Mission name: Bill Collection [Repeatable]
Mission rank: D
Objective: Go to three different stores, get them to pay the money they owe in rent to the city.
Location: Sunagakure
Reward: 60 Ryo
Mission description: The city allows people to rent out their buildings so they don't have to pay too much to get into business. However, people have stopped paying. Remind them that the city needs money to continue.  
Mission details: Minimum 600 words. Try not to start a fight because that might scare of potential business owners. They will try to bribe you with food or beer, so ignore their advances.

Sunagakure had not been faring too well in recent years. Sure, it was definitely not in danger of going into an economic downturn or anything of the sort. The economy was doing just fine, equivalent almost to the other great nations. Sunagakure still received plenty of missions, and their ninja were still kept busy as they tried to increase their supply to meet with the demands that they were given, so they could remain price competitive with regards to the other nations. It wouldn’t do if hiring Suna ninja cost twice as much as hiring ninja from its neighbours, Iwa and Konoha, for the same task; that was as quick a way to lose business as any, and reducing the price was likely not going to restore client loyalty.

However, external monetary trade and business was just one aspect of Sunagakure’s income and economy. Sunagakure had a vast internal economy as well, with firms catering to the consumers’ needs as with any other village, and the government taxing both firms and consumers for their services. This was where a large proportion - not the majority but in no way insignificant - of Sunagakure’s income also originated from. As such, it was understandably a big problem when firms began refusing to pay up in taxes, as all it took was one store to refuse to set off a chain of stores refusing their taxes as well. One store’s bravado would inspire that of others, as monkey see, monkey do.

It was for this reason that the peculiar mission of requesting money personally from these stores had been set up by the administration. These types of missions were aptly assigned as D-rank and were given to Genin, and Joan believed that the true ninja applications of this mission tested a ninja’s loyalty, since it was common business sense that if you weren’t going to pay your taxes, you would try to reduce your loss of profit from people who actually came to collect said taxes by giving them some bribes, while just stating that their coffers had already been emptied to fill the village’s quota. It was a logical, if completely immoral thing to do, and Joan had already experienced this twice today.

As a ninja, she had been expected to collect taxes from three stores in particular. The first two had been jewellery shops, which made quite a fortune from their sales. Minerals and ores were rich in Sunagakure and it was easy to get your hands on them, but the fine art of transforming such raw minerals and ores into jewellery that caught everyone’s attention was one that was perfected only by a select few, and they had learned that hiking up the prices, and thus their profits, really helped their businesses. While Sunagakure was okay with them doing this, it was them attempting to reap all this profit for themselves and refusing to pay their quota for operating in Sunagakure’s lands and under Sunagakure’s protection that got the government acting and making such D-ranked missions.

Joan had already been exposed to bribery twice today from both those jewellery shops. There were mainly two things that had stopped her from accepting their bribes. The first was, of course, the teachings that had been bestowed upon her. Coming from a noble family, she had been taught especially not to accept bribes. It was unbefitting of someone of her stature to stoop so low as to accept bribes and participate in corruption, and if word ever got out about it, it would be so much more crippling to her, her family, and their image both individually and as a whole, than it would be for the average person. As such, it was one of the most important lessons that her parents, and several tutors hired to teach her how to act like a proper lady of a noble family, had drilled into her head from a young age.

The other was, more notably, Joan’s familiarity and distaste for the life of one surrounded by gems and riches. She had come from a noble family, and one that was in no way lacking in money. Nobles in the Land of Wind may not have been as rich in assets as those of other countries, since their assets really were limited to commodities whereas others could actually pride themselves on having fertile, timber-filled lands. For her, however, she had been born into one of the families that had above average income and wealth even amongst the nobles, meaning that she had been showered with riches, in exchange for her identity as an individual. As such, she was more than immune to the bribers who had attempted to win her over with jewellery, even if it was crafted by the finest. One could even say that their attitude of bribing her, and with such stuff that reminded her of a life she had run away from, was something that had strengthened her resolve.

Needless to say, they had been very cooperative once they found their attempts had failed.

Now, she was located outside the final shop. It was one of a different nature; it was a bakery. Joan walked inside, and she was welcomed by the cashier, who remained at his position behind the counter, eagerly asking what she would like to buy. Joan, however, ignored his introductions to the various breads and cakes he had for sale, and instead trotted up empty-handed to the cashier.

“I’m here to collect the taxes that you owe the village,” Joan said.

“Taxes? I don’t understand what you mean,” the baker replied. “I pay my taxes on time.”

“According to the village, you’ve already missed two of your payments, and your behaviour and patterns suggest that you’re planning on skipping out on a third payment as well. I’m here to collect all three,” Joan continued.

“Oh come on, is that not a bit much?” he asked. “I’m sure a small token of my honesty will change your mind?”

Joan’s hard glare was all the answer he needed, and in the end, she returned with the cash, depositing them at the mission desk while retrieving her reward, and returning home.

Exit thread


WC: 1051
TWC: 1051

D-rank mission: 600
Strength from E-0 to E-3: 450