Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Newbie Adventurer Bern (2) - The Newbie is Competent
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There's one fact that anyone active in the Adventurer's Guild inevitably learns.
The world is full of idiots so staggeringly stupid you can't even imagine it, and they spit out obvious lies that get them caught right away without a second thought for the consequences.
So when Bern claimed he'd completed his first request, Blanca just wanted to laugh it off.
His outward appearance seemed fine, but something felt off about the whole thing.
But the moment she saw the proof in his hand, Blanca realized this was no laughing matter.
'He stole it.'
The warehouse keeper Paul was an incredibly stubborn man.
He was the type who would never accept a bribe or a shady deal, even if a newbie adventurer threatened him.
Yet the fact that Bern had the proof meant he'd obtained it through some illegal means, no matter how you sliced it.
No, it would actually be a relief if he'd just stolen it.
What if he'd used force to take it?
She couldn't imagine that burly brute losing to some newbie adventurer, but if he'd been caught off guard and ambushed, who knows.
Blanca's eyes turned icy for a moment.
But she quickly schooled her expression, adopting a nonchalant tone as she spoke to Bern.
"Hmm. It'll take a little time to process, so have a seat over there and wait. I'll call you when it's done."
"Understood."
Bern sat down in the waiting area without protest, and Blanca exchanged a glance with another receptionist.
Once the receptionist nodded, Blanca slipped out the guild's back door and headed straight for the client's warehouse.
She figured it would be faster to check herself than to call someone else for an investigation.
When she arrived at the warehouse, she shouted at the sight of Paul slumped on the ground in front of it.
"Hey! Are you okay? What happened!?"
"Uh......"
Paul looked completely dazed.
Blanca, who remembered him as the stern-eyed enforcer who schooled shady adventurers, worried he'd been drugged or something.
"Did that adventurer the guild sent do this? What the hell did he do to you...!!"
Paul blinked several times before blurting out.
"That adventurer... he did the job..."
"The job?"
"...perfectly."
"......"
Blanca blinked.
Did he hit his head or something?
"We need to get you to the temple, quick."
"No, no, that's not it! Come see for yourself! Look inside the warehouse!"
Paul stuck out his tongue in awe, saying he'd never seen anyone work that well in his life.
Blanca felt a slight relief seeing no visible injuries, but she couldn't help feeling puzzled.
I mean, how good could someone possibly be at warehouse work—
"—when did you expand this place?"
"Expand? It hasn't grown a single knuckle's width from its original size."
"But still."
Among the requests handled by the Adventurer's Guild, there were plenty of the "gather X amount of Y item" variety.
Specific meats, hides, fruits, plants, ores, and if you got really picky, even special materials like monster cores.
Obviously, storing and managing all those request items in the guild building itself would be a massive waste of space.
Rare or dangerous goods had to be kept secure to avoid trouble, but for everything else, they contracted external warehouses and fetched items as needed.
Paul's warehouse was one such contracted facility, often used to test newbie adventurers' mettle, so it mainly held cheap, bulky goods.
It had a notorious reputation for being cluttered no matter how much you tidied it.
And yet, that very place had been transformed into something spotless.
Perfectly so—even giving the illusion that the warehouse itself had expanded physically.
Paul scratched the back of his head as he spoke.
"At first, I just had him move stuff where I told him to. But before I knew it, he started rearranging things on his own, and by the end, he was even explaining his sorting criteria. Felt like I'd been possessed by a ghost."
"You serious? Organizing isn't just about brute strength."
"It wasn't just 'strong'—he lifted a crate full of metal swords like it was a paper bag. And he had the knack for it too. You think I'd make up some bullshit like that?"
There was nothing she could say to that.
"Send that guy my way more often. Once a week would make my job a breeze."
Blanca shook her head at Paul beaming with uncharacteristic satisfaction as he surveyed the warehouse, then headed back to the guild.
A group of staff, including the guild guards, waited at the back door with serious faces, asking for a report.
"Nothing major. He just impressed the client so much they handed over the proof early."
"No way. That cranky old bastard?"
"Whew. All that tension for nothing."
The staff visibly relaxed.
Subduing one newbie was no big deal, but depending on the mess he caused, it could've meant overtime for everyone.
When Blanca returned to the reception desk, the culprit himself sat quietly in the waiting area, arms crossed and eyes closed.
Somehow irked by his carefree demeanor, she called him over.
"Yes, verified complete. Here's your reward."
Blanca laid out the coins on the reception table.
The pay for a Rank 1 adventurer's request wasn't much.
Hard, rock-like bread and watery soup that barely tasted of herbs.
Pair it with the cheapest meal and a night in the communal dorm, and it vanished in a puff.
It took about 30 completed requests to rank up to 2.
Assuming one per day, that meant a solid month scraping by in the bare minimum conditions without a penny to save.
And any slacking or rowdiness just padded that number further.
No wonder veteran adventurers called this period the "sieve."
Those with naive dreams of adventuring or lacking in stamina or grit mostly washed out before even hitting Rank 2.
So Blanca's words to Bern were practically kindness itself.
"Guild requests take a cut as commission, so they're actually worse pay than getting hired on-site for manual labor. The client was thrilled—why not try working for them directly?"
Bern blinked at her words, then smiled.
"Thanks for the advice. But becoming an adventurer is one of my dreams."
"Ah, I see."
Blanca didn't press further.
Nothing beat personal experience over a hundred words of warning.
The warehouse gig had gone smoothly enough, but grinding through bottom-rung adventurer life would teach this young man reality soon enough.
"So, taking another request? Still time for one more."
"Then I'll take the sewer cleaning one. Heard about it but never been inside."
"You'll come back saying you wish you'd never known."
Blanca watched Bern's retreating back with vaguely listless eyes as he left after hearing the details.
"Becoming an adventurer is his dream, huh."
There weren't many jobs that fit the word "dream" as poorly.
She swallowed the unspoken afterthought.
After that, Bern steadily completed requests as a Rank 1 adventurer.
Clubing rats in the sewers, running small errands delivering items around the city, pulling weeds, street sweeping—whatever came up.
[This is ridiculous.]
From within Bern's shadow, Lucidra clicked her tongue in disbelief.
Bern replied to her telepathically without speaking aloud.
'What's the complaint this time?'
[Why the archaic speech?]
'This is how I've always talked.'
[What nonsense. You were all lofty 'highborn' vibes before.]
'That's the crown prince back in the empire. I'm different.'
[......]
Lucidra stared at him like, what the hell is with this guy?
She knew if she slipped into his main body's shadow and chatted, he'd switch right back to that haughty tone like it was nothing.
But bickering with this shameless human only tired her out, as past experience proved, so she changed the subject.
[Why go the long way around like this? Weeding fun for you?]
'Not particularly fun, but it's necessary for ranking up, so no choice.'
[No, I mean. Why not storm the guild, flash your aura once, and be done? One show of force and they'd bow and scrape.]
From what Lucidra had observed, the adventurers here were mostly mediocre.
Rank 2 was just a trained civilian at best; Rank 3 could barely channel mana to enhance their body.
Show off sword aura—infusing mana into a weapon for massive power—and pure strength alone would net Rank 4 easy.
But Bern was skeptical.
'Adventurers aren't street thugs. Strength matters, sure, but diligence and responsibility in completing requests matter more. They won't hand out high ranks just for flexing.'
[Still, it'd give you credit, right?]
'That much, yeah.'
Bern nodded readily this time.
But he continued.
'No need to rush, though. I don't know the adventurer world well anyway—starting from the bottom and climbing step by step teaches me everything I need.'
[Sigh. Sticking to the hard way on purpose... I don't get it.]
'Oh dear, addicted to instant gratification, are we? Shame. One must live with leisure, after all.'
[......]
Lucidra didn't know exactly what "cider" meant.
But she could tell she was being treated like an idiot.
Just as she was about to snap—
Thwack!
Bern's shoulder bumped into someone while walking.
More precisely, Bern had stepped aside, but the other guy deliberately followed and rammed him.
"Hey? You bump into me first and don't even say sorry? Huh?"
The man who'd collided with Bern snarled aggressively, face twisted in menace.
"Easy there. Guy's a newbie hunting rabbits to even be an adventurer—he'll cry."
"Yo, rookie! Apologize quick! That dude gets mad, it's no joke!"
His cronies, looking like a gang, jeered from behind with smirks.
Lucidra asked curiously.
[You tangle with these idiots when I wasn't looking?]
'No, never even spoken to them.'
[Ah. Jealousy, then.]
Bern cleared requests at a solid pace with high satisfaction ratings.
Nothing fancy—just strong, skilled, and diligent—but that was enough for high praise in the guild, even jokey talk of him as the next ace.
Some people just hated seeing others succeed and get recognized.
"Hey, say something."
"Kid looks scared stiff."
"Told ya not to show off."
Facing the jeering pack, Bern blinked once.
Then he lightly tapped the lead thug's shoulder.
It didn't even look forceful, but the effect was dramatic.
Bam!
The thug flew like he'd been hit by a carriage, tumbling across the ground.
He convulsed, gurgling, then went limp, unconscious.
The jeering thugs—and even the onlookers watching the drama—froze solid.
Then Bern spoke.
"Ah, sorry for bumping into you."
"......"
An indescribable silence fell.
From the shadow, Lucidra blurted in shock.
[Wait, didn't you just go on about leisure and rules?]
'Just learned another adventurer life rule: "If they act like trash for no reason, give 'em one." The world's full of lessons.'
That sounds less like an adventurer rule and more like your personality's a bit rotten.
Lucidra thought it but didn't say it.
Afterward, the thugs belatedly recovered and charged with yells—nothing worth watching.
If they attacked after seeing clear superhuman strength instead of fleeing, they'd drop dead naturally anyway.
[Hm?]
Suddenly, Lucidra sensed an odd gaze.
A woman with bright sky-blue hair and eyes.
The receptionist—Blanca, probably—was staring straight at Bern effortlessly handling the thugs.
Her eyes gleaming with a strange light.