Reincarnated into a Game As the Hero’s Friend

Note: We have merged previously splited chapters.

After leaving the Commerce Guild I head to the Adventurers and Mercenaries Guild. Like it’s name, it’s a place where adventurers and mercenaries gathered.

The Adventurers and Mercenaries Guild used to be a separate organization Well it still is a separate organization. It just, there are many times when the work between an adventurer and a mercenary overlap so each guild is set up side by side in the same building. The building becomes a place for both the mercenaries and adventurers to exchange information and job opportunities.

On the first floor is a bar which is typical for a Mercenaries and Adventurers Guild. Is the reason why there is no other Mercenaries and Adventurers Guild in the capital except for this one because this world is originally a game?

Hm… I think I need to confirm the existence of this kind of guild in the town that didn’t appear in the game.

I received many stares the second I entered the building but that’s all. The reason why I didn’t receive the typical newbie bullying is the recent demon outbreak.

I’ve battled in the frontline. I also shared my potions with many adventurer parties that participated in the battle. I don’t know if they are thankful for me or not but at the very least only the people that’s been living under the rock won’t recognize me here.

Surprisingly information travels fast among the adventures and mercenaries. Well, that’s not surprising considering the nature of their works. No one wants to invite danger to themselves by receiving a commission from a strange person or an idiot. Though some mercenaries or adventurers might take up a commission from that kind of employer in exchange for absurd pay.

“Welcome to the Adventurers Guild. What can we do for you today?

“I want to hire some people.”

“So you want to put a commission. Please come this way.”

The receptionist is a beautiful woman. I wonder if she could deal with the rough adventurer? No, maybe it’s because she’s a beautiful woman the adventurer won’t dare to do anything to her.

The room the receptionist invited me to is soundproof. This is because there are some commissions where it’s dangerous if the information about it were to leak.

The staff member who is in charge of listening to my commission is a man. No! Of course, I’m not disappointed by fact that the beautiful woman left me here with a man.

“How may I help you?”

“I want to make an investigation commission. I want to hire several competent scouts.”

“Specifically how many scouts do you wish to hire?”

“There are several places that I want to investigate so it’s hard to determine the exact number. My estimate is I need about 20 people since if any scouts excel in working independently I don’t mind letting them work alone.”

“I see.”

The man writes on the board in his hand. It’s a record board that serves as a notebook. After writing in a piece of lambskin parchment or demonskin parchment, the surface of the board will then be thinly carved and will act as a notebook

The wood shaving will then be used as firewood. If you throw it away I heard your superior will get angry at you. In a sense, it’s an eco-friendly thing that produces no waste.

“Here is the list of places I want to investigate ordered by their priority. I will assign suitable places to those who want to work with groups and those who prefer working alone.”

“I certainly have received it. In that case, is there any options for our adventurers to refuse after listening to the detail of the places you wish to investigate?”

“Yes. After all, not all investigations are safe. I will offer more pay as compensation for the more dangerous place.”

While nodding his head, the man continues to write on the board. Well, rather than saying he ‘writes’ it’s more correct to say he filled the carved place on the board with ink. He used a quill pen. The feather of the pen is made from the feather of a bird-type demonic beast. It’s said that the feather of a demonic beast lasts longer compared to a feather of a normal board. I don’t know if it’s true though. 

Other than a pen made by a demonic beast’s feather, there’s also ink made using a demon’s blood. I wonder if it’s similar to ink made using squid ink. I used to be surprised by the fact that demons and demonic beasts’ various body parts that are sold on the market can also be used to create everyday stuff like ink and pen.

By the way, a blackboard-Esque thing also existed in this world. But the quality of most chalks is so bad to the point that a little rub will immediately make the writing unreadable.

Let’s forget the fact that high-quality chalks do exist and It was made using hardened ashes from burning the bone of A magical beast named Black Bullhorse. It’s a cringe name.

“Hmm… But if we follow your system it would be impossible for me to record the exact amount of pay that will be received by our adventurers.”

“There will be base pay and additional pay depending on the danger of the site. Of course, the pay for the guild will also be calculated using the same formula with extra.”

“Thank you very much.”

Needless to say, a guild isn’t a volunteer organization. They need to pay the salaries of their staff, the building maintenance cost, and even the damage caused by some random drunkard that goes on a rampage and destroyed their facility.

Plus, the guild is also responsible to held a joint funeral of deceased adventurers that have no family. I mean it’s going to become big trouble if the deceased adventurers’ body is left as it is and ended up causing a plague.

That’s why children aren’t allowed to become adventurers. Frankly, if the guild accepts weak children that are going to die soon the funeral cost alone might put the guild’s finances in the red.

The guild’s main income is from the sale of various materials from purchased demonic beasts and demons’ carcasses and the guild’s commission fees. most troublesome commissions like mine are sent to adventurers via the guild. There’s an unwritten rule that you must pay an additional 20% of the total adventurers fee for the guild commission fee.

The typical posting of the commission on the walls existed but the postings often only contains a bare minimum of information.

I guess that’s to be expected. There’s not enough space to write the detail of the commission. There are also cases where the client is someone in a delicate position or when the commission involved a spying activity in which the detailed information can’t be easily disclosed.

That’s why when adventurers decided to take a commission, they will first ask the guild the detailed information about the commission. The client often already told the guild the information beforehand so the guild can explain it to the adventurers.

But the clients’ explanation to the guild can take a considerable time. This is because to ensure the guild can provide a reliable explanation to the adventurers later on the guild will ask many detailed questions. There are also cases where the basic explanation without the guilds’ question can take several hours to complete.

Though you can still know the rough content of a commission by looking at the symbol on the upper right corner of the posted commission. If the symbol is a double circle it’s a subjugation commission, If it’s a triangle and a circle then it’s an escort commission, and so on. With this even adventurers that can’t read will be able to comprehend some information.

Other than providing a detailed explanation and payment, the clients must also abide by various rules and regulations of the guild. Unless the commission is simple stuff like looking for a lost cat, making a commission to a guild is quite troublesome.

Back to the topic of commission, if the guild cannot explain the commission in detail, they will ask the adventurers to contact the clients directly. I think my commission this time will follow this pattern.

“Then, may I ask for the contents of the investigation?” 

“All I can tell you now is that I want to investigate the frequency of demons’ appearance in the suburb of Gulbelk, the situation of demons’ appearance in the Heat Haze Ruins near Delmenln, and the state of security in Bielelitz Bridge.”

Because some places I’ve talked to are located outside the kingdom the guild official looked at me doubtfully. Well, sending scouts to foreign nations might seem to be a preparation for war.

The reason he asked me for the content of the investigations is to make sure I’m not trying to investigate the actions of the kingdom’s nobles. It’s the guild’s policy to stay far away from the kingdom’s political strife.

“You see, I need to buy some goods from the places I mentioned so I’m going to send a merchant party there. But because of the recent peculiar demon outbreak, I’m trying to be cautious.”

“Ah, so that’s why.”

Obviously, the information about a devil causing a demon outbreak has reached the guild. I made a commission to hire scouts to ensure that a similar demon outbreak didn’t happen in another era.

If the information I want is just the simple ‘the lord of this place is incompetent so there’s been an increase of bandits!’ I can just buy it from the guild. But for information concerning a possible demon outbreak, the information should be real-time information hence the need for scouts.

“My plan is for the scouts will go first to the location and will gather the necessary information. After that, they will join the merchants and share their information with the merchant. Then after the merchant finished their business, the scouts will return here together with the merchants.”

“I understand. Then, in the case that the scouts are involved in protecting the merchant…”

“I will provide additional compensation. But, if the information gathered by the scouts leaked outside, I will deduce their compensation as a penalty.”

“What if there is someone among the scouts that wish to return to the capital first?”

“They are free to do so as long as they reported to the person in charge of the merchant party. In that case, they will only receive the amount stated on the original contract.”

“That’s fair. As for the cost of investigation?”

“It depends on where they are going to investigate. I expect an investigation in the town will cost some money but I can’t provide an unlimited amount of money for the cost. The amount of money given to the scouts for an investigation will be decided after a discussion with the scout in question.”

That’s how I finished explaining the detail of my commission and various condition for payment to the guild. I need to share as much detail of the commission as I can because If I don’t there are risks that various trouble will occur in the future.

I’m pretty sure when the scouts return, they will report ‘the latest local information to the guild.

I have to assume that this is a matter of course and, because of the revival of the demon king, I’m sure that the frequency of demons’ appearance in various places will drastically increase. The guild should have up-to-date information about demons’ appearance rate.

Because with an accurate up-to-date information, the number of potential death can decrease.