CH 272

“I just want to confirm that you are not a member of a church?” (Receptionist)

“Yes.” (Rook)

“Then what kind of restorative magic can you use?” (Receptionist)

“[Large Heal].” (Rook)

“That’s good.” (Receptionist)

The receptionist nods hmmm and checks the documents.

I interrupted the questioning because I wanted to ask her about something I was a little concerned about.

“How many people outside the church can use recovery magic? Is it really that valuable?” (Rook)

“There should be quite a few people who have the aptitude to use it. However, there are just a few people who can use it practically enough to call themselves a healer, but even in the Royal capital… I can’t give you a specific number, but understand that there are a good number of people who can use it.” (Receptionist)

“…Is it that valuable?” (Rook)

“It’s very precious! Some high-rank adventurers can learn [Heal], but most of them can only heal small cuts. A good healer is either employed by the Royal Family or a noble family or belongs to a major clan or a party of intermediate or higher rank.” (Receptionist)

I see. In other words, there are healers out there, but many of them are already affiliated with some other party.

“So… in order to move up the ranks, you will need to make a certain amount of contribution to the Solmar Adventurers’ Guild and prove that you are worthy of that rank. So, I have a suggestion: why don’t you come here on a regular basis to give treatment to adventurers? Of course, it can just be in your free time, Mr. Rook.” (Receptionist)

“Treatment?” (Rook)

Adventurers, by virtue of their profession, must be prone to injury. But there are also magical medicines called potions, and if you still need treatment, there are always healers at the church–oh, didn’t I hear that someone was too old to use the magic in the Southern Village? But that was only because it was a small village, but this is the Royal Capital of the kingdom, so there will always be a healer at the church. I don’t see the point in me going out of my way to heal adventurers.

“If you are an adventurer who earns a decent amount of money, you can always have potions on hand, or you can receive treatment at the church. However, at the guild master’s request, the Adventurer’s Guild is requesting healer adventurers to give treatment at the Adventurer’s Guild, and many of them are already cooperating.” (Receptionist)

“I see… In other words, it is monetary?” (Rook)

“Yes… Of course, it’s a little bit cheaper. But we will recognize your contribution to the guild, so you can think of it as a greater recognition than if you were to work as a regular adventurer.” (Receptionist)

I put my hand on my chin and think.

In other words, a job that doesn’t earn money but does earn recognition. At the moment, I don’t particularly need the money, and recognition is more important to me. It’s not a bad idea for me.

Up until now, I’ve been mainly engaged in dungeon crawling and monster slaying – or rather, I had no choice but to do so. Requests that required trust from guilds and clients, such as escort missions and medicinal herb gathering, were not posted on the bulletin board but rather were directly sent to specific adventurers as nominated requests.

Now I am in a situation where I have decided to stay here for an extended period of time during the winter season when there are no dungeons and fewer monsters, which means less work for adventurers. Thinking about the future, it would not hurt to gain the guild’s trust. Besides, there is a big disadvantage to refusing during a long-term stay, which might give the guild a bad impression of us.

“The Solmar Adventurers’ Guild has asked other healer adventurers as well, and many have readily agreed, but if they have a main job or belong to a clan or a party, The adventurers who are affiliated to them would prioritize their own goals, so there is always a shortage of people.” (Receptionist)

“I see.” (Rook)

I had never heard of anything like this in the adventurers’ guilds before, and I wondered if this was a policy unique to this guild. But it’s not a bad idea for healers if they want to improve their ranks, and I think it’s a good environment for low-ranked adventurers. I think the Guild Master here is a man who thinks things through.

After hearing the detailed conditions of the proposal, I said I would accept the proposal and headed up the stairs to the archives.

Entering the room, I went through the books on the shelves as usual, looking at the ones I hadn’t seen before and then looking at the monster information area.

“Umm… Horned Rabbit, is this one?” (Rook)

This was the target of one of the many requests posted on the guild’s bulletin board.

“It is a small E-rank monster with a horn on its forehead. Its body hair is gray. In winter, some of them change their hair and become white.” (Rook)

The description of the monster was pretty much as I had imagined.

The difference between it and an El Rabbit is its horns, and it is written that low-rank adventurers can get stabbed in the leg or something and get injured.

This is the same as with Japanese wild boars. If you are unlucky enough to be hit in the artery or in vain on the leg by a charging boar, the injury will be more serious than you can imagine.

I put the wooden board back on the shelf and check the information about Rock Tortoise and other monsters I was wondering about. Then I looked next…

“Hmm? Yeti?”

I pick up the wooden board.

The Yeti is a humanoid C-rank monster, but according to the information, it has not been seen in recent years. Did it become extinct due to overhunting?

“Is there such a thing as the extinction of monsters in the first place?” (Rook)

I don’t know, but I suppose it could happen.

I put the wooden planks back on the shelf, left the archives, and went down the stairs.

The number of adventurers on the first floor of the guild was increasing, indicating that it was almost time for adventurers to return after completing their requests.

Well, I had finished most of my plans for the day, but there was still one more important thing to do. It is to investigate lodging.

For now, I went to the tavern attached to the guild, ordered a lager from the master at the counter, and explored the surroundings to see who might be easy to gather information from…

“Hmm? You are–” (Adventurer)

“Huh?” (Rook)

The man next to me at the counter was looking at me.

Huh?　Where have I met this man before?

At a quick glance, he is a slender, cat beastman with black hair. I feel like I’ve never met him before, but I don’t think I’ve seen him before.

“We met before in Arnorn, didn’t we?” (Adventurer)

“Arnorn…” (Rook)

I met a lot of people in Arnorn, so there are countless candidates. Members of the clan, people I met in the duke house… Hmmm! I don’t know!

“Nick, I talked to you when you were a registered adventurer at the Adventurer’s Guild in Arnorn.” (Adventurer => Nick)

Adventurer registration at the Adventurer’s Guild in Arnorn. …… Oh! That’s right!

“I just remembered! You’re the person who persuaded the receptionist Ms. Elinanza!”

“Persuasion, or rather, I just said what I thought.” (Nick)

When I went to the Adventurers’ Guild in Arnorn to register as an adventurer for the second time, I was almost stopped from registering by Ms. Elinanza at the reception desk, and when I was in trouble, he helped me out.

“I remember that I hadn’t seen you since then, but you moved to this town, didn’t you?” (Rook)

“Oh… no, I was born here. I just came back on a whim.” (Nick)

The master set the cup down with a thump from behind the counter, “Here you go, your lager.”

“Well, now that the drinks are here, let’s have a toast.” (Nick)

“To us!” (Rook)

“Cheers to our reunion.” (Nick)

“Cheers” (Rook)

We talked for a while.

We talked about the town after he left Arnorn. The story of the battle with the Duke of Grespo. The story of the attack of the Golden Dragon, and so on. Of course, I kept out the parts I didn’t want to say.

We met only once, and it was a very short time, but we remembered each other, and we had something in common, that we had been in the same town, which made the conversation more lively than I had expected. I had never met anyone I knew in other towns before because I had always been moving around, not settling in one place, but I was very happy to see him.

I wonder if I will have more and more opportunities like this if I continue as an adventurer for a longer time.

Meet new colleagues and friends in a new town, and say goodbye. Meet new people in another town and say goodbye again. There will be encounters and farewells in the next town, and someday there will be a reunion. Then life goes on.

It made me feel a little happy, and I even thought, in a cool way, that I had finally become a person of this world.

“……!” (Rook)

“What is it?” (Nick)

Mr. Nick looked at the receptionist at the Adventurers’ Guild and muttered.

I turned my head in the direction of the receptionist.

There, I saw the same attire. The same clothes, young men and women in what looked like school uniforms were arguing with each other.

“What is it?” (Rook)

“That is. I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure they’re students of the Academy, judging from their clothes….” (Nick)

“Academy… what is it?” (Rook)

“The Royal Academy in this town. It’s a place for the rich and powerful in this country.” (Nick)

“Oh.” (Rook)

I didn’t know such a thing existed… As expected of the royal capital, I guess.

When I was observing them while thinking about such things, The man in the center of the group of three men and one woman pointed his finger at the two women on the other side and barked.

“I’m tired of you!” (Loud Man)

One of the two women let out a small yelp and took a step backward. Then the other woman stopped her from behind.

The man continues to speak.

“Listen to me! You are expelled from the academy team as of today! You’re banned from our Adventurers’ Party! I break the contract with your house! I break my engagement to you!” (Loud Man)

“No way…” (Berated Woman)

“ And I’ve decided to get engaged to Sumika here! She is a wonderful woman, unlike your incompetence.” (Loud Man)

The man said and hugged the woman standing beside him.

The woman was not looking quite happy, looking up at the man and whispering “Master Ira…” with her sparkling, moist eyes.

Most of the adventurers here looked blank, as if they didn’t understand the meaning of the skit comedy that had suddenly started, or their brains didn’t catch on. I, too, am confused by the situation.

“I don’t want to see your face anymore! Don’t ever show me that face again! You understand me?!” (Loud Man => Ira)

With that, the man leaves the adventurers’ guild with his friends and what appears to be his new fiancée.

Silence fell around them.

No one says a word, no one moves.

Only the pot’s wispher can be heard.

“Let’s go, Elena.” (Woman)

“……” (Berated Woman => Elena)

The woman called Elena enters the guild counter with unsteady steps and disappears into the door behind her.

The sound of the door slamming shut is heard, then finally the sound of someone exhaling, and the adventurers begin whispering.

People around me could hear things like “Who is that–” or “Engagement–“.

I gulp down the remaining lager in my cup.

I don’t know what’s going on anymore, but I can’t make sense of it.

“Abandonment and Destruction… Is it a greedy set?” (Rook)