The City and the Adventurers' Guild (5)
The City and the Adventurers' Guild (5)
#
It was about an hour's walk from the inn to the Guild, and the main street in front of it was lined with all manner of general stores and weapon shops catering to adventurers.
"They call this street Adventurers' Row. I think it used to have a more... old-fashioned name a long time ago."
"Yeah...."
Whatever Yuri was going on about, I didn't have the presence of mind to answer her. I was too busy gawking at people. It felt like I'd just come up from a backwater village to the big city, but... I couldn't help it.
"Gah! What the hell!"
Yuri jabbed me in the side all of a sudden. Maybe it was because I'd let my guard down, but my abs were stinging!
"You lech!"
"Wh-what?! I was only driven by pure intellectual curiosity. Th-that armor makes her look practically naked... mmph!"
"What if someone hears you?! Please just shut your mouth! You are so incredibly tacky!"
Yuri clamped my mouth shut and stamped her feet like she was mortified.
Which was understandable, because at the end of my gaze stood a female warrior wearing armor that revealed far more than it covered...
"Ghk!"
"Get over here!"
Yuri, apparently genuinely embarrassed, dragged me off to the side of the street. Reni was... Reni's eyes were practically bugging out. So incredibly... tacky. Had I been making that same face?
Yuri fanned herself with her hand as if ashamed and whispered.
"That's just fashion armor. How could anyone go into a dungeon wearing something like that? It's just the kind of thing people wear to show off that they're adventurers."
"I-is that so...."
"Shameless..."
"Hm?"
"Sh-shameless... h-how could anyone wear something like... gah?!"
Reni didn't finish her sentence, her gaze locked in one direction. At the end of that gaze was a priestess in robes with enormous side slits. The cloth covered only the front and back of her body, leaving her sideboob, waist, and thighs almost entirely exposed.
Reni took one look at her and put on an expression as if everything she had ever believed in had just been refuted.
"Reni, is... is that allowed?"
"I-I was told that priestesses who associate with adventurers tend to be rough, but... h-how could one be this... depraved?!"
So that was what happened to a priestess who mixed with adventurers?
I swallowed hard and looked Reni up and down, and Reni caught me staring, then trembled as if to say no and wrapped her arms protectively around herself.
"L-let's just go."
And so we walked down the street, practically advertising that we had just come in from the countryside. Yuri walked several steps ahead of us as though our behavior embarrassed her. This other world really was incredible...
#
The Guild building we arrived at after passing through an enormous inner wall was built in a way that enclosed the dungeon entrance. And inside, countless adventurers came and went. I quickly scanned the women's appearances. They weren't on the level of my girls, but still, there were plenty of decent-looking ones.
"What are you doing?" "Yoo-jin?"
"Oh, uh... nothing."
On a wide wall inside the Guild building, many adventurers were studying what looked like some kind of notice board, while at another end, where tables filled the area, there were adventurers striking poses, brawling, or passed out cold.
Yuri, as if embarrassed by my blank staring, jabbed me again.
"What are you doing? We need to register."
"Ah, right. Let's go."
"Oh, but, um, hey."
Yuri suddenly cut herself off and started shrinking back. The way she lowered her head and glanced up at me with just her eyes was a tell that she was about to say something completely shameless.
"What?"
"Wh-what about our shares? Those g-goblin dungeon magic stones..."
"Huh?"
"I, I'd be fine with 20%... no, even 15%... so... could you settle up with me now?"
I was obviously going to take care of her, so why was she acting like this... wait.
"Have you registered as an adventurer yet?"
"...No..."
"...Okay..."
When I looked at her as though she were hopeless, Yuri flailed her arms and made excuses.
"N-no. I mean, last time, I didn't need to register as an adventurer..."
...Come to think of it. That made sense. Last time she came, it hadn't been to enter a dungeon; she had only come to submit a support request to the Guild, after all.
"Plus, the r-registration fee is a little steep."
Yuri kept stealing sheepish glances at me.
Hm... now that I thought about it, when it was just Reni and me, I hadn't thought much of it and just split things evenly. But once you formed a party like this, there were a lot more things you had to take into account. We couldn't stay at the inn forever, so in the long run we'd need to look for a house, too...
"Then let's do it like this. We'll set aside 40% as a common fund for inn fees and equipment, and each take 20%. How's that?"
"Sounds good." "I'm in!"
We roughly settled on that arrangement for the split and got in line to register. At the counter was a remarkably beautiful green-haired receptionist. Was she naturally beautiful, or was her level perhaps fairly high?
Well, her face aside, the important thing was that this receptionist was wearing a very snug shirt that let the contours of her voluminous breasts show through exactly as they were. And beneath the white shirt, black underwear showed through ever so subtly...
"Gk."
"Yoo-jin. Looking at a person like that is rude."
I turned after Reni pinched my elbow and found her speaking stiffly with a blank expression. But her gaze wasn't on me; it was fixed on the receptionist's breasts. Wh-what was that supposed to mean? If she were looking at me, I'd have understood it as anger.
"How can I help you?"
"Ah, we'd like to register as new adventurers."
"Yes. By any chance, do you have a letter of recommendation or introduction?"
A letter of recommendation or an introduction? That was the first I'd heard of it. I glanced back at Yuri, but she was just making a clueless expression. As I thought, a scatterbrain was really no help in a practical situation.
"No. We don't have anything like that."
"I see.... Then would you please place your hand here for a moment?"
The receptionist held out a stone that shone with a faint blue glow. I was about to place my hand on it... wait.
"What is this?"
"It's a tool for measuring the abilities of new adventurers. It won't hurt or anything, so there's no need to worry."
Would that thing start displaying all my information like a list? That would be trouble.
"Hm... Yuri. You go first."
"Ugh. Me? Why me..."
"Isn't there a saying? Ladies first?"
"...Are you really saying that with an expression that makes it look like you're shoving me into a trap?"
Yuri grumbled, but obediently held out her hand. Immediately, a fireball made of light appeared in the air. A translucent flame that neither burned nor gave off heat. Nearly the size of a basketball... wait. Why was it so massive?
The receptionist's mouth was hanging open as if she'd been taken aback. As if she'd just seen something truly incredible...
Right. The buff! I hadn't removed the buff! No! I instantly erased Yuri's buff, and the fireball shrank down to the size of a fist.
"...Did this thing malfunction? One moment. Would you mind trying that again?"
"Oh, yes."
She tried a few more times, but the fireball never again grew larger than the size of a fist. Only then did the receptionist proceed with the rest of the procedure.
"Hm.... For a newcomer, your ability level is quite high. We divide it into 9 tiers overall... going by that... your physical ability would be around Lower-High or Middle-Low tier."
Right. So that was how it worked.
Clearly the level system applied even to locals. But since they couldn't know the exact numbers like the Awakened, this was how they appraised people, apparently. Yuri's level was around 18, after all.
She wrote her name, had her physical ability measured, and when it came time to write her class, Yuri faltered.
"And your class?"
"R-ranger."
"A ranger! By any chance, are you a veteran?"
"Oh, n-no..."
So she hadn't abandoned that whole concept. How embarrassing for me.
"Then do you have a desired position? And what kind of weapon do you mainly use..."
"I can use a bow a little bit, and I can set t-traps and track prey..."
Yuri's face was turning bright crimson. Sweat was trickling down the back of her neck too... see, this was why she should have thought it through ahead of time, like me.
The receptionist gave a kind smile as she consoled Yuri.
"Honestly, the class name isn't all that important. When you're looking for a party, you confirm each other's abilities anyway. So a lot of people just call their class whatever they like. For instance, that person over there in the dark armor calls their class the Incarnation of the Black Flame Dragon..."
"Ah, i-is that so..."
At that kind remark, Yuri was now twisting her legs as if she was desperate to escape. Having been put on the same tier as the Incarnation of the Black Flame Dragon out of nowhere, I couldn't blame her.
"So Ranger is fine, then?"
"Yes, y-yes. Yes."
At last, Yuri turned around after finishing all the paperwork. Her face was bright red, and her pupils were shaking violently. Despite having a model's physique, something about the way she behaved always seemed one screw loose. It was hilarious.
"Yuri? How does it feel to be a ranger, just like you wanted? While we're at it, maybe you should just pioneer a whole new class called Goblin Slayer and... agh!"
...
"Reni. Don't heal him."
"B-but still..."
"..."
I rubbed my kicked rear as I finished the remaining paperwork.
Registration was nothing special. For my part, I simply chose the class Swordsman. In truth, with Basic Swordsmanship, all sorts of miscellaneous tricks, Invisible Hands, and even electric shocks, I was closer to a magic swordsman than anything else, but there was no benefit to standing out.
Since Reni was a priestess, they didn't even measure her separately and simply wrote down what she told them. Were priestesses incapable of telling that kind of lie? That level of trust was impressive.
"Since none of you three have a letter of recommendation or an introduction... you'll start at Iron Tier for the time being. Normally you'd need to be at least Bronze or Silver Tier to reach Middle-Low physical ability... it's quite curious. One moment, please."
The green-haired receptionist said this as she organized the documents. Before she could leave her post, I stopped her for a moment.
"Ah, before that. Would it be possible to settle up on magic stones first?"
"You have magic stones?"
"Ah, yes. We came into a few before arriving here..."
When I handed over the magic stones we'd collected, the green-haired woman's eyes widened.
"Where in the world did you get this many magic stones... no. It's nothing."
She put the magic stones into some kind of machine and took a measurement, then held out money to me and beckoned as though she had something to say.
"Yes?"
"Just a moment. Come a little closer, please."
The receptionist murmured as if it were a secret.
"Here. That's 5 Gold, 25 Silver. And this is something I mention only to new registrants... the Guild offers an emergency kit at a special low price, exclusively for new registrants and for the first time only."
"Excuse me?"
She launched into an explanation. The emergency kit, she said, contained a first aid kit, a signal flare for sending emergency signals, and a beacon for location tracking in case of emergency....A location tracker?
"What would we use this for, exactly?"
"Dungeons are enormous! This equipment lets you call for help from nearby adventurers if you get lost, lose your bearings, or find yourself in danger! Or you can receive rescue signals from other adventurers!"
....She wasn't acting like a receptionist so much as some kind of peddler. The problem was... this was... persuasive...
"Ordinarily, the new registration fee is 5 Silver per person, and the emergency kit is 3 Silver per set... but I'll do everything for you for 17 Silver total!"
"Oh, really? Well, that's very... thank..."
"...Ah, um, excuse me..."
Suddenly, Reni raised her hand and spoke up hesitantly.
"I-is that really all right? Th-there's the matter of fairness, and..."
"It's fine! This much is within my discretion! But in exchange, you must not tell anyone, all right?"
"Ah. Yes... but why are you doing this for us..."
"Because you all clearly have promise, of course! I'll even throw in one copy of a map, on the house!"
Her eyes sparkling, the receptionist thrust her face toward me. Wh-wh-whoa, this woman, her shirt was open beneath her necktie, and the tops of her breasts were completely visible?! And then she grabbed my hand and leaned her upper body so far forward she looked almost ready to climb out over the counter.
"My name is Lize. If you come to me for settlements or quests in the future, I'll put in a little extra care for you."
Lize whispered that with a gleam in her eye.
"Ah, um, thank you very much."
That aggressive green-haired woman had left me a little overwhelmed.