Protagonist Knows Everything

“Is this the Hagnut Guild?”

I lost count of how many times I had heard the same question already.

‘Yes, can’t you read the signboard outside?’ I silently smiled as I swallowed those words back.

Then I replied, “Yes this is the Hagnut Guild. Can you state the reason for your visit?”

“Hmmm, I am an adventurer named Gaia Fem. Here is the certificate.”

He said while handing me his Id card with the seal of the Guild Association on it. In fact, even if I didn’t receive that I would’ve acquired his information through my records.

“This… You are an A-class adventurer. Just wait a minute I’ll bring the Guild Leader to speak to you.”

“Wait, but you’re Mr. Taylor Mason right?”

It was the same scene repeating itself.

“Yes it’s me.”

“Well, if possible, I would like to speak to you.”

“I’m just a receptionist. Do not worry. We will listen to the story together.”

‘Don’t look for me that much.’

If an employee becomes too competent and famous then even a good boss will grow envious. Well, my boss wasn’t that kind of a person.

I asked the adventurer to wait patiently and called Sain.  

Sain had already experienced this scenario quite a few times so she calmly led the adventurer to the conference room.  As soon as this Class A adventurer named Gaia Fem entered the conference room, he laid down the bow he had on his back and said in a boasty voice.

“My main weapon is this guy. It may be unfamiliar here, but it’s quite popular in the west. It might sound like useless bragging coming from me, but it’s true.”

“No. I have heard a lot about you and the reputation you have. The names of A-class adventurers are shared by the guild association after all.”

Sain’s answer was very good.  Even if the name wasn’t shared, now after that answer he won’t be able to use it as a leverage.

Gaia said with a somewhat resentful voice, “Is that true? Then this will be quick.”

“……”

“The contract with my former guild has expired. You may have heard about this too.”

“Yeah. I know.”

“So, have you ever thought of having an exclusive A-class adventurer in the Hagnut Guild?”

He said with a cocky, almost narcissistic voice.

A talented person, such as myself, came to you in person. Of course they will sign a contract, right? That must be what he was thinking.

And he would’ve been correct. If he came here a few months earlier that is.

Sain replied with a smile, “The more A-class adventurers we get, the better it will be for the guild.”

“If so……”

“Yeah. Let’s talk right away. The compensation rate we offer is 30%.”

Gaia’s face darkened with those words.

“30? As far as I can tell, it should be half…”

“The compensation rates are supposed to be confidential, I don’t know where you got your information, but it seems that they gave you the wrong information.”

“……”

“Of course it was half at first. But…”

Sain’s cheeks were slightly reddish.  Even though she had recited the same words quite a few times before, she still felt overwhelmed.

“Now, our guild has ten A-class adventurers.”

“Woman what?! Ten adventurers?”

As per my expectations Gaia started sweating. He realized that he didn’t have much leverage as he predicted.

“Yeah. So, we had to change the compensation rates.”

“No…”

Gaia pressed his temples while beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

I smiled and intervened, “If it’s difficult, we will not force it.”

“Well it’s not that bad of a deal.”

“At the west end, it’s pretty much the opposite of here. But it will be a long way back.”

At my words, Gaia’s expression faded away and he wore a bitter and somewhat forced smile.  

However, considering the position the Hagnut Guild had now, I did tell the truth.

“Okay, okay.”

“Thank you for your understanding. Would you like to sign the contract right away?”

“Yeah.”

Unlike the first adventurer, Gaia signed the contract without any hesitation.

“I have a few more questions,” said Gaia.

“Well, on average, can I get an A-class quest every few days?”

“Yeah?..”

“If there are ten people, one week? Maybe two weeks?”

“I don’t know what you mean…. You can find one every day.”

Gaia’s face was filled with bewilderment as his ears caught those words.

“Huh? Everyday?”

“Recently, thankfully, numerous quests are flooding the Hagnut Guild.”

“There are so many A-class quests in this small Kelk city?”

“Requests are coming in countless times from other provinces as well. Please note that there are cases when you’ll have to go far away.”

Then, Gaia’s face, which was dark until a while ago, lit up.

“Well, that’s great. Then 30% percent won’t be a problem.”

“Are you satisfied with that?”

“Of course. I did well to hear the rumors about Hagnut Guild. I hope that we get along well.”

Gaia Fem left the guild after nodding to Sain.  Sain stretched her arms and legs while sitting on the chair after Gaia had left.

“Haah…One more A-class adventurer registered…”

“Good for you.”

“Yeah. Everyday is like a dream now.”, Sain said while putting her hands together and closing her eyes like a dreaming maiden.

The S-class quest to subdue Dame.  It was a quest that I tried to put our name on just by participating in the consortium.

However, a single small adventurer from the Hagnut Guild ended up solving the crisis single-handedly. As it was a quest commissioned by the imperial family, rumors spread out all over the continent like wildfire.

Particularly when it became public that Kasha Flame was that A-class adventurer, it was like pouring gasoline in the already raging fire.

-A guild that raises A-class adventurers to S-class adventurers!

This is how the story spread.

“This is all thanks to Mr. Tay.”

“Kasha suffered a lot more than me you know. Even now, she is struggling.”

“Huh. Then I’ll correct myself. It’s thanks to the two of you.”

The moment she said that, the guild door was flung open, because apparently very few people open the door politely around here.

“I’m here… Whoa.”

Kasha came in brandishing the face of an artist whose deadline was closing in. She slowly headed to the four chairs that were always vacant for her to occupy like a zombie.

And with a plop she just dropped herself on them.

“Alas. Peace. This is the best.”

“How old are you?”

“No, I am not joking. I’m very tired.”

Kasha shook her hand without turning back as if she had no energy to do that.

Quickly noticing that, Elena fetched her a glass of water.

“Drink this.”

“Of course my sister! You are so quick to notice me. Thank you.”

“It’s not your sister.”

“……What you are talking about? You’re becoming more and more like Tay these days” Kasha said without turning back.

“Ehehe.”

Kasha rose up and gulped down the water.  Then she took out the confirmation out of her bag and handed it to Kasha.

“Anyway, today’s quest was finished without any problems.”

“Huh. Sister. Please wait a second.”

Elena went back to grab Kasha’s compensation.  The quest that Kasha went out today is an A plus level quest.  After catching her Dame, I confirmed in her register that she had grown to an A-plus class.

After that, I was relentlessly giving her A-plus-class quests.

Among the quests coming from all over the continent, there were many A plus class quests, there was no shortage of them.  Thanks to this, Kasha became busy like never before and I was very satisfied.

Because now, the money we paid her was worth it.  I also planned to add some incentives later on.

“By the way, I really became an A plus” Kasha said.

“What are you talking about? It was a few months ago when I officially notified the guild and changed your ID.”

“Because I can’t believe it actually happened, that I could make it till here.”

She looked up at me and said, “Hey. I don’t know, but can I really become an S-class adventurer?”

“Of course I intend to make it that way.”

Meanwhile, Elena appeared holding a heavy bag full of money.

“Sister. Now, take this.”

“Please send it home!”

“No. You have to take it back yourself.” Elena replied strictly.

In fact, if you think about this scene, it was very rare.

Originally, it was customary for adventurers to get paid immediately after completing a quest, and the reward would be collected from the client later.

That is why all receptionists had enough gold (monetary units) in their seats.

However, the A-plus-class quest rewards were really big so they were paid in advance and saved in the guild safe.

‘In other words, Elena was the one managing the safe.’

A new employee who just joined a few months back managing the guild safe was a pretty rare sight. It was proof of Elena’s abilities.

When I was thinking about it Elena said to Sain, “Uhh…Ms. Sain?”

“Yes. Please speak.”

“I checked while collecting the compensation money… Our safe is full.”

“Already? I bought a new one just a month ago.”

“It just means that our guild is growing really quickly.”

Elena replied so and laughed bluntly.  Sain folded his arms and pondered.

“Now there is no place to put a new safe…. to think that I will see a day like this…”

At that moment I spoke up, “Well that was to be expected.  So Sain…”

“Yeah.”

“How about moving our guild?”

“Moving?”

“Expanding.”

The adventurers who once came in thin numbers were now lining up in long lines everyday.  The waiting room stays full all day.  There are many adventurers who wait for half a day only to return back home.

“I think it’s good timing. If the business is expanding this much, the workspace will have to change as well.”

“Hmm. Actually, I thought about that as well.”

Sain responded positively while grabbing her chin.

“It’s hard to start construction for a new building and wait for it to be completed… It would be better to take over a large empty building.”

“Or it would be okay to have a branch,” I said.

“No branch office. I want to work in one building with everyone.”

My boss sure knew how to answer that.  Well, actually, the branch office would still be a bit early.

The more terrifyingly you grow, the more you’ll have to pay attention to internal management and crackdowns. To avoid that, it’s better to work in the same building as Sain suggested.

I shrugged once.

“Yeah. Then let’s start looking for a place right away.”

“I know. From tomorrow, I’ll see if there is a place suitable for moving.”

“I’ll also look for them in my free time,” Sain replied with a cheerful smile.

So we ended the conversation but…

Kasha spoke, holding up her hand.

“When you move, make sure to arrange one room for me. It’s annoying to come out here every morning you know.”

And with that we ended that conversation.

In fact, when I mentioned about moving, I had already set my gaze upon a certain building.  So without any delay I visited the Northeast Branch of the Siris Chamber with Sain for a meeting.

Ron greeted us with a bleak smile.

“It’s been a while.”

“How’ve you been? Branch manager.”

“I’m doing well, your guild is helping us out a lot after all.”

He had a contract with our guild for a long-term supply of frits.

We, however, raised the compensation a bit after our reputation rose.

It is not unreasonable for Ron to greet us so brightly, considering our condition right now.

“The Hagnut Guild is now the No. 1 Guild in the Kelk City.”

Whether it was to flatter us or just gain some favour I didn’t know, Ron was a bit difficult after all.

Sain answered calmly while placing her hand on her chest and giving a slight bow, “You’re flattering us.”

“No. I am just telling the truth. Are you thinking of buying a building from us this time?”

“Yeah.”

“The building you mentioned was built by a merchant as a warehouse. Originally, they were planning on selling it to some sleazy merchants that operate from all over the continent.”

“It doesn’t seem like you’re going to go on with that plan.”

“I’m not trying to evade my responsibility, but it was a mistake by the former branch manager.”, Ron said after sipping his tea.

“Hmm.”

“Since he resigned and I took over, I am not responsible to carry out his plans haha.”

Seeing that he was speaking so casually with us it seemed that he was quite comfortable around us.

“Anyway, the site is very large and the building is large as well as it was constructed for the purpose of being a warehouse. If you just renovate it, you’ll be able to use it right away.”

“Yes…”

“So, going back to what I said earlier…”

Ron put down the teacup. And the aloof atmosphere of the room became full of seriousness.

“The building is really big.”

“Yeah and?”

“Much more than the Wyvern Guild building