When I returned to the guild, the receptionist who explained the job to me
earlier was still working.
"Excuse me."
"Oh, you're the one from this morning..."
"I came to report a successful job."
"Huh? Successful? Barely 3 hours have passed since you accepted it... you're
not abandoning it?"
"It's completed."
I handed in the request form as proof.
"...Wow, you really did complete it. And you even received a bonus reward.
Pretty impressive. This wasn't a difficult task, but the smell was terrible and
many people gave up when the garbage kept pouring in from the hole."
"I was just fortunate to have just the right magic for it."
"Well, thank you for your hard work. Let me just finish filling the success
report... Okay, here's your reward of 30 medium silvers."
The receptionist placed a coin dish with the silver coins before me. Hm?
That's a lot more than what was written on the request form...
"I know you said there was a bonus, but isn't this too much?"
"People stopped attempting the job, so the client — Miya — raised the
reward to entice people. There's an order for a bonus on top of that, so this
amount is correct."
"Oh, okay then."
"Also, the guildmaster has asked you to visit his office upon your return; could
you follow me?"
"The guildmaster?"
The one who answered my question wasn't the woman before me, but the
man at the next counter doing his paperwork.
"Don't sweat it, it's no big deal. Just the usual."
"What do you mean? Ah... I'm Ryoma Takebayashi."
"I'm Jeff Grange. That old man, frequently, likes to stick his nose in other
people's business, particularly those of newbies and under-thirteen adventurers
like you. He looked after me when I was a newbie too. His mug might look more
like your average thug, but there's no need to fear him."
"I see. Thank you very much."
"No probs."
Immediately after that, a voice called out to us from behind the counter.
"That's right, you don't need to be thanking him."
"Ah, Guildmaster."
"Geh! It's the old man."
"Who takes one look at a person's face and goes 'geh'?! And I don't look like a
thug, damn it!"
"Anyone who sees your face would see a thug!"
"Shut up! I can't help my rough facial structure! But I don't have the crooked
look of a thug!"
"If a girl saw you walking the streets at night she'd run away screaming..."
"Guh... The people of this town wouldn't!"
"That's 'cause they're used to you already!"
"Gwuh! Enough... Ryoma, follow me."
Jeff's words stabbed into the guildmaster, who held his chest as he retreated
into the back room while calling for me.
I said goodbye to Jeff and the receptionist before following the guildmaster.
The room I was led to was the same guildmaster's office as yesterday.
"Sit anywhere you like. And what is that basket? It sticks out like a sore
thumb."
"I'm sorry, my familiars are in this basket."
"Oh, you're a tamer? I totally thought you were a hunter or something."
"My familiars are just slimes, and I'm still an apprentice tamer. I guess that
makes me a hunter who can use taming magic? I like to make use of sticky
slimes to make traps, and poison slimes to dip the tips of my arrows in."
The guildmaster grinned at that.
"...You sure came up with some dirty combinations."
"You think so? They're just slimes, though."
"I've been through it myself, so I know. It'd be one thing if it were regular
slimes, but advanced ones can't be underestimated. Many adventurers lump
regular slimes with their advanced species. Well, in reality, most of the
advanced slimes are still weak, but if you get hit by an acid slime's acid, your
armor will break down. If the battle prolongs, new equipment will be in tatters
by the time you go home. Taking the poison directly would also be a risk to your
life, and sticky slimes are a nuisance, but if another monster comes while you're
stuck you can consider your life over. Adventurers who have had those kinds of
encounters with slimes think of them as anything but weak. If they had such an
encounter and still think that way, well... the next time the same thing happens,
they'll be heading upstairs instead. That's the kind of business this is."
"I see... then the Adventurers' Guild sounds easy to work in. Actually, I was
told at the Tamers' Guild that using slimes would make others deem me
useless."
"I've heard about that from the old gramps over there many times now. So
that's why you came here, huh?"
"Yes, it is. Slimes aren't suited for labor work, so I was searching for jobs here
that didn't require brute strength."
Worgan nodded in understanding as I explained.
"I see... Right, we were here to discuss work. I heard you accepted your first
job today, and it went well?"
"Yes, the client was satisfied with the result. I even received a bonus."
"Wow, well done for your first job. I only heard it was a cleaning job, which
one did you take?"
"I cleaned the house of the client called Miya."
When the guildmaster heard that, his eyes widened.
"You went and cleaned her house?"
"Do you know of it?"
"Why, Miya's an adventurer of this town, after all. She comes to the guild
often and I see her here."
"I see."
"But... if you completed that request, then that means you cleaned it, right?"
"Yes."
"I didn't think anyone would ever clean that house... how did you do it?"
"I knew just the right magic for the job. It uses a lot of magic energy so it's
difficult to handle, which is why it doesn't seem to be known much among the
general public."
"Really now... Then, there's another job I would like you to take..."
Could that be...
"Do you mean the request to clean the communal toilets in town?"
"Oh what, you know about it already?"
"Yes, I was hesitating between the two this morning."
"Great, that makes things simple. The public office put in a cleaning request at
the guild, then told the residents it was the guild's fault it wasn't cleaned yet.
Now all the complaints come to us. Even though they were the ones originally
cheaping out on paying the guys from the slums."
"I heard that from the receptionist, but is it really true?"
"Yeah, it is. You know how the town's income has fallen these last few years?"
"I heard the output from the mines hasn't been as good."
"That's right, that's why the public office is trying to reduce their expenses...
By mostly cutting the budget for town maintenance, shifting the consequences
onto the townspeople."
Apparently, the brunt of it was taken by the people in the slums. The public
office had been gradually reducing their employee numbers until now, but that
left them understaffed. And so, when all the work piled up was left unfinished,
they blamed the employees for not working properly and reduced their
payments by force. After the residents started to complain about this, they
started hiring again in large numbers. But this time, they gave the prejudiced
reason that 'people from the slums don't work seriously' and offered much less
pay, ultimately resulting in no one from the slums accepting the work.
"No matter how strapped you are for cash, not even the guys from the slums
will work for no pay. They're not even asking for a large amount of money. It's
just... those guys are living in poverty, so if they get a disease, the treatment will
be a huge burden on them. There's too much risk involved to work for
practically nothing."
Well... that was certainly true.
"I understand, I'll make preparations to take it on as soon as possible. Perhaps
tomorrow, at the earliest."
"That would be a great help, thanks. There'll be a handsome reward waiting."
"Thank you."
I should try and have a word with Reinhart too. They were the people with
the most influence, and they'd probably ask what I did today anyway. Once
they knew about this, they'd probably act accordingly.
"...Penny for your thoughts, kid."
Did it show on my face right now?
"Nothing, I was just thinking about how I acted on my own today, so the
people who accompanied me to the registration yesterday might ask about my
day... or something."
When the guildmaster heard that, he grinned once again. Jeff's words
certainly came to mind when he made such a wicked face...
"You're a pretty amicable chap, aren't you... Do you think they'll make a
move?"
"I believe they'd do something once they know about it."
"On what basis?"
"I don't really have a basis. It's just that I'm an orphan, and I was living in the
forest with nowhere else to go when I ran into them by coincidence. They've
looked after me in many aspects since then. A stranger like me, you know? I
understand they can't treat each and every person in the slums the same way,
but I'm sure they're not people who would be emotionless about it if they
knew."
"...I see. I'll look forward to the result."
"Yes. Then... could I take my leave for today? I need to prepare for tomorrow
as well."
"Of course, I'm leaving that to you. I'll tell them to prioritize you for the job
once you get here. Though no one else would even consider touching it."
"Right?"
We laughed over that, then I left the guild for the inn. On my way back, I
searched for a store that sold cheap fabric and a sewing kit to purchase. I also
bought myself an empty spool.