Chapter 26: The Emergence of a Template?
“Breakfast costs 30 Fron.”
Ugh… So I need money here too… It’s only natural, I suppose. Thus, just like last night’s dinner, I munched on my preserved food for breakfast in my room. If only I could use fire, I could have prepared a nice soup, but that couldn’t be helped. After all, taking a bath was important.
“Alright, let’s shake off this mood and look for some work.”
Having nearly run out of money, if I couldn’t earn anything here, I’d have to resort to camping out. The inn’s bed was far too comfortable, and I had no desire to return to sleeping outdoors at this point. With determination, I headed to the Adventurer’s Guild, only to find it bustling with people, unlike yesterday. It seemed that the posting of requests first thing in the morning was a common occurrence in any light novel.
…However.
“I don’t have the courage to just dive in there…”
The area in front of the request board was a battlefield. While physical altercations were prohibited within the guild, it had transformed into a war zone filled with shouting and chaos. As just a high school student from Japan, the atmosphere felt overwhelmingly intimidating. Plus, I had no idea what requests were available this early in the morning, so I doubted I could find a lucrative one by jumping in.
In the end, I couldn’t stand in front of the board until about half of the requests had been taken down.
“This is a bad omen for the day…”
“Hmm. It looks like the popular requests are mostly for monster extermination.”
I observed the requests being swiftly peeled off from a distance. The counter was still busy, so I decided to check the remaining requests on the board.
“Hmm…”
The constant requests included the F-rank herb and antidote herb I had completed yesterday. Most of the other F-rank gathering requests had already been taken down.
In the E-rank constant requests, there were gathering requests for Regulus Fruit and Herb Flowers, offering 200 Fron and 150 Fron, respectively. That’s ten times the F-rank rewards. Is it really that difficult? I have plenty in my Dimensional Box, though…
If I could just raise my rank by one, I might be able to manage at my current inn. I couldn’t keep relying on my stockpile forever; I’d have to actually go out and gather.
“Hmm. Should I just release the herbs and antidote herbs I have and quickly raise my rank?”
“Yeah… It does seem a bit tedious to go out searching for something I already have.”
With that decided, I figured I could wait a bit longer until the counter cleared up. Most adventurers probably reached E-rank just by completing constant requests. It felt like a high hurdle to overcome this scramble.
After waiting for a while, I released my herbs and raised my rank. The fifteen bundles of antidote herbs earned me 90 Fron. I had heard that this wasn’t considered a particularly bad method. It was a loophole for those with enough money or retired knights who had a certain level of skill to start their adventuring careers from a higher rank.
“Alright, let’s get going!”
“The Regulus Fruit is in the Forest of Enchantment, right?”
“Looks like it. It’s to the north of the town. About two hours to the north gate, and then another three hours to the Forest of Enchantment. If we run, we might get there a bit faster?”
“Yeah. Hmm, maybe it would be less conspicuous to walk slowly, assuming we’ll be camping out?”
“Ah, since we’re not booking a room, that works too.”
“Right.”
As we discussed this and left the guild, we began walking toward the Forest of Enchantment when—
“Hey there, girl, hold on a sec.”
A burly man nearly two meters tall stepped in front of us. It seemed there were two other men behind him. From their appearance, one looked like a front-line fighter, while the other was likely a scout or archer.
“Yes? Is there something you need?”
It didn’t seem like he was addressing me, but I stepped forward to protect Rio and replied.
“I’m talking to that girl over there. You irrelevant guys can just back off.”
His low voice was intimidating, but compared to the pressure from my master or the monsters deep within the Forest of Enchantment, it felt like nothing.
“We’re walking side by side, so how could it not be relevant?”
“Huh?”
He continued to threaten us, but I felt no fear. However, perhaps this was the moment to say that line I had always wanted to try. Yes, surely this was the time.
“She’s my woman—”
“Then I’ll just talk to her directly.”
I was about to ask what he wanted, but Rio’s words cut me off. It seemed she had heard part of what I was saying, as her ears turned bright red.
An awkward silence fell over us, and what was this atmosphere? I felt a mix of embarrassment for interrupting and for Rio, who had clearly overstepped.
“…Hmph. A guy who’s being bossed around by a girl should just stay out of it.”
So that’s how you interpret it, huh? I see…
“Hey, girl, you’re a magician, right? Then you shouldn’t be teaming up with some scrawny jobless kid. You’d be better off joining our party. A proper front-line fighter is necessary for using magic.”
As I struggled to straighten my slightly bent spirit, the man revealed his intentions. I doubted the Adventurer’s Guild had disclosed our professions, so could it be that these guys had some sort of appraisal skill? My master had mentioned that it was a rare skill.
“I don’t need that, so could you please just leave us alone?”
But Rio cut through the three men as if nothing had happened.