The Story of Becoming a Married Man in Another World

chapter 48



048 I Became Rich. Oh My God

“Grade 3, Grade 3! Don’t just stand there, register first!”

As the guild master shouted while still lying on the floor, the guild member hurriedly returned to the reception desk.

The guild member rummaged under the reception desk and pulled out a piece of paper. After taking a deep breath, a smile reappeared on their flustered face.

“Our guild is a branch in a small village, so the highest grade we can register is Grade 3. For higher grades, you need to go to a big city or the capital.”

The guild member began to explain that normally, one would register as Grade 6 and gradually move up.

“But with such strong healing abilities, you can start at Grade 2 right away. A magician with two attributes is extremely rare. Of course, a child who can command a beast is also rare, no, a child who can give orders to a beast is precious. Beasts fundamentally don’t listen to commands.”

It seems they think the beast is smart rather than the child taming it.

Of course, Juhwan thinks so too.

The guild member smiled broadly and said,

“If you register as Grade 3 here, we will immediately send the documents to the headquarters. Then, when you go to a big city later, you can become Grade 2 anytime.”

Just as the guild member was about to explain more, a large face suddenly appeared over the reception desk.

“Register first.”

It’s the master. Still seems to be in pain.

The master placed his chin on the reception desk and grabbed the guild member’s wrist.

“Talk later, register.”

Come to think of it, the bite from Oz hasn’t been treated yet. The fire on his head was a bigger issue, so he didn’t pay attention to it.

Blood was flowing from the back of the master’s neck, soaking his clothes red. It seems he was bitten quite hard.

As Juhwan gently placed his hand on the master’s neck and sent his magic, Dorothy glanced around and asked in a small voice,

“Dad, did Oz do something wrong?”

“….”

Well, it’s hard to say. The master didn’t intend to harm, but others might not think so.

The master smiled slightly and answered instead of Juhwan.

“No, little one. The beast did well. It protected its master. It shouldn’t be scolded. Besides, it stopped immediately when you told it to. That beast is excellent. And you are a growing sapling!”

Dorothy’s face brightened.

“Yes! Dorothy is a sapling.”

No, there’s no such thing as a sapling tree in this world. Maybe… I’m not sure since this is a different world from Earth, but a sapling is a sapling and a tree is a tree.

But thanks to that, Dorothy’s mood changed. The anxious look from a moment ago brightened.

No matter how strong Juhwan is and how people don’t mess with him, the atmosphere around seemed to make the child anxious.

Dorothy didn’t do anything wrong, but the child must have felt guilty under people’s gazes.

The master blew it away in an instant.

When the person who was wronged laughs, everyone around them feels forgiven too.

Juhwan glanced at the master and slightly bowed his head. When he silently mouthed “Thank you,” the master grinned.

In the meantime, it seemed the guild member had finished filling out the paper. They pushed a sheet of paper towards Juhwan.

“Please write the names of the party members here and drop a drop of blood from each of you. Grade 6 uses ordinary paper, but Grade 3 uses enchanted paper. Ah, you can prick yourself with this to draw blood. Sometimes people cut themselves with a knife and make a mess, so we prepared this. Adventurers tend to have rough hands.”

What the guild member handed over was a short needle attached to a piece of wood.

‘They probably didn’t sterilize it.’

Juhwan lit a small flame at his fingertip and slightly scorched the needle. He thought, ‘I might get tetanus, but do these people all live risking their lives?’

At the top of the paper, it said Grade 3, and below that, there were fields to fill in the party name and members.

Below that were the rules that guild members had to follow. There weren’t many. It was simple.

All of this was handwritten by the guild member. It would be convenient to have it pre-written, but maybe Grade 6 had it pre-written, and Grade 3 was rare, so they didn’t have it pre-filled. That might be the case.

All Juhwan had to do was write the party name and members. And for some reason, there was a small “3” written in the corner.

“If you can’t read or write, please let us know. There’s no need to be embarrassed. Most adventurers who come here can’t read. Of course, we can write for you, and there are people who read and write for you. They charge a fee, though.”

“I can read and write, though not very well.”

“Really?!”

The guild member was startled by Juhwan’s words.

“You’re really different in many ways.”

“….”

“Our master still struggles with reading and writing. He’s studying, though. Ha, so I handle all the master’s paperwork. It’s driving me crazy.”

The master laughed heartily at the guild member’s words.

“That’s why you get paid more. And keep that talkative mouth of yours.”

“Well, that’s true. I got fired from my previous job for talking too much.”

Leaving the bickering two behind, Juhwan looked at Lizzy and Dorothy.

“We need to decide on a party name. What do you think?”

Lizzy tilted her head and then smiled brightly.

“How about Dorothy and Oz?”

Ah, that’s nice.

Dorothy’s face lit up, and she brought her face close to Oz, who was in her arms.

“It’s Dorothy and Oz! Got it? We’re like a budding tree.”

Dorothy’s words often make no sense at all. I can’t understand how things turned out that way.

Juhwan wrote down the names of the party and three people, then pricked his finger and let the blood drop onto the paper.

Since it was a magic paper, it should have lit up, but nothing was visible yet.

Liz came over, slightly grimacing, and held out her finger.

It seemed she was a little scared of being pricked by the pin.

After hesitating several times, she tightly closed her eyes and finally pressed down hard.

While she could easily cut through blood-stained rabbit fur and bodies, this small needle scared her. It was somehow funny and cute.

Then it was Dorothy’s turn….

“…Uh…ah…no…Dorothy has no blood…Dorothy has no blood in her fingers…really…Dorothy has no blood….”

It seemed she was very scared of being pricked by the needle. Her face had turned pale.

“Dorothy, it’s just for a moment. It doesn’t hurt at all.”

Liz, who had hesitated several times before pricking her own finger, now tried to persuade Dorothy.

A guild member signaled to Juhwan. He held up the needle and gestured to bring the child’s hand.

Sigh, there was no other way.

Juhwan sighed lightly and took Dorothy’s hand.

“…Waaah…Dorothy has no blood…not a single drop…waaaah….”

The child started crying in earnest. She shook her head violently, trying to pull her hand away.

Juhwan held the child’s hand and slightly extended it towards the guild member, while Liz and he tried to soothe the child. It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt at all, they said earnestly.

But Dorothy’s crying didn’t stop. She seemed very scared.

“It’s done. It’s all over.”

While the child continued to cry, the guild member pricked her finger and drew a drop of blood.

Dorothy didn’t seem to realize she had been pricked.

She kept crying and looked at her finger in confusion.

As Dorothy’s blood dropped onto the paper and spread, the previously unresponsive paper suddenly began to glow faintly.

“Uh…eh…oh….”

The child’s crying gradually subsided and eventually stopped.

“…The paper is glowing!”

“I’ve seen it before, but it’s amazing every time.”

Dorothy and Liz stared intently at the paper. The light on the magic paper soon faded.

“Hehe. This one is a bit more expensive than other magic papers. Usually, it only allows one contract. This one can allow three people to contract. Once the magic is activated, it can’t be changed, so it can’t be forged.”

The number 3 written on the corner of the paper seemed to indicate the number of people that could be contracted. It looked like they had made magical papers for 2 people, 3 people, and so on.

“Now, the contract is perfectly complete. From this moment on, you are adventurers.”

Dorothy, still with tear stains on her face, rummaged through her front pocket and pulled out the rabbit doll, Toto.

She handed it to the guild member, sniffling as she spoke.

“Please include Toto in the party too.”

“…That…doll, you mean?”

“It’s Toto. Dorothy, Oz, and Toto are one. Always together. Otherwise, we’ll become acorns.”

“….”

The guild member chuckled and pretended to write something on the paper, then spoke to Dorothy.

“Alright, registered. Toto is also in the same party from now on.”

Dorothy lowered her head sadly. Hugging Toto tightly, she whispered softly.

“…Liar. That man lied. He didn’t write it. Lying is really bad, Toto.”

Dorothy’s face looked extremely sad. She seemed like the most unfortunate child in the world.

The guild member looked at Joo-hwan and Lizzy with an embarrassed expression.

“I’m sorry.”

“We’re sorry.”

Joo-hwan and Lizzy bowed their heads to the guild member almost simultaneously.

It was already a mess, and now the child was saying something absurd. They felt really sorry. Being a working adult really builds up a lot of stress. Earning money is truly not easy.

Joo-hwan patted the back of the sorrowful child and bowed his head once more.

“Thank you for registering the party.”

“You’re welcome.”

The guild member placed three necklaces on the reception desk.

They had a wooden tag with Santa’s face on the front and the number 3 on the back.

This seemed to be the proof of being an adventurer.

“Always wear this. It serves as your identification.”

“Uh, what is this old man’s face?”

“Oh, you mean Santa? Surely, you know Santa?”

“….”

The guild member looked slightly troubled.

“Santa is the god of our adventurer guild. You could say he’s the god of all adventurers. In reality, he’s somewhere between a god and a monster, so some people don’t like him, but surely you’re not from a place that dislikes Santa? Oh, then you wouldn’t have come in after seeing the sign.”

Judging by the context, it seems that Santa is considered a guardian deity.

Could it be that Santa is not human?

Well, it’s true that a human can’t send someone from this world to the other world.

But at the same time, it seems like he’s being treated as a monster, and I have no idea what’s going on.

While Juhwan was confused, a guild member from the purchase counter approached.

It seems the appraisal of the rabbit fur is complete.

The guild member smiled brightly and handed over a flat, square plate with money on it.

“There are seven pieces of rabbit fur. The current market price for high-quality fur is 6 silver coins per piece, but since the condition is very good, I calculated it at 7 silver coins per piece. So, the total is 49 silver coins. How would you like to receive the payment? I can give you 2 gold coins and 9 silver coins, all in silver coins, or mixed with rina.”

The guild member who had been handling the reception interrupted.

“Opening an account with the guild is also an option. You can take a certificate showing the balance to other branches and withdraw money there. Many people carry money with them, but it’s dangerous. Oh, and forging the certificate is a serious crime, so please don’t do it.”

It seems they also act as a bank. The word I didn’t understand probably means account. Juhwan nodded and looked at the guild member.

“Is the account information shared with other branches? If so, how long does it take? Also, I’m curious about how you verify the identity.”

“It’s the first time someone has asked such questions. Most people just end it when they know they can exchange the certificate for money. You really defy expectations in many ways.”

The guild member’s eyes widened.

But isn’t it impossible to open an account without knowing at least that much?

Anyway, from the explanation, it seems to be a system similar to a bank, just taking a bit more time.

Since lists are exchanged regularly, information about adventurers and account balances are shared with all branches with a time lag.

Identity verification is done with a necklace imbued with magic when the account is created.

If you lose it, you usually have to go back to the branch where you opened the account to make a new necklace.

The guild member explained that almost all situations are detailed when joining.

They record the appearance of the adventurer, weapons, and the account owner’s features, and later compare them with the documents if there are any issues.

“Our adventurer guild has a long history. We can handle various situations well. You don’t need to worry.”

On the contrary, it means there have been many incidents. Juhwan thought so but said nothing.

Juhwan opened an account under the party name and deposited 30 silver coins in the guild.

As a result, he got one more necklace for the account. Only the leader needs to stain it with blood.

‘Thank goodness.’

Thinking about Dorothy crying and fussing over blood again, he sighed involuntarily.

Seeing Juhwan’s tired face, the guild member chuckled.

“Oh, and please come back tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow. When you first register, a 5th-grade adventurer, one level higher, will accompany you for about a month. During that period, you will learn the basics of being an adventurer. It’s not about weapons, but daily life. Although you have become 3rd-grade adventurers right away, you still need to learn the basics that adventurers should know.”

“Understood.”

Juhwan replied and looked at Lizzy.

Lizzy has been acting a bit strange since earlier. Her face is pale, and her movements and expressions are stiff, almost like a robot.

Is it because she’s tired? I’m a bit worried. We need to get out and find a place to rest quickly, or she might collapse.

As Juhwan was about to turn to leave, a guild member handed him a small collar for animals.

“This is a service. The beast in training must wear a collar. Otherwise, if it’s hunted, there’s nothing we can say. Please make sure to put the collar on.”

Right there, they put the collar on Oz. Dorothy, who had been saddened by not being able to register Toto in the party, became lively again.

“Oz, you look great! I want a collar too. Not this kind, but a cool one like that!”

Dorothy seemed to prefer the leather collar for beasts over the Santa collar.

After promising to return to the guild the day after tomorrow, Juhwan put his arm around Lizzy’s shoulder and turned around.

The adventurers inside the guild, who had been watching them, all turned their heads at once.

He heard someone whispering to their companion.

“Hey, don’t make eye contact, or you’ll get burned.”

That’s not true. I’m not some crazy person.

Juhwan sighed slightly and left the guild with his family.

Lizzy didn’t say a word as they walked back to where the carriage was. I’m really worried. Is there something bothering her?

When Juhwan stopped and looked into Lizzy’s face, she slowly blinked and suddenly muttered.

“Oh my gosh, Juhwan! We’re rich.”

“….”

What? Was she just surprised because we got some money? Suddenly, he started laughing.

“Lizzy, we’re going to make even more money from now on.”

“…Oh my gosh.”

Lizzy blinked and looked up at Juhwan. Slowly, her expression returned.

And finally, with her cheeks turning red, Lizzy muttered once more.

“We’re rich. Oh my gosh.”

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