6 I'll Be Your Porter for Today

~Chapter 6: I'll Be Your Porter for Today

Miyena hurriedly attended to Jeremiah's request. She opened the sack and casually picked a rusty sword among the bunch; her masterful movement made sure that she wasn't cut even if her eyes were closed. Miyena inspected the blade, then the chape, and lastly, the hilt.

In such a short span of time, she already deduced that the weapon wasn't made through simple means, like casting. "It's… a genuine iron sword," she quietly muttered. Jeremiah nodded, it was just as he expected. "However, I could not authenticate this thing further." Miyena regretfully added.

Jeremiah froze for a moment, "Why?"

"It's simply outside my field of expertise. I learned the art of casting from my father. Having an abundant supply of Yegneel here in the city made that method much easier than doing actual forging." Miyena bluntly explained. She sighed and returned the sword back inside the sack, "I suggest you look for a master blacksmith in the capital city. From the looks of the hilt, I can tell that this sword's origin isn't something ordinary."

'That's because it's a sword from the fallen Aishkafel army,' Jeremiah commented, but could not voice his thoughts out loud. He'd rather keep the secret of these sword's excavation to himself. He only wished to authenticate the weapon's quality, but not their origin. He was certain that they were indeed swords from the demon invasion. If he could somehow repair these swords to their former glory and equip his elite squad of swordsmen, wouldn't his position as a hero become better among the other heroes? The thought made Jeremiah excited.

"Alright. Thank you for your service. I'll do as you suggested." Jeremiah said and placed four silver coins atop the counter. Miyena took the coins, however, she handed it back to Jeremiah, "Please, Lord Jeremiah, take it back. I did nothing of value for you today."

Jeremiah shrugged and waved his hand, "What you suggested is good enough for decent pay. Keep it." Jeremiah left the shop. Kirin, who kept silent the whole time, took the sack and followed.

…

"So, you're going to purchase all the swords then?" Kirin asked. Jeremiah kept silent for a moment before replying, "I'd gladly do so, however, I still need someone's confirmation. How about this, I'll buy one sword, then pay for a reservation. I'll get back to you in two days."

"Two days? Hmmm," Kirin pondered, 'That's not too bad. I'll have some time to learn a few things about this world's economy while this guy is gone. And I'll have a guaranteed sale as well.' "Sure, we'll see each other back here in two days then?"

Jeremiah nodded. Kirin handed over an iron sword and Jeremiah paid 43 gold— the exact price 'suggested' by the system— and gave 39 more, a gold each to reserve the remaining swords. 'Well, the system isn't reacting with this or anything, so it should be fine.' The idea of a reservation doesn't seem to interfere with the quest, so Kirin dismissed his worry. The quest tab updated and showed a successful transaction, which meant the gold, as well as the, exchanged good, were all legitimate.

The two starkly different persons parted ways. One heading to the capital, and the other, randomly walking among the people of Vani City. Once more, Kirin saw the same scene of adventurers being assisted by multiple porters before leaving the city.

"Being a porter doesn't seem to be too enticing of a job…" Kirin commented. He could clearly see that not all porters were weak. Some having one or two levels higher than the adventurer(s) they were with. At most, a single porter even outranked a five-member party. This odd thing made Kirin dismiss the thought that it might have something to do with the "strong eats the weak" mentality.

Going by that logic, shouldn't those weaker adventurers be the one assisting those strong porters?

Things didn't make sense, which only made Kirin more curious. "Perhaps I could try becoming a porter?" he thought. He now had two idle days where he could not make any progress with his quest whatsoever. Of course, he could try and find others who are willing to purchase the swords, at a much higher price, but the thought seemed impossible. The base price sounded ridiculous, even for Kirin— although he had not entirely grasped the monetary value of the copper, silver, and gold coins, he assumed that a single gold coin should equate to, at least, a hundred USD.

'I might understand more about this world if I try and mingle with the bottom class. Who knows, perhaps I could make friends along the way,' Kirin thought, convincing himself to try becoming a porter. On paper, the idea didn't sound bad at all.

Kirin went with the crowd's flow and tracked down the place where all the porters and adventurers were coming from. He was led to an impressive looking three-story building at the northern part of the city. Written on its signboard— 'The Adventurer's Guild'.

"Ah," Kirin let out a flimsy reaction. He didn't need to be a fan of fantasy to know what those three words meant. "Are porters required to register?" he wondered. Registration, in fact, was the very first thought that came to his mind when he read the words, 'The Adventurer's Guild'

Kirin entered the building, however, what he saw was different from what he expected.

Too few people were inside, making the already huge place appear more spacious. Because the place was empty enough, the few people inside immediately noticed Kirin. As someone who dressed casually (not like he had a choice), Kirin looked nothing like an adventurer; he couldn't even be mistaken as a merchant or a peddler. His meek appearance, and the fact that he entered the guild's building, probably meant that he was likely a porter looking for a job.

"It's quite late for you to get any decent jobs right now, young lad. I suggest you go back tomorrow morning. The earlier, the better," an old man sitting adjacent to a corner table commented, a bright smile painted on his wrinkled face.

The building didn't seem to lack certain 'commodities' an organization should have— It even had its own lounge! 'Nice touch, but what an odd placement… Who puts lounges so close to an entrance?' Kirin inwardly criticized, however, it was not the point why he was here.

He looked towards the counter. A special wooden table made to circumscribe the middle portion of the first floor could be seen. A dozen receptionists were working inside the circular counter. At the centermost part of the special table, a sundial could be seen; illuminated by light coming from the hollow portion of the building roof that went through the entire three floors.

The old man was right— It was quite late.

According to the sundial, it should already be mid-late afternoon. 'No wonder this place is empty. Most adventurers had already set off for the day.' Kirin concluded. He was about to leave when a group of adventurers suddenly came rushing towards him, "Kind sir, do you happen to be a porter looking for a job? We're in great need for someone like you right now!" a young woman in white and purple robes said.

Judging from the direction the group came from, Kirin was certain that they weren't "late" like he was. They had been in the building before he did, which meant that they were early, yet could not find a porter to assist them. Kirin mentally counted the members of the group; there was twelve of them, including the young woman. 'Is she the leader?' he wondered. - ['System's Eye']

From the twelve status screens, only the young woman had favorable attributes, suggesting she might be the leader, or at the very least, the spokesperson of the group. Kirin didn't delve deeper into the details of each and every one. Besides the names, he barely scanned through anything else. Majority of them were level ones', and only the young woman, whose name was Marianna— a spirit priestess— attained a level of three.

So far, Kirin had not met anyone who had a higher level than him, which was odd, to say the least.

The old man sitting in the corner of the lounge purposely coughed and said, "Yeah right, you youngsters really need someone else's help. Hahaha, I'd rather sit here all day and earn nothing than go with you lousy bunch. I'd suggest that you do the same," looking at Kirin with a wink.

"Aw, come on now old Lou, don't be like that. We're just new to the business, that's all." a person behind Marianna, Zeph, commented with an awkward smile.

"What's wrong with your group?" Kirin inquired.

'We're just… not that good at doing dungeon raids, that's all, heh." Zeph replied, still having that awkward smile while scratching the back of his head.

The old man Lou laughed as he watched the scene unfold— Twelve young adventurers' lining up in front of a stranger with pleading eyes. It had been the usual routine of the 'Purge Party' to hire random innocent porters ever since they were discovered as a terrible party to be raiding with. Of course, Old Lou couldn't blame these naive youngsters; they're just kindled young spirits seeking for adventure and the tempting profits that come along with it.

"Uh-huh. Well, that's not too big of a deal. Sure, I can be your porter for today." Kirin replied,

Old man Lou choked, albeit not having anything to eat or drink, after hearing Kirin's reply. He was about to refute when he saw that the young man was simply smiling, seemingly unfazed.

"That's too ba— Wait, you agree?" Marianna was caught off guard by Kirin's answer as well. She thought that she'd have to resort to pitiful pleading, but it turns out, people are more agreeable than what she expected. 'And here I thought another day would pass without us having to do anything.'

"Sure. However," Kirin paused, glancing at the counter, "I just arrived here and pretty much a stranger to this city. I am unsure whether or not porters here need to register before going with a raiding party," Kirin carefully worded out his thoughts. He couldn't bluntly say that he knew nothing and have others believe him somehow. It was absurd, even for him. He needed to act as if he knew how to get around. Only by doing so would things run smoothly for him.

A fool would only get fooled even more if he acts as is. In business, putting up a facade is just as important as having an emergency plan in case of a bankruptcy. Kirin needed to put up a little act of his own while he's in this mysterious fantastical world.

"Register? No sir, I don't think porters need to register themselves here either. Adventurers are the ones responsible for paying them." Marianna answered. The other members of the 'Purge Party' nodded in agreement. "Don't worry sir. We'll make sure to compensate you properly." Zeph added.

"Uh-huh, thanks." It would seem like Kirin's worries were for nothing.

'So porters don't need to register, but adventurers do. Porters are recruited by adventurers instead of the opposite, which means porters are fewer in number than adventurers.' Kirin concluded.

'However, adventurers are the ones deciding how much they'd pay for their porters. Even if most porters are stronger in terms of level, their abilities aren't really suited for raiding or combat, and could not refute such imbalance exchange. In the end, it's up to the porters to wisely choose the party they'd want to work with.'

What looked like a simple supply and demand for manpower somehow became complicated due to the presence of a power system. Kirin did not need to worry, however. Even though he doesn't have magical abilities (besides the System's Eye), he was confident enough that he'd do well in combat. Albeit one month certainly wasn't enough for him to become a master; at the very least, his level 40 gave him an edge— a really, really, sharp edge— over everyone around.

---

After about two hours, including the twenty-minute travel from the guild's building to the city gates, the Purge Party assisted by their temporary porter, Kirin, arrived at the Malayeen Dungeon.

The permit issued by the guild allowed the Purge Party to explore the dungeon for three more days. They paid two gold coins to acquire a week-long permit, but with how terrible they were at handling raids, they weren't even able to earn half of what they paid for after continuously failing for three-days. Because of the consecutive failure, they thought that no porter would ever work with them on their fourth try. Kirin's presence was a blessing for the party.

"So this is the dungeon? It doesn't look much…" Kirin commented.

"Uh-huh. The exterior isn't really much, but the creatures inside are terrifying enough for it to be D-rank in difficulty," Zeph replied.

Marianna nodded, "It is a naturally formed cave that manifested because of a magic core. Ordinary jungle animals are attracted to these cores and are then transformed to become terrifying beasts."

Zeph gave Marianna a confused look, "I don't think mister Kirin is that oblivious about dungeons. I am pretty sure they're as common there, where he lives, as they are here. Right, Mr. Kirin?"

Kirin smiled and nodded, "Just call me Kirin. You can drop the honorifics, our ages aren't that far off."

"But… you look much older than us," a member of the Purge Party said.

"Ah." Kirin paused and caressed his bearded chin, 'Perhaps... because of the beard?' he thought.

"I am not really that old," Kirin could only repeat himself.

"Okay, that's enough bothering sir Kirin. Let's just thank him for cooperating with us for today." Marianna said. "If we start immediately, we'll finish a good route before midnight," she added.

The Purge Party then entered the unassuming Malayeen Dungeon.