**Day 19 – Before Noon – Omui Guild**
No one hassles me. No one makes eye contact. No one even faces this way. And the path automatically opens up.
It's fine with me. Actually pretty convenient.
For now I headed to the reception counter, and…
"Sorry, this is all the money I have right now. Please forgive me. I'll definitely, definitely pay the rest later, so for today… please."
""""Please!""""
Wait, I'm not a robber or anything? I'm not even an adventurer. I'm unemployed and basically homeless living in a cave? I look super suspicious!
"Haruka-kun, sorry, but we still haven't finished exchanging all the magic stones because there were too many. And even with what we've finished, the guild doesn't have enough cash on hand. I'm really sorry, but could we split the payment?"
""""Please!""""
Whoa, what is this? At least they don't seem to think I'm a robber. Though they might still think I'm suspicious. I definitely would.
"Normally we'd return any magic stones we couldn't buy, but… since you're not an adventurer, we technically can't buy them at all. Still, letting this much get sold elsewhere would be problematic… or rather, a real shame…"
According to the guild master old guy's explanation, the guild takes a ten percent commission on magic stone purchases. It's headquarters policy, so they have to deduct ten percent of the handled amount.
This money is used for the adventurers' guild and the adventurers themselves, so adventurers are forbidden from selling elsewhere. If they do, they get expelled.
The problem is I'm not an adventurer. I don't receive any help from the adventurers' guild and can't join anyway.
They gave me special treatment and said it was thanks for saving them, yet they still felt guilty about taking the ten percent.
Since I'm not an adventurer I could just sell to shops with no issue and they couldn't complain, but I'd get lowballed. They were trying to be nice by buying them themselves, but there was too much and they couldn't afford it all. On the other hand, if I sold such a huge amount cheaply elsewhere it would crash the market and cause problems for guild operations.
"Of course I can't order you, and I know I'm not in a position to ask… I'm sorry."
He seemed worried about a lot of things, but it was fine with me. He was the one asking, yet he kept hesitating and the conversation wasn't moving forward.
But one quiet comment from the receptionist lady with the panda eyes decided everything. In her small voice she said,
"If we can buy this much… I'll get a bonus… and I can buy new clothes…"
"It's fine? You had to stay up all night and everything, so go ahead and give out the bonus or whatever?"
It really was fine. There's no bookstore anyway. Even if I had money there's no place to spend it on books.
"I might not be able to register, but the class rep and the others did, and I think four acquaintances are in there too? You're taking care of twenty-four people, so it's really fine. Don't worry about it, seriously."
A wave of relief spread through the room. The receptionist lady looked excited. Ah, I got scolded. Yeah, I get the feeling. I always…
For now they gave me 8 million ele? Are they idiots? No wonder they ran out of cash. At least lowball me a little.
"8 million? Most of them were F-rank magic stones, right? The lowest rank?"
The receptionist lady who had been getting scolded stepped forward with a proud face and started explaining. She escaped the lecture…
"Ah, well, you see~ S is legendary, A is disaster-class and unbeatable. We run away. B might be possible if the whole country tries… maybe? C might work if the whole guild teams up? D is maybe doable if first-rate adventurers gather? E is when top-class people really push it and somehow manage? Everything else is F. Only F. There's nothing but F. If there was a D the king would display it as a treasure."
Useless. The ranks are completely meaningless.
No wonder there were only F-ranks. I had no idea what any of it was worth.
"F is split from 1 to 10, and then + and - make thirty ranks total."
"Why stop at F? Why not use all the way to Z? It's super confusing!"
"That's one of history's mysteries, but this time the highest was F10+. First time we've seen it. Most of the others were F8 to F5. Honestly, just the F10+ alone is over 10 million ele. The guild would go bankrupt."
The receptionist lady was the one who had been crying at the exchange counter. At the end she was glaring. Is she an appraiser? She knows a lot.
"Are you really sure? This is quite… no, an extremely good deal for us, and there's no benefit at all for you, Haruka-kun. Honestly, it's not something I can comfortably ask…"
"It's fine. I was planning to have the class rep and the others secretly sell the magic stones to the guild anyway once I gathered more? I was also planning to secretly leak guild information to you guys."
"Please don't casually spill that in front of the guild master and the entire guild staff… That's not secret or sneaky at all, is it? Well… we would have appreciated it if you did… without us noticing…"
In the end we settled on long-term repayment. If I said that if anything happened to the class rep and the others I'd collect the full amount or dump it on shops, they couldn't treat us badly and would be more flexible. Having the information-gathering guild as an ally would increase safety. Or rather, I threatened them, so they'll probably try hard.
"Alright, shall we go shopping? If there are any recommended stores, I'd like to know."
I got the war funds. More than I expected.
I also asked for the locations of the shops and headed out.
"Haruka-kun… got a moment?"
The moment I became rich, the class rep appeared?
"Extortion? Collection? Shakedown? Or is it panda eyes?"
"Enough with the panda eyes! And I'm not extorting, collecting, or shaking you down. It's the opposite!"
The amount was bigger than expected, so she looked anxious. Such a worrywart mom.
"Ah, the bag I left with you? It's fine, right? There might be emergencies."
"But it's a whole bag of magic stones! It turned into a huge amount of money? It's scary to carry!"
I left one bag of magic stones with the class rep for emergencies or when money was tight.
If someone got injured or weapons broke and we ran out of cash it would be dangerous, so I gave it to her as emergency funds and a loan, but it turned out way more valuable than expected and she was troubled.
"If there's extra or you don't need it, just give it back? Probably?"
"That 'probably' sounds like you don't care either way, right? Money is important!"
I mean, cave rent is free, mushrooms are free and unlimited, clothes are permanently guaranteed and don't tear, there's no bookstore… What even is money? That's my lifestyle.
Above all, since I'm a loner my socializing expenses are permanently free—hot cake!
"So just hold onto it. For when something important comes up. If nothing does, it's just lucky, right?"
"Yeah. Thank you. I'll use it carefully for everyone."
I finally finished persuading the class rep and we could go out?
"Hey kid, I said I'd thank you, right? There's a good shop. I'll introduce you."
Oh, it was the spear old guy. Apparently he was introducing a good shop.
Was it a shop where I could go "Kyaa kyaa, ufufu" with otherworld beauties? In the cave it was only goblins going "Gyaa gyaa, uguuu."
"It's still before noon, you know?"
Just in case? You know? There's such a thing as appearances… and with Search I can see twenty enemies behind me?
"No, not that kind of shop. It's a weapon shop. It's a bit unusual and hard to find, but it's a good place."
What a useless old guy. I should return him to the green wolves. Yeah, let's do that. Even though he was turned to powder, maybe they'll still accept the return?
Hmm, at level 9 I can't hold anything, but I have money, and if there's something good at a nice shop I can tell the class rep and the others. Since it's thanks, maybe I should check it out? I kind of want to see an otherworld weapon shop anyway… Though I want to go "kyaa kyaa, ufufu" even more. Seriously.