Chapter 54

The next day, after we returned to the capital city of Luminas, we visited the Adventurer's Guild.

Because --

"Where do we find a village that's troubled by troublesome monsters?"

I asked, and Lola answered:

"Go to the Adventurer's Guild."

"Adventurer's Guild?"

"It's a place where people who take on jobs like goblin extermination work. If you're really in trouble, you put a request there."

The first floor of the Adventurer's Guild was a tavern.

People were sitting at tables scattered around. Their attire varied; there were men who looked like mages and women with long swords by their sides. What they all had in common was that their aura was clearly different from that of ordinary people.

They were probably adventurers.

We headed to the counter and spoke to the young woman standing there.

"Excuse me, is this the Adventurer's Guild?"

"Yeah, it is."

The woman shifted her gaze to me, then to Lola.

"Is it a request?"

"...No, not exactly. We want to take on a request. You know, like goblin extermination or something like that."

I conveyed my intention with some difficulty.

...It's hard to talk because I don't really understand how it works...

"Do you want to take on a request? ...But from the way you're talking, it seems you don't really understand what adventurers do. Are you registered as an adventurer?"

"Is registration required?"

"Yes. The jobs you can take depend on your rank. You register, complete jobs, and raise your rank -- that way, you gradually get more jobs. You can't give big jobs to people you don't trust."

"That makes sense."

"Want to register? Registration is free."

"Hmm --"

I thought about it. I didn't really want to become an adventurer.

"Can we check what kind of requests there are before registering?"

"Sure, they're over there."

The woman pointed to a large bulletin board, which was covered with countless pieces of paper.

"Let me know if you're interested. If you're not registered with the guild, you won't get paid even if you complete a request."

"Thank you."

I thanked the receptionist and moved to the bulletin board.

The bulletin board was filled with various request papers.

Each paper summarized the request, details, location, and reward in a compact format. They were all written in the same format, so the guild probably summarized the information they heard from the requesters.

Each request had multiple copies of the same paper.

The requests varied widely --

"Lola, let's gather the papers related to extermination."

"Sure, I understand."

"Can we tell if the monsters are actually causing harm to the village? I don't want to take on requests where the only issue is that they live nearby and are dangerous."

If the villagers were actually suffering, there would be no choice, but I didn't want to kill those who were quietly coexisting -- at least, I couldn't bring myself to do it.

Only those who "cause trouble for people."

Lola looked at a few papers.

"Hmm... It doesn't seem to be written in such detail... We might have to go to the village to confirm."

"I see..."

"But I think most of them are actually causing harm."

"Why?"

In response to my question, Lola lowered her voice.

"Requests to adventurers cost money. No village has the spare funds, so they only make requests to the guild when they're really in trouble."

"Oh... That makes sense."

I'm glad Lola is here. I wouldn't understand these things.

"Then let's start taking them one by one."

We moved to a nearby table.

I read through the request papers carefully.

These were the cries of the people of Luminas. So many people were trembling in fear of the threat of monsters.

"...We have to help..."

"Right! That's right!"

Lola nodded and pumped her right fist in agreement.

At that moment,

"Huh? What requests are you looking at?"

Suddenly, a breath reeking of alcohol hit us.

It was still the middle of the day --

A rude arm reached out and grabbed the request papers we had spread on the table.

I looked up to see a middle-aged man with a red face standing there. He was built solidly, looking like a typical warrior.

"...Hey, are these extermination requests? You guys planning to take them? No way. You need to let them sit for a while!"

He said this with a cheerful grin and took a swig of the beer in his other hand.

I asked the man:

"...Let them sit?"

"Yeah, yeah. You ignore the requests."

I didn't understand.

"Why would you do that?"

"Extermination requests are serious. They're a matter of life and death! So if you ignore them, the reward increases!"

The man laughed as if he had just revealed a great invention.

Lola's eyebrows shot up in anger.

"What are you doing! Ignoring the cries for help!"

"Huh? Are you serious? We risk our lives to protect them. Is it wrong to sell that for a higher price? It's the same as merchants."

Lola was speechless.

The man pointed to a few papers on the table.

"Those and those are the ones I'm after. Don't take them. Besides, the others are already reserved by other people. Got it!"

The man turned to the other adventurers, who had been watching our conversation, and they chuckled.

"We're all waiting for the prices to go up. Just by drinking here, we get more money! It's a good deal! We need to make them suffer a bit more!"

Just listening to it made me feel sick...

"...Merchants don't deal with lives, though."

"Huh?"

"Are all adventurers doing this?"

"Nope. Normally, the eager fools take them right away."

"Is it different now?"

"A while ago, the heir of this place went out as a commander. The skilled ones were hired. Whether they died or moved to other territories -- now there aren't enough people."

I see... So the ones here are the unskilled and unscrupulous ones...

The man continued with a happy face.

"It's a boom, a boom! For us, who were being overworked with boring, low-paying jobs. We need to make them suffer a bit more. If you join us, we'll share the requests with you?"

Ha ha ha ha ha!

The man laughed and returned to his seat.

"Mr. Alberto..."

Lola looked at me with a sad expression.

I reassured her:

"...You can keep drinking here -- when you want to earn money, it will already be over."

I gathered the request papers spread on the table.

"Let's go, Lola. We'll complete all the requests."

It's interesting!

I want to read more!

Good luck!

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