The Kicked Out S-Rank Appraiser Creates The Strongest Guild - Chapter 140

Chapter 140   Twisted Policy

Archie and Liz looked over the pamphlet Aina had handed them from “The Spirit Workshop.”

“What? Wait a minute. This looks amazing,” Liz exclaimed as she examined the stats of the equipment listed in the pamphlet.

“If this is real, it more than meets the requirements for B-class equipment. In fact, it might even qualify as A-class,” Archie added, intrigued.

“Liz, how does this compare to the gear from ‘Dragon’s Ember’?” Archie asked.

“It’s way better than anything from ‘Dragon’s Ember.’ Hey, can you really make this stuff?” Liz asked Aina.

“Yes, we’ve had adventurers who became A-class using equipment I crafted,” Aina replied confidently.

“A-class?!” Liz was astonished.

“That’s impressive,” Archie remarked.

Aina, sensing their positive reactions, thought she might be able to close a deal.

(I was just hoping they’d remember my name and face, but at this rate, we might finalize a contract soon.)

“How about it? If you’re interested, you could come to our workshop and see the products for yourself,” Aina suggested.

“Don’t be fooled!” a man suddenly interrupted. He was a representative from “Dragon’s Ember.”

“They’re just a newly established guild with little track record. The stats in that pamphlet are probably exaggerated.”

“That’s not true! Don’t say things that aren’t accurate. We’ve successfully outfitted A-class adventurers,” Aina protested.

“Even those A-class adventurers only got there with help from the ‘Guardians of the Magic Tree,'” the man retorted.

“‘Guardians of the Magic Tree’?” Archie questioned.

“Yes. They managed to smooth-talk the external guild ‘Guardians of the Magic Tree’ into boosting their credibility. The claim that they produced A-class adventurers is more due to ‘Guardians of the Magic Tree’s’ prowess than their own. If you sign with them, you’ll end up with overhyped products and be used as part of their marketing ploy,” the man insisted.

“That’s not true! We’ve raised local adventurers to A-class as well,” Aina argued.

“Local adventurers?” the man scoffed.

Simon, who had been silently listening until then, frowned suspiciously.

“Archie, Liz, let’s go,” he ordered.

“Wha—? Wait a minute!” Liz protested.

“Sorry, young lady. We’ve already decided to go to ‘Dragon’s Ember’ first. We’ll be taking our leave,” Simon said as the members of the “Knights of the Black Wall” quickly departed.

“What’s gotten into our captain?” Archie whispered to Liz.

“That ‘local adventurers’ comment struck a nerve. Last year, the captain was furious because local adventurers held him back. I think he’s still bitter about it,” Liz explained.

After losing the chance with the “Knights of the Black Wall,” Aina met with Dylan, who had also failed to secure a deal with the “Fortress Archers,” in the plaza.

“Aina, how did it go with the Knights of the Black Wall?” Dylan asked.

“It didn’t work out,” Aina replied.

“I see. I thought having the alchemist herself do the pitch might make a difference, but…” Dylan mused.

“It was going well at first,” Aina said.

“Really?” Dylan asked, surprised.

“Yes, but as soon as I mentioned local adventurers, the captain suddenly turned cold,” Aina explained.

“Local adventurers, huh? That could be the reason,” Dylan said thoughtfully.

“What do you mean?” Aina asked.

“Many external adventurers don’t have a good impression of local adventurers,” Dylan explained.

“Really?” Aina asked, surprised.

“Yes. The more experienced the adventurer, the more likely they are to have had unpleasant experiences because of local adventurers,” Dylan explained.

“Ah, I see. That makes sense,” Aina said, realizing her mistake, and sighed deeply.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. There will be plenty of chances to pitch to them again,” Dylan encouraged.

“You’re right. Let’s keep working on our sales, one step at a time,” Aina agreed.

The captain of the “Crimson Sands Players,” Ray, was giving a speech in the plaza, but he was confused by the residents’ reactions.

Normally, just assigning work to local adventurers would energize the crowd and prompt a flurry of questions. However, no matter how much he hinted at forming alliances with local guilds, the audience remained indifferent.

On the contrary, the local guilds bombarded him with questions about the “Spirit Alliance.”

“Do you plan to join the ‘Spirit Alliance’?”

“Why aren’t you joining the ‘Spirit Alliance’?”

“How do you plan to compete with the skills and equipment of the ‘Spirit Alliance’?”

Ray was completely baffled by the changes that had taken place on “Volcano’s Island.”

(What the hell is the ‘Spirit Alliance’? I’ve never even heard of it!)

Meanwhile, on the sidelines of the event, Wayne and Pat were pitching to a bard from the ” Crimson Sands Players.”

“Oh, this is a magnificent harp,” the bard remarked, captivated by the instrument’s exceptional “Dragon Tone” after only a brief strum.

“If it’s this good, I’d definitely want you to craft it for us.”

“Really?” Wayne and Pat exchanged hopeful looks, thinking they might have a deal.

However, as the negotiations progressed, the bard started to become hesitant.

“In order to contract with ‘Dragon’s Ember,’ we have to agree to certain special terms,” the bard said apologetically.

“The special clause means that as long as we’re contracted with ‘Dragon’s Ember,’ we can’t make deals with other guilds. So unfortunately, while we’re on this island, we can’t contract with you,” the bard explained.

“This harp is quite appealing, but we also need to get other equipment…”

“We can craft the other equipment too,” Wayne suggested.

“Hmm, even so…”

“How about this ‘Earthcraft’?” Wayne pulled an ‘Earthcraft’ out of his pocket and tossed it to the bard.

“Oh, this is…” The bard examined the item, impressed. “A remarkable ‘Earthcraft.’ Did you refine this as well?”

“That’s right. We’ve got plenty of ‘Earthcraft’ in our warehouse. Wouldn’t you want it to gain an edge over the other two guilds?” Wayne pressed.

“Hmm, but the squad’s preferences are…” The bard trailed off.

In the end, after the speech, the adventurers of the Crimson Sands Players headed towards ‘Dragon’s Ember.’

“Damn, we couldn’t seal the deal,” Wayne muttered.

“We always get close, but it’s tough to finalize anything,” Pat added.

(No matter how good our products are, without solid salesmanship, we can’t secure clients.)

“Well, at least they recognized our craftsmanship, so we achieved the bare minimum. Now let’s support the ‘Spirit Alliance’ guys and hope they can make some progress,” Wayne said.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

While the alchemists of ‘Spirit Workshop’ were busy with their sales efforts, a sales meeting was also underway at ‘Dragon’s Ember.’

In the chair where Lizetta should have been sitting, a young man named Ted, newly added to the quartet, was seated.

Raoul looked at Ted with a somewhat uneasy expression.

(Ted is a skilled alchemist, no doubt, but his ‘Silvercraft’ skills are inferior to Lizetta’s. Is this really okay? Just appointing someone to fill a spot isn’t enough.)

“Alright, let’s start the meeting. This quarter’s theme is how we can outdo ‘Spirit Worksop’ in sales. Does anyone have any suggestions?” Raoul asked.

“Yes,” Ted, the newcomer, quickly spoke up with an idea.

(“This is my first job as a member of the quartet. I have to make a solid impression here.”)

Fortunately, Ted had a plan that Edgar had given him earlier.

(“Edgar said this would work, so it should be fine.”)

“I propose that we form an alliance when contracting with the three guilds. By combining the power of the three guilds with that of ‘White Wolf,’ we can counter the ‘Spirit Alliance’ and regain our advantage in the dungeon,” Ted suggested confidently.

Medes’s brow twitched in irritation.

Unaware of this, Ted continued, “I’ve already secured a promise of active cooperation from ‘White Wolf’…”

“You idiot! Ted, how many years have you worked for this guild?” Edgar suddenly shouted.

“What?”

“We’ve been driving up prices by making external guilds compete for our alchemists and warehouse slots. If the three guilds and ‘White Wolf’ join forces, they’ll wear out their equipment less, meaning fewer repairs and less profit for us!”

“But during the ‘ Crown of the Sage ‘ incident, we formed an alliance with ‘White Wolf’ and—”

“That was because ‘ Crown of the Sage ‘ was already on its last legs, and we knew we couldn’t squeeze any more money out of them, so we supported them. But if we let the three guilds form an alliance now, what will we do if they team up to negotiate lower prices with us?”

“Indeed, Edgar is correct,” Medes gravely nodded.

“Ted, it seems you still have much to learn as a member of the quartet. If you don’t improve, your position in the quartet won’t be secure.”

“Ugh. Yes, sir,” Ted responded, realizing that Medes’s opinion of him had plummeted.

But was what he suggested really that unreasonable?

(“Right now, shouldn’t we focus on weakening the ‘Spirit Alliance’? And wasn’t this plan Edgar’s idea? It’s cruel of him to betray me like this.”)

Ted glanced at Edgar, but Edgar pretended not to notice.

(“Phew, that was close. I’m glad I let Ted propose that idea—Medes is clearly against a three-guild alliance.”)

In the end, the meeting concluded with a decision to increase fees by pitting the three guilds against each other and to encourage as much conflict between them as possible.

Later, Ted was demoted.