SIAW Vol. 2 Chapter 10

Chapter 10 – Discussion with the Guildmaster

I honestly wanted to be left alone for a while, but I couldn’t tell the guildmaster I wasn’t in the mood to talk, after I called him to the reception.

“I am glad to see you back safe, Tenma. Gust told me that you and Misha planned to spend the night camping outside town, so I was worried.”

Worrying about two beginners spending the night out was pretty normal, I thought.

Anyway, I wanted to finish my business here quickly, so I focused on the matters at hand and put away the rest for the moment.

“I apologize for making you worry. More importantly, I’d like to talk about what you mentioned last time…and there’s something else I’d like to discuss with you too. Could you let me know when you have time?”

“Sure, we can talk right away. Shall we go to the meeting room on the first floor?”

Seriously? Right now? I need some time to collect my bearings…!

“Actually, the materials I brought are being evaluated right now. Could we talk after that?”

“It’s fine, I’ll tell them to bring the results in the meeting room.”

The guildmaster then gave instructions to Luka and walked off.

There was no other way out: I gave up and followed him.

◇　　　◇　　　◇　　　◇

We were in the same room where Ranga and Gust had been “punished” a few days ago.

The guildmaster took the seat furthest in the back, so I sat opposite to him.

“You can go ahead and start with that ‘other thing’ you wanted to discuss.”

I nodded and asked about what to do with Sil, first.

“Er, yes, I wanted to ask about how to handle familiars.”

“You have one, Tenma? You sure are talented, my boy. We can register them in this guild: once that’s done, we’ll issue a tag, and if you attach it to your familiar, with a belt or a string, you can take them in town. You should be able to take them to other towns too. I’ll give you a mock tag later, so come to the guild with that first. There’s also a place that makes exclusive strings and belts, I’ll tell you where it is later.”

I nodded, then interjected.

“Understood, thank you. Can I just have the mock tag for now?”

“No problem. What kind of familiar is it, by the way?”

“It’s a Sil…a Wolf-type monster.”

If I mentioned the exact name of the species, it’d reveal that I have the Appraisal skill…which might attract unwanted attention. I explained that it was a Wolf-type monster, but I had almost let out that it was a Silver Wolf.

“A Wolf-type familiar can stand guard when you’re out camping too, I bet it’s convenient. There are some adventurers with familiars in the guild, but most of them are bird types, used for communication.”

As the guildmaster finished his explanation, Luka came into the room.

The evaluation was complete, apparently: she put some money, a sheet of paper and my guild card on the table, then winked at me and left.

As if she said my heart could be even more yours, baby…!!

I felt a surge of killing intent — aimed at Gust — within me.

The guildmaster, unaware of the feelings festering inside me, spoke up again.

“I heard from Gust that you’re really good at catching guinea fowls.”

Gust probably talked about what happened at the Pioneers’ Village.

The guildmaster showed me the paper, then gave me the money and guild card. The paper was the result of the evaluation: the total reward was 15 golden coins and 5 silver coins.

They paid four golden coins for a single guinea fowl!

I couldn’t hide my surprise, so the guildmaster proceeded to explain.

“The standard price for guinea fowls is 3 golden coins: only the best quality ones are awarded four. The ones you brought were caught without hiring them, and they were bled out perfectly too…that’s why. Honestly, I want to use my guild discount and buy them for myself…!”

Huh, who knew that being guild staff gave you such privileges…

I was sincerely impressed, and the guildmaster cleared his throat.

“Anyhow…is there anything else you wish to talk about, Tenma?”

“No, nothing in particular.” 

The guildmaster’s expression then turned completely serious.

“About your method of increasing magic power, then. As I mentioned the other day, could you teach it to us?”

During my last visit to the guild, I had briefly talked with the guildmaster about my method of increasing magic power, and he seemed to be extremely interested.

“Sure, no problem. It’s a bit complicated to explain in words, though, so I’d like to write down the method first, then explain while looking at the text. Is that okay?”

“In that case, you can use the guild’s special paper. If you write on that, you can register the method at the same time. How many sheets do you think you need?”

Register? Oh right, he did say something about that…

“There’s some other stuff I want to write down too, so…could I have about 100 sheets?”

There were plenty of techniques and theories I wanted to write down, so even 100 sheets of paper wouldn’t be enough, maybe. It was possible to craft paper with alchemy, but I wanted to know more about this world’s paper, after all.

It was probably rare for people to use so much paper at one time, though: the guildmaster seemed very surprised.

“One hundred!? Just ten sheets cost 1 silver coin, one hundred would cost 1 gold coin. They sell cheaper paper at Caron’s trading company, you know.”

One silver coin corresponded to about 1,000 yen. In other words, one sheet of paper was worth about 100 yen. It was pretty expensive, in my old world’s standards, but I expected it to be worth more in this world, so one gold coin for one hundred sheets was still acceptable.

“I made other discoveries, in addition to the method to increase one’s magic power. I was thinking of reorganizing my thoughts and writing them down…in that case, it would be better to use paper that can be registered, I think…?”

The guildmaster, apparently defeated by my counterargument, slowly nodded.

“I-I see…let’s have one hundred sheets ready for you, then. How much time do you think it will take?”

“I was planning to write tonight, so I should be able to talk about it with you tomorrow.”

“T-Tomorrow!? Alright then…I’ll send someone to fetch the paper and bring it to your inn later. By the way, since it’s a matter closely related to magic and status, I want to inform the Magicians’ Guild too. Do you think you can find the time to meet the Magicians’ Guild guildmaster tomorrow?”

“Hmm, I wanted to go on a quest, so…I’ll bring the documents here tomorrow morning, then take a quest and complete it before noon, so I’ll be back here to the guild, report about the quest, register my familiar…and then go to the Magicians’ Guild. How does that sound?”

The guildmaster stared at me, wide-eyed.

“I-Is that really possible?”

“Yes, no problem.”

The guildmaster seemed suspicious of my reply.

Would it have been more believable if I said I needed more time? But I really don’t want to wait longer…

I was still thinking when the guildmaster, awkwardly, continued.

“O-Okay then…I’ll let the Magicians’ Guild know…”

“Please, thank you.”

The meeting was pretty much over.

For some reason, the guildmaster looked exhausted…

I said that I was planning to stay at the Napping Cat Inn, paid 1 golden coin for the paper, then received the registration tag for familiars.

It was still around 10 in the morning when I left the guild.

Since I had more time than expected, I decided to book our rooms at the inn, then take a walk around town.

◇　　　◇　　　◇　　　◇

After leaving the Adventurers’ Guild I headed towards the Napping Cat Inn.

The reception was manned by the little Beastkin siblings — Tauro and Nami.

They noticed our arrival, but for some reason Tauro just stared at us, his mouth wide open and tail all tensed up.

“We~~lco~~me~~”

Nami’s tone was as easygoing as before.

“Lady, you look so pretty today~~”

“Ah, thanks.”

Misha replied curtly.

She acted like she was unaffected, but her twitching ears and wagging tail clearly showed how she really felt!

Tauro was staring at Misha too.

Hehehe…my specially selected clothes and gear had boosted her charm to a higher level, after all!

While mentally patting myself on the back for a job well done, I spoke up.

“I’d like to book two rooms, complete with meals, please.”

“Yesh, thank you very much~~ehm…it is 14 silver coins in total~~”

“Here you go.”

I placed two golden coins in Nami’s open palm.

“Your change, sir~~6 silver coins~~”

…This little rascal speaks like this on purpose, I just know it. Not that I mind…in fact, I actually like it! But if you’re a Cat Beastkin, you’re supposed to say “meow” at the end of your sentence! Not that I’d ever say it out loud!! Anyway, more importantly…

“I brought the Horn Rabbits I had told Marissa about. What should I do with them?”

“Daddy~~!”

Responding to Nami’s call, a muscular Cat Beastman came out of a room in the back. He was the owner of the inn, I imagined.

“Oh, Nami what’s wrong? Oh, customers?”

I bowed to the owner.

“I am Tenma, and this is Misha. We are going to stay the night here. I promised Ms. Marissa that I’d bring her some Horn Rabbits last time I visited, so…where should I put them?”

The man slapped his knee and exclaimed:

“Oh! You must be the adventurer that brought us guinea fowl the other day!”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Oh! And it’s Horn Rabbits this time? You’re too kind….I’ll put in something extra in your meals! Do you mind if I take the rabbits?”

Was it my imagination, or did he really start every sentence with an “oh!”?

While pondering on this, I took out three butchered Horn Rabbits and gave them to the man.

“Oh! So many!? I can’t accept them all for free, or Marissa is going to yell at me!”

The man was hesitant, but I pushed the rabbits in his hands and also added five pieces of Forest Wolf jerky.

“This is processed Forest Wolf meat. It should go great with drinks, so please try it out once. It should be good enough to eat as is, but if you grill it a little it’ll taste even better.”

“Oh! Forest Wolf meat…yeah, that has a pretty strong smell…”

Eating Forest Wolf wasn’t common, as expected.

“Please, just try it. It’ll taste better than you think.”

The owner looked at me and the jerky, still not convinced, but I pushed both the Horn Rabbits and jerky in his hands, then left the inn.

Tauro had continued staring at Misha’s tail and face, in turn, not saying a word the entire time.

←Previous  |  Next→ (7-Days Free Trial)