The First Request: Escorting the Hero Candidate
The place they arrived at through the guild master's guidance for the first request—escorting a hero candidate—wasn't particularly far. It was the reception desk on the first floor of the guild where requests were accepted, and a small room right next to it. The floor inside the room held a circular magic circle with all sorts of geometric patterns arranged in orderly rows, and at its center sat a green crystal orb. Standing on either side of the orb were two people: the guild master and the receptionist girl.
"Just place your hand on this for a moment."
"All right."
At the guild master's words, Elsid rested his right hand on the crystal orb. Not long after he touched it, the magic circle beneath his feet glowed briefly, and his adventurer registration was complete. The receptionist girl, who had been waiting quietly, pressed an iron plate against the orb, and his adventurer identification card gradually took shape.
"Next, it's time to choose your aptitude."
"Aptitude?"
"Yes. As you probably already know, adventurers come in many professions—swordsmen, mages, priests, archers, and so on. This lets us determine an adventurer's aptitude, and as a small benefit, we provide equipment suited to that aptitude free of charge."
It was a welcome benefit. For those who already possessed their own gear like Elsid, it might not matter much, but for those just becoming adventurers, it was a significant advantage.
"Let's see what Elsid's aptitude is… Huh?"
The receptionist girl, who had been checking Elsid's aptitude through the crystal orb, tilted her head in confusion.
"Natasha, what's the matter? Is there a problem?"
"No. It's just that the aptitude is a bit…"
The receptionist girl, whose name was finally revealed as Natasha, stepped aside and showed the crystal orb she had been hiding. Looking closely at it from behind…
Inside the orb, dozens of different swords—katanas, rapiers, shamshirs, daggers, sword breakers, jamadhars, and more—each glowed with their own distinct shapes.
His aptitudes were absurdly numerous.
"Haha, among those skilled in close combat, there are occasionally people with aptitudes for five or six different weapons like swords, axes, and daggers… but even limited to swords, I never expected someone with over dozens of aptitudes…"
This clearly wasn't a trivial matter that happened often. The guild master muttered in admiration, half to himself.
"Is this… a bad thing?"
"No. Quite the opposite. It's the best possible result."
Fortunately, it seemed fine. There was no sign they were about to cancel his adventurer registration.
"I've never seen someone with this level of 'Specialist' aptitude before, so I'm not sure what to recommend."
"Specialist?"
"It's the term we use for people like you, Elsid, who possess a large number of aptitudes rather than just one or two. For such individuals…"
The guild master paused to catch his breath before continuing.
"We provide armor instead of weapons. If you wish, we can also obtain items from affiliated weapon shops or forges. What would you like to do?"
"Then I'll leave it to you."
The clothes he was currently wearing were nothing more than ordinary shirt and pants—not even proper equipment. There was no reason to refuse free armor in this situation.
"Here you are. From now on, no matter what anyone says, you are an adventurer guaranteed by the guild."
A short while later, he received a copper-colored adventurer plate engraved with his name and the rank D. It had a slight weight to it, likely because it was made of copper.
"Your adventurer plate can also serve as a form of identification, just as you initially wanted. If you lose it, the reissuance fee is 50 gold, so please be extremely careful not to lose it. These days, there are people who forge fake identification cards by copying an opponent's aura or mana, so remember this well—very well."
"Y-yes."
Elsid nodded at the guild master's warning and committed the words to memory.
Afterward, Elsid learned several important things from the guild master, whose name was Uzark—matters every adventurer needed to know. First, unless it was a special case like the subjugation party he had joined before, adventurers could not accept requests that exceeded their rank. Second, adventurer ranks ranged from F to S in seven tiers, and after completing a certain number of requests, one could take an examination to rise in rank. The reason Elsid had received a D-rank plate from the start was because of his feat in defeating Balkan, his Specialist aptitude, and the master's own discretion. From now on, he would have to prove himself through skill to climb higher. Third, if an adventurer failed to undertake requests appropriate to their rank for a certain period, their rank could be demoted—or in the worst case, they could lose their adventurer qualification entirely. If they tarnished the guild's name, they would face not just expulsion but possibly elimination. Lastly, the guild would not intervene in disputes between adventurers, nor would it provide any compensation for mental or material damages, so caution was advised.
Having heard everything that would serve as both blood and flesh for an adventurer, Elsid had finally become a D-rank adventurer.
After finishing his registration, Elsid left the small room and returned to the noisy first floor. He immediately went to the request board, looked around, tore off one eye-catching request form, and headed to the reception desk.
"What request have you brought?"
When he returned to the first-floor reception desk, Natasha was working as the receptionist again.
"I'd like to take this request."
"Escorting a hero candidate?"
Elsid handed over the request form, and Natasha unconsciously muttered the title written on it.
"Are you sure you want this request?"
Maintaining her usual expressionless face, the receptionist Natasha asked the question. He understood why she asked. The client was the Temple of Pios, and the reward was something called "a prayer imbued with divine blessing"—neither money nor goods. At first, his eyes had been drawn to simpler requests nearby, like collecting wolf pelts or subjugating orcs… but then he spotted this request tucked away in the corner. Its contents were to escort a hero candidate from Nao to the temple in Agatram. It just so happened that his own priority destination matched the request's destination. That was why he had chosen this request, setting the reward aside. Honestly, he was also a little curious about what "a prayer imbued with divine blessing" actually was.
"Yes, I want this request."
Elsid nodded with a smile that contrasted with Natasha's expressionless face. A firm will could be felt in that nod—he was determined to take it.
After accepting the request, Elsid left the adventurer guild and arrived at Nao's central square. Natasha had said the escort target would already be waiting outside after receiving the guild's contact.
"Are those the ones?"
There were many people moving about the square, and among them, near the dragon statue fountain at the center, stood two robed figures—one large, one small. He found the request targets easily without needing to look around. Elsid approached them.
"Are you perhaps the adventurer who has agreed to take on our request?"
As he drew closer, the larger of the two figures stood up, removed the hood of their robe, and asked. The face of a middle-aged man with black hair streaked with white was revealed.
"Yes, I'm Elsid. I'll be the one escorting the two of you."
"No. I am not the one being escorted. The person you must protect, Elsid, is this one—Sir Bearvid."
The middle-aged man who had removed his hood pointed to the smaller figure beside him.
"Ah, hello. My name is Bearvid."
The smaller figure also removed their hood, revealing their face. It was a boy with green hair and green eyes, looking no older than fourteen at most, with an appearance that evoked a peaceful forest.
"Sir Bearvid, it seems you still haven't fully grasped your own status. Please have more confidence."
When the boy named Bearvid introduced himself in a trembling voice, the middle-aged man beside him spoke in a reassuring tone.
"I-I'm sorry, Uncle Lance."
"I've told you many times not to speak so formally to me."
"B-but until I arrive at the temple and am properly recognized, I'm still just an ordinary boy. So please let me address you like this for now."
"Even so… Haa, very well."
The boy was stubborn, and the middle-aged man called Lance could only nod helplessly in agreement. Elsid didn't know the details, but from the conversation, it seemed there was some complicated situation involved.
"Let's get going. We've already wasted too much time finding an escort here."
"P-please take care of us, Elsid."
"Likewise. I'll be counting on both of you as well."
After exchanging a few words, the three of them fell silent and began their departure. After passing a simple inspection at the city walls and completely leaving Nao's territory, their destination was the distant Temple of Pios in Agatram.
