Chapter 16
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: 3. We Gather the Materials Ourselves.
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1st Year Intermediate Class 3's parties had all been divided up.
Total of 31 members.
Total of 7 parties.
Each party was assigned one teacher.
Riley's party was a four-man group: Riley, Octo, Ens, and Tom.
The teacher assigned to them was Rasen, a former A-Rank Adventurer and the swordsmanship instructor.
"Alright, now we're heading to the guild to pick up a request ourselves."
With that, the students all headed en masse to the Adventurer Guild.
The Preta branch wasn't as crowded as expected, so the group of around 30 students had no trouble entering.
And that made sense.
The adventurers all knew that students came out for field training in the afternoons after lunch.
So they deliberately cleared out of the guild during that time, grabbing their requests early and heading out beforehand.
Consideration for the students?
Not really—it was more that if they had to compete with students for requests anyway, it was better to just take the jobs quick and get going.
They entered the guild smoothly, and the staff greeted the students and teachers warmly.
"Hello."
"Welcome."
"Whoa..."
"Wow, so this is the guild building."
Many first-year students at the Academy were seeing the guild building for the first time, so they looked around in wonder.
But to keep them focused, the teachers quickly led them to the request board.
A massive request board.
Boards about as tall as a person stretched out for nearly 10 meters.
They were neatly organized by rank.
Most students gravitated toward the D and E ranks.
Intermediate class students usually took requests around that level.
"That's still too advanced for you guys. You'd need to be at least third-years."
Some students who slyly eyed the C-rank section got scolded for it.
"For your level... a D-rank extermination request should be just right."
Rasen said this after glancing over Riley's party.
For inexperienced students, the standard was to take simple extermination requests where they just had to wipe out monsters.
Of course, subduing monsters still required knowledge, skill, and experience.
But the Academy covered the theory well enough.
And they deliberately assigned requests that were below the students' level to build experience.
This party had Riley, who was at the bottom of Intermediate Class 3's rankings.
But the other three were well-balanced and top performers.
In terms of raw combat power alone, they could pass as C-rank adventurers right now.
So no need to go as low as E-rank—a D-rank extermination would be perfect.
"How about this one? It's from Ivenshuphev Village. A group of orcs has set up near the village, and they want them dealt with."
"Hm."
Octo snatched the orc extermination request from the board.
Another student party that had been eyeing it first shot him a glare, but one look from Octo and they backed off quietly.
It was a scene that showed just how high Octo's skills and influence ranked in the class.
"Hm."
But Rasen seemed a bit hesitant.
D-rank monster extermination.
With their skills, and Rasen stepping in if things got dicey, it would be a breeze.
But orcs were the sticking point.
Orcs.
One of the humanoid races so ferocious they'd been classified as monsters.
With their insane breeding rate, once spotted, they multiplied like cockroaches, becoming a massive threat in no time.
That was why early detection and swift elimination were key for orcs.
Individually, they were definitely sub-D-rank.
But once their numbers swelled into a tribe, they became C-rank level threats.
'The request came in yesterday. Even pushing the appearance date back a bit, they couldn't have settled in for more than five days.'
Thankfully, not enough time for their numbers to explode.
Reward was 60 silver.
Pretty cheap for the difficulty.
Probably priced low hoping students would take it.
That's why no other adventurers had grabbed it yet.
"Hm."
Rasen pondered.
Should they take this request?
It listed about 10 orcs.
A solid D-rank party could handle that no problem.
But factoring in timing, possible villager errors, and other variables...
'No major issues.'
That was his conclusion.
Even with Riley, the class's lowest performer, the others more than made up for it.
And he was there too.
The hesitation came from Riley.
She might be in danger if two or more orcs ganged up on her.
'Actually, putting Riley through some real combat experience like this might help her grow.'
A fellow aspiring adventurer who used the sword.
And Rasen himself had been a poor student once, but he'd overcome that to reach this point.
So he couldn't help but worry a little about her.
Which meant she needed to toughen up even more.
How had he gone from underachiever to A-rank adventurer?
Grueling effort and brutal trials.
In the end, for a weak student to surpass others' talents, they needed that kind of experience and hardship.
"Alright, we'll take that one."
"Okay~!"
In the end, Riley's party took the 'Orc Extermination' request.
'Orcs... They're supposed to be pretty strong, but still low-tier D-rank monsters.'
Aware of her own lacking skills, she compensated with knowledge as much as possible.
So she'd studied theory hard.
Of course, she hadn't slacked on sword practice either.
Anyway, she recalled the orc traits she'd read about in books.
Green skin, pig-like appearance.
Powerful breeding rate.
Individual ability: low-end D-rank monster.
Low for a humanoid, but enough intelligence to use weapons and coordinate attacks.
And their weakness was...
"Now that we've picked a request, next up is gathering supplies. Follow me."
As she organized her thoughts, Rasen called out to her.
"Y-Yes!"
They headed back to the Academy to prepare the items needed for the request.
To the sundries shop that sold potions and consumables for fighting monsters and handling emergencies.
#
*Ding-a-ling~*
"Welcome to the Academy Sundries Shop."
"Ah, welcome."
I'd been waiting up front for a bit when students in Academy uniforms started filing in.
Suiven gave a familiar nod of greeting.
I hurriedly followed suit.
"Whoa, the sundries shop."
"First time? I've been here before."
"Huh? You came without taking a request?"
"Just to look around."
With the buzz of chatter, the spacious shop filled up in seconds with over a dozen students.
Yellow collar on the uniforms—first-years, huh.
Ah... Right on schedule.
First-years' first field training.
They'd actually go to the Adventurer Guild, pick a request, and carry it out.
With temporary adventurer licenses from the Academy, students could take real requests.
Of course, clients hated when students took them, so the payout was set lower than usual.
That cheapness drew plenty of people to hand them off to students anyway.
Anyway, these kids must be heading out for their first real training today.
Bet they're nervous.
"Th-This one, please!"
"I'll take this...!"
They had to figure out what items their request called for on their own.
The teachers let them be without interfering for now.
Or maybe not.
This was the sundries shop.
Here, teaching the students was the shopkeeper's job.
"What request did you take?"
At Suiven's question, the student flinched and answered.
"K-Kobold extermination in the mines!"
They fidgeted anxiously, wondering if they'd messed up.
So fresh-faced.
You could really feel they were clueless aspiring adventurers.
The adventurer profession had gained a much better reputation lately, so more noble kids and knight families' young ones were applying—made the average age feel way younger.
"For mines, take glow lamps. Even if your party has a mage, prolonged Light magic drains mana."
"Ah, got it."
As expected of Suiven.
The veteran adventurer explained kindly and clearly.
I see.
That's how they teach what's needed, what isn't.
And how to use stuff.
Better watch and learn.
"......"
"Hm?"
Then I felt the students staring at me.
Guess the unfamiliar outsider piqued their curiosity.
"Ah, I'm Edin, the official replacement hire."
"Ooh~"
"So you're the one who came after Grandpa retired."
After a quick intro, they looked at me curiously for a moment.
"Wh-Whoa! This! Ring this up!"
"Wait! We were here first!"
Then they remembered they were shopping and rushed to the counter.
As they cleared out, I glanced around the shop.
"Orcs' weakness is fire. As a forest-dwelling race, they're not used to it and have low resistance..."
A girl muttering to herself while eyeing the Synthetic Tar Potion, which caught fire easily and burned fiercely.
She was a beauty with long, straight black hair and calm, sunken eyes that gave off an intellectual vibe.