Chapter 14: Vale Pavilion
Vale Pavilion
“I might not be able to prepare the money.”
I follow the slave dealer down the stairs.
“I don’t think that will happen. I heard you defeated a thief, so you probably had an income of 2-300,000 nars in just a couple of days.”
The slave dealer seems to be estimating my finances quite accurately.
Does he estimate that I have near 420,000 nars?
I can’t disagree with the asking price, I have no choice but to go along with it.
But there are things the slave dealer doesn’t know.
He doesn’t know I had 0 nars a few days ago.
“Including that money, it’s still not enough.”
“Surely that’s not the case.”
Where does his confidence come from?
I followed the slave dealer, and we arrived at the room from earlier.
The methods for me to earn money in this world, at the moment there are two.
One is to go into the dungeon.
If one dropped item sells for 100 nars, and I collect 100 a day then that’s one gold coin. By the tenth day it will become 100,000 nars.
Is that too hard?
Rabbit’s furs were 20 nars each, so 100 nars might be too optimistic.
I don’t know if you can hunt 100 of them in a day either. I don’t know if 100 demons will drop 100 items either.
The demons I hunted previously all dropped one item, but that might not always be the case.
If I fight a strong demon, it’s dropped items might be more scarce.
The other way is getting bounty money from killing thieves.
The bounty from two thieves is 160,000.
Is that where the slave traders confidence comes from?
There is some mental resistance to that though.
When I fought in the village I thought it was a game, and it was self-defense.
I don’t know if I can kill a person for money.
Also, I might not find one in ten days.
Using my knowledge from earth, I can’t think of any other ways to get the money in time.
I might think of something, but it will be hard to do in ten days.
“Can I make money if I go into the labyrinth?”
I sit on the sofa and ask the slave dealer about it.
It is necessary to gather more information.
“Not much, but it’s steady income, and you might get lucky in there too.”
“I see.”
So that’s how it is.
If it’s not much, is it too hard to make the money based on regular drops?
“The items can be sold at the explorer, and adventurer guilds. If there is someone looking for them specifically the price might be higher.”
“Ah, the guilds.”
“The explorer guild is on the main street, it’s near the yellow signboards. The adventurers guild is in the west side of the town, and it has bad relations with the explorers guild.”
So the explorers guild and adventurers guild don’t get along with each other.
There is an explorer job as well?
“I see.”
“You could also aim for some bounty money.”
The slave dealers ideas seem to resemble my own.
“I see.”
“I don’t recommend it, but it can be quite profitable.”
“You don’t recommend it?”
“Well, only the capital city has a bounty hunters guild.”
“Bounty hunter…”
That job exists?
I open my job stats.
I got the thief job from stealing, the farmer job from some farm work, how about when I claimed the bounty?
It was an idea, but it’s not there.
“You have to get a lot of experience as a soldier to become a bounty hunter.”
“Is that so.”
Maybe that’s a requirement to acquire the job?
Soldier Lv10
“Bounty hunters are quite strong, but not good on defense. If they build a guild somewhere outside the capital, it would probably be destroyed straight away.”
From a thief’s point of view, a bounty hunter is probably a hated enemy.
There might be problems forming parties with them.
Would they attack me?
Or am I safe since I killed a thief?
“If you get too much bounty money, will you be attacked?”
There doesn’t seem to be any social problem with killing thieves.
People that kill, get killed.
It seems to be a rule in this world.
“That does happen, and if a person who is killed by a thief doesn’t have any relatives then the bounty money might not be very high.”
So was the reward for the thief I killed in the village higher than normal?
No. The slave dealer estimated it exactly.
Well, killing thieves will be a last resort.
First I will try making money in the labyrinth.
“I see. I plan to stay in this town for a while, can you recommend a hotel somewhere? An expensive place would be a problem, but it should at least be a place I can sleep without having to worry about my safety.”
“The vale pavilion in the southwest side of town center is an inn that is run by the hotel guild.”
“Thank you, I will go there.”
The hotel guild. I find that hard to believe, but if a guild is running it then it should be safe.
I stand up.
Everything has been decided and my business here is done for now.
“Then, we shall wait for ten days.”
The slave dealer sees me off as I depart the building.
The sun is still high in the sky.
The roads in this town head north, south, east & west. I start off to the west. I think it’s a bit after noon.
First of all, I head back to the main street.
I head down the street and find the explorers guild.
Explorer Lv17
Yes, there is definitely an explorer job.
The guild has a counter inside it, and feels similar to a country post office.
There are signs pasted on the wall at the road side.
There are several people inside, and I see one placing a load on the counter.
“Someone ordered this.”
“I will pay for it.”
The employee handles the business over the counter.
I stand at one of the signs while straining my ears to listen.
…I can’t read the characters.
I can’t understand what is written here.
The intelligence card had Japanese characters, but the characters here are different.
Is the explorers guild special? Is the intelligence card special?
“You can’t read it?”
Someone speaks to me.
It’s a girl about the same age as me.
She is a villager Lv2.
“Ah.”
“I can read. 10 nars for six minutes.”
I see.
This world has a low literacy rate so this happens.
She’s reading to make money.
“Please do it.”
I put down the rucksack, and take ten copper coins from the drawstring bag.
I don’t understand the value of ten nars.
The 30% discount doesn’t seem to work.
It might be a high price because it’s to someone who can read.
“Here.”
The employee inside passes the customer some money.
I don’t know what is being sold, or it’s value, but they seem to be being quite careful with the money.
Maybe they fear being targeted if they pass around a lot of money.
I passed ten nars to the girl.
She has a cute face, but her breasts are hard to make out with the way her cloths hang.
There is no way they are better than Roxanne’s.
“I’ll read until this clock stops.”
She pulls an hourglass from her belt, and flips it.
It seems to be quite precise.
Though I wouldn’t be surprised if it was just five minutes.
If there is a difference, even if I complain I won’t get my time back.
“I see.”
“What information would you like to know, or do you have something you are interested in selling?”
She is prepared.
Even if she asks what I’d like to know, I don’t understand what sort of information is on this board anyway.
“Is there anything about Rabbit’s fur?”
“Rabbit’s fur.”
She reaches out, and starts running her arm along the signs.
“There is?”
“This. Bikka from Somara village is selling two of them.”
She points.
Bikka from Somara village is the merchant I know.
The village chief told me to sell my rabbit furs to him.
The sign is up here to advertise and sell them highly.
The other characters probably say where to find him.
“It doesn’t say the price?”
“The price is double what the guild would pay.”
Is that so?
The advertising price of the guild seems to be a tenth of the cost.
Making money from drops seems to be quite difficult.
“Is there any Rabbit’s meat?”
“I think restaurants will buy it. Are you asking about large quantities?”
“Yes.”
I see.
Ingredients can be sold to a restaurant.
“There doesn’t appear to be any places with a request up for Rabbit’s meat.”
She gives the whole board a quick look.
It’s about three quarters full.
I wonder if there’s much aside from purchase requests?
“What information is on the board aside from purchase requests?”
“Explorers job offers, and information about the Labyrinth. It appeared near the town two days ago. People should be cautious of it.”
The slave trader said it was difficult for people who don’t know each other to form a party, but it does seem to be happening.
The conditions might not be good though.
“What kind of job offers are there?”
“What are you interested in?”
“Just start reading at the beginning.”
It’s hard to work out.
Isn’t it just party recruitment?
“Here’s one. The knights group needs help with transportation. It’s 800 nars after 10 days.”
“I see.”
So 80 nars a day.
From her tone of voice, it doesn’t sound like good work.
“The soldier corps has 10 days transportation work for 1,200 nars, but meals are not included.”
“Is that so.”
So this one has higher pay, but no meals.
Could food expenses be 400 nars for 10 days? 40 nars per day?
Since it specifically mentions that meals are not included, maybe that means they are normally included with work in this world.
Would the knight group work involve going to a military outpost?
Were the meals for that included?
I compare the two posters.
The same handwriting is used for both the posters about transportation.
As I think about it, six minutes have passed.
“The time is up. How was it? Good enough?”
The sand in the hourglass has completely passed to the bottom.
“Thank you, it was good reference.”
“Ok, see you later.”contemporary romance
She waves, and I leave the guild.
I’m not sure if reading for people is a common business. I wonder if I should learn to read for myself?
I head towards the center of town.
I head to the opposite side of where the knights headquarters is, to the southwest.
Is that the building?
The cost of lodging in the center of town might be quite high.
It’s probably safer though.
I have 33 gold coins at the moment, so I don’t want to stay somewhere shady.
I go into the inn.
It looks neat, but not really high class.
Is the lobby a restaurant? It has a lot of tables and chairs, but there are no people sitting down.
Maybe it isn’t the right time for customers? This world has no lunch.
“Please come in.”
As I head towards the counter, I hear a voice from inside.
Hotel Lv28
There seems to be a job named Hotel.
A man in his thirties comes out. He is wearing rough looking cloths similar to mine.
This definitely is not a high class hotel.
It should be a good price.
“Is it possible to stay for a long period of time?”
“Are you going to enter the Labyrinth?”
“Yes.”
Since the Labyrinth was found, the amount of guests here has probably increased.
It might have become a busy season.
Are there still rooms vacant?
“Is a single room good, or would you like to share a group room?”
“A single room.”
They have a shared group room?
That was common cheap housing in the Edo period.
There might be this kind of thing if you think about the cultural level.
For safety I do not want a shared room with other guests.
“What grade of room would you like?”
“Regular please. An expensive one would be a problem.”
“Would you like dinner included? You can get it separately, but there is a discount if it’s included.”
“How much is it?”
“60 nars. If you order it separately it’s 80-100 nars. You could also search around for a cheap place for dinner.”
When I thought 40 nars would be the food cost after considering the knights job, this seems slightly high.
Meals will be all sorts of prices, so maybe because it’s so high it’s good?
Since I came from Japan, the meals here have been hard to endure.
It might be difficult to look for a cheap meal, and it will be convenient if I can eat when I come back to the hotel.
“I’ll include dinner.”
“This is the Pavilion Inn of the hotel guild. I will check your intelligence card to see if it’s good.”
“I don’t mind.”
Is the check to prevent strange guests from coming here?
That’s convenient.
“Ok.”
“Are the only ones who can’t stay here thieves?”
“What else would there be?”
“Oh, I was just curious.”
Even slaves and nobles seem to be okay.
“Ah. There’s also bandits and pirates. I’ve heard of a thief who did a number of vicious things and became a villain too, but I’ve never seen one.”
“I see.”
So thief also has a higher job type?
“The cheapest room is 260 nars, and dinner is 60 nars, so your charge is 224 nars per night. That has to be paid in advance, and you are also allowed to keep the room for the whole day.”
260 plus 60 is 320, but I’m being charged 224?
My 30% discount works here.
“I understand.”
I put down my rucksack, and pull out the drawstring bag.
“Please have your meal in the dining room near the entrance. Breakfast is also included in the room fee, and it is served 30 minutes after sunrise. Dinner is served from early evening until 30 minutes after sunset. There won’t be any food if it’s too late, and the light in the dining room goes out two hours after sunset.”
“Ok.”
I place 4 silver coins and 48 copper coins on the counter.
I should be stingy, but I’ll pay for a couple of days.
I want to decrease the amount of copper coins I have.
There’s also the chance I might lose the drawstring bag, so it’s safe to have at least one extra day paid up.
The hotel man counts the coins.
“You’ve given me two days wort, please show me one of your arms.”
“Here.”
“Intentions of the soul, breath of wisdom, intelligence card, open!”
My left arm is raised in front of him.
I should let him fill out the inn register.
“Is it alright?”
“Yes. Michio Kaga.”
It should say Kaga Michio on the intelligence card. Did he realize that the first part is my family name?
“That’s right.”
“I’ll guide you to your room.”
He leaves the counter.
He doesn’t take my bag for me.
“Ah.”
I follow him.
We climb two sets of stairs. Looks like my room is on the third floor.
“If your going to the Labyrinth, we can buy some ingredients from you. It might be troubling if it’s alot, but a reasonable amount can be put on the menu.”
“Ok.”
“If you wish for hot water to wipe your body, please request it when you return. Hot water is 20 nars, it will be brought to your room after dinner, and collected in the morning. We can loan you a lantern with an hour of oil for 10 nars. You may add more oil yourself, but please do not start a fire.”
“I’ll be careful.”
We arrived while I listened to the details.
He opens the door with a key.
“We are here.”
“Thank you.”
The room is rectangular, and about ten tatami mats in size.
There’s a desk and a chair, a bed with a closet next to it, and a wooden window near the chair. [TN Maybe wooden shutters on a window, no glass?]
It’s a good room.
What was that room at the village chiefs house?
Well, that was free.
“The closet is locked and can be used for valuables. Please look after valuables yourself carefully. Employees clean once a day around noon. If you need washing done, please ask an employee. Please leave your key at the front desk when you go out. The room number here is 311.”
The man passes me a key, and use it to open the closet.
“I understand.”
“Enjoy your stay.”
He leaves.
I try sitting on the bed.
It’s not really soft, but it’s not hard.
It’s a good bed.
I lower my rucksack, and pull out my luggage.
I can leave the jersey in the room. The village chief said it was valuable, but I won’t be too worried if it is stolen.
The cheap leather shoes are the same.
There are two drawstring bags in the rucksack which have money in them.
I put the copper sword in the closet.
Since I learned kendo, I can fight easily with a sword in each hand, but when a fight starts I’ll pull out durandal.
The scimitar is light and easy to hang at my waist.
I look at the room key.
There are characters written on it that are probably the room number.
Is that the character for one that forms a line?
Well, it doesn’t matter.
Should I go to the Labyrinth?
I stand up, and sling the rucksack over my shoulder.
done.co