Chapter 4

Opening the wooden door, I stepped into the guild. The interior of the guild was as sturdy and robust as it looked from the outside. Directly in front of the entrance was a wooden counter divided into four sections, similar to a bank's teller windows. The section on the far right was larger, about 3 meters wide, and was labeled "Buyback Window." The three sections on the left were not labeled, but they probably handled everything other than buybacks.

One of the three sections on the left was unoccupied, while the other two tables were manned by women in what appeared to be guild uniforms. They looked to be in their early 20s. The woman on the left had blonde hair and blue eyes, while the woman on the right had dark brown hair, almost black, but her eyes were also blue. It seemed that black hair was also common. Both were quite beautiful, which was a feast for the eyes. It was reassuring that there were no black-haired women, and it was possible that dark eyes were rare.

The guild uniform (?) was designed in blue with a white collar. It was long-sleeved and modestly revealing, giving off a clean and tidy impression.

On the right wall, extending to the door I had just entered, there was a wall covered with hooks. The wall was color-coded, with the letters G, F, E, D, C, B, A, and S written in different colors. G was probably the lowest rank.

Some of the hooks had small whiteboards, about 20 cm tall and 30 cm wide, hanging from them. The boards listed the rank, request details, reward, and notes.

The writing was not as detailed as something written with a ballpoint pen, but it was still fairly clear. For example:

Rank: G

Request: Harvest Zunana Grass

Reward: 30 tel per stem

Quantity: As many as possible

Notes: No need to register. The request is considered completed upon bringing the Zunana grass. Harvest from the base, with stems at least 15 cm long. Stems between 10 and 15 cm long will be bought for 10 tel each. Stems shorter than 10 cm will not be bought. Be careful not to confuse Zunana grass with the similar-looking poisonous Dokuzunana. The stem of Dokuzunana is square, while the stem of Zunana grass is round.

I wondered if cm was a unit used in this world, or if my skills were translating it for me. Either way, it didn't matter much.

Zunana grass wasn't translated, and it seemed that proper nouns weren't translated. The characters in my head were katakana, but the ones on the board were not. If it was a plant that didn't exist in my original world, it made sense that it wouldn't be fully translated. If I were to take this request, I could just appraise the plants to distinguish between Zunana and Dokuzunana.

There were quite a few requests from G to E rank, but the number decreased as the rank increased. There were no requests above B rank.

Looking at the few C-rank requests, they mentioned things like orc groups and gargons. It seemed unlikely that B or A rank requests, which would involve more dangerous situations, would come up. I wasn't sure what gargons were, but if orcs were the highest rank in this town, it suggested that the world outside wasn't one where you'd be eaten by dragons with a moderate probability, which was reassuring. Of course, this was assuming that orcs were the fat, stupid giants I imagined them to be.

Turning my gaze to the left, I saw that it was a bar. Round tables were lined up, with about four cheap wooden chairs around each one. In the back left corner was a counter where a bearded man, who looked like a typical bar owner, stood. This was where you could buy drinks and food. There were a fair number of customers, with about five groups of 2 to 4 people, who looked like adventuring parties, drinking and talking. Most of them didn't seem to be the best company. The gender ratio was about 4:1.

Most of the armor was leather, and the weapons were mostly hidden, with only a large, crude sword visible on the back of a big man. I couldn't see a staircase to the second floor, but there was probably one in the staff area.

I had been observing for a while, but standing at the entrance for too long would be a bother. I decided to go to the counter directly in front of me. The receptionist was the blonde woman.

As I approached, I thought about how to start the conversation. I decided to just state my business; if I made a mistake, the damage would be minimal.

"Excuse me, I'd like to register."

"Yes, registration. The registration fee is three silver coins. Is that okay?"

"Yes, please."

I took three silver coins from my pocket and placed them on the counter. I had one silver coin left in my pocket.

"Please touch this."

The receptionist, who had put the silver coins under the table, handed me a box made of iron or something, which was much larger than the one I had touched at the gate when entering the town. When I touched it, the same status as at the gate appeared on the top of the box.

Name: Kaede

Age/Race/Gender: 20/Human/Male

Level: 2

Rewards/Punishments: None

Skills: Magic Aptitude, Martial Arts Aptitude, Fire Magic, Earth Magic, Water Magic

It seemed that displaying stats like STR and HP was not common. The receptionist looked surprised but quickly recovered and placed a silver metal plate, which looked like a guild card, on top of the box. The metal plate glowed faintly blue for a moment, and text appeared on it.

------------------------------------

Kaede/Human/Male

Rank: G

Rewards/Punishments: None

Request Completion History:

Monster Slaying History:

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The guild card only contained basic information. The request completion history and monster slaying history were blank. It seemed that my previous kill of a green dog didn't count. Would the slaying history be automatically updated?

"Let me explain the guild to you."

"Yes, please."

It seemed she was going to explain. I had been worried she might say something like, "You should know this, right?"

"As you can see, this is your guild card. Let me explain it from the top."

"The first line shows your name, race, and gender. The second line is your rank. The ranks go from G, which is the lowest, to F, E, D, and so on, up to A. However, there are currently no S-rank adventurers, so the highest rank is A. Rank promotions are decided by the guild based on request completion and monster slaying history, but there are exams for ranks D and above. If your request completion rate is poor, you may be demoted. The third line, 'Rewards/Punishments,' will say 'Thief' if you commit a crime. Even if the crime is unrelated to theft, such as murder, you will be labeled a 'Thief.' Killing a thief does not make you a thief, and neither does killing someone in a duel if both parties agree to it."

There are duels... I'm a guy, so if there's a culture where you have to accept a challenge or be considered a coward, I'll run away when the time comes! If someone challenges me to a duel, they must have a good chance of winning. I wouldn't want to duel someone like that.

"The fourth and seventh lines, 'Request Completion History' and 'Monster Slaying History,' are automatically updated when you complete a request or slay a monster. If you slay a thief, it will also be added to your slaying history. On the guild card, you can only see the last three entries, but the guild can check more. If you have a request to slay more than four monsters, you'll need to remember how many you've slain. You can just throw the bodies into your item box and count them."

Thieves are treated like monsters... If I can only check three entries on the guild card, I'll need to remember how many I've slain if there are more than four. But I can just count the bodies in my item box.

"Lastly, it's impossible to forge a guild card, so there's no risk of impersonation. If you try to forge a guild card, even if it's just an attempt, you will be sentenced to death, so please be careful."

Scary! Forging a guild card is a serious crime.

"That's the explanation of the guild card. Next, I'll explain the requests. The boards over there are the requests."

The receptionist pointed to the wall with the whiteboards.

"For requests that don't say 'No registration required' in the notes, you need to bring your guild card and the request board to this counter to register. You can only take requests up to your current rank, and G-rank adventurers can only take up to three requests at a time. E-rank and above can take up to five. If you fail to complete a request within the deadline, you'll have to pay a penalty equal to twice the reward. However, if there are natural disasters or other force majeure, this will be taken into account. This is to prevent adventurers from taking on impossible requests. For requests that say 'No registration required,' follow the instructions on the board. For slaying requests, show your slaying history on your guild card, and for harvesting requests, bring the items. You can complete 'No registration required' requests even if you already have three other requests."

The whiteboards are called request boards.

"The slaying history on your guild card will show the date and whether it has been settled. If you bring in a slaying history from before the request was issued, you won't be paid. For ongoing requests, only slayings within 30 days will be settled. Once a slaying history is used for settlement, it will be marked as settled, so you can't use it for multiple requests. If you have a request to slay one monster and another to slay two, you can complete both by slaying three. The guild also buys herbs and monster materials, even if they're not part of a request. You can bring the whole body, but it's better to bring only the sellable parts to avoid carrying too much. Since you have a magic aptitude, be mindful of your item box capacity. If you have any questions about specific requests, feel free to ask. Do you have any questions?"

"No, not really."

It seems there's a convenient system in place. The requests are on boards instead of paper, probably because paper isn't common. My item box has a capacity of 1012, so it won't fill up easily. I hope there's no weight limit.

"From now on, you are a guild member. We expect you to act responsibly. Do you want to take a request now? It's not recommended at night because visibility is poor and you're more likely to be ambushed."

"It's already dark, so I'll do it tomorrow."

"Understood. That's a wise decision."

I left the guild and headed for the gate. The sun had already set. The shops were closing, and the only open place was a bar. The streets were almost empty. I reached the gate.

"I received a temporary ID and have completed my adventurer registration."

"Ah, touch this."

I touched the same white board as when I entered, and the gatekeeper confirmed it, took my temporary ID, and gave me one silver coin.

I put it in my pocket, thanked the gatekeeper, and asked where I could find a cheap and good inn.

"Thank you. By the way, do you know of any cheap and good inns?"

"Turn left at the corner and go straight. There's a place called 'Rest Easy Inn.' It's popular with adventurers. It's 600 tel per night, reasonably cheap, and the food is good and it's safe."

"Thank you, I'll check it out."

I turned left at the corner as the guard suggested. The alley felt like a residential area, with fewer shops than the street to the guild. After walking about 30 meters, I saw a wooden two-story building with a sign that read "Rest Easy Inn." It wasn't new, but it wasn't dilapidated either. It looked like a regular inn, probably cheap because of its location.

I opened the door and entered. Inside, it looked like a typical inn from an RPG. Next to it was a building that seemed to be a bar or restaurant.

"Welcome!"

A girl who looked about 12 or 13 greeted me. She disappeared into the back, and soon a stout woman came out.