Chapter 30

The day after dealing with the bandits and the negotiations related to coke, I decided to spend the day hunting, as there was nothing special to do today. I moved around as I used to, hunting Red Wolves, but I didn’t discover any bandit hideouts today. I ended up hunting about 50 Red Wolves.

I then headed to the guild. I also needed to collect the reward from yesterday.

"Hello, I’ve come to report on the Red Wolf extermination and to receive the reward for the bandit extermination."

The receptionist looked over my guild card and quickly raised her head to speak.

"Ah, Kaede, right? The branch manager wants to talk to you about the bandit extermination. Is now a good time?"

"Yes, it’s fine."

We had already discussed the content of the request on the day it was made, and they had mentioned they would think about my rank. Could this be about that?

I had just been promoted, so could I be promoted again? There’s no point in thinking about it, so I decided to go to the branch manager's office.

"Kaede, have a seat."

"Yes."

"First, let's talk about the reward. 500 tel per bandit, 38 bandits, that’s 19,000 tel. Then, the base reward is 8,334 tel, and the loot distribution is 12,666 tel, totaling 40,000 tel."

That’s a nice round number. They probably adjusted it at the loot distribution stage. Well, 40,000 tel is a good amount. It might be pocket change for a Metal Lizard Metal, but it’s a lot of money in general. And for a single request, it’s quite a bit.

"Now, about your rank. From what I heard from Majis, you have the strength to easily surpass D-rank. And you can kill people effectively."

Strength? Is there something missing?

If they say I need more than three years of practical experience, that would be a problem.

"But Kaede, you lack some experience. To go above D-rank, you need experience with escort requests. I’ve noted your strength on your guild card, but only guild officials can see it. This will prove your strength to some extent. After that, if you complete escort requests and gain the trust of others as an escort, you should be able to get a promotion. Completing five escort requests without any issues should be enough."

Five times, huh? It seems like it will take longer to get a rank promotion compared to before. Escort requests will likely involve moving between towns.

If I run at full speed from Tsuva, it might be fine, but if I travel by carriage, it could take days. If I could just stuff all the items into an item box and dash, it would be easier, but that wouldn’t be an escort. I wouldn’t be protecting anything, just a delivery person, and no one would trust an untrustworthy person with such a task. In any case, I need to wait until my weapon is ready.

"Yes, I can’t leave this town for now, so I’ll try to do escort requests when I have time."

"That’s a good idea. There’s no need to rush, but we would like strong adventurers to have appropriate ranks. The guild is short on high-rank adventurers, so that’s why."

With that, the conversation ended, and I left the room. They didn’t settle the extermination request, so I had to go back to the reception.

Indeed, from the fact that only one B or C-rank adventurer came for the bandit extermination request, it seems the adventurer pool isn’t very deep. It’s possible that the adventurers in this town are just at a lower level, like in Ein. However, if this is a city known for weapon production, and if it’s the kind of city where a single Metal Lizard causes a big commotion every ten years, it’s unlikely to have many high-rank adventurers. High-rank adventurers use good weapons, and if there were many high-rank adventurers, they would have access to better materials.

It’s also possible that there are too few monsters. Given the situation where there are many monsters in the forest, it’s hard to imagine that when a strong monster appears, adventurers would say, "Hooray, prey!" If the average level of adventurers were high, even a relatively low-level town like Ein would have decent adventurers. If that were the case, swords without tempering wouldn’t be used, as they would break easily. The fact that such weapons are used practically means that the adventurers here are at a level where they can use them practically. In other words, adventurers in this world are not particularly strong, and B-rank adventurers are quite rare.

While thinking about this, I settled the extermination request and went home to sleep. The weapon production might start tomorrow.

The next morning, I went to Mr. Sumizu’s workshop after the morning bell and met Sumisa. She told me that the staff production was going well. The people in this world wake up early. It seems there are some processes that Mr. Sumizu needs to handle, so it will take about three more days.

Next, I went to the Commercial Guild for the meeting. We agreed to meet "a while after the morning bell," but somehow, I could sense the timing. I was the first to arrive, but everyone gathered within ten minutes.

"Shall we go?"

Led by Gainta, we entered the Commercial Guild. The details will be discussed in the meeting room. The room is soundproofed with magic, so information won’t leak unless there’s a very loud noise. It’s used for important negotiations not related to the Commercial Guild, but there’s a fee.

Niyaki will mediate the new patent today.

"The new patent has been approved. It’s a new system called the 'New Patent.' The formal vote needed to create the new system hasn’t been held yet, but it’s a provisional approval, and the system can be used immediately. No provisional approval has ever been denied, and the guild master praised the system and promised to push it through, so there’s no need to worry. However, there are some special restrictions."

"Special restrictions?"

Like a certain percentage or more?

"Yes, restrictions on the parties to whom this technology can be provided."

I don’t understand. Isn’t the purpose of the new patent to spread the technology?

"Specifically, the parties to whom this technology is sold will be reviewed by the government, and only those who pass the review will be allowed to receive the technology. Sales to foreign countries are prohibited, and all people involved in the business will also be reviewed by the government."

So, the technology will be monopolized domestically? I guess that makes sense for the government. There are important things like wars and the balance between countries.

"Is it related to wars?"

"Wars haven’t happened in hundreds of years. Even if the amount of metal refined increases, it’s fine to sell it to foreign countries. It’s simply about monopolizing profits domestically, a means to earn foreign currency."

Hey, give me back my serious thoughts. It’s all about money in the end. Well, if it’s just that, it’s not a problem. I don’t want to pursue profit at the cost of opposing the country. Miyasu and the others nodded.

"Understood. By the way, what price would be appropriate?"

Gainta answered.

"For now, we plan to sell it slightly cheaper than charcoal. Once the name spreads, we’ll adjust the price, and once it stabilizes, we’ll fix it. Is that okay?"

"Then, to spread it, the price will have to be changed frequently until it stabilizes, right?"

"Until then, the price changes will be understood. We plan to spread it only to people we know, so the scale will grow slowly."

"That’s fine. I’m not in a hurry."

"Then, for now, a standard patent contract with 50% of the profit, and once it stabilizes, we’ll switch to the new patent. Is that okay?"

Niyaki interjected, ready to wrap things up. The two agreed, but I had a slight change to make.

"Basically, that’s fine, but while the production facilities are insufficient, it’s okay to use my share of the patent fees for equipment investment. I don’t mind receiving the money a bit later."

"Understood. Then, let’s do that."

The contract was settled. I just signed the contract written on a board with a magic stone embedded in it, and the contract was established. Some kind of magical contract, maybe an artifact.

"Wait a moment."

As I was about to leave the room, Gainta stopped me.

"About the equipment investment, we will increase it to some extent, but if we increase it too much, it might be difficult to keep up with coal mining."

"Are there not enough people? I know you haven’t been mining much."

"That’s part of it, but we can prepare people if coal is needed. However, since a small earthquake a while ago, some of the miners have been collapsing. The symptoms are similar to magic power overload, but there’s no increase in magic power, and the cause is unknown. It’s not a big issue, and the current miners are working, but it’s a problem if we need to recruit new ones."

Magic power overload, huh? Too much can be bad.

If we reduce it beforehand, it won’t overflow, right?

"Have you tried reducing the magic power before entering?"

"We asked adventurers to try it, but it only extended the time before symptoms appeared. They still showed symptoms. We learned that the closer they got to one of the tunnels, the more severe the symptoms became. We’ve banned entry to that area, but it’s a path to the area where the most coal is found, so production has dropped. We’re currently mining in shallower areas."

The time was extended, huh?

So, a person with a lot of magic power should go and investigate?

I’ll try it. If it doesn’t work, I’ll run back.

"I’ll try it. I have a lot of magic power, so I can stay active for a long time even if I reduce it to the maximum."

"That’s fine, but the person who went in first was a very skilled and powerful mage. Do you have a plan?"

"Yes, I have a plan."

Well, the plan is to brute-force it with magic power. Even a powerful mage can only handle three digits. I’m two orders of magnitude higher. I’ll leave 1,000 magic power for self-defense and go in. Depending on the situation, I might use more magic power.

I’ll show them the difference in magic power!