Helping with Adventurer Party Management - Chapter 195

In the end, the remaining six attackers escape to Garon. They don’t have any money, so they can’t pay the ransom. Without any guarantors, they can’t work in a place that handles valuables. Being violent individuals, they can’t be introduced to others.

If they get in the way, Garon will probably eliminate them.

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A week later, in front of the Sword Fangs Legion’s office, around twenty representatives of inter-city merchants gather.

I instruct that only one representative from each caravan come, so the number matches the total of inter-city caravans.

It’s more than I expected.

“Is there a man named Garon here?”

As I call out, the men exchange glances, and one of them responds, “Garon left the town the other day.”

“I see.”

It seems he chooses to flee rather than take responsibility and make a deal.

That kind of man is not someone I can do business with, so it doesn’t matter.

Still, I can’t shake the thought that those attackers might have been wiped out.

I shift my focus and speak loudly to the inter-city merchants. “I will now explain the transaction for the Guardian’s Shoes trade!”

These inter-city merchants are a quirky bunch of former adventurers, and I can’t afford to be underestimated.

“For the transaction of Guardian Shoes, we will use this token. The token has a number, and we will hand over the shoes in order of ascending numbers. One token guarantees a transaction of one hundred pairs!”

I say this while showcasing the metal tokens I have crafted.

“Today, we will conduct a transaction for one thousand pairs. In other words, we will auction off ten rights to transactions of one hundred pairs each, in sequence. The starting price will be five large copper coins per pair of Guardian Shoes. Do you have any questions so far?”

A large man with a scar on his cheek raises his hand to ask, “Does that mean I can buy up all one thousand pairs?”

“That’s a good question.” I answer the man and look around. “This time, I’d like to limit each person to just one hundred pairs. I want to give as many merchants as possible the opportunity to participate in this transaction. Furthermore, I want to prevent any specific merchant who monopolizes the shoes from unfairly raising their prices. I hope you can understand this point.”

As I say this, many of the inter-city merchants nod in agreement. From their perspective, this is a golden opportunity that they haven’t been able to access while operating from this city. There is no reason for them to complain.

However, there are always exceptions. Whether it is greed getting the better of them or a negotiation tactic to express discontent and draw out a compromise, one man voices his dissatisfaction.

“But one hundred pairs isn’t much of a profit. I hear you’re dealing with a large quantity of Guardian Shoes. I’d like to stock up more! That would make things easier for you too, right?”

Such requests are expected. I nod and continue explaining.

“It’s completely reasonable to want to handle more than one hundred pairs. However, you must understand that we cannot determine which of you is the most reliable and quickest merchant to entrust with transportation. Therefore, we are considering expanding the handling limits based on your track records. This time, everyone is limited to one hundred pairs, but next time, those who successfully complete transactions without issues will be able to increase their limit to two hundred pairs. If you accumulate more achievements, we will raise the limits even further. I want you to build your trust in this way.”

In short, I am introducing a system that judges trust based on transaction records.

I won’t evaluate outward appearances like loud boasting, a large number of armed subordinates, or impressive carriages to raise trustworthiness; instead, I will focus on their actual performance.

By dividing the transaction limits into smaller segments, I aim to cultivate relationships with merchants who can steadily build their performance and eventually become key trading partners. This approach combines risk diversification with evaluation of partners, fostering the inter-city merchants who are serious about handling distribution.

“However! Reselling trading quotas is not permitted. Collusion is also not allowed. Any other irregularities will result in exclusion from the auction.”

The auction system itself seems to be well understood by the inter-city merchants, as it is already widespread in this world, but they appear puzzled by the idea of expanding transaction limits based on performance, as they are not familiar with it.

In this world, what guarantees credibility are lineage, status, wealth, and skill with a sword.

Of course, moneylenders and local merchants likely have their own secret mechanisms for evaluating credibility, but it seems they have never encountered an open system that evaluates solely based on achievements.

Well, they will understand once the system is put into operation.

“Then let’s begin the auction.”

With that declaration, the inter-city merchants slowly start writing their bids on the pieces of wood they have been given.