Chapter 392: Chapter 390 – Treeland’s Merchants Guild

Treeland’s Merchants Guild

Just as Nino said, Treeland was a rural town, enclosed by wooden fences that served as walls. The surrounding area was a vast agricultural land. Vicious monsters had never appeared, so they didn’t need any defensive facilities.

The streets were huge, however. Warehouses that stored goods—especially agricultural produce—stood in a row. People conducted business everywhere. The Merchants Guild had considerable power here compared to the Adventurers Guild, the latter’s office a mere small hut. The guild where Hikaru had his guild card reissued was far bigger.

「I’m going to stock up on kounatsu!」Nino said.「You guys are free to do whatever you want today.」

Merchants and farmers from neighboring villages making deliveries thronged the main street. There were stalls and tables for business discussions here and there.

Most of the establishments here were taverns where adventurers and mercenaries hired as guards flocked, and brothels.

「Where are we going today?」Lavia asked, her voice a little colder than usual.

Hikaru averted his gaze from the brothel.「Oh, uh… The Merchants Guild.」

「Really?」Lavia blinked a few times, not expecting his answer.

「I’m gonna ask if there’s any movement in the capital.」

Hikaru had already told Lavia and Paula about the bandits. He didn’t know what happened to them afterwards, so it would make sense to get information about the imperial capital.

In that regard, it would be best to go to the various guilds that could communicate over long distances with the Linga’s Quill Pen. Hikaru found it hard to believe that the Adventurers Guild, which was smaller than a street stall would have a Linga’s Quill Pen, so he decided to go to the Merchants Guild, even though he wasn’t a member.

「I see. In that case, you should check it out. You might find something interesting there.」Nino said.

「Something interesting in the Merchants Guild?」

「Yup. As you may already know, the nobles south of the empire are called progressives.」

He spoke as if Hikaru was aware of it. Hikaru realized he hadn’t actually told the man that they were from Ponsonia.

「There’s a Count who’s good at growing kounatsu, and there’s a Baron who’s invented a way to process seafood that can last for days. And then there’s another Count who’s skilled in Sorcery.」

「Really… What kind of Sorcery?」

「I’m not familiar with Sorcery, but I heard they’re well-versed in the study of medicine. They can’t use Healing magic, so instead they improve the efficacy of ointments through Sorcery, or something like that.」

「That sounds great.」

Thats remarkable, Hikaru thought. Even though they lived in a world with Healing magic, many people still died from injuries and illnesses. If Sorcery could save more lives, then that would be wonderful.

If it turned out that the products were expensive, Hikaru would feel less impressed.

「The Merchants Guild is in that direction. See you later!」Nino waved and left.

The Merchants Guild, while small, was far bigger than the Adventurers Guild. It was a solidly built, two-story building.

The interior was quiet, with only a few well-dressed merchants. There were four counters, but only one receptionist, which Hikaru found intriguing.

A merchant relaxing in the lobby looked at Hikaru’s party suspiciously—after all, they were clearly dressed like adventurers. Hikaru paid him no mind and headed straight to the receptionist.

「Good day, Sir. Are you a member of the Merchants Guild?」

「No. But can I still purchase information?」

Hikaru produced a fine leather bag from his pocket. The gold coins inside clinked.

「I see you have the money.」The receptionist gave a small nod.「What kind of information do you want?」

「Info on the Imperial Capital. What happened to His Majesty Kaglai afterwards, to be specific.」

「What?!」

The Emperor’s attempted assassination might be big news for the people in the palace, but the general public wouldn’t learn about it until later—after everything was settled.

However, quick-witted merchants wouldn’t miss such important information. This goes double for the Merchants Guild, an organization that governed them all.

「How do you know that?」

「I can’t tell you. If you have information, I’d like to buy it.」

「I understand. Please speak with my superior directly.」

The receptionist rang the bell. A moment later, a taciturn, bespectacled woman came down from the second floor and gestured Hikaru to follow her.

The second floor seemed to be an office, but there was a small table and chairs for visitors. When Hikaru’s party entered the room, five staff members inside stopped chatting and left, some heading into the next room, some downstairs. All of them eyed Hikaru’s party curiously.

「I’m Katarina, Guildmaster of the Merchants Guild, Treeland Branch.」

「I’m Hikaru, an adventurer.」

The Merchants Guild issued business permits, mediated in business-related problems, and offered jobs to people. Collecting taxes was the local lord’s job, but the Merchants Guild also worked with them to ensure smooth payment of taxes. In other words, the Merchants Guild was both a friend and an enemy to merchants.

She looks too young to be dealing with old men, Hikaru thought as he studied her. She must be skilled to become guildmaster at such a young age.

Katarina herself thought the same as she guessed Hikaru’s age and saw his rank on his guild card.

「So, you wanted information about the capital?」she asked warily.

「I want to buy info. Not about the capital, but the palace.」

「You seem to insist on purchasing it. Why is that?」

「If I didn’t pay for it, I would have to give you information of equivalent value.」

「I see. You’re right.」Face blank, her mouth twisted. She was smiling, apparently.「Latest news inside the palace will be 100,000 gilans.」she said.

Lavia’s hands twitched slightly, while Paula’s eyes widened. A staff listening closely a little away spit their tea out.

「Deal. Can I pay in kingdom currency?」

Lavia, Paula, and the staff turned their heads at Hikaru, surprised at this immediate answer.

Katarina frowned, clearly not expecting him to agree. Many citizens in this world worked a half a year to earn 100,000 gilans—a million yen in Japan.

Without waiting for Katarina’s answer, Hikaru placed Ponsonian gold coins worth 100,000 gilans on the table.

「Now, for that information.」

Katarina looked down on the street from the second-floor window, watching the boy and two girls leaving the building in a hurry.

「Master, are you sure you should’ve given him the info?」one of the staff asked.

「Of course. He found the information to be worth that much, made a quick decision, and paid the price. If I didn’t give him the information right then, it would have sullied the name of the Merchants Guild.」

「I didn’t expect him to actually pay 100,000 gilans.」

The staff member glanced at the gold coins sitting on the table. The presence of the boy who called himself Hikaru seemed to remain there. At the same time, the coins made one wonder if the information they gave was actually worth that much.

「It must be his first time here in Treeland. He was looking at everything curiously. Which most likely means they came from the capital. It takes about five days to get from the capital to Treeland. He wanted to know what happened in those five days.」

「I believe the info from the capital branch was “There’s been a change in the members of the Imperial Council.”」

「Yes, but that’s only an end result. The cause was “the discovery of the Minister of the Right’s long-time affair.」

「If I recall correctly, he was involved with Margrave Korn’s wife. The Margrave was stationed in the west, guarding the border with Ponsonia for years, but I didn’t know his wife lived in the capital.」

Katarina nodded, deep in thought, then spoke.「The Margrave’s wife not living with her husband. There has to be a reason for that. The one who provided the information about the Minister of the Right’s affair is…」

「Count Zepetta. A representative of the progressives.」

「Yes. But normally, this would not have been enough to demote the Minister of the Right. His military authority is now temporarily passed to the Prime Minister, with Count Ron, a progressive, becoming a cabinet member, taking his place as Commander of the Imperial Capital.」

「Something’s strange.」

「Indeed.」

Katarina didn’t think much about it when the information first arrived. Now that the adventurer Hikaru brought it up again, she felt something was off.

「Why was a progressive given such an important position?」

Unfortunately for Katarina, she hadn’t received any information about the attempted assassination on the Emperor. As such, there were too many baffling points.

「Seeing as he left in a hurry after hearing this, there must be trouble brewing.」

Her fears would come true in the immediate future.