CHAPTER 5
The moment I threw in my resignation, I returned home and spent several days resting before finally venturing outside to stroll through the bustling streets.
While resting at home, I had squeezed my brain for various ideas and come up with a few businesses I could start, but I had not found one that really stood out.
So I decided to go out and look around for myself.
Since I had gone out early, I had skipped breakfast, so I bought a piece of brown bread for one copper at a bakery near my house.
Then I wandered around the area, chewing on it as I held it in one hand.
No matter which alley I entered in Elcard’s busy district, I could not see a dirt road anywhere.
The streets were paved with broad, enormous stones, so there was no chance of ruining my shoes with dirt.
They said this was the most prosperous country on the continent, and the claim certainly seemed accurate.
I had been walking while thinking about that when I suddenly stopped in front of a building.
It was a large three-story building with many windows, and an arched signboard immediately caught my eye.
“A mercenary… guild?”
“Please step aside for a moment.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“There’s no need to apologize, really.”
“Thank you!”
As I stared blankly up at the sign, a fierce-looking man spoke to me.
I hurriedly stepped aside, and the man, who had weapons strapped to his back, gave me a slight bow before passing me and entering the mercenary guild.
As he opened and closed the door, loud noises spilled out from inside.
It looked like the place was packed with people.
“Wait, a mercenary guild.”
This was one business idea I had never considered.
Although I was in Hazel Love’s body, I had her memories and could use her abilities to some extent.
That meant I could also hunt monsters and take on all sorts of missions.
I would have to be as careful as possible with my body, though.
Unable to suppress my curiosity, I opened the door the man had entered through earlier and stepped inside.
The moment I entered, a cacophony of noise poured over me.
Looking around, I saw men and women alike filling every table and chair, all dressed lightly and carrying at least one weapon each.
There was even an old man with white hair and a beard, as well as people who looked quite young.
The streets had been quiet, yet it seemed as though everyone who should have been outside had gathered here.
I went to a corner and decided to observe the atmosphere around me.
After watching for a while, I realized that the person sitting behind the round desk in the center seemed to be an employee.
The people gathered here approached that person to exchange things or ask questions.
Some would fill out documents after getting what they wanted and leave with bright smiles on their faces.
I timidly approached the desk.
“New mercenary registrations are on the right, requests are on the left, and if you wish to receive payment for a completed mission, please come to me.”
“Other inquiries are also welcome.”
The woman who spoke in a mechanical tone like a bank clerk looked at me and smiled sweetly.
She had said other inquiries were welcome.
I waited for a while before asking her various questions when she had some free time.
I asked how work was assigned after registering as a mercenary.
I also asked about various things I was curious about regarding the mercenary guild.
Even Hazel Love in the original novel had barely any connection with the mercenary guild, and neither did the protagonists, so I had no choice but to ask myself.
After a few questions, I heard some information that immediately caught my attention.
“H-How much did you say the commission fee was?”
“It varies depending on the rank, but we charge a basic commission of 20%.”
“If you register as an exclusive mercenary, we will add another 5% to the request fee.”
“As you can see, other mercenary guilds charge commissions of 25% to 30%, so please check them out and make a wise decision.”
My mouth fell open.
I had thought I would be lucky if I could get even 5%, but they charged a 20% commission?
There were places that charged 30%?
Then if someone took on a request worth 100 gold… they would pay the mercenary 80 gold and I could take 20 gold?
All while sitting behind that luxurious desk.
And drinking elegant black tea just like that lady.
And if I registered as a mercenary using my experience as a spirit summoner and former member of the Imperial Knights, I could even carry out missions on my own.
That meant I could pocket the entire request fee myself.
When I even asked the guild administrator, she told me that I could receive the highest solo rank, S-rank, right from the beginning.
That meant I could immediately accept missions of the highest rank, S-rank.
“…This is good.”
Rather than working overtime while receiving an ordinary knight’s salary, I could personally go into the field whenever I felt restless and spend the rest of my time simply accepting mercenary requests!
They said the number of mercenaries had increased rapidly as monster appearances increased every year, so I did not think one more mercenary guild would cause much of a problem.
There were still fewer than ten guilds within the Empire that could be counted among the major ones, so I thought it would be a good idea to establish one before they started popping up everywhere.
“Then let’s gather the funds first.”
I immediately headed to the bank.
“…Damn it.”
I trudged out of the bank.
Hazel Love had definitely said that she had saved diligently.
And she was supposed to be extremely frugal.
“Why is there so little money in the bank?”
I lifted the small and precious money pouch.
There was only enough inside to fit comfortably in one hand.
Of course, if I lived frugally and ate nothing but bread, I had enough money to survive for several years without starving.
But she was a high-ranking knight!
She should have even received an award for joining the order as the top recruit!
She had supposedly worked all those hours of overtime, so why!
Why wasn’t there enough money to establish a mercenary guild!
I had been told that at least one million gold was required to establish a mercenary guild.
And that was just to set up a very small office.
To establish a reasonably respectable mercenary guild, I would need three million gold.
Apparently, the easier route was to obtain a branch of another large mercenary guild and receive support with an initial mercenary roster, but that required at least five million gold.
They said that with the last option, I could recover the five million gold within just one year if I worked hard.
But even after gathering every bit of money Hazel Love had, there was only a little over 400,000 gold in her money pouch.
Since I had quit the Knights, the bank would not even give me a credit loan, so the most I could scrape together was a mere 400,000 gold.
It was nowhere near enough to establish a mercenary guild.
On top of that, even after establishing a mercenary guild, I would have to pay the guild association a membership fee of 10 gold for the first year, and I would also need enough money to live on until the guild started generating a proper income.
Where on earth had she spent it?
There was no mention of anything like that either.
“…This won’t do.”
It was nowhere near enough.
Ah, was my dream of becoming a business owner going to disappear just like this?
With this much money, I could open a small flower shop or bakery, but I had the Midas touch in reverse when it came to plants, and I could not even imagine making bread dough.
I had even failed at making pancakes before.
“A mercenary guild would have been perfect.”
If only someone would lend me one million gold…
I considered asking my former superior and the male lead, Jed Terry Elkiam, but immediately dismissed the idea.
If he laughed at me with that face of his, I might be so humiliated that I would throw myself straight into a ditch.
Asking Dylan Banker, who had tried to stop me from resigning until the very end, would be just as ridiculous.
“Haa.”
I entered a random restaurant, ordered the cheapest dish and a glass of something to drink, and sat down.
Half slumped over the table, I placed my money pouch in front of me and tapped the table with my finger.
Money, money, money… I needed money.
If I had known this would happen, I should have taken out a loan for Imperial Palace employees before quitting.
The interest rate for members of the Knights was pretty reasonable, too.
Why hadn’t I thought of that?
Before even a minute had passed, a drink filled with ice and a steaming bowl of soup were placed on the table.
“They even give you ice.”
My stomach had been burning with frustration, so this was perfect.
I drained the drink in one go and then picked up my spoon.
Even though I had ordered the cheapest food, the bowl was filled with chunks of meat.
Every time I stirred the spoon, a handful of cabbage and meat came up with it.
There was so much food that I wondered if the owner had mistaken the price and accidentally served me the wrong dish.
“Should I look for something else instead of a mercenary guild?”
“Or maybe I could live as a mercenary for a while and see how things go.”
After all, I could not avoid death from overwork only to end up in an even worse situation.
Still, it was a relief that I had a house.
If I did not even have a house, I would have been nothing more or less than a completely hopeless person.
As I chewed on the meat that had been boiled until it was soft, I looked around and saw two men dressed entirely in black enter the restaurant.
Apparently, I was not the only one who found something strange about them, because the lively restaurant grew noticeably quieter the moment the two men entered.
What was this?
They did not have particularly threatening faces, but there was something about them that radiated danger.
And of all places, they had to sit at the table right beside mine.
I ate my soup while secretly observing them from the corner of my eye.
People who gave off that kind of presence could very well be characters who played some significant role in the original novel.
“I’ve been up for several nights, and I’m exhausted.”
The man sitting on the right spoke in a deep voice as he roughly wiped his face with his large hand, and I caught sight of something resembling a tattoo on his arm.
When I looked more carefully, I saw a design coiled around his wrist that looked like neither a snake nor a dragon.
“Ah, that…”
I muttered without realizing it, and my eyes met the man’s.
I hurriedly looked away and stirred the innocent soup in front of me.
After a little while, I glanced over again and saw that the two were absorbed in their conversation.
“I told him to put it under Tony’s name at Purple as soon as he sold it, so tell him to go pick it up Sunday night.”
“One thing no bigger than a finger is worth three million gold.”
“If I’d known, I would’ve smuggled out more.”
“Don’t even think about it.”
“If we get caught, we’re dead.”
If my memory was correct, those were definitely the small-time underlings of the villain, Kailus Hadid.
But… Purple?
Three million gold?
Purple was one of their bases of operation and a place where they carried out missions, and it was the largest tavern in the capital.
It was also the place where the protagonists first properly encountered the villain, Kailus Hadid, in the original novel.
If that was the case…?
At the same time, memories from the original novel began slowly rising to the surface of my mind.
