The next day.
I opened my eyes to the warm sunlight pouring into my room.
Ah~… I slept well. It’s been a while since I last pulled off an all-nighter like that…
The sun’s already pretty high…
Hmm? High?…… That’s not good!
“Good morning, Ryoumsama.” [Sebasu]
“Sebasu-san, what time is it?” [Ryouma]
“It’s just before noon. It seems you really were exhausted. I hope you were able to have a good night’s rest. Would you like to have your meal now?” [Sebasu]
“Thank you, but I need to go to the guild. I’ll have it when I come back.” [Ryouma]
“Very well.” [Sebasu]
I quickly did my preparations and went to the guild.
What a pain… There’s no time left.
…Can’t be helped.
“Draw the veil upon this body, “conceal” it from prying eyes.”
I put up a Barrier of Concealment around me, invoked a ‘Body Reinforcement’ [1] spell, and then ran through the rooftops to get to the guild as soon as possible. Whenever there wasn’t anything to step on, I would use Dimension Magic to teleport me across. Like that I managed to run almost straight to the guild.
“Excuse me.” [Ryouma]
By the time I got to the guild and was brought to the room, the other people were already there.
“Ryouma, you came. With that everyone’s present.” [Wogan]
“Sorry for making you wait.” [Ryouma]
“You made it on time, actually. Almost late, but still on time, so don’t sweat it. It’s time to hand out the rewards!” [Wogan]
On top of the 3 medium silver coins I got for taking the latrine pits cleaning job, I also got 30 small gold coins. Everyone else got 10 small gold coins each.
“Hold on a minute there, old man. Don’t you think you’re getting a bit too spendthrift here?” [Jeff]
“For real. Not that I’m complaining, of course, but you do realize that all we did was keep a look out, right?” [Wereanna]
“Don’t you think this is too much? I know we could’ve gotten sick, but we didn’t really do anything personally. Just half would’ve been fine, I think.” [Mizelia]
“Nah, that much is just right. As for the reason, that’s because… Ryouma.” [Wogan]
“Yes?” [Ryouma]
“You said the disease in the latrine pit is called Idake, right?” [Wogan]
“That’s right. It’s information from the Identify skill, so it should be accurate.” [Ryouma]
“Yeah, well… Apparently, that Idake Disease is some really nasty stuff. An old hag I’m well acquainted with says that it’s so nasty that even if people live through it, they’ll be completely unable to move their limbs, leaving them with no other choice but to die.
That reward properly reflects the risks you took. The fatality rate from that Idake Disease is low, sure. But children and the elderly aren’t likely to survive, and for the rest who do, they’ll have to live the rest of their lives unable to work.” [Wogan]
Everyone drew cold sweat upon that sudden revelation.
That’s really bad… Of course, the prognostic syndromes themselves are bad, but not being able to work perpetually is fatal. Because that means no money.
If this world had insurances and disability rights, perhaps it could still be somewhat bearable, but as it stands, that’s no different from a death sentence. If you can’t work, then all that’s left is to starve to death.
“Thank goodness we stopped things before it got any worse, nyaa…” [Miya]
“In one sense, it could actually be worse than diseases with a high fatality rate.” [Mizelia]
“If you catch it and die, you pass on, but if you survive, you’re in hell…” [Jeff]
“Because of this incident, the government office got a good scolding. Word says the boss and his lackeys have been apprehended, and those left behind are pulling their hair out figuring out what to do with the latrine pits from now on.” [Wogan]
“Can’t they just leave it to the slum people as usual?” [Wereanna]
“Unfortunately, that’s no longer possible. The big wig responsible for refusing to pay them was fired, but even if the government office promises to pay them the old amount, the slum people can’t trust them anymore. Besides, the slum people have already found a new job.
Other towns aside, this is a mining town. There’s no shortage of dirty or labor work to be done here. Since they can get money elsewhere, there’s no reason for them to clean the latrine pits.
Also, since it’s the government office that’s at fault in the first place, they can’t really tell them to give up their work and clean the latrine pits, so they’ve already given up on them and are currently looking for another solution.” [Wogan]
“What are they going to do? We’re fortunate this time around cause Ryouma noticed it, but if this happens again, it won’t be funny.” [Jeff]
“Right, right… Honestly, the only reason we took this job is because the guild pushed it onto us. From here on, the guild might have to turn this job into compulsory work to punish members that fail a lot of missions or break contracts.” [Mizelia]
“You can leave it to me, I’ll do something about it, de aru.” [Raypin]
“You make it sound so easy.” [Jeff]
“Personally, I can take the job while I’m here.” [Cher]
“That would be a huge help.” [Wogan]
“Nyaa? Ryouma, did you come from another town, nyaa?” [Miya]
Come to think of it, I went straight to work, so we didn’t have much opportunities to talk.
I explained to them how I ended up in Gimuru.
“You lived in a forest all by yourself at 8? What a reckless guy.” [Wogan]
“You going back to Gana Forest?” [Jeff]
“I’m wondering about that too… I do have some attachment to the house I lived in for 3 years, but I could also live in a nearby forest.” [Ryouma]
“If you’re going to be living nearby, then why not just live in town? Does it have to be a forest?” [Mizelia]
“Chores are taken care of with magic and food is taken fresh from the forest via hunting. It’s actually a pretty refreshing life style, you know. Money isn’t needed too.” [Ryouma]
“Ryouma, this one thinks you might be a bit too young to be a hermit, de gozaru.” [Asagi]
“It does feel somewhat like that…” [Syria]
“Well, don’t sweat it. It’d be a load off my back to have you around, but no one’s pressuring you to stay here. Just live as you please.
Anyway, the government officials embezzling funds have had their properties forfeited and their subordinates’ salaries reduced. The money from that is being used to cover the maintenance costs of the town. In the worst case, that money can be used to hire enough people to do the job, so it should be fine.
…Alright, with that I’ve given you your dues and have informed you of what you need to know. I just have one thing left to tell you. The day after tomorrow there’s going to be a big job.
There’s a mine that’s officially going to be abandoned this year, although it’s actually already been defunct since last year… A lot of monsters have taken nest inside it. They’re all small fries, but there’s a lot of them, so the area that needs to be covered is huge. The guild is going to need adventurers to deal with them. If you can participate, that would be a huge help. That’ll be all! Dismissed!” [Wogan]
[1] Used to be Strengthen Body.