The Monster Hiding in the Building (1)
Morning had dawned. Time to wake up, you macho mafia.
“Rise and shine.”
—Pop! I woke up before the first rays of sunlight touched the room. Mornings in this world moved fast.
“Nord. Did you sleep well?”
Franc, already dressed and combing her hair in front of the mirror, asked. She had woken up even earlier than me again. How was that possible? She always went to bed later than I did, yet somehow she was always up first. She claimed she fell asleep every night while watching my face, but if I weren’t the model macho of this new land, she would’ve been running on permanent sleep deprivation.
“I always sleep great. Especially when I’m with you, Franc.”
I got out of bed and stretched as I spoke. Franc smiled brightly.
“Hehe. You say the nicest things so casually sometimes.”
“Do I? Must be all the love spilling out of my mouth.”
After loosening up, I hurried to change. Franc quietly came over to help me into my armor, moving as if it were the most natural thing in the world. It still made me a little self-conscious.
“Franc, I can put this on myself.”
“But it’s faster if I help, right?”
She said it like she couldn’t understand why I was making a fuss. Pure maternal instinct. It didn’t feel like the devotion of a wise wife so much as a mother fussing over her son. They say once a child is born, a wife’s affection shifts from husband to baby. When that day came, the sudden drop-off might leave me feeling hollow enough to consider jumping off a cliff.
—Clack.
Once dressed, we went downstairs for breakfast. Thanks to Franc waking me, I hadn’t missed a single free morning meal lately. A proper breakfast really did set the whole day on solid ground.
“Today we’re finally taking that Bronze promotion request.”
I stirred my stew as I spoke. It was time to retry the exam that had been delayed thanks to those murderous bandit bastards.
“After we check the board, let’s buy you a new weapon, Franc. And while we’re at it, let’s each get a watch.”
“A watch?”
“They’d be convenient. Price is the only question.”
Franc looked like she was about to protest, so I cut her off.
“I’m paying for the weapon and the watches, so don’t start with the ‘I don’t have money’ or ‘it’s fine’ routine.”
“Eek. How did you know?”
“This isn’t the first time. Let’s stop doing this every single time.”
“But what about when I tried to help you with your armor earlier?”
“That’s different. I broke your weapon, and watches are necessities.”
I counted the chunks of meat in my soup while speaking.
“Finish eating and let’s go. Before all the good requests get snatched up.”
We headed to the adventurer guild and checked the promotion exam board.
1. Goblin extermination in Pefort Village.
2. Caravan escort to Heisvent – Merchant Macpie.
3. Caravan escort to Heisvent – Blacksmith Guild.
4. Caravan escort to Heisvent—
Why the hell were there so many escort requests? Were these fake postings instead?
“Most of them are escort jobs,” I muttered, dumbfounded. The receptionist answered with the weary aura of an office worker who had just dragged herself into morning shift.
“One of the bandit groups that had been active recently was wiped out. With them lying low, the merchants seem to have started moving more freely.”
Ah. Tirsi and I had found their hideout in a single night and burned the place down with everyone inside. No wonder the survivors were keeping their heads down. The merchants had probably tried hiring cheap iron-rank guards to save money, only to realize they needed proper bronze-rank protection if they didn’t want to end up dead or robbed blind. Even if profits were slim, it beat losing everything.
“Almost all of them go to Heisvent,” Franc said, standing on tiptoe to read the postings.
“Nord, how about taking one of the caravan escort requests?”
She made eye contact while speaking. I immediately understood what she was really thinking—my thesis.
“Because the transportation guilds all pass through Heisvent?”
“Mm-hm.”
Unlike me, who had arrived by ship, merchants traveled overland. They needed places to resupply and rest. In other words, whether I submitted my thesis in Sargadis or Heisvent, the result would be the same. Actually, the shorter distance might even reduce the chance of damage or loss.
‘Damn. So that’s why they give field researchers a full six months.’
Wow, field work was just one regular report every six months? That sounded insanely easy. Except it wasn’t. If anything went wrong during transit and the thesis vanished into some delivery black hole—shipping… in transit… ah, your package is lost!—that six-month buffer suddenly made sense. They were accounting for the very real possibility of losing the damn thing. At least this was domestic. Researchers working abroad probably wished they had even longer.
It already took about a month just to exchange letters asking whether the thesis had arrived safely. If delivery failed twice, I was screwed. Warning letters from the academic world would come flying in like poisoned arrows.
“An escort request… that works too,” I said after thinking it through. Reducing the risk of my thesis going missing mid-journey was a huge plus. And with so many escorted caravans on the road, bandits wouldn’t dare attack lightly. While one group was busy fighting in front, reinforcements from other caravans would swarm in from behind. The bastards who relied on numbers wouldn’t risk getting outnumbered themselves. Only complete idiots would try to hit a caravan right now.
‘This is basically a limited-time burning event.’
The best bean rice in the world was bean rice without any beans. By the same logic, the best subjugation request was one that didn’t actually require subjugation. Caravan escort counted as a subjugation quest because monster and bandit extermination came bundled with it, but in practice it was mostly just easy money. And we could clear an important promotion exam with almost no risk!
“Franc, let’s take a caravan escort.”
“Good idea. Then what about the second request?”
“Huh? We’re picking both right now?”
The promotion exam allowed three attempts and only required two successes. There was no tight deadline, so we could always do the second one later.
“In a few days the escort requests will all be gone. I thought we should plan around the ones that still fit our schedule.”
Franc showed me the board. In a few days the other bronze-rank adventurers would have swept up every escort job, or the clients would have canceled them. There were currently six caravan escort requests posted. If we took the one departing soonest and another leaving in four or five days, we could theoretically complete both.
Our girlfriend had been running requests every single day for over a month, so she clearly knew how to plan.
‘Like booking vacation during peak season.’
It was a solid suggestion. I turned to the receptionist.
“Can we take these two requests together?”
“It’s possible, but failing to show up counts as a failure. You may also have to pay a penalty fee.”
“Really? Then never mind.”
Franc immediately backed out after hearing the explanation. She smiled sheepishly at my look.
“There aren’t any requests that give more than two days of leeway. If we’re even a day late we won’t make the departure time.”
“Unexpected delays could push us back. It’s a shame, but we’ll have to pass.”
“Right. So let’s only pick requests we can actually finish.”
Franc’s eyes grew serious, like a mother carefully choosing food for her children. Unfortunately, she was still standing on tiptoe, so she just looked adorable.
Flip— Flip—.
Having missed the escort-request gold rush, we flipped through the remaining postings.
‘There are still a few goblin extermination requests.’ These otherworld green pests multiplied the moment you looked away. They were like mosquitoes. Still, they were basically the bread and butter for most bronze-rank adventurers. Goblins were pests to some people and a steady income to others. Just like how pest-control companies would go out of business if there were no pests.
‘More importantly, where the hell is Pefort Village?’ The oldest goblin request on the board was for that place. Pefort, Pefort… I checked the map. It was only a day’s walk from Sargadis—about the same distance as Heisvent, maybe slightly farther. That was probably why it had been ignored. Same travel time, similar pay, so everyone had rushed for the caravan escorts instead. Most Audumla Guild bronze-rankers had probably headed to Heisvent, and some of them were likely still working there.
“Ah!”
Franc suddenly gasped at the very last request form.
“Nord, look at this. It’s an escort request from the transportation guild.”
“Them?”
I leaned in curiously. The one-armed young man I had saved had posted it.
[Accompanying two children (escort targets). One Silver-class escort already present.]
[Hiring: Four Bronze-class. Reward: 30 Copper.]
The details were straightforward. A Silver-class adventurer was already on board, they were hiring four Bronzes, and the pay was generous.
“Pretty good, right?”
“Yeah.”
We both agreed. Groups that had failed once usually prepared thoroughly to avoid a second failure. The one-armed young man clearly intended to do exactly that. The note about “accompanying children” confirmed it—he wanted to make sure the kids who had been kidnapped by the bandits got home safely this time.
“They even hired a Silver-class just to reach Heisvent. Maybe they’re determined to succeed this time and make up for the last mistake,” Franc said.
The request had only been posted today, yet two people had already taken it. If we missed this, we would never get another chance. The conditions were too good; someone else would snatch it immediately.
“Ahem.”
A middle-aged adventurer waiting behind us cleared his throat loudly. His expression clearly said “hurry up and move.” We had been lingering at the counter too long. Damn, we were accidentally causing trouble.
“Franc, let’s take this one. And I’m thinking of grabbing one more request—how about this?”
“Which one?”
I picked up the goblin extermination request from Pefort Village. Franc read the conditions and nodded.
“Twenty Copper for a two-day round trip? That’s fine.”
“The transportation guild caravan leaves in four days. Even if something delays us by a day, we should still make it. You okay with this one too?”
“Mm. If you’re happy, I’m happy with anything.”
“Ugh, our Franc is way too sweet.”
—Smooch!
I pulled her into a hug and kissed her cheek. Franc turned bright red. The middle-aged adventurer behind us looked like he had just bitten into something sour. What? Annoyed? If you’re jealous, go adventure with your own wife. According to the Nord Constitution, couples are obligated to display affection in public.
We submitted applications for both requests.
***
After finishing our business at the guild, we headed to Clara’s blacksmith shop. I needed to replace the weapon I had broken for Franc.
“Welcome!”
Clara, who had been slumped gloomily over the counter, shot upright the moment she saw us. Business still wasn’t great, apparently.
“Ah! It’s the adventurer from last time! Have you been well?”
“Pretty well. I got a girlfriend right after buying equipment here. So I came back hoping for more good luck today.”
“That’s wonderful news! What are you looking for today?!”
“Well, a weapon for my girlfriend here—”
“A dwarf! Just a moment! I have the perfect weapon!!”
—Crash! Bang!
Clara dashed into the back of the shop before I could even finish speaking. The desperation not to let a rare customer slip away was palpable.
Franc watched her go and spoke in a worried voice.
“Is business not going well for her?”