Once we started working seriously, our efficiency was actually quite high.
The pile of materials handed over by the President looked intimidating, but in reality, there wasn't much work to do.
It was just some unorganized task records, some of which were literally just commission slips. The President, being lazy, glanced at them and had them taken away without registering them until they were completed and returned.
A few important ones involved money, such as the procurement of food and drink not being accounted for, and some guild-paid rewards or compensation bills not being logged in the books.
Then there were the commissions delivered just this morning, which hadn't been recorded or posted yet.
Rhode was already deft and skilled at handling these tasks now.
By midday, most of it was resolved.
During this time, the guild was fairly quiet because the members had had their share of excitement last night and went home to rest. Especially the liveliest batch, still nursing their wounds.
Rhode and Mira simultaneously put down their pens, stretched lazily, and then looked at each other and laughed together.
A magical coincidence.
Flap flap flap...
A white pigeon flew in through the open main door, clutching a small package in its claws.
The package was slightly bigger than the pigeon, but it seemed effortless for it.
The pigeon flew towards the counter, circling around Rhode and Mira's heads as it announced: "Mail for President Makarov! Mail for President Makarov!"
It seemed to be a magic bird similar to Xiao Bi.
Makarov peeked out from the second floor and waved: "Here."
The pigeon flew up to the second floor, dropping the package into Makarov's hands.
Mira had already brought out a handful of seeds and crushed peanuts usually used to feed Xiao Bi.
After briefly entertaining the messenger pigeon, Makarov finished unpacking the package, scribbled a note, and let the pigeon leave with it.
Rhode curiously asked who had sent the package.
Makarov replied, "It's from the Local Guild Alliance."
"Hmm? Did they change pigeons?" Rhode recalled that a black-grey one used to come before.
"No, it's not from our belonging alliance. It's from the western Fiore, the one Lamia Scale belongs to." Makarov explained:
"The last Oracion Seis suppression operation was initiated jointly by multiple alliances within the Fiore Kingdom, and the rewards were pooled by all guilds that didn't participate. However, since the coalition was led by Jura, the rewards were kept with them."
Makarov uncharacteristically walked down the stairs, placing a thick wad of bills and a letter on the counter: "Inside here, there's a share for you two as well as Wendy Charuru. Please handle the distribution."
Rhode glanced at the thickness of the bills; if they were all in 10,000 denominations, there must be millions. He quipped, "Sending so much money by pigeon instead of the bank? They must be crazy!"
"As long as it gets here safely, isn't it fine?" Makarov left the guild, disinclined to write another report, needing to clear his mind.
Mira read the letter while Rhode counted the money.
After counting for a good while and confirming 540 bills, he then handed it to Mira to count while he read the letter.
"After compensating for part of Blue Pegasus' losses, the remaining rewards are equally distributed among all, including Hapi and Carla, with each getting 600,000 J?"
Rhode quietly calculated the number of people, with 12 coalition members plus the four of them involved, making the total 9.6 million J.
It seemed Blue Pegasus' Magical Bomb Strike Boat could be repaired, so only part of the repair cost was compensated, making the original amount actually over 10 million.
This was definitely considered a hefty reward.
Judging by the reward, it wasn't just S-Class but reached SS-Class Task standards.
The letter mentioned that originally, the four unofficial members weren't accounted for, and Mr. Jura's reward was a tier higher than others.
However, Jura insisted that Rhode and his team's support was very important, as was Wendy's Healing Magic, so they had to be included.
So it turned into an average distribution.
"Mr. Jura is truly a good person." Rhode sighed, thinking he must visit sometime if he got a chance.
"Yes, with this, we don't have to wait for that Ailiger bounty anymore."
Mira said, attentively dividing the bills into nine parts, each containing 60 bills, ready to distribute once everyone arrived.
Then she tucked two portions into her bag, signed a receipt herself, and handed it to Rhode for signing.
"The President's assistant is embezzling comrades' rewards!"
Rhode mockingly cried out in a low voice, earning an eye-roll from Laki.
In reality, they couldn't separate whose money was whose a few months ago because every time they received a salary or bonus, it would be deposited in the bank right away.
Sometimes they would go together; sometimes whoever had time would go, occasionally depositing in this account, occasionally in that account, completely chaotic.
But there was no worry about anyone running off with the money.
...
At noon, Lucy came to the guild for lunch, seeing Rhode posting new tasks. She watched from behind for a while.
"Mr. Rhode, is there a task suitable for me?"
Rhode glanced at the band-aid on Lucy's forehead: "Why are you so eager to find a new task? Your wounds haven't healed yet, have they?"
"Because the end of the month is almost here..." Lucy said with a pained expression. "This month was delayed by the Harvest Festival for over a week, the beauty pageant prize wasn't won, capturing the fugitive got messy, and I ended up making just a little money being a waitress..."
Rhode interjected, "See, waitressing was introduced by me, and you made money, but you're still blaming me."
"That's not the point!" Lucy got frustrated, "Anyway, if I don't prepare soon, next month's rent will be doomed!"
"Oh... If you put it that way, there is indeed a suitable task for you, and you can do it alone or in a team."
"What is it, what is it?"
"A money-counting task. Go to Mira, tell her I want you to help count the money, and whatever you count is yours." Rhode smiled, "How's that for a task?"
Lucy puffed her cheeks and glared at him: "There's no such thing as a free lunch; that must be a lie."
"Then how about a bet? If you can't get the money, I'll treat you to lunch today and help you find a suitable task. If you do get the money... Mira likes Blueberry Mousse from Hani Dessert House, you could buy a portion."
Lucy hesitated a bit. It sounded like it could be real... No, he must have calculated that this would make her believe and then scare her away from betting!
Lucy clenched her fists: "Fine, a bet it is!"
Rhode watched as she walked to the counter to speak with Mira, and Mira seemed momentarily surprised, but quickly smiled, handing a stack of money to Lucy for counting.
Lucy froze, seriously?
Rhode gave Mira a victory sign, and Mira covered her mouth, laughing.