There were plenty of people there, including the two sides’ entourage; the Inn never lacked people anymore.
So when the leaders shouted this declaration, there were dozens of people around, either camping or just heading elsewhere.
They were all adventurers and a few mercenaries, and this was like adding fire to a pond of still petroleum.
"WOOOOOAAAA! BRANCHES?!"
"YES PLEASE!"
"What does this mean?! Can we get new missions while we’re in the danger zone? How efficient would that be!?"
"Can we exchange points from our guilds here, too?"
"AHHH!"
"SO EXCITED."
They were speaking as if things were already official...
Finn’s eyes twitched so many times. Just imagining the logistics of it (and the mediations) was already causing him headaches.
At the same time, if they could really do this well, it would indeed be very advantageous. It would guarantee contracts and missions for the people here, and they didn’t have to go back and forth to take new ones.
Since many people had started to stay longer and longer in the inn, it had become one of the issues. There were some missions, like mere clearing missions, wherein they didn’t have to go back at all. In those cases, they’d want to take new clearing missions to get extra points, but could not do so because the town was too far.
If they built the halls here, that would not be a problem anymore.
Having branches of both guilds (and he reckoned, looking at Leez’s pondering look, that the merchant guild might follow soon), would also give them political leverage.
He heard somewhere that it theoretically wasn’t easy to gain land here. However, they were in the danger zone, and no one wanted to build here in the first place, so it was never a problem. With three guilds backing him up, it was already a semi-official status for him.
Having more people with money would also spike the economy of his little village. After all, the Canteen would work endlessly as long as supplies were there, and with the expansions of farms and the trade routes, raw materials were becoming less of a problem. He could also adjust the menu to use what he had an abundance of.
Most importantly, the monsters here wouldn’t be a problem anymore! Even if they got fortified-level monsters again, they could deal with it!
The inn would have intense security without a standing army.
His inn was slowly turning into a proper village-town, anyway. Adding guilds there could solidify that.
Not to mention, there would be a lease contract for the land on which they’d be building their branches. The amount would not be small! In time, the lease would also be a guaranteed income for him.
He would probably be able to fund the next upgrades well!
Finally, since he was an adventurer, he was required to take a mission once a month. He was just pretty much given leeway because he lived in the danger zone and cleared monsters anyway. With a branch here, he could officially take on missions and get rewards for things he was already doing.
"I...I’ll think about it," he said, conservatively. "If the two of you can coexist well, I will definitely consider."
...
The group adjourned for the night. The poisoned elders couldn’t stay, but they left some trustworthy people there. They also said they sent out messages to the other elders to replace them, maybe figure out who else was poisoned as well.
They wanted to block their rooms for other adventurers but sadly, the queue existed and the next in line were mercenaries, who in turn gave way to Ren’s uncle.
They decided to schedule a meeting the next day, and it was free rein for everyone.
Leez had also approached him and sent him his shares.
Since he didn’t need danas in here, he asked her to pay in toughened cores. The exchange rates were the value when bought in the inn, rather than the safe zones, so he could get a lot more cores than he would otherwise.
Leez was fine with it since she wasn’t exchanging the cores deep in the safe zone, but rather with mercenaries and adventurers at the borders, so it was easier to haggle with them, especially after sending them samples of the sauce.
She also mentioned that, if he was considering the two guilds’ offers, the merchant guild would be willing to do the same.
That night, Finn went with his friends and bonded with the three kids, his first customers. Maybe they could also give him some ideas about how to handle the branch issues.
"You really leveled up so fast, Finn!" Zachary said. "You’re already toughened level! Didn’t you just start practicing in less than a year?"
"Well, if you live in the danger zone, it’s kinda inevitable."
Ren gave him a look. "Anyone else would not be that fast."
Finn smiled. "Well, I was told my potential is pretty good."
"Oh?" They leaned over. "Spill, Finn, no need to keep secrets."
"Above B," he said, purposely being vague, but that was enough to make them impressed. One had to know that even Ren himself was only B potential, and he was treated a treasure in the family!
"Why don’t you join our mercenary guild instead? The leader, Ren’s uncle, had actually mentioned this before heading here..."
Zachary was a straightforward guy so, if there was a hidden agenda, he was bound to speak of it. Ren didn’t care. It didn’t feel good to hide things from their friend and lifesaver anyway.
"I won’t quit the adventurer guild," he said. "But I can consider still being a member of the other two guilds. Would your mercenary team allow this?"
The three sparkled. They did not dare promise anything, but this compromise was enough! After all, everyone knew the tensions between adventurers and mercenaries. They were already thankful Finn didn’t get offended by their offer!
"Okay, I’m pretty sure you didn’t come here for me," he said, pouring another cup for each of the kids. "There are other issues, right?"
At this, the kids’ faces turned solemn, and they nodded. "Well, we found out the previous accident where we lost so many teams was not an accident at all."
"Hmn?"
They then proceeded to tell him everything they knew. They found no need to hide anything from him, and they weren’t asked to make oaths before either, so they were free to do so.
Finn’s eyebrows furrowed the more he heard. It seemed like they had also caught a whiff of a dark movement, similar to the adventurers.
Finn tapped the surface of the table in thought.
What was happening?