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Deer Dairy 02: About Money in Fantasy

Deer Dairy 02: About Money in Fantasy

The one saving grace amidst a number of inconvenient things in the fantasy world is how easy to get a job here. I mean, really, all you need to do is show up and ask for it, they will always give you some kind of little quest, and pay you as soon as the job is done.

No, I don't mean it as adventurer, really. Remember when I told you I ventured the city the next day I arrived? After got mugged, I decided to take a short rest and bought some skewers from a street stall, and while waiting my food being grilled in front of me I asked the vendor for vacancy information, fishing some intelligence of where exactly the adventurer guild was, or if was it even exist here.

Then the vendor looked at me dead in the eyes and said: "You are searching for a job? Would you like get one right now?" and proceeded to offer me what basically a fetch quest to buy a bunch of meat from a particular butcher. He said his stock are thinning and that specific butcher which was located at the other end of the city was the most cheapest one to buy his stock of meat from. But he was tied up guarding his stall so he asked me to do it.

On the end of that day, after spending few hours being lost, he paid me three copper coins, then we parted ways.

Now, three copper coins are basically a pittance, you will only get one light meal which consisted of lukewarm soup and one fried egg. Even one night at an inn will cost you twice as much. But hey, money is money.

Now, after that particular event, I got a feeling to test my luck, so the next day I went to various shops and buildings and asked them if they had any vacancy. Here are my findings:

1) Applying as a staff in any kind of shops is quite hard but not impossible. They will always prioritize their acquaintance first. So what you gotta do is being their acquaintance. Just show up every other week and ask them the same question. Do that for half a year, and they will warm up. At first they will test you by giving you odd jobs; clean this, deliver that, keep an eye on the shop for a short period of time. If they are satisfied with your work, they will hire you as a handy man (Basically an office boy). Your position will be below an apprentice, but hey, the salary is decent. You can rent a room at an inn for entire month and eat meals twice a day with it.

2) Applying as a city staff is very very hard. All government office in the city are filled with scholars, noble distant relatives who can not inherited the lord title, and their lackeys (Usually acquaintance of the lord's servant. i.e; a good neighbor of someone who works as a maid / butler at the lord's mansion). From an official who often frequents the shop I worked in to try to court a female staff there, their salary is more than decent. They can rent a house, feed a family of three with meals thrice a day, and buy each of them one new pair of clothes every month.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

3) Applying directly as a noble's servant is akin to a cloud in the sky, it was simply impossible. You have to be a master of a craft. If not, you have to be reborn as one of the servant's children, because just like their master position, them maids and butlers job are also a hereditary. According to the observation of many of my coworkers in the shop, a maid / butler salary will afford you a house in a good district, plenty of meals with plenty of meats, and up to three pair of new clothes for each family member every month.

4) Applying as an odd balls who offer to do odd jobs everyday is the easiest. I mean, people who lives in slum can do it, the children from the orphanage can do it, a stranger who was transported from different world like me can do it. And, if you like to be seen as professionals, you just need to show up at adventurer guild... they will give you a badge. Needless to say the income is not great, it sorely depends on how much people don't want to do a particular job, and how many times of that kind of job you can do in one day. For example, no alchemist wants to go out of the city, sweeping the outskirt of the nearby woods for one particular weed, and walk back home. It is too time-consuming, and simply too much walking. So they give that kind of job to adventurer through the guild. A herb fetch quest usually will get you around 6 copper coins, which is the average cost of one decent meal or a night at an inn. As you might have guess, the pay is too low, so you have to do that kind of quest more than once in one day.

Another example is a hunting quest, they are quest with the biggest pay, because really, who wants to venture deep into the forest risking their lives hunting a scary monster, not me if I have the choice. You think hunting monster is cool? Go try fight a tiger with wooden spike and kitchen knife, you'll change your mind. You need to team up with other desperados to tackle this job. Combing out the forest for one particular beast takes a lot of time, so does dragging the said beast back to the city after you killed it.

Not to mention, fighting monster is very nerve wrecking thing. Unless you are a veteran, who have master your weapon, know the beast's pattern attack, and have a spell or two up your sleeves, then you'll need other people to distract the beast so you can poke your wooden spike from behind. This kind of quest are usually commissioned by butcher shops, and will get you around 50 copper or one silver coin even after you divide the reward among your team. 50 copper coins will get you three days worth of meals with meats and three nights at an inn. It is a low pay if you remember that you just risking your lives for it. Then again, beggar can not choose.

There are more to adventuring, but I'll tell you about them on another day.

That's all for this log. Really, back on earth, the hardest thing about a job is to get one, the second hardest thing is keeping them. Not on this fantasy world, no. So if you are transported to here just like me, just ask a vendor of random street stall if they need a pair of free hands, they'll give you work.