I watched her, trying to process her extreme reaction. Her face was unnaturally pale in the twilight, almost white, and she seemed unsteady on her feet. A moment ago she was a composed and somehow… now she looked like she was about to collapse.
It didn't make any sense.
I walked back towards her, closing the distance between us. "Are you alright? Do you have some kind of rare condition? An illness?"
Lenna looked at him, her eyes still holding a trace of a distant fear. She shook her head, forcing a small, dismissive smile as she tried to play it off.
"No, I'm fine. Just tired. We should head back now."
***
The journey back to the capital was quiet. Lenna didn't press for more answers, and I didn't offer any. The next day, we walked back into the familiar bustle of the Adventurer's Guild.
I approached the main counter and placed the A+ quest parchment down. I followed it with the massive, crackling Storm Wolf horn, and the dark, pulsating Fulgur Gem.
The receptionist's eyes went wide, darting from the proof of kill to my C-Rank card and back again.
"I... is this...?" she stammered.
This was the delicate part of the plan. I couldn't take full credit; it would create too many questions and too much unwanted attention. Deflecting the achievement to a known S+ Rank was the most logical way to normalize an impossible situation.
"Quest complete. I only managed to hurt the wolf a bit." I gestured with my thumb towards Lenna, who was standing nearby, casually taking a drink from her bamboo water bottle. "She was the one who helped me finish it."
The receptionist looked from me to Lenna, then down at the quest items, her mind struggling to process the report.
"I... I see," the receptionist stammered, finally deciding to just follow procedure. "Processing the completion for A+ quest 'Storm Wolf Subjugation'... logged under C-Rank Adventurer Hayato Mikami."
She took my card and placed it on a glowing crystal slate on her desk. There was a bright chime, and the information was officially recorded. "The reward, is fifty gold coins, with an additional twenty gold for the high-quality Fulgur Gem."
Seventy gold coins. The number was staggering. It was more money than I had ever seen in one place in my old life.
"The majority of the reward goes to Sage Lenna for her assistance," I stated immediately. It was the logical thing to do to maintain my cover story.
Lenna, however, simply shook her head. "No, the quest was on your card. The reward is yours."
She wouldn't take it. I knew why. In her eyes, she was just a tool I had used. Accepting payment for being manipulated would be an insult to her own pride.
The receptionist, now even more confused, pushed a heavy sack of gold coins across the counter towards me.
I had tried to deflect the credit to avoid attention, but I had only created a different, more complicated kind of reputation.
I secured the heavy sack of gold in my satchel, the whispers and stares of the guild members bouncing off me. My business here was done. Lenna approached me as I turned to leave.
"Where will you go now?" she asked, her curiosity having returned.
"Back to that 'all-in-one' store I found, I'm going to increase my investment."
Lenna looked puzzled. "Investment? In an 'all-in-one' store? That sounds like a poor business model. What does it even sell?"
"A little bit of everything, Swords, books, basic magic items, armor, travel supplies."
"That's a terrible idea, unless the owner is a registered blacksmith. Is he?"
"No, He's a merchant. Why?"
She looked at me as if I were a child. "Because of the Guild taxes, The Blacksmiths' Guild levies a heavy tax on all weapon and armor sales. The Mages' Guild taxes all scrolls and magical goods. The Merchants' Guild taxes general supplies. To sell all of those items in one place, the owner would have to pay the full, separate tax rate for every single guild. The tax burden would be catastrophic."
I processed her explanation, a familiar feeling of corporate dread washing over me.
Guild-specific, overlapping taxes, I thought. A protectionist system designed to crush any new competition. The business model isn't the problem; the regulatory environment is hostile. My first investment in this world was in a business that was being systematically strangled by bureaucracy.
I looked at Lenna, her encyclopedic knowledge of this world's systems now an invaluable asset. I needed a consultant.
"This is a more complicated problem than I anticipated, I need to go back to that shop. Now. Would you be willing to come with me?"
Lenna gave a slight, elegant shrug, a small, curious smile playing on her lips. "I have no other plans, watching you navigate 'catastrophic tax burdens' sounds far more interesting than the festival."
"Good, Follow me."
***
They arrived back at The Wanderer's Pantry in the late afternoon. The little shop already looked different; the shelves were more organized and a new weapon rack had been set up, making the small space feel neater and a bit bigger.
The vendor's face lit up with a happy, energetic smile when he saw Hayato enter. "Sir Investor! Welcome back! Are you here to check on the investment paper? I have the ledger ready with your name!"
Hayato ignored the pleasantries, his expression all business. "We can discuss the paperwork later. First, tell me: how are you avoiding the guild taxes?"
The vendor's smile vanished, replaced by a nervous pallor. "T-taxes...? What...?"
"The Blacksmiths' Guild tax. The Mages' Guild tax," Hayato repeated, his voice cold and even. "You are selling their restricted goods. How are you not being crushed by the cost?"
"I'm not! Of course not, I pay them all!" the vendor said, his denial weak and unconvincing.
Hayato simply stared at him for a moment, then reached into his satchel. "Let me be clear. If you are avoiding the taxes, and you have a clever way of doing it, that makes this business far more valuable to me." He pulled out five gleaming gold coins and placed them on the counter. "Tell me the truth, and I will add these to my investment. Right now."
Lenna, who had been standing silently by the door, watched the entire bizarre negotiation unfold, completely bewildered.
What is this madness?He's bribing the man to admit to a crime? This isn't investment…
She let out a small, internal sigh. This was Hayato's strange business. She was only an observer. It was none of her affair.
The vendor stared at the five gold coins, then at Hayato's unblinking, serious face. The lure of the capital was too much to resist. He looked around the empty shop nervously, then leaned in close over the counter.
"Alright, investor," he whispered, his voice barely audible. He quickly explained his method—a clever, dangerous loophole in the Guild's convoluted import and registration system that allowed him to categorize his diverse goods under a single, low-tax classification.
Hayato listened without a change in his expression, but his mind was alight with analysis. The vendor isn't just a simple merchant,This is a brilliant, high-risk exploitation of a bureaucratic flaw. He's incredibly smart.
The plan's only weakness was its visibility. It required a high volume of sales to mask the financial discrepancies, but the man was undercapitalized.
He needs more money to make the scheme truly invisible, Hayato concluded.
A new, more ambitious strategy formed in Hayato's mind. Right now, this is a small-time crime. But if the business grows, if it becomes powerful enough to be a cornerstone of the city's adventurer supply chain... the Guilds won't shut it down for tax evasion. They'll be forced to negotiate a new, more favorable deal. In this kingdom, it seems if you're strong enough, you don't break the rules. You rewrite them.
He pushed the five gold coins across the counter. "Our partnership continues," Hayato said.
Hayato left the shop with a freshly signed page from the vendor's ledger, a simple, hand-written contract detailing his six gold coin investment and 5% ownership. As they walked back into the bustling market street, Lenna peered over his shoulder at the document.
"Six gold coins," she said, her voice a mix of awe and disbelief. "For a stake in a business model that shouldn't work because of the taxes. I can't decide if you are a business genius or completely mad."
Hayato gave her a slight side-glance, his expression unreadable. "I'm just good at it."
Lenna laughed, a light, genuine sound this time. "Good at business... and logistics, it seems. You know, I have an expedition planned for next week."
She turned to him, her expression serious. "Would you be willing to come with me… My last long expedition... my management of supplies was inefficient. I had to fast for the final five days because I couldn't control my spending."
Hayato looked at the S+ Rank adventurer, processing her offer. An expedition with her was an unparalleled opportunity to gather information, but the risks were unknown.
"An expedition, what kind of expedition?"
Lenna stopped walking, turning to face him directly in the middle of the bustling street. A strange, humorless smile touched her lips, and her eyes held a grim, distant light.
"What expedition? There is only one expedition that matters right now."
She held his gaze. "Of course... we're going to save the Hero from the Ice King."
To Be Continued.