Chapter 242: 242 Mercenary Life Guidelines

“That’s right. It’s a Night Tail.”

The woman peering into the trap pit nodded. The people gathered behind her also poked their heads out to catch a glimpse of the wolf trapped in the pit.

“It’s been a while since one was caught this close to the city.”

Near the trap where the Night Tail was captured, many people had gathered, setting up tents and unloading equipment. It was the guild’s recovery team, summoned by a signal sent from a nearby hunters’ post for a fee.

“Did you two really catch this? I heard you were E-rank!”

A woman with short-tied hair and tanned skin, Martha, the leader of the monster recovery team, looked back at Ian and Rin.

“Haha! You’ve got guts. I’ve seen quite a few mercenary groups, you know? You guys will reach C-rank in no time!”

“Th-thank you!”

Martha praised them by heartily slapping their backs. Ian and Rin winced at the stinging impact and subtly distanced themselves from her.

Meanwhile, the recovery team finished clearing the area around the pit and setting up their gear.

“Alright! Let’s get to work!”

The workers descended into the pit to check the state of the carcass and began hooking ropes to pull it out.

Martha, who had been watching the operation and inspecting the Night Tail from above, asked Ian,

“The hide is barely damaged. How did you take it down?”

“We poisoned it using magic.”

“Cheap stuff wouldn’t have worked on it, though?”

“I brought something expensive just in case.”

“Nice, very nice. The leather price will be much higher this way.”

Martha circled the pit, observing the Night Tail and calculating an approximate price. Nodding at the overall excellent condition of the carcass, she told Ian,

“At this rate, the materials alone should fetch at least five.”

“Pardon? One wolf is worth five silver coins?”

Rin, who had been listening from the side, interjected in surprise. She was shocked that a single monster carcass could sell for so much, but seeing her face, Martha laughed loudly as if the girl was being ridiculous.

“What? Hahaha! Five gold coins, obviously.”

“What?!”

Rin froze for a moment, muttering “Gold…?” as she drifted into a daydream. Having secured a reward of five gold coins—something she had never even seen in her life—Rin went on a brief mental vacation to a land of dreams before snapping back.

She suddenly snapped her head up and looked at Ian.

“Oh no, I haven’t prepared anything for my retirement yet! I haven’t even thought about where to open my shop…”

It seemed Rin had already finished imagining her retirement from the mercenary life, living peacefully in a small shop on a quiet street. She asked Ian with a dazed face,

“Ah! How about opening a shop in Labyrinth?”

“Rin, calm down. All five aren’t your share.”

Hearing Ian’s words, Rin snapped out of her fantasy. She had been swept away by the mention of gold, but now she remembered she hadn’t caught this alone.

“Th-that’s true. We have to split it between the two of us! Then, per person…”

Before she could conclude “two and a half,” Ian began explaining first.

“We have to settle the advance spent on this mission. Then deduct the recovery team’s summoning fee, transportation costs, sales agency commission, the mercenary group’s overhead, and then the guild also…”

Rin’s body flinched every time a terrifying expense left Ian’s mouth.

“After deducting everything and splitting it, wouldn’t it come out to roughly this much for each of us?”

“What?!”

Looking at the number Ian held out, Rin asked him to repeat it several times in shock before collapsing onto the spot. Her gold coins had vanished without a trace before she could even touch them.

“Th-Thief…!”

“That’s just how commissions work.”

“Kyahaha! Thanks to our Rin, I’ll be able to drink until I pass out!”

Excited to find a rookie mercenary who reacted exactly as expected, Martha teased Rin with a loud laugh. Even the workers behind them let out suppressed chuckles.

“Rin. And if you want to do business in Labyrinth, even a food stall costs ten coins a quarter.”

“What did you say?!”

Rin’s dream of a leisurely retirement, built in ten minutes, crumbled like a sandcastle. Her modest future plan of running a bakery in a two-story brick house with a cozy garden collapsed before it could even begin.

“Well, we’ll be heading off now. We have to report to the guild.”

“Sure. It’ll take a few days to transport it to the city and finish processing! Is there any specific part you want to keep?”

“No. We’re selling everything.”

“That’s good! Actually, since word got out that we were heading out, a leather workshop already came looking for us.”

Taking the shell-shocked Rin with him, Ian headed down the mountain under the recovery team’s farewell.

＊　＊　＊

The sun set while Ian and Rin returned to the city. As the sun dipped below the city walls, deep shadows and darkness began to settle over the town. While shops started closing one by one with the twilight, those that had to work through the night hung up their lanterns.

The Mercenary Guild was one of those places in the city that always stayed lit. Though the general service window hours had ended, monster-related issues occurred day and night, so there were always staff members remaining at the guild through the dark hours.

Ian opened the guild door, where a small lantern hung swaying.

“…Ah. You’ve arrived!”

The guild staff member sitting at the counter stood up upon spotting Ian and immediately sent someone upstairs. Whether the news had arrived in advance due to the recovery team, Ian was able to visit the second floor immediately after filling out a few papers on the first floor without waiting.

In the second-floor reception room, Camila was waiting for them. The examiner in charge of this mission, who had decided to entrust them with the work, accepted the brief summary report Ian handed over.

Quickly checking the contents, Camila glanced up at Ian.

“I only needed the location of the den. I didn’t expect the two of you to actually hunt it down.”

“We were spotted right in front of it. It couldn’t be helped.”

“Looking at what’s written here, it seems you went there fully prepared to catch it.”

Ian’s report fluttered in Camila’s hand. It was usually a chore to read reports from illiterate mercenaries, but the report Ian submitted was logically and calmly organized, detailing exactly what had happened.

*Seriously, he’d be a perfect fit for a guild job.*

Camila quietly stood up and took out some snacks she had prepared for important guests from inside a drawer.

“Would you like something to drink? I have coffee and rosemary tea.”

“I’ll take the coffee, please.”

“…The same for me.”

*…Since the Captain, who knows about these things, ordered it, it’s probably the best one.*

Rin, who had zero interest in things like tea, stole a glance at Ian and ordered the same thing. Soon, three cups of coffee brought by Camila were placed on the table.

Receiving the steaming black beverage, Rin looked around nervously, but the other two brought their cups to their lips without a word. Eventually, Rin also quietly picked up her cup and took a sip of coffee, pretending to be accustomed to it.

“Gah, ugh… *blegh*.”

Camila looked at Rin and chuckled as if she knew that would happen, then pushed a small jar of sugar toward her. Then, Camila turned her gaze to observe Ian, who was quietly sipping his coffee.

*He’s definitely a former scholar type.*

It was an unwritten rule not to pry into a mercenary’s past, but a slight curiosity about Ian’s background sprouted within Camila. However, regardless of her personal interest, she had a mountain of urgent work to wrap up.

Camila organized the documents Ian had submitted and set them on the table.

“Usually, rookies get ahead of themselves, do something reckless, and then disappear… but you seem a bit different.”

A novice mercenary can, of course, be exceptionally skilled. However, the end for mercenaries whose awareness of their own limits lagged behind their success was usually the same. But what she saw in Ian was a bit different from mere pride. It was a kind of… certainty. Not just simple confidence, but a natural and calm certainty derived from some clear evidence.

“I was lucky.”

“Yes. Luck is important too.”

One must have skill to grasp luck. Among those who rose to the top, none were without luck. Luck is something that slips through your fingers like sand if you aren’t prepared. Once gone, it cannot be gathered back up. Fortune dwells in the vessel of the prepared.

Camila took out two pouches she had prepared from the drawer.

“This is the promised pay, and this is an additional reward from the guild.”

One was a pouch of money. The other was a pouch of Guild Coins. It was a reward for exceeding the mission objectives. Unlike before, it contained more than ten coins.

“You can collect the materials at the guild counter later once they’ve been settled…”

Finally, Camila delivered the news she had to tell them.

“Leave your mercenary tags on your way out. I need to update your rank.”

“Pardon? Then… is it a promotion?!”

“Yes. From now on, you are D-rank.”

Promotion to D-rank happened immediately once the required fame was met, without a separate promotion exam. Since this was a D-rank mission, it was an achievement more than sufficient to move from E-rank to D-rank.

“Is it true! Thank you so much!”

“And on that note…”

Excited by the news of becoming D-rank, Rin jumped up and bowed to Camila. Camila wore a benevolent smile and quietly handed something to the overjoyed Rin.

“You might be confused by the sudden jump to D-rank, but there’s some helpful information written here. I’ll give it to you for free, so why don’t you read it?”

“Yes!”

What Camila gave them was a thin booklet titled ’Mercenary Life Guidelines.’ Seeing the guild’s seal stamped on it, it was something published directly by the guild.

When Ian briefly opened it, the contents appeared at a glance to be various stories helpful for mercenary activities, but…

If you looked closely, information about the various perks and rewards available when becoming a direct-affiliated mercenary of the guild was cleverly woven in, quietly trying to plant the idea that becoming a guild employee was beneficial.

“…Thank you.”

“Mm-hm.”

Ian decided to confiscate the book the moment they left the guild so Rin couldn’t read it.

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