Trinitas Mundus Volume 1 Chapter 3 Part4

Although the guild charged a commission fee of 20% and took away another 30% to pay taxes, the final reduced amount was stated as the reward on the request slip. Failing the request meant paying twice the reward amount to the guild, which was basically equivalent to the amount the client paid.

If an adventurer made less than 1000 Crona (~8935 Dollars) in a year, he would have to pay the remaining amount to the guild. Not being able to pay leads to expulsion. However, since the guild paid the taxes for the adventurers', this was a way to prevent it from being used to escape taxes. The Lacus Kingdom collected a tax of close to 50% from all citizens but made adventurers and mercenaries exempt from this tax. So, despite the taxes, adventurers actually received preferential treatment.

Although adventurers had ten ranks, the requests they accept are not restricted by their rank. The rank system only served to indicate the past performance of adventurers and was also used to compare multiple adventurers who had accepted the same request. Therefore, it wasn't rare to see tenth rank adventurers (lowest) accepting first rank requests (highest).

Since adventurers were able to move freely through national borders, dipping their hands into criminal activity unquestionably lead to instant expulsion from the guild. Examples of how some violated the initial contract include, murder, robbery, and betraying fellow guild members. Since committing such deeds would leave the information in their Orb, hiding crimes was impossible.

Magic Stones and Orbs . . . what an absurd setting. It's a system where all the crimes I've committed are exposed for anyone to see . . . it's as if your thoughts are being monitored. Now that I'm part of the system, it feels a bit unpleasant . . .

After thirty minutes or so, the explanation ended and Ray's...o...b..was completed.

The Orb consisted of a bracelet with a thickness of three cemers that had a glittering black gem of one cemer in diameter attached.

"Your Orb's done. Try confirming the information in it."

After Ray equipped the bracelet Edsel handed to him on his left wrist, she continued,

"Try saying "display" in your mind towards the jewel. Information should begin floating within your head . . ."

When he did as she asked, information really did begin streaming into his mind.

Name: Ray Arkwright

Age: 18

Race: Human

Birthplace: ???

Rank: Adventurer – rank 10

Level: Magic Spearman – level 1

Skills: Swordsmans.h.i.+p ??? ……

Information is actually appearing in my mind . . . Ray Arkwright? Eh! My pen name suddenly became my real name? . . . which reminds me, last night I was only able to see my level and skills, I didn't see my name . . .

Rei used the name Ray Arkwright as his pen name when he wrote his novel. "Rei" basically remained the same. Ark referred to Noah's "holy" ark. Ray used it because his last name was Hijiri (聖), meaning "holy". Wright came from write, since he wanted to be an author. So putting it all together lead to his pen name becoming "聖礼 (Rei Hijiri) = Ray Arkwright".

Ray had no idea why his pen name turned into his real name in this world.

Well, whatever. No matter how much I think about it, I won't figure it out. However, my birthplace is "???". Maybe because I'm j.a.panese? My skills are also "???" . . . How do I look at crimes?

"I see it. Although my name is there, my birthplace isn't displayed. Is that okay?"

Edsel smiled and said, "Yes, that's fine. Traveling entertainers also don't have their birthplace displayed. What about your rank? If you had registered at our guild before you lost your memories then you may have ranked up previously."

"I'm at the tenth rank, so it seems like I've never been an adventurer before. You said that information on crimes would also be stored but how do you see that?"

"There's a magical device we hold over you to check for crimes. The color of the device changes if you've committed a crime. We can use it to validate your skill level and based on the color, we'll also know how big of a crime you've committed."

I see. It seems to be what the mercenary branch chief used earlier. If it was this easy to see someone's crimes, why did those mercenaries betray them yesterday? Was the reward really worth it? Did they have somewhere safe to hide? Unless they had the backing of a country somewhere, they shouldn't have been able to betray the baron so easily . . . have I been dragged into some kind of scandal . . .

Ashley patted Ray's shoulder and happily said, "Now, you're an adventurer Ray. We'll immediately start accepting requests tomorrow. For now, let's go purchase the equipment you need."

A man in his mid-twenties beside them laughed and said, "Heh, tenth rank . . . maybe he's a fallen knight from somewhere?" Hearing those words, Ashley glared at him, "What rank are you at then, for you to say that kind of thing to someone who saved my life? Don't forget, I'm a fifth rank mercenary and my swordsmans.h.i.+p is at level 40. And yet, I was saved by him. I'm sure you must be quite strong if you're able to laugh at him like that."

The man who was threatened by Ashley averted his eyes and muttered, "My bad." He stood from his seat and left the guild. "What an unpleasant man. We've finished our business with the guild. Let's go to magical equipment store." Ashley left the guild at a quick pace.

Left behind, Ray lowered his head to Edsel and said, "Thank you very much. Please continue to take care of me from now on." He hurriedly chased after Ashley.

Edsel's face relaxed as she watched Ray exit the guild.

Despite wearing such expensive equipment, he's only at level 1. There was also something strange about his skills . . . what an odd guy. Even though he spoke politely, he didn't really give off the feeling of a knight . . . looks like things will be interesting starting from tomorrow.

After leaving the adventurers guild, Ashley and Ray had lunch and then headed towards the magical equipment store in the commercial district to gather the things Ray needed.

Upon entering, they saw a bored looking male elf tending to the store. His name was Manuel Mulville.

After giving a cursory introduction of Ray to Manuel, Ashley began to look for the equipment Ray needed.

"Let's get a backpack first. And then a mantle to cover up that flashy-looking armor. You also need a knife, a canteen . . . and maybe some daily necessities."

Ray gazed at Ashley as she eagerly listed out what he needed.

Seems like all women really do like shopping. I wonder what's so fun about shopping for another person?

Since he already had a knife and canteen stored within his item box, Ray told her, "I already have a knife and canteen, so we can skip those." However, since it was his first time seeing a genuine elf up close, Ray also unintentionally stared at Manual.

Molton was located on the border, right next to the Saltooth Kingdom. Numerous elves lived in Salooth, so elves weren't exactly uncommon in this city.

Feeling disgruntled by how Ray scrutinized him, the elven shopkeeper grumbled, "Do you think elves are rare? Or is there something stuck to my face?"

As Ray meekly apologized, Ashley also helped clear the misunderstanding,

"This guy lost his memories. That might be why he thinks you're unusual. He didn't mean to offend you, please forgive him."

Manuel's expression seemed to say, "Oh, is that so?" However, besides that, he didn't say anything more.

They finished selecting the equipment that seemed necessary after around ten minutes. Their purchases included a backpack, a mantle, a magical device for starting fires, camping cooking gear, and a rope.

"Although I think we've got everything, feel free to tell me if you need anything else."

"Thanks, this is plenty for me."

Once they paid for the goods and left the store, Ray felt slightly downhearted.

The total was around 250 Crona . . . although the total isn't terribly expensive, I let Ashley do everything when it came time to negotiate the price. Being able to negotiate the price . . . is another thing I should be worrying about in the future . . .

After that, they went to a clothing store to purchase for Ray some linen t-s.h.i.+rts for casual wear, some pants, and also some underwear. The clothes were unexpectedly expensive. One full set of clothes cost around 50 Crona (TL: 1 Crona is basically 9 dollars (1000 yen), so if you want to make a rough and easy conversion, multiply the Crona by 10).

After registering at the adventurers guild and shopping for everything Ray, it was now three o'clock in the afternoon.

"Thanks for accompanying me today. You were a big help. So, what are you going to do after this? Are you going to stay over at the baron's mansion again tonight?"

"I was planning to go to the inn I usually stay at. What about you?"

After thinking for brief moment, Ray hesitantly asked, "Can I also go to the inn you're staying at? Since I can't really go to the baron's place again, I'm feeling uneasy about being alone . . ."