20 - Newbie of Expectations

The lobby of the Adventurer's Bureau, which I visited for the first time in five days, seemed to be much more crowded than before.

A good number of people were sitting on chairs by the wall, chatting with each other.

The moment Toll and the others stepped into the lobby, the buzzing stopped for a moment, and after a short pause, voices started leaking out from everywhere.

"Hey, look at this!"

"I heard that a true silver-class raschel was easily beaten?"

"That's impossible. That's a mud scavenger, isn't it?

I heard he beat the shit out of them in an instant. He didn't even have time to get a move on.

"Really?　If that's the case, then it's not what it looks like."

"Not only that, but the boy with him seems to be a great magician too. They say he can bounce back from martial arts with the flick of a wand.

"Yes,...... she's very pretty."

After several adventures, Sora had grown accustomed to wearing a pure white flax cloth robe, and was now wearing an appropriate atmosphere.

In addition, her softly bouncing black hair, lightly tinted lips, and large, charming eyes with a drooping tail are elements that attract the public's attention.

The attention of the men in the lobby naturally focused on the attractive girl.

However, Sola, the most important one, does not seem to notice them at all and turns around and smiles innocently at the man she is with.

Immediately, jealousy and envy were mixed in the surrounding voices.

"It's strange that such a pretty girl is attached to a dull old man."

"That's a rumor that you and your son are father and son.

"No, no, no, I heard that you told the receptionist that you were married."

"Seriously!　No way. How old is he? This is a court-martial, man.

"No, I don't think that's too much to ask for."

"Torchan, what is this place?

Those who had been whispering in secret suddenly stopped their conversation at the sound of a young voice echoing through the lobby.

All at once, the gazes of the crowd shifted to the third person whose face appeared from behind Thor.

There was a child with golden hair pulled back in a bun and a broad forehead.

He wore a brand-new red leather cape that reached his thighs, and his thin legs were covered with thick socks.

Her purple eyes were wide open, and she was clutching Thor's waistband tightly with one hand.

Again, the child's adorable presence, so out of place, drew a few chuckles here and there.

"With a child?

"No way, already?"

"No, wait, they're not blood related."

But he called you To-chan.

"............What the hell is going on ......?"

When they keep their distance and do not approach him, Thor is relieved to see that the incident of the other day has gone well.

He wanted to avoid any unnecessary interference as much as possible, since he wanted to concentrate on the upbringing of Sora and Moo.

"A little quieter now. This is a place called the Adventurers' Bureau.

"Bokensha. Grandma told me about you. That's what To-chan does, isn't it?

"Hey, Moo-chan, I'm your senior, so I'll show you around!

Sola quickly lifts her chin in a show of strength and takes Moe in front of the liaison board.

"Look at this, Moo-chan. Look, isn't it amazing?

"What the hell!"

"Here you can write what you want and what you want to do together."

"Can I write, too?

"Here you go!"

Sola gives permission without permission.

The taller child happily rubs the white ink handed to him in the vacant space.

Moo spontaneously begins to draw in front of Thor, who peeks at him curiously to see if he has succeeded in writing.

"What the hell is this?"

Thor couldn't help but wonder at the mysteriousness of the child's scribble.

Three black dots in an irregular circle. Three black dots in a snaky circle, with a barbed wire that branches off and attaches to it.

They were three in a row.

"This is Tor. This is Moe!"

If you ask me, it barely looks like a person.

The leftmost one is Thor, and the small one in the middle looks like a self-portrait.

To the right is a figure larger than Moe and slightly smaller than Thor.

"Oh, is that me?

"That's your grandma!"

If you look closely, you can see a small protrusion on the side of the face. They seem to represent pointed ears.

At Yuril's feet are a series of ovals, one painted in white and the other with diagonal lines.

"What?　So, then, is this me?"

"That's Black and Stripes."

Moo's face was unsure of what he was asking, and Sora's face was unsure of what he was being told.

When the tension had eased off, Thor encouraged the children.

"Are you satisfied?　It's time to go to the reception."

"Yes!　I'll draw again next time."

Moo puts down the white ink, grabs Thor's arm, and walks briskly to the counter.

The girl who was left alone looked at the graffiti on the notice board with a dejected look on her face.

"Well, I'm not here, am I ......?"

The person in charge of new registration was again a young woman.

She had short hair and a serious-looking face.

She was still a newcomer, judging from the fact that she was not fully dressed in her green uniform.

"I'd like to ask you to register new adventurers.

"Yes, welcome!　Thank you for coming today. Please fill out this form.

He spoke clearly, but seemed unfamiliar with this job as he skipped the question-and-answer session out of the blue.

Moreover, he seems to be completely oblivious to the green-rimmed plate hanging around Thor's neck.　

When Thor smoothly fills out the application form and hands it to the receptionist, the receptionist begins to look it over with a "humph".

Her name is Mummeme. You are from Hakuli and your age is 9 years old. ......, Chief, Chief Sheikka!

A red-haired, skinny man approaches the receptionist, who suddenly turns around and shouts at the top of her lungs.

"Again...? What is it this time?　Mikaki."

"It appears to be an age-fraud scam."

"What?"

"Look, the suspect claims to be nine years old."

The receptionist, who had been consulting with her boss in a whisper, glanced at Thor, who looked aghast.

"What a stupid ....... You really are nine years old. Sir, are you sure you are the correct age?　You seem to be about 30 years short."

Thor exhaled lightly and scratched the bottom of his chin when the staff member correctly guessed his age.

He then stepped between Thor and the counter and pointed at Mu, who was stretching and trying hard to look inside.

"Not me. Come on in if you want to."

"Well, well, well. I beg your pardon.

The staff member, who quickly glanced at the child peeking out from under the counter and at Thor's adventurer's tag, glared at the receptionist.

"You son of a b*tc*! You've got to stop jumping to conclusions."

"I'm sorry, sir."

"Do it!"

"I'm sorry, sir."

For some reason, Moe gives the receptionist a thumbs-up and waves both thumbs to the left and right.

Immediately after that, Thor grabs me by the cheek and pulls me to both sides.

It seems that he has learned the gesture from the owner of the armor store.

"Well then, take care of the formalities..."

"Yes, I'm home. Is it all right for such a little boy?

"He's a magician. He doesn't need to go near monsters.

The minimum age requirement for adventurers is eight years old.

This rule was imposed by the nobility and other privileged classes in order to finish their sons and daughters early.

Skill points are distributed even if a party member is strengthened or healed during battle.

In addition, even if you do not participate in the battle, you are considered to have participated in the battle if you hit a monster even once with a martial or magical skill.

However, such a method of forcibly developing skills is equivalent to fighting with one less person, and is not often attempted except by very skilled parties.

Since the areas that can be challenged are restricted by rank, it is impossible to earn money in low-ranked areas with enough time to spare.

Therefore, it is quite rare to find an adventurer who is a child and not yet physically fit.

However, if there is a good reason to include them in the group, they can be a good asset to the group.

The receptionist suddenly stopped her work and looked into Mu's eyes, as if she had thought of one of them.

The woman looked up and told Thor flatly, "I'm not a member of this group.　

"I don't think I can give you permission.

"Can you tell me why?"

"It's that ......"

"It's okay, Mikaki. As per your request."

"Yes, but it's not good, Chief.

He may be trying to keep his voice down, but Thor and the others in front of him can hear him.

The man in charge clucked his tongue in reply to the honest advice of his subordinate.

The is a very useful skill to locate the position of monsters around you.

However, although it is useful, there is one problem: the user does not receive any points for it, no matter how many times it is used.

In the past, the practice of taking owners along just to find monsters was rampant, and it has now been banned because it is not appropriate for the training of adventurers.

It is likely that Mu was judged to be a similar case, as he is a child of a purple-eyed magic user who is completely useless in melee combat.

It would be a quicker story if he possessed other magic skills that could give him attacks, but basically only one initial branch skill can be given to a single person.

Furthermore, there is no lower branch skill that can be used for attacks.

It is only at the middle branch skill that one can finally send a small lightning bolt called .

The role of the lightning mage in a party was mainly a defensive one, using search and self-enhancement to attract the attention of monsters.

"Um, do you want to withdraw your application for ......?"

No, go ahead. No problem on that point."

At Thor's words, the official's lower lip quivered slightly.

To the other side, he looked like a fool who would willingly fall into a hole, but Thor was not that blind.

He had already taken precautions.

Or perhaps it would be more correct to say that no countermeasures had been taken yet.

"Well, could you please touch this?

"What's this?　Tor-chan."

As he asks, Moe pats the crystal ball that the receptionist has placed on the table.

The man who pushed the receptionist away and looked into the soul-measuring device changed his face into a look of disbelief.

"Well, Mummeme-sama, you are of the lineage of the purple trunk, Thunder Spirit Tree, aren't you? And your skill is--?

"Stupid .......

Unlike the rare , is the most common skill in lightning magic.

Since it can only be used on oneself, it is almost impossible for the owner to be used in a party.

Seeing the two of them shouting in surprise, Mu also rolls his eyes and raises his hands in the air.

This also seems to be an imitation of the owner of the armor store, but somehow it fits the situation perfectly.

"So, since there is no problem, I will issue you an adventurer's card. It's a good ......, right?　Chief."

"............ yeah, yeah."

"Then please wait a moment until it is ready.

After confirming with her boss, who was still wide-eyed, the receptionist began to proceed with the process.

Thor, who had left the counter and was sitting on a couch, overheard Mo, who was swinging his legs.

"Hey, have you ever used electric spikes?"

"Yeah?　Something tasty?"

"It's not food. Lightning on your body: ....... Do you know what thunder is?　You know, the kind where the sky suddenly lights up and there's a huge noise."

"Moo, I know that one!　The one that goes bang."

"Those little ones that run all over your body. Have you ever had anything like that?"

The child clasped his hands together with a snap, as if he had an idea what it was.

"Yeah, the kind that makes you itch. It makes you tingle, Tor-chan."

"Maybe that's it. So you're not worried about the lack of magic?

"Yeah, no worries!"

Thor rubs his thumb between Moe's eyebrows as he replies, not really understanding what he is saying.

After waiting on the couch for a while, the receptionist called for us.

He received a plate in exchange for a large copper coin, and his registration was successfully completed.

"Okay, now I can finally go hunting. Well, what happened to Sola?"

"Oh, he's drawing!"

It seems that Sola had been busy drawing something on the notice board until this time.

When Thor and the others approached and peeked in, they saw that the girl had drawn a picture of a flower garden surrounding Moe's graffiti.

"Hey, it's done!"

"I'm done!"

"When did you do that?

Sola is surprised and pleased when Moe proudly holds up his adventurer's card.

"Congratulations!　Good for you, Moo-chan."

"So Moo is a boken-sha now. You're just like To-chan!"

"Well, then, let's go to the forest right away."

Yes, sir. Good luck!"

"Yes!"

As he pushes the door open for them, Thor steals a glance at the counter for a moment.

A man with a hidden expression stared at Thor and the others as they left.