The witch thought I am a Demon God

Inside the Explorers Guild's branch office, a fat woman scrutinized the newcomers. "What brings you here?" she asked.

"To accept a task," Ivita briefly responded.

The fat woman continued, "Have you ever joined any guilds in Kari Town?"

"The Fur Maker Guild, Weaving Guild?"

"As long as you've joined any guild in Kari Town, you only have to pay ninety percent of the service charge for accepting tasks here."

"If you have joined this branch of the Explorers Guild in Kari Town, you only need to pay fifty percent of the service charge, but there is an annual membership fee of eleven shillings."

"However, if you fail to pay your membership fee on time, you will lose your guild membership."

"We have not joined any guilds in this town," Ivita responded succinctly.

"And we have no intention of joining your town's Explorers Guild."

They didn't often stay here, so joining a guild and paying a membership fee was simply a waste of money.

The fat woman nodded. The explorers were known for their nomadic lifestyle, so Ivita's choice wasn't unusual. "In that case, there is a two-penny service charge for each individual task you accept."

"All the tasks available in this town are posted on these boards. You can take a look for yourselves."

Her eyes darted around as she started to count. "One, two… six..."

"Hmm, you will have to pay twelve pennies in service charges, assuming you only plan on taking one task today."

Ivita glanced at his companions. Damn, this fat woman even counted the maid and her barely four-year-old child.

Was the town's wealth due to the townspeople's greed?

"Black Wolf," Ivita called.

Black Wolf plunged his great sword into the wooden table, splitting it in half with a resounding crack.

"Are you going to charge us for this table too?" Black Wolf growled menacingly.

The fat woman's face turned several shades as she realized she had picked a tough crowd. "No... no need," she stammered.

"Actually, there are only four of you..."

She wanted to protest, but her strong survival instinct held her back from doing anything foolish.

That seemed reasonable.

Ivita nodded.

There were indeed only four of them: the DemonHunter Black Wolf, himself, Rayli, and the Old Witch.

If she was including the maid and her toddler in the count, how black could her heart be?

Ivita suspected that the fat woman had swindled others in this way before, but that was not his concern.

He scanned the wooden boards. There were six in total, covered in papers detailing available tasks.

The first four boards clearly contained tasks from Kari Town or nearby villages, such as hunting wild boars that were ruining farmland.

The last two boards had fewer papers. It was clear that there were fewer tasks, and the locations were spread all over; they were likely tasks from throughout the Ambros Viscountcy.

"Hearthstone Witch, paper seems to be commonly used in this world," Ivita observed.

The Old Witch replied, "His Majesty, paper used to be expensive and only utilized by the nobility. However, as universities sprung up, things changed. The scholars invented and improved the paper-making process."

Ivita nodded.

That makes sense.

He glanced at a task on the fifth board.

The first paper was a call to arms.

The second paper was also a call to arms.

However, the first paper was initiated by the town council of Ambros City, while the second paper was surprisingly initiated by a viscount named Francesco.

Ivita read the enlistment benefits on the first paper. "A monthly payment of six shillings and two liters of wheat."

He looked at the benefits on the second paper. " A monthly payment of two shillings and four liters of wheat."

He recalled that Rayli paid Alysia only 1.2 liters of wheat every eight weeks and five shillings a year.

These enlistment benefits seemed quite substantial.

But it wasn't surprising. If the benefits weren't high, who would enlist?

After all, explorers were generally opportunistic people.

"It seems like there's going to be a war, both sides are recruiting explorers," Ivita surmised. "I just don't understand why the city is offering more money, while the viscount is offering more grain."

Rayli explained, "My Lord, that's because the cities have more money, but the price of food is high."

"The viscount's territory has less money in circulation. They don't have enough resources to pay the soldiers with money, but they have plenty of food. Furthermore, a lot of it is locally produced, so the cost is negligible."

"So, the viscount prefers to pay the soldiers with food."

"However, these conditions seem really good, almost surpassing the wages of many local jobs. I suspect that once the explorers truly join the military, these conditions will be discounted."

Frowning, Rayli pointed to a task on the fifth board, "Master, look! There's a conscription task from Pisa City."

"There are also many tasks for barons who are recruiting."

"What's happening?"

Looking at these numerous conscription tasks, Ivita suddenly felt a storm brewing.

The fat woman interrupted, "The messengers brought these tasks here at the beginning of each month, so they are at least two months delayed."

"Kari Town is on the outskirts of the Viscount's territory. Whatever conflict arises, it doesn't concern us."

Ivita blinked, it may not concern you, but it does concern us.

We originally planned to enter the heart of the Viscount's territory. No matter, overthinking has no benefit. As the saying goes, where there's a will, there's a way.

Ivita moved towards the sixth board, according to the Druid's prophecy, he would find what he needed in the last task.

However, the tasks on the sixth board were evidently not from around Kari Town.

He found the last task on the sixth board - a Baron named Kong was seeking blacksmiths to forge weapons for his realm.

Was this the task?

Did blacksmiths have anything to do with what he needed?

Just as Ivita reached out to take it, his pupils constricted suddenly. There was a piece of paper underneath the sixth board - on the floor.

He picked up and checked it. It was indeed a task.

'The prophecy says I need to accept the last task, but honestly, the task that fell under the sixth board is the actual last one.'

'It seems that even the most accurate prophecies require experience and wisdom to interpret.'

Reading the fallen task, Ivita found -

My sister has gone missing. I need explorers to find her. She might have been killed by the ogre, or she might not. But she is in a dangerous situation.

I would prefer to discuss the price in person because of some unique circumstances. Moreover, I cannot accurately estimate the difficulty of this task.

Posted by:

Branton, the eldest son of the Moro barony.