Konbini Ossan Volume 1 Chapter 28 – The Herb Uncle

After that, I entered into an exclusive contract with Shirley.

An exclusive contract is a special type of agreement between an adventurer and a receptionist.

It’s something occasionally used by adventurers who don’t want their work techniques or information leaking to others.

Under such a contract, an adventurer can only submit their deliveries to a specific receptionist.

In return, the receptionist takes on a duty of confidentiality, ensuring the adventurer’s secrets are kept.

For the receptionist, an exclusive contract comes with a bonus.

This is because they must handle all of the deliveries and paperwork for that adventurer alone — a heavier and more difficult workload.

Exclusive receptionists are also protected by certain rights.

It would be a problem if they overworked themselves and collapsed, making them unable to manage their exclusive adventurer’s deliveries.

Likewise, if the adventurer were to unreasonably demand work from the receptionist until they collapsed, that would also be unacceptable.

That’s why a work-hour cap is set.

It can vary a bit depending on discretion, but the basic limit is 40 hours a week — calculated as five workdays, 8 hours per day.

Now, back to my proposal.

From now on, I’ll be delivering herbs to the guild every morning at the crack of dawn.

In line with that, Shirley will also report to work early every day.

We’ll finish the delivery process during the quiet early morning hours, and afterward, she’ll go about her usual duties.

Since the exclusive receptionist’s workweek is capped at 40 hours, even just working from morning until 1 p.m. every day would exceed that limit at 42 hours a week if done seven days.

In other words, Shirley-san will effectively get every afternoon off.

When I explained all of this, Shirley-san happily agreed. Then she saw the massive amount of herbs I brought in — and was utterly speechless.

Just sorting and identifying them would take her two hours, she said.

When I told her I’d be bringing even more starting tomorrow, her mouth fell open in shock.

———

And so, after all that, I officially signed an exclusive contract with Shirley and began my new life of delivering herbs every day.

At 6 a.m., I take my herbs to the guild. While Shirley-san appraises and sorts them, we chat and pass the time together.

If everything’s done before the quests go up at 9 a.m., I receive my payment then. If not, we agree I’ll receive it the following morning.

Once the delivery’s done, I head back out to gather more herbs. I roam the forest — just 30 minutes from the capital — all night, collecting vast amounts of herbs.

Then, before the sun rises, I return to the capital and deliver the herbs to the guild again as soon as it opens. I repeat this routine day after day.

Because of this, the guild staff and other adventurers began calling me the "Herb Uncle".

(E/N: In the raws, 薬草おじさん/Yakusou Ojisan translates to "Medicinal Herb Uncle" but that's too cumbersome so I improvised to "Herb Uncle".)

The nickname carried a mocking tone at first. Shirley, too, was sometimes teased as the "Herb Girl" who signed a contract with the "Herb Uncle".

But that only lasted for the first month.

Many of the herbs I delivered were rare and difficult for other adventurers to gather.

Thanks to the knowledge I gained from the Adventurer Manual and the royal palace’s great library, as well as my ability to explore the forest all day and night, I could collect a fair number of herbs that were otherwise hard to find.

Most adventurers who gathered herbs were newbies, so naturally, they all focused on easy-to-find herbs.

As for rarer ones, only knowledgeable veterans might pick them up during monster hunts — and only if they stumbled upon them.

Of course, the guild sells the goods it receives to turn a profit. So the rare herbs I submitted earned them a high margin — and I was delivering them daily, consistently.

Before long, I became the guild’s top earner — a golden goose from their perspective.

The nickname "Herb Uncle" turned into a term of endearment, and Shirley’s evaluation rose too, for having spotted talent early on.

Among the adventurers, my reputation improved as well. After a month of the same routine, more people had seen me in action.

It became widely known that I never slept, and rumors spread that I must have some kind of Unique skill.

Others had seen me fend off goblins and wolves — enough to prove I had decent combat ability.

In the end, “Herb Uncle” came to be accepted as a quirky but reliable adventurer.

———

Months passed — two, then three.

I started taking on a wider variety of collection requests. Not just herbs anymore, but mushrooms, rare plants, even minerals gathered from caves.

The nickname “Herb Uncle” became more of a passing joke as I gained recognition as a skilled collector.

As word spread that I was a top-tier gatherer despite being a rookie, I finally reached my goal.

Yes — I had saved up enough money.

——————

E/N:

I hope we all have someone as caring as Ossan, Shirley is lucky to get every afternoon off!

Anyway, Ossan is way too much of an workaholic! At least get some sleep!

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