34. The First Time
34. The First Time
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Around the time Skadi was spending time at the convenience store as usual, Noah headed to the guild as planned.
Iris and Katrina.
It was easy to arrive at the Adventurer Guild located outside the academy with the two girls.
It wasn't a long distance to walk, and it was common for regular students to visit the guild as well.
"It feels more ordinary than I thought."
"Hmm. Yeah. I thought it would be a bit more bustling. It's a bit quiet."
"Well, it's the Adventurer Guild located in the Academy. It just has much less to do compared to other guilds."
"Katrina, have you visited an Adventurer Guild before?"
"Usually, when the family has troublesome tasks to handle, there are times we come to entrust them to adventurers."
"Ah, that makes sense."
As the three of them exchanged such conversation, they slowly headed toward the guild's information desk.
The Adventurer Guild located inside the Academy.
It was a bit calmer compared to typical locations.
That was to be expected, as there weren't many quests coming in on a regular basis.
After all, there wasn't really a need for adventurers inside the Academy.
"Is this everyone's first time at the guild? Or is there anyone who has visited and completed adventurer registration before?"
"All three of us are first-timers."
"Yes, then first, I will give a brief introduction to the guild and adventurers. After that, I will explain the procedures. First, as you all know, our Adventurer Guild is...."
A boring, pedantic explanation.
In Noah's case, he had already heard it from Skadi, and Katrina had learned it from her family before.
Therefore, Iris was practically the only one hearing it for the first time.
Noah knew a fair amount of it, but it was obviously good for his childhood friend to hear it too, and he didn't bother to express that he had already learned the content from Skadi.
After the clerk's kind explanation ended, the process naturally moved on to adventurer registration.
It wasn't a difficult story.
A process of briefly writing down one's personal details and finishing by dropping a bit of blood.
There were times when aptitude tests or affinity for mana were checked, but since that was something that happened after registration, it wasn't difficult either.
"Yes, then Noah-nim, Iris-nim, and Lady Valerance. Adventurer registration is complete. When accepting quests later, please present this adventurer registration card. You will need the registration card to use various other services, and for reissuance......."
A guild structured quite professionally, even if it was too advanced to simply call it medieval.
Precisely because of that, everyone could understand it easily.
Since they were students of the Academy, they were quite smart, so there were no major problems.
"First, um. We plan to conduct a simple test to determine your adventurer rank. Would that be alright?"
"Yeah. No problem."
"Yes, that's fine."
Gold, Silver, Bronze.
From 1st grade to 3rd grade.
Noah, recalling what he had talked about with Skadi last night, worried about what his level would be, but he at least hoped he wouldn't fall into the lowest, 3rd grade.
He planned to talk about today's events again at the convenience store tomorrow.
And it would be embarrassing as a man to say he was the lowest rank then.
'...Of course, Nuna wouldn't really think like that.'
Still, a man had his pride.
Noah was usually treated not just as a younger brother, but as a child by Skadi.
But he couldn't help but want to look cool to the woman he liked.
He was a young man of that age who wanted to show off what people call a "cool" side.
"First, we plan to conduct an aptitude test based on the information you wrote down. Swordsman, Spearman, Mage. The test itself isn't that difficult, so it's better to do it with a relaxed mind. And even if you are too nervous to perform at your best, the adventurer rank itself can be easily changed later."
"Noah, I'm excited. Aren't you?"
"...Yeah, I guess so."
"Personally, I'd be happy with just a 2nd grade. But Noah, you've worked hard. Don't you think you'll get 1st grade?"
"You think so?"
"Hehe, I just thought so. You work hard at the Academy, too. I hope you do that well, you know?"
"...Yeah. I have to tell Master, too."
He had to tell Skadi, after all.
He moved forward, harboring a mix of anticipation and worry.
Of course, he didn't refuse to talk to Iris while doing so.
"First... since there's a swordsman and a spearman, I'll start the aptitude test with Miss Iris, who registered as a mage. Let's take it step by step. When I give the signal, please hit the target over there with magic."
"Okay!"
"Now, please stand in position, and for now, just get a feel for it? You know what I mean?"
"Yes! I'm ready!"
The training room in the guild's basement.
Inside, Iris slowly gripped her wand and began to prepare.
"Huu...."
"Then, start!"
With the clerk's signal, human-sized targets began to rise from behind small boxes and unremarkable structures.
Iris focused.
She stared clearly at the targets.
"Sharpen the wind."
The Mana Circle in her heart began to rotate, preparing to express mana outward.
It was still a weak level of 2nd Circle.
But the talent beyond her current Mana Circle prepared her to unleash magic along with the start of the incantation.
"Cut like a sharp steel blade."
Along with the incantation, she swung her wand, sending wind blades toward the targets.
In an instant, they struck the wooden magic targets, and parts of them fell to the ground.
Iris hit all three targets one after another.
She often praised Noah, but Iris herself was a quite promising student in the Academy's Natural Magic Department.
"Is this how I should do it?"
"Yes! You did great! Shall we move on? From now on, targets will go down and come back up. Some targets aren't wood but stone, so they're a bit harder."
"Got it!"
Iris continued to take the test.
The result after finishing was better than she had expected.
Although there was no such thing as a "quasi" level, a 0.5 level, for adventurer ranks.
"At this level, I could easily designate you as a 1st-grade adventurer.... But since you are a mage. The speed of your incantation and the power of your magic have some influence, so I will give you 2nd grade. But you are effectively a 1.5-grade adventurer, so you don't need to worry too much."
"Wow...."
She was 2nd grade, but she received an evaluation that she could be promoted to 1st grade before long by the clerk's standards.
Perhaps as she had hoped and expected.
On one hand, it turned out a bit better than that.
"Hehe, I'm happy it came out better than I thought. The beginning was easy, but it got harder than I expected as it went on."
"Yeah, it did."
"Still, I think Noah will definitely do better. Hmm... but since it's swordsmanship, I don't think it'll be like magic where targets pop up and fall down."
After finishing the conversation like that, Iris returned to her seat and acted clingy to Noah very naturally.
There was no reason not to, after all.
She had always been like that, and she planned to continue being like that in the future.
Of course, Katrina had already been chatting a lot while Iris was taking the test, though.
"Next... the swordsman student? Would you like to come over here?"
"Yes."
"It would be fine to proceed with the sword you brought. If you bring a weapon that is too excessive, we arbitrarily switch it to a wooden sword or a regular weapon."
Apart from the two girls' feelings, the clerk took the boy away.
It wasn't a decision made out of personal bias; it was just a judgment that it would be better to deal with the noble last.
"......."
"......."
When Noah moved to the other side for the test, the original spot instantly became quiet.
Iris.
Katrina.
Neither of them spoke.
Not only did they feel no need to talk, but they certainly weren't the type to have a friendly conversation with each other.
Especially in a situation like this, it was even more so.
Katrina had asked 'Noah' for help, but he had dragged Iris along.
Iris had asked 'Noah' to go to the guild together, but Katrina was there.
In a way, it could be Noah's mistake, but it was closer to them keeping each other in check.
After all, they were clearly aware of each other, as they were among the 'female students' closest to Noah within the Academy.
At least to Iris, that was definitely the case.
'...Tsk. I only asked Noah. To think it would turn out like this.'
'...So Noah came because of her....'
Even though they didn't speak, they quietly continued to keep each other in check.
As if they were at war, quietly, while also observing the other's intentions... so subtly that it wouldn't be revealed to Noah.
'Annoying woman.'
'...It's honestly so shallow of her to take advantage of Noah's good nature.'
Even though they weren't even making eye contact.
The two girls couldn't help but have too many thoughts.