The next day, Guildmaster Daniel announced that he would completely revoke the punishment against Ryu.

But…

It was already too late for many things.

Adventurers had begun taking requests from the Commercial Guild, and no longer frequented the Adventurer Guild.

Merchants even started taking their requests, and even those from the Lord were directed towards the Commercial Guild.

Eventually, even ordinary people began asking for miscellaneous tasks through the Commercial Guild, and only a few adventurers came to the Adventurer Guild for requests.

Daniel had hoped that adventurers would gather for the sake of the dungeon, but it was already conquered by Ryu.

Daniel vaguely expected something to change when the A-Rank party “Red Meteor” stayed in town, but Ryu’s report was that the Red Meteor had perished in the dungeon.

Ryu had reported to Daniel that he had destroyed the dungeon’s core, but it was a lie. In reality, Ryu had taken the core back with him.

With the core gone, the dungeon was dead, but it could be revived if another core were placed within it. Alternatively, a new dungeon could be born by placing the core elsewhere.

Ryu was currently cornering the Adventurer Guild, but he planned to revive the dungeon again if he managed to punish Daniel. After all, dungeons are a delicious resource.

・
・
・

After revoking the punishment, Daniel approached Ryu and offered him a rank upgrade.

He suddenly wanted to promote him to E-Rank, or even D or C.

But Ryu rejected the offer.

“It’s against the rules to get a rank upgrade without taking the test,”

he replied.

Daniel insisted that he could do it as Guildmaster, but Ryu retorted with sarcasm,

“Didn't you say that we should follow the rules strictly from now on?”

Daniel then asked Ryu to take the test, but Ryu brushed him off, saying that he was no longer interested in rank upgrades and wouldn’t take the test.

・
・
・
・
・

―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―

A while later, an auditor was sent from the guild headquarters.

The headquarters finally took action regarding Daniel’s inappropriate conduct, which had been reported for some time.

The auditor’s arrival easily exposed Daniel’s past mistakes. The guild staff willingly testified about Daniel’s past misdeeds.

The Adventurer Guild was on the verge of bankruptcy, with no heed paid to the staff’s opinions. The trust between the staff and Daniel was completely broken, and this was a natural consequence.

As a result, Daniel was stripped of his position as Guildmaster and demoted from his adventurer rank. But that wasn’t the end of it. He was also ordered to pay compensation for the massive damage he had caused to the guild. Failure to pay would result in him becoming a debt slave.

However, Daniel, who had been a reasonably skilled adventurer in his prime and had “accumulated” wealth through bribes and perks during his time as Guildmaster, was able to avoid becoming a slave by paying all his assets as compensation.

He still had a considerable amount of debt remaining, but it was an amount that could be repaid gradually while working.

The guild decided to make Daniel work as a guild-exclusive adventurer (兼雑用係, which translates to "part-time errand boy") until he finished paying off the remaining debt. Daniel’s life took a turn for the worse, forcing him to live in extreme poverty, working as the lowest-ranking errand boy for the Adventurer Guild while paying back his debts.

・
・
・
・
・

―　―　―　―　―　―　―　―

Since the Guildmaster was absent, Catherine, who had been sent from the headquarters as an auditor, became the temporary deputy master.

However, the situation surrounding the Adventurer Guild was far from favorable.

Catherine was at her wits' end.

The Commercial Guild's rise had caused the decline of the Adventurer Guild.

…If this trend continues, it could spread not only to this town but to other towns and countries as well. Catherine had heard that the Commercial Guild had already begun to move in that direction.

Catherine quickly reported the situation to the headquarters. The guild headquarters responded by saying that they would consider appropriate measures, but instructed Catherine to remain in Mimul and try to revive the Adventurer Guild.

“I have to clean up this mess… If only they had sent me here earlier… .”

There was no point in lamenting. First, she needed to restore the proper division of labor between the Adventurer Guild and the Commercial Guild.

However, the problem was the Lord.

In this world, there were “fundamental laws” that differed between countries, but many laws regarding local autonomy were left to the discretion of the local Lord.

This world didn't have the concept of the separation of powers. The Lord who ruled the territory had control over all judicial, legislative, and executive matters.

Ideally, the Lord should have forbidden the Commercial Guild from taking over the Adventurer Guild’s work. But currently, the Lord seemed to be backing the Commercial Guild.

The Commercial Guild had successfully appeased the Lord by offering to contribute a portion of the rewards for monster exterminations outside the town, helping to cover the city’s operational costs.

Originally, the town of Mimul was not situated near a border and was a rural area with agriculture, although not a remote mountainous region with fierce monsters. The Lord didn’t feel a strong sense of urgency regarding the city’s defense.

The Lord wasn’t very keen on monster extermination requests, which only cost money. The Commercial Guild’s offer to contribute a portion of the costs was a welcome relief for the Lord.

The Commercial Guild also benefited from this arrangement. They could quickly send extermination requests when monsters appeared along the trade routes used by merchants.

However, this had the downside of reducing the number of extermination requests sent for areas where merchants didn’t travel…

The Adventurer Guild couldn’t compete with the Commercial Guild in terms of financial resources.

They had to convince the Lord of the dangers of relying solely on the Commercial Guild.

Merchants only ever considered their own profits. They were devoid of morality or pride and were perfectly capable of betraying others for profit.

If adventurers were all absorbed into the Commercial Guild and began acting solely on commercial principles, it could lead to trouble in the future.

For example, if a neighboring country launched an economic invasion, the adventurers could be swayed by their “commercial interests” and join the invasion, leading to the country’s takeover.

Furthermore, if a war broke out and involved the use of force, adventurers, as skilled warriors, would be obligated to participate in the war. However, if they lost their patriotism and prioritized profits, they might abandon the country and flee.

Many merchants believed that borders and taxes were unnecessary for trade. Instilling such ideas in adventurers would be extremely dangerous for the ruling class.

While adventurers undoubtedly had a commercial side, as they risked their lives seeking a fortune, essentially making risk their product, they weren't necessarily driven solely by monetary gain.

Their spirit was closer to that of a craftsman than a merchant.

Adventurers were also a force that protected the country and its people.

While the army (Knight Order) and security forces were responsible for suppressing human crime and repelling invasion, the Adventurer Guild provided the defense force against rampant monsters.

Moreover, in times of crisis, adventurers would naturally fight not only monsters but also bandits and even foreign soldiers who invaded the country. The Adventurer Guild was an organization that played a part in maintaining order. Many adventurers were proud of their work.

Especially high-ranking adventurers were expected to be proud and patriotic. In times of need, they must have the will to defend their country, disregarding profits. (Those who lacked such spirit would not be granted a rank above B.)

However, the Commercial Guild lacked such noble ideals. While they had ranks for their members, they were determined solely by their business performance.

One couldn’t expect those individuals to possess the pride of protecting their country or territory, disregarding their own profits.

Some adventurers were registered with both the Adventurer Guild and the Commercial Guild. However, if adventurers became overly attached to merchants and absorbed their commercial mindset, there would be a risk of losing adventurers who worked to maintain order.

One couldn’t defend a town with an army that retreated because of “losses.”

She needed to make the Lord understand that.

(* These were merely Catherine’s personal thoughts.)

・
・
・

First, Catherine began investigating the root cause of this series of events.

Of course, the fundamental cause was the shoddy management of the former Guildmaster, Daniel. However, it seemed the trigger for his mistakes being exposed was an incident where a certain F-Rank adventurer named Ryuujin had been abandoned in the dungeon.

According to the information Catherine gathered from Daniel, this F-Rank adventurer, Ryuujin, was apparently a “person of interest.”

However, there was a doubt about the reliability of Daniel’s information.

While Ryuujin might be a dangerous individual, Catherine’s intuition whispered that she could use this man to her advantage and reverse the situation.

She needed to judge Ryuujin without preconceived notions.

She wanted to meet Ryuujin and instructed the staff to bring him to her office if he appeared.