Chapter 42

"Is it the adventurer registration? Then please fill out the necessary information on this form."

I took the form from the receptionist and began to fill it out smoothly.

Name, address, age, registered occupation... that's about it.

Silfa had said it was fine to write honestly.

I did as I was told, filled it out, and handed it back to the receptionist.

"Hmm, so Mr. Lloyd is a prince of this country, and quite young at that. Being an adventurer is dangerous; you can get injured or even die if you lack the skills. The Adventurer's Guild cannot guarantee your safety or give you any special treatment. Is that all right with you?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

"I see. That's a good attitude."

The receptionist smiled and took the form.

For adventurers, status means nothing.

The weak crawl on the ground, while the strong gain everything.

It's a pure meritocracy, which is why Silfa said it was all about training.

"Well, the document review is done. Next, I'd like to measure Mr. Lloyd's stats. Could you place your hand on this crystal?"

She placed a crystal ball on the table.

This magical tool is said to read the physical abilities of the person who touches it.

I used one of these when I entered the magic academy in my previous life.

I didn't understand the principle back then, but now I do.

This crystal emits a weak magical power that passes through the body of the person who touches it, measuring the amount of magic power stored in the body and its impact on the body. It then calculates and displays the stats using its own formula.

Of course, it's just a rough estimate based on the amount of magic power.

It doesn't include combat skills or knowledge, so it's more like a physical examination.

"Heh, a measly crystal like that can't measure Lord Lloyd's magic power. It would break instantly from the sheer amount of magic power, unable to process the data! You should have at least five of them ready!"

"What would you do if it broke? ...Besides, it's not good for my magic power to be revealed."

The crystal won't break, but with Silfa here, it's not good to show too high a value and raise suspicions.

I'll keep it low, very low.

Specifically, I'll disguise my magic power.

I'll constrict the magic power flowing through my body to the extreme and dilute it.

This way, the value displayed on the crystal will be lower than the actual value.

...By the way, there is a magic spell that can read someone's stats, but it works on a similar principle to this crystal, so it often doesn't reflect the person's actual strength and requires physical contact, which is why it's not used much.

A skilled user would probably disguise their stats like I am.

"Mr. Lloyd?"

"Ah, sorry. I'll do it right away."

At the receptionist's urging, I placed my hand on the crystal.

As a weak magical power passed through my body, words began to appear on the crystal.

Magic Power: A

Strength: F

Agility: F

Stamina: F

Toughness: F

Overall: E

"Ha!"

A man watching from behind burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! Overall E! Most people get at least a D! I got a C! You're just a kid. Too weak—"

Before he could finish, Tao's elbow hit his solar plexus, and Silfa's backhand struck his face.

The man flew back and lay on the ground, writhing in pain.

"Don't worry about it. It's just a rough estimate. The overall score is just the sum of the individual values. A crystal can't measure Lord Lloyd's true power."

"Yeah, I was an E at first, but it went up quickly."

They tried to comfort me, but I was relieved.

I was surprised that my magic power was still A even after diluting it to less than 10%, but the side effect was that the other values were all low, which was a relief.

With the training I've had with Silfa, they would have been much higher.

At least this way, I won't raise any suspicions.

As I was thinking this, I noticed the receptionist had a troubled look on her face.

"Magic Power A!? ...It's true that nobles with good blood and talent tend to have high values, but even then, they usually only get B or C. An A is a value that only experienced mages can achieve. To get it at just ten years old... I can't believe it, but the crystal is new, so it can't be broken. This child might have the potential to become one of the few S-rank adventurers in the world...! I thought I'd treat the royal family coldly since they're usually just sightseers, but if he has the potential to be an S-rank adventurer, that's a different story. The salary for handling such a case would be different. If I take care of him from now and nurture him carefully... Hehe, hehehe..."

The receptionist muttered to herself, staring at me.

What's going on with her?

"Um, is something wrong?"

"Oh, no! Nothing's wrong. ...Anyway, the registration is complete. Here's your guild card. According to the rules, you start at E-rank, but I'm sure Mr. Lloyd will rank up quickly. Shall we start with a quest?"

"Of course!"

"In that case, I recommend these quests."

She handed me a form with quests like herb gathering and cargo transport.

Honestly, none of them seem to involve magic experiments or combat, so I won't be able to get any monster cores.

"Um, are there any quests to defeat monsters? I want to explore a dungeon."

"Please wait until you've raised your rank a bit. According to the rules, you need to be at least B-rank to take on dungeon quests... Yes, that's right. If you fail and get discouraged, what will you do? First, you need to clear some easy quests and build up some success experiences. Yes, yes."

The receptionist nodded with her arms crossed.

Silfa stepped forward.

"This is for practical training. We can't have Lord Lloyd doing herb gathering or cargo transport. I, a former A-rank adventurer, will take the quests instead. That should be fine, right?"

"No, that's not allowed. Silfa has already retired."

"Then I'll register again."

"That's also not allowed. You'd start at C-rank, two ranks lower."

"...You're not very flexible."

"...It's the rules."

The two of them glared at each other, sparks flying.

"Ah, ah, um, um!"

Tao interrupted with a theatrical cough.

"Oh, oh, it seems there's a B-rank adventurer who's free right now. And they're looking for a party. ...Hey, Lloyd, how about forming a party with me and going to the dungeon?"

She then winked at me.