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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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‘A mage’s research is a money pit.’
For every single success, there were dozens, even hundreds, of failures.
Out of 100 research topics, only one or two would yield any results.
And among those, only a handful would be profitable.
Therefore, the financial and material losses incurred in the process were often astronomical.
‘It’s no wonder magic towers collude with nobles and merchants.’
Therefore, a research journal written by an individual mage, no matter how damaged or old, was inevitably coveted.
‘Because it allowed one to collect countless examples of failures.’
With a little tweaking, one of those failures could lead to a successful discovery.
And if it turned out to be profitable…
‘Even if it doesn’t align with the school’s pursuit of magic, they would welcome it if it brought in money.’
Of course, it was just a possibility, and this particular research journal wasn’t likely to be very profitable.
That’s why I had valued it at around 10 gold.
I subtly showed the journal to Otriokar, and he glanced at it before muttering with a hint of regret.
“It’s badly damaged. Fusion of gold and gems… an attempt to prevent the destruction of gems. It’s a topic that’s been researched for a long time. Hmm… these are some interesting failures. It’s a shame it’s so damaged.”
It would be a huge financial success if it were successful, but it was research that hadn’t yielded any results for hundreds of years and with the use of gold, even if it were successful, the profitability was questionable.
That’s why I didn’t think it was particularly valuable.
But it was still a research journal that involved the use of gold and gems.
There was no telling which of those failures might prove useful somewhere.
‘It’s a lottery ticket.’
Therefore, Otriokar also expressed interest in purchasing the journal.
“I’ll buy this too. How much are you asking for?”
“I was thinking about 10 gold for the journal.”
“Hmm. That’s not bad, considering its condition.”
It seemed he considered it a lottery ticket worth 10 gold.
“Then how much are you asking for the Basilisk?”
“100 gold.”
“100 gold?”
Otriokar asked with a puzzled look.
“Are you sure that’s enough?”
To be honest, I could have asked for more.
High-level monster corpses weren’t easily obtainable.
Even though its condition wasn’t great, just by dismantling and processing it to create and sell various items, I could easily recover 100 gold.
But I had something else in mind.
“In return, I want to become an associate member of the magic tower.”
“An associate member…”
An associate member of the magic tower.
It wasn’t a position to be taken lightly.
Becoming an associate member was as difficult as establishing a formal trade relationship.
In fact, many of the heads of high-ranking merchant guilds that had formal trade agreements with the magic tower were associate members.
The benefits of being an associate member were simple.
‘You could purchase items that the magic tower traded and receive their indirect protection.’
In return, associate members had to contribute to the magic tower.
Whether it was financial support or fulfilling their requests, some form of contribution was required.
If their contributions were deemed insufficient, their associate membership could be revoked.
‘But if you make significant contributions, you can even hire mages.’
Things that were normally only possible for affiliated nobles could be done by associate members to a limited extent.
‘But it consumes a lot of contribution points.’
Therefore, it wasn’t a status that could be easily obtained.
And on top of that, I was a warlock.
Frankly, if I hadn’t reached 5th class and hadn’t received the Mercenary Guild’s guarantee, I wouldn’t even have brought it up.
“I believe you, as the branch manager, Master Otriokar, have the authority to recommend me.”
“That’s true.”
“And I heard that supplying a high-level monster corpse at cost is considered a significant contribution by the magic tower.”
“That’s also true.”
Selling the research journal would also count towards my contribution.
“…Maintaining associate membership as an individual isn’t easy. Why would you go through such financial losses to obtain it?”
“I don’t really need to maintain it. What I want is to request artifact creation and hire a mage.”
It wasn’t even a long-term hire, just a one-time request and I didn’t even need a high-level mage.
Essentially, I needed them as identification.
It might seem excessive to obtain associate membership just for this.
However, it wasn’t.
Unless you were an associate member or a noble, hiring a mage from the magic tower was practically impossible, and artifact creation requests required years of waiting time.
‘If it can be solved with money, I’ll do it.’
It wasn’t that I didn’t value money and was spending it recklessly.
Rather, I was buying time with money, something I couldn’t buy otherwise.
“Hmm, I suppose that’s a valid reason.”
Otriokar nodded in understanding.
“Well, from the magic tower’s perspective, there’s no need to mistreat a rising star, even if he is a warlock and your companions are quite skilled too…”
And I had already shown a lot of goodwill towards the magic tower.
“Alright. Inha, I’ll recommend you for associate membership.”
It was called a recommendation, but it was just a formality.
I had contributed to the magic tower, had proven my skills, and had the Mercenary Guild’s guarantee.
And on top of that, I had the branch manager’s recommendation?
‘It’s a free pass, warlock or not.’
And if the royal family noticed and decided to lend a hand, it would be game over.
“However…”
Otriokar spoke.
“Sell me some of the gold and gems.”
I didn’t ask him how he knew.
If he had checked the research journal, he would already know that the dungeon contained gold and gems.
“…I’ll be using some of them for the request, so I can’t sell them all.”
“Even a portion would be fine.”
“…Let’s go with 5 gems and all the gold.”
Gems were both easy and difficult to obtain.
Since some nobles and the royal family had monopolized most of the gem mines, it was easy for the magic tower to acquire them if they had connections.
But without connections, they had to purchase them at a high price.
Therefore, gems were a burdensome item for the magic tower, which was always in need of funds.
‘It seems like this branch doesn’t have many.’
I sold 5 gems, all the gold, and the Basilisk corpse, receiving a promissory note worth 300 gold and 100 gold in cash.
“It’s a promissory note from the Tinairo Merchant Guild.”
“They’re trustworthy.”
It was a merchant guild directly run by a duke’s family.
Their credit was impeccable.
‘This much money in a branch of the magic tower… Otriokar wasn’t exaggerating.’
Or maybe he was personally wealthy.
Considering how easily he had paid for the troll before…
‘There are wealthy mages out there.’
There were certainly mages who earned a lot, as much as they spent.
“It’ll take about a month or two for the associate membership to be processed.”
It couldn’t be helped since we were quite far from the main tower.
As our deal concluded, Kayla approached me and handed me a pouch.
“In addition to the request payment, we also received a reward for the Basilisk search request.”
It wasn’t a significant amount.
It was an uncertain request, so no one had taken it on.
‘It’s difficult to prove that something doesn’t exist.’
Therefore, it had been neglected.
‘We unintentionally solved two neglected requests.’
It was a situation where the Mercenary Guild couldn’t help but be grateful.
It was a successful debut for us, having received the guild’s guarantee.
“They asked us to come back in two days. They said it’s for that request.”
It seemed like the first request was ready.
Our reputation spread quickly.
From the moment we registered with the Mercenary Guild, rumors about us had been circulating throughout Doriem.
Three Experts, or rather, three incredibly young Experts, and a 4th class warlock?
It was natural for us to attract attention.
We had captured a troll during a request, showing our cleverness by establishing a good relationship with the magic tower.
Word spread that we were unexpectedly decent people, and we even received favorable reviews in Normary Village, further drawing attention to ourselves.
And then, we suddenly took on a high-paying request, seemingly collaborating with other mercenaries, before announcing that the warlock had reached 5th class and received the Mercenary Guild’s guarantee.
At that point, the other mercenaries started to sense something was amiss and began to protest.
Various conspiracy theories emerged, and the most popular one was that the Doriem Mercenary Guild branch was colluding with other high-ranking nobles to support us.
And that Cereo’s party was sacrificed in the process.
In particular, the mercenaries who had worked with Cereo’s party were openly claiming that they would never abandon their comrades and flee, and that the warlock must have been up to something dirty.
Therefore, the first request was important…
“You’ve achieved a brilliant success,” Kriang said, looking at me.
“You subjugated an orc tribe single-handedly, and as if that wasn’t enough, you even subjugated a Basilisk single-handedly.”
It was called a single-handed subjugation because I had only taken my own party members on the request.
“After the Basilisk corpse was revealed, those who had been complaining are now being cautious. Especially after hearing that the magic tower’s branch manager personally came to purchase it.”
It was inevitable that the news would spread since there were many witnesses.
“You’re telling me this because someone is targeting us, aren’t you?”
Kriang smiled faintly.
“Yes, that’s right. It seems the Perseus Mercenary Group and the Moses Merchant Guild have joined forces.”
I knew those names.
They were the ones who had been bothering us when we first arrived at the inn.
They were quite radical, and I had been planning to make them pay for it later, so I remembered them.
“You’ll probably have to be careful during this designated request.”
Kriang seemed to think they would target us.
‘It’s a favor.’
It could be a favor towards us, or concern for Annelise, or perhaps we were benefiting from the goodwill towards Count Lineta’s territory.
‘It doesn’t matter either way.’
In the end, it was a benefit for me and my companions.
“Thank you for the information.”
Therefore, I expressed my gratitude sincerely.
If we were already aware of the danger, it was no longer a threat.
Rather, we could turn the tables and capture them instead.
“You’re welcome. Then I’ll tell you about the request. It’s not that difficult. You just have to retrieve an item.”
“An item?”
“Yes. There’s a relic that was discovered recently.”
‘A relic?’
“It’s not an artifact. It appears to be a book from ancient times, and we’re trying to purchase it. We disguised it as a merchant’s request, but it’s actually our request.”
A book from ancient times…
“Any mage would be interested in that.”
It didn’t even have to be related to magic.
‘Information from ancient times, when magic was more advanced. They would be interested even if it’s not directly related to magic.’
It wasn’t strange.
“One of the elders from the Blue Tower was also interested in it, but they gave up after discussing it with us. The seller also wanted to sell it to us.”
Even an elder from the Blue Tower couldn’t afford to antagonize the royal family.
It was a natural choice.
The seller must have felt pressured as well.
“However, it would take a long time to send someone from the royal family, so we decided to request your assistance. The seller also wanted it to be retrieved as soon as possible since it’s so valuable.”
‘It seems like the owner isn’t that powerful.’
It wasn’t strange considering it was a chance discovery.
It was unlikely that it was an individual.
They would have simply taken it by force if it were.
It was most likely a noble.
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