After entrusting Dan to the priest, we returned to the guild.
“Teto, I’m going to sell this. Is that okay with you?”
“Teto has already eaten the head part, so Majo-sama can do whatever she wants nodesu~”
Teto has really put up with it after considering I would help the orphanage. I thought I had to make up for it this time, so I went into the guild and went to the receptionist at the counter.
“Hello. I have a bit of a consultation to make. Is that alright?”
“Yes, what is it? Have you thought about selling the magic stone and the land dragon's blood from yesterday?"
“Something like that. Can you prepare a private room?”
When the receptionist and the counter staff led us to the room, I quickly put something on the table. “Naa?! A big magic stone! This isn’t a land dragon! Then is it a high-ranking monster?!”
“N-No way! Did Chise-san’s group defeat them?! For a monster like that to appear… this would make a great uproar!”
I told the guild staff, who were about to freak out, in a calm way what was going on.
“This is an heirloom magic stone that has been handed down through my family. It might be somewhere around A-rank in scale. I’ll be selling it to the guild. Actually, rather than that I plan to give it to the guild for an accommodation” (T/N: Asking for a favor instead of money. Not suspicious at all…)
“Wh-What?! This k-kind of bribery is not allowed!”
Well, at first glance it does look like I’m asking for an illegal act like raising my rank but how could that be? I wouldn’t stoop low for that. Hmph!
“What are you saying? I’d like you to buy potions if we have them. I’m in contact with a boy from the orphanage that I have a bit of a connection to. I was thinking of teaching that child how to make potions.”
“Hee, orphanage? Potions? The church from yesterday?!”
The two guild workers started to worry that they couldn't decide on their own. "......I-I can't make a decision so quickly. Let me inform the guild master first." "Yes, thank you. I'd also like to talk to the guild master if that's possible." With that, Teto and I waited there.
Not too long after, a man came inside the private room. “You guys, what’re the ridiculous things y’all are starting?” (T/N: Hard to put it in translation, but this guy talks like a gangster)
A deep, resonant voice and a well-trained body, as well as the ability to release mana by strengthening the body to intimidate us. Since this was the case, I used all of my mana to return the intimidation back.
The same was true for Teto, and if anything, Teto dropped the calm expression on her face and started to let out mana in all directions. The receptionist and the person working the sales counter were shaking so hard that they were huddling in the corner. Their teeth were chattering so loud that it could be heard all across the room. So, we dispelled our auras in unison.
“Sorry, my bad, I wanted to try out that sort of appearance. They said a C-rank brought an A-rank magic stone, so I got to test it out”
“What bad taste. And that magic stone is my heirloom, so it’s not like I subdued the monster myself.”
I had actually killed the water hydra and taken its head, but they wouldn't have to know that.
“So, can you give me more details regarding this favor?”
“Yes. For the sake of helping an orphanage I have a connection with, I’m planning on teaching the children to make potions and encourage them to become independent.”
"That's a crazy thing to do. First of all, it takes skill to do [Concoction].” The talent for [Concoction] was not the talent to make potions, but the ability to infuse things with mana.
Instead of making things happen with mana like a witch, it was a talent that made the healing herbs, called catalysts, work better and turn them into a potion. In order for a mana to be put into a potion, a certain amount of mana was required.
“If they can’t learn [Concoction], there’s no way you can help the orphanage.”
“No, they can absolutely learn it.”
“...To say so much, is there such a talented person?”
The guild master was convinced of such, but unfortunately I haven’t actually seen such talent.
However, in the worst case, even if none of the children were suitable, I could create a [Concoction] skill orb with [Creation Magic] and secretly give the skills and mix [Seed of Magic] with the food to increase their amount of mana.
(E/N: Is it just me? I’ve thought of this in a long while but what if Majo-sama could just mass produce or just simply create gold coins using her magic. Wouldn’t that be super cool? And also very efficient?) (T/N: I think Chise was talking about uhhh. Not cheating like that. And causing hyper-inflation isn't great >.<)
“From the guild’s standpoint, no matter who makes the potion, we’ll buy it. For an orphanage I can buy it at a high price, but I haven’t actually received a request, so I’d guess you’re asking for something else?”
Maybe because Teto and I returned the intimidation, but the guild master in front of me who seemed to be a retired high-rank adventurer treated me like an equal partner.
"All I want is for the kids to be safe."
“Safety?”
"Yes, safety. Up until now, the kids' only job has been to gather herbs outside of town. If they can be put together to make potions, the importance of those children is very high.” We wouldn’t know if they could be kidnapped and imprisoned to make potions. On the other hand, they could be welcomed by people who claim to be the child's real parents and take the children in as their foster child. “The safety of a child separated from the orphanage cannot be protected. That’s why I want the guild and the guards to work together to keep the kids safe. And it doesn't make sense to just try and save only one orphanage. I want to make a good example so that you can save other orphanages too." “You……In the shape of a child, but more like a hag……” (T/N: Babaa. Not sure what to use here because the only other term I can think of is well. Witch.) (E/N: or old woman XD)
He looked at it with a lot of suspicion, but that's probably because of how different I look from what I'm talking about. Well, I don't really remember my past life well, but if I had died at a good age, being called a ‘hag’ might not be wrong after all. Also, if my mana kept going up in this world, my aging would slow down, so the difference between how old I look and how old I am would get bigger. The guild master then put his arms across his chest and groaned. “Protecting children? Does that mean that the escorts will always be stuck to the children in the orphanage? It’s impossible. How long can that continue?”
The guild master said to protect in a simple manner as an escort, but I shook my head.
“That’s not the case. Having a trusted adventurer lead, teach the correct method of collecting herbs, and talk in an indirectly friendly manner. If there’s those sort of adult eyes, it’s also a deterrent to those idiots, and if they can identify the other person even if kidnapped, the guards can rescue them in the name of maintaining security.”
"Of course, isn't that also a way to protect?" “Also, when the children graduate from the orphanage and become independent alchemists, the demand for medicinal herbs would increase and the herbs outside of town wouldn’t be enough. If that happens, they’ll have to search for herbs around the 1st or 2nd level of the dungeon.”
Even in the plains of the dungeon, you could find general medicinal herbs, and since it was a dungeon, they could grow back quickly. Only people with a D or higher rank can go into the dungeon, but I also said it would be nice if children could, with help from the adults, kill monsters on the first and second floors and level up to get more mana. “Besides that, I want you as a guild to tell the lord that you don’t want to reduce the money going to the orphanage just because the orphanage can make potions and become independent”
“Why’s that? If the orphanage becomes independent, wouldn’t they not need that money?”
“What if the orphanage loses the knowledge of compounding that was given to it? Until then, there will be no money coming in. Besides, what would happen to the orphanage if people came from far away abandon their children after hearing rumors that the orphanage is independent?”
If they didn't have any reserves, they would go bankrupt right away. Besides, someday it would be necessary to either rebuild or expand the orphanage, and considering that problem, you would need an endless amount of money. “If you come up with any other problems……”
“W-Wait, wait! I understand what Jou-chan means. I mean, worrying about such distant future, are you some civilian serving the nobility?”
Once I had started thinking about ways to protect the children from all possibilities, like building an underground shelter so that even if a monster like the hydra which I fought attacked, they could escape.
The guild master quickly stopped my thoughts that had started flying away through the outer space.
"For the time being, I get the story. As a member of the guild, I'll work with you and tell the lord about your problems. “Yes, thank you.”
I would, of course, teach them how to make potions, but if I had enough money, I could also teach them how to cook and sell cookies at food stands or something similar to teach them the basics of business. Or, it might be better if I turned the orphanage into a place where kids could learn a trade. For example, I could ask a retired, injured adventurer to teach a course on adventuring. I could also teach more than one compounding recipe to help kids become more independent and so on. “Anyways, why do you care so much about the orphans?”
“I don’t have any parents and I was curious so I couldn’t help it” (T/N: Sounds tsundere. And depressing)
Having said that, a strange silence fell onto the guild room. Since I was reincarnated by a goddess and came to this world, I had no parents, so my conscience’s meddlesomeness heated up. Besides, I was lucky enough to have the [Creation Magic] skill and survived. I think it’s okay to give the children a way to live.
“To start with, I’ll make that proposal and talk about it with the church priest and lord. I’ll also coordinate with the other guilds.”
“Thank you for listening. I’ll transfer the magic stone to the guild as is.”
“You’re too generous. Even if you say so I can’t pay you back.”
Then, after leaving the guild, we dove into the dungeon late. I didn’t feel like half-mindedly picking herbs today, so I went to the 21st floor, turned back to the 20th floor, and struck the land dragon with lightning before Teto cut off its limbs and defeated it.
After getting the land dragon's magic stone and dragon skin, we went back to the guild to sell them. Since I had brought an A-rank monster's magic stone around noon, the B-rank land dragon's magic stone was looked at with suspicion, as if I had hunted it. But considering what I was trying to do, I needed money, so I gave it to him, got the eight small gold coins, and headed toward the town.
