Chapter 43 – The Heavy Smoker and the Wheat Reaper (1)
Autumn is the season of harvest.
It was no different in the other world, the fake medieval era of the Nongja Chunha script. The harvest season, when the wheat fields are golden, is the season for many jobs.
“You are very busy today.”
Fran said as she looked at the narrower-than-usual streets.
The day after I returned from the wizard guild, Fran and I went out early in the morning to find a request to carry out together. My Juji problem was also solved, so we decided to work together.
“Because it is harvest time. Everyone must be busy.”
I answered, pulling Fran’s shoulders so he wouldn’t bump into a passer-by.
There were many unemployed in this world. 21st century Korea? They can even work part-time, but it is not easy for people here to find a job unless they have inherited a farm or shop from their parents.
What could be the reason why wanderers aspiring to be adventurers are springing up all over the place? It’s because he prefers being an adventurer to being a voluntary serf in a territory or being a beggar in a slum that is perfect for being stabbed with a knife.
There is also a rumor that the reason why he received the membership fee from the guild was to filter out the endlessly influx of idle talkers.
The number of applicants and the quality of the applicants are poor when it comes to interviews, and less than 1 out of 100 applicants will pass the test, so it is said that they set a cut-off line with money to make it easy to understand.
It was a pretty plausible joke. It means that a person who has the ability to collect the subscription fee will have the minimum living ability.
Instead, I couldn’t do a personality test, so sometimes idiots who would be ashamed of me would come out.
In any case, in a different world with few jobs, the harvest season, when workers are required, is a favorable season for the poor. It’s because there are things to do for those who don’t have a decent job.
“It’s nice to be messy, but I think I’ll get lost.”
Fran grumbled, lifting on tiptoe. For her short stature, this hustle and bustle would feel even greater.
“I’m with you. Shall we hold hands so we won’t fall?”
“Hand? No. I’m not going to look like a child I want to be seen as Nord’s lover.”
Frank speaks sullenly. There were times when he would come in without blinking like this sometimes. I feel like I’m caught off guard every time that happens.
“Okay. It’s a bit disappointing though.”
“… Would you like to catch it next time there are no people around?”
“Heh. Let’s do it as you command.”
While chatting like that, we went to the Auduumla Guild.
The road conditions in Sargadis, roughly three lanes, are always narrow and difficult to walk due to stalls and street vendors. Sometimes, when I see people doing business without paying taxes blocking the road, I get a little angry.
The city’s central street is wide enough for several wagons to pass through, but it’s normal to get hit on the shoulder while walking on such a general street.
Still, when I caught Gao, who has a good physique and good equipment, the crowds took care of themselves.
─Mr. Mm. Mmr.
I crossed the street and arrived at the guild. There were a lot more people here than usual.
Probably there are so many in the morning, and at lunchtime, since everyone is out of work, it will be much less than usual.
Adventurers who don’t go to work during the fall season can’t survive the winter. Hell-like cold sets in just a few months after the harvest season, and it is said that the life and death of the poor depends on how much money they save and survive this season.
The source is, of course, Professor Brahmaton’s book. I moved near the bulletin board and talked to Fran.
“Fran, you’ve never worked in the fall, have you? Then let’s discuss it together and find a good request.”
“Yes. But there are too many people.”
Fran muttered at the crowd in front of the bulletin board. There are so many. It felt like the crowd surrounding the busking band on the street was inflated several times.
“Shall we wait until the crowds subside?”
“OK.”
Agtagi No. 1 jjamjji waited far away from the bulletin board for a long time.
Even while waiting, she tried to check the bulletin board from afar. The thief Fran and I, awakened by Mana, were an eagle-eyed pair. Distance is not an obstacle.
─Hung Sung Hung Sung
But those slobberm’s idiots stuck right in front of the bulletin board and didn’t want to get out of the way.
Whenever one goes out, two appear, so I can only see the color of the bulletin board. Did that bastard even pay a charter?
“Hmm? Aren’t these familiar faces?”
As I was thinking about whether I should forcefully break through, someone who spoke to me appeared from behind. It was the voice of an old man, hoarse.
“No, isn’t this Mr. Gentrick? Long time no see.”
Looking back, it was Grandpa Gentrick who was there. The warrior grandfather who ran away with us in the sewer commission that Fran and I first met.
“What for a long time. I think it’s only been a week and a little more, but you’re a manager.”
Grandpa Gentrick chuckled and laughed when I said hello.
Fran and I had been standing for a long time, so it seemed that we had even met someone we knew. Fran also greeted Gentrick with a smile.
“Hello, Mr Gentrick. Do you remember me too?”
“No matter what happens. Aren’t you the thief girl who was thrown by the friend next to you?”
“Yes? Isn’t the way you remember so much?”
“Haha. Sorry hey It seems the two of you have become quite close, though?”
Gentrick looked at us with an old man’s flair.
In another world, the lives of the common people were not valued more than a cow pulled by a hot cart. In such a world, being a commoner old man meant someone who had been overlooked in proportion to the length of time he had lived.
Like an old man from another world like that, Gentrick felt as if he roughly guessed our relationship in an instant.
That’s why I answered confidently without hiding even from Gentrick’s slightly insidious eyes.
“Heh. This and that happened. I’m here to work with you today. Even though there are so many people, I can’t even go near the bulletin board.”
When I said that, Gentrick stroked his beard and smiled.
“Young people feel good just by looking at them. So, let’s see. Today…”
As he spoke, Gentrick turned his gaze towards the bulletin board and immediately frowned. In front of the bulletin board’s server saturation, it seemed that even veteran adventurers had no answers.
─It’s noisy.
There are a lot of people chatting around, so I’m almost like a market person. Some adventurers gave up altogether and gathered in a different place and chatted until there was a seat.
“Did you hear? A circus troupe from Romania will come here too! I’ll save up the commission fee and go see it!”
“Did the poop of Sekhmet bastards get settled? Goblins are overflowing everywhere, so we should be able to get out of the territory.”
“That has already been resolved. A Mithril class adventurer personally came to visit. The only problem left now is the worm-eaten bastard.”
“Bug food? Ah, the black magician.”
“I heard that traces were found in the hiding place and that a team was formed to pursue them.”
“Isn’t your source the bar girl? I trust you so much.”
“Shut up, you bastard.”
Amidst the murmur of miscellaneous noises, my ears picked up the proper context of the conversation. It feels like a program that classifies voices through multitasking has been installed in my brain.
‘Is it because I can handle mana?’
Nefertiti of the Sekhmet Guild also found us in an instant. For a warrior who has awakened mana, it seems that the difficulty is not that high.
“Hmm. That’s why it’s going to be hard to find work today.”
Grandpa Gentrick stuck out his tongue. A person who has been rolling on this floor for a long time would say that. Then I started to worry that I might not be able to go to work today.
“Are you going to have to come out early in the morning this season?”
Fran, who was quietly watching the bulletin board, asked Gentrick.
“Right. It’s quick to aim for right after the guild receptionists put together the requests and post them. But I guess it was late today. The harvest start date seems to have come earlier than last year.”
To Fran’s words, Gentrick replied, and then he crossed his arms.
“Still, there are no requests at the end of the farming season, so there is no need to starve, so it’s okay. By this time, it must be just in the middle of the harvest… Why don’t you guys take a seawater eradication request?”
“Breaking seawater? Are you talking about eradicating harmful birds in farmhouses?”
“Right. Seawater at this time of year is the main enemy of farmers.”
Write. Sea water…
I was troubled by the slightly higher difficulty of the quest.
I don’t know if there are people who ask what to peck at a beast that’s not a monster, but a grown wild boar is fucking more dangerous than a goblin who is nothing more than a green jammin in another world.
The dick mobs that lead to the kobold-goblin line are the ones that even the idiots can beat with a good fight.
Although it is classified as a monster because it is a preemptive mob and cannot be used for food, it is weaker than wild beasts.
If goblin is about level 5, wild boar is about 15.
Common sense is that it was 〉 beasts. The beasts must have dried up a long time ago. The monsters would have killed them by killing them and eating them. All natural food chains work that way.
“Wouldn’t it be dangerous to fight seawater for iron classes like us?”
“No, that is not so. In fact, the really dangerous ones are driven out or caught by the guards or hunters in advance. At least it’ll be a small beast like a bonodier.”
What else is a bonodier? Some kind of weird bug or snake that only the country people know about. Gentrick twirled his neck as he spoke, straining his neck muscles.
“Adventurers just go there and spend a few days helping out in the fields. It’s a method often used by landlords. There is almost no need to fight, but the results go into subjugation, so it’s a quest that benefits both farmers and adventurers.”
Aww. It’s a request that I receive with a slight sense of shame. The farmer and the adventurer made a dramatic win-win agreement. I don’t know who thought of it, but it’s okay to cheat once. You can’t underestimate the people of this world.
“Looks fine. But the competition rate seems to be high.”
“At all. The farmhouse does not decline the hand that comes. If you come a lot, the time it takes to harvest will decrease, and if that happens, the hiring cost will also decrease.”
Is it like that? Whether 10 people work for 10 days or 100 people work for a day, it costs the same money for the farmhouse.
“In addition, aren’t most adventurers from farmers? It is rare to find one who wants to do boring farm work.”
“Heh. That worked out well for us.”
I sympathized with the sentiment. I would never want to receive a request from a graduate student for a day.
“Fran what do you think? Farming isn’t easy, but isn’t it okay?”
“Wouldn’t it be different depending on when you have work and how many days? I have to calculate the loss of the inn cost as well.”
“Ah. It’s real.”
You fucking stupid Norse. It’s like the shame of a kid who ate college. Fran’s sharp point made me dumb.
The seawater eradication request was a request to stay near the farmland where the request was put. And to stay elsewhere meant to lose three coppers per night on the inn bills they had already paid for.
I don’t know what the pay would be, but I wouldn’t pay it high enough that I could subtract 3 coppers from my daily wages. It’s embarrassing to pay for an inn and stay homeless.
“What. Do you guys pay for the inn?”
Gentrick, who had been listening to our story, asked in surprise. Fran and I nodded.
“Yes. By the way.”
“You are acting stupid. From now on, I will pay for one day every day. If you don’t, you’ll go out to work and you won’t even get your money’s worth.”
“Write… Thanks for the advice.”
It was truly advice that oozes the wisdom of years of experience.
Actually, it’s not such a great idea, but we hadn’t even thought of it. It was because there were few requests to perform while staying outside for a long time.
‘Even in Professor Brahmaton’s book, there was no mention of paying the inn every day.’
I regretted the past time for a while, then changed my mind. Professor Brahmaton and I are like that, where is there anyone in the world who has perfect knowledge. Now that I know it, it’s okay.
“Let’s find out if there is a request and then talk about it.”
“I will.”
That’s how our opinion leaned towards receiving commissions.
I cut through the crowd and went to the front of the bulletin board. There were so many people that it was hard to break through, but as soon as I stepped out, there seemed to be no adventurer who could fight with me.
“Excuse me. Let’s go.”
