No Merchant Without Guile

At the certification office, the fat, middle-aged man seemed to have been waiting for a long time. He looked a little impatient, but also rather smug.

Kana did not notice the change in the fat man's demeanor and went straight up to a young woman at the certification counter.

"Hello, I'd like to turn in a Bounty Mission." Kana handed over her team's captain badge.

A captain's badge was different from a member's badge. It also authorized its holder to conduct all of the team's business with the Adventurers' Guild.

The young woman behind the counter took the badge with a smile, then scanned it over the magic crystal beside her.

"The quest was to drive out the Goblins. Did you collect the required proof?" The young woman was clearly following procedure.

"No. Something unexpected happened, so we couldn't collect any proof, but the targets were definitely eliminated." Kana answered without hiding anything.

The proof consisted of certain body parts from Magic Beasts. Different Magic Beasts required different parts to be collected as proof. For Goblins, it was the left one of their two large fangs.

A Goblin's left fang was said to be the source of all its strength. Although there was no evidence to establish whether that claim was true, it had become common knowledge among adventurer teams.

Thus, only a Goblin's left fang counted as proof.

"I'm very sorry, but under Guild regulations, if you have no physical proof and no other grounds to establish that the quest was completed, your reward can only be calculated according to your team's rank!" the young woman behind the counter said regretfully.

This rule had also been established to protect people without any strength of their own from adventurers with ulterior motives seeking illicit gains.

Kana's pretty brows knitted slightly. She was clearly unhappy with that answer. This was five silver coins they were talking about—five per person, at that! Who knew how much would be deducted? The most infuriating part was that they had not had time to collect the spoils. Otherwise, their reward would never have been reduced.

Dean and the other two watched in silence. They had no standing to intervene; only the captain had the right to fight for the team's interests.

"Then... may I ask how much we can receive? I swear on Kana Team's badge that we fully accomplished the task of driving out the Goblins specified in the quest," Kana said, pressing the captain badge to her chest.

The young woman looked at Kana in surprise. Swearing on the team's badge meant staking the team's reputation! No team with even a little name recognition would lightly put its badge on the line.

Clearly, Kana had complete confidence that the Goblins had been eliminated. She had done it herself, killed the Goblins with her own hands. As far as she was concerned, what was there to question?

"Well, I admire you, young lady. Since you have the courage to stake your badge on this, I can raise your team's credibility another notch." The young woman winked at Kana and smiled.

Clearly, the young woman thought highly of Kana's team. A team that dared to act and take responsibility would surely become a very famous high-ranking adventurer team someday!

"Kana's Squad: quest completion rate, ninety-six percent; credibility level, five. Currently, there have been no deductions to your credibility, placing you at the highest level of team honor and credibility. Your adventurer team rank is junior." At this point, the young woman glanced over the team members again. Her gaze lingered on Dean in particular, and a faint, inscrutable smile appeared on her face.

Dean was a little puzzled. The young woman behind the counter was pretty, but that did not mean she should look at someone like that. He had a feeling, a feeling that... he was a toy she had picked out.

Besides, if it was about looks, Lamore was more handsome. His was the kind of handsomeness that drew bees and butterflies; an ordinary young girl needed only a little smooth talk from him to fall captive to his handsome face.

It was not just Dean. Kana, Yanxi, Lamore, and even the fat man had all witnessed the scene: a mature young woman showing "special interest" in a boy who still had a childish air about him.

Instinctively, Dean took a step back, yet something about the young woman also seemed vaguely familiar.

"Ahem. Back to business. In view of Kana Team's outstanding performance, the Guild has decided to promote you to an official rank-one adventurer team," the young woman said to the four of them, clearing her throat.

All four perked up. Their team's rank had risen, which meant much less money would be deducted.

"According to regulations, if there is no physical proof of quest completion, the team's reputation must be staked as collateral, and the client need only pay between a minimum of five percent and a maximum of ninety percent of the reward." The young woman continued, "Based on Kana's Squad's excellent performance, the Guild considers seventy percent of the original reward an appropriate payment."

It was a very fair decision, but neither side seemed particularly satisfied. Kana Team had lost thirty percent of its reward for nothing—a full six silver coins.

Sometimes, the team's earnings for two whole weeks did not even amount to six silver coins. Still, securing seventy percent of the reward was already quite good.

Kana felt it was a pity, but there was nothing she could do. Fortunately, the young woman had helped them by raising their team's rank in time. Otherwise, the Guild might have awarded them only thirty or forty percent, or even less.

Of course, a team promotion was not something the young woman behind the counter could grant on a whim. The Guild had given it careful consideration and decided that Kana's Squad was qualified, which was why it had authorized her to do so.

"Wait!!!"

A rough voice rang out. The tone of that "wait" seemed filled with extreme suspicion and distrust. Yes, it was deliberately skeptical.

It was the fat man, the farm owner and the client for this quest. Judging by his expression, this client seemed to have changed his tune.

"I object to this decision. Seventy percent? Impossible, impossible! Since there's no proof that these people dealt with the Goblin, how can you give them such a large reward? Besides, before this—before this, they were only a Junior Adventurer Team." Every word the fat man spoke was full of doubt, and he placed particular emphasis on "before this."

"Thirty percent. That's all I can give. No, thirty percent is too much. Ten percent at most will do. Seeing how hard you've worked running back and forth, you deserve a little something for your trouble." The fat man spoke without the slightest courtesy. Of course, he clearly had the strongest grounds for his argument.

The lack of physical proof alone gave him plenty of room to press his case.

"And you, young lady. You actually dare to play tricks right under my nose? Is there some shameful secret between you and this little fellow? Heh heh heh." The fat man held nothing back.

For a moment, nearly half the people in the Guild turned to look. Their curious gazes, carrying an adult's knowing insinuations, roamed brazenly back and forth between Dean and the young woman behind the counter.

"Looks like this damned fatso doesn't just want to pay us less. He wants to drag our team's name through the mud—and take the young woman behind the counter down with us!" Lamore said with a frown, leaning closer to Dean.

(End of chapter)