Kays Translations

Chapter 7

In the guild chief's office after business hours.

"We've hired him."

"I see."

Guild Chief Loki was a bit surprised by Taran's report but didn't oppose it.

"He's an unknown guy, but you found him intriguing... was it because of that box after all?"

"At first, yes, but after talking to him, it was... impressive."

"I see... impressive, huh?"

He explained the content of the conversation after the recruitment to the extent he knew and talked about the paper currency he saw at the guild.

"Hmm? Paper currency?"

"Yes, paper currency."

Guild Chief Loki picked up a document and flicked it open.

"This paper?"

"Yes, that paper."

"Have you seen it?"

"I've actually touched it."

Guild Chief Loki couldn't understand the concept of paper becoming currency.

Paper can tear, burn, and if it gets wet, the ink smudges.

"Isn't it something like promissory notes or loan certificates... showing documents that represent payment obligations?"

"No... The paper was about this size, and there was a person's portrait drawn on the right side."

He formed parentheses with both hands to indicate the size.

"A person, like a king?"

"No. It's the person who founded the school and the one who researched diseases."

"...A school? ...Diseases?"

"He showed me two banknotes of different colors."

Even more perplexed, Loki asks, ‘Different colors? What does that mean!?’

"Not royalty?"

"He said it's not a king, but I'm not sure. He referred to them as important people."

Guild Chief Loki crossed his arms.

"A portrait for disease research..."

"It seems to be the study of a disease that caused a lot of deaths."

"Hmm..."

Having a portrait on currency is usually reserved for royalty. 

Guild Chief Loki tried to recall some major events he knew.

"...The disease that occurred in the Dilant Empire, that was caused by the rampage of ancient magic."

Taran also recalls that statement.

"Was it an accident during ruins exploration? I heard the bodies decayed, and the entire surrounding villages were wiped out... but such a formidable disease is indeed—"

He stops mid-sentence, remembering.

"Come to think of it, that person said they received a medal."

"Hmm... The Empire tried to cover up the information, unable to unravel the mystery of the disease. Well, in the end, it leaked out."

"So, in Japan, they've unraveled that disease?"

"...Isn't that the case?"

If they received a medal and have a portrait, it's likely they achieved something on the scale of saving the country, perhaps marrying into royalty... This seems to be the route.

Guild Chief Loki pondered while looking at the desk.

"The magic school in the capital is a royal one."

"Yes. Oh! I remember... He mentioned it was an amazing school."

"Hmm... It must be equivalent to or even surpassing the royal magic school. And the person who unraveled ancient magic is undoubtedly affiliated with that school... probably the highest-ranking professor or something."

"Oh!"

Taran couldn't help but let out an exclamation.

"And he said he's a student. A school that can create those small boxes—equivalent to or surpassing the royal school... undoubtedly, he's from there."

He remembered being confused by the stories he heard on the way.

"Could it be that he's acquainted with the people in those portraits?"

"Acquainted... with royalty?"

"Well, not that far. But his way of speaking and attitude don't seem like those of royalty..."

The two fell into thoughtful silence again.

Knock, knock.

At the sudden knock, the two startle and turn their attention to the door.

"Come in."

"Excuse me."

Tinameril, the Vice Guild Chief, appears.

Observing the clandestine conversation between Taran and Loki, Tinameril wears a somewhat exasperated expression.

"What's going on this time?"

"We were discussing the hiring of the person Taran mentioned yesterday as a staff member."

She glances at him and then turns away, seemingly uninterested.

"I see. Loki, please handle the settlement process."

She places a document in front of him.

"Got it. I'll look into it later—"

Seeing him start to push the document to the left, she admonishes him.

"Later!?"

Under her intimidation, the guild chief corrects himself.

"Oh, okay, okay, I'll look at it now."

He scans the document like a child caught not doing their homework and scolded.

"Hey, Tinameril, have you ever seen paper currency?"

She appears to be contemplating, but after a while, she shakes her head.

Taran, who was silent, hurriedly shows the size with his fingers when she slowly turns her attention towards him.

"It's currency with a portrait drawn on paper about this size."

Tinameril stared at it for a while but then turned away, saying, "I don't know."

"I see."

Even Tinameril, who often gives her opinion, feels a sense of strangeness that she doesn't know about paper currency, but she approves the document.

　◆ ◆ ◆

The next day, Taran introduced me as a new employee.

"I'm Mizuki Mitarai. Please call me Mizuki."

Morning assembly in the guild's interior. I stand next to the supervisor and greet the guild staff... but there are only eight staff members.

When I asked the supervisor if that's not a small number, he quickly informed me.

"We have separate morning assemblies for each department."

Thinking about it, the man who was in the purchasing section yesterday and the man who brought the payment for the medicinal herbs are not present.

Moreover, morning assemblies aren't held every day, only as needed, making the system quite efficient.

And the opening hours are also quite flexible, with the guild opening between 8 AM and 9 AM if preparations are ready.

I was a bit surprised by the laid-back approach in this country.

There are three women at the reception. In order of age, there's Lana-san, Lily-san, and Carol-san.

Lana-san has semi-long black-purple hair, and with her droopy eyes, she gives off a calm and mature vibe.

Lily-san has short beige hair, exuding an intelligent college girl aura. I made her cry on our first encounter, so my first impression is not the best.

Carol-san has straight milky blonde hair tied in a ponytail. She's a lively and very cheerful girl, exuding a gal vibe.

This is just a personal impression, but all three of them, if they participated in a Miss Campus contest or something, would surely win with their level of beauty.

As someone who's not immune to female charm, their smiles are too dazzling, and I might be flustered for a while.

There are three men in charge of accounting. Handsome Galand, chubby Rockman, and squint-eyed Leslie. They all seem a bit exhausted.

For purchasing, there are two men and two women. The burly and manly Ottoner-san, and Miriana-san, who seems to have him wrapped around her finger. They look like a professional wrestling player and manager combo straight out of international pro wrestling.

Taran is in charge of overseeing the storefront, but he also handles supervision for purchases, so there are times when he is there.

Guild Chief Loki is on the second floor, the most important person here.

The third floor of the guild is apparently reserved for accommodation.

There's another building overseen by the vice-guild chief, handling financial matters for the guild. 

It used to be the main building of the guild, and the current structure is the new building.

Even though this building has some age to it, the other building must be even older...

Moreover, the vice-guild chief has been with the guild longer than the guild chief. I imagine they've been in a reliable, butler-like position for the guild for many years.

The supervisor said, "I'll introduce you soon..." with some implication.

I was curious about his faint smile, but since the guild leader was like that, I hope the next person doesn't look scary.

By the way, the supervisor's intonation when calling my name is like that of "Aloha." Even though others have remembered it correctly, some people just never seem to get it right...

　◆ ◆ ◆

On the first day of work, the supervisor suddenly asked me a question.

"You're good at calculations, right?"

Even though we had never discussed such matters, he seemed confident.

"I'm not sure what level of calculation you're expecting, but I can do basic addition and subtraction."

Then, I was assigned accounting tasks. It was the same job as three other men.

Looking from inside the store, four people are working together, forming an island just behind and to the left of the receptionist.

The island is positioned sideways in relation to the reception, with Leslie closest to Carol, Garland in front of Leslie, and Rockman to the right of Garland.

And in front of Rockman, there's an empty space—that's where my seat is.

The order of their work history is Garland, Leslie, and Rockman. Although there are no official titles, Garland is the leader of the accounting team.

Interestingly, there was another person just a month ago, but due to various circumstances, they had to leave. 

Unfortunately, it seems they were a veteran, and with only the three younger ones remaining, the workflow has been somewhat sluggish.

That might be why everyone looks a bit tired...

"Do you know how to use an abacus?"

The abacus handed to me has ten beads on each rod.

The currency in this country was supposed to be in base-4, but the beads on the abacus are 10... Isn't that for base-10? I tilt my head in confusion.

"Well... it's different from what I know, and I don't really use abacuses to begin with..."

The supervisor doesn't seem to mind much and places a stack of documents on my desk.

"It's your first day, so don't worry too much. Take your time to understand it."

After saying that, he returned to his seat.

The three people in the accounting department kindly told me to ask if there was anything I didn't understand.

When I asked Garland about the currency first, it seemed like he just now realized that I was a foreigner.

It didn't seem like my words caused any discomfort.

When I brought up the topic of the number of copper and silver coins, he was surprised that I understood.

In short, it means that when you have four coins, the digit increases by one. It is indeed a quaternary system.

I performed manual calculations for a while, asking about the meaning of each addition and subtraction item. After having them check if it was correct, it was confirmed as OK.

"Ugh, I want a computer..."

I unconsciously complained. It's tough... really tough.

Since complaining won't change anything, I did some calculations with long division—something I haven't done since high school.

After a while, the three of them looked at what I was writing with curiosity.

And then, they realized something belatedly.

"Is this country using numbers?"

I wonder if they have concepts of Roman numerals, Chinese characters for numbers, or even the concept of zero. I'm doing calculations with regular numbers, but I wonder how it appears to them...

As for writing instruments, it's a quill pen and ink— I scrutinize the pen tip.

Ah, I see...they cut the quill tip and use it like a fountain pen.

Memories from high school resurface when I bought a fountain pen wanting to be popular, used it at school, and quickly stopped because it didn't attract any attention. I can't help but tighten my lips at the awkward memory.

I press the pen tip against the paper to check the sensation. It's not made of metal, so if I apply too much force, it feels like it might snap.

It's challenging at first glance. The difficulty intensifies with the pain.

Although there is a ballpoint pen, I endure and use it, thinking I probably need to get used to it anyway.

After a while, I ended up using one sheet for my calculations with long division.

Come to think of it, I wonder what the value of paper is here...

Looking around, paper seems to be in regular circulation. 

There are stacks of paper on the shelves in the aisles, and there are bookshelves filled with booklets.

However, I don't think wasting paper is a good idea. It's the first day, so I should be cautious and use it carefully.

I took out my pencil case from the waist pouch.

I decided to write my calculations with a pencil, erase them with an eraser when done, and reuse the paper—trying to adopt that approach.

Also, the waist pouch is not worn over the shoulder as before; during work, it's properly worn on the waist—right below my front abdomen.

The three noticed the tools I was using and were surprised at the process of writing and erasing.

"...What is that?" 

Rockman in front asked.

"Pencils and erasers."

"Don't you use ink?"

"No, I don't. I write with graphite and erase with rubber."

"Can you erase it?"

"Yes. That's why I don't use it for official documents. You could erase signatures and such."

Leslie and Garland also looked curiously at the disappearing text.

Even though all three are senior to me, they still use extremely polite language. It's okay to use casual language with me...

At the end of the first day, the supervisor asked Garland about how things were going.

"How was it?"

"Well, um..."

He answered while looking at a stack of documents on the desk.

"I felt relieved because, despite being a foreigner, he seemed to understand the currency and is very capable in calculations."

The stack of completed documents was about half of the slowest Rockman.

"If this is the progress on the first day, it should be sufficient. He'll catch up soon."

He nodded thoughtfully.

"However—"

Garland shared an interesting observation.

"He was doing something by hand without using an abacus... drawing diagrams to perform calculations."

"Diagrams?"

"Yes. But eventually, it became more about writing characters, and towards the end, not much at all... the calculations were quite fast."

The supervisor didn't quite understand the concept of using diagrams for calculations.

"What do you mean by diagrams?"

"Oh, he was writing on a sheet, and it seems like he took it home, so I don't have it here."

"A sheet?"

Garland explained about pencils and erasers.

"That's... he was erasing the written characters."

"Huh?"

"Characters... he was erasing them."

The supervisor was increasingly intrigued by his explanation, realizing that there were still tools they were unfamiliar with.

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