The Frugal Mage

"Who's looking for Farah anyway?" Rayven muttered to himself as he read the request.

It was indeed searching for a young woman called Farah.

Rayven was a bit confused, as he recalled Farah's story. She was taken by the illegal slave traders when she thought that she was about to get a job in a city.

After being rescued, Farah should've stayed in that small town and worked as a tailor… However, seeing how the mission request seemed to mean no harm, Rayven felt that the one making a request should be a relative searching for her.

Still, since Rayven didn't know whether Farah would like to be found or not, he decided not to interfere.

'Well, if she didn't want to be found… I hope she changed her name or something.' Rayven mused as he decided to stop looking at the board and directly approached the guild reception desk that was manned—or rather, womaned—by someone new.

The receptionist, Stella, couldn't have been older than nineteen.

She wore the standard guild uniform, and her cheeks were flushed pink as she nervously flipped through a stack of mission papers.

When she noticed Rayven, she straightened so fast her chair squeaked.

"W-Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild! How can I help you today?" Her voice trembled, clearly rehearsed, but she forced a smile.

"Rayven. Copper rank. I came to check for available missions. I'm getting dizzy looking at the mission board… Is there something you have that fits my rank?"

"Of course!" She then quickly took out some papers… She almost spilled the papers from moving too fast, but she managed to hold them steady.

"Ah—um—you can choose from these. Copper-rank missions are usually gathering requests, escort duties, and sometimes pest extermination." She spread out the parchment sheets across the counter.

Rayven scanned them. Thankfully, they were already arranged in their categories… It was a much better sight than the scattered mission board.

"Hmm. Ninety copper coins for three wolf pelts… Sixty-five for a barrel of medicinal herbs… Eight silver if I escort a merchant caravan for three days… Too much travel cost if they only cover two meals a day. Not worth it."

'I guess only a desperate copper ranked will accept these…' Rayven mused.

The receptionist blinked at him, unsure if he was serious.

"Hmm… That's right… You should calculate your own expenses as well." Stella muttered after hearing Rayven's considerations.

"Yeah… An adventurer who spends more than he earns is just a fool with a sword."

The receptionist stared for a moment, then covered her mouth to hide a giggle. "Don't worry, every mission requires approval from a guild official before it gets posted... All the missions give fair rewards."

Rayven gently nodded.

In any case, he still had a few days before the duel, so he might as well try doing some missions.

Although his best method of earning money right now was to resolve the problem with the Veltham Family to increase the income of their Golden Coast Trading, he also knew that he needed his own source of gold coins.

He was aware that in order to get a steady income, he needed to become a strong mage or a good businessman.

At last, Rayven pulled one sheet from the pile. "This one… Extermination of Sewer Rats. Ten coppers per tail of Wild Rats and fifty coppers for Feral Rat tails. Unlimited submission."

The ranking of these creatures starts from the Wild Animals as the lowest. They weren't even counted in most cases. They do not have any Beast Cores after all. They were then followed by Feral Beast, Lesser Beast, Greater Beast, and so on.

Since the most powerful creature they could encounter was only a Feral Rat, it was indeed a mission suited for beginners. However, this mission was a bit complicated.

"Most mages avoid that one. It's… dirty work." Stella muttered as she saw Rayven's choice.

"Which is exactly why it pays consistently," Rayven said calmly. "Other adventurers find it beneath them. I think this is profitable."

At this time, Dennis and the others heard what he just said.

They glanced at each other and couldn't help but change their view of mages.

"I really thought all mages were rich… After all, their Spell Rune Models alone can cost hundreds or even thousands of gold coins," Dennis muttered.

He had heard that a copy of the Fireball Spell Rune Model displayed in the Mage Guild cost 800 gold coins—just for permission to imprint it within their Mana Heart.

And Fireball was one of the most common spells in existence!

It was no wonder that only nobles or members of great organizations could afford them.

Rayven wryly smiled as he decided not to explain himself.

At this time, Stella cleared her throat and explained more about the mission.

"Y-You don't have to formally accept the extermination quest, you know. For open missions like that, you can just bring the rat tails anytime. The guild will weigh and record them, then compensate you. It will stay open until all the pests are completely cleared out of the city."

Rayven gently nodded at this. "So basically, I don't even need to make the trip to accept it?"

"That's right." Stella nodded… "A lot of lower-ranked members treat it as steady income when they've got nothing else to do… or when they see some rats while walking around. The reward is actually subsidized by the city, so we're not going to run out of reward money anytime soon."

"Ohh… So it was like that…" Rayven muttered.

After a moment of silence, he leaned closer to the counter.

"Then, Stella, how do I become silver-ranked faster? I heard there's going to be another raid for that newly discovered dungeon… If I'm stuck at copper, I'll be left behind."

"You're not wrong to think that way. The seventeenth dungeon is stirring up the entire guild right now. Teams are forming, investors are circling, and nobles are already laying claims. But as for advancing… The fastest way is, of course, to take higher-ranked missions consistently and prove yourself. Combat records and even some rare skill demonstrations all speed up promotion." Stella replied.

However, as Rayven wanted to ask more, the guildhouse suddenly started shaking!

'An earthquake?'