Chapter 59: Rock's Shallow Wisdom!
Laura, who had no interest in conversations between Rock and me, seemed more eager to move out.
"Laura, I'm heading back for now. If things go smoothly, we might be able to move in two or three days."
"I see, can't be helped. In that case, I'll start packing to get ready for the move."
She agreed readily. Is her straightforwardness a trait of a researcher?
"Wait a moment!"
As I was about to leave Laura behind, she urgently called out to me.
"Need something?"
"Well, upon further consideration of your earlier proposal, I realized there could be benefits for us as well, so I'm okay with those conditions."
"No, I'm done!"
Ignoring Rock's plea, I tried to leave.
"Please wait. I humbly request that you consider the previous conditions. This is a plea from the Guild Master."
"Huh? Your attitude has changed completely from earlier. What's going on all of a sudden?"
Rock seems convinced that I have evidence to report.
"What does the Guild Master want?"
"Well..."
He seems to be desperately thinking of a reason.
"If you don't have a valid reason, I'm leaving!"
"Please wait! If it's Tact-sama, who is rumored to have passed the Adventurer Guild's Rank B exam in a single day, and if you were to register as a Merchant Guild member, it would be reassuring for us as well..."
This seems to be the answer he came up with under pressure.
Is the rumor about passing the Rank B exam in a single day?
Whether it's good or bad, it's hard to tell from the way rumors spread in a day...
Even in a city of this size, rumors can spread surprisingly quickly in a day.
"Oh, I see. However, be careful not to slip up and reveal any dishonesty!"
"...There's no way the Merchant Guild would do something like that."
He's clearly shaken.
Seems like he was really planning on doing something dishonest.
"Well then, I'll be the examiner too!"
"Rock, are you a member of the Merchant Guild?"
"Yeah, it's necessary for sourcing materials for my research. By the way, I'm Rank S! I naturally have the qualifications of an examiner!"
As expected of the head researcher of the capital city.
She's Rank S, which means the exams could go up to Rank S as well.
So, Rock will probably end up as either Rank A or B.
Personally, I think it might be Rank B, but using [Appraisal] on this guy for the first time is something I'd rather avoid!
For now, if I'm stuck in the exam, I can rely on [Omniscient and Omnipotent].
Since merchants are ultimately responsible for themselves, the contents of the exam shouldn't matter much in reality.
Besides, with Laura as the examiner, cheating is unlikely.
Come to think of it, even during yesterday's exam, if I had relied on [Omniscient and Omnipotent] for current events questions, it would have been a good move.
It didn't give me any trouble at all...
Calculations might be more difficult for the Merchant Guild compared to the Adventurer Guild.
So, should I take the exam?