Chapter 16

As soon as I stepped out into the village, the bustle had already begun.

Farmers seemed to start their work at dawn, and people were sparsely scattered across the fields, swinging their hoes.

It looked like the iron plows were being used, suggesting advanced iron smelting technology.

"There are no oxen or horses, so there are no plows. I remember that the introduction of large livestock for winter survival was one of the basic elements of the three-field system of agriculture. I guess the first step is to see if large livestock can survive the winter."

Some stalls were set up, wafting appetizing aromas.

Since there are houses, there shouldn't be a need for so many stalls, so there must be many single people or travelers.

"The number of residences and facilities seems to be more than the scale of the farmland would suggest. Why is that? Is it a hub for something?"

<Answer: The main industry of the village called Toruka is agriculture. It also has the advantage of being a midpoint for gathering in the Southern Forest and hunting in the Northern Forest.>

<Additionally, the village of Rous is to the west, and the village of Mebuburuk is to the east, making it a transit point for trade with both, which makes it relatively more prosperous than other villages.>

The 'Scholar' teacher answered.

Rous and Mebuburuk villages, huh. I wonder if Lizardia's brother is on a business trip to one of them.

For now, I head to an inn to check off my to-do list.

Tisha mentioned that there was a sign with a bed design, so I looked around and found three.

One seemed too challenging, so I ruled it out and entered a two-story inn nearby.

The name was 'Blue Sky Inn.'

Hmm? I've been reading the text normally since just now.

<Notice: I am complementing Akihiro's visual information recognition, just like pronunciation.>

<When writing, I will intercept and change the notation.>

As expected from the 'Scholar' teacher. No mistakes.

Conversations and writing are the biggest bottlenecks in stories about other worlds, so it's really helpful that this issue is resolved.

It's really impossible to learn a new language at my age.

The company had planned to have us take the TOEIC test from this year, but I'm seriously considering changing jobs.

"Welcome. Are you here for lodging or breakfast?"

A well-built man in his 60s, with a receding hairline, greeted me.

He was neatly dressed and made a good impression.

The lobby was combined with a dining area, and it was well-maintained.

"I'm planning to stay here for the first time since entering the Waranika Kingdom. Could you tell me about the currency and the lodging fees?"

The man was the owner, and he ran the inn with his wife and two employees.

The currency was not a weight-based system but a counted currency.

Each kingdom had its own currency, and exchange was necessary.

The exchange rate was set according to the country's trustworthiness, and the current Waranika Kingdom currency was slightly undervalued, reflecting the country's strength.

The currency unit in the Waranika Kingdom was called 'Wahl,' and the general currency was uniformly made of iron.

There were denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1,000, 5,000, 10,000, and 50,000 Wahl, each increasing in size by about 2mm, and the numbers were engraved on the surface.

The reverse side had the face of the god of governance and famous kings. Honestly, I wouldn't recognize their names.

There were also 100,000, 500,000, and 1,000,000 Wahl, but these were gold coins used for large transactions and not commonly used in regular shops.

While it seemed easy to forge iron coins, the god of governance would immediately detect and punish the forger with real divine retribution.

In the past, the divine punishment was so severe and affected the entire family, making forgery unprofitable.

Well, it would be unpleasant to have my face on a forged coin, so I can understand. It sounds a bit childish, but the gods in Greek mythology did whatever they wanted.

"One night with breakfast is 5,000 Wahl. Without meals, it's 4,000 Wahl. You can use the kitchen for cooking, except during busy times."

In Japanese yen, it's a reasonable price for a budget hotel.

There were some single rooms available.

"A bucket of hot water is 500 Wahl, and a candle is 1,000 Wahl per hour. Please let the front desk know when you need them."

"Thank you. I'm planning to stay here, but I'd like to check out a few others, so I'll come back later. Thank you."

By the way, I also asked about the toilets. There were communal squat toilets on each floor, and there was a water source nearby.

Toilets are important, very important.

For now, I check my to-do list.

[x] Confirm currency value

I leave the inn and head to another one. It's quite far from the center.

The sign read 'Earth and Hammer Inn.'

When I opened the door, the front desk was combined with a dining area and bar. There were drunk, armored people lying around.

The place was not well-maintained, and the owner was a middle-aged man who looked somewhat shrewd.

Considering the income, it would be better to buy safety with money, so I left without saying a word.

For now, I check my to-do list.

[x] Confirm inn prices

Hmm. It feels good to check things off the list.

Now that the morning bustle has settled down, I'll head to the guild.

I head to a relatively large building in the center of the village. The sign with a black background and a white shield crossed with a double-edged sword indicated the guild. 'Adventurer's Guild, Toruka Village Branch.' Yes, this is it.

When I opened the door and went inside, the interior was like a combination of an office and an old employment agency.

I was a bit nervous, expecting a bar with rough-looking guys starting fights, but it was a relief.

I saw a window labeled 'Registration' and headed there. The attendant was a simple village girl, around 20 years old.

"Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild. Are you here to register?"

"Yes, I'd like to register and get an explanation of the rules."

"Sure, I'll explain the rules first, then we'll proceed with the registration."

Most of the explanation about the job content was what I had heard from Tisha.

"Regarding taxes, after registration, you will be a member of the Adventurer's Guild. The guild's tax revenue is deducted from each request based on the country's tax rate. The tax amount is reported and summarized by country, so you don't need to worry about it in your daily life."

Ah, it's deducted. It would be a hassle to file taxes, so this is helpful.

Honestly, after seeing the state of the previous inn, it seems like many people here have a bit of an Edo attitude, so this system is probably more reliable.

"Adventurers are also assigned ranks based on their contributions. There are 10 levels, from the lowest 10th to the highest 1st."

Oh, adventurer ranks. It's like a template for a strong protagonist.

"However, the rank is essentially a measure of trust. Some people misunderstand it as a measure of strength, but it's the accumulation of trust through sincere task completion. The higher the rank, the more job options you have, but there are evaluations for each promotion to ensure you can handle the tasks."

For example, if there's a bodyguard job at a certain rank, it wouldn't be good to assign someone who has never done bodyguard work.

Specialists belong to guilds for specific professions, while adventurers are more generalists.

"Regarding trust, it is taken literally. Unintentional failures are considered, but intentional or negligent failures are subject to penalties."

"Can you give an example of the penalties?"

"In the past, an adventurer stole the delivery item during a delivery mission. The guild used all its resources to apprehend the culprit and charged them for the costs, the value of the item, and the losses due to the delay."

"What happened to that person?"

"It's an old story, and they are now deceased. However, it's known that they spent their life paying off the losses."

That's quite heavy. From what I've heard, it has a bit of a dark atmosphere.

Well, there's no infrastructure, and there are no other options to survive.

"Regarding requests, you can only accept one at a time. However, if an unrelated event during a mission affects another request, it can be processed retroactively."

For example, if you accept a gathering request and end up killing a target that is also part of another request, it can be counted.

"Details are documented in the materials stored in the second-floor archive. Please check them."

The building is three stories, and the second floor has an archive. There's also a meeting room for confidential discussions.

It seems that delicate clients also visit.

"Do you wish to proceed with the registration?"

"Yes, I'd like to proceed."

I need to quickly gather living expenses, so I can't afford to hesitate.

"Please fill out the necessary information here."

I was handed a piece of parchment about the size of an A6 sheet. My name is Akihiro, I'm 35 years old, and my current address is Ast's house for now.

"Please prick your index finger with this needle. Just enough to draw a little blood."

I thought I would press a thumbprint, but I dropped the blood on a white card with a circle.

The card glowed faintly, and the blood disappeared.

"This is your guild card. It will serve as proof of your identity. It also serves as an index to access your job status database, so be careful not to lose it."

It's a futuristic item. The civilization is isolated.

"The cards and reading devices are mass-produced by the gods of magic and craftsmanship, so don't worry about it."

Thinking about the gods mass-producing devices like a cottage industry is a bit amusing. I wonder what the power source is. Probably magic, right?

"The devices run on ambient magic particles. The consumption is minimal, and they almost never break."

As I looked at the card, the information I had written on the parchment appeared. It also showed my rank as 10th.

"By the way, this card is directly connected to your soul and continuously pings it."

The term 'ping' in another world, even if it's a translation, still sounds out of place.

"If your soul leaves your body, a death report will be sent to all reading devices. This triggers a free will service, so please use it if needed."

I hope I don't have to use it.

"That concludes the explanation and registration. Your trust will be the guild's and your strength. Please take care of yourself and do your best."

The receptionist smiled and encouraged me.

"Thank you for your assistance. The explanation was very clear."

Feeling a bit tired from the long explanation, I head to look for a request.