Chapter 24

The next day, I spent most of the day at the inn. I wrote a letter to Anna on the stationery I had bought early in the morning, filling it with so many words that it became as thick as a small book. When I felt that "I must have written everything I needed to convey," I forcefully sealed the envelope.

There were many things I couldn't write in the letter I left at home, and it ended up being longer than I expected. I know that Anna is concerned about my well-being. I apologized for causing her worry and for leaving without her. I also didn't forget to assure her that Fred, to whom I entrusted this letter, is a trustworthy person.

To make it clear that this letter was written by me of my own accord, I included various memories that only Anna and I share throughout the letter.

This letter is to be delivered to Anna by Fred, who will hand it to her on the spot. Of course, I want Anna to come here, but I can't treat it as a done deal. I wrote this letter to give her the choice. Although she said she was sent out to work at a young age and doesn't have many memories, Anna has family in that country. There might be other reasons she can't leave.

While I've given her the choice, I secretly hope she will choose me, and I'm sure that's obvious.

After spending a long time finally finishing the letter, I prepared a clean copy of the basic magic circuit diagram to entrust to Fred and a small gift as a token of my gratitude for his help. This inn is designed for women with good security, but the shower and toilet are communal, so I can't use an alchemy furnace in the room even with a heat-resistant panel. I decided to give him a potion I had prepared as a backup for the hunting party, which I can use in a pinch.

Although I used materials that a novice adventurer like me can't get, this potion is definitely better than anything I could make here. It was of a quality I could be satisfied with, and it should be useful enough to be helpful without being too much.

I want to earn enough to give her a proper thank-you gift someday, so I need to become a capable adventurer as soon as possible.

I handed over the circuit diagram and the letter to Anna to Fred, who, as expected, hesitated to accept the potion.

"No, I don't want something that Riana says is 'pretty good for something she made'! It's scary! How much does it cost on the market?!"

"It's fine! It's definitely usable."

"Ugh, you're not aware of it, which makes it complicated!"

I reluctantly pushed the potion into Fred's hands, but he insisted, "I'll return it if I don't use it by the time you come back." I accepted this, thinking that it's good that he won't get hurt.

I can't thank him enough for taking the time to bring Anna back, even though I can't formally request it through the guild. Fred said he would "deliver the circuit diagram and complete the request, then take a personal vacation to travel to the capital of Kronheim," which is very considerate of him. He hasn't even taken the success fee, saying he'll take it after I return. I feel very grateful but also a bit guilty for owing him so much. I strongly want to become a capable adventurer as soon as possible to repay him.

After handing over everything to Fred, who said he would leave in the morning, I returned to the inn and decided to sleep until dinner. I hadn't slept well the night before, thinking about what to write in the letter, and I had been up early and focused on writing all morning. Even the beginner's training said, "You need to take regular rest days, even if you don't think you need them." I decided to treat today as a rest day from the start. It felt a bit guilty to take a rest day on my third day as an adventurer, but lying in bed in the afternoon felt very good. The biggest relief was knowing that I could explain the situation to Anna and invite her here properly.

I didn't leave the inn at all that day, but the next day, I naturally went to the adventurer's guild. Although I earned a lot from the commercialization of the magic device, I can't rely on that. I need to earn enough to rent a proper room to live with Anna, which is difficult without a green card as an adventurer.

I need to complete requests and contribute to the guild while earning enough to rent a room and live with Anna. Just delivering herbs isn't enough. The deposit and a year's living expenses can be covered by the contract fee from the commercialization, but it would be unnatural to spend all that time without taking any requests. I need to earn and maintain that lifestyle as an adventurer. It would be difficult to do that with the reward from the other day. I want to stabilize my income by the time Fred brings Anna back in about a month.

Since I'm a novice, I can't take on high-level requests, so I need to actively hunt and deliver monsters that are always in demand while gathering herbs.

With the determination to earn, I opened the guild's door, but my enthusiasm was quickly dampened. As soon as I went to the reception with a number tag to accept a request, I was taken to a different room with the words, "Ah! Riana, I've been waiting for you!"

"First, I want to apologize on behalf of the Adventurer's Guild. I am very sorry..."

I was led to the guild master's office, which also serves as a reception room, where I received a polite apology. Saje, a stern-looking but kind man who had been talking to Fred, was now looking apologetic. Next to him, Daria and another man, who seemed to be in charge of the buyback department, were bowing their heads.

It turned out that the evaluation of the herbs I delivered the day before yesterday was incorrect, and they wanted to correct the evaluation and give me the difference. The correct expression is that it was a mistake. The staff member who handled the delivery was a wounded adventurer on leave. He had deliberately given an unfair evaluation, and the guild had failed to supervise him properly, leading to a direct apology from the guild master.

Apparently, he had also been contacting young girls, asking for their contact information, inviting them to meals, and accompanying them on requests, and the guild was pursuing these additional offenses and taking proper action. Since these other incidents were not related to me, I said it was fine as long as they corrected the evaluation and took steps to prevent it from happening again.

When I received the corrected evaluation, it said "Special Excellent," and I was surprised.

I was skeptical about this. After all, I had only done the minimum processing. I had strictly followed the rule that using anything other than beginner-level magic was unnatural and had not used any magical time-stopping or time-stasis spells on the herbs. I hadn't used any light-blocking or vacuum-sealing magic or containers to prevent deterioration. Of course, it's not common to do that for ordinary herbs like Rumatsugu grass...

...But Fred had said that culture changes with the region. Maybe what I thought was "the minimum processing a novice adventurer knows" is not widely known here. I didn't think there was such a big difference in alchemy and herbology between Kronheim and where I'm from, but maybe I did something that stood out...

In the beginner's training, they said, "Try to bring back the requested items as clean and neat as possible, and remove monster blood and major dirt before delivery to get a higher 'good condition' rating." I thought I had done my best as a new adventurer to deliver the herbs as cleanly as possible. It seems I failed.

"Still, it was very neat processing. The alchemists were impressed, and I was too when I saw it."

"My grandfather, who taught me the techniques, was a hunter. Since we lived in the countryside, he was often asked to gather herbs along with his hunting. I was taught the proper way to process different materials. I was surprised to receive such high praise."

I answered smoothly, making sure my explanation didn't contradict my "Riana" persona.

"Yeah, you didn't seem to question the buyback price. Fred said you didn't know the value of your skills. ...Did your grandfather never praise you for such neat processing?"

"He always said I still had a lot to learn."

"You were raised by a strict master, huh?"

Saje laughed and straightened up. "Now, I want to talk about something else."

"The alchemy association in our city has issued a named request to you."

"A named request? But isn't that for experienced veterans?"

"If you can gather herbs so cleanly, it's not surprising that you got a named request."

I see. There's a demand for skills other than just strength.

Attracted by the reward amount, I almost immediately decided to take on several delivery requests. Since these are in short supply year-round, the more I can deliver, the better. The reward is on a commission basis, and I was motivated. Of course, I won't gather so much that it disrupts the ecosystem.

"Of course, when gathering these, which only grow deep in the forest, the guild will provide a guard."

First, they want to test if I can go and return safely, so they asked about my schedule for three days from now. They probably want to check if I, who will only be a gatherer, can be a burden and to get me acclimated. I agreed, as I had planned to take a request every day anyway. Today, I decided to go gather the herbs listed in the named request, which can be found near the edge of the forest.

As I walked through the sparsely wooded forest entrance, I reached a conclusion. There are probably many adventurers who can do this level of processing, but as a novice, I can take on requests at a lower price. That's probably why I got the named request. Yes, that must be it.

Although none of the herbs are rare, if they are in good condition, I can earn a decent income with the bonus.

I looked at the list enthusiastically and gathered the herbs. When I calculated the day's reward, I smiled, thinking that this would be enough to rent a room and live with two people.

I can't wait to see them both.