Prologue 2 – The Wolf’s Liver and First Remuneration
“Hey kid, observe how we do our work, and try to learn something.”
“That’s right, try to properly keep up with us seniors.”
“Well, there’s no brutal monsters around these parts. Don’t wimp out, kid.”
The three men holding musket rifles said one by one as they pa.s.sed through the waist-long gra.s.s with rustling sounds. Yuuto who was about 3 steps behind the men followed them.
The verdant gra.s.s and weeds growing on the gra.s.slands called [Minke Prairie] tried to obstruct their way forward. It was as if they were trying to warn them of the danger ahead, hinting them not to proceed any further.
Along such, Yuuto crouched down along the path the three men walked on and plucked a beautiful fresh flower while muttering,
“Watch and learn, was it?….. Are these people really allowed to say such stuff to others, I wonder?”
Yuuto spun the stem of the flower for a bit, and then put it in his item pouch. After that, he continued to follow the three.
It all started two days ago. After Yuuto left the inn with a growling stomach, he continued northwards towards a certain village. The small village called [Sacks] was situated along the Misak highway.
He reached this village without encountering any monsters or getting mixed up with bandits while camping outside for only 2 nights. This village earned its livelihood either by hunting or farming and paid their taxes — a typical village you would find anywhere.
There was a reason why he came to this village. This place had a [Guild]. The people of this world, especially the commoners, had to pay taxes to the kingdom by using the tax collection offices.
There were various forms of doing this, like handing over a percentage of the business proceeds, or using crops. If there were villages that specialized in metal products, there were also villages that gathered minerals. There were also many who depended on hunting, so for them, they could hand over leather as a form of tax.
But there is a danger attached to collecting these. That’s where [Guilds] come in. Here, if you post a request and pay the amount necessary, there will be people who will accept the request and collect the things in your stead. Without any particular rules and restrictions, anyone can accept requests from guilds.
By the way, Yuuto was someone who [accepted] requests. And he was a beginner.
Opening the door, what he felt first was [It stinks!] followed by [Noisy!]. The double doors shut with a sound. This Guild building was also a bar, and he realized that the stink was the smell of alcohol. It seems like this bar-type guild establishment was quite a success even during mid-day, mainly as a bar that is.
As he was about to feel dizzy because of the smell, Yuuto quickly pa.s.sed the drunkards as he headed for the counter, but…he saw a scene he could not believe there.
“Uya~…..Hick!”
Even the receptionist was drunk…well, that’s troublesome. As Yuuto was getting perplexed, the drunk receptionist looked at him.
“What is it, kid? If you wanna post a request I’ll give a blank form; write the details and the amount of reward there and…… pin it one the board.”
“Wrong, I accept requests. So it’s the board over there huh……”
After he found the old board where requests were published, he saw a load ton of parchments pinned to the board with nails. Yuuto tore off one of those from the board roughly as he pa.s.sed it to the receptionist.
“Oi Oi Kiddo…. You’re a cheerful one aren’t ya, subjugating wolves? Well yeah, it’s a high paying errand for this village but, did you go blind seeing all this pocket money?”
“No way. Rather than that, it’s okay to accept this right? And the other folk here are all drunk either way.”
“Yeah I don’t mind, but… wait a bit. OI! You three!!”
The receptionist called out to the men hanging around inside the bar, as three of them stood up and approached them. Maybe they were brothers. The three of them had short hair, unshaven faces and were carrying musket rifles.
“Take care of this kid.”
“Wait a minute! I alone am enough.”
“It’s gonna leave a sour taste in my mouth if you die. Sorry kid,4 but I’ve got no choice here ‘kay?”
So even though he felt disgraced, he ended up accepting the quest alongside the Musket wielding three brothers, aka the [The musket brothers].
Returning to the gra.s.slands. The errand Yuuto took was simple. He was to hunt 5 wolves that appear in the gra.s.slands. The requester was the curio shop of the village. The wolf livers would be used to make medicine, so there was a request put up to hunt them.
While walking behind the three, Yuuto took a look around them. It was a wide gra.s.sland. If they went unskillfully they would probably overlook a lot of things. And most of all, the gra.s.s was a hindrance. Wolves who moved on all fours could easily hide themselves. They had to be careful of surprise attacks.
“By the way, kid, you’re holding quite the unusual sword there.”
Suddenly, probably the eldest of the three brothers, the tallest one, talked to him.
“Are you saying it’s old-fashioned? That guns are already better than swords?”
“That’s not it, it’s just, isn’t it hard fighting with the fast moving wolves with just that? Here, use this.”
Saying that, the man tossed something to him. Yuuto caught it and confirmed what it was. It was a flintlock pistol. He put it in his item pouch and then following the men, headed for their destination.