Chapter 26: The Bear House Is All Set Up!

Chapter 26:
The Bear House Is All Set Up!

 

THE TRADE GUILD was a little to the west of the town’s center. The clientele was visibly different from that of the adventurers’ guild. There weren’t any meatheads or staff-carrying sorcerers, but there were a ton of eccentric-looking merchants. They had an unwelcoming air to them, wholly unlike in the adventurers’ guild.

On top of that, my bear outfit still seemed to draw curious stares.

“Yuna, aren’t you going in?” Fina asked as I hovered by the entrance, staring inside. That changed my mind.

It was bustling on the inside. I pulled my hood down low and cut off the stares, heading straight to the front desk. Fina glanced around the place and latched onto my sleeve, sticking close to me.

“Welcome,” a woman in her early twenties greeted us. Her expression didn’t change even when she saw what I looked like, and she received us with a smile. I guessed the guild employees were cut from better cloth than their clientele.

“Umm, I want to rent some land for a short time, and the adventurers’ guild sent me here when I asked them about it.”

“Yes, we can do that. We have plots of land for rent, and some buildings, too. What kind of land would you be looking for?”

“For now, just something completely bare with nothing on it.”

“Yes, we have those.”

“I’d like to rent it for about a month. How much would that be?”

“That would vary depending on the size of the land and its location. Did you have any preferences?”

“I’d prefer something close to the adventurers’ guild, I think. It’s fine if it’s not super close. I’d also like it to be about the size of the adventurers’ guild’s warehouse, if possible.”

“A plot of land the size of the adventurers’ guild’s warehouse. I will look into it, so if you could, please wait here.”

She left the desk for a bit and came back after about five minutes with several sheets of paper.

“I apologize for the wait. I have found about five options.”

“Which one is the cheapest?”

“That would be this one. Out of the five, it is the furthest from the adventurers’ guild. One month’s rent will come to thirty silver pieces.”

“Isn’t that kind of cheap?”

“The land has no buildings on it. However, please keep in mind that we may ask you to return the land to its original condition upon returning it to us if you used it for something.”

“Could you also tell me how much the others cost?”

“Of course. The others are each ninety, seventy-five, forty-eight, and thirty-five silver coins per month.”

“Could you show me where all five of them are?”

She pulled out a map and showed me each of their locations.

“Hmm, I’m going to pass on the ones going for ninety and seventy-five—bit pricey—and I’ll also pass on the thirty coin one because of where it is.”

That left the thirty-five and forty-eight-coin spots. The best spot was the forty-eight-coin one. It was close to both the guild and Fina’s house, and not far from the inn. The thirty-five-coin place was closer to the guild, but it was further from the inn and Fina’s house.

“How would you like to proceed?”

“If you could give me a deal on this one, I’d prefer it.” I pointed at the forty-eight-silver option.

“Incidentally, how will you use the land?”

“I was thinking of building a house on it so I could use it as a place for doing monster harvesting. Oh, but I’d make sure the house is gone when I give it back, of course.”

“If you could give me a moment…” The woman scurried off, but she came back almost immediately. “Pardon me for asking, but are you the Bloody Bear?”

“…”

“Ahem, that was rude of me. Are you the adventurer Yuna?”

“I am…”

“I would like to offer our gratitude to you for provisioning the wolves, horned hares, and goblin king during your time here.”

“Um…what exactly is the trade guild thanking me for?”

“Do you not know? The materials the adventurers’ guild produces are passed along to us, and we sell them. In return, the trade guild hires escorts and guarantees that we won’t run low on monster materials. We have a mutually beneficial partnership.”

“I had no idea.”

“Yes, and our merchants have been quite pleased that there have been more wolves and horned hares in circulation recently.”

“But the stuff I’ve been selling has to be barely anything compared to everything in the trade guild, right?”

“Not at all. Because the kills you bring in are in pristine condition, they sell for high amounts. Regular adventurers tend to bring in a lot of messy or damaged corpses. But the monsters you bring in are always clean, and they’ve become quite popular, especially those rare goblin king materials.”

“Who’d have thought?”

“How would thirty-five silver pieces sound for the plot of land we were just talking about?”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. If you harvest materials to sell to the adventurers’ guild, it benefits the trade guild as well.”

“Well then, it’s a deal.”

“In that case, allow me to escort you to the plot now.” She stood up from her chair.

“You’re going to take me all the way there?”

“Would that be a problem?”

“Of course not, but are you sure you can leave the front desk just for me?”

“I can have someone fill in for me. I’d also like to cement our partnership, starting now.”

“Our partnership?”

“Yes. You’re an able, brand-new, and extremely skilled adventurer. Many people are going to want to work with you, and I’m just one of those people. Apologies for taking this long to introduce myself—I’m Milaine. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The place that Milaine brought us to was just as close to the inn and the guild as the map had promised. The plot was more than wide enough, and didn’t have much pedestrian traffic going by, which was great.

“If you could sign this contract and provide your guild card transcription, then.”

“A transcription?”

“Just put your guild card on top of this. It’ll verify your identity.”

After I wrote my name and transcribed my guild card, I paid the thirty-five coins for the month.

“In addition, since you will be building a house in this plot, the trade guild also does provide carpentry studio services. How would you like to proceed?”

“I’m fine. I already have a house.”

Milaine looked puzzled. I hesitated over whether or not to tell her about the bear storage and bear house for a second, but then decided to keep it under wraps.

“I see. If you need anything, please do come to the trade guild.” Milaine bowed and went back. I made sure she was gone, then made sure no one was passing through right then. Right, check. Left, check. Behind me, check. In front, check.

I pulled the bear house out of bear storage, and just like that, there was a whole house sitting on a plot of land that had been empty just a second ago. I headed into to the attached storehouse with Fina.

“Okay,” I asked her, “could you handle the tigerwolves now?”

I left Fina to her work and headed back to the inn to tell them I’d be canceling my stay. Starting today, I’d be living in the bear house.