“You can just call me Luo Keke. I’m from the Black Currant Chamber.”
Seeing the hesitation on Ximo’s face, Luo Keke took the initiative to introduce herself generously.
“Your family’s lady loves our house’s wine. I saw you from afar once when I went to the Camberlan Family to deliver some, so that’s how I knew you were from the Camberlan Family.”
Ximo breathed a sigh of relief. She had been worried that Luo Keke recognized her—that would have been trouble.
“Thanks for just now, Luo Keke.”
“No problem,” Luo Keke waved it off. “I know the owners of every tavern on this street. It’s more surprising that the guy earlier dared to go against me.”
Luo Keke smiled. “Unless he doesn’t want to drink at any tavern on this street anymore.”
Luo Keke’s enthusiastic kindness inevitably touched Ximo. These past two days, she had been on edge around Xiliya. Now, a girl like a little sun had popped up, and it was hard not to feel fond of her.
“I’ll see you off West Street, so you don’t run into any more shady characters,” Luo Keke said, turning to the coachman. “Let’s go. We’ve delivered all the goods.”
The silent coachman climbed into the driver’s seat. Ximo noticed his unusual appearance—pointed ears and a broad frame that didn’t look like an ordinary human’s.
On the way, Ximo vaguely explained that she had come to find someone for help and to browse West Street a bit, which made Luo Keke click her tongue in amazement.
“What’s there to browse on West Street? And you came alone dressed like that—it’s like a little lamb walking right into a pack of wolves.”
Ximo gave an awkward laugh. Her knowledge of this world’s common sense was indeed too lacking. West Street must be something like the Slums.
“And why come to West Street to find help? If there’s something you can’t handle, why not go to the Adventurers’ Association?” Luo Keke spread her hands.
“Adventurers’ Association?”
“Yeah, posting a commission there is way more reliable than running to West Street.”
Ximo’s eyes lit up. Right, the Adventurers’ Association! How had she forgotten that isekai worlds had this standard setup? She immediately unfolded the map and searched for the Adventurers’ Association’s location.
“Uh, I’ll take you there. It’s on the way home anyway.”
Luo Keke patted Ximo’s shoulder. She found this little maid from the Camberlan Family quite amusing—running off silly to West Street alone and not even knowing where the local Adventurers’ Association was. So adorably clueless.
Before long, Ximo was dropped off at the Adventurers’ Association entrance. Luo Keke said a simple goodbye and left.
“Say hi to your young lady for me.”
The carriage rumbled away. Ximo looked up at the large sign for the Adventurers’ Association. There was no door blocking the entrance, so she could see the spacious hall and the people coming and going inside at a glance.
This place was worlds apart from that little tavern earlier!
Ximo felt she was pretty silly too—how had she not thought of something like this?
Specialization was key. For things she couldn’t handle, she could just pay others to do it! The Adventurers’ Association was like a jack-of-all-trades service—as long as she paid to post a commission, adventurers would take care of it, right?
For anything she couldn’t do herself, just outsource it!
Ximo walked into the hall and paused by the bulletin board plastered with commission tasks to observe for a bit.
Subjugating high-level magic beasts outside the city: six silver coins; escorting cargo transport: one silver coin; clearing low-level magic beasts from an abandoned mine outside the city: three silver coins…
The tasks varied wildly. Ximo’s heart leaped with joy. She just needed to post a commission here to gather info on the merchant guilds, right?
After observing for a moment, Ximo followed the others and went to an open reception window.
“Hello, what commission would you like to post?”
“Uh, I want to gather basic information on all the merchant guilds in the city. Is that possible?”
“Yes, as long as it doesn’t involve private information, the association can post the commission for you. The minimum reward is one silver coin, with the association taking ten percent as a service fee…”
The receptionist mechanically noted down Ximo’s commission, but the next second, her dull eyes—worn from the monotonous work—widened in shock.
Because when Ximo realized the commissioner set the reward price themselves, she pulled out her coin purse and dumped all the silver coins inside onto the counter.
The higher the reward, the more likely someone would take the commission, right? So she might as well use all ten silver coins she had on her for this!
Ximo remembered that the highest reward on the bulletin board earlier was six silver coins. Posting with ten should get it taken quickly, right?
The problem that had troubled her all day was solved so easily. Ximo was in a great mood now. It was just a bit more money—what did it matter? She guaranteed this would handle things perfectly for Xiliya! It could even compensate for breaking her stuff earlier.
“Uh, do you mean…”
The receptionist picked up a silver coin, hesitating to speak, but was shoved aside by an older receptionist. The older one quickly shot a look to silence the younger, then flashed a brilliant smile.
“You’re posting with ten silver coins, right? We’ll register it for you right away!”
The older receptionist swiftly scooped up the ten silver coins, so fast it was like fearing Ximo might change her mind.
“Then, how do I get in touch after the commission’s done…”
“I see yours is an information-gathering commission. Give me your address, and once it’s complete, we’ll have someone deliver the materials to you. How’s that?”
“Sure… okay.”
After noting the address, the receptionist even escorted Ximo all the way out of the Adventurers’ Association. Ximo hadn’t expected their service to be so good—not only enthusiastic reception but home delivery too.
Whatever. At least this counted as completing Xiliya’s task, right? Even if the method was… outsourcing. But who cared? The result was what mattered!
Ximo bounced back to the Camberlan Mansion in high spirits. What she didn’t know was that shortly after she left the association, the information-gathering commission had just been posted on the board and caught attention.
An idle adventurer in the hall saw the receptionist go up to post a new commission and wandered over to check it out.
“Commission details… oh, information gathering. Boring, these are tedious and troublesome. Reward, ten silver coins… wait, how much?!”
The adventurer’s suddenly raised voice immediately drew the attention of others in the hall.
“Ten silver coins? What commission’s offering that much?”
“Damn, just for gathering info? I’ll take this one!”
“Don’t grab it! Hey, I saw it first!”
The once harmonious Adventurers’ Association hall instantly descended into chaos.
