Helping with Adventurer Party Management - Chapter 7

A few days later, Kimberley and the others returned safely after completing the quest.

“I’m glad you made it back safely. Let’s first go to the blacksmith,” Kenji said, stopping Kimberley and the others who were eager to head straight to the tavern.

When they arrived at the blacksmith’s, they had their swords sharpened and paid in advance for the service. Next, they visited a leatherworker to repair armor damage and again made advance payments. Finally, they headed to the Adventurer’s Guild. They received their reward and calculated expenses: food costs, arrow purchases, catalysts, sharpening fees, and repair costs, all deducted from the reward. This left them with 3 large copper coins and 5 small copper coins.

As Kimberley and the others began to divide the money, Kenji intervened. “Ginger, how many magic catalysts do you have left?”

“I have two fire catalysts and one wind catalyst,” Ginger replied.

“Kimberley, how many arrows are left?”

“I have 7 arrows.”

“Alright, deduct the value of these items from your individual shares. We’ll use the prices we paid when we bought them, agreed?” 

They all nodded, having reviewed the prices together during shopping. Each ended up with 8 small copper coins as their share.

“Is that all…” was the honest sentiment shared among them.

“Well, that’s how it goes. For a goblin hunt near the outskirts, this is about right. But I wonder if you all realized it would be like this?” Kenji remarked, leaving Kimberley and the others feeling embarrassed. At least they weren’t in the red.

“This time, I’ll do you a favor. It’s 1 small copper coin per person, so that’s 4 small copper coins in total. Come on, cough it up,” said Kenji.

‘Well, dealing with poor folks, this is probably about right,’ thought Kenji.

All Kenji did was guide them around town for an hour before and after the quest. Considering they paid 4 small copper coins, it wasn’t a bad hourly wage.

The novice adventurers in front of him had spent three days risking their lives to earn eight small copper coins each. Despite the modest reward, without Kenji’s help, they might have ended up in the red without understanding why. With this reward, they could save half until the next payday. The likelihood of disputes among friends over money also decreased. And within a month, they could even upgrade their equipment.

Kenji thought he might accompany them on their next shopping trip for equipment upgrades.