Chapter 3

I'm posting the second chapter.

I wonder if there's actually a demand for stories about guild staff.

After seeing off the mercenary, I call the next one.

The line is still endless. There are two counters for intermediation aimed at intermediate to advanced users like me.

At the other counter, a beautiful girl sits, possessing knowledge about monsters and experience as a guild staff member.

She looks like the quintessential guild staff member, and any man would probably line up there without hesitation, but for some reason, my line is longer.

This is not because I'm popular with the guys or anything disgusting like that. Absolutely not!

It's just that ever since I started saying that one thing, I feel the users' attitude towards me has changed.

Later, I heard from my boss, the branch manager, that apparently, the survival rate of those I send out is unusually high. (It's not the success rate, but the survival rate.)

This has spread by word of mouth among the users, and it's become a kind of jinx that if you line up at my counter, you'll come back alive.

Not only that, some people even come directly to ask for that one thing. If it clearly increases the survival rate, anyone would jump at it.

The information I provide is not available from the information posted by the guild. It's so fresh that no one knows about it yet, and it's pinpoint information.

I haven't told anyone my source. The branch manager might have figured it out by now, but I want to live quietly.

I don't want to get involved in the kind of plots that often happen in RPGs, like being dragged into a country's conspiracy, or being taken on adventures as a hero or a demon king, or being drafted into a war.

This is a real world, and I have to live in this fantasy-filled world. I don't want to live like an adventurer or a mercenary, risking my life every day. So far, I haven't had any financial troubles.

Why do I know words like RPG and fantasy, which the people who have lived in this world have never heard of? It's because I'm a reincarnated person.

I lived in Japan on Earth for twenty-three years. When I came to, I found myself in this fantasy-filled world. From a world like warm water, I was suddenly thrown into a world where the next day is unknown.

My memories started to mix when I was about two years old, and now the memories from that time and the memories from this world are completely integrated. I try not to remember my name from my previous life. My name now is Noah.

At first, I was confused, but the uncertainty of the next day is the same as when I was living in Japan. No one knows when they might have an accident. You might be struck by lightning and die. Whether you're famous or rich, you die when you die.

If I want to live as long and peacefully as possible, I need to be vigilant and pay attention to my surroundings. I need to live prudently and not take reckless actions.

That's what I thought, and that's how I'm trying to live.

That's why I didn't become an adventurer or a mercenary and am now a guild staff member.

I said earlier that I don't want to get involved in various things, but it's not because I'm overly self-conscious.

It's because I know that if my special abilities are discovered and reach the upper echelons of the guild or the core of the country, they will definitely take an interest in me.

Not only because I'm a reincarnated person, but also because I have an innate skill called "Appraiser."

Another thing is that I can hear and see the spirits.

If these were normal in this world, how nice it would be.

Skills vary in proficiency from person to person, but perhaps because this is my second life, my skill is at the maximum level. MAX.

The "Appraiser" skill is supposed to be used on objects, and even when used on people, it only appraises their equipment, not the person themselves.

However, when I activate my appraisal skill, whether it's a human or a beastman, I can see their level, MP, HP, and other game-like statistics. I can even see their undeveloped latent abilities that they themselves don't know about.

Spirits are not supposed to have a physical form. There are beings called fairies, and depending on the place and person, they can be seen and used.

Spirits are a higher existence, and even among mages, only high-ranking white mages or summoners can use spirit magic. Even then, they can only borrow a small fraction of the power, which surprised me.

No one has ever seen them, and they are only felt as a great power. That's how spirits are perceived in this world.

I've been able to see them since I was a child, and they've helped me many times. It seemed that no one else could see them, and I didn't talk to them casually, so I wasn't considered a weirdo who talks to himself.

"Hey, Noah, introduce me to a good job."

"Alex, you should look for one yourself a bit."

Alex is the top of the list of people who want that one thing. Recently, he even asks me to choose the job for him. He's a mercenary and a swordsman of considerable level, with plenty of potential for growth.

It's not that I mind him asking, but knowing that I'm partly responsible for his life and death makes it hard to be completely happy.

Despite everything, Alex and I have been acquainted since I became a guild staff member. I try to keep work and personal life separate, but I can't help but be more relaxed in my speech.

"How about this one? The rank is low, but you might encounter something on your way back."

"Something, huh. Of course, there's a reward for slaying it, right?"

"Sure. If you're lucky, you might get some good materials too."

"Got it, I'll take it."

Deciding so easily.

Does he have no anxiety about the uncertain monster information? It's troubling to be trusted so completely. I try to convey this with my eyes, but Alex just smiles and accepts it as usual.

When I asked him before, he said that even if something happens, he chose it himself, so I don't need to feel responsible. He also said I was too naive, but he didn't hate it.

"See you later."

"Have a safe trip. I'll be waiting for your safe return."

I see Alex off with the standard closing words.

The "something" he might encounter on his way back is a Red Bear. In simple terms, it's a very large and aggressive bear.

For Alex, it's a monster he can defeat alone, and among the monsters in this area, it provides good materials. Fur, fangs, claws, meat, and even organs can be used for medicine, making it a treasure trove of materials that can be sold for a good price.

With that much explanation, Alex would have figured out that the monster he might encounter is a Red Bear.

The information about the Red Bear came from my secret friend, a friendly wind spirit, who told me first thing in the morning.

Red Bears usually stay deep in the forest and rarely appear before people. It seems that one has come near the village where I recommended Alex to go, either looking for food or driven out of its territory.

There's a system where harmful monsters can be killed for a reward without a specific quest, and if it's in a relatively shallow area, it's a very profitable target.

Red Bears are nocturnal. The plan is that Alex, after completing the village's request, will encounter the Red Bear on his way back in the evening.

This is how I use the monster information provided by the spirits and the personal characteristics I discern with my "Appraiser" skill to match people with jobs.

2015/01/10 Revised