Chapter 173 – The Postal Guild (1/2)

Oh, oh! Show her that weapon!”

”What weapon?”

”Oh, ummm...”

After a bit of hesitation at the sudden change in topic, I brought out my new scythe just as Orphne asked.

”This is...!”

”Yea, it's pretty nice. It's a bit heavy, but it holds its edge really well and can even cut through adamantium armour. And even if something happens, there's this enchantment which repairs it. I've tested it out a bit, but it's been holding on really well!”

”You...really like this weapon, don't you?”

”Ah, I guess. It really is Njordr's masterpiece.”

”The titans made it?”

”Well, he got some help from some others, since he's not really one to do enchantments.”

”...”

”Umm, is something the matter?”

I got a bit nervous with how everyone stared at the scythe so intently that they quieted up. It was rare for a fairy to get quiet. Usually it only happened because they got absorbed in a treat they liked so much they forget about the rest of the world.

”This weapon made by the craftsmen of the other city. Is this how you're fighting now?”

”Well, it's a big part of it at least. I've been relying on it for most of my physical attacks, and my [blood magic] for magical attacks. Then [dimensional magic] to cover for my weaknesses, I guess?”

If I had to summarize how I typically fought lately, that would be it. It was already common knowledge amongst those who were close enough about my [blood magic], so it wasn't a big deal to talk about it. Though people thought that it was some sort of unique vampire skill rather than something I invented.

With how things were going though, it was probably alright if I release the skill publicly, but I would need to do some more adjustments to prevent it from being overpowered.

After that, the elders asked me a few more questions about how I fought, and I diligently answered them.

After my talk with Aurae and the other fairy elders, I got to work getting the distance shopping and delivery system set up.

Negotiating with interested merchants, recruiting personnel, 'borrowing' Peitho's sub guild master, as well as the necessary advertising required to get the system off the ground.

While it didn't take long to convince enough groups to join in on the venture, actually getting it off the ground was a different issue.

First of all, there was the issue of the turbine engines. They were difficult to make, and that didn't take into consideration that we didn't even start with a proper design. Adding a counter-rotating axle to spin part of the turbine the opposing direction complicated the design even further, slowing down production again.

Though I did hope that putting Orphne full time with the one and only turbine to still exist would be enough, and at first it did.

Setting up the buildings for our new Postal Guild close to the centre of each city, then have Orphne fly back and forth several times a day between them to deliver anything which was requested.

We had the affiliate businesses make catalogues which were freely available to view at the postal office, then we had workers handle both personal deliveries as well as orders from the catalogues.

Training wasn't difficult. Garland who I 'borrowed' quickly adapted to her new role. I didn't know how, but Garland was one of the new immigrants I had brought in a few years back. Somehow, she managed to impress Peitho so much that she got to the sub guild master position which was vacant up until then. Then again, the fact that the position was never filled suggested there was some problems with the people Peitho had up to that point.

It really was an issue that the people on the dark side really were unused to the very idea of paperwork. While the ones we had hired could handle paperwork to a degree that there weren't any significant complaints in regards to their ability to work at the Hunter's Guild, it really seemed to amount to only that level.

Hopefully the next generation would be full of people who could handle both paperwork and managerial work well, rather than just one or the other as things currently stand.

”Scaaaaarleeeet~!”

”Orphne?”

While I was out having a walk with Alicia and Fate, the little fairy flew our way, wobbling a bit in her flight.

”Aren't you supposed to be working?”

During the day Orphne was supposed to be working for the Postal Guild until we could get a team of deliverers up and running. Unfortunately the time it took to develop a new design meant that she was still the only one transporting goods between the two guild buildings despite it being a month since we had started operations.

”I can't take it anymore!”

”I thought you enjoyed flying on the turbine.”

But when I mentioned that, my attention was grabbed by the fact that she wasn't riding it. The little fairy loved the thing so much despite its flaws that she would fly it around even when it made no sense to.

”I'm tired! I flew back and forth so many times today I can't even count! And they're still asking me to do more deliveries!”

”So what? You left it behind because you're too tired to use it?”

”I am!”

The mana consumption for that thing should've been low enough that even a low level fairy should've been able to make a few trips between the postal offices without issue. Orphne had already gone to Edgeworth and back the next day before, and there was no indication of her tiring out from that much despite taking longer than a dozen round trips between the guild offices.

If she was pushed so hard that she had gotten tired from it, the postal services must've been getting quite a lot of business going on.

”Well, let's go check things out then.”

”Ugh...”

But as expected, she made no move to follow me.

”I'll give you a whole cake after you're done today.”

”A big one! A really big one like this!”

Orphne spread her arms as wide as they could go, but I knew that she meant a proper sized round cake. As to how such a thing fit inside her little body I still didn't know, but each time she somehow managed it.

”Alright. But only after you finish today's work, alright?”

”Alright! Bring it on!”

And with that, Orphne raced back to the postal office, no trace of the previous weariness could be seen.

(She didn't just bamboozle me, did she?)

Fairies, especially Orphne, generally weren't that good at that sort of acting, but some part of me felt like I couldn't discount the possibility.

”Ah, Miss Scarlet!”

When we reached the post office, I was quickly greeted by one of the three receptionists working behind one of the large counters at the back. But after giving her a wave, she quickly ran off to the back, leaving one of many customers waiting in line in the dust.

While I was wondering if that was really a good idea or not, she quickly came back with Garland, the 'temporary' master of the Postal Guild. At least, that's what I told Peitho she was. I felt sorry for the overworked elf, but personally, I couldn't see how I could afford to replace the woman.

After a quick greeting, I followed the guild master to the back room while Alicia and Fate pitter pattered after us. Orphne on the other hand floated over behind the receptions desks. The bright smile she had quickly inverted into a look of despair as she got a glimpse at all the bags and crates sitting there.

I barely got a look at the fairy's dejection as she slowly put one of the large crates into the magic bag I had given her for her work years ago before I crossed the doorway to the stairs leading to the second floor.

From there, we quickly ended up in the guild master's office. The rest of the space on the second floor was used for staff accommodations as the building was relatively small. It was on the main street near the centre of the city, so while it cost me a lot of money to purchase it from the previous owner, the place was still on the scale of a mom and pop store. I couldn't get any of the larger store owners to sell since I didn't want to appear like I was making a power move.

But the amount of paperwork on the desk and the boxes on the ground filled with more suggested that maybe I should've found a way to get a bigger place, even if I had to choose somewhere more than a few minutes from the centre of the city.

That said, the stuff on the desk wasn't anywhere near how much the Hunter's Guild handled even back when I was the only one doing the work, and the boxes seemed more to be archives rather than unfinished work. Most likely a proper place to store old paperwork hadn't been established yet due to how busy the people here were.

Entering the room, I put down a small Goddess's Realm board I kept on handy for Alicia and Fate. This might take some time, and the two were already used to our time together being interrupted like this, so they promptly moved to either end and placed their Celestials they were hugging down before starting a match against each other.

”Now then, Miss Scarlet.”

Once I sat down on the seat opposing Garland's, the guild master started.

”I'm really sorry for interrupting your time here...”

”It's fine. I'm ultimately responsible for the things here, and it seems like things aren't going to plan?”

”Going to plan...I suppose technically that's true.”

The plan was to slowly integrate the guild into people's daily activities. As it was quite different from anything which existed before, it was expected to take time before things would get busy. At the worst, it wouldn't ever take off to become mainstream and I might have to subsidize the cost of operation. But considering the long term benefits of such an organization existing, I considered it a worthy price.

”Considering what Orphne had already told me, I suppose that business is booming?”

”That's right. We've been getting near constant requests.”

”Really?”

”Yes. And while we've been able to keep up with deliveries, that is only just barely.”

There was three lines downstairs. One for making orders, one line for deliveries, and a third for pickups. All three of them had at least some people waiting.

”I'm surprised so many people are making orders. I figured it'll take a while before it would pick up. Or is it personal deliveries that's become popular?”

”No. Both of those still haven't gained much popularity yet. People are more curious about the entire operation and are still spending most of their time asking questions or just browsing through our services.”

”Then...?”

”It's business deliveries that are taking up much of our resources.”

”...Huh?”

Garland lowered her head in response to my own tilting to the side.

”It seems that there are quite a few businesses that had decided to use the Postal Guild to deliver goods in bulk between the cities.”

”...You mean, they're storing their things in various warehouses and we're the ones ferrying them as they're needed between their craftsmen and stores?”

”That's right. By far the most numerous clients we are currently getting are craftsmen and merchants who require materials and goods delivered between our offices, and they almost always pay for instant delivery in addition to bringing large loads.”

This certainly wasn't a direction I had expected things to take, and it certainly answered why Orphne was so overworked.

The Postal Guild offered several tiers of services, based on the speed of delivery. The standard point was within two days. It presumed that Orphne would do a circuit between the cities at least once a day. Considering the distance, the whole thing shouldn't take more than an hour or two, excluding loading and unloading. The length of time was for the unexpected, like accidents or malfunctions.

Above that was express delivery, or guaranteed same day in other words. Though we figured that most deliveries would be possible with same day, so this was merely a guarantee.

The top level was instant delivery. Though the name aside, the delivery time was put as within two hours under normal circumstances. While the first two tiers were set up to be relatively cheap, this tier was premium in price as it was in speed.

Of course, while the catalogue orders also used this same system, there was the caveat that it presumed that the product was immediately available on the other side. The fact that we only included ready made products in the catalogues meant that this shouldn't have been an issue, and if a particular store had issues reliably meeting this criteria, we could easily just remove their catalogue unless if they had a good explanation.

If instant delivery was requested quite often, then Orphne would have to make a round trip every two hours all day. But that was if she could carry everything requested in her magic bag each trip. If the amount exceeded her capacity, she would have to make even more trips.

I didn't know how much they were bringing in, as most of the most affluent merchants owned and used magic bags of their own to do most of their work, and those that didn't used the back roads that ran between the major roads. These roads were designated primarily to be used for the sake of quickly moving goods without pedestrians being in danger of being run over.

While we didn't have any work animals to pull wagons, we did employ hand carts quite frequently, as magic bag production wasn't to the point that everyone who needed to move a large quantity of goods could afford one. In fact, after my failed jaunt with making a magically powered airplane, we redirected the innovations towards powered carts. By being controlled by the normal push/pull movements of the handle, the magical motor added additional torque to the two wheels to allow heavier loads to be moved by one person.