Chapter 4

The counter, made of old but good-smelling wood, seemed to be the reception. A bundle of parchment was piled up, and a quill pen with faded and frayed feathers and an ink pot were placed there.

Since I was asked if I had a request, people might come here to ask adventurers for various things.

The person looked down at me with a glare. He had a sturdy, large body with chestnut hair mixed with white and a beard, and upon closer inspection, a large scar on his cheek, making him look very intimidating. Just being looked at by him made me feel as if my neck was being tightly gripped.

"Can you write your own name?"

Asked with a stern face, but I was so scared at first that I didn't understand what he meant. It took a while for the words to sink in, and then I straightened my back to answer.

"…Y…Yes. I can write it."

"…I see. Write it here."

The man, speaking in few words, took a piece of parchment from the shelf behind him and placed it on the counter. The chair at this counter was too high for me, so I had a bit of trouble sitting down. My feet didn't reach the floor, but I managed to settle down and checked the parchment. It seemed to have several items that needed to be filled out, not just the name.

"Um… I don't have a family name, what should I do?"

"You don't need to write it."

Though gruff, he answered when I asked. He pushed the ink pot and quill pen towards me. He seemed scary but not malicious.

I dipped the tip of the quill pen in the ink and filled in the name section. …The tip of the pen was quite worn out, so the first character came out strange. At this point, even a priest would change the pen.

"Do I need to write the others?"

"Yeah."

A curt response. But by this point, I finally understood.

This might be the guild registration form. If so, I won't be turned away just because I'm not good enough… right?

Race. Place of origin. Gender. I filled in each section one by one. I had to dip the pen in the ink pot again because the tip was worn out and I had to be careful with the amount of ink. …Okay.

I picked up the quill pen again and stopped when I was about to write the next item.

Age.

—I think the minimum age for guild registration is twelve. I'm pretty sure the Adventurer's Guild is no different.

The words of Mr. Reamer, whom I met on the way to this port town. He was a terrible person who lied and tried to sell me to a slave trader, but could this be true? I really don't want to believe him, but if it's true, I'll be told I'm not good enough. …Then, I won't know what to do. That's scary.

I closed my eyes and apologized to God. I prayed for forgiveness. I might have put more feeling into this prayer than any other.

And then.

I wrote twelve in the age section.

After handing over the parchment with all the sections filled out, the stern-faced man narrowed his eyes and checked what I had written. To be honest, I felt very uneasy. I was worried about what would happen if the lie was discovered.

It was similar to when I confessed to breaking a farming tool I was playing with and braced myself for a scolding, but it was even more suffocating. I wanted to run away right away.

"You have neat handwriting."

"Ah… Y…Yes."

His voice was low, but I somehow felt complimented. Maybe he was just muttering to himself.

I practiced with a copy of the holy book, and the priest really emphasized writing neatly.

"Alright. I'll register you as an F-rank adventurer."

"E…?"

I said I wanted to be an adventurer, but I was so stunned by what he said that I was left speechless. It was too easy.

"Eh, is it over…? Is there anything else?"

"No. If you can read, go look at the request boards on the wall."

Saying that, the scary-faced man turned away, seemingly losing interest, and went back to reading the paper he was initially reading.

Eh…? Is that it?

Am I really an adventurer now?

"Well… I might as well explain some of the rules."

As I was still in a daze from the mix of surprise and anticlimax, a gruff voice came, and the stern-faced man with the scar on his cheek turned to me again. It seemed he had changed his mind. His eyes, which made me straighten my back just by being looked at, caught mine and narrowed threateningly.

"In the past, there was a fee for guild registration."

I was startled. I don't have any money.

"But now it's free. Do you know why?"

"Why…?"

Why? It's a good thing for me, but I couldn't think of a reason, and it seemed time was up as the man spoke.

"Because there were too many people who would steal to pay the registration fee."

…Thieves. There were people who would do that.

"If such people come, the store's reputation gets bad. If we catch them, we beat them up and throw them out, but it's too much trouble to check every new person."

He sighed deeply and the scary-faced man clicked his tongue. He seemed to be in a bad mood just thinking about it.

I hope he doesn't direct his anger at me.

"That's why it's free now, but there are more people just coming to look around."

Just looking around.

"I don't know if they're testing their courage or just looking for a story, but it's a hassle to deal with people who just register and leave. But, there are also people who take on requests and then abandon them without completing them."

…It seems being an adventurer is tough. Looking at the man's furrowed brow, I felt a bit of sympathy.

"Well, those people are tied up and fed to monsters. It affects the store's reputation if we leave them alone."

Eh.

Eh? If you don't do your job properly, you'll be eaten by monsters?

"Listen, this is the important part."

He said this in an even lower voice than before and glared at me.

"Once you take on a request, don't do a half-assed job."

"Y…Yes."

That's all I could say. I tried to lean back but almost fell off the chair and panicked. I managed to regain my balance at the last moment.

"If you understand, you can go."

"Yes…."

Adventurers are scary. The people at the adventurer's guild are scary.