Karl no Tensei: Transmigrated as an Assassin with a Mana Meter-Chapter 47: Ch : Misplaced Quest

The staff looked at me and asked, "You know the price you have mentioned in this bounty is a bit too low...nobody is going to accept a quest which has only 150 kiros as it’s bounty."

"Afterall you should know the commissions as well right? In case you have forgotten, let me remind you that the Guild takes 50% commission out of whatever is being paid in the bounty whereas the assassin themselves get the rest 50%."

"I am sure you get the calculation now....whoever accepts this quest shall be working for 75 kiros...Quite an underwhelming number if you ask me."

I shook my head, the hood on my head fluttering in the process.

"Don’t worry over that...someone shall take it. For now give me my marked quest. I need to meet the client as well."

"Oh right..." He hunched over the ledger, his hands methodically moving along the lines on it and his eyes squinted, having difficulty in seeing the words on them under the faint yellow rays of the gaslight lamp beside him.

Suddenly his fingers stopped and he looked at me with a deep frown on his forehead.

Then he asked in a baffling voice,"What was the index again?"

I replied calmly, "260815."

...Even though I could sense something wrong in his voice. Did they forget to note down the quest?

Ignoring the rising trepidation, I stood there with a composed breath.

Finally the man sighed. In a disgruntled manner, he said.

"I don’t know whose idiocy it was...but it seems the staff before my shift had given your mission to someone else."

"How is that possible? Quests literally have an unique index number on them. How would someone else get the quest I have marked?" This was absolutely ridiculous.

The man hurriedly went back to few pages. Then turning the ledger towards me, he pointed at a specific section.

"See here. Someone with different index number but has the same quest as yours. These mistakes are quite rare and are actually our faults...sometimes we end up posting two notices of the same quest on the notice board. Tough luck, buddy."

I waved away his hand as I argued back, "Don’t give me that. It was someone’s fault and I am supposed to simply...adjust?"

He sighed again, his fingers involuntarily clutching his forehead as if within the clutches of an approaching migrane.

Then he asked me in a somber tone, "Just take another quest from the board. Why are you so hell bent on this quest?"

My face turned blank at his words, seemingly at a loss of words. I mean how could someone just ask me to look past their mistakes like it was nothing?

The man flipped back many pages and pulled out a quest page.

He waved it as he said, "You are talking of this huh? Let’s see why you are so adamant on this."

"Hmm...Target: Avirin Soren. Occupation: A merchant. Ohh so a business dispute huh?"

He then started reading the description.

"A stealthy assassin required to kill the target. Location is right at the borders of Spakhaven. Nobody else needs to be killed, except for any obstacle that might get in your way...hmm, so Code Azak, I can give you a similar quest if you want. Just give up on this."

I sighed and shaking my head in refusal, I spoke. "Just read the next part."

"Yeah yeah, there is only the bounty after that." His eyes moved downwards as he started, "Yeah so the bounty here is...."

His voice trailed into nothingness as his eyes suddenly bulged. A glint of greed and surprise passed through them as he hurriedly looked back at me.

"...50000 kiros?! What the hell is this doing in the outer section?!"

"What do you mean outer section?" I asked.

The man answered, "You don’t know of the inner circle assassins?" Seeing me shaking my head, he described. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"The Guild is divided into the outer and inner circles. Though I have no idea how inner circle assassins are decided but they have a different secluded meeting spot. In fact this place probably has many tunnels in it that leads to that area. Just an advice... don’t stick around to find those out. You might never know what struck you before you find yourself in your own grave."

"But...I understand why you are so insistent on this quest. 50% of this means 25000 kiros...heck, even I missed a great opportunity."

Something struck my mind. A faint suspicion.

In a cautious tone I asked him. "What opportunity are you talking of?"

The man shrugged in a casual manner. "We don’t get any specific in-hand salaries. Rather from every quest we give away, we are awarded 5% of the bounty on it. A small amount in most cases but enough to run our stomachs."

My eyes widened a little as I deliberately spoke in a soft tone, "Hey...so whoever gave that quest must also get 5% of the bounty amount, which is in fact 2500 kiros. That’s a huge amount isn’t it?"

The fat man grimaced as he exclaimed in a bittersweet gesture, "Bastard lucked out on this one."

In response, I took away the ledger from his hand and flipped to the portion where the records were listed.

My fingers dropped to a specific index.

290877.

Or in other words -

"77th quest on 29th August. That’s today."

The man leaned over his counter as his forehead wrinkled into sharp lines. "What are you suggesting?"

In a calm tone I explained. "Isn’t is surprising that this quest was given out on the same day the client was supposed to meet me? Not just that, 77th quest means it was marked few hours ago...How really convincing."

His eyes widened as realisation struck him.

"Yes...somebody gave out my quest to get the 5% commission you would have been getting otherwise."

The man’s eyes suddenly turned calculating, as if contemplating my words. But certainty claimed his mind as his face turned grim.

"Wait a minute here...I need to talk with someone." Saying that, he took away the ledger with him as his fat belly swayed under his movements. He turned at a corner and disappeared into another dark corridor.

Meanwhile I waited, my eyes flitting around the room. I realised that the assassins in this room were quite aware of their surroundings as each of them met my curious stare.

I wonder if I am at that level of self awareness yet.

Few minutes later, a pair of boots thumped on the stone floor as the receptionist came back hurriedly. Glancing at me, he whispered through gritted teeth.

"The guild manager would like to talk with you regarding this. You negotiate with him and don’t worry...he has called for the staff who had given away your quest. I shall have my commission...2500 kiros is no small deal."

Nodding at his words, I followed his retreating figure. I walked through the dark corridor and came across a wooden door.

Knocking slightly, the man coughed before speaking. "He is here, boss."

"Let him in." a voice spoke back.

Turning back to me, the man shrugged his shoulders. "Best of luck I guess."

I waved him off. "There is nothing about luck here. I just want to claim something that’s mine."