Chapter 30

Woah!

I'm like a human-powered writing device fueled by bookmarks and points!

Rip! (Sound of manuscript paper being torn)

I'm so happy to have a full load of bookmarks and points!

"Custom request?"

"Yes, a custom request has been made to you, Node."

The location was inside the Adventurer's Guild building. As usual, Node was looking for a request to take on while training Neut. Early in the morning, he slipped through the guild's door and tried to weave through the bustling crowd of adventurers to get to the request board.

"Node! Please come over here for a moment!"

Hearing his name called, Node turned to see one of the guild staff members waving at him from the counter. Wondering what had happened, Node changed his course to head towards the counter. The morning guild was filled with adventurers waiting for new requests to be posted, but until then, the area near the counter was relatively empty. Node approached the counter without delay and asked the guild staff what was needed. That's when he received the opening line.

A custom request.

This is a type of request where the client personally selects a capable adventurer to take on the job. Usually, it's high-profile adventurers or those with specialized skills, known as "professionals," who are selected. The main advantage is the connections it can create. The relationships formed through taking on requests from nobles, merchants, or other guilds often provide tangible and intangible benefits. For example, if you have connections with a merchant guild, you can purchase valuable materials or equipment. Conversely, you can sell them at a high price. With connections to an alchemy guild, you can get priority access to valuable potions. If you have connections with a mage guild, you can purchase magical items or spells.

However, items of higher quality than low-grade potions or magical items are not available on the general market due to the imbalance between supply and demand. To purchase them, not only money but also connections are necessary.

Connections with nobles are the most straightforward.

Adventurers, like anyone else, cannot remain active forever. As their bodies age, the day they must step down from the front lines is inevitable. How to live after retirement is a question every adventurer must eventually face.

Even if you want to buy a house somewhere, you need permission. If you want to open a shop, you need to join a guild.

Most adventurers are commoners and have left their hometowns for various reasons. Even if they have a family home, it might be difficult to return.

But with connections to nobles, these problems can be easily solved.

Sometimes, you might even receive a "poaching" offer to become a noble's private soldier. In such cases, you would usually become a vassal of a vassal, not a direct vassal of the king, but for an adventurer of commoner origin, this is a lavish treatment and a path to advancement.

On the downside, the content of the request is expected to be difficult. However, you are selected with the expectation that "this adventurer can accomplish it!" So, in practice, it's not a significant issue. (Occasionally, there are unreasonable requests, but that's another story.)

Despite the many advantages of a custom request, Node had no idea why he would be selected. The names of adventurers who take on requests are known not only to the Adventurer's Guild but also to the clients. Therefore, if you keep taking requests from the same client, they might think, "Why not just give the request to the adventurer who always takes it?" and send a custom request. However, Node primarily chose requests based on the reward, so he had not built such a relationship.

If anything, he had taken on a fair number of herb-gathering requests from the Alchemy Guild last year, but it would be strange for them to suddenly select Node now.

"Who is the client?"

Node asked the guild staff. In some cases, this could be a malicious attempt to trap him. Keeping that in mind, Node asked for the client's name, but the name the guild staff mentioned was familiar.

He checked the name written on the request letter just to be sure, but the spelling was the same. It couldn't be a mistake.

The client's name was 'Johan d'Obrielle von Alba.'

It was a request from his elder brother, who had married into the Obrielle family, a relative of the Felis family.

The request letter came with an attached letter. The envelope handed to him by the guild staff contained two sheets of paper, one addressed to Node and the other to the Felis family. The sheet addressed to Node was written in his elder brother Johan's handwriting. In summary, it said, "Monsters have appeared in the territory. We haven't seen each other in a while, so come and visit and take care of them. At a discount."

After reading the letter, Node put it back into the envelope with an indescribable expression. He didn't know what was written in the other letter, but since it was addressed to the Felis family, he felt it would be inappropriate to read it without permission.

"Will you take it? The... reward is not very good, though."

"...Let me put it on hold for now."

The amount offered was quite low. It was barely enough for a crystal-class adventurer, and under normal circumstances, Node would have ignored it. He could earn more by taking on several requests in the city that would take the same amount of time. However, unfortunately, the request was from his brother, Johan.

The Obrielle family, into which Johan had married, was a relative of the Felis family. They had taken Johan as a son-in-law because they only had daughters and needed an heir.

In other words, Johan was not only Node's brother but also the head of the Obrielle family.

No matter how close they were as brothers, it was impolite to be rude to a separate noble family. Moreover, considering that the Obrielle family had provided financial support to the Felis family for years (and the debt had not been repaid), Node had no choice but to accept, even with the low reward.

Sure enough, when Node returned home and handed the letter to his father, Albert, the head of the Felis family, it contained a request for Node to come and help. Given the power dynamics of the debt, even if the request was phrased politely as a "request," it was essentially an order that could not be refused.

§

After that, Node received the letter for Johan from his family, reported to his teacher at the research institute, and set out from the capital with all preparations made. Of course, the means of transportation was a carriage borrowed from the knights, with Neut riding in the cargo area.

Neut, who had been sitting quietly in the carriage for a while after they left the capital, soon got bored and started flying outside the carriage.

During the long holiday, Neut's body had grown visibly larger. This growth extended to his wings, which had become thicker at the base and developed muscles for flapping. The wings themselves had grown longer and wider.

As a result, while he couldn't carry a person yet, Neut could fly for quite a long time on his own.

The journey to the request site was usually quite boring, so Neut often spent his time flying around in the sky.

– Flap, flap

To prevent being attacked by flying monsters or mistaken for an enemy by other adventurers, Node had set some conditions for Neut's flying. He had trained Neut to come down to a low altitude and inform Node if there were enemies nearby, and to enter the carriage if people were nearby.

Neut landed on the cargo area, making a flapping sound. The back of the cargo area of the covered carriage was shielded by a tent, making it invisible from the outside.

Neut entered the cargo area through the gap in the tent. This meant that someone would be coming soon.

As expected, a carriage approached.

It came from the direction Node was heading.

A middle-aged man in a fur coat sat on the driver's seat, and the cargo area was loaded with goods.

The carriage moved slowly due to the heavy load, and adventurers on foot were guarding it on either side.

The adventurers, armed with spears, swords, and bows, were on guard but seemed somewhat relaxed.

From their attire, it appeared that most were stone-class adventurers, with a few crystal-class adventurers mixed in.

The road Node was traveling on, while not a major route, was known to be relatively safe. The probability of encountering powerful monsters was low.

The road, though narrower and of lower quality than the main routes, was paved with cobblestones, which was evidence of its safety.

The approaching carriage was heavily loaded. It would be difficult for it to change direction, so Node moved his carriage to the side of the road.

The driver of the approaching carriage seemed to understand Node's consideration and took off his hat, bowed deeply, and placed it on his chest as they passed.

Node, having received the merchant's bow, returned the gesture.

The adventurers guarding the carriage seemed slightly interested in the sturdy construction of Node's carriage (it was military-grade), but as guards, they did nothing.

After the carriages passed each other completely and the sound of the merchant's carriage faded away, Neut stretched his neck from the cargo area to the driver's seat.

He seemed to be asking, "Can I play now?"

"Quii?"

"Unfortunately, no. There's still an archer guarding from behind."

"Quuuu~"

Neut made a sad face, as if to say, "Aww," and let out a dejected sound.

The driver's seat was raised, making it difficult to see inside the carriage from the outside. So, until they passed the other carriage, Neut had been lying flat on the floor, hidden as Node had trained him.

It must have been quite boring to lie there quietly without making a sound.

"Can't be helped, here."

"! Quu~♪"

Node stroked Neut's neck with one hand.

Pleased by this, Neut's boredom from earlier vanished, and he gleamed with joy, savoring the feel of Node's palm.

The carriage, which had returned to the middle of the road, continued smoothly without Node needing to control the reins. The cobblestone road stretched straight ahead, leading into the countryside.

The tent flapped.

Under the clear blue sky, a late summer breeze blew through the carriage, carrying the scent of summer grass.

§

Node's elder brother's name is Johan.

When he was still part of the Felis family, his name was 'Johan d'Felis.' After marrying into the Obrielle family, his name became 'Johan d'Obrielle von Alba.'

In the Kingdom of Hamil, names are given in the order of 'first name, last name.'

Commoners do not have last names, so they use their place of origin instead.

Nobles use their family name as their last name, but there is an additional title.

For example, if someone is a knight, they use the title 'd' to indicate their status.

So, a knight would be 'first name, d=last name (family name).'

For example, Node, who is still an apprentice, is currently 'Node Felis,' meaning 'Node, son of the Felis family.' If he becomes a formal knight and is appointed as a noble, his name would become 'Node d'Felis,' meaning 'Knight Node of the Felis family.'

Regarding family names, according to the kingdom's laws, nobles can establish their own families and choose their family names freely, but most nobles use their original family names.

The reason is simple: to show their connections.

If they use a completely different family name, it would be confusing, but if they use their original family name, it is clear. Therefore, it is forbidden to use another noble's family name unless you are a close relative.

When adopting a new family name, it must be registered with the 'College of Arms,' a government office, where it undergoes review and is officially recognized. If the name is already in use by another family, it will be rejected.

Therefore, in the Kingdom of Hamil, it is customary to establish a new family name only when granted a territory or for a significant achievement.

As for the latter part of 'Johan d'Obrielle von Alba,' 'von' is the title for the head of a noble family with a territory, and 'Alba' is the name of the territory.

In other words, this means 'Johan, a knight of the Obrielle family, the lord of Alba.'

In short, Node's elder brother Johan had married into the Obrielle family, a noble family, and the name of their territory is Alba.

Alba is a place name, and the Obrielle family, which governs the area, uses the place name as the village name.

The village of Alba is located in the northeast of the kingdom.

It is north of the mountainous region in the east that Node had visited before. If you go further north from Alba, you will reach the Great Mountain Range, which extends westward beyond the western end of the kingdom, dividing the northern snowfields from the kingdom.

The village of Alba, located in the mountains, is not a particularly prosperous land.

Unlike the warm climate in the south, the land of Alba, located in the north, mainly produces wheat and vegetables, and the only other products are from the forested areas in the northeast.

These products are mainly wood and herbs, which are not particularly valuable.

To put it bluntly, it is a poor village like any other.

So, the long holiday is not over.

It will continue a bit longer...

The sub-title will change from the next chapter.

The posting time in the evening will be either 6 PM or 7 PM... I'll set it to 7 PM for now! (If there is stock, of course.)