Entering the guardroom, Ranga prompted Rei to sit in a chair. Because Set wasn't here, he leaned the Death Scythe against a chair so that it could be used at any time.
As a wry smile floated on to his face, Ranga poured a cup of water from a jug and took a sip to show that there was nothing strange in it before giving it to Rei.
「Sorry about this.」
As he hadn't eaten or drank anything while riding on Set, Rei gulped the water down in one mouthful.
Cold...though the temperature wasn't great, it still felt good because he was thirsty.
「How about another cup?」
「Yes thanks.」
Pouring another cup of water, Ranga finally sat down opposite Rei.
「Well, what should I hear first. No, let's go with the self introductions first. Although I said this earlier, my name is Ranga and I'm serving as a guard captain in this city of Girumu.」
「My name is Rei. The griffon out the front is Set.」
With the short self introduction over, Ranga finally spoke about the main subject.
「Is that so, first of all, we'll start with this question. What is your purpose in the city of Gimuru.」
「I want to know something before answering the question. This city of Gimuru you mentioned. Is there an Adventurers Guild here?」
According to Zepairu's knowledge, there would be a branch office of the Adventurers Guild if it was a big city. However, Zepairu's knowledge had been relegated by Rei to be used as a reference only. And...
「Naturally of course. It is common to have branch offices of the Adventurers Guild in small villages, is there any reason why there wouldn't be one in this city of Gimuru?」
Naturally there are, Ranga said as he nodded.
(I thought so. With this it's definite. Zepairu's knowledge is...quite old. I should check how much error there is later.
He started to speak while letting out a sigh in his mind.
「That's good. After all, I've only been living with my master since I was born. I'm ignorant of the state of society. As for my purpose, that's easy. I came to become an adventurer.」
「...Judging from your question a little while ago, you didn't even know if there was an Adventurers Guild branch in the city?」
Although his tone is soft, not missing the feeling of a lie, Ranga asked another question.
On the other hand, Rei lightly shrugged his shoulders.
「I said it just before, I've been living with my master since I was born. Because my master was crazy about magic, I'm quite ignorant about common sense.」
「...Magic (majutsu)? Wait, magic (maho)?」
TLN: Okay, this gets a bit confusing, the two words used here are Majutsu and Maho, technically they both mean magic. However the first one has the character for Art in it while the second one has the character for Method. Because of this, I'll put which one it is referring to in brackets.
Ranga asked curiously. In this respect again, the unreliability of Zepairu's knowledge became apparent again.
「Magic (maho)? My master called it magic (majutsu)...is it called magic (maho) here?」
「...I see. You certainly don't know much about the world. It was called magic (majutsu) several hundred years ago. Nowadays, that name isn't used much and is instead called magic (maho).」
Several hundred years. Rei, who frowned his eyebrows, immediate continued his story.
「It that is true, then my master is certainly ignorant to a great extent....well, I was told to go out to train and was sent away with s.p.a.ce magic (majutsu) ...no, how to put it, I was teleported to a strange place I don't know and it wasn't very funny.」
「Training?」
「Ah. After I mastered basic magic (maho), my master told me to train myself to improve my power.」
「I see, so you want to be an adventurer for that reason. By the way, is the griffon outside from your magic (maho)?」
Rei shook neck after taking a sip of water.
「Set doesn't follow me by magic. Have you heard of a skill called tamer?」
「It's a skill to tame a monster. Then, in that case?」
「That's right.」
「Un, so it's not summoning magic. ...In that case...」
Ranga started to think after listening to Rei's words.
Rei had a bad feeling about the silence. Ranga opened his mouth to speak.
「There are adventurers who more or less tame monsters in the city. However, even then, they were rank D monsters I think. For a rank A monster, griffon...there are no adventurers.」
Though Ranga said so, for Rei who didn't have a concrete understanding of the world, the difference between rank A and D wasn't very clear. However, he expected that it was ranked by fighting power and danger.
「Also with that, though I digress, you also have to pay taxes to enter the town.」
In this world of Elgin, one silver coin equals ten copper coins. One gold coin is ten silver coins. One platinum coin is ten gold coins and ten platinum coins is one light gold coin.
For Rei to explain it in simple terms, one copper coin is 100 yen, one silver coin is 1,000 yen, one gold coin is 10,000, one platinum coin is 100,000 yen and one light gold coin is one million yen. TLN: The largest currency literally translates to light gold and I can't figure out if it is something the author made up or is referring to a material I don't know, the previous one was white gold or platinum.
「So, with the exception of adventurers, both merchants and travelers have to pay a tax of one silver coin to enter the city every time. 」
Adventurers not being charged tax was a simple story, that is because adventurers don't use the city as their home. Though it is natural is you think about it, if there is a request, it is necessary to go in and out of the city. Paying one silver coin every time they entered would cost a lot. Therefore, the n.o.bles that ruled the city gave an exemption to taxes if an adventurer who belonged to the Adventurers Guild showed their guild card. This is because the return they get from adventurers returning requests is greater than one silver coin.
On a side note, the idea originally spread because a certain avaricious lord refused exemption of taxes for adventurers in the territory he governed. Because of this, all the adventurers left the territory of the lord and new adventurers didn't come. As a result, all the people who could receive monster subjugation quests were gone, and in a vicious circle, merchants who heard about it didn't come either ...the lord was surprised that the tax revenue had decreased and forcibly collected more taxes, it caused the people to revolt and in the end, the lord was killed. After the story spread, the exemption of adventurers from tax became an unwritten law.
When Rei heard the story from Ranga, he unintentionally let out a sigh.
「In other words, at present, I'm still not an adventurer. Therefore, tax is necessary?」
「That is so. Didn't you receive a parting gift from your master?」
Rei shook his head slightly in response to Ranga's question. In the first place, he couldn't receive a parting gift because his master didn't exist to begin with.
「Un, what to do. If possible, I would lend you money but it's prohibited by the law...」
Ranga gazed at Rei while muttering.
In Ranga's position, he couldn't afford to let a suspicious person into the city. However, the person in front of him, called Rei, didn't seem to be a bad person. If the rank A monster griffon and the large scythe could be used, then he must be a skilled person. The position of the city of Gimuru was on the frontier and there are a considerable amount of monster subjugation quests. If there are skilled adventurers, they can protect the city. He didn't want to miss a skilled person right before his eyes.
Furthermore, at the moment, the city of Gimuru was a frontier city located in the Mireana kingdom, a powerhouse in the central part of the continent of Elgin.
「That's right. Is there anything you have that you can sell? It's possible for me to sell it in a store in the city for you.」
「Things that I can sell...hey.」
To Ranga's question, he suddenly though of the items that were given by Zepairu's organization and stored inside the Misty Ring. Other than magic items, there were also a lot of materials such as the bones and scales of dragons. However, as expected, he hesitated about selling them. At present, Rei's position was a commoner that wanted to become an adventurer. He was 165cm tall and had a small back. It would be suspicious if he took out materials and items that would be considered legendary cla.s.s. He also had the desire to turn the materials into equipment for himself and Set.
(...No, wait?)
Thinking about it, he suddenly got an idea. Though the items in the Misty Ring that he got from Zepairu couldn't be sold easily, it was different if it was something he obtained himself.
「How about this?」
From the list in his mind, he took out the corpses of 20 Flying Blade Squirrels and the fur of the Water Bear.
「Th-this is...you have an item box!? These are the Djarum that build nests near the edge of the forest of monsters, and isn't the the fur of a Water Bear and that lives in it! 」
TLN: Here, Ranga refers to the Water Bear as uōtābea, up to now, Rei has referred to it as Mizuk.u.ma, which translated means Water Bear. Just a note as it gets a bit confusing ahead.
An expression of surprise appeared on Ranga's face when Flying Blade Squirrels – Djarums – and the fur of the Water Bear suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Still, although Rei didn't quite understand, the type of magic item called item box, such as the Misty Ring, must be rare, as for those with a storage capacity such as the Misty Ring, there were few enough to be counted on one hand.
「This, I'm wondering...did you...kill them?」
「Ah. I ran into a Water Bear after being teleported into the forest...did you say Water Bear? It started to attack but with Set I was able to take it down somehow. Anyway, it took more time than expected because it was the first time I fought.」
Rei nodded with a wry smile at the naming of the Water Bear, it seems that the name was the same as the literal description in his mind.
「Then, the place you were sent to was the forest of monsters. Although there are a few forests in the area, only the forest of monsters have confirmed sightings of Djarums and Water Bears.」
「Forest of monsters?」
「Ah. Though there are many low rank monsters, the forest is regarded as a dangerous place as it is inhabited by high rank monsters. Because monsters rarely come out from the forest, adventurers are unwilling to go into it. Though sometimes people will go if the material of a specific monster needs to be obtained. Even then, it's unbelievable to be able to defeat a rank C Water Bear in your first fight.」
「Well, I don't mind if you try to imagine it. So, can this fur and the Djarums be bought?」
「Ah, ahh. I can arrange it immediately.」
Ranga returned to his senses at Rei's words, called several subordinates over and sent them into the city with the fur and Djarums. After doing that, he turned to bow at Rei.
「I'm very sorry. Because the a.s.sessment and purchase is time consuming I have to make you wait a while here in the guardroom」
「Don't mind it. I brought a griffon over and couldn't pay the tax but you still recieved me warmly. There isn't anything to be unhappy about.」
「Thank you, I feel better now that you said that.」
Ranga had a wry smile on his face, originally he was polite because if tried to intimidate the other party, who had a rank A griffon, he didn't stand a chance of beating it...though it is true that Ranga himself didn't like rough methods.
The method worked out well for him this time.
Rei and Ranga continued the small talk in the guardroom...an hour pa.s.sed since the beginning of the questioning. After the time for lunch was over and the afternoon s.h.i.+ft began, the soldiers which had gone to sell the fur and Djarums returned.
「Captain, we've just returned. Here is the money we got from selling the goods.」
Ranga pa.s.sed a small bag, that the soldier had given him, to Rei.
「This, usually the fur of a Water Bear is worth 7 gold coins, but because the fur was a bit damaged, they only gave 5 gold coins. Because the Djarum haven't been dismantled, they gave a total 7 gold coins and 1 silver coin after the cost of dismantling.」
According to the soldier's words, there were 7 gold coins in the bag.
(7 gold coins...in other words, 70,000 yen. That's a bit less than expected.)
Though Rei clicked his tongue in his mind, he can only blame himself for his mistakes during the dismantling.
He took out one gold coin and pa.s.sed it to Ranga.
「Yes, that is enough for the tax. Here is 9 silver coins change. Also, put this necklace on griffon where it can be seen when you walk through the streets. It shows that the monster you brought into the city is tamed or summoned. If a tamed or summoned monster acts violently or damages property, the punishment is directed against the master. In addition, I recommend the inn Dusk Wheat, it is in the eastern part of town and can accommodate animals the size of griffons. I mean, it's the only inn that can house griffons.」
「I understand. By the way, where is the Adventurers Guild?」
「When you enter the city, you will see it at once if you go down the main street.」
「Thanks for everything.」
「No worries. So, welcome to the city of Gimuru. I hope you enjoy it here.」
With that, Ranga sent Rei out of the guardroom