Payment and Loot

I put my hand on the door of the guild office and pushed it. The administration table was empty. Sumia was nowhere to be seen. However, a woman with a sleeping gown immediately came downstairs.

"It's closing hours, what do you want?" Sumia yawned before he noticed that it was me. "Bloody hell, that was quick, Alfie." Sumia headed straight into the guild treasury. She went into the door in the back room and returned with a black plate in her hand.

On the black plate, it was written, "10,000 Arleum" on it. I didn't know what it was made of, but I wasn't sure that it was gold. Still, it looked legit with markings and all.

"I assume you don't know what that is, right?" Sumia chuckled. "It's a black Damascus Kira, one of the most valuable materials that it's been made into money material. This is the currency that the whole world uses, due to the order from the world council."

I just nodded, not even knowing what a world council was. However, I could conclude that the world council was some sort of government that managed the world in some minor way.

"However, with the collapse of the world council, so does the order of peace, the only remaining thing that everyone agrees to use is this currency," Sumia sighed.

So, some kind of old-world organization, eh? Well, how the hell did it collapse anyhow? It was not like a single major conflict would collapse the United Nation just in one day. An interesting story, though.

"Anyway, here's the child," I let down the child from my hand.

The child didn't want to move, instead, it hugged my body without any reason. I crouched down on the ground to match the stance of the child.

"Listen, I'm sorry, but I really can't babysit you around, ok?" I smiled at the child.

The child looked down in sadness but she understood what I meant as she walked toward Sumia. Well, for me, that's one less problem. Right now, where the hell did Sawyer go? Don't tell me he got killed by those people.

"Knock knock!" Sawyer slammed the door, carrying a leather backpack on his back and an M16 in his left hand.

"Holy shit, a bandit???" Sumia shouted.

"Sawyer, hey, glad to see you well, buddy," I walked in his direction.

Sawyer took off his headwrap and put the backpack on the ground. The backpack was filled to the brim, but I didn't know what he used it for. Opening the leather backpack, I noticed coins, a bunch of them.

"HOLY MOLY, did you loot them all?" I asked as I put my hands on the pile of coins.

"No, I just looted the bodies that I could loot," Sawyer responded.

"Damn," I put the 10,000 Arleum on that backpack.

"Well, well, it looks like you got some loot there," Sumia chuckled as she approached the backpack.

"Yeah, no shit, what should we even do with it?" I asked.

"Well, I can count it for you and exchange it into more compact currency, such as the Damascus Kira," Sumia commented. "For a price, of course," she said.

"How much?" I asked.

"200 Arleum," Sumia said.

Looking at how packed Sawyer's backpack was, it might be a good idea to exchange the money for Damascus Kira, I also noticed gold coins in the backpack, it might be worth more than expected. Personally, there might be 20,000 Arleum in the backpack.

I put the backpack on top of the administration table and Sumia put it inT the backroom, among the guild treasury. No longer after this, it would turn into morning. We better return to the ruined mansion and find out what we could do with 10,000 Arleum.

"Alright, I should finish tomorrow, have a good night, you two," Sumia smiled.

"Yeah, you too," Sawyer smiled back at her.

Sawyer opened the door of the guild and I followed him from behind. In front of the guild, two horses were standing still. One was Sumia's, but whose horse was the other one?

"Did you take a horse from those kidnappers?" I asked.

"Of course, why do you think I can arrive this fast?" Sawyer replied as he embarked on the horse. He then offered his hand, "C'mon, hop in."

We rode the horse to the ruined mansion. Sawyer tied down the horse on one of the posts in the mansion and we entered the room where we put our sleeping mattress and all. I put my backpack next to the window and my M16 right next to the backpack.

We sat down on our sleeping mat as I put the 10,000 Arleum in front of us. That was a lot of money, but considering what the village had, I wouldn't even think that we could spend 500 Arleum in this village.

"Hmm, interesting, hey, what if we put this thing on the vending machine in the bunker?" Sawyer gave me an idea.

"That's a good idea. I also noticed that we could purchase items with credits there, maybe, just maybe, we could exchange items using this," I said as I picked up the 10,000 Arleum.

I opened the hidden entrance to the bunker and opened the blast door. I kept my attention on my consciousness, this place was a practical death trap as far as I considered, especially with the amount of CO2 in this bunker.

The vending machine, both Sawyer and I didn't have any idea how this vending machine worked. However, suddenly, a quest appeared on our watch. The quest was a tutorial on how to use the vending machine.

[P.I.D]

Current Objective:

- Use The Vending Machine

- Exchange Local Currency for Credits by Putting Item Into The Side of The Machine

- Buy Item From a Vending Machine

"Ok, that sounds simple," I shrugged.

I looked at the side of the vending machine and noticed that there was an item chute for putting items. I put the Damascus Kira plate in that chute and nothing happened, at least, from outside. However, I immediately found out something else.

[Item Vending Terminal]

[Item Search:]

[Filter]

[Credits: 10,000]

"Hmm, it looks simple enough. What should we buy?" Sawyer asked.

"Ammunition? Armor? Helmet, even?" I suggested.

"I think armor will be the best option, do you have any suggestion?" I asked Sawyer.

In this world of swords and magic, going through a situation without any armor would be a guaranteed way to kill me or even Sawyer. Plus, we couldn't guarantee that we would go out of every situation practically unharmed.

I searched for armor that I usually wore when I expected heavy combat. It was equipped with level V ballistic plates, capable of resisting armor-piercing sniper bullets.

[Paraclete Armis 3.0]

[2x Level V+ Ballistic Plates]

[2x Level V+ Side Plates]

[2x Level IV Shoulder Protectors]

[2x Level IV Deltoid Protectors]

[1x Level III+ Stab-Resistant Armor]

Total: [5,000 Credits]

"That costs a lot, doesn't it?" Sawyer commented.

"Well, for your protection, always have to provide the best, right?" I asked.

Level IV or V plates would protect a regular body from an armor-piercing sniper bullet on Earth. Even though the ceramic plates wouldn't protect much against anti-vehicle weapon, it would suffice against the threat of this world.

"Let's focus on the most important thing first, our head," Sawyer tapped my shoulder, reminding me not to waste our money.

"Ok..."

[Ops-Core FAST Helmet, Low Cut]

[1x Level III+ Ballistic Helmet]

[1x Rails Package]

Total: [1,700 Credits]

"Yeah, buy two of them," Sawyer nodded.

I pressed the green buy button. Two helmets came out in the same manner as the container. The vending machine opened and two helmets appeared inside of a box. We wore it on our head, the size-matched, at least. The helmet was for special operation with its rails and giggles for accessories.

"Hmm, the armor is the only thing left, isn't it?" I asked.

"Yeah, but the head is always our number one priority, isn't it?" Sawyer then commented.

"Right."

There were still 6,600 credits left, we spent the money to buy 1,000 rounds of M855 5.56 ammunition. It cost 600 credits, but it would be worth the money.

We returned upstairs before the carbon dioxide poisoned us, closed the blast door behind us, and went back to the place where we slept. I threw more logs into the fire to make it a little bit bigger.

"Alfie, say, what are you going to do with this village?" Sawyer asked.

"We'll help them to the best of our ability, but right now, the major problem is money," I said.

Without any money, no road could be fixed. Without any money, we couldn't buy anything that would make the lives of these villagers any easier. Without any money, the village wouldn't be prosperous enough to attract tourists or adventurers to the guild.

"So, what's your plan?" Sawyer asked.

"We armed ourselves first, get some jobs from the guild to get more money, and finally, we can start rebuilding this village," I replied.

"It sounds like a hefty task, doesn't it?"

"Well, wait until we have to train them to defend ourselves. I did not doubt that yesterday's bandit attack could have obliterated this village," I insisted.

Sawyer nodded. Both of us were tired, time to go to bed to see what morning would offer to us.