Chương 14

Merchant Ellen"You really have a head for this, don't you? Are you sure you want to be an adventurer?" Ellen smiled politely at the man's words, waiting for him to finish looking over her latest attempt. The slate was full of numbers and squiggles, showing the hypothetical expenses and revenue of a pretend route through various cities. The exercise was more complicated than it looked. Each leg of the trip between cities had a different length of time, and each city had different prices for each commodity.

The 'game' was to try to maximize profit within as little time as possible, with the typical method of buying low and selling high. Every iteration of the game, the merchant had added more cities, different travel times, and put other restrictions on it. Sometimes the demand dropped if a city wasn't reached within a certain time. Often, she had a limited budget to start with.

The merchant had said that more advanced versions of this 'game' were played in the Guild quite often, and those would have competing merchants that would alter the supply and demand values for cities, and include random events to deal with. It was surprisingly fun, for a game that was just about numbers and profit. The game wasn't too hard at first… Ellen had moved in with Village Ellen after waking up next to her twin, ceding the 'adventurer' role to her 'sister' without complaint.

Death by spider bite made her glad that they tended to forget the last bit of their previous lives, but another death was worrying. Once at the inn she had spent most of her time learning about the management of the inn itself, instead of serving customers… because there had been no customers for almost three days. That was the downside of being one of the out of the way roads. The traffic was common enough to sustain business, but it wasn't predictable.

By the time Mister Pulani had arrived, Ellen was eager to hitch a ride. If she'd had more equipment she would have taken the trip by herself, hiking to Merriweather instead of riding. Until Onroc had better shelter, though, the tent was needed there, and they were rapidly running out of bedrolls and boots. Again. She'd borrowed the new Adventurer Ellen's boots for this trip, at Hunter Ellen's suggestion. Adventurer Ellen had quickly figured out it was a way to keep her from running off into the dungeon again.

She'd been gracious about the trick, but it put a lot of pressure on Ellen to perform. Carrying Adventurer Ellen's Guild card was also a big leap of trust. Or… it would have been a big leap of trust if they weren't all the same person with similar goals.

"We're here." The deep, calm voice up front announced the arrival with the same stoic professionalism Ellen had heard from him the entire trip. Cort didn't talk much, but after two days with the beefy, muscular warrior she'd picked up on the fact that he listened more than he let on. The man was probably going to change Class to a merchant of some kind once he got too old to swing the sword.

"Thanks, Cort!" Ellen called out to the man in front.

"I'll see you later at the market!" Pulani chuckled, "Be careful out there, Miss. It was nice of you to keep the two of us company." Ellen winked and dropped three crests on her seat.

"The pleasure was mine! I learned a lot… and always pay for what you take, right?" Three crests was more than needed for just the trip, but she'd learned a lot. It was most of her remaining money—she had one crest and a few bits left—but that shouldn't be a problem shortly. Only after the cart had trundled away further into the city did Ellen walk toward the Adventurer's Guild… and open her Level Up options.

She'd tested Hunter Ellen's theory by focusing entirely on learning bookkeeping and trading, and slacking off at other work at the inn. More specifically, she let Builder Ellen handle her chores while she practiced her numbers.

"Time to see if Hunter Ellen was right." SELECT CLASS Your actions during the training levels have given you the following Class options. Merchant Scholar Tender Performer Laborer Artisan Fighter Hunter Interesting that Hunter was still on the list even though she'd done nothing at all for it. Did the walk from Onroc to the village count for that much? It was at the bottom of the list, though. Her compatibility must be low, if it worked like everyone assumed.

She selected Merchant and then chose Willpower for her attribute bonus—she had the option for Perception, and Appraisal would be a useful choice, but Pulani had said that was a frequent mistake people new to Merchant made. There was one Perk in particular she really wanted, after talking to him. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. SELECT PERK You may select a Perk at this time.

Gambler's Face Hard Bargain Memory for Faces Suppress Anger Without hesitation she selected Gambler's Face. Making her emotions harder to read was definitely top of the list, with what she'd been planning the entire trip. She'd had too long to think through the possibilities, and now she had a plan. The other Ellens might not like what she was about to do, but in the long run it made a lot more sense than anything else.

Now with her Level 6 selection complete, Ellen took a breath to steady her nerves and pushed the door to the Guild open.

"Ellen!" She nearly bolted in shock at her name being called out, head whipping around. Her foot slid back, outside the doorway, before she caught sight of who had called for her. Then she relaxed. Good thing I have the previous Adventurer Ellen's memories, she thought to herself. The man who'd called out was familiar to her, but Village Ellen or Builder Ellen or even Hunter Ellen wouldn't have known him.

Ellen put on a warmer, relaxed smile that she mostly felt, even if her heart was still pounding from the unexpected use of her name.

"Edmund! You startled me!" She gave the other adventurer a wave, then stepped forward and closed the door behind her.

"I didn't expect to see you still in town. How are you and the Thorns doing, anyway?" Miriam, the woman who was clearly a mage, still glowered at her. The blonde would be a lot more pleasant if she didn't scowl at literally everyone. Ellen tried to give her a weak smile, but she didn't react. At least she didn't scowl more, so that was a small win. Edmund chuckled, leaning back in his chair with his arms behind his head.

"We're… surviving. Still down one member, and most of the jobs around here are pretty lean. Thinking about moving in further to the capital but we have to stay in the area for a little while longer. I don't suppose you've changed your mind? A four-person party can tackle some of the Silver jobs posted." Ellen shook her head.

"Sorry, I have things to do. Maybe someday." She started to turn away, then had a second thought. She remembered clearly what Pulani had told her. Never ignore opportunity for goodwill, especially if it costs you nothing. She put on her smile again and looked at Vincent, the calm robed man who didn't seem to care that she was standing around, this time.

"Vincent, wasn't it? How are you with poisons? Curing or preventing them, I mean?" Edmund raised an eyebrow, and even Miriam's scowl softened for a moment in surprise at the question. Vincent finally looked at her again and frowned.

"Better if I know what kind of poison," he said slowly.

"Is there a problem?" Ellen smiled back at him and the rest of the group.

"I'm not sure if I'll join, but maybe later. Even if I don't… I might be able to find a job for you. A good one, too. If you're going to be here for a while, I'll get back to you when I know a little more, all right?" Miriam finally spoke, surprising Ellen with her lilting, almost musical voice.

"Why would you do us that favor? Why not take it yourself?" The question made Ellen's cheeks start to warm… but she found it easy to calm herself. Her new Perk must help her control her blush as well as her expressions.

"Well… truth is I tried, and had to back off." She gestured to the counter.

"But I really have to handle some stuff right now, I have another errand to run after this. I'll talk about it later, okay? You've all been pretty nice to me, why not return the favor." Edmund grinned at her, catching the way she was stretching the 'all' in that statement.

"Sure, we tend to hang out here lately. We should be around unless something good comes along."

"Not likely," Vincent grumbled. Ellen gave the healer a pleasant smile before turning away, heading back to the counter. By now the clerk on duty was attentive and waiting, though she looked a little bored. This was a different clerk than last time, Ellen noticed. Aside from being a woman, she had a scar over one eye and a weathered look. Ellen guessed her age at the early fifties. The dark hair was tied back in a ponytail, and either retained its color or had an excellent dye job.

For being middle aged, she looked very fit. Possibly an ex-adventurer herself.

"New to the area?" The bored expression of the woman didn't change. Ellen didn't blame her. Paperwork for new adventurers was probably not the most thrilling thing, and from the way the Guild had been quiet every visit, the adventuring opportunities in the area seemed pretty thin of late.

"No, no! Well, kind of," Ellen admitted while waving her hand.

"I'm already registered, though. I've just been off toward the border. I'm surprised things aren't more active here… I guess being at peace with the Theocracy is keeping it tame." The woman grunted in reply. Ellen hurried to continue.

"Actually I had something to report." She flashed her Guild card, which properly gleamed despite her technically being a different Ellen… though she made certain to keep her finger over the Class and Level part. It kept changing, so would be risky to show off.

"Ellen Tember is my adventuring name. Do you um… have a Witness Paper for a dungeon report?" The clerk—Ellen now caught the gleam of the pin on her blouse showing her to be the Guildmaster—squinted at Ellen.

"That will be ten marks if it's a waste of a paper." Inwardly, Ellen flinched… but she needed to do this for her plan to work. She could wait for independent verification, or she could use the Witness Paper. Mostly used in the legal system, it was expensive and not foolproof… but it was great for reporting things the Guild needed to know immediately.

"That's fine," Ellen confirmed. She watched the now-dubious Guildmaster give her the stink eye and unlock a small chest behind the counter. Ellen couldn't see what was in the box, but after a few moments rustling through it, the woman slid over the paper and quill. It didn't take long for Ellen to write up the description of the dungeon and the first chamber. She'd argued with her parents a lot, but they'd been good people who made sure she knew her letters well.

The lettering hissed and turned orange-gold as she wrote, putting to paper a testimony of her firm belief that a new dungeon had been found, and what little she knew of it. She slid the paper over, and the Guildmaster stared at it.

"Bloody skies, you really did find one," the woman breathed, reading over the paper.

"I'd like my payout, now." Ellen smiled.

"And if possible, can you hold off on posting the exploration job I know will come after this for a day or two? I'd like to give it to that group over there, but I want it to be a surprise. And they'd be great for an escort back." The Guildmaster shrugged.

"Girl, with the business this would bring, I'll do whatever favor you want! We're going to need a few weeks to prepare for the rush anyway. Another day or two won't hurt." While she spoke, the older woman hunted down the Guildmaster card. Ellen held out her own card expectantly, hiding her excitement for this. Card transactions were only done for huge amounts of money.

The magical network that kept them working was expensive to have an account with, so only large institutions like Guilds and banks or upper royalty could maintain it.

"Let's see. New dungeon report, one enemy identified, one hazard identified… the total, minus fees, comes to… forty-seven crowns and two marks." Ellen bit her lip as the cards touched, and her own card flared with a brief silvery glow. She was rich.