Chapter 40
“It’s in perfect condition. You’ve clearly studied how to harvest these properly.”
The delivery clerk gave the Ice Crystal Flower we’d brought in his seal of approval.
“All right, take this to the counter.”
Lyle hurried to the counter, holding the appraisal slip signed by the delivery clerk.
“Five gold coins. One gold coin is deducted for the registration fee. The four of you still owe a total of ninety-nine silver coins and two copper coins in registration fees. Would you like to settle the whole amount now?”
Lyle looked over at me, so I nodded.
“All right, that settles your registration fees in full. I’ll issue your official registration certificates—hand over your provisional ones.”
We took off the crude wooden tags hanging around our necks and handed them to the receptionist.
The clerk disappeared into the back and returned a short while later, holding brass plaques that gleamed a dull gold. Their weighty metallic sheen was clearly different from our worn wooden tags. They marked our “new identities.”
“After the deductions, your reward comes to three gold coins, nine large copper coins, and eight copper coins.”
Lyle reached for the coins lined up on the counter and the brass plaques beside them. I stopped him with one hand.
“I’d like to deposit two gold coins into an account.”
“The fee for a deposit certificate is either one gold coin or ten percent of the amount deposited, whichever is higher. For two gold coins, that’s quite expensive. Are you sure?”
I nodded without a word.
The receptionist lowered his appraising gaze and raised the corners of his mouth in satisfaction.
His manner changed completely, from brushing off ignorant youngsters to welcoming valued customers like a merchant.
“Certainly. I’ll show you the way. Please bring the gold coins you wish to deposit.”
As he said this, a clerk appeared through the door beside the counter.
I handed the reward coins to Lyle, and we followed the clerk.
A burly man clad in leather armor stood guard in front of the stairs to the second floor, but when he saw the clerk, he silently stepped aside.
With each step up the stone stairs, the bustle below faded farther away.
Lyle and Kai stiffened and straightened their backs under the guards’ sharp gazes.
Upstairs, we found ourselves in a world apart from the stark floor below.
A row of small rooms stood neatly arranged before us, each securely enclosed by thick stone walls.
The opposite side of the corridor opened onto the floor below, allowing us to look down on the adventurers packed together there.
Following the clerk, we entered a room with its door already open.
The narrow room was filled with the smell of parchment and ink. A different clerk sat inside, quill in hand.
“This man will take it from here.”
The clerk who’d escorted us closed the thick wooden door behind him with a heavy thud and left.
The windowless room was lit by candles in sconces on the walls.
Green felt covered the glossy oak desk, on which sat a brass balance and a well-worn black touchstone.
“Please, have a seat.”
A middle-aged clerk in a finely tailored tunic invited us to sit in a voice that gave nothing away.
Lyle and I sat down on a low bench in front of the desk.
“We’d like to open an account and deposit two gold coins.”
When I spoke, Lyle laid three gold coins on the felt, including the fee.
The clerk didn’t immediately touch the coins.
First, he scrutinized the markings along their edges with narrowed eyes, then deliberately drew the brass balance toward him.
“I’ll verify them, just to be sure.”
The clerk placed a standard weight on one pan, then carefully set our gold coins, one at a time, on the other without making a sound. The balance wavered slightly before settling level.
“Very good. They’re the correct weight. I’ll take one coin as the fee and issue a deposit certificate for the remaining two. Who will be the depositor?”
“Lyle.”
I pointed to Lyle beside me.
“Me?”
Lyle blurted out, his shoulders jerking in surprise.
“Of course. You’re the party leader, after all.”
I replied evenly. Lyle looked from Elena to Kai, who were standing behind us.
When he saw them nod, he finally seemed to accept it and sat back down.
The clerk took an elaborate box from beneath the desk.
Inside were a signet ring engraved with strange geometric patterns, a pristine blank sheet of parchment, and a small lump of sealing wax.
As he closely studied Lyle’s appearance, the clerk wrote shapes and unfamiliar symbols in various places on the parchment.
At last, he dripped hot sealing wax onto the parchment and pressed the signet ring into it.
“This is your deposit certificate. In addition to the seal, it records the account holder’s distinguishing features and a ‘password,’ encoded using a cipher unique to this Guild.”
The clerk looked around at each of us.
“If the funds are shared party assets, you can divide these items among yourselves. However, to withdraw the funds, you’ll need the depositor, the deposit certificate, the seal, and the password. How would you like to handle it?”
“...All right. Then Kai, you hold on to the deposit certificate, and Noah, you take the seal. Elena alone can keep the password. That way, the money can’t be touched unless all four of us are here. Right?”
The clerk nodded deeply to confirm.
“That is correct. Now, everyone except Elena-sama, please leave. I’ll tell the password to Elena-sama alone.”
I received the cold silver ring, while Kai took the parchment, which had been placed inside a brass protective tube. Then Lyle and I stood up.
“Whew, that was nerve-racking.”
The door opened shortly afterward, and Elena came out with a sigh.
“That was more exhausting than the quest. Come on, let’s find a new inn.”
Following Lyle, we left the Guild.
“We should clean ourselves up so we don’t get turned away at the inn.”
At my suggestion, we entrusted our belongings to one another and took turns freshening up at the public bathhouse.
After washing off the sweat and tidying ourselves up, we set off down the main street again.
Before long, we found an inn called the Golden Horseshoe, with an imposing door.
When we pushed it open, warm lamplight and the pleasant scent of wood welcomed us.
Beeswax scented the air, and fine firewood crackled in the hearth. In the common room on the first floor, well-dressed merchants sipped from silver goblets.
As soon as we stepped inside, the innkeeper looked up sharply from the ledger he was keeping behind the counter.
The innkeeper’s eyes made it quite clear that four young people like us didn’t belong there.
“I’m afraid—”
Before he could finish, I held up the signet ring on my left hand.
“...Two silver coins.”
The innkeeper swallowed his refusal and held out his hand, palm up.
I took the silver coins from the pouch at my waist and pressed them into his hand.
The innkeeper flicked them with a fingertip to check their ring, then nodded with satisfaction and took a hefty iron key from a hook beside him.
“That’s right. Your room is at the end of the second-floor corridor.”
The room was about the size of a ten-tatami room. Its thick stone walls were coated in plaster, softly reflecting the light from the candles.
At the far end of the room stood a large canopy bed.
“Hey, we could all four sleep in this thing with room to spare!”
Lyle exclaimed, impressed.
The mattress seemed to be stuffed with wool, and it had an incredible spring to it when I pressed down on it.
A neatly starched, snow-white linen sheet and a long-pile wool blanket lay on top.
A carved round table stood in the center.
Four chairs with backs high enough to lean against sat beside it.
“Hey, doesn’t two silver coins for this seem weird? It’s not much different from what we paid for all four of us at the other inn.”
“But we couldn’t stay here without a good reputation. See? Opening that account was worth it.”
I answered Lyle’s question.
“This is the best.”
Elena flopped onto the bed and leaned back, savoring its softness.
Kai sat on the bed too, testing its spring with a satisfied look.
“All right, let’s discuss our plans for tomorrow.”
I sat in a chair and looked around at everyone.
“Can’t we just go after more Ice Crystal Flowers?”
Lyle spoke up.
“The reference room only mentioned that cliff. Finding another source would be quite a challenge.”
“Then, Horn Rabbits again?”
Elena asked.
“We can still make money that way, but why don’t we raise our rank?”
“Our rank?”
Lyle tilted his head.
“Yes. Opening an account has earned us some credibility, but it also makes us a target for people after our money. We need to get stronger so we can protect it.”
“I see. In that case—”
“Starting tomorrow, let’s go a little farther afield and hunt wolves.”
“Wolves, huh? Sounds good.”
“Leave it to me.”
Kai nodded silently, the faintest smile touching his lips.