Helping with Adventurer Party Management - Chapter 10

Sarah, dazzled by the prospect of earning some coins, was about to run off. I decided to make her wait a bit while I thought about how to make the reservation system work.

“Sarah, you understand numbers, right? How well can these novice adventurers count?” I asked.

“Of course, I can count! I have to keep track of arrows and stuff! I can’t write much, but… even farmers need to count taxes, so we can count!” Sarah replied.

“How do they count taxes?”

“They use some kind of measuring cups and scales. The officials and village head mark a big board while counting. Everyone in the village watches closely, so it’s hard to cheat!”

I see… Mathematics might not be widespread, but they can handle numbers necessary for life. For farmers, tax discrepancies can be a matter of life and death, so they take it seriously. Education might be limited to certain classes, but wisdom is universal.

If people in rural areas have the ability to read numbers, it would be a good idea to adapt their methods to the system.

I took out a piece of wood and started carving marks into it with my knife.

“What are you doing?” Sarah asked, peering at what I was doing cautiously.

“Careful, you might cut yourself. I’m making a combination of an introduction letter and a reservation ticket.”

I made three types of sticks from a 10 cm piece of wood, with round, triangular, and square cross-sections. Each stick had large notches at either the top, middle, or bottom. In the middle, I carved a circle representing the sun. Finally, I used a heated ring to brand the cross-sections of the sticks with a magic symbol.

With this, I created a reservation system divided into three parts over three days. I explained to Sarah how it works.

“From now on, give these sticks to the people you introduce. The round stick is for today, the triangular stick is for tomorrow, and the square stick is for the day after tomorrow. The notches indicate after breakfast, after lunch, and before dinner. After you hand out the sticks, come to my inn and tell me the names of the people. I’ll take the remaining sticks and confirm when they are coming. Can you do that?”

“Hmm… So basically, I just need to give them the sticks, right? The circle is for today, the triangle is for tomorrow, and the square is for the day after tomorrow. The top notch means morning, the middle notch means noon, and the bottom notch means evening. Then I bring the remaining sticks to the inn.”

“That’s right. You probably have your own tasks to do, so just handle this when you make referrals.”

“Got it! I’ll go and get started right away!”

With that, Sarah grabbed the wooden sticks and dashed off. I, on the other hand, started carving a schedule table onto a flat board with my knife.

“I never thought I’d be making a schedule table in another world…” I muttered, feeling a bit melancholic.