Chapter 15
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: 3. We Even Procure the Materials Ourselves
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Come to think of it, it had been the same during the salary negotiations.
"Ah, your salary. I forgot to mention something important."
The amount she pulled out with a bright smile far exceeded my wildest imagination.
"Since we're hiring you as a specialist, I'll give you a bit more... How about 10 gold per month?"
"...Pardon?"
10 gold.
Ten times 100 silver... Hah, even if I stayed in a luxury room costing 3 silver a night—where even a single night's stay was a whole 1 silver—and ate high-end meals at 1 silver a day, I'd still have tons of money left over...!
No, it wasn't just leftover—it was enough to live like that for nearly a year, all as a single month's pay...?
When I traveled with Claude, our monthly earnings barely topped 1 gold... That was roughly eight times more...?
Of course, Claude took most of the profits, so it was way less than what a typical C-Rank Adventurer made.
It was more like E- or D-Rank Adventurer level earnings.
After Mary and Sophia joined, it had dropped to less than half of that.
Well, to be fair, I hardly did any work, so I had no room to complain.
I hadn't started adventuring for the money in the first place.
Anyway... 10 gold a month.
Wasn't that too much?
Did all the Adventurer Academy staff get paid that much?
As I sat there speechless in confusion, Director Mureos Avantredin's expression darkened slightly.
"Ah, is it still too low...? We do have the clause about taking 50% of the general store's sales profits... Hmm. But considering we'll only be covering raw material costs from now on, I think we could raise the base salary a bit more."
"F-Fifty percent of the profits?"
The shock of the 10 gold monthly salary hadn't even worn off yet, and here came another blow.
Fifty percent of the general store's sales profits...!
What kind of nonsense was this?
Of course, the academy's general store primarily served educational purposes for students, so the selling prices were incredibly low.
They barely broke even on raw material costs.
Alchemists bought those processed goods at high prices, so the academy must have taken a massive loss.
Now that I'd be making them myself, they'd only spend on raw materials, which would save them a fortune.
But regardless, I was the one doing the crafting, while the academy provided the raw materials and equipment.
In other words, all I needed was my skills—no money from my pocket.
Honestly, just the salary alone would leave me with nothing to complain about.
Yet on top of that salary, I was getting a bonus of 50% of sales profits.
Without spending a single coin of my own.
No matter how cheap they sold them, how many students were at the academy?
I'd probably pull in at least 7 or 8 gold a month.
If I took 3 or 4 of that... my effective salary would be around 14 gold.
...That was on par with a decent B-Rank Adventurer's earnings.
And without risking my life hunting monsters or delving into dungeons like they did.
I'd just sit there using the academy's raw materials and facilities to brew potions and sell them.
Of course, I'd have to teach students about precautions and usage methods... but anyone beyond first-year wouldn't need much instruction anyway.
"With your abilities, Mr. Edin, we should definitely pay more, but there's the Adventurer Guild's higher-ups watching, and the other staff members' eyes too. Once you prove your skills, they'll accept a raise later."
So it could go even higher based on performance.
No, then why not start me at 4 or 5 gold and raise it later?
Starting at 10 gold felt... too burdensome.
It seemed like they had huge expectations riding on me.
And they already did.
These top-tier facilities beyond my imagination.
This... felt like overly high expectations.
Director Mureos Avantredin was one of the continent's top mages.
For someone like her to place this much faith in me—it was making me tense.
"This should be good enough for now. It's lunchtime, so no students are here, but that'll end soon."
That's when I heard Suiven Rosu, who had been guiding me, speak up.
"For now, let me show you how to handle sales and operations yourself. I heard you have no experience selling potions directly..."
"Ah, yes."
My outfit was a bit embarrassing, but she seemed incredibly kind and responsible.
Most people would have explained this much and left me to figure it out.
"Shall we head up, then?"
We returned to the surface.
A bit disappointing.
I wanted to try out those facilities down there myself.
I'll sneak in a session when there are no customers later.
After lunch ended, the academy students dove into their afternoon classes.
"Class 1-3 Intermediate first-years have external training today."
The academy had three grades total.
Each class had around 30 students.
With 6 to 7 classes per grade, the total student body was about 500 to 600.
Classes were divided into upper, middle, and lower levels per grade.
In adventurer rank terms, upper was A to B, middle C to D, lower E to F.
In other words, Class 1-3 Intermediate consisted of this year's freshmen.
Students with roughly C- to D-Rank skills.
Of course, as semesters and grades advanced, proving your strength allowed promotion to higher classes.
You just needed to get strong enough for a higher adventurer rank.
Anyway, Class 1-3 Intermediate.
Their task today was external training.
It was the first external training for this year's first-years.
"Class 3 is first up for first-year external training. Let's do this without any accidents."
External training meant heading out and handling real requests.
Exterminating specific monsters, escort missions, gathering certain materials or items, and so on.
Choosing requests suited to their rank from the countless ones adventurers received and carrying them out—a practical lesson.
Naturally, they didn't send students alone.
Veteran adventurer-turned instructors stood ready to watch and protect each party.
"Hmm."
The instructors up front scanned the students.
From boys who looked barely into their teens to a mage-dressed woman in her mid-thirties.
Even sharp-eared, beautiful elves and beastkin with fluffy ears and tails.
Due to its nature, the Adventurer Academy didn't restrict first-years by age.
Age, gender, even race—none were fixed.
Adventuring was a profession anyone could challenge.
"Alright, everyone form parties. Balance is key, as you learned in theory class."
Party formation was crucial for adventurers, so it was heavily emphasized in theory lessons.
Assembling a balanced party across positions.
That was vital.
A poorly balanced party or one with mismatched synergies was doomed from the start.
"Parties minimum three, maximum six. You can link up with other parties if you get similar quests."
At the supervising instructor's shout, students milled about forming parties.
And Riley Gabriel, the 16-year-old swordswoman in the first-year intermediate class, was no different.
With her long, straight black hair and calm, alluring eyes, she was the eldest daughter of the Gabriel Family—a baron's house in the Kran Kingdom, a small nation adjacent to the Myos Empire.
The country itself was tiny, and it was just a barony, so nothing particularly outstanding about it.
Just your average noble family that had been around for generations.
Born as the firstborn daughter there, she was originally expected to inherit the house.
The Kran Kingdom lacked the tradition that only men could be family heads, so as the eldest, she was fully qualified even as a daughter.
The Gabriel barony excelled in neither magic, swordsmanship, nor anything else.
Even without special talent, she could easily have become the head.
But she bolted from that position right away.
Because she wanted to be a swordswoman.
She admired the kind who roamed the world freely, adventuring!
With her parents' permission, she left home and headed straight to Preta, the capital of the Myos Empire.
To enroll in the Adventurer Academy and become an outstanding adventurer and swordswoman!
But reality's walls were high.
She had, at best, D-Rank talent as a swordswoman and ended up in the intermediate class.
Even there, she ranked among the weakest, constantly ignored or mocked by others.
'So what?'
Riley didn't get discouraged.
She was on the path she wanted, wasn't she?
Far better than sitting at home managing a boring barony as an unfit family head!
'Besides, I can definitely get stronger. If I just work hard enough...'
Of course, the world was full of prodigies.
Some genius had earned the Hero title and swept the world in just three years of adventuring.
'Do I really lack talent after all?'
Her skills were mocked even in the intermediate class.
Maybe she belonged in the lower class? As she grew a bit gloomy thinking that, someone approached her.
"Hey, Riley. Wanna party with us? We need a frontliner."
Fellow intermediate classmates.
Unlike her, commoners—and people she got along decently with.
Octo, Ens, and Tom.
Commoners, but top performers in the intermediate class with solid skills.
Around her age, they were said to already have C-Rank Adventurer level strength.
They had a shot at moving to the upper class as upperclassmen.
Adventuring was purely merit-based.
They loved showing off their skills, sometimes playing mean pranks on others.
Especially teasing Riley for being weak.
But Riley had no choice.
No other party in Class 3 Intermediate wanted the weakest member: her.
She couldn't skip the external training lesson on handling real requests—it was crucial for adventurers.
The instructors would be there anyway, so what could go wrong?
"Ah, sure. Sounds good."
Riley nodded, and the three commoner boys grinned at her.