Chapter 96

In the tense atmosphere, a man emerged from the staff area. Clearly not an ordinary guild staff member, he was nearly two meters tall with an overwhelming build that was evident even through his clothes. He would have been more fitting as an adventurer returning from a dungeon.

In step with the man’s pace, the adventurers who had been densely gathered around the request board took a few steps back. The man slowly walked through the space that had been created and stopped at the board for D-rank requests (coincidentally, the same rank as the request I had posted). In the dead silence, the man took out a request board from his pocket. As soon as it was hung on the hook, the guild was once again filled with noise, and this time it was dozens of times louder than usual.

"Got it!"

"Don’t push! It hurts!"

"Give it here!"

Before I could even check the content of the request, the adventurers swarmed the newly hung request boards. It seemed there weren’t many request boards, as they quickly disappeared from the hooks, and some adventurers even started trying to forcibly take the boards from those who had already secured them.

The guild was in utter chaos. However, amidst the turmoil, one by one, adventurers began to emerge from the crowd with request boards in hand. They ran straight through the guild and slammed their request boards on the counter where the receptionists were.

"I’ll take this one!"

"I’ll take this one too!"

At this point, it seemed the other adventurers couldn’t do anything. No one was trying to take the request boards from those who had them. The adventurers who had missed out on the requests started to look dejected and began choosing other requests. Given that everyone was D-rank or higher, there were only minor injuries, and no one had been seriously hurt. No one had been flagged as a criminal on their guild card, and the thief detection system hadn’t caught anyone.

Now, I understood why the staff member who brought the request boards was so robust. If it had been an ordinary receptionist, they might have been seriously injured in the chaos. The guild must have anticipated this situation.

And to show me this, the receptionist had brought me to the guild. Could this commotion be because of the request I had posted?

But was the reward I offered that high? The number of requests was different. There shouldn’t have been more than ten successful takers, but my request was for twenty-four people, with a reward of 2,000 tel each. Even for D-rank and above adventurers, this wasn’t a particularly high reward... or so I thought. The reward was decided after consulting with the guild.

"What’s going on? Was the reward too high?"

I asked the receptionist who had brought me here for the reason.

"It’s not the reward, but the content of the request, I think..."

"The content of the request?"

"Word spread that those who took this request yesterday all experienced significant level-ups. Before we knew it, the situation was like this..."

Level-ups...

Right, there was such a thing as levels. After slaying the dragon, I hadn’t heard the level-up sound for a while and hadn’t paid much attention to it. Out of curiosity, I checked my status for the first time in a while.

...My level had broken 2,600.

I see. No wonder it wasn’t going up. The experience needed to reach the next level in the 2,600s is unimaginable. I doubt my level would go up unless I slay another dragon or hunt a lot of lesser dragons.

"So, the guild is in trouble. ...But what can be done about it?"

Not posting the request isn’t an option. If I recruited elsewhere, the commotion would just move there.

"Actually, there is a measure for when a request gets too many takers."

"A measure?"

"A system that hasn’t been used in a long time and is almost forgotten by the guild... it’s like a reverse auction."

A reverse auction...

A system where people compete to take the request at the lowest price. But can a system that hasn’t been used in a long time be easily revived?

"Can it be implemented immediately?"

"Not immediately, but it should be possible by tonight. If we can prepare the venue, the setup itself isn’t too difficult."

It seems feasible. But do I have a role in this? It looks like the guild can handle everything.

"So, what do I need to do?"

"Change the request. Essentially, agree to the reverse auction."

"Sure, no problem."

I checked the content of the document presented to me and signed at the bottom. The rest will be handled by the guild. I plan to check the venue tonight, though.

After leaving the guild, I decided to go see the insulation material experiment. When I opened the door and entered the room, Catherine was already there. Melcia wasn’t around yet, but it seemed the staff member had gone to call her. She should arrive soon.

"How’s it going?"

"It’s still frozen. This is amazing..."

Catherine poked at the meat in the box with the insulation material.

The meat in the box without insulation had already completely melted. It shouldn’t spoil in such a short time, but it wouldn’t last for long-term storage.

"The effect is better than expected."

I had only expected a slight difference in coldness, but the magic stone that lasted two hours without insulation had lasted overnight.

The Green Wolf’s fur seems to have higher insulation properties than I thought.

"Yes. However, it still requires a lot of magic devices. The magic power in the devices is almost depleted."

"Right, it’s this size for now. If we use a ship..."

"Sorry to keep you waiting!"

Melcia had arrived while we were talking. She must have been nearby.

"Melcia, have you checked the results?"

"Yes. Probably one magic stone per night, or three per day. ...However, even with this, the amount of magic stones needed is still high. Even if the devices are reusable, we can’t carry an unlimited number."

"Using a larger ship will solve the problem. The export ships won’t transport goods day by day, right?"

It’s not a short distance where small ships can make frequent trips. They will use a large ship to transport everything at once.

"Of course. We will likely transport about 150 tons at a time."

"That’s 100 times the experiment. ...If we increase the cargo by 100 times, how many times more magic stones do you think we’ll need?"

"Well, a larger ship is more efficient... maybe 50 times?"

"No. Actually, we won’t need even half of that."

When the scale is doubled, the volume increases by 8 times, but the surface area only increases by 4 times. The cargo capacity is proportional to the volume, and the heat input is proportional to the surface area. So, increasing the volume by 8 times doubles the efficiency. For 100 times, it’s hard to do a quick calculation, but it’s definitely more than 4 times.

"...So, for a week’s transport, about 5 magic stones per box? It will decrease that much?"

"It should. Plus, this insulation material is a rough prototype. If we make it thicker and pack the fur more tightly, the efficiency will increase even more."

"Even 5 magic stones per box is practical. If it decreases further... we might be able to transport to other countries."

...Could this revolutionize logistics just for meat transportation? Although transporting to other countries might cause various issues, so it probably won’t happen in practice. Still, it’s a theoretical possibility. It won’t mean anything if we can’t make it happen.

"Order a ship for the experiment. Even if it’s not usable, there are other ways to improve it or use it for other purposes. Also, look for fibers with high insulation properties. Fine fibers might be good."

Fine fibers make it harder for air to move. Even though air is a poor conductor of heat, it’s useless if it moves. The role of the fibers is to prevent this.

"Understood!"

With my role in the insulation material experiment complete, I spent the evening hunting and adding attributes to magic stones. By the time night came, the guild had posted an announcement about the reverse auction for the request I had posted. The starting reward for the auction was 2,000 tel, the same as when the requests were flooded.

When I arrived at the venue, the auction had just started.

"2,000 tel!"

"1,600 tel!"

"1,000 tel!"

With the levels increasing, the prices kept dropping. Finally, the moment came.

"0 tel!"

"...Negative 100 tel!"

Negative...?