“Well, well, it’s unheard of for someone at the initial G rank in the Commercial Guild to suddenly put items up for auction in the Mithril category.”

“Indeed. I can’t even begin to imagine how much their guild rank will rise…”

“Is that so?”

We ended up having lunch at a stylish café with Chairman Lamond and Fleur. Come to think of it, I don’t really understand the workings of the Commercial Guild. I only knew that I had to register because of patent-related matters.

“Ah, in the Commercial Guild, unlike the Adventurers’ Guild, rank increases based on the amount of tax paid to the guild,”

Chairman Lamond kindly explained when I asked. Most people start with a street stall or as traveling merchants, but as their rank increases, they can acquire store locations at a lower cost and even open branch shops.

“Additionally, once your rank is high enough, you can put items up for auction directly without going through another merchant association.”

Apparently, reaching rank F allows direct participation in the Gold category, rank D allows access to the Platinum category, and only at rank B can one directly enter the Mithril category. Normally, adventurers who want to auction items go through a merchant association.

Considering the handling fees, it’s understandable that most wouldn’t bother registering in the Commercial Guild just to do it themselves. That said, since we are still at rank G, we had to go through the Rashiyu Merchant Association.

“Gahaha! Well, if people don’t go through our merchant association, we won’t make any commission, you see.”

“Since our goal is to use the Rashiyu Merchant Association to support other workshops, we’d actually be in trouble if you didn’t take a commission.”

“Gahaha! In that case, all is well!”

Ah, well. I don’t entirely get it, but he seems satisfied, so whatever.

After a while, our food was brought to the table. It looked amazing. Time to dig in.

After mentally clasping my hands in gratitude, I picked up my knife and fork and began cutting into the meat. I had the strange feeling of being watched, so I glanced up—Chairman Lamond was staring at me.

Since he had brought us to this restaurant, he was probably interested in my reaction.

“Delicious.”

It tasted just as amazing as it looked. The moment it hit my mouth, the rich umami flavor spread delightfully.

“Right? Right?”

Chairman Lamond, looking pleased, began eating his own meal.

“It really is delicious.”

I had expected him to be a shrewd and formidable merchant, but talking with him like this, he didn’t give off that vibe at all. Maybe he was just acting that way, but for now, that was fine.

———

“So, that concludes the item transport and escort request. Thank you very much.”

After some casual conversation, Fleur handed me the request completion form.

“No, no, thank you.”

They would be heading back to the merchant association’s headquarters, while we planned to go to the Adventurers’ Guild to collect our payment.

“Then, we’ll see you again tomorrow.”

———

“The Adventurers’ Guild in the commercial city is huge.”

“Yeah. And there are so many people.”

The guild was located on the west side of the central plaza. Now that I thought about it, pretty much every city had a central plaza.

With the auction starting tomorrow, many people had likely come for that reason. However, those people probably weren’t looking to take on quests now. The counters weren’t particularly busy, but the lounge area was crowded.

“Here to report a completed request? Please wait a moment.”

After handing over the completion form and my guild card to the receptionist, she disappeared into the back. A short while later, a muscular, bald man emerged.

“Oh, so you two are the infamous Shu and Rio?”

After placing our guild cards and the payment on the counter, the man fixed us with a sharp gaze.

…Did we do something wrong? I had no idea what this was about. And what was that about rumors?

“Ah, my bad. No need to be so tense. I’m Jared, the guild master here. I heard a bit about you from Raven’s guild master and thought I should at least see your faces. …By the way, where’s your familiar?”

Oh, so that’s what this was about. It was good to know that guilds communicated with each other, but as for privacy… well, I guess expecting data protection in another world was too much.

“Nice to meet you. My familiar, Nir, is staying at the inn.”

“I see. I wanted to get a look, but it can’t be helped. Here’s your payment. This includes the bounty from selling the bandits as criminal slaves, so make sure to check it.”

Counting it, I found about 4.5 million flons. That was more than I expected.

“It’s all there.”

“Good. Well then, take care.”

With that, the guild master quickly disappeared into the back.

What an imposing figure…

As I listened to the conversations around me, I caught snippets like, “Why was the guild master talking to those kids?” I agreed—why had he bothered? Was he really just here to check our faces?

Most of the discussions seemed to revolve around tomorrow’s auction.

“I heard they’ve got some incredible treasures this time.”

“Oh? What kind of treasures?”

“You won’t believe it—there’s a ton of dragon-related items up for auction.”

“No way, seriously?”

Wow, rumors spread fast.

“I also heard an S-rank adventurer might be attending.”

“High-ranked adventurers are expected, but an S-rank? Really?”

“Wonder what they’re after?”

Hmm, an S-rank adventurer. I was a little curious—just how strong were they? They probably had a ton of skills.

“Hey, did you hear?”

“Hear what?”

“The royal castle of the neighboring Arclight Kingdom was destroyed by someone.”

“What?! I thought it was struck by a disaster-level lightning storm.”

“Pffft!”

I couldn’t help but spit out my drink at that one.

“Hey, Shu!”

“Sorry, sorry. Alright, since we’re done here, let’s head back.”

With Rio scolding me in a hushed voice, I chuckled and quickly left the Adventurers’ Guild.