I’d finally gotten permission to enter the town thanks to the Goddess’s all-purpose fake ID. But since its hypnosis function apparently had a limited number of uses, I’d still have to obtain a real ID at some point.
Meaning I’d need to launder one from somewhere.
With that in mind, I headed to the Trader’s Guild, thinking I could get an ID and register as a merchant at the same time. The guild was a large, square building made of stone. The atmosphere inside was bustling—vendors were shouting all over the place, peddling their wares. It certainly did feel like a hub for trade. There was an information desk as well, so I walked up to the receptionist behind the counter.
“Excuse me, how do I register with this guild?” I asked.
“I trust you’re a newcomer, ma’am? It’s twenty-five silvers for new members to register, and I’ll need proof of identification.”
“Oh—sorry, I’ll come back later, then.”
Come to think of it, while the Goddess had blessed me with identification (sort of), she’d neglected to give me any money. Crap... Why does it cost so much to join a guild, anyway?! So I moved on to plan B: the Adventurer’s Guild.
“If you’re penniless, the Adventurer’s Guild is your best option”—so it was written in the Tome of General Knowledge. It also said that one could climb the ranks and earn even more, depending on their skill. With spatial magic at my disposal, I was practically invincible—I’d be able to reach Rank SSS in no time at all! (Though it’d probably be better to go a bit more slowly than that.) Most importantly, you could register for the guild in advance, and pay the fee later! Thus, I made for the Adventurer’s Guild next.
The building was made of wood, almost like a tavern. In fact, there was actually a tavern inside. The moment I entered, all eyes gathered on me—more specifically, my chest. Come on, can’t you guys be a little more subtle? And furtive glances like those only make it even more obvious. Heh heh, what a bunch of perverts.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to get involved with any of them as I walked up to the counter. “Excuse me, I’d like to become an adventurer.”
“Yes, ma’am. It’s five large coppers for new members to register, and I’ll need proof of identification. You may register in advance and pay the fee later, but then the fee becomes five large coppers and one medium copper.”
“I’d like to pay later, please. Here’s my ID. Oh, by the way, my name’s Karina.”
I chose to delay payment and showed the multipurpose fake ID to the receptionist. Everything was going as planned. Normally in order to register, your ID would need the signature of a town mayor or mentor adventurer—in other words, someone who’d be responsible for you if you happened to cause trouble. If you couldn’t at least get someone of that level to vouch for you, the guild wouldn’t consider you trustworthy enough to register. In my case, though, I have a god vouching for me! How’s that for a guarantee? Heh heh heh.
As for the currency system here... One copper coin is basically enough to buy a loaf of rye bread. One medium copper is worth five coppers, and one large copper is equal to ten coppers. A silver coin is one hundred coppers, and a gold coin is a hundred silvers. Silvers and golds also have medium and large variants, which are treated the same as their copper counterparts. (However, since merchants are already required to be well-versed in math, the terms “medium” and “large” are rarely exchanged among businessmen, apparently.)
In other words, in terms of Japanese currency, the guild fee would have originally been five thousand yen, and now that I’d chosen to pay later, it was around five thousand, five hundred.
“Your ID checks out. Welcome to our guild, Miss Karina! Here’s a temporary guild license. Do note that you can only use this here and nowhere else. Once your payment is processed, we’ll give you a proper license. Your rank is currently G.”
“Thank you.”
I was given a card made of wood with some numbers on it. Ah, so it’s this sort of system.
Incidentally, G rank meant you’re a temporary member. F rank meant you’re a novice; D meant you’re qualified; C, veteran; B, elite; and A, super elite. There was also a special rank, S. In other words, nothing too surprising. Hmm...so S is above A here too, just like Japan? Or maybe the receptionist’s words were just automatically translated that way to make it easier for me to understand. The words I read and wrote were translated to Japanese on their own, after all.
“I know it’s sudden, but could you assign me a monster to defeat right away? I don’t have the money to stay anywhere right now.”
“Well, I wouldn’t recommend that, since you don’t even have a weapon yet...”
As I was talking to the receptionist, a red-haired man who’d been drinking at the bar staggered up to me, wooden tankard in hand. “Hard up for money, miss? I’ll give you six large coppers for one night with me!”
“Mr. Blade?! What are you thinking?!” the receptionist cried.
I see. Right, I’m a girl now. Even if I had nothing else of value to sell, my body itself was a selling point. More specifically, my chest. Well, I’m still a guy inside, though, so I’d rather not sell my body to another man.
“You’d need to bring me a hundred gold before I’d even consider letting a drunkard like you buy me,” I said with a snort. I also assumed a defensive stance, as if to say, Just try and touch me, and I’ll knock you to kingdom come.
But the man just burst out laughing. “Ha ha ha! I mean, I’d gladly pay up if I could, but if I had that kind of money I wouldn’t be working as an adventurer in the first place! Sorry for approaching you like that. Here’s some money as an apology—take it.”
The red-haired adventurer flicked a copper coin with a hole in the middle—a medium copper, in other words—in my direction. It caught me off guard, but I managed to snatch it out of the air.