The whole building became a mess.
“Ugh…”
“Ugh.”
Few mercenaries couldn’t hold on to the pressure and collapsed.
The floor was full of dropped weapons.
Dejan, who was closest, fainted with foams coming out from his mouth.
Reville and Lagos were not affected by the shock.
They looked around in vain as if they were mentally shocked.
Me and Lia shook our heads, thinking about Kaneff, who would be giggling at this moment in the farm.
It took 10 seconds for the guild master on the second floor to come down to the first floor.
The guild master with an impressive beard and a firm physique shouted with a puzzled look at the rare scenery on the first floor.
“ What the……..What’s going on”?
However, there was no answers that come back.
Everyone stood in their places as if they were out of their minds.
While the guild master was looking around, he came out and looked at me.
And when he found the ID trinket in my hand, his expression turned bizarre.
The guild master, who hesitated, asked with a trembling voice.
“Are……Are you…the……Ester…”?
“Coffee… Bring…some coffee to the guests…”
The receptionist I saw on the first floor came with her whole boy shaking and place a cup of coffee in front of me.
I looked at her to say thank you out of courtesy, but she was surprised and tears started to form in her eyes.
“Haah”
I sighed looking at her
Remembering the attitude she showed toward us earlier, I couldn’t feel so sorry for her.
“Why aren’t you guys sitting down? There’s a seat next to me.”
“Hmm. No, I’m fine. Mr.Sihyeon”
“We’re comfortable here.”
“……?”
Behind me, Lia, Reville, and Lagos were standing like some kind of escorts.
I was shocked to see Reville, refusing to sit down and he even started using honorifics that he never used before.
I could guess why he was acting like that, but it didn’t feel very good because it made our relationship kinda awkward.
After a while, the guild master and a man opened the door and entered the room.
“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. There was a customer who came first and I couldn’t..…”
“It’s okay.”
“I’ll officially greet you again. I’m Hardem, who is in charge of the mercenary guild of Kaldinium.”
While thinking about how to answer the polite greetings of the guild master, I just revealed his name briefly.
“I’m Lim Sihyeon.”
This time, the man wearing glasses with a slender figure took a step forward and introduced himself.
“It’s an honor to meet the esteemed Ester, I’m a merchant belonging to the Golden Clock Chamber. Name is Ergin.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Sihyeon.”
“I’ve only heard of you through rumors. I’ve never imagined that I’d really get to meet you in person.”
“What………? Rumors…….?”
At Ergin’s words, I tilted my head with a question mark hanging on my head.
“Yes. The crown has kept it a secret about what kind of person the new Esther is and why he was given the position. Many rumors have spread among those who are curious about who he is.”
It was my first time hearing this story, so I turned my head towards Lia.
She shook her head slightly as if saying she knew nothing about such things.
I was slightly curious about what rumors would have spread about me.
“What kind of rumors were they….?”
“Don’t feel uncomfortable hearing them,…they are just some baseless rumors.”
Ergin looked at me slightly and calmly opened his mouth.
“Most of them are exaggerated, focusing just to attract the attention of people. Like you can overpower an angry Yakum with one hand and something like you can control the Yakums at your will……The outrageous one among them is you can squeeze milk from a Yakum….!”
“ Hahahahah…..can you believe that. Even if its a rumor those guys should think of something that’s believable. How can a mortal being milk a Yakum. Yakum’s milk which is called the Elixir of immortality in ancient records is rumored to be in your refrigerators….that too in large quantities…..hahaha….such unbelievable rumors…Don’t you think so too.?”
Surprised in many ways, I just smiled awkwardly, while Lia who was standing me laughed by closing her mouth.
“Isn’t that because of your excellent skills? You don’t have to worry about those nonsensical rumors. Not even children would believe such rumors.”
“ Hahah….That’s a relief…”
While Ergin and I were talking, the guild master Hardem, who seemed a little impatient, coughed.
“Ahm. Mr. Ergin, if you don’t mind, can I talk to Mr. Lim Sihyeon ?”
“Hahahahah…Of course. Of course. I’m just a guest here, you can proceed. He’s yours guild master.”
At Hardem’s request, Ergin took a step back from the conversation.
“While Mr. Lim Sihyeon was waiting here, I checked what happened by asking a normal soldier, and he said that some of the mercenaries seemed to have threatened Mr.Lim Sihyeon. Is that true?”
“There was one person unilaterally picking a fight, and some followed him.…that’s all.”
“Dejan…that crazy b*stard…”
“ He was originally a person known for his notoriety in the guild; it’s my fault for not taking action against such a guy in advance. I apologize on behalf of the guild.”
He bowed his head in front of me.
“It would be a lie if I said I wasn’t offended by his actions, but I think he has already paid the price. Rather, I’m sorry for messing up the guild.”
“No, you don’t have to be sorry at all.”
“It would have been nice if we did it in moderation.”
“ No….it’s okay……I heard that you came to entrust us with a request. Can we hear what kind of request it is?”
“Mr. Lagos?”
“Ah…yes?”
“I think it would be more accurate if you explain it to them.”
At my request, Lagos opened his mouth with a nervous look.
At first, he spoke gibberish, perhaps because he was nervous, but he explained the request more accurately and in detail.
While hearing the request, guild master Hardem’s face distorted.
“Is it really that difficult to take a request from Beast-people village ?”
“well … That’s… I… I…”
As he was nervous, he spitted out strange words, and after which he sighed loudly.
“Haah… I think you already know, so I’ll be honest with you. It is not difficult to put on a request using my guild master authority. But I can’t force mercenaries to take the quest. It’s against the rules of the guild, and mercenaries will never tolerate it.”
“In the end, mercenaries have to accept the request on their own, right?”
“Yes.”
He murmured, stroking his shaggy beard.
“It would be nice if there was a proper justification…”
“Justification?”
“It’s more of a matter of pride for the mercenaries to not to be commissioned to Beast-people Village. If there was a affordable reason to bypass their pride a little bit…”
“Then why don’t we do it this way.?”
Ergin, who was quietly listening to the conversation between me and the guild master, stepped up.
“Isn’t it okay if the requester is not the Beast-people village, but the Golden Clock Chamber?”
“Ergin, what do you mean?”
“I’ll set up a trip to Elden Village. And we will be recruiting mercenaries for that reason.”
“Oh! That’s how you want to do it?”
“We could make use of the influence Golden clock chamber has on the city. On top of that, wouldn’t it be a pretty plausible justification to push the mercenaries by saying it’s for being rude to Ester?”
Hardem exclaimed, hitting his knees with his hands.
“What an exquisite way. If it’s like this, even if the mercenaries are reluctant, they won’t be able to refuse.”
“Thank you for the idea Mr. Ergin. What do you think, Mr. Sihyeon?
“Hmm…”
I looked back, delaying my answer.
From the reaction of the three, it didn’t seem to be a bad suggestion.
And above all, there was no alternative other than Ergin’s proposal.
“Okay. We’ll do as Mr. Ergin suggested.”
Ergin smiled calmly and pushed his glasses up with his hands.
“Please call me Ergin comfortably.”
After that, it proceeded quickly. Ergin immediately designated a date for visiting Elden Village and gave a official request to the guild master.
In addition, he called Lagos separately and talked about what the village needed.
After speaking for a while, Lagos bowed his head to Ergin over and over again.
The guild master said that the guild would for hiring mercenaries.
He said it was meant an apology for what happened today.
As we left the guild building, we were seen off by the guild master and Ergin himself.
I saw mercenaries withdrawing in a hurry without making eye contact.
We left the building and headed to the place where the wagon was parked.
But there were some Demons packing something hard into our wagon.
“Who are you guys?”
“Oh! We work for Mr. Ergin. We were placing the presents from Mr.Ergin in the carriage.”
“What?”
The empty carriage was packed with various gifts before we knew it.
Unknown fruits, spices, ornaments in luxurious boxes, and colorful clothes.
The most noticeable of them was a pair of birds with colorful feathers.
Lia said that it was a pet bird that’s popular with aristocrats these days…
I approached Lia and whispered softly.
“Lia. Won’t I be in big trouble if I get this?”
“Why would you get into trouble. It’s not like you are doing anything wrong”?
“……?”
“When a merchant meets a nobleman, it is very common to send a proper gift. Rather, it becomes a problem if he didn’t send a gift.”
“….”
Once again, I was confused by the sweet taste of Elitism I felt for the first time in my life.
I was shaken by the colorful gifts for a while, but I decided to just send them back.
The workers who brought gifts looked shocked at the words.
And they placed their head on the ground and began to beg for forgiveness.
“I’m sorry. If there’s a mistake, I’ll take any punishment. But please accept the gifts.”
“No. That’s not it…”.
I went to each one of them and asked them to get up.
Accepting their sincerity I decided to receive a few gifts.
The workers were nervous about it, but they understood and backed down only after I persuaded them saying several times that it was okay.
I kept the gifts that were mainly food and took out everything that will troublesome.
When I chose only what I could eat or use myself, a Demon who was watching me handed some jewelry boxes with a desperate look in his eyes.
If I didn’t take it, I thought he would roll on the ground again, so I had no choice but to put it in.
After organizing the gifts, I climbed into the wagon.
“I’ll get going now. Give my regards to Mr.Ergin….”
“I’ll make sure to say that. It was an honor to meet you Sir Ester.”
Our wagon began to move after receiving a desperate send-off from the worker Demons.
The whole building became a mess.
“Ugh…”
“Ugh.”
Few mercenaries couldn’t hold on to the pressure and collapsed.
The floor was full of dropped weapons.
Dejan, who was closest, fainted with foams coming out from his mouth.
Reville and Lagos were not affected by the shock.
They looked around in vain as if they were mentally shocked.
Me and Lia shook our heads, thinking about Kaneff, who would be giggling at this moment in the farm.
It took 10 seconds for the guild master on the second floor to come down to the first floor.
The guild master with an impressive beard and a firm physique shouted with a puzzled look at the rare scenery on the first floor.
“ What the……..What’s going on”?
However, there was no answers that come back.
Everyone stood in their places as if they were out of their minds.
While the guild master was looking around, he came out and looked at me.
And when he found the ID trinket in my hand, his expression turned bizarre.
The guild master, who hesitated, asked with a trembling voice.
“Are……Are you…the……Ester…”?
“Coffee… Bring…some coffee to the guests…”
The receptionist I saw on the first floor came with her whole boy shaking and place a cup of coffee in front of me.
I looked at her to say thank you out of courtesy, but she was surprised and tears started to form in her eyes.
“Haah”
I sighed looking at her
Remembering the attitude she showed toward us earlier, I couldn’t feel so sorry for her.
“Why aren’t you guys sitting down? There’s a seat next to me.”
“Hmm. No, I’m fine. Mr.Sihyeon”
“We’re comfortable here.”
“……?”
Behind me, Lia, Reville, and Lagos were standing like some kind of escorts.
I was shocked to see Reville, refusing to sit down and he even started using honorifics that he never used before.
I could guess why he was acting like that, but it didn’t feel very good because it made our relationship kinda awkward.
After a while, the guild master and a man opened the door and entered the room.
“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. There was a customer who came first and I couldn’t..…”
“It’s okay.”
“I’ll officially greet you again. I’m Hardem, who is in charge of the mercenary guild of Kaldinium.”
While thinking about how to answer the polite greetings of the guild master, I just revealed his name briefly.
“I’m Lim Sihyeon.”
This time, the man wearing glasses with a slender figure took a step forward and introduced himself.
“It’s an honor to meet the esteemed Ester, I’m a merchant belonging to the Golden Clock Chamber. Name is Ergin.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Sihyeon.”
“I’ve only heard of you through rumors. I’ve never imagined that I’d really get to meet you in person.”
“What………? Rumors…….?”
At Ergin’s words, I tilted my head with a question mark hanging on my head.
“Yes. The crown has kept it a secret about what kind of person the new Esther is and why he was given the position. Many rumors have spread among those who are curious about who he is.”
It was my first time hearing this story, so I turned my head towards Lia.
She shook her head slightly as if saying she knew nothing about such things.
I was slightly curious about what rumors would have spread about me.
“What kind of rumors were they….?”
“Don’t feel uncomfortable hearing them,…they are just some baseless rumors.”
Ergin looked at me slightly and calmly opened his mouth.
“Most of them are exaggerated, focusing just to attract the attention of people. Like you can overpower an angry Yakum with one hand and something like you can control the Yakums at your will……The outrageous one among them is you can squeeze milk from a Yakum….!”
“ Hahahahah…..can you believe that. Even if its a rumor those guys should think of something that’s believable. How can a mortal being milk a Yakum. Yakum’s milk which is called the Elixir of immortality in ancient records is rumored to be in your refrigerators….that too in large quantities…..hahaha….such unbelievable rumors…Don’t you think so too.?”
Surprised in many ways, I just smiled awkwardly, while Lia who was standing me laughed by closing her mouth.
“Isn’t that because of your excellent skills? You don’t have to worry about those nonsensical rumors. Not even children would believe such rumors.”
“ Hahah….That’s a relief…”
While Ergin and I were talking, the guild master Hardem, who seemed a little impatient, coughed.
“Ahm. Mr. Ergin, if you don’t mind, can I talk to Mr. Lim Sihyeon ?”
“Hahahahah…Of course. Of course. I’m just a guest here, you can proceed. He’s yours guild master.”
At Hardem’s request, Ergin took a step back from the conversation.
“While Mr. Lim Sihyeon was waiting here, I checked what happened by asking a normal soldier, and he said that some of the mercenaries seemed to have threatened Mr.Lim Sihyeon. Is that true?”
“There was one person unilaterally picking a fight, and some followed him.…that’s all.”
“Dejan…that crazy b*stard…”
“ He was originally a person known for his notoriety in the guild; it’s my fault for not taking action against such a guy in advance. I apologize on behalf of the guild.”
He bowed his head in front of me.
“It would be a lie if I said I wasn’t offended by his actions, but I think he has already paid the price. Rather, I’m sorry for messing up the guild.”
“No, you don’t have to be sorry at all.”
“It would have been nice if we did it in moderation.”
“ No….it’s okay……I heard that you came to entrust us with a request. Can we hear what kind of request it is?”
“Mr. Lagos?”
“Ah…yes?”
“I think it would be more accurate if you explain it to them.”
At my request, Lagos opened his mouth with a nervous look.
At first, he spoke gibberish, perhaps because he was nervous, but he explained the request more accurately and in detail.
While hearing the request, guild master Hardem’s face distorted.
“Is it really that difficult to take a request from Beast-people village ?”
“well … That’s… I… I…”
As he was nervous, he spitted out strange words, and after which he sighed loudly.
“Haah… I think you already know, so I’ll be honest with you. It is not difficult to put on a request using my guild master authority. But I can’t force mercenaries to take the quest. It’s against the rules of the guild, and mercenaries will never tolerate it.”
“In the end, mercenaries have to accept the request on their own, right?”
“Yes.”
He murmured, stroking his shaggy beard.
“It would be nice if there was a proper justification…”
“Justification?”
“It’s more of a matter of pride for the mercenaries to not to be commissioned to Beast-people Village. If there was a affordable reason to bypass their pride a little bit…”
“Then why don’t we do it this way.?”
Ergin, who was quietly listening to the conversation between me and the guild master, stepped up.
“Isn’t it okay if the requester is not the Beast-people village, but the Golden Clock Chamber?”
“Ergin, what do you mean?”
“I’ll set up a trip to Elden Village. And we will be recruiting mercenaries for that reason.”
“Oh! That’s how you want to do it?”
“We could make use of the influence Golden clock chamber has on the city. On top of that, wouldn’t it be a pretty plausible justification to push the mercenaries by saying it’s for being rude to Ester?”
Hardem exclaimed, hitting his knees with his hands.
“What an exquisite way. If it’s like this, even if the mercenaries are reluctant, they won’t be able to refuse.”
“Thank you for the idea Mr. Ergin. What do you think, Mr. Sihyeon?
“Hmm…”
I looked back, delaying my answer.
From the reaction of the three, it didn’t seem to be a bad suggestion.
And above all, there was no alternative other than Ergin’s proposal.
“Okay. We’ll do as Mr. Ergin suggested.”
Ergin smiled calmly and pushed his glasses up with his hands.
“Please call me Ergin comfortably.”
After that, it proceeded quickly. Ergin immediately designated a date for visiting Elden Village and gave a official request to the guild master.
In addition, he called Lagos separately and talked about what the village needed.
After speaking for a while, Lagos bowed his head to Ergin over and over again.
The guild master said that the guild would for hiring mercenaries.
He said it was meant an apology for what happened today.
As we left the guild building, we were seen off by the guild master and Ergin himself.
I saw mercenaries withdrawing in a hurry without making eye contact.
We left the building and headed to the place where the wagon was parked.
But there were some Demons packing something hard into our wagon.
“Who are you guys?”
“Oh! We work for Mr. Ergin. We were placing the presents from Mr.Ergin in the carriage.”
“What?”
The empty carriage was packed with various gifts before we knew it.
Unknown fruits, spices, ornaments in luxurious boxes, and colorful clothes.
The most noticeable of them was a pair of birds with colorful feathers.
Lia said that it was a pet bird that’s popular with aristocrats these days…
I approached Lia and whispered softly.
“Lia. Won’t I be in big trouble if I get this?”
“Why would you get into trouble. It’s not like you are doing anything wrong”?
“……?”
“When a merchant meets a nobleman, it is very common to send a proper gift. Rather, it becomes a problem if he didn’t send a gift.”
“….”
Once again, I was confused by the sweet taste of Elitism I felt for the first time in my life.
I was shaken by the colorful gifts for a while, but I decided to just send them back.
The workers who brought gifts looked shocked at the words.
And they placed their head on the ground and began to beg for forgiveness.
“I’m sorry. If there’s a mistake, I’ll take any punishment. But please accept the gifts.”
“No. That’s not it…”.
I went to each one of them and asked them to get up.
Accepting their sincerity I decided to receive a few gifts.
The workers were nervous about it, but they understood and backed down only after I persuaded them saying several times that it was okay.
I kept the gifts that were mainly food and took out everything that will troublesome.
When I chose only what I could eat or use myself, a Demon who was watching me handed some jewelry boxes with a desperate look in his eyes.
If I didn’t take it, I thought he would roll on the ground again, so I had no choice but to put it in.
After organizing the gifts, I climbed into the wagon.
“I’ll get going now. Give my regards to Mr.Ergin….”
“I’ll make sure to say that. It was an honor to meet you Sir Ester.”
Our wagon began to move after receiving a desperate send-off from the worker Demons.
