Mage And Wolf
Chapter 61

Chapter 61: Chapter 61

Two meals each was barely enough. But the promise of more bacon has the guys energy renewed, and the second clear of the entry is smooth and efficient. We dig out the mana stones and call for the cleanup trucks we used for the last monster zone to come grab all this magical pork. After frying up some fine pork belly for lunch of course. This dungeon thing is hungry work.

"What’s the tally Gentlemen? Did we get enough for the Dragons to finish the job or are we coming back tomorrow?" I ask as Jurgen tallies up everyone’s stash of Mana stones.

"We total 163 rank 2 stones and 704 stones from rank 1 and below."

Not bad at all, but I really don’t want to deal with those spiders again. If Narishma hadn’t stolen half the team to run the base this would have been much easier. The only option now is to just get stronger until they’re no longer an issue.

The trip back to the city is uneventful, however our arrival was anything but. There’s a full blown brawl going on between the combat teams right in the middle of the parking garage.

Thinking quick, I call for my robes, hood up for maximum effect and yell at our local miscreants

"That’s enough. If you’re just going to be a nuisance in public, don’t bother at all." My amplified voice shakes the garage, stopping everyone in their tracks.

"Now, care to tell me why you’re making fools of yourselves in public?"

An air mage from one of the teams points across at the other group "They stole kills from us. That was our pack, you owe us that dagger!"

"Nonsense, you were too slow to keep up, we killed them, we keep the loot." The apparent leader of the other team shouts back.

"Alright, we’ll take this to arbitration. Idiot 1 and Idiot 2, follow me and I will gather a judge to hear your complaint." The both step forward to follow, too afraid to refuse or continue their fight.

"Hui’Jin, can you contact an Acolyte of the Bronze for me? They can settle this idiocy"

"She will be here within a minute Highness, she’s already near the elevator." she whispers back.

We stand in uncomfortable silence for a few moments until a teenage girl in bronze robes with matching bronze hair exits the elevator and greets me with a bow.

"It’s my honor to serve you Your Highness. What matter requires the expertise of the Bronze?"

"These two idiots can’t solve a loot discussion between themselves, and base regulations say I’m not allowed to simply kill them for being annoying. So you have been nominated to arbitrate this matter. Here and Now preferably."

Manuel leans over and whispers to me "You’re actually enjoying being called Highness aren’t you? You sure stopped complaining quickly"

I grin back at him, not dignifying his joke with a response. We both know after a lifetime of being mocked for my partially shifted Lycan form and my weakness that being treated like a princess is actually kind of nice.

But if I say it out loud it’ll just encourage them to be more formal and come across as massively conceited.

The two sides are arguing their case at the same time, but the Bronze Acolyte seems unphased, taking a moment to ask for clarifications and explanations until they’ve both said their piece. She might be young and still in training, but the position suits her well. Maybe there really is something in the genetics that makes dragonkin more suited to the roles of their ancestral Gods?

Hui’Jin sure took to setting spiders on fire after all. And she’s just a kid.

The Bronze Dragonkin breaks out a small leather bound book from the satchel at her side, clearly a storage device like Karl carries.

"According to the relevant sections of adventurers regulations, as there was no formal agreement on division of loot nor of encounters, any items procured from a disputed fight shall be split by contribution. As only one team dealt any damage to the targets in question, and the other team provided them neither support nor magical buffs, the loot goes fully to the team that killed the monsters in question."

A small pair of scrolls appears before the two leaders with writing on it and a small bronze wax seal. The team that didn’t get the drop still looks irate, but they storm away empty handed.

"What was so good you needed to fight over it in the garage?" I ask the wind mage holding the disputed dagger. He holds it out, it’s actually quite plain looking, but it’s got a faint sheen of magic covering it. An enchanted weapon, something in rare supply as only an Arcane specialist Archmage is capable of producing it.

Having Karl around spoiled me, and I’d forgotten how rare magical weapons and armor actually are. They’re all wearing various pieces of the uniforms he and Mary enchanted for the base staff though. Many look worse for wear, but they’re enchanted to slowly mend themselves.

"We’ll need to get a handle on this sooner rather than later. If there’s not enough creatures to kill in the dungeons that the general population can handle, it’s going to lead to conflict on a daily basis."

Everyone present bows their heads in either agreement or embarrassment.

"Any suggestions acolyte?" I ask the bronze robed girl who immediately panics at being asked a direct question.

"We could form an adventurer’s guild? You know, the kind that sets bounties and regulates the flow of adventurers into dungeons and sells the items they obtain for a small fee?"

"Good thinking young Priestess" she blushes at the compliment and bows before practically running away.

"Okay, that’s solved, everyone clear out. It’s time for me to find Lala and set an appointment with Narishma to make some more changes around here." The work just never seems to end.

At least there’s bacon. Lots and lots of bacon.

On my way to find Lala and Narishma, I come across Neisa, the Blue Priestess, returning from supervising the distribution of textbooks to the classrooms in the newly built University.

"Priestess Neisa, might I have a moment of your time?" She responds with a curt nod and digs out a notepad, evidently ready for anything I might ask of her.

"With the freshly opened dungeons and the proliferation of wild monsters in the surrounding area, we find Arcana is in need of an Adventurer’s guild. As a Priestess of the God of Knowledge, I suspect you are the foremost expert here on such matters, so I would like your assistance to table a proposal to the Vampire Narishma, who is in currently in charge of the base and city development." See, I can do formal just as well as this uptight schoolmarm.

The notebook disappears and another book appears. This one entitled ’Most Proper Inner Workings Of A Guild And Fair Trade Prices’. What an obnoxious name. But I’m willing to bet it has every relevant piece of information on how to form and run an adventurer’s guild.

"A simple matter Your Highness. I have a proposal ready, prepared before our arrival in case it was needed" Of course she does, this woman prepared for almost anything "If the chosen Guild Masters follow the guidelines in this text I don’t see any reason a properly functioning Guild cannot be formed".

Jake and Mary are with Narishma when we finally find her, though we haven’t found Lala yet. Perhaps she’s busy with another matter. The mated couple are loudly complaining about the issues they’ve had with prices for materials they’ve never seen before and now items from the dungeon that just opened. I’d forgotten that they’d been put in charge of dealing with that.

"Glad you two suckers, I mean fine and capable young managers, are here. I’ve got a proposal for you that should make your life easier. Might I get that book please, Neisa?" The Priestess hands over the tome and I set it down in the middle of the desk with a thump.

"These are the guidelines and fair trade prices determined most efficient to run an adventurer’s Guild. Instead of guessing at every item that comes in, you can trade dropped items, crafting materials, meat or mana stones for cash or precious metal coins at a set rate. There’s also best practices for regulating dungeon access and setting bounties on wandering monsters as well."

Looks of relief cross every face.

"I suggest you find yourself a good business site to operate from. Might I suggest one near the main gates? If you set up there, everyone can come to you. Those who register can be given a spot in line or a quota for the dungeons, you can pass out bounties on wandering monsters and portals you’ve been informed of and anything else that comes up."

"Hey, there’s drink prices for operating a Tavern inside the Guild House. I’m liking this idea already!" Jake exclaims, thumbing quickly through the regulation book.

"What’s it say a grade 1 mana stone is worth? It should help set a baseline for our adventurers wages." Mary asks

"A grade 1 stone is worth 10 silver coins or one gold coin." Neisa informs us in her dry tone "10 silver coins are worth a thousand American Dollars, or 100 bronze coins."

"That brings us to our next problem" Narishma cuts in. "Now that the Federal Government has failed and the states are going their own ways, there’s a dispute on what to use for currency. Currently everyone is still honoring the Dollar, but I can’t be sure how long that will last.

"Neisa, how much coin from your Kingdom could we get? If we use them here and in Seattle, or Drakon as I believe it’s now known, we should be able to establish it as a secondary currency for the entire northwest of the continent."

"Getting coin is not an issue, in fact, a High Priestess is authorized to have it created on site, should they have the assets to back its creation."

"So it’s not a simple coin?"

"Yes, and no. The coin is simple, but what makes it currency is the blessing bestowed on it. Anyone who handles it can feel the blessing if they focus, which lets them know if a coin is counterfeit or not."

"So, I simply need to collect valuable resources to hold in case someone wishes to exchange coins for hard assets?"

"That is correct Highness. Every major Cathedral city has a treasury vault for that purpose. It must, by Dragon Law, cover every coin issued by that city, with a set value"

Well, then the city is going to need to start stocking up. If we’re going to start paying wages in our own currency we’ll need to own enough to cover what our residents might wish to trade it for. Time to get after Karl. Make this his problem, he does theoretically outrank me after all.