A Founding Ideal, Rotted Away

Orleans brought Martz, the director of the Adventurer Insurance Association, in from the front door.

Thinking it wasn't ideal to meet the guest in the living room with Azu and the others around, he had him shown to the parlor instead.

"I've brought him."

"Hey there, hey there. Pleasure to meet you, Yohane-san. You may have already heard, but I'm Martz, director of the Insurance Association. Good to meet you."

"Hello, Martz-san."

He stood from his chair and greeted him with a handshake.

The man hadn't done anything wrong, so there was no need to be rude.

Martz glanced around the room.

Wondering what had caught his attention, he realized the appetizing aroma of cream stew had drifted all the way here.

"Oh my, what a lovely smell. Was I interrupting dinner?"

"Well, more or less. Would you like to stay for some?"

"No thank you! I appreciate the thought, though. If I left my wife's dinner untouched, I'd be in for an earful. Ha ha ha."

He was probably trying to lighten the mood.

Yohane returned a polite smile.

"Thank you for seeing me despite the sudden visit. I tried to make an appointment several times, but you seemed to be busy here and there. But my, what a cute servant you have."

Martz looked at Orleans.

He must have assumed she was a servant based on her age.

Or perhaps he assumed Yohane was making a move on her.

"She's not a servant but a live-in subordinate. Just to be clear."

"I see. My apologies."

He had never once thought of Orleans as a servant.

Far from it. She was now an indispensable right hand without whom the work wouldn't get done.

He didn't look down on servants, but Orleans mattered even more than that.

"So what brings you here today? I've had dealings with the Adventurer's Guild, but I don't believe I've had any connection with the Insurance Association."

"Oh, but we're very much connected! The Guild and the Association exist in a complementary relationship, each supporting the other. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the Insurance Association earns the Guild's operating budget. Thanks to that, we can ensure smooth operations for adventurers everywhere."

"I see. However, the Adventurer's Guild collects membership fees from its members and deducts roughly thirty percent of adventurers' earnings as a commission fee. I assumed that covered operating costs."

The split between adventurers and the Guild was 7:3.

Whether that was too much or too little was debatable, but there was no question that the cumulative amount was enormous.

That was why high-ranking adventurers preferred commissions that didn't go through the Guild.

Because there was no cut taken.

The Guild's upper management mockingly called these "shadow commissions."

If that bothered them, they should give adventurers a bigger share.

Even a smaller margin would benefit both sides if it meant more quality commissions.

Guild members were like agents.

By paying a membership fee, they received commissions to pass along, earning money when adventurers completed them.

The profit margin was thinner compared to the Guild itself, but it was a surprisingly popular business.

Adventurers appreciated having more places to pick up work, too.

But… he'd thought these fees were the Guild's operating budget. Was that not the case?

"Well, you're not wrong exactly… The basics like personnel costs are covered by that. But surely you understand, Yohane-san?"

"Understand what?"

Martz leaned in closer.

He was clean enough, but he wished the man wouldn't bring his oily face so near.

"Running an organization costs money. The Guild is a massive organization with branches across the entire continent. It's far larger in scale than most nations. Some branches need to be established in unprofitable locations, and some countries have powerful figures who oppose the Guild's presence. We must resolve these matters on our own to maintain our neutrality. There are nations like Spartia that don't need us, but those are exceptions."

"I see. So maintaining the status quo is one thing, but expansion requires more than that. And the Insurance Association covers the gap."

"Precisely."

He hadn't known the deeper workings of the Adventurer's Guild.

He was curious about the specifics, but pressing on that point would probably just get him deflected.

He wouldn't be surprised if there was some wining and dining involved.

So far, it sounded like a proper organization operating in line with its founding principles. But words could be twisted to say anything.

"Yohane-san, your trading company has been producing remarkable results lately, I hear. You've consistently earned as a guild member and, above all, you have the adventurer called Azu and her party, who've been rocketing up the adventurer ranks, under exclusive contract."

"Well, yes. I've been supporting them since the beginning."

He couldn't exactly say, "Actually, I bought them as slaves at the start and formed a party. That's why they've always been exclusive." The fact that Azu and the other two were slaves was generally kept under wraps.

It wasn't exactly a scandal, but it would look bad if word got around.

His trading company had a clean image going for it.

"Was that the party in the living room? I didn't expect you'd have them living in your house."

"The place is big enough. Renting a house or staying at an inn costs money. It's about saving."

"Hmm. Well, that's neither here nor there. I hear you've earned the trust of Queen Tianis herself… And so I've brought you a good offer from the Association. A deal that benefits both of us."

It seemed he'd caught the Association's eye.

That was how well-known they'd become, both the trading company and Azu's party.

He pulled out some documents.

Just at that moment, Orleans came in carrying tea and snacks.

He hadn't asked her to, but she'd been thoughtful enough to prepare them.

Impressive, as always.

"Here you are."

"Well, well. Much appreciated."

Martz ogled Orleans.

He'd said he was married, but that look was a bit suspect.

Orleans ignored his gaze, finished serving, bowed, and left the room.

"She's going to be quite the beauty. Perhaps even rivaling the famously lovely Princess Yupe."

After saying that, he pushed the documents over.

The contents… appeared to be bonds from the Adventurer's Guild.

"We'd very much like you to invest with us. The minimum is a thousand gold coins per bond, but don't you worry, we won't let you lose money. We 'guarantee' a four percent annual return."

"Investing, you say? Even if you need funding, the Guild doesn't seem to be hurting for money."

"The more money, the better. The more you have, the faster it grows. Those are the chairman's words, but I agree wholeheartedly."

"Four percent is impressive. And guaranteed, no less. How would the funds be used?"

"Lending. As a merchant, I'm sure you don't need me to tell you, but having a larger principal is advantageous for lending. Especially when the borrowers are adventurers. As long as they don't die, we can always collect."

The phrasing "as long as they don't die" bothered him a little.

"Forgive my ignorance, but what interest rate do you charge adventurers?"

"Ten percent. Regular moneylenders charge around fifteen, so it's quite generous. We lend to even beginner adventurers, so access is wide. We also lend to nobles we do business with."

Indeed, it was lower than a moneylender's rate.

But moneylenders evaluated their borrowers before lending.

They would never lend to someone who couldn't pay back.

There was no way beginner adventurers could earn enough to cover a loan.

How did they plan to collect from people like that?

"What if they can't repay?"

"If you borrow money, repaying it is a matter of sincerity. If they can't repay in coin, they'll simply have to show their sincerity in other ways. That's only natural. The law supports this as well. Women can always be turned into money, and men too, if one isn't picky about methods. Rest assured, we've never had a loss we couldn't recover. That's why we can guarantee your returns. It's not like we're taking their lives."

He'd had his guard at maximum from the moment the man said "guaranteed profit," but…

What happened to adventurers who couldn't repay their debts went without saying.

Most adventurers had no family or had been cast out as extra mouths to feed.

They had no one to turn to.

"… By the way, since this is the Insurance Association, how are you handling your core function of compensating adventurers?"

"Oh, my apologies. I neglected to mention that. We haven't made any payouts in several years, so you needn't worry about the operating fund shrinking. After all, adventurers assume their own risk."

… No. This was beyond saving.

This organization had already been devoured by the monster called money.

Whatever noble founding ideal it might have once had was rotted away.

Money held tremendous power, but one must never sell their soul for it.

"When the Insurance Association was first established, the very first payout was ten silver coins to an adventurer who'd been badly injured, wasn't it?"

"My, you're well informed. The adventurer who received it wept with joy, I'm told. Over a mere ten silver coins. Personally, I don't think they even needed to pay that. Could've made money with those coins instead. That adventurer died not long after, apparently. A waste of money even as a funeral fund."

"I understand why that adventurer wept with joy. For someone with nowhere to turn, knowing that there was someone willing to stand by them must have meant the world. It wasn't about the amount. It was about that presence itself."

He'd sustained fatal injuries and was surely in despair.

In that moment, the Association handing over compensation served as a consolation, a message that what he'd done hadn't been for nothing.

Insurance was also a tribute to those on the brink of death.

… Simply refusing would be easy.

But could he really just leave this alone?

The idea of adventurers being exploited made his blood boil.

This was money collected for compensation in the first place.