Chapter 66 - Chapter 59 Guild Establishment Conditions
Mion seemed surprised that Seth (Miki) had a connection with a noble, but for me, it was more like, Did she pull something off again?
“Shou-kun, you’re not surprised.”
“She’s just like that. Did you hear about the sword, shield, and armor?”
“Yes, when I asked, the answer was that it was a reward for a small quest. She said you knew the details.”
I tossed the question to her, expecting her to explain it herself, but she just threw it back to me because she found it annoying.
“A quest?”
“After finishing the tutorial, she immediately stumbled into some kind of special quest?”
I explained to Mion and Bell-buchou what Seth had told me: how she helped an old man when I was wandering around the city, unable to find my way.
“I’ve never heard of such a quest…”
“That’s amazing. That required her to spend all the money she started with, didn’t it?”
“Probably? But spending all her money on a whim, that’s so Seth.”
That part is in our blood, I guess. I mean, Mashiro-nee would definitely do the same thing, even if I wouldn’t.
“So, Seth-chan also has a connection to a noble?”
“She doesn’t lie… so I think she really does. She also said the merchant who gave her the weapons and armor was a well-known figure in the Republic, so maybe it’s through them?”
Even if she spent all her money, it was only 30,000 Iris right after the tutorial, which I covered. A generous person who would give a full set of metal armor, a greatshield, and a longsword as a thank-you, even if she was a lifesaver. Plus, casually giving away weapons and armor like that strongly suggests they’re a merchant who deals in such items, so naturally…
“I’m convinced.”
“So, if Seth says it’s okay, shouldn’t we just use that connection?”
“About that, Seth-chan gave me a condition.”
“A condition?”
“The condition is that Shou-kun joins the guild…”
“Huh?!”
No, no, no, my joining is physically… that’s not right either. Anyway, there’s no way I can participate from an uninhabited island.
“You won’t really join as a guild member. For now, it’s fine for you to be an external director, or something like that.”
I held my head in my hands. Her thoroughness was just too much…
“Formidable opponent…”
“Hm?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
I thought Mion muttered something. No, more importantly, what even is an external director?
“Do those production people know that I’m her brother?”
“No, only I know. She said she promised not to tell anyone who doesn’t know.”
“Ah, yeah. She did promise. That much, at least.”
I fed her sirloin steak, after all! (With Dad’s money.) But seriously, what am I supposed to do as an external director?
“How does that sound?”
“How do you mean? Bell-buchou, are you eager about this?”
“Yes. Seth-chan says it would make it easier to increase our World Quest completion rate.”
“Hmm. But we still don’t really know what a player guild can do, do we?”
After yesterday, there was no talk of anyone else having created a player guild, and no official announcements or help guides about “Player Guilds” had been released, I think.
“At the very least, a player guild should be able to issue quests in the form of ‘requests.’”
“Ah, I’d certainly expect at least that much.”
“Can players really create quests?”
“Not complex quests, but errand-like ones. For example, asking someone to gather a certain number of herbs, things like that.”
For the production group, even just being able to do that would greatly increase their efficiency. The time they would have spent traveling, they could now dedicate to production, and it would be worth it to add that hourly wage as a reward. They probably relied on acquaintances until now, but this means they could ask a general multitude of players.
“And that would advance the World Quest?”
“Yes. Within the objective of ‘Expansion of Living Space,’ there’s ‘Development of New Towns.’ To smoothly advance that, the existence of player guilds might be essential.”
According to Bell-buchou, development is currently progressing under instructions from the higher-ups, but it’s not going as smoothly as expected.
“What’s causing the delay?”
“The development-related quests from above aren’t being processed efficiently. Of course, the nobles are leading and directing these with national initiative, but they seem to be competing over the Commercial Guild and Adventurer’s Guild…”
According to Bell-buchou, the Wolkelst Kingdom is trying to expand its living space in three directions. One is the southeast, where the Ancient Ruins tower Bell’s group visited yesterday is located. Another is the northwest, where Thunder Empress Leona-sama discovered ancient ruins. The last is the southwest, which Nat’s group was heading to, if I remember correctly.
“Too much work, and the public guilds can’t handle it all?”
“Exactly. And it’s not like they can suddenly increase staff either.”
Apparently, there are various problems with budgets and personnel. It’s a game, yet it’s amazing how IRO doesn’t just let them “increase NPC staff to handle it.”
“So, what did Seth say?”
“She said that if development proceeds through public guilds, it inevitably becomes slow and bureaucratic, so player guilds should take their place.”
“Ah, so that means directly contracting with one of those three nobles, and having the player guild handle all the personnel arrangements and everything else…”
“Amazing…”
Is that even possible? Well, whether it’s possible or not might depend on the production group’s motivation. It would probably be tough without hiring administrative NPC staff, though.
“And Bell-buchou thinks that would work?”
“Yes. I don’t expect everything to go perfectly from the start, but doing nothing won’t improve the current situation.”
So, she sees resolving this inefficient situation as part of the World Quest, too…
“Alright, I’ll do it then. I’ll be this external director. But will the production group agree? I’d feel uncomfortable if they weren’t onboard…”
“You don’t need to worry about that. After I told them about the live stream and the pottery jars the other day, and with the anti-paralysis potion raw material being Papu Fruit, they’ve already figured out that my information source was Shou-kun.”
“Ah…”
Of course. Bell-buchou probably tried to hide the source, but anyone who watched that collaboration live stream would have figured it out.
“In fact, they’ve asked me to introduce you. They can’t meet in-game, so they want to talk in the virtual room.”
Are-you-kidding-me…
“Shou-kun, are you alright?”
“Ah, sorry, sorry, I’m fine. Anyway, the details will be discussed tonight, right? With Seth included.”
“Yes, is that alright with you?”
“Roger that.”
Well, I’ve been putting off playing with her, so I guess this much can’t be helped…