Chapter 13
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
In the central part of the city, there’s a large square bustling with street vendors and people, and on its west side, there’s what appears to be the entrance to a dungeon.
The 30-meter-tall (≈ 98-foot-tall) entrance isn’t a door, but rather 2 pillars with a cave visible in the back, which is quite mysterious.
I’ve heard about it, but… it’s clearly connected to a different space.
There are adventurers entering the dungeon, and although not many, I can see female adventurers challenging it with their companions.
On the opposite side of the square with the entrance is the Adventurer’s Guild, where people who look like adventurers are coming and going through a swing door.
Compared to other buildings, it’s quite large.
It’s 3 stories high, but it’s also very wide, probably around 200 meters (≈ 656 feet).
Of course, there are multiple entrances, so I’ll enter through the door closest to me.
Rustle, rustle…
There’s a counter with partitions right in front of me, and I can see several receptionists, but not all the seats are occupied.
Is it a time-of-day issue?
I’ve heard that the Adventurer’s Guild gets crowded in the morning due to quest assignments, but it’s already past that time now, and some people are attending to other business.
However, the guild isn’t deserted, with groups discussing things at tables in meeting spaces and others doing paperwork at the reception desk.
Hmm? Aren’t those people the ones who were talking about the pr**titutes at the city entrance behind me?
Did they get left behind while chatting with the women who were soliciting customers?
I’ll ignore those people and head to the reception desk with the nearest available staff.
”Welcome. What brings you here today?”
I didn’t choose her, but the receptionist was a lovely woman with shoulder-length brown hair.
Her chest, which was almost as big as the counter, was more intimidating than lovely, if I’m being honest.
”――Uh, excuse me…”
”Okay, let’s start with the registration.”
It didn’t take long, but I think I stared a bit too much.
With a slightly troubled expression, she asked about my business, and I told her I was there to register as an adventurer. She then proceeded to handle the paperwork with a serious attitude.
”Yes, registration. Do you have your resident certificate?”
”No.”
I wonder if they use that to determine if you’re a resident of this town or not.
Apparently, the resident certificate is issued together with the guild card.
If you have a guild card, you can get a resident certificate only.
Since I didn’t have one, I told her so, and she explained everything to me while pressing her chest.
- Adventurers’ tax rates are determined by their rank, and the guild evaluates their ranks independently.
- There’s a membership fee for the guild, which is deducted by 10% from the rewards for quests and item sales.
- The resident certificate issued with the guild registration certificate allows you to pass through the city’s gates without paying a toll.
- For the first tax payment in this town, the guild offers an interest-free loan.
- Basically, just follow the country’s laws.
That’s roughly how it went.
As someone who knows almost nothing about this country, the last item makes me a bit uneasy.
I guess it’s fine as long as I don’t do anything illegal, though…
What’s worrying me is the toll.
If I don’t have a resident certificate, do I have to pay to leave the city as well?
I wonder if I should try to minimize my trips outside the city and focus on increasing the products from the dungeon instead?
Magic items and expensive materials, and so on, can bring in a lot of money depending on what you get your hands on, and the method of exchange can benefit the town.
If you store them in the town, they can be used for diplomacy and such, and in auctions, they can fetch high prices, and there are various income streams like participation fees and transaction fees, and so on.
Well, as a newbie, I didn’t get a thorough explanation, but…
And then…
”What’s the membership fee for the Guild?”
”For those who have earned the trust of the Guild, they can deposit money, and for requests, they can store the items received and deliver them to the clients, and if disassembly is required, the cost will be incurred, so it’s like a usage fee for the Guild.”
That makes sense, since they’re doing the work, after all.
”Is the membership fee automatically deducted? Is it the same for taxes?”
”Not exactly. If you have deposited the necessary amount with the Guild, it will be taxed from there, but if you haven’t deposited enough… you’ll need to pay the Guild or the tax office within the deadline.”
It seems I can either bring in cash or have it deducted from my deposited money.
I also heard about the Guild’s unique ranking system, which is related to the Adventurer’s Guild itself.
The explanation about the Guild wasn’t that complicated, it’s an organization that handles requests like defeating monsters or collecting things from dangerous places.
It’s better to have the Guild as an intermediary rather than receiving direct requests from clients, and if trouble arises, the Guild can mediate, apparently.
Not only that, but if you defeat a monster and bring its proof or a usable monster to the backroom disassembly facility, it counts as an achievement, and that affects your rank upgrade.
The rank starts from 1 and basically increases by 1 each time, it seems.
Along with that, the tax amount will increase, so high-ranking adventurers need to take on jobs that match their abilities, apparently.
As long as they can pay their taxes, it’s okay, and if they have savings, they can do whatever they want… but on the other hand, if they’re low-ranking and get a lot of money, their tax amount will be lower.
But whether or not they can get a lot of money as a low-ranking adventurer is a different story.
After that… if one is going to become an adventurer in this town, entering is required, and the explanation of the dungeon was continued.
From the outside, it is seen as a cave, but as one goes deeper, it becomes a forest, a desert, or a stone labyrinth… and the environment is changed.
The monsters defeated inside are not disappeared like in a game, but proper dissection is needed.
So, when a monster is brought out of the dungeon, that needs to be considered, and a large dissection room is provided by the guild in the back.
The corpses left inside the dungeon will, after a while, be eaten by Slime, a soft-bodied magic creature, and taken care of.
It’s also said to take care of trash, so it is basically recommended to leave it alone, but it’s not that people won’t be attacked by it, so defeating it is acceptable if possible.
Defeating it is acceptable if possible, but that is because the methods to defeat it are limited, and it is a tough opponent physically, and the attributes of magic need to be considered.
It is better to run away if possible.
When it comes to things like monster corpses, if the target of digestion doesn’t move, it seems like the movement speed isn’t that fast anyway.
When it comes to running away… monsters have their own territory, and they won’t leave that area, so when it’s dangerous, it’s recommended to escape to outside that territory.
Of course, it’s not like they’ll stop chasing you just because you take one step out of their territory, but you need to keep escaping until you’re outside their territory.
Depending on the location, it might not be a monster’s territory, and we should avoid forcing our way through and instead use it as a resting spot.
I’m the only one, after all.
”It’s still dangerous even in shallow areas, depending on the situation. I highly recommend traveling with someone whenever possible. If possible, it would be even better to borrow a healer from the church who can use recovery magic.”
Apparently, in this world, magic is activated using catalysts, and as long as you have magical power, there’s no limit to the attributes you can use.
However… the holy water, which is the catalyst for recovery magic and can heal wounds quickly, can only be manufactured by the church, and they don’t sell or transfer it to outsiders.
In other words, if you want to receive recovery magic, you’ll have to borrow a priest from the church, and you’ll also have to pay for the cost of the holy water used, including the priest’s dispatch fee.
It seems that the church is trying to maintain its influence in the long run, so the dispatch fee itself isn’t that high… but the holy water is quite expensive.
So, if you don’t use recovery magic that often, it’ll be cheaper.
However…
”For now, I don’t have that kind of luxury.”
In reality, I’ve confirmed that I can create a medicine that can instantly heal wounds on my own, but the financial burden is a problem, and I don’t intend to borrow a priest.
By the way, I created that medicine to heal the pain in my neck that I got from sleeping in a bad position.
With Magic Armor, I don’t receive external damage, but to hunt monsters perfectly, I need a way to counter internal damage.
The receptionist offers me a different proposal.
”Well, it can’t be helped… but it would be better to gather companions. If possible, you could even join a ‘Company’.”
”A ‘Company’, you say? .”
”Yes, it’s a gathering of adventurers separate from the Guild, where you can team up and cooperate with each other.”
”Hmm, is it better to have a larger team size?”
It seems like it would be tough to move around in a dungeon, though.
”That’s right. Since you form teams within the company, you can quickly fill in any gaps and continue your activities even if someone suddenly drops out.”
Ah, so it’s easier to form teams within the company… I thought to myself, and then I was told about a catch.
”But, there are some issues depending on the company.”
”What kind of issues?”
When I asked about the issues, the receptionist leaned in closer, her face inches from mine.
If I had faced her directly, our lips would have almost touched, but since she was speaking in a low voice, I turned my ear to the side to listen.
”There are companies that intentionally make newbies fail and then treat them like sl*ves as compensation. And there are others that lend them money with exorbitant interest rates and manipulate them.”
”That’s… enough to make me lose interest in joining a company.”
I wasn’t interested in the first place, though.
The receptionist continued speaking to me, anyway.
”Of course, these kinds of companies are just a minority, and there are many that simply cooperate with each other. However, if that minority is connected to the city’s powerful figures, you can’t do anything about it even if there are problems…”
”Is it the same with the Guild?”
”Yes. If the problem becomes too big, other powerful figures and Guilds will have to intervene, too.”
I guess there are always going to be shady people around… I need to be careful.
”Well, let’s just say that’s how it is.”
Naturally, my interest in joining a company dropped to 0, but the receptionist did give me one piece of information.
”For now, please be careful with the ‘Gem Snake’ company. As the head of a ‘certain’ department, they have connections with powerful people and can ‘squash’ you like an insect if they want to.”
”I understand.”
I replied, and the receptionist proceeded with the paperwork.
”Then, I’ll issue your Guild Card and Resident Card. If you have a name and any skills, I can introduce you to some people who might be interested in working with you.”
”My name is Koji. I don’t have any special skills.”
”Okay. Please wait for a moment.”
The receptionist said and stood up from her seat.
I didn’t have any skills, and lying about it made me feel a bit guilty, but I didn’t want to be introduced to anyone right now since I planned to venture into the dungeon alone.
The receptionist, who seemed to understand that I was hesitant to go into the dungeon with others, went into the back room and returned with the Guild Card and Resident Card after a short while.
”Here are your Guild Card and Resident Card. Please check that the name and Guild Card number on them match.”
Both cards looked like metal dog tags. The Guild Card had my name, serial number, and a rank indicated by the number 1. The name and number were also engraved on the Resident Card, separate from the Resident Card number.
It seemed that the Guild Card number was linked to the Resident Card… Well, it made sense that the Guild would deduct taxes from the money I deposited.
”…Yes, that’s correct.”
”Then, the registration and explanation are complete. If you’d like, please consider purchasing a map. The prices are reasonable for the shallower areas.”
”How much?”
”The first area, known as the 1st district, costs 100 Oar. The price increases as you go deeper into the districts.”
I decided to buy the map for 100 Ore and put it in my bag, ready to leave the reception area.
”Be careful, okay?”
”Yes.”
She was excessively worried, but going into the dungeon alone is dangerous, after all.
Well, whatever.
I safely obtained my guild card and resident card, so now I need to test how much I can earn in the dungeon.
I was worried so much, so for now, I’ll just move within the range of the map I bought.
Thinking that, I immediately headed to the city square and proceeded to the dungeon in front of the Adventurer’s Guild.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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