Volume 2 - CH 7.2

“Once again, don’t worry about living expenses. I promise you that I’ll be responsible for taking care of you until you settle down.”

“No, that’s no good.”

“Huh, good grief. You really are stubborn just like your father.”

“I’ve already received enough thanks from you Lessard-sama. In addition to rebuilding my village, you have made it easier for my parents and the people in my village.”

We couldn’t afford to be dependent any longer.

Ren, who was adamant, had another idea.

“I’m going to try to find a job here for now.”

“……Isn’t it really possible for me to take care of you?”

That was a sly way of putting it.

If he refused, Lessard would lose face.

Lessard, who had mentioned this, was aware of it, but he still wanted Ren to give in.　

“I’m sorry……”

But Ren was still adamant.

Seeing this, Lessard also didn’t give up.

“—- then, here’s what we’ll do.”

In addition to his desire to reward the Ashtons, so to speak, as an adult in charge of Ren away from his parents, Lessard had a suggestion.

He wanted Ren’s job to be something he could manage.

“If you insist on getting a job, I’m willing to give you one, is that okay?”

Ren blinked quietly, unable to argue with this.

“I’d like to ask you to do something similar to what you used to do in the village.”

“The work I was doing in the village…. You mean defeating monsters?”

“Yes, that’s right. You should be aware of the harmful effects of an overabundance of monsters. I, too, wanted to investigate the monsters in the surroundings in light of that fact.”

The job involves checking on the status of monsters living in the area and making periodic reports.

Of course, he would be paid for his work, and since it was a job requested by Lessard, of all people, Ren had nothing to feel guilty about.

In other words, it was a compromise.

“You can also hunt for private purposes. You can even accept a quest from the Adventurers’ Guild.”

Ren’s interest was piqued by Lessard’s words.

“The Adventurers’ Guild?”

“Hmm? Have you heard of it?”

“Yes, I’ve heard of it…..”

Ren was stunned for a moment because he hadn’t expected to hear of the Adventurers’ Guild.

After all, Ren is the son of a knight in the service of the Clausel family.

He never thought he would go to the guild and sell monsters to earn money.

(I wonder if that’s allowed)

Furthermore, he wondered what the tax would be.

“So, are you interested?”

“Actually, there are few things I’m thinking about…”

“Hmm, what do you want to know? How does the Adventurers Guild work? Or is it about what it means to be a knight’s son?”

“I have questions about the latter and about taxes.”

“I’ll be brief. First of all, this is my request, so there’s no problem for you as a member of the Ashton family. The money you get from hunting monsters in the course of this request, you can spend it as you wish if you make a deal through the guild. Indirectly though, the tax will be paid to me through the guild.”

It was quite an interesting story, though a lot of the information was new to me.

Returning to the village is important, but Ren has an eye for monsters and by extension, magic stones, because of his skill of summoning magic swords.

Through what Lessard said earlier, I felt it wasn’t a bad idea to think of it as a training to improve myself.

“So you are free to use the money you get from the sale of the monster’s materials as you wish. For example, you are free to buy magic tools with them and send them to the Ashtons’ village.”

Hearing this, Ren was surprised.

“Is that okay?”

His voice was full of joy.

It meant that even though he was far away in Clausel, there were things he could do for the village of his birth.

“Of course. After the tax has been paid through the guild, it’s not my place to say what you do with the money.”

Ren knows how useful magical tools are, so the thought of being able to send them to the village intrigues him.

He would be like a migrant who could also train.

The thought that his parents and the people of the village would be pleased with the idea motivated him.

The fact that it’s a job that Lessard asked me to do, I don’t have to feel guilty about it.

“I’ve only just turned eleven, but is it safe for me to join the Adventurers’ Guild?”

“No problem. I don’t see many of them in my town, but It’s not uncommon for young children to visit the guild.”

According to Lessard, young children seem to do simple jobs to help the family finances or to earn a little extra money.

They look for lost pets, lost items, and that’s about it, he said.

(Better to do what you can instead of just worrying)

I make money, and it benefits the village.

It’ll further train me and make me stronger.

(Being strong is never a waste of time.)

Because one day, sudden unreasonable situations may strike again.

If I’m strong, it may not happen as it did with Jerukku.

If I have the strength to prevent it from happening, I should be able to protect someone else.

(Let’s live on our own in this town for a while and experience many things, and then maybe I’ll have an idea of what I should do.)

Ren’s face was full of determination.

“Tell me one more thing. I don’t have my parents’ permission, is that okay too?”

“No, You have permission.”

“….. eh?”

“Roy and Mireille have given their permission. When they came to this mansion before, they laughed and said that if you decided to stay in this town, you’d eventually go to the Adventurers’ Guild—-“

As one would expect from parents, they had anticipated this and discussed it with Lessard.

“Anyway, Mireille and I had our doubts about this activity. Of course, it was dangerous. But Roy said that if his son, who is stronger than he is, decides to do it, I have no right to stop him —-.”

Ren’s cheeks relaxed at these very Roy-like words.

“Finally, Mireille and I nodded our heads. I told him that if you ever did anything reckless, I would use my authority to bring you back to the mansion.”

Lessard took the body of his request so that he could protect Ren in case something happened to him.

Anyway, I don’t intend to give him any kind of binding, but it’s a natural consideration.

“You say no to dangerous things, but you allow me to fight monsters.”

“I wondered about that too, but after listening to Roy’s story, the reason made sense to me.”

Ren has a history of defeating both the Thief wolfen and the Maneaters.

On the contrary, the power of the nobles is more fearsome than that of the monsters and if anything, the monsters themselves wouldn’t be reckless if it were Ren, who has been fighting them since he was a child, Roy seemed confident.

“In other words, as long as I don’t do anything reckless, I will be allowed to operate outside the town?”

“That’s what I mean. You’re not a knight apprentice as far as your position is concerned. You’re an individual who is employed by me personally and hunts monsters in between jobs.”

I’m not worried and I can safely go to work.

Seeing Ren’s fists clench at this, Lessard smiled gently.

“Weiss will guide you. You should try going to the guild.”

“I’ll go there by myself if you tell me where it is.”

“I understand. I’ll let you have this one thing.”

While I was wondering what he was going to give me, Lessard took out a wallet from his pocket.

He took out two silver-colored expensive coins from the wallet and handed them to me, as I was looking at him with a curious look on my face.

“This is 20,000 G’s. If you take a job involving monsters, you must register. You’ll need 15,000 G to register. You can also enjoy your lunch.

“Oh, no! I’ll do a job that doesn’t require registration at first and I’ll come up with the registration fee myself!”

“What nonsense are you talking about? You have to accept at least this much since it is in addition to the work I have asked you to do.”

Ren wasn’t sure if he would take it or not, but Lessard was going to keep offering it to him until he did.

“I’ll borrow it from you…… I’ll be sure to return it to you eventually.”

He had to pay the registration fee, so he was still going to be taken care of.

But seeing Ren’s attitude, which was as stubborn as his own, Lessard shrugged his shoulders as if he had no choice.