Welcome to the Monsters' Guild ~ The Strongest Group Who Did Everything, for a Price ~ Chapter 4

Let’s start

"How boring."

It was already a week since the grand opening of their guild.
Raiz kept waiting for customers to show up, but no one ever did.

"Why?! I promoted this place just fine! I even demonstrated that lamias and unicorns are both harmless!"

He brought with him the most beautiful and kind monsters he had, but there was a problem. A single, enormous problem he wasn’t aware of.

"Excuse me, Lord Raiz…"

He was called by the lamia standing in front of him.

"Yes?"

The lower half of her body looked like a snake’s and the upper one like a human’s.
That’s why she volunteered to help with paperwork.

"Could it be that the citizens are lost about what kind of requests we accept?"

"What do you mean?"

He tilted his head, puzzled.

"Well, we can do everything, but they don’t know what we can do precisely.
Usually, people don’t leave the city, so they don’t know much about us monsters’ abilities."

"R-Really?!"

Raiz goggled his eyes. Now everything was clear.
Since he was always close to monsters, he knew perfectly what they could or couldn’t do. That’s why he didn’t think about any of that.
Her argument made sense.

"What the…! We should go back to the city! We have to promote our guild!"

He immediately stood up.

"No, I don’t think that'll be emeowgh."

He stopped after hearing a childlike voice.

"Ah, Cat sith."

A cat was standing at the entrance on his hind legs alone.
It’s said that cat siths are fairy cats.

"I bring some intelligence about the city, Meowster."

He was gathering information pretending to be a common cat.

"Awesome, great job!"

"Meow!"

The cat meowed proudly at Raiz’s praising.

"What did you find?"

Asked him the lamia eager to hear.

"Well, people have doubts, Meowster."

"They doubt me…?"

"Lord Raiz, don’t worry! We all know that you are kind-hearted!"

She tried to comfort him as he was getting depressed.

"Cat sith, did you find something useful?!"

He nodded after sweeping his face with his paw.

"Sure. There’s plenty of people who have problems, but they prefer to resolve them themselves."

Cat sith’s task was to report the rumors he heard in the city to Raiz.
He was useless in battle, but thanks to his abilities as a spy, he saved his master’s life many times.
He wasn’t the only monster that could gather information, but his reports were particularly detailed, even among his subordinates.

"I see… they could resolve everything the people need, then."

Raiz started to choose which monsters bring with him right away.

"Oh, and the old people really appreciated Unicorn’s remedy, so bring him with you, Meowster."

"Yes, of course."

Raiz immediately went to inform the unicorn and to tell him that he would have to behave and help old people again. After a few moments, the equine’s lament echoed everywhere in the guild.

◆

People were talking loudly.
It was obvious, since monsters were parading in front of them following Raiz.
People knew that they were harmless, still, seeing them marching in the streets like that was weird, so they were keeping their distance.

"h.e.l.lo, everyone! We are the Monsters’ Delivery! You have already met some of us!
Is there someone willing to see a demonstration of these monsters’ abilities? From baby-sitting to tilling your fields! Lamia can reach high places like treetops or roofs! Unicorn, as you already know, can heal any disease and injury! Treant is the right solution to tend to dying plants and improve your harvest! Lastly, Sahuagin is a prodigy of fis.h.i.+ng!"

Following Lamia's and Cat Sith’s suggestion, Raiz was explaining exactly what the monsters were capable of.
He chose the most useful ones to catch their attention and satisfy the citizen's needs.

"Our guild is just outside the city and you’re welcome to ask us for any request!
As a bid for our grand opening, this month we will accept them for half of the price!"

Hearing that, people became louder.

"At half price?"

"As long as it’s half-price, I might think about it…"

"Maybe I’ll try asking for that…"

After all, everyone loves discounts.

"We strongly suggest you to come to us! Leave everything to Monsters’ Delivery!"

Raiz managed to draw the attention of the crowd of people.
Just a little more and the presentation could be really considered a success.

"Today the unicorn is with us, so there will be a special price for sick or elderly people!"

Hearing the last part, a laugh could be heard clearly in the crowd.

"I should take this opportunity, then. Lately, my leg hurts."

Shuffling, an old woman stepped forward with her hand raised.

"Thank you for volunteering! Did you have an accident?"

"Yes. I fell down a tree and my leg keeps hurting since then."

Saying that, she showed them a scar on her ankle.

"The wound is already closed, so a full recovery is impossible… But if you leave it to our unicorn, you’ll pa.s.s a solid week without pain."

The unicorn couldn’t close fatal wounds, and neither he could heal the aftereffects of injuries that already closed completely. That's because his abilities just improved the natural regeneration of living beings for some time.

"Oh, a week without pain would be really great. I’m old now and I’d like to live the time that’s left well."

"I see. Unicorn, please."

"…Yes."

The unicorn approached her with his head lowered, wondering if he would have to spend again the whole day helping old geezers.
His horn shone and so did the woman’s leg.

"Aaah, what a nice feeling. Thank you so much, dear horse."

"I’m not a horse! I’m a unicorn!"

He specified annoyed at that same old affront.

"Oh my, I’m sorry. Thank you so much, dear unicorn."

"D-Don’t mention it…!"

He replied shyly after seeing that the old woman was truly sorry.
What a tsundere, thought Raiz.

"Look, there’s the unicorn. Can we be next?"

"Ugh…"

Seeing the line of elderly people, the equine’s face was painted blue with disgust.

"Of course, come forth! Since the monsters that will come here will not always be the same during this month, every treatment for your health will be just two copper!"

"That’s cheap! For real?!"

Screamed the old woman still close to them.

"Yes. That's because we opened our business this month, so I wanted it to be cheap.
First and foremost, I’d like to show you the monsters’ capacities."

"If it’s that cheap, I also want to try it. I got hurt at work."

"Me too, please. I ruined my hands working with water."

Young and old people formed a queue and waited for their turn.

"…I-If I back out now, it’s the end…! Fine, I’ll heal you all! Boss, have my carrot ready!"

With the cry of a desperate bull, Unicorn got to work.

It wasn’t a case that there were so many people gathered in that place.
Thanks to Cat sith’s information, Raiz knew where people gathered during the rush hour.
That’s why he chose that place. He wanted to lure out the old people first.
It would have been rare for people in need to be disgusted by a unicorn, or be against its help.
Also, that way even uninterested people could get used to see monsters.
It wasn’t a direct approach, but it was a fast and effective tactic.

"Ah! A horse! Can I get on your back?"

A young girl approached the unicorn.

"Ha ha ha! Of course you can, young lady!"

Raiz froze.
His efforts could go up in smoke if the unicorn didn’t hold back.

Please, don’t show your true self to anyone!

By the way, the unicorn was of the "yes lolita, no touch" faction, so everything was fine.
He was a gentleman, after all, just like every member of that same party.

"Hey bro, do have a minute?"

A big man talked to Raiz.

"Yes, how can I help you?"

"Ya see, I have a request…"

Raiz didn’t expect that.

"Go ahead! It will be at half-price!"

"Thanks, it’s no biggie. I’m a carpenter, but the ladder I use for work broke.
I asked someone to fix it, but since I’m doin’ an urgent work ‘n’ I can't wait, can one of yar monsters help me get on the roof?"

"Sure. I have the most suited monster for that task here with me."

"Great, thank ya. The sooner the better."

The carpenter smiled and made a gesture inviting Raiz to follow him.

◆

They reached their destination.

"When it rains, the water leaks through the roof of this house, ‘n’ I see some dark clouds in the distance, so I’d like to fix it right away."

"I see. Lamia, take care of it."

"Yes, count on me!"

She stepped forward after Raiz called her.

"Brace yourself, I’m going to take you up there."

"Oh no, wait a min."

The carpenter looked at her skeptically.

"Ya wanna take me up there? With all due respect, I don’t think it’s possible for ya."

He commented.
Although her lower half looked like a snake’s, her upper half looked like a delicate lady.
Also, maybe as a custom of her race, she didn’t have many clothes hiding her lower half.
It goes without saying that the carpenter’s eyes were fixed on her bountiful chest.

"Please, trust us. Lamia, go ahead."

"Yes! If you’ll excuse me."

She got closer to the man and hugged him from behind.

"Oooh!"

Feeling those joy mountains pressing on his back, the carpenter let out a pleased voice.

"Let’s go!"

Without waiting any further, she started to prolong perpendicularly on her snake tail.

"Whaaat?!"

He screamed as he ascended in the sky at incredible speed.

"Here we are!"

"M-Mh… I didn’t expect ya to be this strong, sis."

"Well, I’m a lamia!"

Lamias are way stronger than they look.
Snakes’ bodies are made almost entirely of muscles, so it’s normal for a lamia to have an impressive strength.

"How was that? She was pretty useful, don’t you think?"

"Yeah, definitely! I didn’t expect her to be so soft and strong!"

"Hahaha~!"

The presents pretended they never heard the first part.

"I’ll call ya when I’m over, ‘kay sis?"

"Okay."

"Chief! Let us come help you too!"

Said the carpenter’s disciples looking at the lamia.

"Go do yar job, ya stupids!"

Raiz felt that he was going to witness a tasteless discussion.

The carpenters kept asking Lamia to help them every now and then, even after they had their ladder back, but this is another story.