the tears.
In such a situation, I could not possibly say that I never actually met Soran in person…
～
After a while, the guildmaster returned. The contract was ready, so it was signed on the spot.
The document itself was full of ambiguous expressions, the clearest being “the party will strive to reach the above mentioned goal”.
It was surely written just as a formality, with no actual binding powers. It had to be signed by Ranga and the elder too, but it wasn’t a problem.
By the way, Caron and Raana were going to join us when we returned to the village the day after. Raana wanted to see the spot where Soran’s overturned carriage was found, and they had to collect his belongings, after all.
Caron also said that he was going to bring the supplies that the village needed, so there was nothing left for us to do in the town.