Chapter 41: Improving the Classification System
It was Ren who came up with the idea of carving grooves into the boards in the guild’s beginner corner.
On the shelves, there was a section labeled “Basic Gathering Medicinal Herb Diagrams” where materials on basic medicinal herbs that beginners gathered were collected, but most of them were mixed together haphazardly. He had struggled every time to find the materials he wanted to look at.
There had been times when he picked up the same materials repeatedly. He considered writing titles on the backs of the boards, but the material boards were crudely cut, with frayed edges and bark still attached, making them unsuitable for writing text.
So he thought of carving grooves on the sides to classify and number them. It took less effort than writing, and if the order was wrong, the groove pattern would look disordered and be immediately noticeable.
When he checked with the staff member Jade, he was told there was no problem with adding marks as long as he didn’t damage the materials, so he steadily worked on the classification whenever he had time.
When he started writing numbers and contents on boards with red strings as markers, it became easier to find the materials he wanted to look at.
At first, even when Ren arranged them systematically, they would often be in a jumbled mess of order and position when he came back next time. However, perhaps because other beginner adventurers had gotten used to using them, recently the arrangement had been getting disturbed less often.
When new materials came in, even without carving grooves, they would sometimes be placed in positions matching the classification.
While looking at the boards lined up with grooves aligned in regular patterns, Ren pondered.
“…After this… it would be nice if I could add markers for frequently used materials…”
While it was certainly easier to find materials when the groove positions were aligned and neatly arranged, he also wanted to make frequently used materials recognizable at a glance. Unless he memorized the classifications and numbers, he had to check the catalog with the red string every time to confirm the material numbers. That was, in its own way, a bit troublesome.
He had once considered whether he could color them with tree sap, but red tree sap turned blackish when it soaked into the boards. As time passed, it turned even blacker, becoming almost indistinguishable from parts colored with black tree sap, so he had once given up on color classification.
Ren picked up the board with the red string. Only the material catalog had a hole carved at the edge with the tip of a knife, through which the red string was threaded, so it could be found at a glance.
If other materials were treated the same way, they would be easier to distinguish.
However, carving holes in each individual material board with a knife would take time.
“Hmm…”
While pondering whether there was a good method and looking at the catalog material with the red string, the archive door opened. Other adventurers entered while chatting noisily. The morning hours were when relatively more people used the archives.
They probably checked materials before going out on requests.
“I guess I’ll head out hunting soon…”
Giving up on improving the classification system for now, Ren checked the catalog with the red string and reached for the materials on the shelf.