Money Problems

"Eh… kid, you want to register… as an adventurer?" A muscular man asked me to confirm what I asked him.

"Yes. I need to make money and level up, so this is the perfect job."

"Low ranks don't make a lot of money, kid" The man still looked perplexed.

"That's fine. Can I register?" I persisted.

"Yeah, whatever, kid." The man grabbed a white card and placed it on the counter between us. "I'm Zar. I'll be acting as your receptionist from now on. Put a drop of blood on this card so I can process it."

"Yes sir."

I pricked my finger on the card. The moment my blood made contact with the blank care, it glowed momentarily and then turned a bronze color. A picture and words began to form but Zar picked up the card.

"Alright kid, I'll go process this then."

I waited at the counter for his return. I looked around at the guild I was in. It was early in the morning, but it was extremely busy. My inner nerd hated the crowd, but I loved the fact that I was in an actual RPG guild. However, the fact that they were this busy this early basically screamed that they had to work hard for money. A struggle I knew from my previous life. Zar ran back to the counter and slammed his head on the counter.

"Sir Dragonborne, I apologize for my rude manners!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

Of course, this made the entire guild fall silent. People began whispering and murmuring to themselves. I sighed.

"It's okay Zar. I was banished from my family so I'm no different than a commoner now. Please, treat me as such," I motioned him to raise his head.

"Such humility," The muscular man was teary-eyed. He wiped his eyes and smiled. "Then let me give you a hint of advice kid. A lot of adventurers hate nobles for a fair amount of reasons. And like everyone, you start at the lowest rank, bronze." 

Both made sense. Similar to my world, nobles were general douches or too distant from commoners. As far as ranking goes, the lowest was bronze, and the highest was Mythril. Nothing too out of the ordinary.

"Very well, I will take your warning into consideration. Thank you, Zar," I took my identification card from him.

"If you have any questions, just ask me!" He waved me off.

I examined my card before heading to the quest board. It just had my name, class, and picture along with some other info. The color of the card itself showed my rank. 

Since I was a bronze, I had a limited selection of quests to select from. I picked a simple herb collection quest since it had no due date. After that, I looked for an apartment to rent.

I wanted to say that I took my time picking, but in reality, I just picked the cheapest place. It had a living area, a small kitchen, a bathroom, and a single room for me to sleep in. Perfect for someone living alone. It was only going to be a place for me to stay until it was time for me to go to the academy since there were dorms there. Until then, I wanted to save as much as possible.

Thankfully, since I remembered the chants and different magic spells, or at least my favorite ones, I was able to skip the step of buying scrolls and grimoires. However, there were special grimoires that I wanted to find, but I wasn't sure if I could at my current strength. Well, one step at a time.

After I made a downpayment on my apartment, I went to a nearby restaurant to get breakfast. Nothing of note happened since I avoided talking to as many people as possible. Part of it was because I wasn't a social person, but a big part of it was because I couldn't level up while in a party. That was going to be a pain to explain repeatedly, so I decided to avoid that situation altogether. I also took the time to plan my source of income as well as my liabilities and possible assets. As it stood, I was going to be basically living from paycheck to paycheck. I needed to rank up or find a way to make money as soon as possible.

I still had a financial cushion because of the money I took before I left my former home… Wait! I actually had a considerable amount of money. I could just use this money to invest in different businesses! In my previous life, roughly 6 to 7 businesses failed. So if I invested in 10 different businesses, then theoretically, 3 of those businesses would bring back profit. I hurriedly ate my meal, paid for it, and ran out the door.

Hours passed and I felt like I wasted time. I completed my quest, but I only got a few copper coins from it. Not even enough to pay for a meal. Top that, there were too many choices in terms of investments. The sheer amount of information made my head hurt. The Sun was setting, so I began to walk home, but I came across a small business. I walked inside was saw a couple arguing. 

"How do you plan on paying our bills and put food on the table!?" An elven woman yelled.

"Just be a bit more patient, will you!? These toys will sell, just believe me," A human man yelled back.

"Your stupid toys are the reason we are in this mess to begin with! No one would buy these dumb inventions!"

I looked around the store. The woman was right, these toys made me want to cry, but I had to admire the craftsmanship. When I looked closer, I noticed that there were actual mechanics in the toys. I turned around and looked at the couple's stats.

Name: Edward

Age: 35

Strength: 4

Intelligence: 1

Agility: 2.5

Charisma: 0.5

Magic: .5

Class: Woodsmith

Mana: 10/10

Name: Austria Limiscense

Race: Elf

Age: 156

Strength: 2

Intelligence: 5

Agility: 5

Charisma: 8

Magic: 6

Class: Engineer

Mana: 2000/2000

This was the highest stats I have seen yet. Considering that they aren't higher, it was safe to assume she wasn't interested in gaining any strength. She was beautiful, but how did this guy pull with .5 charisma? I sighed. In every world, there were mysteries. I walked up to the couple.

"Ahem! This is quite a remarkable invention. Did you two make this?" I broke up their argument.

Immediately, the man smiled and his entire attitude changed. He was a not-so-humble craftsman.

"Yes, I did! It was my original creation, meant to keep young children occupied. Of course, the mechanism was made by my beautiful wife here," He directed my attention to his wife.

"It was just a few touch-ups, but my dear husband did most of the work," She smiled, but I could still see veins near her eyes.

"This is amazing. Worthy to be sold in the capital," I praised it again.

This time, my compliment was met with a grim look. Both of them looked down.

"Sir… Interracial marriages are frowned upon. We could only open a shop in this town, and even then.." Edward said.

I see. This couple was ahead of their time. In both social standings and inventions… This made them the perfect candidates. Fortunately for them, I came from a world that cared more about entertainment than our actual health!

"I see… in that case, if I were to invest in a few ideas of my own, crafted by you two of course, would you accept? I will fund the whole thing and get a percentage of all profits. The rest you can keep," I gave them an offer.

At this, the elf, Austria, stepped up. She didn't even give Edward to speak since his face already lit up.

"And who are you? And why would we accept such an offer without even knowing what your so-called ideas are?" She frowned.

"You're right, madam. I should have introduced myself. I am Smarus Dragonborne. I was roaming around town, looking for people of your caliber," I bowed as I introduced myself.

They were immediately shocked and tried to bow down before I stopped them. After they introduced themselves, they invited me into their home so that we could talk more in detail. Their home was attached to the actual store. Even if Austria was suspicious, she knew better than to turn down a noble without a second thought. Well, I was a former noble, but she didn't know that. They led me to a small table with three chairs. The couple sat on one side and I on the other.

"Lily, can you make some tea? We have a guest," Austria called an unknown person.

"Coming Mother!" Light footsteps followed her voice.

A beautiful young lady soon came into view as she walked into the kitchen. She had short blond hair, and she was tall and slender. She bore a slight resemblance to Luna, but she was more mature. Considering she had smaller proportions, I wondered if she was the offspring of this couple or from a previous lover. It wasn't uncommon for elves to marry multiple times due to their long lifespan.

"Here you go honored guest," The lady named Lily gave me a cup of tea as well as gave her parents tea.

"Thank you miss," I gratefully accepted it and took a sip. "It's delicious," I lied. I didn't want to be rude.

She blushed and tried to hide her face with the plate she was holding. This was my time to take a peek at her stats.

Name: Lily Limiscense

Race: Half-Elf

Age: 17

Strength: 1

Intelligence: 3

Agility: 1

Charisma: 5

Magic: 3

Class: Nature Mage

Mana: 200/200

Her name matched her class, and her age hinted that these were both her biological parents… And her race as well. I wondered if her charisma was the reason I found her attractive, or influenced my opinion at least. She had potential, but she lacked the means to actually flourish. I closed the tab and turned my attention back to the married couple.

"I thank you both for welcoming me at a moment's notice. Out of respect, I do not wish to waste your time, so I will skip straight to the point," I looked at them seriously.

They both nodded their hands. The mood in the room shifted into a more formal one, so Lily was uncomfortable and went back upstairs. What started out as a simple idea turned into a night long conversation. Austria and Edward soon became more passionate as I was about my ideas.