“Idiot! What’s the point of keeping adventurers below the third rank? They are only useful when assembled as a legion. You can collectively call them black iron. You can even qualify each class with tiers. For instance, you can have gold one, two, and three. As for the specific conditions of the promotion, I really don’t have to teach you, do I?”
Louie shot Elton a glance. His potent aura made the adventurer feel a fresh bout of nervousness.
However, he felt that the changed naming was a lot more imposing. At least compared to the original naming system, it made people feel loftier. Since this was the dragon lord’s request, he did not disagree. He was afraid that if he did, his idea of establishing a branch in Dragon City would not be realized.
“Huuu… Then I shall do as you asked, sire! I will let the Adventurers’ Guild headquarters work out the details when I return.”
After exhaling, Elton hurriedly answered in order to get what he wanted.
“As for the ‘king’ problem that you mentioned, since it’s not a good name to use casually, let’s just omit it.”
Once couldn’t bear the title of ‘king’ lightly. Unless the adventurer was a demigod, using the epithet would only invite ridicule.
But how could a demigod join an organization like the Adventurers’ Guild? While the Gods had disappeared, most major organizations were being managed by demigods. An example of this was the demigod elven queen who had been ruling the Silver Moon Kingdom for nearly 10,000 years.
The reason why Louie wanted the Adventurers’ Guild to change their naming was to let his presence influence and remain in the world. He would use the most common methods to change the details of the world.
Louie’s goal was to become a God, and Gods needed to have the power to influence mortals – to be able to change things at will and shape history.
“Since you have agreed to this change, then as long as you agree to this contract, you can establish an adventurers’ guild in my city.
As Louie finished, an elven maid came forward and handed a glowing piece of paper to Elton.
Seeing that the contract had a magical binding, Elton’s eyebrows jumped. From this, he could tell that Louie had already known about his goal and expected his visit.
Elton took a deep breath and looked at the contents of the contract. The conditions listed bound the guild in several ways. For example, the guild needed to comply with the laws promulgated by Dragon City. This would allow Louie to sanction adventurers who perform harmful acts to Dragon City. There were many other conditions, but they were pretty standard.
When the Adventurer’s Guild set up branches in other cities, they also signed similar contracts with the rulers there, so Elton did not feel anything wrong. However, when he saw the last article, he immediately exclaimed, “You want the Adventurer’s Guild to turn over a portion of the proceeds to the city?”
“That’s right. Are there any problems?”
“Sire, this, this number… this tax rate is really too high.”
Elton’s tone was a little sharp. The adventurer’s guild had to actually pay half of their proceeds to the lord. Who could endure such a thing?
“Elton, let me ask you, what was Dragon City called before?”
“Central City.”
“And who ruled Central City?”
“The Slaine Theocracy.”
“Why didn’t the Adventurer’s Guild set up a branch in Central City while it was in the possession of the Slaine Theocracy?”
“Because… because the Theocracy does not allow us to not believe in their God.”
The more he answered Louie’s questions, the more Elton’s forehead was covered in cold sweat.
“As you can see, you could not even set up a branch here in the past. Now, I am allowing you to do so. That’s the biggest difference. Moreover, It’s not income that I want you to pay in, but a percentage of your profits, to be specific your net profits after subtracting various costs. This is like getting only thirty percent of your profits for nothing. You should be glad.”
“Naturally, I would send a professional tax inspector to stay in your branch in case you think you can claim losses every year.”
Louie had a bit of accounting experience back in the day. He understood how people cooked books, so it was impossible for others to fool him.
Elton felt dizzy at Louie’s words.
‘You’re saying that a profit of 70% is a good earning? Moreover, you’re afraid that we will evade taxes so you’ll send someone to monitor us? God, is this really a dragon? To even use such methods…’’
Even Noella was looking at Louie with a dumbfounded expression. Although dragons were greedy for wealth, this was the first time she had seen a dragon using a rightful explanation for his exploitation.
‘He really is a monster among dragons.’
‘Yup, just like me.’
Noella thought.
“Elton, if you agree, you can sign the contract. Or perhaps you don’t have the authority to agree to this contract and need to ask permission from above?”
Louie grinned excitedly.
Naturally, Elton could understand the meaning behind his words. His face reddened. As a legendary rank powerhouse, it would make him look incompetent if he had to ask others about this kind of matter.
He gritted his teeth and nodded, “Okay. I will sign this agreement.”
Speaking thusly, he signed his name with a quill handed to him by the elven maid.
“Very well. Since you have signed this contract, you are now a partner of Dragon City. Go find Clooney and he will choose where you shall build the adventurer’s guild. Naturally, the construction will be funded by you. As for how to attract more adventurers to Dragon City, that’s also your problem.
“……”
When Elton walked out of the palace, he still felt muddle-headed and wondered if he had gotten a good deal.
‘After giving us a piece of land, why is everything else left to the adventurer’s guild? Does even the publicity have to be on us? And we have to pay a portion of our annual proceeds to the lord? God, what horrible thing did I sign…’
“Damned greedy dragon. I really am more suited to killing people than negotiating contracts.”
Elton cursed, but he still gloomily left to find some people to work with.
In any case, his mission was accomplished…
……
After the legendary assassin left, Louie raised his claws and an emerald glow flashed as a small holographic elf appeared on his claw. This was a messenger from the Silver Moon Kingdom.
“Eh? The elf queen is actually coming to Dragon City in person? But Sisna requested to wait for a bit longer because the queen wanted to make sure of something first?”
Louie frowned. He didn’t expect the elven queen to be more interested in this matter than he thought.