“Hello, new adventurer~. A little spider told me you got quite the high ranking, too. Congratulations on your achievement,” Ms. Raize greets when the four of us gather around her counter.
“Thanks, Ms. Raize.”
“And I see you got a party already gathered, too. Shall I have you all registered as one?”
“That’s part of what we’re here for. Could you set us up?”
“Most certainly!”
After using the receipts to confirm my slave ownership with Ren and Erizora, we all hand over our cards for Ms. Raize to use a special stamp to mark them. Apparently, our party ID number is 7734, and our party rank is currently blue with the four of us together.
“Have you come up with a name for your party yet? You don’t have to give one now and you can change it at any time,” Ms. Raize says.
“All right, I’ll hold it off and think about it for now.”
With that, we got our cards back.
“Now, let’s begin counting off the spoils that you earned, starting with the bounty on Glock, the Putrid’s head …”
To keep things short, here’s a summary of what I brought in and received in exchange, along with a few surprises:
* Glock the Ruthless
* Bounty: 578,000 karos
* Total from dismantled Mon Crystal, teeth, plants, fungi, and useable innards: 430,312 karos
* Monster Pile; a total of 369 corpses counted by Ren and Erizora
* Total from dismantled Mon Crystals, teeth, horns, tusks, useable/edible innards, pelts, claws, venom sacs, and stingers: 837,697 karos
* Collected Bear Moles from last night’s infiltration; 27, plus 1 King Bear Mole, as reported by Ren, Erizora, and Ms. Gallofree
* Total from corpses collected, with some charges taken by the guild dismantling them for parts afterward, as well as to repair parts of the city I damaged: 98,481 karos
* Capturing the leader and second-in-command of White Rapture’s infiltration on the city last night, plus taking part in subduing the cultists.
* Total from 89 bodies (dead or alive) counted as witnessed by Ren, Erizora, and Ms. Gallofree: 750,000.
* Grand Total of money earned: 2,694,490 karos.
“Oh.”
“My.”
“God,” Ren, Erizora, and I say, respectively.
“Hm … that’s not very much.”
“Ms. Umeiyon, just how wealthy are you to even say something so outrageous?” Ren asks Ume.
“Now, as you might guess, we don’t have that much money on hand already to give you,” Ms. Raize says. “We do have an account service for adventurers to store their money and other valuables for safekeeping. Would you like to have the money you just earned be stored in that?”
“Yes, that would be great, but um … is there a way I can put part of that money towards the reparations to the city?”
Not only Ms. Raize, but Ren, Erizora, and whoever else were within earshot widen their eyes and turn to me. Ume only looks at me in confusion.
“Would you be willing to do that, Mr. Jinma?” Ms. Raize asks.
“Yeah, I honestly have more than I know what to do with, already, and I’d rather not let it sit around doing nothing. Also, I happen to have the items Glock had in his horde that most likely belonged to the victims. Would it be possible to have those be returned to their families in mourning?”
“We can do that, no problem! Let’s get that settled, right away!”
After I checked to see if Ren returned the daggers I lent to her last night, I took out all the shiny weapons, gems, and jewelry stored in my MIB that Ms. Raize had to call a few other employees to take to another area to deal with later. Then, I took out most of the weapons I collected from the cultists in the infiltration last night from my [Storage]. Swords, daggers, axes, clubs, plus a couple of wands, two of which being very capable to boost one’s magic attacks according to Ms. Raize’s appraisal. I kept one for myself and the other to Ume, being the magic specialist of our group. Despite saying she didn’t need it, she put it away in her [Storage] to give me peace of mind. I also kept a couple of spears that were gathered last night to be used as disposable throwing projectiles just in case.
Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Mom couldn’t stress that saying enough when she had me carrying an umbrella, gloves, and a scarf for the wet and cold seasons back in my school days.
Once I got the total of those being sold, I then settled with distributing the money from my reward to where I’m left with about half of the grand total, 1.49 million karos, in my new account while the rest plus extra go to city repairs. I know I gave Ms. Tephalia 3 million karos already to pay for the tanto, the damages in her bedchambers, and what’s left to repair the city, but I felt it should go more towards the first two, especially Nyra since she’s made of such a rare material that has special properties. From what Ms. Raize told me, whatever money’s left would go to the citizens who had their homes damaged, treatment for their wounds, and an orphanage that’s around the same area as the church.
[You have achieved the ‘Charitable’ title!]
I also got that at the end of my ‘transaction.’ I didn’t really understand why it didn’t come up for me when I gave all that money to Ms. Tephalia, but I decided to not think about it too much. I said I had more money than what I could do with, and while that’s true, part of me feels a little sour as I recall receiving large sums of money doing the same thing back home at my previous job. Sure, helping pay for Mom’s medical bills kept me going, but other than the assholes who feel like they don’t owe anything, there were a handful of good people who made the wrong decision of turning to this company for ‘financial support.’ By the time the debt becomes too high to pay back that they can’t keep up with any more, well … let’s say I learned the hard way how bad my workplace really was that led me to quit after Mom passed away.
I don’t think that doing this will make up for what I’ve done in my old company’s ‘business.’ Hell, even if the cultists were assholes last night, I still took their money and whatever belongings I could stow away in my [Storage] at the time just like I had before back home. I want to live the life I want to live, but the least I could do is be a decent citizen and put some money towards good causes when it’s convenient.
“We thank you very much for your patronage, Mr. Jinma,” Ms. Raize says while bowing, “and we’ll make sure the money selling the weapons back to the victims’ families will go to your account as well, not counting the taxes, of course.”
“Huh? But I don’t think I need the money from that, though. Couldn’t you just return those weapons like it is?”
“If we did that without a fee, there will be people who will claim to be relatives to collect those weapons to sell for themselves instead.”
“Hmph. Honestly, to even go that far for some spare change, pathetic doesn’t even begin to describe how low they are,” Ume comments.
“I guess that makes sense. Then, could you put that money from the fees to the orphanage in town, too?” I ask.
“We could most certainly do that, just leave it to us.”
I breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that. Honestly, I didn’t feel right taking money from mourning families.
“Now normally, this is where we’d reward you points to your rank for the achievements, but since you did it all while not registered in the guild, we have to follow policy and reward it to those who’ve officially taken on the quests at the time. Wanted criminals and monsters like Glock the Putrid may be an exception as one could run into them at any given time with or without officially taking the ‘quest,’ but they’d still have to be registered adventurers at the time of collection. It’s a shame, but it’s thanks to you pulling out that Toxic Troll that Guild Master gave you his attention, so it works out, right?”
I only shrug in response. I didn’t really care about the ranking as long as I could get the money that was due.
“Well, I think that should cover about everything right now. If you don’t mind me prying, what are your plans after this?” Ms. Raize asks.
“Actually, we’d like to order a special dinner for a celebration at our table.”
“For our party’s formation and Master’s courtship with Ms. Umeiyon!” Ren exclaims with excitement.
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“Goodness, that certainly is a good reason to celebrate. You’re with Lili and Winny at that table over there, right? We’ll have some menus over there and you can order whenever you’re ready.”
“Thanks, Ms. Raize.”
“Still, while I’m happy for you, Mr. Jinma, I’m a little sad. Just when I decided to not meddle into my daughter’s love life, the first man I have my eyes on is already taken. Though, I pretty much lost my chance after last night, huh?”
“I don’t know what went on between you two, but if you’re not planning on doing anything nefarious, Raize, you’re welcome to get closer to Jin, you know?”
Not just Ms. Raize, even I couldn’t believe what I just heard from Ume.
“Um … by getting closer, you mean like that, right? Are you sure that’s okay, Ume?” I ask.
“By ‘that,’ you mean sex, right? Well, going by what Ren said earlier, there will be other females who’ll be infatuated with you like the three of us are. Looking back at our ‘talk,’ even for someone like me, I think females can only handle so much at a certain time. We had polygamy back in my home as well and I’m sure we’ll make allies with those who are better in some areas than I am. As long as I’m aware of who we’re dealing with, you’re welcome to seek other females that catch your fancy, be they for the short term or long term. Though, you’ll have to show me what a ‘brothel’ is and what takes place there some time as I’m still unfamiliar in some areas of this subject.”
“O … kay? And, what about you?”
“Me? Why, I’ll always go to you for sex, of course. You’re the only one who’s able to spark these feelings of mine, after all. I don’t see how I could possibly get anything better from anyone else.”
““…””
“W-Wait, so Master lost his virginity to Ms. Umeiyon? Since when?” Erizora asks.
“Actually, I thought I smelled something funny some time before they came back from the meeting room, could it be that—”
“We took it someplace else, of course! Man, do Null Spells come in handy when they count, don’t they?!” I interrupt Ren while admittedly trying too hard to come up with a good lie.
Ren furrows her brow at me as if she could smell my lie a kilometer away. I really need to explain things to them soon, I decide to myself.
Ms. Raize clears her throat and beckons me closer, to which I lean my ear towards her. “Since Ms. Umeiyon’s kindly offering, you’re welcome to spend a night or two at my place. I could have the slaves set up in the cellar to sleep in and then help however the two of you want to sleep together after that. Of course, if you’re all right with little old me, you two could stay in my room.”
<“Daaaaaamn, the predator has you in her sights, dude,”> Nyra says.
“Th-That’s very nice of you, Ms. Raize, but we don’t want to impose,” I say with my hands up.
“Oh, come now, I haven’t even begun to thank you properly for saving me, as well as apologize for my um … condescending treatment towards you with your class.”
“It’s water under the bridge and your thoughts are good enough. I don’t want to risk bothering Lili, either.”
“But there must be something—”
“He said he’s fine, Mom.”
Lili startles me a little as she comes into our talk from behind and rests her claws on my shoulders. “Just please have the menus sent to our table and we’ll have our dinner here. Let’s go, Jinma, girls.” She then moves me away from the reception while the other girls in my new party follow.
“I’ll see you later, sweetie! I’ll see you around, too, Mr. Jinma!” I could hear Ms. Raize call from behind.
“… She didn’t say anything strange to you, did she?” Lili asks.
“Not really.”
“And you’re not … interested in her in that way, are you? I won’t judge you for your tastes, so please be honest with me.”
“I mean, I admit she’s attractive, but I don’t want to do anything with her if it bothers you, Lili.”
“No, I don’t think I want you to go that far. Mom doesn’t have a lot of male company to mingle with, and she’s really changed her opinion on you when we last talked. I don’t mind you getting along with her, but … just tell me if you think there’s something going on and we’ll work things out from there, all right?”
“Yeah, I can do that.”
<“Hmm, ‘work something out,’ huh? Gotta admit, I never did a threesome with a parent and kid grouped with me, so this might be really interesting.”>
How … would that even work with their bodies?
<“You could come up with something creative with your Darkness Manipulation, maybe?”>
Well, I hesitated because I wasn’t sure how awkward things would be between Lili and Ms. Raize, but if they’re both into it … maybe we can have something set up before we all leave for Korangar?
<“Now, we’re talking! Feeling more confident after getting your V-card punched, stud?”>
I mean, I know Ume wanted to be with me as my mate, but I didn’t think she was that open to polygamy after the sex we had. I feel weird thinking about switching over to another girl just like that. Ume and I are planning to continue where we left off later tonight, so maybe I could get Ren or Erizora to help us learn how to cooperate with multiple partners at once around that time.
<“It would certainly be a good warm-up, for sure.”>
When we got back to the table, one of the guild receptionists acting as our waitress brought our menus and gave us some time to look over what there is to eat. Of course, I couldn’t read Padimonian, so Ume and Ren who were both sitting on each side helped me figure out what to order.
Once we made our orders when the waitress returned, Lili brought up an interesting topic.
“So, Ms. Umeiyon, you’re Jinma’s mate now, right?”
“That’s right …”
“Don’t you think it’s about time you have something like a wardrobe change?” Lili asks as she feels Ume’s rags.
“What’s wrong with them? They make me look decent, do they?”
“They’re an eyesore, and I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing something like this while I’m with my mate.”
<“Finally! Someone mentions it! Fighter or not, girls gotta go in style wherever they go! But going commando like Scalybutt here? Totally okay with that. Back in my day, I used to go out and walk around the home without them on from time to time.”> Nyra comments.
“I can pay for her clothes, Lili. How much would I owe you?” I ask.
“Let’s see, if you want something by today while having it enchanted with self-repairing magic and fitting adjustment magic, let’s do … 450,000 karos.”
I already have my money pouch out as she spoke and quickly counted 45 gold coins to pass off to her.
“Pleasure doing business! Do you have any recommendations for what design I should do for her?”
Normally, I probably would’ve said ‘anything’s fine,’ but when the word ‘Dragon’ came to my mind as I look at Ume, I recall a certain attire that some girls wear back in my world that I must admit that I’ve taken a fancy to for the longest time. It may be a Dragon based off of a different culture, but just imagining it has me believing she could pull it off really well. Some other things that would fit into Ume’s taste are also taken into consideration that gets me a little creative.
<“Oooh~, I can see what you’re thinking, and I’m liking your tastes in fashion, Jinma! I say go for it!”>
I quickly take out my smartphone from the MIB and went to the internet to search for good images.
When I pass it to Lili with the image shown on the screen, I explain to her how to make it backless if it’s possible and have the skirt designed like an apron that wraps around the waist above where Ume’s tail begins. She gets a pad and charcoal pencil from … somewhere, and writes down the notes of my specifications.
“I see where you’re going with the skirt, but interesting … I’ve never seen a design like this before. May I use this as a base to make more for my shop?”
“Go for it. I think it could work for guys, too, if it’s simple enough and include pants. The specifications for this should work, but it may be best to get Ume’s opinion of what she’d like just in case. Also, if possible, I think having the color matching her scales would do wonders.”
“What? What is it that Jinma wants me to wear?” Ume asks as she tries to see what’s on the smartphone screen, but Lili pulls it away and passes it back to me.
“Oh, I’m keeping this as a surprise. From what I’m already cooking up, I think you’re going to love his design choices. Let’s reserve a meeting room so that I can get your measurements. From what we’ve ordered and how packed this place is, it will take at least an hour and a half, not including bread and appetizers, to get everything out, and that should be enough time for me to get everything ready.”
“Can you really get something like that done within such a short time?” I ask.
“You’re looking at a professional tailoress who spins her own silk, sweetie. While I charge extra for timing and convenience, I never leave my customers disappointed with my products. Let’s get a move on, Ms. Umeiyon.”
“Okay …”
“I’ll be counting on you, Lili!” I exclaim as they approach the reception desk to reserve a meeting room. Lili responds with a thumb-claw up as the two of them walk. “An hour and a half, huh …”
With my smartphone in hand, I set a timer and learn something interesting as I fiddle around with it. The Immortals must’ve really changed the phone’s operational properties that goes in this world’s real-time in some way when I got here. Going by what I could adjust in the timer, there are not only 36 hours in a day here in Raiza, but 90 minutes in an hour as well as 90 seconds in that.
It was already jarring enough knowing this world has days that last 12 hours longer than Earth. Knowing there’s an extra 30 in both minutes and seconds, that really extends the time further. Maybe it’s part of why Lady Krauss thought we only needed a day after confirming our acceptance to the quest to prepare ourselves, but knowing days last so long, I wonder if people actually need to eat four full meals a day and sleep more hours to get their energy back. It would certainly explain why Ren and Erizora’s ‘snack’ was so large in portions that it’s a full meal in itself.
Going back to Lili’s approximation in time for when the food’s ready, an ‘hour and a half’ in this case would mean 135 minutes in total.
“Yeah, that should be fine,” I mumble to myself as I finish setting the timer. “I’m going to step out and work up an appetite. Ren, Erizora, you stay here with Winny and keep watch.”
““Yes, Master,”” they answer without questioning further.
Leaving my MIB under the table and Nyra holstered at my side, I step out of the guild and start my walk. Nyra, are they following?
<“Yep. A few at a time at first, but the numbers are growing, all humans. You going to take care of them before dinner?”>
Depending on where this is going, I might have ‘Round 4’ with you this time around.
<“Oh ho ho ho ho~, I’m already getting wet just thinking about it! This is going to be fun~!”>
I’ve been sensing the other adventurers’ hostility for quite some time since I made my show of love with Ume. ‘That damn Demongenerate, so sickening.’ ‘What is wrong with that guy?’ ‘So disgusting, Demongenerates should just die.’ ‘I’m gonna have a word with that bastard child …’ I’ve overheard things like that and then some, but it seems ‘Demongenerate’ is an infamous derogatory term around these parts. Aside from that, I’m not unfamiliar with these things over my time back home.
Up to my death back home, one could figuratively say I’ve been fighting with one arm tied behind my back because I could possibly kill someone if I went all out. Even when I was overwhelmed by the mob that brought me closer to my death, I still held back mainly more to follow the law and not risk myself getting arrested than following morals. Sure, there’s justified self-defense, but I’m not sure if I could pass it off like that with how much power I had at the time.
Now that I’m in a place that violence is more prevalent and I’m in a position as an adventurer to make some appropriate calls under certain circumstances, I may finally fight with both arms. I just need to find an appropriate battlefield to go all-out in.