NOVEL WEB Chapter 5: (2)
When he arrived in front of the guild, Tanaka was once again amazed by the size of the building. It was a building which boasted a three-story size and took up a considerable plot of land. Its size was on a completely different level compared to the surrounding buildings. Even while feeling a bit of pressure, Tanaka stepped into the building.
He’d imagined it to be a bar-like place with ruffians chatting and bustling here and there. However, contrary to Tanaka’s expectations, the guild was surprisingly quiet inside. It was just like those of a governmental office. Tanaka promptly made a beeline toward the reception-like counter to register.
「What can I do for you?」
The receptionist was a woman who seemed to be in her thirties, while she might not be so much of a peerless beauty, she was still nonetheless gorgeous. She spoke to Tanaka in a somewhat tired tone.
「I’d like to register with the guild.」
He was tempted to initiate a little chat with her, but decided to read the room and refrain himself. It was because he felt that it’d be wiser to just let her finish the procedures quickly and have some rest. Thus he committed himself to be as concise as possible.
「Now then, here we go! Please put your hand on this magic tool.」
Tanaka placed his hand on the crystal-like object which the receptionist woman had placed on the reception desk. Then, a card-like object was ejected from its pedestal.
「Haa, it’s finally working properly. This whole month, I’ve been having a hard time since the magic tool stopped working, you see. I had to do everything manually, so it was a load of work…」
The receptionist woman for some reason began to complain even though Tanaka had asked her nothing about it. However, thanks to her bringing up the topic, he was able to probe about the current situation.
「Well, if the magic tools had all stopped working, then all kinds of problems must have popped out all around the town, huh?」
「Yes, because of that we’ve been flooded with requests, not to mention that I have to handle all of the procedures manually. The so-called vicious cycle… I’m very exhausted….」
Tanaka probed the situation by inquiring about what was going on around the town. However, he was surprised inside to hear that the disturbance caused by the previous hero summoning ritual seemed to have affected even a faraway region such as this town.
However, as the magical energy in the air — which had previously disappeared — now had finally reverted back to normal, things seemed to be calming down. It didn’t seem like he’d need to suffer because of it directly or indirectly, so for the time being Tanaka was relieved.
「Umm, your name is Tanaka, and level 11, correct?」
Before he knew it, the receptionist woman was speaking to him in a casual tone. She was confirming the information inscribed on the card.
「Yeah, that’s right.」
「Alright, please keep this card with care. You’ll need it if you wish to use the guild’s facilities in the future, after all. Well then, I shall now proceed to give you a brief explanation about the guild.」
After handing over the guild card to Tanaka, she proceeded to give him an explanation about the guild. The receptionist woman explained briefly, as it seemed to be something everyone in the world was more or less aware of. However, it was a piece of important information to Tanaka, so he listened to and memorized it earnestly.
The guild accepted requests of various jobs, then listed and shared them to the guild members. Those who were registered with the guild could put up a request through a simple procedure. They could also accept the listed requests.
Requests were divided into ranks according to the criteria set by the guild. When putting up a request, one had to pay a fee corresponding to its rank. The rank of the guild member had to be the same or higher than the request’s rank to be able to accept it.
Tanaka was at the lowest rank of rank E. Apparently, once you completed a certain number of requests, you’d be eligible to take a promotion exam.
「Well, if you’re planning to mainly accept requests then knowing this much should be enough. If you have something you don’t understand, feel free to ask it away.」
He felt the same casualness from her as the gatekeeper Hachi. Inside, Tanaka was a little concerned about the guild. At any rate, he tried asking her a question.
「I defeated several monsters along the way, do you accept the purchasing of the materials?」
「Yes, we do. What kind of monster are they?」
Striking a triumphant pose inside, Tanaka calmly proceeded with the conversation.
「This one.」
「This is a black horned rabbit? … How rare.」
Tanaka, who was surprised to hear that it was supposed to be rare, had his hopes up high.
「Is that so? They came attacking me, so I kinda hunted them down out of necessity, though.」
「It’s a species that commonly inhabits the mountain ranges near the border. But if you’re purposely going there, it’s normal to hunt monsters with a higher reward, so it’s indeed rare to see anyone hunting these rabbits, yes. By the way, I did say that they were rare, but their reward actually isn’t that high, just so you know.」
His welling up excitement deflated a bit. However, it was true that they could be converted into money, so he pulled himself together and pressed onward with the conversation.
「I have quite a lot of them, will that be alright?」
「Monster materials are purchased using the money subsidized by the country, so we’ll buy them all at the market price, no matter how many there are. Well, I suppose it’s something like national security and economic measures.」
As Tanaka was convinced by her explanation, he took a large number of black horned rabbit carcasses out of his item box. At first the receptionist woman showed no reaction whatsoever, but gradually exasperation appeared on her face. And eventually, the exasperation turned into that of astonishment. The guild staff beside her were also dumbfounded by the mountain of black horned rabbits on the reception desk.
「I’m surprised you managed to hunt this many black horned rabbits… Or rather, to be able to store this many in your item box, just who in the world are you, really?」
「Huh? Is item box not supposed to be as spacious?」
「It more or less varies for every individual, but in my whole life, I’ve never seen anyone who can store this many.」
「Well, it’s that, isn’t it? You know, like when you could suddenly run faster when you were being chased by a dog, something like that? I mean, look, don’t I look totally like the kind of person who can do it when he puts his mind to it?」
Tanaka showed a crisp and smug expression. However, the people around him were still as dumbfounded as before. That made Tanaka feel somewhat awkward. A true and tested wimp.
「Back then I ran out of food and got too absorbed in stuffing my item box, so… hahahaha.」
He decided to play it cool. It took some time, but in the end he managed to convert the materials into a sum of 1,556,000 gold. Normally, 50,000 gold was enough for someone to live comfortably for a month, so that was a considerable amount of fortune. Tanaka was honestly happy that everything went according to his expectations. Thus spurring some confidence in him, in the future prospect of his life in the other world.
Afterwards, after inquiring about a good inn to stay at, Tanaka immediately departed the guild. After generously paying 30,000 gold for one month of lodging fees, he could finally take a breath. Once he was settled into his room, before he noticed it the sun was just about to set. Tanaka promptly plopped down on the first proper bed he had in a long time. He was lost in thoughts about his upcoming otherworldly life, but it appeared that he was more exhausted than he expected. It didn’t take long for him to be dragged into a desires-filled pink-colored world of dreams.
Year 5963 of the creation calendar, summer, in the Hazama town of Haru Empire, Tanaka’s new life was about to begin.
Name: Tanaka
Level: 11 Experience: 802/1100 Guild Rank: E
Vitality: 2.2e13/2.2e13 Magical energy: 2.0e13/2.0e13
Strength: 2.2e12 Dexterity: 2.1e12 Agility: 2.1e12
Intelligence: 2.0e12 Spirit: 2.0e12
Skill: sword (2.00)
Equipment: Short sword, Cloth clothes, Scent bag
Money: 1576,000G