Chapter 2

This is my first submission.

I aimed to create a protagonist who doesn't fight in a fantasy setting, and ended up with a guild clerk.

While he has a slight cheat, his basic abilities are not suited for combat.

I sit at the guild's reception window, which has become my regular spot recently.

When I look up, I see a crowd of rough-looking men packed in the entrance just inside the guild doors. Since everyone here is either a mercenary or an adventurer, it's inevitable that there are more men.

"Well, what brings you here today?"

As the person at the front of the line approaches, I greet them with my usual words and a gentle smile.

I check the request form and ask the mercenary in front of me to show their guild card.

Since there seem to be no issues, I scan the guild card over the crystal and complete the temporary magic contract. This ensures that the reward will be paid out without fail if the mission is successful.

This window specializes in B-rank and above.

It handles quests for monster slaying, request forms, and occasionally provides advice.

There are separate windows for beginners, guild registrations, and herb gathering. This means that the content here is more dangerous, and the people who come here are of a certain level, so I can send them off with peace of mind.

This is not a game world.

I am not an NPC, and these people cannot easily come back to life. When they die, they are truly gone.

If I were to send them off without a word or a thought, just because it's my job, some might not return.

That's why, after my standard smile and explanation, I add one more thing.

"Do you have an antidote with you?"

The mercenary tilts his head slightly and asks.

"No, I don't. Have there been any poison-type monsters around here?"

"There have been sightings of Serpents. If you have the time, it would be wise to bring one."

When I say this, the mercenary nods seriously.

"Ah, thanks. I'll do that."

Serpents are powerful snake monsters with potent venom. They can use their pit organs to attack suddenly from the underbrush. If you have an antidote, you won't be immobilized and die.

I smile at the mercenary, who took my advice seriously.

"Have a safe trip. I look forward to your safe return."

This is my daily routine as a guild clerk.

Even if the information about the mercenary in front of me were to be displayed in numerical values like in a game.

Even if the sighting of the Serpent is a piece of information that hasn't yet circulated within the guild, and I heard it from a spirit that no one has ever seen.

Even if I am a reincarnated person living my second life.

Nothing changes, and this is my peaceful daily life.

2015/01/10 Revised