Volume 2 - CH 156

When I asked them about the story, they told me that it was a very absurd story.

The herb stores seemed to be conducting a straightforward business practice of buying materials at a low price and selling them at a higher price when they are sold.

However, this means that they are handing out cheap compensation money to the people who bring the materials to them.

I think they are mistaking the value of medicinal herbs, which are supposed to help them save people’s lives, for something else.

That may establish it as a business, but if they are collecting them at their own place, or if they are having other people, adventurers, collect them for them, they must provide them with a reasonable reward.

If the rewards are low, it is obvious that fewer adventurers will be willing to accept the request.

What in the world is the owner thinking when he blames the guild for this?

“What the heck is that? How can the materials for potions to help them save people’s lives be that cheap? …… Can’t the guilds or something fix the reward money?”

If we fix the amount, adventurers are more likely to accept the request,…… but then again, the store changes the amount of the potion. So in the end, it’s just a small change in money, but it’s not a fundamental solution. ……”

“And you people are okay with that……?”

If the amount of the reward for a request is raised and fixed, potions and medicines become correspondingly more expensive.

But there is, of course, a reason why apothecaries and potion makers can still continue to do business.

Some adventurers may not possess recovery skills.

The recovery skill, consumes a lot of MP to recover from an injury, and even though it is an essential skill for adventurers, it is not a good idea to be overly reliant on it.

Therefore, recovery medicine is necessary no matter what rank you are in.

If you don’t buy them, even if they are expensive, you can’t be prepared for any unexpected event, and you don’t want to fight with that kind of worry in your heart.

Of course, it is better not to get yourself injured. ……

“Ouren, I’ve got it.”

“Oh, thank you.”

In the meantime, Alena brought me a request form for the delivery of Poz Grass.

There were 13 of them.

Surprised at how many people were looking for poison grass, I placed the required number of sheets on the paper, rolled them up, and handed them to the receptionist.

“Not only the Hipo grass, but also the Poz grass. …… Where the hell did you get that?”

“I was on my way from the Kingdom of Garott to the Kingdom of Salettana, and I had some free time, so we just picked it up and brought it.”

“Did you happen to collect the …… roots?”

“I don’t think so. I’m sure I left some shoots to let them grow.”

If I uprooted them, you would have to go looking for them in different places, and that would cause them to be eradicated.

There is no way I could do that.

However, this receptionist …….

She seems to be putting medicinal herbs into the delivery box and filling out a form without checking the type of herbs, following the delivery of hipos and pozu herbs.

I think it would be a catastrophe if the hipo grass was mixed with the poz grass. ……

Hey. It’s not that I don’t have confidence in my sorting skills, but shouldn’t you check properly? There might be some things in the mix there?”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m a certified appraiser.”

“……, well, just a reminder.”

This receptionist apparently possesses skills similar to those of the Voice of Heaven.

She was not staring at them like I was, but only glancing at them, so she must have been able to appraise them quite quickly.

I delivered all of the Poz grass, but there was still some left over.

It’s poisonous grass, but will they buy this one?

“Will you buy out these extras?”

“Of course we can. How many do you have left?”

“Let’s see, about 40.”

“Then I will buy them for five copper coins each.”

“Two silver coins for all of them. This is cheap, too. …… I guess I should accept this as a request. I guess I won’t do it.”

“I understand. If you change your mind, please contact us again.”

It seems too cheap to me.

It may be because it is a poisonous herb, but I was getting a little worried that I might be getting ripped off.

We have to continue to earn a living for the four of us, so we can’t give up the materials we have for such cheap prices.

Even though we have the money from selling the Red Boar, we want to keep it to buy weapons.

I mean, the reward for my first commission is four silver coins and three silver coins.

This means that I have only earned enough for one night at the inn where we are currently staying …….

Considering the cost of our food, we will probably only have a few copper coins left on hand now, right?

Seriously, new adventurers, how are you making a living? Are you okay! Are you eating properly!

“Um, now, please submit your guild card.”

“Hmm? Alright.”

“Is that young lady a member of your party?”

“Yes, she is.”

“Then please hand in your guild card as well.”

The receptionist urged us to do so, and me and Alena submitted our guild cards.

Upon receiving it, the receptionist set up a machine behind the counter that would pass the card through and scan it twice.

She then filled out some paperwork and returned the guild card to us.

“… hmm? E rank?”

“Alena is the same too.”

We had skipped the E- rank and had been promoted to the E rank.

I was truly surprised at this promotion in rank, since Uchikage had told me that skipping rank was almost impossible, but the …… receptionist was giving me a smile as if to say, “Is there a problem?”

“Were we skipping a grade?”

“No, no, you have completed that many requests, so this is not a problem. The promotion exam is when you move up from rank E to D, so this is no problem at this point.”

Well, if I could get rid of that many requests in one shot, I would be satisfied with this result.

It seems that in the low-rank zone, the more requests one completes, the faster one’s rank rises, so I will continue to take the initiative in accepting requests that can be completed quickly.

If I can get one more rank, I should be able to receive requests for hunting.

We are not suited for such a tedious request, so we would like to raise our rank as soon as possible, but we have left …… Uchikage and Reizen behind.

I’m not sure what will happen in this situation.

“I have two more party members. …… What happens in this case?”

“If they complete a different request with you and show us their guild card, they will be promoted in the same way. So it would be better if you all come together to report the accomplishment of the request.”

“I’ll be careful next time.”

They seem to be rather tolerant of this sort of thing.

If this is the case, it is unlikely that we will be the only ones to rise in rank, leaving those two behind.

However…… Reizen and Uchikage, who had just parted ways, were looking at other requests, but there was no sign of them coming this way at all.

At any rate, I told the receptionist that I would come back and leave the place and head for the place where Reizen is.

I was about to warn him why he was standing there when he hadn’t even been picked up yet, but I forced myself to swallow my words when I noticed that a picture of a wanted person was pasted on the board that Reizen and Uchikage were looking at.

The sketch was something I had seen once.

Not that I had seen the picture, but that I had seen the person once.

The person depicted there was Lequam Sommermart/Soummart, the man I had fought and nearly died for, the man who had used the slaves as his experimental subjects.