Chapter 79: An out-of-town posting, part 1
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Translator: Denryuu; Editor: Ryunakama
I had been summoned to the office once again.
After morning assembly, I went straight to Iris’s office, knocking before I entered.
「What is it this time?」
「Let me put it this way… large guilds are chronically short of manpower, especially the branches in the royal capital.」
According to her, one of the staff had decided to become an adventurer, while another had returned to the countryside. A third had resigned in order to call a shotgun wedding.
This was normal by any means, and newcomers would gradually replace them. This time, however, it seemed like an urgent matter.
「And thus… I’d like to post you out to one of the royal capital branches. The one in the western region, to be precise.」
「Posting me out, huh?」
Knowing that things rarely get busy at the Lahati branch, my only concern was that a certain princess cum Heroine would barge in uninvited again. There probably won’t be a sudden swarm of wannabe adventurers swamping the guild either.
「Sure, if you think I’m fit for the job.」
「Thank you. Not to exaggerate, but you can probably single-handedly fill in for three people.」
The branch chief wrote me a letter of recommendation, which I kept.
「Here, pass this to their branch chief.」
「Very well.」
「It’ll be a great learning experience to see how another branch operates. Do your best!」
I would be posted out for a week. Milia received the shock of her life when Iris announced my imminent departure.
「Roland-san’s being posted out… to the royal capital!? The place with all those nasty women…!?」
You can relax, Milia, I thought. I’m not the type to fall prey to others. Quite the opposite, in fact.
「Someone like Roland-kun will impregnate at least five women before he returns, I’m calling it!」
「It’s only a matter of time before he gets promoted to branch chief…」
「He’ll definitely run off with some bourgeois widow…」
Judging from everyone’s reaction, the royal capital was a cesspit of temptation.
「Roland has been of tremendous help to our branch, and it’s only right to spread the joy to others. At any rate, we’re all under the same organisation, so you can call it symbiosis!」, said Iris, getting the crowd to quieten down.
After receiving a heap of requests for souvenirs, I bade farewell to my colleagues. With tears in her eyes, Milia waved a handkerchief as I left. She’s making a mountain out of a molehill, I thought. It’s not like I’m going to war or anything.
I had wanted to use a ‘Gate’ to come back every night, but my accommodation was already fully paid for by the other party, and I decided to accept the offer.
I returned home to pack for the trip.
「The royal capital…? I think I’ll pass…」
In order to deter pickpockets (or losing it in general), the cat purse she had bought as a replacement was now tied to her neck by a string. Despite this precautionary measure, she was clearly still traumatised from the previous time.
「I won’t make the same mistake twice. I have the foresight to minimise the risk of losing the wallet you bought for me again…!」
「I may be going to the capital, but I’m going there to work. I’ll do my best.」
Rodje had mentioned the previous day that she would be here tonight. Assured that she would keep Lyla company, I said goodbye to the Demon King and went on my way.
After leaving my luggage at my lodging, I headed straight to the guild. It was known as the Western branch due to its geographical location.
「Ah. You’re the helper?」
Adjusting his glasses, the branch chief looked at me, the letter of recommendation, then back at me.
「I am Roland Argan, representing the Lahati branch.」
「Yeah, I know. It’s written here」, he replied brusquely, tapping the letter.
Presiding over the Western branch, his name was Stan Jacker.
「To think they sent such a rookie…」
He sighed ostentatiously. While he was seemingly in his early forties, the toll that the years had taken on him was written all over his face.
「Broadly speaking, I can do whatever is needed of me, but please guide me along.」
「Guilds in the capital are different from those rural ones, you know? Well, obviously you do. Whatever you do there, you might not be able to do here.」
「Lahati isn’t really considered a rural town –」
「It is, compared to the capital. Look, this isn’t a rookie-friendly place, so I don’t want to hear any “not sure”s, “can’t”s, or “never heard of it”s.」
He glanced at the office. It was much larger than ours, with ten partitioned counters in total. Every receptionist was attending to a long line of adventurers. Due to the nature of their workplace, everyone spoke loudly, including Stan himself.
「Let’s get down to business, then. More adventurers are coming in by the minute, so go and deal with them. That’s your job.」
With that, he returned to his office. Figuring that these people would be my colleagues for the week, I tried saying hello. Everyone had their hands tied, however, and could barely afford to acknowledge my presence. I took the time to observe them performing their duties, and after a while, I roughly knew what to do.
The queues were so long that some adventurers were seated on the sofa, making small talk as they waited for their turn. Some even had to line up outside. The perpetual queue, which numbered fifty or more, made the receptionists inevitably short-fused.
Quickly tidying up an area stacked with books and other paraphernalia, I managed to open another counter.
…It’ll be quick, so I can grab this chair, I suppose.
「Those who are reporting back from their quests! Those reporting back, this way, please!」, I shouted.
My new colleagues looked up for a moment, then went back to their work, as if nothing was amiss. An adventurer relaxing on the sofa got up immediately and came to me.
「I’ve completed the Rock Bat subjugation quest.」
「Two thousand rin per bat, as per D-rank guidelines.」
「Mm, yeah.」
We had received this quest at the Lahati branch too. While some are region-locked, foraging and subjugation quests are typically offered across many guilds. In addition, the mandatory verification process for such quests can take some time.
「May I have a look?」
Opening the gunny sack, I counted twenty four teeth which all looked alike.
「Okay, so the bounty for twelve bats is –」
「Hey, hey, can’t you count, brother? There’s twenty four in there! I killed twenty four of those things!」, he shouted, thumping the counter to intimidate me.
「Sir, one bat has two fangs.」
「…Yeah, of course」, he mumbled, looking away.
Did he really think that was going to work?
He probably thought I was an unseasoned employee as he had never seen me before.
「We do not encourage deceiving guild employees. After all, it is we who decide what quests to assign you. Whether you get a difficult one or a well-paying one, et cetera, is at our discretion.」
「…I’m sorry… I won’t do it again…」, he apologised with slumped shoulders.
I handed him his reward. He slunk away and was immediately replaced by another adventurer. I verified the quality of the herbs he’d gathered and gave him the appropriate reward as well. After that came an adolescent, then a girl — I entertained client after client, and before long, the crowd had all but disappeared.
「Hm? Today felt easier than usual…?」
「All I had to do was assign quests…」
「It’s thanks to the quest reporting counter.」
By only performing one type of task, the employees were more focused and made fewer mistakes.
「Well done」, said one of the employees, giving me a pat on the shoulder.
He looked like a veteran employee.
「No, it’s nothing」, I replied.
Noticing that the crowd had disappeared, Stan came out of his office.
「Oi, you. You never handed the goods over to the verifications department, did you?」
「Yes, I verified them myself.」
「And are you licensed? Li-cen-sed? Thought not.」
Frustrated, he thumped the counter hard.
「I may not be licensed, but handing every item to that department only lengthens the verification process. We don’t have many people there and I felt that it would be more efficient to split the workload among those who are capable.」
「You think you can do things your own way here –」
「Excuse me, Chief」, interrupted an employee from the department in question just as Stan was getting worked up.
「What?」
「We have also taken a look at the goods…」
「See? It’s not all about saving time! How will we get the rewards back!?」
「…and re-verified them all. They are all without a doubt honest-to-goodness.」
「Huh?」
「From proof of subjugation to herbs gathered, we received about two hundred artifacts that numbered thirty two types in total. He was right about their authenticity, down to the very last one.」
「…」
Observing Stan’s reaction closely, my fellow colleagues and the adventurers present all stood together to protect me.
「Okay… rules are rules… be careful next time…」, he whispered, defeated. 「But bear in mind that today was slower than usual, rookie.」
「Sorry, Chief…」
「What now?」
「It was busier than usual today. Without this employee’s help, we would easily have worked into the wee hours of the morning.」
「…」
All those on my side continued staring unrelentingly at him.
「Keep up the good work, then.」
With that, he shut himself in his office.
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