Helping with Adventurer Party Management - Chapter 300

Since I leave the guards to the Sword Fangs Legion, I can’t depart immediately. The Adventurer’s Guild warehouse has been cleaned up, and the Baron insists on seeing it for himself.

Previously, the Adventurer’s Guild’s material warehouse is more like a junkyard. Raw materials, such as monster parts, are thrown in haphazardly, with no thought to organization. Cockroaches and rats run rampant, making the place feel like their domain.

Because of this, even the Adventurer’s Guild staff only venture near the warehouse when absolutely necessary. On the rare occasions they do enter, they often push each other aside just to get through.

In that chaotic state, the Baron’s curiosity about the materials has been stifled, as he’s unable to see them firsthand. But now, with me overseeing the organization of the materials, he can examine everything without issue. Of course, if he finds anything he likes, he is more than willing to purchase it.

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“Baron, I will now explain the operations and management of the Adventurer’s Guild,” Urbano says, guiding the Baron into the warehouse with an unusually humble and affable demeanor. I’ve never seen him act this way before.

I serve as a go-between, explaining details to the Baron while Urbano tags along, clearly nervous. The Baron’s guards stand around us, keeping a close watch.

“Hmm. It’s interesting that you store these materials in boxes of fixed sizes,” the Baron observes. “Small materials like scales and fangs are in small boxes, but wouldn’t it be easier if all the boxes were the same size? What do you think?”

“Yes, that’s right, Baron,” Urbano answers quickly.

“Hmm. But with a management style like this, wouldn’t it be difficult to classify materials where freshness is important?” the Baron asks, furrowing his brow.

“Yes, that’s right, Baron. Kenji, could you explain?” Urbano turns to me.

“Baron, we use three classifications for the materials in this warehouse: by size, by price, and by freshness. As you pointed out, we adjust the classification method based on the nature of the materials,” I explain, hoping that suffices.

As the Baron offers his opinions, Urbano responds, and when the Baron asks questions, Urbano defers to me. It’s a bit of a tedious procedure, but I understand it’s customary for aristocrats to have someone of a certain rank mediate between them and others, so no one finds it unusual.

Urbano, clearly out of his depth, sweats profusely as he struggles to keep up.

As the Baron strolls around the warehouse, inspecting the monster materials with shining eyes, he suddenly stops in front of a particular box. It contains the skulls of demonic wolves. Normally, only the fangs of a demonic wolf are brought back as proof, but since they’ve been hunting near a city, the skull of the demonic wolf leader, along with the skull of a baby demonic wolf, has been tossed into the box, unorganized.

“So this is the boss of the demonic wolves we talked about the other day,” the Baron remarks. “Quite a large head.” He flips the skull over, measuring its size with his fingers, before shifting his focus to the baby demonic wolf skull. “A baby demonic wolf? I didn’t know wolves had a baby stage.”

“Yes, indeed, Baron,” I reply.

“How many pups do demonic wolves give birth to at a time?”

“That’s right, Baron. Kenji, please explain,” Urbano urges.

Though I’m unsure of the exact details of their ecology, I do my best to answer. “I’ve heard that wolves and dogs are related. While monsters and animals are different, dogs typically give birth to about three to five pups at a time, so I imagine it’s similar for demonic wolves.”

“So, since there are two cubs here, it’s possible that more than one has survived,” the Baron says thoughtfully. “They must really hate humans.”

“It’s a complicated question,” I say. “They might start to fear humans and avoid them. Even monsters have a fear instinct and a will to survive, just like humans.”

“I see, just like humans. Interesting,” the Baron muses, nodding in understanding. “By the way, what’s this over here?”

Without waiting for an answer, he moves toward the area where the feathers of winged beasts are displayed.

I sigh quietly, making sure no one hears, and start walking toward him.