"My apologies, Lord Alan. We got sidetracked there. It's just that whenever I speak with you, it feels like I'm talking to a veteran merchant."
Maybe that's what it would feel like if you counted my previous life's memories.
"The White King Tiger Wolf is likely mithril-grade or above. It will certainly be auctioned off in the royal capital. In that case, I would recommend going to the royal capital and submitting an auction request through the Adventurers' Guild."
"Can't I do it through the Commercial Guild in the royal capital?"
"There's no written rule against it, but if you funnel something an adventurer caught through the Commercial Guild, the entire commission goes to them. Especially for high-value auctions, that adds up to a fortune. In the past, that became an issue, so the current practice is to first submit the catch to the Adventurers' Guild, then have the Adventurers' Guild commission the auction through the Commercial Guild."
"Doesn't that put the adventurer at a loss?"
"The commission is split evenly between the Adventurers' Guild and the Commercial Guild, and it's only charged once. Otherwise, nobody would bother submitting to the Adventurers' Guild at all."
"I see. By the way, can't I submit the request from here?"
"It's not impossible, but then you'd be paying this Commercial Guild's commission on top of the royal capital's commission. Since they're under different jurisdictions, the fees stack up."
"Got it. Thanks. I've been thinking of heading to the royal capital anyway. I ended up stuck here way longer than I expected with all the trouble I ran into."
"Is that so? I have a favor to ask. Would you allow me to endorse my name on the back of your Commercial Guild card?"
"Sure, but what does that mean exactly?"
"Thank you. An endorsement is a guarantee that the person I'm vouching for is trustworthy. So if you go on to achieve great things, Lord Alan, my reputation rises automatically as well."
"What happens if I do something bad?"
"Then my reputation drops, of course."
"Is the risk and reward balanced?"
"Yes. At the very least, I believe it's a favorable gamble. Even if you turned out to be an extraordinary villain, I'm prepared to accept that risk. That said, I have absolutely no intention of binding your actions, which is why I took the initiative to ask for the endorsement earlier."
So basically, a guild master's endorsement is something everyone wants.
"For a merchant, the guild master's endorsement is proof of credibility. I've rarely ever endorsed anyone."
It's flattering to hear that, but I suppose I should at least be careful not to end up on a most-wanted list or something.
◇◇◇
Next up is the Adventurers' Guild.
"Well then, Guild Master. Don't go doing anything too terrible. I'll go ahead and remove the slave collar for you."
I activated [Dark Magic] and dispelled the subordination magic.
The slave collar came off with a soft click.
"Y-You removed the collar without a magic tool...? Could you be a Shadow Mage, and at court magician level no less...? Then why did you ask Eagle to broker the contract..."
"Yep yep, no prying allowed. Adventurers who blab about their trump cards don't live long, you know."
"Well, I can't exactly say anything bad about that..."
"Good. If you go and do something foolish that causes me problems again, then I'll..."
"Ooh, how scary. The Dark Guild Massacre title is well-earned, huh. I wanna live long too, so I'll be careful. Would be nice if Dark Guild headquarters crushed you for me, though."
"I haven't done any of that, so that won't happen."
Wait, just because the slave collar's off means you can say whatever you want now, huh.
Well, I know it's just banter.
"Anyway, I'll be heading out now."
My destination: the royal capital.
Oh, and I'd gone ahead and fitted Meetea with a new transparent slave collar.
So that it would only cause excruciating pain when she tried to swindle the registration fee.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
Skills: [Reverse][Divine Eye][Sword God][Phantom Thief Gentleman][Dark Magic]
Rank: Iron
Thank you for reading!