The Great Mountain Range - Part 1
In the adventurer city of Tresle, located north of Franz Castle and closest to the Great Mountain Range, the atmosphere inside the guild was as dreary as ever.
“Ugh, why are the requests like this lately?”
“Heh heh. Hans, it’s true there aren’t many requests, but even if there were, there’s nothing you could handle anyway, right?”
“Shut up, Ben.”
Despite its precarious position at the foot of the Great Mountain Range, the city was considered even safer than Franz itself thanks to the countless knights and adventurers stationed there. As a result, its scale rivaled that of Franz, and the number of adventurers was staggering.
To manage such a flood of adventurers, this city had multiple adventurer guilds divided by rank—something that would normally be found only once per city, if at all. The guild Hans belonged to catered exclusively to low-ranking adventurers, and naturally, the requests posted there were meant for them as well. While the work might seem easy on paper, the jobs were either difficult, poorly paid, or both.
“Still, don’t you think the restrictions on Great Mountain Range requests have gotten way too strict lately?”
“It’s better than last month, isn’t it?”
“…Tsk! That’s only for the clans that get to go up to the higher levels. Solo guys like me or small parties are still stuck with the same crap.”
At Ben’s words, Hans pretended not to care and stared at the requests pinned to the bulletin board. He couldn’t read the text, but the pictures told him everything he needed to know. Most of them offered pitiful rewards for dirty, annoying work. None of them caught his interest.
“Come on, isn’t there something… you know, easy and well-paying?”
“Idiot. Those disappear first thing in the morning. If you want good requests, try waking up early for once. Look at you, reeking of booze. Are you even saving any money?”
“Hmph. What kind of adventurer who lives by the sword would bother saving?”
Hans declared it with confidence, but Ben simply sighed as he watched him. Objectively speaking, Hans had been an adventurer for quite some time. His skills were low-tier, but with his experience, a little more effort could have pushed him into the mid ranks. Unfortunately, his lazy, pleasure-seeking nature meant he never improved. All he ever did was chase after easy jobs, so the guild had a hard time giving him good evaluations.
The only reason they didn’t complain about him was because, in all the requests he had taken so far, he had never failed one that was within his actual capabilities. And Hans wasn’t the only one like this. Most low-ranking adventurers were cut from the same cloth.
Ben sighed again and looked around the guild. The place smelled of alcohol and sweat. Men in filthy, unwashed clothes carried weapons and armor that were either dented or rusted. In all likelihood, half of them would be dead before long, only to be replaced by fresh new low-ranking adventurers. This was exactly the kind of place for people like that.
Those who had already moved beyond the lower ranks were either out on proper requests or training for a brighter future. The ones lingering here had given up on climbing any higher. They were content to remain low-ranking forever—spending their days on alcohol, gambling, and prostitutes without a single thought for the future. They were mayflies, living only for the moment.
They could have made a better living in the capital or elsewhere, but the sheer number of adventurers in Tresle had raised the average skill level so high that they had abandoned even that hope. Instead, they drowned themselves in the casinos and gambling dens built to attract more adventurers, simply drifting through each day.
“Complain all you want, but don’t cause any trouble. The mood around here lately isn’t great.”
“Yeah, yeah, I got it. I’m not some rookie. I can read the room.”
Ben nodded at that. Hans might be lazy in his daily behavior, but he had good instincts. That was probably how he had survived ten years as an adventurer here.
“Ah, maybe I should just take today off?”
“Do you even have living expenses covered?”
“With the last reward I got, I can probably stretch it for a few more days…”
-Ding-a-ling!
While Hans and Ben were chatting, the sound of the door opening rang through the guild. Hans, who had zero interest in anything, remained slumped in his corner staring blankly at the bulletin board. Ben, too, paid no attention to whoever had entered and simply continued with his own tasks. That was exactly why he had been assigned to this particular branch.
“Hmm?”
It was Ben who first noticed something strange. It was already well into the afternoon—an awkward time when those who worked had already left and those who had gone out hadn’t yet returned. At this hour, the low-life adventurers who frequented the guild had no manners whatsoever. The place should have been loud with overlapping conversations, yet it had fallen completely silent in an instant.
Sensing the abnormality, Ben turned his head. Hans, a beat later, did the same. Both of them slowly looked toward the entrance.
“Whoa…”
Hans stared blankly at the three people who had just walked in. The well-featured man with brown hair in the middle was one thing, but his eyes were completely drawn to the two women standing on either side of him. They were so beautiful that even the cheap prostitutes Hans usually visited couldn’t compare.
The woman with short-cropped black hair wore tight-fitting clothes that emphasized mobility. The leather clung to her long, slender legs and firm backside, and her sharp eyes paired with the scar running across her face gave her a wild, untamed charm.
The woman on the other side, with her hair tied in a single bundle, was equally stunning. Though smaller in stature than most adult women, her expressionless, icy face only made her more captivating. Her features were perfectly balanced, and despite her petite frame, it was clear she was fully grown. Even Hans—who firmly believed a woman’s breasts and hips should both be large—found his gaze stolen without realizing it.
As he stared at them in a daze, the trio slowly approached.
“Who’s in charge here?”
“Ah, welcome! This is the adventurer guild’s 44th branch. W-what brings you here today?”
The number 4 signified low-ranking adventurers, and 44 marked this as the fourth branch among them. Ben stood up as he spoke. The moment the three turned their gazes toward him, his body involuntarily flinched. Their appearance was ordinary, yet he felt an inexplicable pressure. It was even stranger because he had once been an adventurer himself and possessed mana. Yet he couldn’t sense any mana from them at all.
While Ben stared at the three with growing suspicion, Hans—still in a stupor along with the other adventurers fixated on the two women—shifted his attention to the man. With his refined features and the curious way he was observing his surroundings, Hans wondered if this was some rich young master who had taken an interest in adventuring. Especially since the black-haired woman didn’t seem like an ordinary escort…
That was as far as his thoughts went before the man looking at Ben opened his mouth.
“I want to go to the entrance area of the Great Mountain Range.”
“Pardon?”
Ben was so startled he didn’t even notice the casual tone the man used. To ordinary people, entering the Great Mountain Range was the same as walking in to die. No matter how curious a rich boy might be about adventuring, this crossed the line.
Ben’s eyes flicked to the two women standing beside the man.
“Hmm.”
The silver-haired woman stared at Ben with an utterly expressionless face, while the black-haired woman frowned as she looked around the guild. Since neither of them seemed inclined to stop him, Ben fell into thought. Accepting the request and taking the payment wouldn’t be a problem in itself, but even the entrance area of the Great Mountain Range was still the Great Mountain Range. If anything went wrong, the headache would fall on him. This position had been earned through years of experience—if a problem occurred, he might even get fired.
Just as Ben was about to refuse, Hans suddenly cut in.
“Oh, that sounds good. A tour, right? I can guide you if you want.”
“Hey, Hans!”
“What’s the matter, Ben? If a client makes a request, a guild member has to accept it.”
Hans smirked as he watched Ben panic. He knew exactly what the man was thinking. Ben hated accidents and wanted to refuse, but a request from what appeared to be a wealthy young master wasn’t bad at all. If they really only toured the entrance area and came back, that would be the end of it. And if something did happen, they could just run away.
“You are?”
“Name’s Hans. Ten years of experience. For the entrance area, I know everything from the safest routes that go all the way up to the higher levels to the shortcuts with good resting spots. I may not look it, but I’ve spent a lot of time playing around in the Great Mountain Range.”
“Oh? Ten years. That’s quite a long time. Then do you know the Yellow Hill well?”
“There? Of course I do. You want to go there? It doesn’t even take that long.”
Now interested in Hans, all three immediately turned their attention to him. Ignoring the tongue-clicking sounds coming from the onlookers, Hans grinned.
“If we’re only talking about the entrance area including the Yellow Hill, it’s all in the palm of my hand. Of course, I’m only offering to guide you. I can handle small monsters, but if something appears that even I can’t deal with, I’ll run away immediately. Still, the Yellow Hill isn’t that high up, so the monsters that show up there should only be small fry.”
“Is it okay to say you’ll run away so confidently?”
“Hey now. I don’t want to die, you know. Why do you think I’ve lasted ten years? It’s better to say these things in advance, just in case. That way the guild can’t complain later.”
At Hans’s words, the man laughed as if he found it amusing and glanced at the black-haired woman. She frowned and turned her head away. Hans had no idea why she was acting like that, but that wasn’t important right now.
“So, what about the payment? Of course, I’m not trying to ask for a huge amount just for guiding. If you give me a reasonable amount of money…”
“Would one gold be enough?”
“…O-oh. One gold. Sounds good to me.”
Jackpot. Hans barely held back his laughter at the man’s casual words. One gold. Not bad at all. It wasn’t an enormous sum, but to receive one gold just for guiding someone around for a single day?
“Hey! Ben! Get the contract ready right now!”
“I’ll be taking a commission fee.”
“Tch, cheapskate. Fine, fine.”
Before anyone else could butt in, they quickly prepared the contract. As the two of them worked on it, the man smiled. The two women standing beside him let out long sighs.