Transition to Another World, Land Mines Included. 039

Transition to Another World, Land Mines Included.

ACT 2: UNION
039: Rank Up…?

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We entered the city of Rafan via the city gates. The three of us passed through here almost everyday on our way to the forest, while Natsuki and Yuki were able to enter after showing their Guild cards. The guards were all middle-aged men, and come to think of it, we hadn’t seen that young guard again ever since our first day? Maybe his work shifts just didn’t match up to the times we passed through here.

We headed straight back to the Slumbering Bear, greeted the innkeeper, and secured two rooms for all of us. It was a relief, since I didn’t know what we’d do if there weren’t any available rooms anymore. I guess I didn’t need to worry. Even when we were staying here, the inn was never really at full capacity since it was somewhat hidden from the main street. After settling down into our rooms, we headed to the Adventurers Guild to sell our Tusked Boar extras.

“Long time no see, Diola-san.”

“Oh? Is that you, Haruka? I thought you lot left the city on some business, are you back already?”

“Yes. We’ve managed to finish our business.”

“I see… You said you were going to look for someone. Could it be those two girls?” Diola asked, her gaze shifting to Yuki and Natsuki.

Since we’d built up a trustworthy relationship with Diola, we’d told her the truth of why we left the city.

“Hi, I’m Yuki.”

“I’m Natsuki. We’ll be joining the other three to work, so please support us.”

“Oh, of course. Are you already registered?”

“Yes, we did at Saarstat.”

Diola nodded.

“I see. I’m glad you decided to come over here. There aren’t many jobs there.”

I guess since she was a Guild worker, she had some insider knowledge of how the other Guilds were doing. She’d probably also know about the high cost of renting rooms in Saarstat. All that, plus the bad food, made it hard for anyone to find a reason to stay for long.

“Anyway, we hunted some Tusked Boars on our way back. Could you buy them from us?”

“Alright. Please give me a moment.”

We piled the usual meat and hides on the counter, and Diola brought them to the back to be evaluated for payment. Now that I thought about it, Diola did seem to be unusually strong, seeing how she always managed to lift our 20-30kg leather pouches with ease.

“So, will all of you be continuing work in this city?”

“Yes. We’re still beginners and learning the ropes.”

“That’s good. Most people earn a little money, then start to get ambitious…” Diola shared with a melancholic sigh.

As we’d learned during our very first herb gathering job, the Guild had a hard time finding adventurers to take on such work. And while adventurers were technically in-charge of keeping ourselves safe, it was never good news for the Guild when we got injured, since we could no longer work and they lost manpower.

“By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask. Your bags look really convenient.”

“Oh, yes. I spent lots of effort making them.”

Haruka started to happily show off her backpack, pointing out the various features and reasons for the design, and how it was made to carry all sorts of items. While she’d had the chance to show the backpack off to the other girls, I guess she must be happy that Diola was also showing interest in her masterpiece.

“I see. May I try it on, please?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, of course.”

Diola walked out from behind the counter, put on Haruka’s backpack, and adjusted the straps to fit her height. Then, taking a small walk around the Guild, she took off the backpack and held it up, as if determining its weight. Then, she shouldered it again.

“This isn’t a magical item, right?”

She asked, head tilted to one side, as if puzzled about something. I guess backpacks distributed the weight onto the shoulders, so it felt much lighter compared to a hand-held bag. That was the reason why many military personnel chose to carry these, since they could carry burdens as heavy as themselves and still be able to go on long marches, as long as they were physically fit.

Of course, backpacks from different price ranges would differ in terms of efficiency and use. While two backpacks might look the same from the outside, it was easy to tell the difference once we put them on. While an expensive backpack didn’t necessarily mean it was good, there was also a limit to how good cheaper backpacks could be. Thanks to an understanding of all this, Haruka managed to make backpacks that suited our needs perfectly.

“Nope. It’s just made of strong fabric and leather, that’s all.”

“I see… Haruka-san, would you like to sell this to the Guild?” Diola asked after a moment’s thought.

Haruka’s eyes widened.

“Huh? You mean, my bag?”

“This bag, or rather, the knowledge of how to make it. It is quite a revolutionary item, you know?”

“Erm… Actually, now that my friends are here, we were thinking of making and selling these on our own…”

Haruka said, glancing over to the two girls. Diola nodded in understanding.

“Sounds like a good plan… Though I won’t recommend it.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Of course, this bag is a great item and will sell well. However, how many bags can the three of you make in a day? Besides, you’ll still have jobs from the Guild, unless you’re planning to focus just on making bags all day.”

Haruka’s Sewing Skill was at a Level 2. And once Yuki copied the Skill as well, I was sure they would be able to make the bags quite quickly.

However, Diola was right in saying that we still had work as adventurers, so production levels would be low. Even if we all focused on making backpacks, us guys would be unable to be of much help.

“Also, there is the big problem of copycats. Once you start selling the bags, larger merchants will start to copy your design, and they’ll be able to produce them much quicker than you.”

“…So there aren’t any laws to protect ideas?”

“Maybe for magical items listed in the Alchemist’s Encyclopedia, but for common items like this, no.”

In the previous world, even with international treaties in place, there were still countries that ignored all intellectual property rights and sold imitation products. Looking at the cultural and technological level of this world, it would be near impossible to protect ideas within a kingdom itself, much less around the world.

“But won’t that happen to the Guild too, once we sell the bag to you?”

“No, because the Guild is a powerful organization, so not many merchants will try to steal business from us directly. Besides, the main target of these bags are adventurers, who are our own people.”

Did merchants really oppose each other fighting over customers? If Haruka agreed, we’d be paid royalties from the Guild for a fixed amount of time, so there might be a chance that it would be more beneficial than trying to make and sell backpacks ourselves.

“We’ll need a few days of your time to teach our craftsmen how to make the bags, Haruka-san.”

The deal was starting to sound great. Diola was someone whom we could trust, and even if we were getting scammed, I didn’t see any disadvantages if the backpacks sold well. Haruka turned to us, checked that we all agreed, then turned back to Diola.

“Alright. I’d still like to teach my two comrades here how to make the bags, so I’ll make a template and use that as a teaching tool? I’ll need a few days to get it ready.”

“Yes, of course. We’ll also need time to discuss the details and gather some craftsmen.”

Diola held out a hand, and Haruka shook it firmly. I noticed that Diola still had the backpack on, which looked a little strange since she was clearly dressed like a city dweller, not an adventurer.

“Oh, here’s your bag back.”

As if noticing my gaze, Diola seemed a little embarrassed as she took off the backpack and returned it to Haruka.

“I think the calculations are done too. Erm, it’ll be 18,800 Reas. Will that be OK?”

“Yes.”

Wow, we’ve earned quite a bit. Haruka took the empty leather pouch and money from Diola.

Of course, we could always decline the Guild’s offer price to buy our meat, but we usually saw no reason to do so. Besides, they always helped to clean our pouch before returning it to us, which was a great help.

I knew some people brought their items to a counter at the back near the storage house, where they could check prices and haggle for a better deal, but we’d never tried that before. First, we didn’t have enough knowledge to do any haggling, and there was no point in wasting our time anyway. Besides, leaving it to the Guild’s decision probably helped to keep us in the staff’s good graces.

“We have one more question, Diola-san… We’d like to rent a house.”

“Oh? For living in? Hmm… If all five of you would like to stay together in the city, we may have something for you.”

According to Diola, we could rent a house for about 5,000-10,000 Reas per month. There also didn’t seem to be down payments such as deposits or key money, but if we didn’t pay our rent on time, we could be chased out. If we damaged the house, we would also be required to pay for repairs. However, we didn’t need a guarantor, just enough money to pay rent, so it seemed much easier to rent a place here as compared to in Japan.

“The price will change depending on location, number of rooms, and overall size. Do you have any requirements?”

“Hmm… What do you guys think?”

“Erm, I guess rent will be higher for houses near the city center?” Natsuki asked.

“Yes. Houses in the city center or along the main street will cost more. Houses in high-risk neighborhoods will cost less. Unfortunately, the area around the Guild is also cheap.”

It wasn’t that the Guild was in a high-risk area, but so many adventurers coming and going seemed to give the area a less desirable image. In actual fact, there weren’t many rowdy adventurers since bad behavior would affect our ranking, but I guess normal citizens didn’t like seeing rugged people with weapons walking about so freely on the streets. Unlike us, most adventurers didn’t have access to the Purification spell, so it was inevitable that they’d walk around covered in blood and mud until they could return home and wash up…

“Maybe we’ll look for a place near the Guild?”

“That’ll be good for adventurers.”

“We often use the East Gate, so it’s a little far…”

“But once we all level up, we may start working in the South Forest, right? That’ll be much nearer for us then.”

According to Diola, most rookies worked in the East area, while tougher adventurers took jobs in the South area. For now, we’d still be working mostly in the East.

“By the way, have you lot subjugated any Goblins yet?”

“Yes, twice, but not for these two girls.”

“Did you get their Mana Stones?”

“Oh… No…”

“I see. But since I know you so well. Come, pass me your Guild card. Nao-san and Tohya-san’s too.”

We placed our Guild cards onto the counter, where Diola made a mark on the back of each card with a chisel-like tool.

“Congratulations, you’re now Rookies.”

“Huh? Were we not Rookies before?”

“No. Well, you lot are a little different since you’ve been big earners, but only those who manage to harvest a Mana Stone can be considered real adventurers.”

While we hadn’t managed to get any Mana Stones, it was true that we’d done great work thus far, so I guess we were allowed to rank up. Not that being in the lowest rank was that tough.

“Now that you lot are Rank 1, you’ll be able to take on more types of missions, though you’re already earning so well.”

“I see. So Rank 1 is Rookie. So what were we known as, when we were still Rank 0?”

“There’s no fixed name for that… Though some people would call you an Odd-Jobber. I know the requirement to rank up is to prove that you have defeated demons, but we do need more Rookies so that doesn’t really matter for me.”

It made sense, since anyone who had the money could pay to register as an adventurer, so they’d put in a system to distinguish between those who could defeat demons and those who couldn’t…

“By the way, how much can we sell a Goblin’s Mana Stone for?”

“That’ll be 250 Reas each.”

It was much lower than I’d thought. Goblins weren’t strong creatures, but it still took some effort to subjugate them, at least for me.

“…Being an Odd-Jobber wasn’t too bad.”

“That’s because you lot managed to harvest lots of expensive Dindle fruit. If you’d taken on some Goblin subjugation missions, you’ll get a separate reward as well, so it’s also a good source of income.”

“Tusked Boars sell really well too, don’t they?”

“That depends on supply and demand, but I’m amazed that you lot managed to hunt so many of them. They can be quite difficult to find.”

I guess only Mana Stones taken from Goblins had a fixed price based on its quality. In this world, Mana Stones were a type of fuel, and its price was determined by other available fuels.

In simple terms, if one Goblin Mana Stone could boil 100L of water, it would sell for the same price as how much firewood was needed to boil the same amount of water.

On the other hand, boars were sold for their meat, whose prices were determined by the market, rather than how tough it was to hunt and kill them.

By the way, we’d managed to hunt so many boars because of my Enemy Awareness and Tohya’s super senses, so it made sense that we’d managed to kill and sell more Tusked Boars compared to the average adventurer.

“Hey, why didn’t we manage to get any Mana Stones from the Goblins? We could have earned some money from those,” I whispered.

“A Goblin’s Mana Stone is in its head, near the hippocampus, so we’d have to smash their skulls in…”

“Oh, I see.”

The Goblins of this world resembled the classic ones we see in video games, so to extract their Mana Stone, we’d have to use a sword to smash open their skulls, or cut off their heads and retrieve the Stone through the neck… Urgh! It didn’t sound like something I wanted to do.

It didn’t seem fair to expect Haruka to do it either. And while I was fine if we smashed a Goblin skull in the heat of battle, purposefully mutilating its corpse was another matter altogether. I guess it was just another thing we had to get used to.

“We’ve gone off topic. So, about housing. If you’d like a place near here, the Guild can act as an intermediary,” Diola offered.

“Huh? Can the Adventurers Guild do that?”

“Just around this area. As I mentioned, average citizens tend to avoid this area, so owners feel that it’s best to go through the Guild when renting to adventurers.”

I guess owners didn’t want to have to deal with us ‘rugged’ adventurers directly if they could help it.

“Besides, some intermediaries refuse to deal with adventurers.”

“Oh, I see.”

I guess because intermediaries would rather deal with people who had stable jobs. While adventurers could also be big earners, our jobs were more unstable, and we could lose our lives anytime.

“So you’d like to live around this area, then? Any other requests?”

“I’d like a place with a big yard, so we can train,” Tohya piped up.

“So, a big yard for Tohya.”

“I’d like a house with a bathtub… Is that too much to ask?” Natsuki suggested gingerly.

“…What do you think, Diola-san?”

In truth, I’d like a place with a bathtub too. While Purification was enough to clean us up, I wanted to take a real bath sometimes when I was in the mood. I guess everyone felt the same, as we all turned to Diola with hopeful expressions. However, Diola frowned.

“A bathtub…? Most houses won’t have that. I’m sure mansions for royalty will have those, but those places won’t be handled by the Guild… I guess you can go for a place with a large laundry room, and install a simple tub yourselves?”

As its name suggested, laundry rooms were special rooms where people of this world usually did their laundry. Some inns used it as a hand washing area, so guests had to do their laundry outdoors, maybe near a well. However, if we had our own home, we’d have to do laundry in winter and on rainy days too, and even wash large items like bedsheets, so having an indoor room with a dirt floor that could be drained was important.

“I guess there are compromises when renting. Anything else?”

“I’d like to have a room to myself, so if we can find a place with five rooms plus an extra for doing work?” I asked.

It would be great if we had an extra room for Haruka and I to train our Alchemy and Space-Time Magic Skills and create items like a Magic Bag, and a storage area to store our preserved items like at the Slumbering Bear.

“I’d like a yard too, so I can plant flowers if I have spare time,” Yuki said.

Flowers… Was she planning to do gardening? Well, I guess it was a good hobby to keep our lives as normal as possible. Personally, I didn’t enjoy gardening work, and only did small jobs like removing weeds when my parents asked me to. Even when my mum bought and planted some flower seedlings, I used to wonder why she didn’t plant fruit trees or vegetables instead, since we could at least get something edible from those.

“…I guess that’s about it? What do you think, Diola-san?”

“Hmm… A place with at least five rooms, a large laundry room, and a yard. Since you’ve been so helpful with the bags, I’ll do my best to find such a place. Can you give me a few days?”

“Of course. Thank you.”

“Thank you!” We all chimed in unison.

Diola just smiled and nodded. After bowing in thanks to her, we all left the Adventurers Guild.

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