Protagonist Knows Everything

There are many things a company has to consider before firing an employee. As a company, it is best not to look like the employee was forced to quit. In other words, you have to find the employees’ flaws and use it as leverage. That’s what I intended to do. I know for a fact that Hans is leaking guild information to the Wyvern guild. The only thing left is to get the timing right and use this information to fire him.

‘I just need one more piece.’

At that moment I heard Sain’s voice.

“Again?”

“Huh?”

“Tay often stares into blank space.”

‘I was too careless.’

I replied with a smile, “Sorry. I’m a bit nervous. We’re having a meeting with a major customer after all.”

“You don’t have to worry. I’ll be the one talking, you just listen.”

Saying so, Sain raised the teacup in front of her while wearing her usual composed face. I could see her struggling to keep the cup steady.

‘This must be her first time meeting a big shot.’

I put the thoughts regarding Hans on hold and focused on the meeting right in front of me.

Since Kasha captured Braum, the number of adventurers seeking our guild almost doubled. But even the contacts handing out A-class quests increased. Today we had a meeting with one of those clients.

“Sorry, It seems I kept you waiting for too long.”

This meeting was with the head of the Northeast Branch of the Siris Chamber of Commerce.

Sain replied with a stiff face, “No. It’s okay. We had a feeling that we came too early.”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

He sat on the chair opposite to us and reached out his hand.

“I am Ron Dowen, the head of the Northeast Branch of the Siris Chamber of Commerce.”

Sain gently grabbed his hand and shook it.

“I am Sain, head of the Hagnut Guild. And this is…”

“Taylor Mason, I know about him. He’s the receptionist who speaks in a weird way.”

“I heard the Hagnut guild witnessed unprecedented growth ever since Mr. Taylor joined.”

“I was just lucky.”

“Luck comes to those who are prepared.”

After saying that Ron kept glaring at me for some time. But soon started talking, “Since everyone has work, I’ll get to the point. I have a request.”

Sain replied after sipping her tea.

“Your company commissions us quite often, What’s the reason for this special meeting?”

“Well… I’ll explain.”

Ron took something out of his pockets.

‘It was a mushroom. ‘Who keeps mushrooms in their pockets?’

“This.”

“What I am gonna say from this point onwards is absolutely confidential.”

“If you feel overwhelmed then you may take notes.”

Ron then continued speaking, “This mushroom is called a Frit. These grow in the lost territory”

“……”

“About two years ago, an adventurer ran out of food while on a quest, so he used these mushrooms as food. They tasted okay, so he came back with a few.”

He carefully placed on the table a simple, seemingly ordinary mushroom, as if it was some kind of relic.

“After some careful examinations I realized something.”

“Yeah?”

“It tasted good and had product value.”

“It tastes good, but this mushroom has medicinal properties. It’s been very effective against high fever and cough.”

“Is that so? That’s hard to believe…”

“Of course, if one just simply cooks it then it won’t have much effect. It needs refinement.”

Despite being alone in the room, Ron swung around and lowered his voice.

“So, our company officially commissioned the Tower of Eternity. To effectively purify this and make it into a pharmaceutical.”

“And the Tower accepted.”

“Well, even if you study magic, you cannot live on air alone. Everyone needs a source of income.”

I was struggling to believe it. The reason he made that investment because he was confident he could make profit out of those mushrooms.

“Two years from then. The refining has already been successful, and all that remains is to do mass cultivation to lower the unit cost. It might be because of the climate, but the mushrooms can’t grow here.”

“We tried many different ways to facilitate their growth in the local environment.”

“But so far, there are no visible results. I think we need at least two more years for research.”

Sain sipped her tea and calmly asked.

“Are you trying to entrust us with a long-term quest?”

A satisfactory smile struck Ron’s face. It seems that the guild leader is quite smart.

“…”

“Yes. Please bring us the Frit mushrooms we demand for about 2 years.”

Sain gave out a silent sigh. The quest itself was not difficult. It’s not about subjugating monsters, it’s just about gathering mushrooms from the lost territory. But isn’t this quest a C-class?

The remuneration will be much smaller than the A-class quests, but it will be extremely high once the pharmaceutical comes out.

Sain kept her demeanor neutral and asked, “Did you run into some contract issues recently?”

With that Ron’s smile slightly wavered. Sain was suddenly glaring at me for some reason.

I shrugged her once and said, “According to you the research has been going on for two years. Of course, there must have been a guild that was supplying mushrooms to you until now.”

“Ah.”

“There’s a good chance that we might run into a double contract.”

“……”

“Even if we disregard that possibility you seem to be hiding something.”

Then Ron stroked his hair and replied, “It’s something that anyone can figure out if they think a bit.”

“That’s right.”

“……”

“For the past two years, We’ve been commissioning the Wyvern Guild to do this.”

Sain’s face hardened like a rock. I knew it. The relationship between the Wyvern Guild and the Hagnut Guild wasn’t that of two competitive guilds, it was something more.

‘But I still don’t know. What it is.’

“In the meantime, the contract term expired. At first, I thought that two years would be enough.”

“……”

“The deputy guild leader inquired for an extension of the contract. But……”

“…”

“Hmmm. Two years ago, only Wyvern guild was the only guild capable of carrying out such a long-term quest.”

“But now we have one more option.”

Ron silently nods his head. Sain’s face grew red. It seemed like she was proud to have been recognized as a guild alongside on equal footing with the Wyvern guild.

“…”

“What if we ask for the same level of compensation as the Wyvern guild?”

After that was said, Ron’s face got a little serious. He remained silent for a moment and replied, “It’s been two years, but it’s still far from being commercialized.”

It sounded like a weird answer at first but I figured it out.

“That means you have to cut the cost of going on the quest, even a single penny.”

“Yes.”

“In other words, this gives us a chance to lower the unit price.”

“…”

Sain’s expression, which was a little excited, changed awkwardly. But my exemplary boss soon nodded and opened her mouth.

“I was expecting that much.”

It might have been a bluff, but in any case, it was a very appropriate answer for the current situation.

“As we are still chasing the Wyverns, we won’t be able to claim the same level of compensation.”

“Thank you for this.”

“Are we going to sign the long-term contract right away?”

“I don’t mean to insult your guild, but first let’s go with a short-term contract.”

Perhaps he had already prepared for this. He took out a form from his bag.

‘Why didn’t he keep the mushroom in that bag?’

“The location is marked on the map. The quest is to bring 50 frits to me.”

“Well.”

“Don’t be too upset about the commission.”

He leaned towards us and whispered, “If we build a relationship with your guild, we will spread the word about you in the neighborhood.”

“……”

“The Hagnut Guild is a really reliable guild.”

‘Thank you very much for that. But I was thinking about doing that myself’.

Of course I didn’t say that out loud.

On our way back to the guild. Sain, who was staring through the window of the carriage, suddenly started speaking.

“I’ve met the chief of Siris only twice.”

“Yeah?”

“First, I visited their office shortly after establishing the guild. The second was when we first hired a B-class adventurer.”

“……”

“By adding up both meetings, the meeting with him was less than 20 minutes.”

Sain slowly turned her gaze to me. Her eyes were shining bright, and with a smile that couldn’t hide her joy she said.

“Today we met for over an hour.”

‘What a simple lady.’

“It’s a great development.”

“But right now we have more important matters on our hands”

“The most important thing to do is to carry out this quest safely.”

Sain clenched the form tightly and said, “Because the quest itself is not difficult, there won’t be a problem if we send any adventurer…”

“Let’s take our time deciding that the deadline is until next week afterall.”

In the evening, we arrived at the Hagnut Guild. When we opened the door, there was a voice welcoming us.

“Where have you been?”

It was Kasha. She stuck four waiting chairs in a row and was lying there. Seems like she was waiting for quite some time.

‘But didn’t she have her own room?’

“Kasha? Didn’t you go out on a quest?”

“Hehehe. I finished it in half a day. It was super easy.”

Kasha took an A-class quest just this morning.

Since the subjugation of Braum, our guild received a lot of A-class quests.

Even though she didn’t look like it, Kasha was really competent.

She suddenly drooped her shoulders and said, “I had a hard time.”

“Huh. I had a hard time?”

“Didn’t you just say it was super easy?”

“…”

“By the way, Tay. What’s that in your hand?”

She was pointing at the bag I received from Ron. The mushroom I received as a sample from Ron was a bit visible.

“Dinner.”

“It’s a frit.”

“If you knew already then why did you ask?….And why do you know that it’s a Frit”

“Because I ate them quite a few times during my quest. They grow only in the lost territory.”

While saying that Kasha silently swallowed in her mouth.

“Did you really believe that it was dinner?”

“Ye…yes.”

Suddenly I realized something and asked Kasha.

“Do you know where it comes from?”

“Huh? The lost territory…”

“No. I mean do you know the specific areas?”

Kasha looked a bit surprised but nodded sincerely.

I took the map out of my bag in a hurry. I received this map from Ron.

On the map, a circle was drawn where the Wyvern Guild had been collecting the mushrooms.

“Is this the place?”

“Huh. Well, here too… Actually, there are a few more. The place marked here didn’t have much Frits”

Kasha was really useful. Despite being the youngest of all adventurers in the Hagnut Guild, she was worth more than most of them.

At that moment, my head flashed. I found the last piece.

‘Bye. Hans.’

Meeting you was unpleasant. Hope that never happens again