Helping with Adventurer Party Management - Chapter 6

Kenji immediately started moving. To be honest, Kimberly had a hard time just trying to keep up. First, they called Ginger, Galan, and Gorm, who were at another inn.

With the four-person party plus Kenji, they went to the guild and accepted a standard goblin extermination quest.

“Is this kind of quest okay?” Kimberly asked.

“It’s fine; what you guys lack is operational practice. The specifics of the quest don’t matter,” Kenji replied.

Just as they were about to depart, instead of immediately leaving, Kenji occupied a table and chairs in a corner of the guild to start a meeting.

“First, about this goblin extermination quest,” Kenji surveyed the party. “How many days will it take?”

“Three days,” Gorm answered.

“What would you need?”

“Four days’ worth of food,” said Galan.

“Magic catalysts,” added Ginger.

“30 arrows,” Kimberley chimed in.

“Anything else?”

“We’re short on disinfectant alcohol,” said Gorm.

“Is that all? Let’s go shopping then,” Kenji said, and the four of them started walking together.

They didn’t shop at the stores near the guild, as they expected. Instead, Kenji headed deep into the market, plunging into a bustling district filled with housewives.

Kimberly and the others, clad in leather armor and carrying weapons, stood out conspicuously among the crowd. But Kenji didn’t stop walking.

“Listen, for food, buy enough for two days of regular meals and two days of preserved food. Here’s the alcohol. For regular meals, get bread and cheese. For preserved food, get dried meat and biscuits. As for alcohol, a bit of distilled liquor. It’s cheaper to buy them all together at this store. After all, it’s aimed at the city’s housewives. I already negotiated for you, so just pay up.”

“Buying all this for just three small copper coins?” Kimberly and the others were surprised. The food looked fresh and there was a lot of it.

“The locals eat this kind of stuff. Let’s go to the next place.”

Guided by Kenji, they headed to the blacksmith.

“Old man, sell us just the arrowheads. They don’t have to be steel, just iron.”

“Oh, it’s Kenji again. Well, I’ll sell a hundred if you take them all,” the blacksmith said, resigned. Kenji negotiated firmly there too.

“It’s only a tenth of what I pay for arrows…,” Kimberly muttered dejectedly.

“You idiot, you can’t expect to pay the same price for one arrow as for a hundred. Besides, I come here every day, so I know the going rate. Right now, iron arrowheads are cheap because we just got a shipment of iron ore last week, so the price of steel has gone up. Plus, I only bought arrowheads; you’ll make the arrows yourself. I’ll sell the rest to Sarah.”

“Oh… I see.”

“If you get it, let’s move on. Next, we’re going to the Magician’s Guild.”

Normally, swordsmen wouldn’t come to the Magician’s Guild. Kenji and the others stood out conspicuously here too.

“We’re here to buy magic catalysts,” Kenji casually addressed a guild staff member.

“You don’t look like a mage.”

“He’s the one buying them; this is Ginger,” Kenji said, calling over the petite mage.

“What would you like to buy, and how much?”

“Five catalysts for Minor Fire Strike and three for Minor Wind Strike.”

“Alright, that will be eight small copper coins.”

“What, that’s so expensive!?” Kimberly and the others were surprised. They knew magic required catalysts but had no idea about the prices. They had thought Ginger, the mage, was just lazy for not using magic until absolutely necessary.

“Well, honestly, I can’t negotiate prices for catalysts. Treat them carefully as if they were copper coins found in dungeons,” said Kenji.

In the end, it took about an hour to shop around the city.

“Since you’re an acquaintance of Sarah’s, we’ll settle the fee after. Now, hurry up and go defeat those goblins!”

With that, Kenji sent Kimberly and the others off.