When the rest of the guild logged off, Lohan and Lisa left the bar together.
Even though Lohan’s speed was now more than enough for him to roll along the ground beside her on his own, they were already so used to Lohan riding on her back that he climbed up there naturally.
Especially now that no one else from the guild was nearby, being alone together at that moment made them feel like it was just the two of them again.
"So... what did you think of everyone? I don’t think we had time to talk about that." Lisa asked, genuinely curious about Halon’s opinion.
Lohan kept looking around at the people walking through the night streets of Thalendor. Fortunately, even though it was night and there was no electricity, lampposts with blue and golden magical lights illuminated the beautiful city, making the atmosphere even more beautiful.
"I was a little worried before meeting them, as you know, but I think that after dealing with them for the first time, seeing how professional they were, and in combat, realizing that the difference between us and them was huge, my confidence returned and I think I was able to handle things more naturally." Lohan spoke in a calm voice.
Although he had no leadership experience in either of his two lives, as someone confined to a hospital bed, he had plenty of free time, so he was able to observe and learn a lot from the guild leaders in the streams he watched, as well as from the shows and classes he took in his spare time.
Sure, that kind of experience through others was far worse than something lived firsthand, but it was still much better than expected for him, someone with absolutely no experience and practically no social life from the Lower Zone.
Lisa nodded, satisfied. "To be honest, you’ve really surprised me. Having known you for almost a month, I never imagined you’d handle them so well..."
Lohan smiled inwardly, and the two enjoyed the walk.
"Hey, aren’t those two the creatures Dalyor tried to tame and failed?" A whisper reached their ears.
Hearing the familiar name, Lohan had to strain to remember who this Dalyor was, but then the image of a spoiled half-elf youth popped into his mind.
Dalyor was the leader of that group of four tamers who had tried to attack them a few days ago.
After killing the creatures in that group, Lohan let them go back alive but on the condition that they spread the word about what they had done and the defeat they had suffered at the hands of the newly formed Astralis Requiem Guild.
Noticing that as they walked, some people recognized them through these rumors, Lohan was pleased and saw an opportunity in this.
"Lisa, weren’t we planning to form partnerships with other shops as suppliers? I think with our newly acquired fame, we can start with that." Lohan said thoughtfully.
"You’re right... with more members joining the guild tomorrow, the list we got from Intervar probably won’t last very long. It wouldn’t hurt to secure a few more agreements now." Lisa nodded in agreement.
In exchange for the guild’s work in securing these agreements, Lohan and Lisa charged 10% of the earnings as a maintenance fee.
For now, for a daily profit of 40 silver coins that a group would earn, that fee would be just 4 coins, but what if there were 10 groups? 50 groups? 100 groups hunting and earning money every day?
That amount would scale up to an income of 400 silver coins per day just for them to manage the transactions, and that money could be used to invest in the guild’s infrastructure, with a portion of that income being split between them as a salary.
After all, even if the guild belonged to them, with Lisa as leader and Lohan as deputy leader, they should also be paid for the work of securing these agreements that would generate revenue for future members.
Not even the soldiers minded paying this fee to the guild, considering that not only would they have no access to this source of income if it weren’t for them, but Lisa was buying their coins for double the value, meaning they were giving up 10% to turn the remaining 90% into 180%; that was an incredible profit.
Deciding to take advantage of the fact that the city was still bustling and the two were in less of a hurry to hunt after reaching level 11, they passed in front of a leather armor shop and saw an opportunity.
Upon entering the shop, the sound of a hammer striking metal studs and the strong smell of leather and herbs flooded Lohan’s senses.
The shop, built inside an oak tree that seemed to have been magically shaped to accommodate circular shelves, displayed high-quality leather armor that glowed with magical enchantments.
Behind a rustic wooden counter, a tall woman with broad shoulders and a pair of orange tiger ears with black stripes that twitched alertly was focused on sewing what appeared to be the membrane of a monster’s wing. She didn’t even look up when they entered.
"If you’re looking for luxury collars or pet capes, you’re in the wrong place," she said in a hoarse, blunt voice, without the slightest trace of the usual elven courtesy of Thalendor. "The Bazaar has dozens of pet trinket shops."
Lisa let out an offended snort, her two white tails swishing in irritation; Lohan was also displeased with the way the woman was speaking.
Lohan rolled in front of the fox and formed a bluish hand. With a calm motion, he pulled his [Level 3 Thalendor ID Card] from the [Astral Chest] and placed it on the counter.
This time, the woman stopped what she was doing. Her tiger ears tilted forward, and she finally looked at the small pair, her yellowish eyes focusing on the glow of the three emerald gems on the card.
"A Level 3 Citizen Card? On a Slime and a Fox?" She let out a sharp laugh, but dropped the bone needle and looked at the pair intently. "All right, you have my attention. I’m Kora. Now, before I lose my patience, tell me what you want in my workshop."
"We’re here on business." Lohan conveyed through the mental link, his voice calm and firm, not the least bit intimidated by the woman’s attitude.
Although he didn’t like how she acted, Lohan didn’t let that displeasure cloud his thoughts and cause them to miss a business opportunity.
He knew that once he demonstrated the value they had to offer, this relationship would improve, and he wouldn’t mind charging interest for that attitude in the future.