"William. Will you join me?"
Osric patiently waited with his arm raised.
Meanwhile William was lost in thought.
'Logically this is the right thing to do for me. I was looking to join a party. But I didn't know anyone well enough to trust and follow.'
'Osric is skilled and smart. I also think he would make a capable leader.'
'But he probably has a much higher goal he wants to achieve than me.'
'My gut is telling me that I will face a lot of danger by following him.'
'Why does this feel exciting instead of frightening?'
'My only goal is to make enough money to give my grandparents a comfortable life.'
William was conflicted.
When he came out of his thoughts, he realized how long he had left Osric waiting.
But Osric remained calm with a serious expression.
'Am I really going to do this?'
He reached out his hand and grabbed Osric's.
'Screw it. This just feels right.'
When they shook hands, William spoke.
"I will join you. And although I think you are a trustworthy person, we should discuss how we split the profits fairly."
Osric had never seen William so serious and was delightfully surprised.
'He's more valuable than I thought.'
"Great. And of course. I have a few contract drafts already. Let's iron out the details after officially completing the mission and before selling the corpse."
And finally William typical smile came back.
"Alright. I'm kind of excited."
Osric smiled.
"Yeah me too."
'This is the first piece and the start of my journey to something bigger.'
—
After arriving at the guild, they showed proof of mission completion and received their 50 copper, which they split evenly.
Before they decided on selling the corpse at a shop, they sat down on a small table inside the guild building and started talking about their new party.
Osric took out the paper he used as a contract that he got gifted by Greta of the orphanage.
"Okay let's start."
"As you can see on the contract, I am party A. You will now be party B."
"Can you read?"
It wasn't uncommon for a commoner not to be able to read.
William answered.
"My grandma taught me."
"Okay good. Read what I wrote so far."
William carefully looked through it.
-
Adventurer Party Contract
Party A: Osric
Party B: William
1. Party A is recognized as party leader.
2. Party A selects missions and retains final command in the field.
3. Party A determines member recruitment.
4. Party B agrees to abide by Party A's authority during missions.
5. Party B retains the right to refuse a mission. Repeated refusal without reasonable cause may result in removal from the party.
6. While the party consists of two members, profits from missions and materials shall be divided as follows:
• Party A: 60%
• Party B: 40%
These terms may be renegotiated by mutual agreement.
7. Betrayal of this contract shall result in forfeiture of all shared earnings and invoke rightful retribution.
-
William deliberated for a while after reading it carefully.
'He sure is thorough.'
'By this contract alone I can tell that he makes a good leader. But him being smart probably makes him dangerous as well.'
'Well I chose to believe in him. Although that last point sounds kinda scary.'
He finally spoke.
"Okay. I can agree to most right away. The split also seems fair since you are the party leader."
"But about member recruitment and mission selection. I'm fine with you having final say, but do I get no say at all? Because I also want to be comfortable with such important decisions."
Osric was somewhat relieved and smiled.
'A blind follower would be easy. A thinking one is safer.'
"Yes. I understand what you mean. And although my decisions in those matters are technically absolute, it's not like I will just ignore your opinions."
"It would be stupid to do whatever I want and in return lose your trust."
"I want you to always be honest with me and give me your opinions. But while on a mission it will be stricter. You can still weigh in but once I make a decision in the field, it is absolutely final."
"Are you okay with that William?"
'I can't believe he is younger than me. What kind of life has Osric lived?'
"Yes. And I'm in. I agree to all the terms of the contract."
"Okay great. Sign here next to where I signed."
William signed it and put the pen down