The Seal Nobody Knew
Lokt handed over the adventurer's badge and said,
"Rendel. You're an adventurer now."
9th Class Labyrinth Adventurer, Rendel
Rendel gently traced the name engraved on the badge.
"Come to think of it, Rendel—did you get your gear yet?"
"I've got a weapon. I just need armor."
Rendel pointed to his hip. Lokt looked him up and down, then fixed on the arming sword hanging at his waist. His eyes narrowed.
"…That looks expensive. Way too dangerous for a 9th Class adventurer to be carrying around."
Whether Lokt's instincts were right or not, Rendel couldn't say—but the arming sword had been a birthday gift from Rabiel two years ago, when he'd first started learning swordsmanship. A red-painted hilt, and a yellow gem set dead center in the guard. A blade that called to mind Rabiel's hair and eyes. The gem alone would have fetched a considerable sum.
"It's enough to keep me alive. I'll only be working the first or second floor—how much danger could there be?"
Lokt nodded as if something had occurred to him.
"…Fair enough. Still, don't get cocky."
"Yes, sir."
"Ah, and—this is just me being polite as a guild employee, but. Want to take the basic adventurer training?"
Rendel shook his head.
"I already know all of it. And that's a full week of classes. No thanks."
Lokt smirked as if he'd expected exactly that, then pointed somewhere across the hall.
"If you don't feel like hunting down a blacksmith, try over there. 9th Class adventurers get three free issues of starter gear. And for the record—even if you skip the weapon, you should take the starter armor."
He glanced once more at Rendel's arming sword as he offered the advice. He wasn't wrong. A 9th Class adventurer walking around with an expensive blade was asking for trouble. Some greedy adventurer with dark intentions could easily jump him and strip him of everything.
"Once you're geared up, come back to me. I'll assign you a party."
"Heh. This is why connections matter. Fast work."
Rendel grinned and set off.
Labyrinth City was always packed with people, and just as many of them came to register as adventurers. The guild, in turn, maintained exclusive contracts with a number of blacksmiths to supply gear to first-timers.
"Huh? Rendel? Hi!"
At the guild's equipment shop, a dark elf woman with ash-gray hair greeted him with a bright smile.
"Hello, Hisril."
"What brings you here?"
"I heard they hand out starter armor for first-timers, so I came by."
Hisril tilted her head, then clapped her hands together and cried out,
"Ah! Rendel, you're an adult now! Congratulations!"
For a dark elf—usually associated with dim, shadowy places—she overflowed with positive energy. Looking at that smile, you couldn't help but feel better yourself.
Hisril stood up from her seat.
"Can you wait just a minute? I'll grab you the best quality stuff I can find!"
"Thank you."
"Hmm-hmm~ ♬♪"
Humming a little tune, Hisril went off to fetch the armor. Rendel looked around the guild's vast interior. Having spent his entire teenage years at the Adventurer Guild, there was hardly anyone he wasn't on friendly terms with—and that made things genuinely comfortable. People who spotted him as they passed would wave, and Rendel waved back while he waited for Hisril.
A short while later—
"Hup."
Hisril set a whole pile of things down on the counter.
"Here you go—leather breastplate, bracers, greaves, and iron pauldrons."
Rendel's eyes went wide.
"You're giving iron pauldrons to a labyrinth first-timer? Isn't the guild going to go bankrupt?"
At that, Hisril glanced around, then pressed a finger to her lips.
"Sh-shut up!!!"
"……"
She gestured for him to lean in—put his ear close for a second. He did—
"Hoo~"
"Wha—?!"
—and blew a puff of air right into his ear. Rendel jerked back and glared at her. She covered her mouth and giggled as if his reaction was the funniest thing in the world, then whispered so no one else would overhear.
"The iron pauldrons are a special gift from me. Got it?"
She finished with a wink.
"……Thank you."
Rendel fiddled with his ear and gave a slight bow.
"Go get 'em in the labyrinth!"
Hisril clasped both hands together in a cheer, and Rendel waved as he took his leave.
He headed back to Lokt, who was already gesturing for him to hurry over—until his gaze locked onto Rendel's shoulders.
"Hey… what the hell is that. Iron pauldrons? Did you buy those?"
A fair question, coming from Lokt. Rendel scratched his head.
"Hisril gave them to me."
"Y-you little—?!"
Lokt whipped around and glared daggers at Hisril, who just laughed—"Heh!"—and fired right back. Lokt sighed, let his expression settle, and said,
"There's a good party available right now. They're heading to the second floor, looking for one rearguard and one porter. Go check it out—table sixteen. I'd recommend the porter slot for you. First-timers do better as porters."
"Oh. Then I'll go take a look."
"Yeah. Be careful."
Rendel made his way to table sixteen as Lokt had directed. The party at sixteen consisted of four people, all beastfolk—one man and three women. Rendel approached first and introduced himself.
"Good day. I heard you're looking for a rearguard and a porter—is that correct? I'm Rendel, 9th Class adventurer."
A bear beastman with small, round black ears looked him over, then spoke.
"Hmm. First-timer?"
"Yes. I just came of age, so this will be my first time."
"I see. Well, we just filled the rearguard slot, so only the porter position is open. That all right with you?"
"That's fine."
Porter or not, it didn't matter. This labyrinth run was his first, so the real goal was building experience. Being short on money was no excuse to charge blindly into a monster den.
"Good. Sit down."
"Thank y—…ou?"
As Rendel took his seat and looked over the party members' faces, he found one he recognized.
"Mirmya?"
"Rendel?"
A fox beastwoman with tangerine-orange hair was sitting demurely among them. The bear beastman stroked his chin, eyes lighting with interest.
"Oh-ho. You two know each other?"
"Ah—we crossed paths briefly not long ago, so yes, we're acquainted."
"Lucky. Having even one familiar face makes things easier on the nerves."
He only knew her face and name, really—but running into her like this still felt unexpectedly welcome. The bear beastman murmured something to the woman beside him, then the introductions began.
He went first, rapping his shield as he presented himself.
"I'm Haber. I take the vanguard. My seal is the Warrior Seal—my strength increases when there's someone at my back."
Shield and mace. Classic tanker's kit. His build was massive enough that the front line suited him perfectly.
Next was a dog beastwoman with tawny-brown hair.
"I'm Udir. Scout and guide—I mostly use a crossbow. No seal yet."
A guide who kept a small dagger strapped to her thigh as a backup.
Then a deer beastwoman in priestess robes stepped forward.
"I'm Lucia. I handle support from the rear. No seal."
Lucia the priestess, responsible for healing and buffs, with a long staff resting at her side.
A staff… I heard those are expensive.
Being a priestess, she must have been making decent money.
At last, attention settled on Mirmya beside Rendel, and she began speaking in a tense voice.
"I-I'm Mirmya… I'm a mage! My seal is, um…"
Before Mirmya could finish, Haber the bear beastman cut in with his eyes gone wide.
"A mage?"
The reason for the surprise was easy enough to see. It wasn't just Rendel—Udir and Lucia were staring at Mirmya's weapon in equal shock. Because Mirmya's weapon was a mace.
"A mage with a mace?"
It was a combination none of them had ever seen. Not as long as a staff, but still a fairly long, slender mace—long enough that she carried it in both hands. In a sudden ambush, was she planning to bring that thing down on someone's skull with a solid crack? Picturing her cute exterior going "Hiyah!" and smashing someone's head in was… not easy.
But the person most shocked of all was someone else entirely—the owner of the long mace herself, Mirmya.
"Huh? D-don't mages use maces? Mage, mace… the words even match."
"……"
An awkward silence settled over Rendel's new party. It was Lucia the priestess who broke it.
"Ahem. That can happen. Weapons are a free choice, after all."
Was this the true power of a priestess? That gentle smile had a way of wrapping the heart in warmth. Mirmya wiped the flustered look from her face and gave a sheepish little laugh.
Finally, it was Rendel's turn.
"I'm Rendel. Even as a porter, I'll do my best to learn. My seal is…"
He was about to finish by naming his seal when Udir, assuming his introduction was over, cut him off.
"All right, then—porter intro's do—wait. Ah, you still got more? Sounded like you were about to mention a seal… You don't have one anyway, right? So let's just move on and—"
"I do."
"What?"
At the mention of a seal, every pair of eyes snapped to Rendel, wide open.
"You have a seal? You're… not a commoner? How does a first-timer—"
"Must be a fairly well-off commoner, then."
This was the perfect chance to spread the word about the Dragon's Seal. Lately Rabiel had been whining about being broke—getting the name out there like this couldn't hurt, right?
So Rendel opened his mouth.
"It's the Dragon's Seal."
"“?”"
He'd said it with a fair amount of gravitas, so why were their reactions like this? After a moment of thought, Udir the guide turned to Lucia the priestess.
"Lucia. You ever heard of a Dragon's Seal?"
"…No. I've never heard of a seal like that. Not even once at the temple."
Haber the bear beastman and Mirmya chimed in as well.
"Never heard of it."
"I-I've never heard of a seal like that either…"
Rendel's mind filled with a swarm of question marks.
What? They don't know the Dragon's Seal?
Reading the party's expressions, he got the distinct feeling something had gone very wrong. The three party members across from him frowned as they looked at him.
"Rendel. You're a first-timer, so you probably don't know this—but lying about your seal is a punishable offense. In the worst case, it can get your license suspended."
"She's right. Faking a seal hurts the whole party. Be careful from now on. We're letting it slide because it's us. Any other party would've already kicked you out."
"I understand wanting to boast about being an adventurer with a seal. It's perfectly natural, Rendel. Just be more careful going forward."
"……"
He'd blown sixty-eight million Ref just to open the Dragon's Seal through stage two—and now he was one step from being branded a criminal. Rendel offered a reluctant apology. If he kept insisting the Dragon's Seal was real, he had a feeling they wouldn't even let him into the labyrinth.
"All right, then—shall we decide which zone of the second floor we're heading to?"