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Chapter 7: Commerce Guild
Translator: Haruchin
Alright. Let’s go to the forest even if I didn’t have an escort. According to the Adventurer’s Handbook, rabbit monsters would appear even before entering the woods.
Monsters are classified as Horned and Hornless ー technically, all monsters had horns, but weak ones had small horns the size of beans, so they’re called Hornless or Partials. I doubt I’d die in this state even if I met a Hornless, so let’s try it out.
I showed my license ー err, Adventurer’s Tag to the gatekeeper and went outside. The well-trodden, solidified, yellowish mud stretched on, but it blended with the grass soon after. The road changed into grassland after 30 minutes of walking. The whole surface was light green, dotted with yellow flowers here and there.
Rabbits might be hiding among the knee-high grass, but I got 【 Search 】 so no problem with that.
Sensed the first one ミ normal rabbit.
Sensed the second one ミ normal rabbit.
Sensed the third one ミ normal rabbit.
……As expected of the adult magazine Playboy’s logo — fertility’s totally maxed out.
Not getting annihilated despite being so near the town and always being part of meals…………
I went ahead while being wary about rabbit holes.
Finally, I found a Hornless near the woods.
When animals monsterfy, they grow horns and the area around their eyes turn black. The power of that animal’s attack gets amplified.
Adult men could win against Hornless Rabbits as long as they didn’t gather in herds. 15 year-old males were already considered adults here.
Change of plans, nobody around here so I took out 『 Kizenken 』.
It seemed like the rabbit also noticed me, yet it didn’t run away – totally unlike a normal one. I checked first if there were rabbit holes around me before stepping in.
I could monitor the rabbit’s movements and count those bump-like little horns on its forehead. Swung my sword ー game over.
It was easy to handle rabbit monsters regardless of their individual differences. As expected, there were fewer normal rabbits now that I entered the outer part of the woods.
The Horned Rabbit was a bit stronger than the hornless one, but it’s difficult to tell by how much. Well, of course you’d get pierced by its horn if it head-butted you, what with its leg strength and running ability, and that wound could be fatal depending on the spot.
Anyway, I made those Horned Rabbits my target practice for sword skills, so I slayed it every time I saw one. This sword could cut anything, so all I had to do was swing it down, though. Didn’t matter if it hit the horn or if the skull was hard, it was all the same.
(…….)
Maybe I should try getting used to fighting with a normal sword? This was so easy that it was making me nervous.
(…….)
Ordinary sword wasn’t any different. Not sure if my arm strength was weird, or animals here had soft bonesー but it wasn’t written in the Adventurer’s Handbook that rabbits were soft, though.
Maybe it was because my skills were strengthened just like a hero, I guess. But still, not sure if I was handling the sword properly, so maybe I should still get someone to show me the right way to swing this thing.
I might as well sell these rabbits, but the Adventurer’s Guild seemed troublesome. Maybe the Commerce Guild would do. I hang them to trees to drain the blood, but I wasn’t confident that I was doing it right.
And yeah, 【Mental Resistance】was working pretty well. Back on the island, I had thought that all I could handle was fish, mind you.
Slaughtering didn’t bother me, and I already got used to eating meat from my pack.. Plus, thinking that this rabbit was a monster at the back of my mind also helped.
I got too immersed in defeating the monsters so I missed my lunch, but I wasn’t in the mood to eat anyway. The act of crushing it as it charged towards me head-on was easy-peasy, but handling the meat after that was tricky.
I opened the sack I was carrying across my back and put the rabbits inside. It was quite heavy — bet I looked worse than Santa Claus, but let’s just ignore that.
Whoa I was so strong. Wish I was like this back at that island, though. Life would have been soooo much easier in that case.
The gatekeeper was shocked when I entered the town again. I strode towards the Commerce Guild. If I didn’t rely on the Adventurer’s Guild to purchase them for me, then I didn’t have a choice but to sell them directly. That would require a business permit, but that wasn’t something you could get just by the virtue of being a member of the Adventurer’s Guild.
‘It must go through the Adventurers Guild’, the Adventurer’s Handbook said so. I got my normal ID with me, though.
「 Excuse me, I want to sell the monsters I hunted, so how should I proceed in order to get a license for selling? 」
The Commerce Guild’s interior was brighter than that of the Adventurers Guild, and there were many tables, probably because they had to do lots of paperwork?
「 Do you have your ID with you? 」
「 Yes. 」
I presented my Free Knight ID.
「 Here, thank you very much. This is on a case to case basis, but please take note that Adventurer’s Guild might have the better price for buying and selling monsters. 」
「Yes. 」
If too many monsters appeared, then they would still purchase them even without request.
「 This is also about purchasing and selling monsters, but do you have the intention to open a shop? 」
I accomplished the stuff on the checklist after answering the Commerce Guild personnel’s questions, and they took care of my documents based on that.
「 It would take a while to process the license. Are those for sale? 」
「 Yes, I have both Horned and Hornless rabbit varieties. 」
「 Would you like to sell this in bulk to the Guild? Or do you prefer to be introduced to potential buyers? 」
The guild would charge me a handling fee for each wholesale batch, but at least it’s not troublesome. Introduction to buyers/ sellers required a one-time referral fee, but the rest would be free. Parts such as hides, meat, horns and so on had separate, dedicated stores.
「 Please sell it in bulk to the Guild. 」
「 Understood, please bring those to the building next door and have them assessed at window 10. 」
Very businesslike, which was good. The receptionist gave me a certificate instead of a license so I could have the monsters assessed while I was waiting for mine.
So accommodating ミ the service was topnotch.
There was a storehouse that carts could enter next to the guild, and the arch-like entrance was opened wide. I handed the sack to Counter Number 10 — so this was the place for assessment of monsters that were not yet dissected, huh. They already took the rabbit out, hanged it and dressed the meat in a blink of an eye.
There were rare instances when the spirits of monsters remained within their hearts at the moment of death, crystallizing into jewels after. That’s why dressing the meat was done in front of many people, so that there would be eyewitnesses.
The handbook also explained that magical stones were very valuable, so it was better to secure them in case you wouldn’t be able to bring your prey back.
I didn’t get any magic stones this time, but they praised the great condition of fur and hides. It seemed like hitting them on the head was the right thing to do. Payment would be done after receiving the license, so I returned to the place where I got my certificate, and had them process the documents for me. Dunno if it was a service thing, but they also cleaned the sack and wiped it dry for me.
Finally, I was done after getting the official papers, the license, and the payment for the rabbits. The round, coin-shaped license was made from bronze, with a hole in the middle for threading.
I could leave the papers at home, but the license must be with me at all times.
You have to be ranked Iron and above in order to set up a store and sell in town. Affiliation with the various occupational guilds such as blacksmith guilds, bakery guilds, and so on, was also necessary, else it wasn’t possible to do business, apparently.
The ID was also the same. I have several copies aside from the original to present or submit if needed. The copies were requested by paying the feudal lord’s office, and the family crest should be imprinted on the documents to avoid mistakes. It’s kind of weird, since I’m issuing it to myself.
My family crest had a shield with a wolf and wings in it, representing my safe house, Riche and freedom respectively. Well, Riche was a dog, but let’s leave it at that, okay?
By the way, the Adventurer’s Guild gave me three dog tags and no papers. One tag was for safe-keeping at the Guild, and the adventurer should bring the other two all the time. In case the adventurer died somewhere, the person who discovered that death would send one piece back to the Guild. Adventurers were generally on the loose so it was not considered as a formal ID, but as proof of pledge to the Adventurers Guild. There were also cases when they were turned away from towns if the Guild wasn’t popular there.
The bronze coin was only for those who buy and sell goods without a shop. They had no permission to use carriages to transport and sell goods, although there were a few exceptions. Basically, it was used by citizens to sell the spoils of their hunt as well as medicine. The metal ranking was the same as that of the Adventurer’s Guild, but only those who created their own stuff to sell could get stars.
Alright, let’s have dinner while walking around tonight.