Why does obtaining a single guild card have to cause so many incidents? Letting out a sigh, I headed to the Merchants' Guild this time.
My errand was that thing I'd sort of forgotten about.
When I entered the Merchants' Guild and said I wanted to meet with the guildmaster, I was immediately summoned to his office.
"Ah, Sir Alan, what can I do for you? Oh, and we're always happy to buy elixirs off you.
For
some
reason,
the head of the Rest Trading Company has passed away, you see."
Ah, this is definitely a guy who knows exactly what's going on.
"Oh, is that so? I wonder how that happened?"
"Apparently his whole body was covered in stab wounds. The rumor is that amid all the uproar over the returns, a crowd that had built up a grudge stabbed him to death."
"Huh. And what's going to happen to that trading company?"
"For the time being, the guild will manage it. If there's an heir, they'll take it over as is, but sometimes it gets absorbed into another company."
"I see. Actually, I have a request. There should be a full set of
black steel
equipment at the Rest Trading Company that I'd asked a smith in town to reforge. I was hoping I could get it back."
"Hmm, then I'll have someone look for it."
"Thank you. In that case, as compensation, please accept this on behalf of the guild. Just thinking out loud, but I believe that company was paying quite a hefty membership fee, wasn't it?"
And with that, I handed the guildmaster a single magic bag.
"May I confirm the contents here and now?"
"Of course."
And so the guildmaster checked the contents of the magic bag.
Inside was a fair number of gold coins and large gold coins.
The guildmaster's gentle expression turned sour for an instant.
"The Rest Trading Company was making a fuss a few days ago about the money in their vault being swapped out..."
"That has nothing to do with this. Those contents aren't stolen goods. You can use [Appraisal], can't you?"
"Indeed... My apologies for doubting you, even for a moment."
The contents of that bag were just copper and silver coins from my own stash that I'd run through [Reverse], so they had nothing to do with any crime.
"No, it's fine. If you could just record it as an anonymous donation, that would be appreciated."
"I'll do exactly that, Sir Alan."
"Well then, I'll be off. I'll come by again sometime."
"Understood. Oh, and Sir Alan, it seems that when you came by the other day, your Merchants' Guild card was something you
had
for-
got-
ten
to
take
it
with
you,
it
would
ap-
pear
to
me.
If you'd kindly collect it from the clerk downstairs."
"...Ah, that's right. No wonder I couldn't find it. Thank you."
Having finished a farce almost refreshing in its absurdity, I collected my Merchants' Guild card at the reception desk on my way out.
Well, it wasn't a bad feeling at all.
◇◇◇
A few days later, I went to the Merchants' Guild and reclaimed the full set of black steel equipment.
From there I headed straight back to the smithy to make my request again.
This time he said he didn't want any money.
It seemed that, threatened as he'd been, he still felt guilty about what had happened last time.
I didn't hold it against him, but since the shopkeeper insisted on doing it for free, I decided to just take him up on it.
So then, ever since leaving the smithy, I'd been feeling someone's eyes on me the whole time.
It wasn't bloodlust or anything, more like someone who wanted to say something but couldn't quite bring themselves to.
Puberty, maybe?
It was getting annoying, so I called out to them first.
"Did you need something?"
The adventurer-looking man I'd called out to flinched and answered with a pale face.
It's not like I was going to eat him or anything.
"Copper Alan... You're Alan, right? The one with the golden left eye. The master of the Adventurers' Guild is looking for you. He told me to drag you there by the scruff of your neck if I had to."
"Why? What does the guildmaster want with me?"
"Um, you don't know? Miss Meteor is the guildmaster's daughter."
"Ohh, is that so. Does the guildmaster know his own daughter is fleecing people on registration fees?"
"Yeah, I think he knows. Ripping off clueless newcomers from out of town is business as usual for her. Besides, the guildmaster was originally Mithril rank and he's still plenty strong even now, so no one can say a word against her."
◇◇◇◇◇◇
Skills: [Reverse] [Divine Eye] [Sword God]
Thank you as always for reading!