060. Establishnt - 07
I looked around the tent while Zolast sat down, taking note of the details.
The first thing I noticed was paper an incredible amount of it, piling over the small table and spilling onto the wooden floor of the cart. "That's a lot of paper," I comnted even as I turned my attention to the silver runes etched on the floor, morizing them while looking uncaring.
"Unfortunately, setting up a guild is a tricky process, requiring quite a bit of paperwork magic."
"Especially when it's established as rapidly as you're doing," I comnted. "I'm guessing taking it slowly is not an option."
"You're correct," Zolast said with a sigh. "The guild needs to be established before we arrive at the breach, so that we can officially get the rights of the managent rights for the breach. Once the dungeon is established, there'll be a lot of competition."
I shrugged. The political battle for benefits was a familiar concept. "All that paperwork, sounds exciting."
He pointed at the dagger that was on my side. "Not as exciting as your trip. I thought you were just going to work with Karak away from the camp."
"Things worked out a bit more exciting than I had planned. While we returned, we had a surprise visitor," I said, before launching a long explanation, giving him the details of the adventure. The sudden attack, the charisma-using assassin, the observers.
"And you're absolutely confident you had another group observing you," Zolast comnted.
Well, most of the details I neglected to ntion that there were two groups watching , with the second showing far better concealnt abilities. "Confident enough to ntion it here," I answered.
Zolast frowned. "That doesn't make sense. They are reacting faster than possible. We had just sent the ssengers about establishing the guild."
I shrugged. "Your mistake is to assu they are reacting to our move. It's clear that they were already going to make a move, and our involvent made them adjust the plan slightly." Zolast looked like he was about to argue, but after a mont, he changed his mind. "Now, let's talk about procurent."
"Yes, let's talk about that," Zolast said. "You surprised with that. I expected you to take a more visible role. Captain of the guard, at least, even if you didn't want to be the Master of Arms. Not sothing that required a lot of " he paused, dragging his hand over the paperwork sprawled around. "This."
"You can't get away from paperwork. It's the curse that cos with power," I answered. "And dealing with supplies, procurent, and other unglamorous stuff allows to keep my hand on the beat without being too visible." Then, I chuckled. "And, it's not like I can keep up with those young n once they start leveling up in the dungeon."
"Pity you can't level up," Zolast said, though as he said that, his tone was loaded, and his lips tugged a little. Like he had a secret that he avoided. Well, one that was relevant to my supposed inability to level up further, as we had long established we both have a lot of secrets.
"Yes, a pity," I said, sighing despondently, acting unaware of his little hint. I didn't want to go poking his secret, not when he was subtly baiting . If he wanted to talk about it, he could talk more explicitly which would give so leverage on the topic.
Unsurprisingly, he changed the topic. "By the way, about your training with Karak. I didn't expect you to be one of the purists," he comnted. "Or that they even had any presence near the border. Usually, they don't bother with people with lesser classes."
"I'm a practical person. He needed so help, and that was the best thod," I said. From the context, I realized he was referring to my attempt to teach him to fight without his skills, but the existence of a more organized movent behind the philosophy was news to .
"And how you dabbled in anti-skill movent," Zolast added. "It's a contentious topic, after all. I would have expected you to avoid it, not approach it like an idealist."
As he spoke, I realized why he was poking. He had a fundantal misunderstanding about the reason for my ability to fight without skills, accounting for a political choice with significant drawbacks. I could have decided to nip that in the bud, but instead, I decided to lean on it.
It would give so convenient plausible deniability. I decided to spin a good story. "Growing up alone, as an orphan, even finding food was a challenge, let alone proper skills," I started explaining to him, which was not entirely false. Other than the lack of skills, it was an accurate summation of my life. "So, I learned to fight dirty, in a way that would give so advantage against the others"
"Until you can fight better than any skill you can find in the border colonies," Zolast completed.
"Exactly. And hopefully, it'll help Karak as well."
"You know that, without an arm, he can never be a frontline fighter."
I shrugged. "I don't need him to. I just need soone with sharp eyes to help keep an eye on my operation. I don't need him to be combatant, just good enough to intimidate the others."
"It would be hard unless he could regain the favor of his god and could be promoted," Zolast said. "A tall order without an arm. Gods don't like such imperfections. Pity that, even when they abandon their worshippers, gods don't appreciate "
I shrugged. "Gods will be gods. Enough talking about Karak. Let's start talking about important stuff. Such as, what are the most urgent needs of the guild, and how could the head of procurent could help you?" I said.
"Good point," Zolast said, though I didn't miss his annoyance as I ignored his ntion of the gods once again. He was trying to bait into it again, one that I had no intention of accepting. If I wanted to talk with gods, I didn't need a priest to help .
I just needed to trigger my next promotion.
To his credit, he managed to keep that expression subtle enough that I would have missed it without my lifeti of experience. "Now, first, your official rank. It will be the quartermaster not this head of procurent," Zolast said with distaste.
"And my role," I said.
"You'll have the final say on the sales of the dungeon products as well as making sure the agreed upon percentage is delivered to our noble protector. You don't have to worry about the forbidden and blacklisted items, as I'll handle their destruction myself."
"That's good. What about acquiring weapons, equipnt, and other supplies for our mbers," I said.
"What about it?" Zolast said. "Every mber is responsible for handling their own weapons, armor, and other supplies. They just need to give us two-thirds of what they earn in the dungeon, and the rest is for them."
"I know," I said, backtracking quickly. I didn't know, as I expected the guilds to be operated a bit more tightly, showing that I needed to learn more. "I just thought that we can establish an official store for the guild, making sure our mbers have decent weapons. Maybe even magical ones, if we can find a way."
"Technically, it's possible," Zolast said, his distaste clear. Nowhere near the distaste of the old knight, but still annoyed.
The attitude change was interesting. Now that he didn't need to hide himself as an unlucky cook, his distaste toward rcantile activities was showing. "But, we don't have the funding for it. Our noble protectors promised to fund the materials required for the dungeon, but that's all they are willing to give to us."
Better for , I thought. The more distasteful he reacted, the less attention he would pay to the comrcial activities.
And, easier it would be for to embezzle so mana stones to power up my eventual Promotion. I didn't want to waste too much ti before making that move.
"Good, then I'll open a store. Maybe even an inn, and a nice hall for the mbers to relax and spend their free ti," I added, quickly tackling two more comrcial activities, and deliberately avoiding ntioning that the relaxing hall would function as a gambling den."
"Sounds ambitious and expensive."
"Don't worry about the funding. I'll make sure to find the necessary money."
"Really?" Zolast said. "So extra funds would be helpful."
"Of course," I said. "And, since I'm such a nice old man, I'm only going to charge the guild with a modest interest rate. Twenty-five percent."
"Oh, really?" Zolast said, looking more amused than frustrated. From what I could gather, it was higher than the normal interest rate, but not too high to be ridiculous.
"Yes, and since I'm such a nice old man, I'll even forgive the interest on the twenty derums of silver that the guild owes ," I said, ntioning the silver I had given him for the leveling wards. "I need a nice egg nest for my retirent."
"Sounds fair," Zolast said, laughing along with .
Once again, my actions were deliberate. I didn't care much about the silver that I already lent. As an investnt, it had already paid far more dividends than I expected. I insisted to reinforce his impression of my love of money.
"Do you think you can arrange it before the dungeon starts operating?"
"How long do I have?"
"With this speed, we should be at the breach about midday tomorrow, and I'll start the preparations. It would take three days to build the first layer if the nobles bring the supplies on ti."
"Between a week and a month, then," I said, chuckling.
"Hopefully, not a month," Zolast answered, his expression stiff. "I don't think we can survive a month without an operating dungeon."
"Do you think monsters would be that dangerous?" I asked.
"No," Zolast answered, and he didn't need to elaborate it further.
"I should start working, then," I said to him. "Unless there's sothing else."
"Just one thing," he said as he pulled an iron badge. He dragged his hand over it, making it glow, then threw it at . I checked, and found a drawing of a glowing hamr, and a rune underneath."
"Interesting, what's this?"
"That's the Symbol of Dawn Hamrs, our new guild. The rune underneath shows that you have the right to make decisions for the guild as long as it's reasonable. Normally, a quartermaster wouldn't have that authorization, but" he said, letting his words drift away.
"Can I use it imdiately, or do we need the official approval for the guild?"
"You can use it. We need the final approval from the kingdom for anything related to the dungeon, but for anything lesser, like arranging so trade deals or recruitnt, it should be enough."
"Sounds wonderful," I said and left the tent, a huge smile on my lips.
The visit was far more useful than I expected. I finally had an official proof of my existence, and even an official position that would allow to poke around.
Maybe even build a little organization around just to ensure my security and handle so nial tasks, and nothing more.
Definitely.
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