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Volume 2 Chapter 25 - Self Request

RAW

Rebecca headed towards the Adventurers’ Guild, half-pulling Allen, who didn't quite understand what Rebecca meant and had a question mark in his head.

Then, without hesitation, she walked into the Adventurers’ Guild and to the counter where they saw a familiar face.

“Matilda-saa─n.” (Rebecca)

“Ara, Rebecca-san and, Allen?” (Matilda)

“Nn, ou. Good work.” (Allen)

Rebecca was smiling as she called out to Matilda, who responded as she turned toward them, and she tilted her head, her tone changed when she saw Allen walking behind.

Allen’s thoughts also temporarily stopped when Matilda called out to him, and he responded by lightly raising his hand.

Partly because it was the half-assed time of the day, there weren't many adventurers in the guild, and the receptionists also looked a little bored, so when Rebecca called out to Matilda in a rather loud voice, they stood out a little.

“What's wrong?” (Matilda)

“Un, I'd like to make a request.” (Rebecca)

“Umm, if you're making a request, can I ask you to go to the counter over there?” (Matilda)

Matilda pointed to the counter with a partition that was set up separately from the counter where adventurers lined up.

It had three counter windows, two of which were currently in use, and someone who appeared to be a farmer and someone who appeared to be a craftsman were discussing something with the guild employees there.

That is the counter where people make requests to the Adventurers’ Guild, and decide the content and reward.

Allen had never used it himself, but he naturally knew of its existence, so, ‘Well, I guess that was obvious,’ he thought and he tried to take Rebecca there, but Rebecca shook her head and refused Matilda's guidance.

“It’s a self request through the Merchant Guild, so I thought it’d be okay to do it here.” (Rebecca)

“So that’s how it is. Hmm, that should be done there too, but... is it okay if I let other girls learn by observing us?” (Matilda)

“It’s okay. It's rare after all.” (Rebecca)

“Thank you.” (Matilda)

Matilda stood up with a smile on her face, retrieved several documents from the back, and called out to a few receptionists who seemed to be bored at their reception desk before returning to the two of them.

With the receptionists she had called out behind her.

It was as if they were surrounded by receptionists. That strange sight made Allen end up gulping for some reason.

However, Rebecca, the person herself, was wholly unconcerned and started speaking in her usual tone.

“This time is a self request through the Merchant Guild. The content is to secure treant building materials. The type of building materials will be discussed as needed, and the reward is 80,000 zenny for a set of 10. The client is Rebecca from the Merchant Guild. Please nominate iron class adventurer Rebecca for the request, and also register wood class adventurer Allen as the collaborator. This is my Merchant Guild and the Adventurers’ Guild license.” (Rebecca)

“Yes, I will recite it.” (Matilda)

While Allen was surprised at Rebecca who spoke the content of the request as smoothly as water on a standing plank, Matilda repeated that content and confirmed it.

To that, Rebecca repeatedly nodded her head in affirmation, and Matilda transcribed the contents onto the paper in her hand.

The other receptionists watched zealously as the process was carried out so smoothly as if she was a role model, and some were even taking notes.

Allen didn’t fully understand the current situation, so he was completely on the sidelines though.

Then, after a short response to confirm details, Matilda's hand stopped moving.

“Yes, with this, the self request registration is complete. Please deposit money to the guild at any time when the request is completed. This will be a continuous request with no upper limit, so please contact us if you wish to end it. Thank you very much for using this service.” (Matilda)

“We also thank you for your smooth response.” (Rebecca)

After saying that and thanking each other, the two looked at each other and smiled at each other.

Those smiles were different from their previous business smiles, those were natural ones, as if they laughed because it was funny.

“Thank you, Rebecca-san.” (Matilda)

“No no.” (Rebecca)

Matilda thanked Rebecca again in a friendly manner, and Rebecca shook her head a little as she responded with a smile. Matilda then turned to the receptionists who were watching behind her.

“This is how to handle self requests through the Merchant Guild. This time, it went smoothly because Rebecca-san is quite used to it, but in reality, this is often not the case. This is rare after all, and the form is not the same as normal requests and use the nomination requests’ ones instead, so please don't get it confused. If you calm down and do what you normally do, I'm sure you girls can do it.” (Matilda)

“““Yes, thank you very much.””” (Receptionists)

The receptionists said that in unison, and Rebecca waved her hand and smiled in response.

The receptionists then returned to their counters and the place calmed down a bit, allowing Allen, who had been confused by the sudden development, to gradually begin to think normally again.

When Matilda finished writing and arranging the documents, Allen called out to her.

“Hey, Matilda. What’s a self request?” (Allen)

“Ara, you haven’t received an explanation for that, Allen?” (Matilda)

Matilda turned her gaze from Allen, who was nodding his head, to Rebecca, and seeing Rebecca smiling happily like an innocent child, she understood the general situation.

‘You really love Allen, don’t you,’ Matilda thought inside as she began to explain.

“A self request through the Merchant Guild is, as the word suggests, a request you give to yourself. It’s from yourself as a merchant to yourself as an adventurer though.” (Matilda)

“No, I got that when I saw it, but... does it have any meaning?” (Allen)

“From the Adventurers’ Guild's perspective, it's not much different from a normal nominated request. The difference is that we also accept orders along with the request, and the reward payment is special. As for the merchant side...” (Matilda)

“That's my cue.” (Rebecca)

* (T/N: I don’t really get what Matilda said, orders? You can put an order through the Adventurers’ Guild? And the reward payment is special? What does that mean?)

As if to respond to Matilda who stopped speaking and prompted her to continue, Rebecca raised her hand and turned to Allen.

Seeing her look so happy made Allen smile wryly as he listened.

“The advantage is that you can include the request fee as an expense. And the amount received as the reward at the Adventurers’ Guild is already after taxes have been paid, so the Merchant Guild won’t need to tax that income.” (Rebecca)

“But you'll still end up paying taxes, right? Don't you lose money from the handling fee then?” (Allen)

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. That's not true.” (Rebecca)

In response to Allen's question, Rebecca wagged her finger and denied it with a proud look on her face.

“Merchants have two levels of tax rates. If our profits are low, our tax rate will be lower than the tax rate that adventurers pay, but if they exceed a certain amount, our tax rate will be, umm, I think it’s twice the tax rate that adventurers pay. In other words, our tax rate will be higher.” (Rebecca)

“In other words, even if you had to pay a handling fee to the guild, doing that self request would be more profitable, huh. No, is that a good thing?” (Allen)

“Well, this is like a privilege to a peddler who doesn't own a store. And it's not like you'll definitely get a profit anyway.” (Rebecca)

As Rebecca continued to explain, Allen organized his thoughts while listening to her.

The old Allen would have definitely thought It was a troublesome and confusing story about taxes and given up halfway through, but perhaps thanks to his increased stats, he was able to understand the general idea.

Allen himself was a little surprised by this, but since Rebecca had finished speaking, he opened his mouth to verify his answer.

“In other words, legally, there is no problem. It is certainly true that there is a possibility of losing money depending on that year's profits, but if you do it right, you can save on taxes. However, if the request is too far outside the scope of common sense, it may not be recognized as an expense, is that it?” (Allen)

“Un, the reason I went to the Merchant Guild earlier was also to confirm the amount.” (Rebecca)

“And the reason this is allowed is because the tax payment location of a peddler is not fixed due to the fact that they move from place to place. Or rather, there is a possibility that they will die while peddling, so it’s better to have them pay the tax as needed so they don't miss it, and that’s why they allowed it, I can take it like that, right?” (Allen)

“Ooh, Len-nii. Well done.” (Rebecca)

As Rebecca clapped her hands, Allen smiled wryly.

Allen also roughly understood why Rebecca did such a thing. However, he realized that this was just a summary that Rebecca explained in an easy-to-understand manner, and that it was originally much more complicated than that.

Allen then decided in his heart that he would obediently leave everything in the Adventurers’ Guild’s hands.

“Well, there aren't many people who actually do it though.” (Rebecca)

“Eh, why? If you make a request once you have a rough estimate of your profits that year, you'll definitely be able to lower your taxes, right?” (Allen)

“Allen. The Adventurers’ Guild isn't that lenient either. We won't give iron class to someone who doesn't have the ability. It will affect the reputation of the guild.” (Matilda)

Matilda, who had been listening to their conversation with interest, said that as she interjected.

Allen was convinced that these words were true, and his thoughts came to a number of accompanying facts.

“Huh? But even if you can't make a self request, you can just make a request as a merchant, and if you can take it yourself, it’ll result in the same thing, right? What’s more, since you're the client, you can make it into a continuous request and complete that many times...” (Allen)

“It's possible. As a result, their contribution points will accumulate quickly, so some people raise their ranks that way. Well, there's a test to get to iron class, so they have to pass it though.” (Matilda)

“And nobles do the same thing. Well, it's kinda an open secret.” (Rebecca)

“No, I don't care about the idiot nobles who think of adventurer rank as a symbol of strength. Isn't that unfair?” (Allen)

When Allen said that, Matilda and Rebecca looked at each other.

The two then had a mumbled conversation after which, they both turned to Allen at the same time and smiled.

““Because money is also power.”” (Matilda and Rebecca)

“Uwah. What a dirty world.” (Allen)

When the two of them said that in unison, Allen made a disgusted face as he retorted at them. Matilda and Rebecca gushed at that reaction, and then began to giggle.

While watching the two of them, Allen was tempted to try doing it himself in order to raise his rank a little, but he thought it seemed too unnatural and pointless, so he ended up deciding against it.

Then, when the two of them calmed down and were about to go home after completing the self request procedure, Allen noticed something as he was casually looking at Rebecca as she was putting away her guild license.

(Crap, now that I think about it, isn’t my rank lower than Rebecca’s?) (Allen)

Although Allen should have known this from the beginning, he was preoccupied with other things and didn't realize it. So, he left the Adventurers’ Guild feeling depressed.

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