Helping with Adventurer Party Management - Chapter 61

For now, I decide to take Sara, who has wiped away her tears, to her room at the inn.

Sara’s face is red, but I ignore her since she seems to have misunderstood something and opens the door to her room. The inn’s second floor is spacious, with a desk and two chairs, as I often work here.

I sit Sara down in one of the chairs and plop a stack of parchment on the table. Sensing something different, Sara asks, “Um… what’s this?”

“It’s a record of my work. I’ve been keeping records of everything since I started my novice adventurer tours. Bread, cheese, biscuits, wheat, arrowheads, swords, armor—the time and price of shopping, all the stores. I want you to be able to keep records too.”

“Um… do I have to keep records?”

“I’ve been keeping records since I became an adventurer. Knowing when and where things are cheap, what causes prices to rise—these are essential. Adventurers are like drifters; if you don’t know the prices of things, you’ll get ripped off quickly. This precaution helps in my current business. So, I want you to be able to do it too.”

“But I can’t read as well as you do.”

“I know. That’s why we’ll figure out a method. You can write people’s names and item names, right?”

“Yes, I can. I can write numbers too.”

“That’s more than enough. We’re not writing letters to nobles. See the names of the items written in the vertical column? Write the names of the people who guided you above, and write the prices next to the items in numbers. You should be able to do this, right?”

What I show Sara is a simple table format: items listed vertically, guides listed horizontally, and prices written in the boxes. This kind of format is common in the modern world but not for the uneducated adventurers here.

In this world, writing is a privilege of the educated nobility, and reports are a mix of greetings, facts, and decorations that are complex and difficult to understand. Even I couldn’t even make sense of them.

So, I don’t adopt such a format. Instead, I use a straightforward method that anyone can read and use.

Sara looks confused at first, seeing a table for the first time, but once she understands, her eyes light up with excitement.

“I think I can do this!” she says.

“Exactly. But there’s some information that won’t fit in this chart. I’ll handle that while we’re working together. Meanwhile, you’ll learn to write and eventually be able to do it all yourself.”

“…Do you think I can manage that?”

“Of course. I couldn’t even make shoes without you. Writing is just practice; you’ll get it.”

Additionally, it is necessary to create several forms, such as a checklist for adventurer quest completion that even Sara can use, and an evaluation of adventurers’ attitudes during negotiations. However, we have created a system that allows us to generate reports without having to write complex sentences.

More than anything, I am happy that the support work I have been doing for adventurers, which I had always done alone, has progressed a step from a solitary job to a team effort.