Extra 44 – Manga SS – And then, a revolution
The remote town of Tsige was covered in energy today as well.
The people that live their lives in this town will probably think in this way: ‘the truly small changes that are made every day, no matter what kind of big wave they created, it will always be buried in the livelihood of people’.
Then, when is it that it can be noticed?
For now, only a few handful of quick-witted ones have been able to feel it.
And luckily, at the time when a number of the centric people of that big swirl were beginning to move, the heat that covered Tsige had changed in type.
“The completion rate of Toa-san’s party has become quite incredible.”
“Yeah, truly aces that have come from the wasteland. They do a great job that surpasses their reputation.”
“They are taking all the requests that are piled up after all. At first, I thought they were a daredevil bunch that had no plans at all. It looks like their actions were due to them actually having the strength to match. I am truly thankful for that.”
“They are seriously angels. When I finish work, I always make sure to drink while giving my thanks to them.”
“The high difficulty requests that require to travel far…well, those ones have their own amazing people.”
The conversation of the Adventurer Guild’s staff was cheerful.
The highly difficult gathering request of the Rembrandt Company that was a seed of worry had been resolved in a shocking manner, and the party that returned from the wasteland has finished around 30% of the wasteland requests.
A party composed of hyumans, elf, dwarf; and the leader of the party is Toa.
They poured high quality materials into the market right when they returned, on top of that, accepted a massive amount of wasteland requests that had been accumulated, moreover, their success rate is abnormally high.
For the guild staff, seeing the amount of unfinished requests in the request box decreasing had become cathartic.
The figure of Toa and her party finishing the requests at an even faster pace than before reflects reliability in their eyes, and they are thankful for it.
A part of the adventurers were beginning to feel jealousy from this, but the party is finishing the requests with their own ability.
They are not doing lowly moves like taking away requests or cheating their way.
Or rather, they are taking work, that no one took because it is way too dangerous or it doesn’t match the reward, as if it were an afterthought and were completing them.
If they work, they will get money proportional to their ability.
This is common knowledge for the adventurers.
Actually, because there’s the factor of danger involved in it, adventurers would instead become picky in what they work on.
That’s why it is actually a natural course of events that Toa’s party would get enough money to fill up a bathtub with gold. In the personal opinion of the guild staff, they felt like shouting to them that if they had the time to envy Toa’s party, they should polish their own abilities, and gain it themselves.
Sooner or later, Toa’s party will change from a target of envy to a target of respect, and the Adventurer Guild is working so that it does turn out that way.
Introducing them to requests, preparation of equipment, and a variety of other measures are things that were decided on and the higher-ups didn’t oppose this.
Right now Toa’s party is the best model they would like others to learn from.
“…They are already on the level of the Goddess or the manifestation of a Spirit.”
“Tomoe-sama and Mio-sama, huh. Requests that, no matter how you think about it would take more than seven days, they finish in half a day.”
“It hurts that they work at random periods as they feel to, but their achievements are crazy.”
“Things like gem ores that you would only find information of in old books around Zetsuya, and materials of scarce demonic beasts, they can manage to get those in only two to three days.”
“It feels as if actual people from sagas have come out to the present.”
The other remaining unfinished requests have been dealt with by the two of the three newly registered adventurers, Tomoe and Mio.
Just like Toa, they truly came out of nowhere, registered in the guild, and the two don’t come often to the guild or search for requests with enthusiasm.
Lately, they have come occasionally and say ‘show me your requests’, and after skimming the uncompleted requests, they would choose the ones that catch their eye.
And then, the guild would turn it into a special rank request, and at shortest, it would take half a day, at longest, it would take only a few days to complete.
They are requests that even making party alliances to challenge them didn’t work, or quests where powerful named demonic beasts -that one would take several months just to make preparations to challenge- would appear. And yet, they finished those as if nothing.
Just the fact that they are wasteland requests is enough to classify them on the high difficulty quests that would require adventurers surpassing level 100.
But the wasteland requests that these two were doing were all quests that even adventurers by profession would call as high difficulty.
Truly the high difficulty of high difficulties -super high difficulty; lunatic mode, demonic, ultimate difficulty.
They may sound like hard to swallow words, but everyone would nod at the credibility. The worst of the worse quests, that have brought about the death of many and yet are still uncompleted, are being finished by two women as if it were boring. Such unreasonable existences shocked both the adventurers and Adventurer Guild.
If Toa’s party are a target of envy that they should set as goals, Tomoe and Mio are legendary existences that will create history.
There’s no way they would feel envy. They all simply feared the great exploits that were being piled up by them, and were in awe.
There was a difference in the quality of the requests they complete.
The ones that Toa’s party complete were ones that they themselves would be able to accomplish if they were to try hard; the ones that Tomoe and Mio complete are ones that, even if they were to take their whole lives, if they were to manage to finish even one of them, they would be sung as formidable adventurers.
Right now in Tsige, there’s these two different categories of adventurers, and they were working respectively.
Even when a strange situation where the leader Lime Latte had left the frontlines, the figure of those two groups had moved the adventurers and their activity increased greatly.
“And so, what happened with the matter of asking Tomoe-sama and Mio-sama to instruct the adventurers that head to the wasteland?”
One staff member suddenly looked at a young female staff member and said this.
This is the wish of the adventurers.
It is also a request the guild staff agree with.
But those two are targets of fear and respect, they are existences above the clouds.
The problem of who will be the one proposing this to them comes out.
“About that matter…”
A certain young female staff member was the one to stand.
She still doesn’t have much experience and is one of the receptionists.
The result of a war of words, where the staff members pushed the responsibility around, was that this girl who had been absent that day would be taking the role of asking Tomoe and Mio.
She does have a connection with them in a sense.
She was the close acquaintance of one of the Rembrandt daughters.
Due to the daughters falling ill, it obviously made their interactions weaken, but even with that, she has been visiting her in her sickbed a few times.
In reality, in order to gain a stable job like being a staff member of the Adventurer Guild, her father had asked Patrick Rembrandt to be his middleman, which is far from being called friendship, and this also brought about the regular visits she had to do.
Then, what kind of connection does she actually have?
Recently, the request that the Rembrandt Company had made through the Adventurer Guild in order to treat the disease of his wife and daughters had been completed.
The one who finished that request was a newbie adventurer called Makoto; the other person that registered at the same time as Tomoe and Mio.
He is currently also registered in the Merchant Guild, and is the one who established the company called the Kuzunoha Company. This one is also a strange individual.
On top of that, Tomoe and Mio are for some reason affiliated to that Kuzunoha Company.
In other words, those three know each other.
Aside from the aforementioned request, Makoto hasn’t achieved much in the Adventurer Guild, but even with that, he passed the difficult test of the Merchant Guild in a short amount of time and became a merchant which makes it clear that he has a part that surpasses the regular hyuman.
But compared to Tomoe and Mio, it is basically nothing. It is on the level that can at least be told as a conversation topic.
And so, in the conversation of the guild staff that was basically pushing responsibility, the girl receptionist that seems to be in good terms with Makoto who is connected with Tomoe and Mio, and also has a friendship status with a family member of the Rembrandt Company, and hadn’t been on that very day of the conversation, had been forced the short end of the stick.
“…”
“I asked Makoto-san, and he said ‘I will try asking them’.”
After hearing what had happened, she wasn’t able to eat for two days straight due to how unreasonable it was, but one day, while she was walking down the street, she coincidentally encountered Makoto alone, and as if being pushed, she charged on and spoke to him about it.
Makoto stopped his feet and pondered for a bit, and after telling her a positive response, he left towards a street stall.
She had lowered her head vigorously and shouted ‘thank you very much!’, and just like that, she lost strength in her legs and fell on her butt.
And then, a young man that acted as if he were helping her out of good will had pickpocketed her wallet, but she was so relieved that she didn’t care much about it.
“W-Was it a ‘I will try asking them’ that felt as if it would work?!”
“I think. He said that he would be giving me a proper reply a few days later, but I think it will work.”
“You know, an ‘I think’ just isn’t enough—!”
“News, news!! Just now, Makoto-san came to the reception and said that he will be accepting the matter of instructing the adventurers under conditions!!”
““UOOOOOOO!!!””
A receptionist had come running and delivered the good news in one breath.
This means that more capable adventurers will be raised in Tsige from now on; this means that the mysteries of the World’s Border will be undercovered even more in Tsige.
(I will never play hookey anymore…)
As one girl reflected on her work attitude, the staff members of the Adventurer Guild were personally feeling the big wave that appeared in the town.
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(This place is like a battlefield as always.)
The material market.
The swirling heat and chaos; for Jio, it resembled that of war which he has experienced in the past, moreover, it resembled the chaos of a melee skirmish.
He himself, in certain industries, is called the ‘material store’.
He shows himself at times in the front side of the material market, but even when he knows that this is not a battlefield where people take each other’s lives, Jio was feeling somewhat uncomfortable.
Maybe because this is the frontstage where the sun hits.
He felt a bitter smile coming out from him for feeling the usual darkness as more comfortable.
He doesn’t have plans of replenishing his stock in the auction of today.
His objective is to survey.
Just the other day, his big benefactor Patrick Rembrandt and his butler Morris had introduced him to one merchant.
Currently, the existence that is rock steady in the front side of the world which is said to be able to pass its name in history as a major company is the Mirio Company, and its representative, Hau.
He became a merchant with quite the proper path, became independent, created a company that is specialized in material transportation, and did healthy business; a diligent man.
Let’s rephrase it; he was the perfect sucker.
At the time when he had gotten pretty fat in the pockets, a big company was planning on taking in his company through dirty means, but at that time, he received the Rembrandt Company’s assistance and was saved.
There’s a difference in front and back sides in business, but Jio considers that Hau’s circumstances are similar to his own.
And in reality, when Morris introduced that man to him, how to say it, it was as if he could understand the thoughts and ideologies of Hau to a frightening extent.
He felt as if he had met a long lost friend of his, and their conversation bloomed.
At present, the two of them trade in this town with a wide view, accurate movements, and a properly formed net.
But Jio is currently watching the auction while leaning his back against the wall, while Hau is managing the auction right in the middle of the heat.
(Good grief. To think there was something like that in the same town as I. To be able to act in such a comfortable manner at a place where the sun is hitting…) (Jio)
This is something that Jio has felt before, but for him, the air in this place was uncomfortable for him in a variety of meanings.
(Ah, I see. It might be similar to the relationship of Keema and Carol. Keema would be me and Carol would be Hau… We are incredibly similar, but we are fatally different somewhere. Light and darkness, front and back; that kind of thing?) (Jio)
He can tell the ability of Hau is plenty just by looking at him.
Even when he compared the documents Morris had given him, he came to the conclusion that he is the kind of man he would like to be friends with for a long time.
More so because they match wavelengths.
Even if Hau’s side is pure white, and Jio’s side is pitch black, he wanted to find a distance that would allow them to do well together.
“That and that…and also that one interests me a bit… I see.” (Jio)
After a single sigh, he directs a sharp gaze at the auction.
The materials are being placed prices at a dizzying pace and bids are going all around.
In this place where you can bid solely on things that come from the wasteland, the prices are shockingly high.
He could see that a number of factions are controlling the price to a certain extent, and are doing their best to obtain the highest of profits from the supply and demand.
Hau is not within that group of people.
He is moving on his own volition.
And there’s also other merchants that are not being drowned in the movements of the factions.
Most of them are merchants that have obtained information from the Rembrandt Company, but two of the merchants that are not in that list are doing interesting moves.
Jio watched the movements of the market, kept the merchants worth of attention in his memories, and then, after being impressed by the conduct of Hau, he left the auction in the middle of it.
“Oh, Morris-san.” (Jio)
“Jio. Anything worth in the wasteland materials?” (Morris)
“Yeah. But most of all, Hau was incredible.” (Jio)
“What must be watched are the people, huh. As I thought, you are good. And so…did it go well?” (Morris)
“…To a scary extent. The influx in the wasteland had settled down, and the prices had been in a state of lull, but now… Even that unknown company, the Kuzunoha Company, could be manipulated by someone as great as the Rembrandt Company huh.” (Jio)
“…I would like it if you were to keep what I say here a secret. Makoto-sama is Master’s benefactor and his friend. It was purely a request from our side.” (Morris)
“In that case, Makoto-dono managed to make friends with the most dependable person of this town right from the beginning, huh. He has incredible luck.” (Jio)
“It would be wrong to say that Makoto-sama and Master are on the same level. And you would laugh if I said that it was actually us who were the lucky ones.” (Morris)
“So my evaluation was wrong? No, someone of my level will never be able to read the thoughts of Patrick-sama. Well then, I will be taking my leave now. This place is a bit too bright for me after all.” (Jio)
“Master said that you two will now be the ones who will take charge of the material movement in Tsige. It is not something to hide in the darkness for. Comfiness is something that can be changed by your way of living.” (Morris)
“…I will do my best to answer your expectations. I will be taking my leave now.” (Jio)
“Okay. See you later then.” (Morris)
Morris entered the market and Jio left it.
Morris then turned his head back and watched the back of Jio, showing an expression of nostalgia.
(Jio, huh. He has plenty enough qualities to make him a good merchant. Of course, in the front side. There’s no need to worry, everyone is like that at first. When you are in a place for too long and go outside, there will always be opposition to it.) (Morris)
Morris could read the sentiment of Jio.
Because he resembled his past self a bit after all.
But well, compared to the criminal organization Morris was affiliated to in the past, what Jio does is on the level of a prank done by a child.
It is a level of darkness where there are occasional times when the things Jio deals with are hyumans or demi-humans.
(It is exactly because he is doing things half-heartedly that it creates doubts when moving to one side. Hahaha, well, no matter how much he tries to struggle, we will have him move as we want though. At the back side, there’s a good one within the girls that I had Bilky raise after all.) (Morris)
Morris felt slight pity towards Jio who was already being swallowed by the plan of Patrick.
How would he react if he knew that there’s already a successor for him, a successor that can control the assassination stores in Tsige.
(Keema, was it? Since the moment I saw her, she already had nice eyes. And she has managed to become pretty well acquainted to that work under the care of that man. Natural disposition, the taste of dark happiness; after laying the groundwork, I will look forward to the day we meet.) (Morris)
Without letting out a single bit of his thoughts leak to the outside, Morris went around a number of markets and exchanged greetings with a number of companies.
WIthout letting anyone sniff out that someone who will bring about big changes in the town has appeared.
Rembrandt predicts that, after a few months, the town will show abnormal signs of economic growth, and a big storm that common sense won’t work on will come.
Even Morris who has been working for a long time as a butler had a hard time believing that, but this is supposed to be a storm with Kuzunoha Company at its center.
“A revolution, huh. Fufufu, if I can still see something as interesting as that when I am this old, living for a long time isn’t that bad of a thing, huh.” (Morris)
After a good while of Makoto arriving to Tsige, Tsige will be wrapped in a big change that could even be called a revolution.
The prediction of Patrick Rembrandt would hit the mark, but the scale of it will surpass his expectations by far more than he thought.
Within that big storm that even the Rembrandt Company can’t control completely, the Kuzunoha Company swam around comfortably.
As chaos and development mixes, it sublates, and Tsige approaches unknown growth.
A maelstrom that doesn’t wait for you to be ready enough and doesn’t listen to anyone; it just silently, and precisely, approached its moment.