Volume 2 - CH 8

Clausel is a town with spiral roads along the mountainous terrain.

From the residence of the Clausel family, located at the top of the mountain, you can see the whole area.

The Adventurers’ Guild was located not far from the castle gates in town for people to come in and out and for supplies to be brought in.

Ren hadn’t been to this area in a while and thought back to the earlier disturbances.

On the way to the Adventurers’ Guild, he was approached by a resident who recognized his face, and was given an apple-like fruit by the owner of an open-air stall.

“Here?”

I looked at the storefront of the Adventurers’ Guild.

At first glance, it appeared to be an old wooden building.

Looking at the people who enter the building, all are dressed in fantasy like outfits.

Leather armor and oddly angular bone equipment.

There were others with staffs in their hands, and others who looked a little different from the humans.

They are called “strangers,” and elves like Jerukku are one of them. Others looked like beasts or had reptilian features.

Ren put his hand on the door of the busy guild and slowly opened it.

The wooden door made a dull click and the inside of the guild came into view.

(Oh, the inside looks pretty much the same.)

It reminded him of the legendary scene of the Seven Heroes.

Inside the Adventurers’ Guild, the solid floor was stained dark brown, and the walls were covered with white cloth. The ceiling was covered with the same solid wood as the floor, and a ceiling fan that seemed to be powered by magical tools was spinning.

A huge bulletin board was stretched on one wall.

The bar attached to the interior was an exciting sight for the male mind.

(They’re staring at me.)

The adults in the guild all looked at Ren at once.

The same went for the women dressed like witches and the strong men.

In addition to a few foreigners, even the woman standing at the reception desk looked at Ren.

“Hey, I’m sure that’s him.”

“Yes, don’t be rude.”

“You saw it, too.”

He could hear the voices of some adventurers.

Ren walked past them to the reception desk.

“I’d like to register, please.”

The reason he was able to ask in a familiar tone of voice was because he had gone through the process many times in the Legend of the Seven Heroes.

“You seem clever… but are you sure?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Excuse me. What did Baron Clausel say?”

“It’s alright. I have just received his permission.”

By the way, the guild is a neutral organization that spans the globe.

So it usually does not interfere with the affairs of countries or nobles.

In Ren’s case, however, the earlier disturbance was so great that the receptionist at the guild must have been surprised to hear him ask.

“Here’s the registration fee. I can read and write, so I’m fine with the explanations.”

“……Excuse me for repeating myself, but are you sure you’re registering for the first time?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Is that so… you seem so familiar with the system that I just thought…”

The receptionist’s question is valid, and she’s not mistaken.

(Is this a magic tool too?).

This is one of the reasons why the registration fee is not cheap.

The guild maintains a special piece of paper with information to be shared among all branches.

The mechanism that makes this possible is through a magical tool developed by one of the Seven Heroes.

It’s said that the hero was a genius magic tool craftsman, and there’s an anecdote that the guild commissioned him to develop the tool.　

“Please take this.”

Ren, who has finished writing, turns the paper the other way and hands it to the receptionist so that she can see it easily.

There’s no mistake in the content.

The procedure itself is now complete.

Ren finally received a card the size of a playing card, and confirmed his name and the words “G rank” written on it.

“The explanation of the conditions for rank advancement—-.”

“I know because I read it in a book. I also know the fee for reissuing a lost guild card and that the guilds that can reissue cards are limited to those where I have a record.”

This concludes the entire process.

Ren puts the guild card in his pocket and leaves the counter where he had been resting his elbow.

(What should I do now?)

It seemed a shame to leave without doing anything, so he went to the bulletin board on the wall and looked at the many request forms posted there.

In Clausel territory, strong monsters are seldom observed.

Therefore, there were only a few sheets of information on even D-ranked monsters.

Even if there were, they were near another territory facing the Clausel territory, so it was too far away to even be considered Clausel’s jurisdiction.

“……”

However, the information on a different monster, prepared separately from those D-ranked monsters, caught his attention.

He was distracted by the information on a piece of paper taped to the edge of the board.

“Oh, hero-dono, is that what’s bothering you?”

A strong man suddenly called out to Ren.

When he turned around, he saw that the man was with a werewolf who appeared to be one of his companions.

“Hero?”

“Oh, I’m talking about you. You were so brilliant with that foolish viscount.”

Unlike the man who had approached him earlier, the wolfman’s manner was softer.

“We were also interested in the arrival of a boy with a good reputation. We thought you might have some interesting information to share with us.”

“Well, it’s better to leave that guy.”

“Yeah. The D rank monster is left alone because it will not touch people if left alone. But the repercussions are as strong as its rank.”

“That information came to us more than six months ago. But no one has tried to take it down.”

“We tried once, but it was too fast and too strong, so we retreated.”

Ren listened to their conversation and nodded knowingly, “I see”.

At any rate, he understood the situation.

But for Ren, if it’s information about monsters, it cannot be ignored.

—- Steel-eating Gargoyle.

The gargoyle, which is said to be a sculpture in the form of a monster in Ren’s previous life, is a large, human-sized monster with a stone body and wings that look like a mixture of a bat and a dragon in this world.

Among these gargoyles, there’s a rare one that feeds not on the flesh of other monsters but on metal.

This is the steel-eating gargoyle.

As the adventurers mentioned earlier, they are characterized by their extremely robust physique and swiftness.

Ren also had a reason to be sure to defeat it.

(……It’s a unique monster.)

The experience and proficiency gained are plentiful.

The materials were expensive and when I thought of the chance to obtain a new magic sword, I couldn’t help but think that I wanted to defeat it somehow.

After much deliberation, I decided to live in Clausel for a while.　

I didn’t expect to get my first goal so soon.

(If I’m going to fight, I’ll have to get Lessard-sama’s permission first.)

In any case, it will be after things have settled down.

———————————————————————————————

After returning to the mansion, Ren made an appointment with Lessard through Weiss.

Ren went to Lessard’s office and reported that he had finished registering with the guild and that he would be going out to investigate the monsters in the near future.

Weiss then handed Ren a folded sheet of paper.

“Weiss-sama, what’s this?”

“It’s a map of the neighborhood. Please, use it if you like.”

Ren took it gratefully and bowed.

“Now, please keep this matter secret from the young lady.”

“I knew you’d say that.”

“Mm. it’s good to take things slow a little. The boy might be flustered.”

The place to live will be in this mansion for a while.

If it weren’t for Lezard’s salary, he hasn’t started hunting and selling monsters, so he’s still penniless.

Until his activities get back on track, Ren is sorry to say, but he has decided to take advantage of the situation.

“I still feel like I’m being too dependent.”

“Hmm? Is that so?”

“I think this proposal is too advantageous for me. I have the job of delivering the report, but ……”

I can hunt monsters in between jobs or accept requests from the adventurers’ guild.

To be honest, I felt it was too loose.

“…..I have one calculation to be honest with you.”

And then, unexpectedly, Lessard reveals a thought that has been in a corner of his mind.

“If Ren decides to stay in town, there’s one thing I’ve been thinking about.”

It was already in an apologetic, reserved tone of voice.

“I don’t mind if it’s when you have some free time and when you feel like it. If you would like, I’d like you to duel with Licia on occasions.”

……Lessard is always like this.

He has never forced Ren to do anything, nor has he ever imposed his values on him, saying that this is the way it should be.

He consulted with Ren, just like a father would.

(I wonder what this feeling is…)

I felt an indescribable sense of discomfort at the fact that the baron was bringing himself down for me.

It wasn’t out of disgust, but out of apology for having made him do so.

I must not let this happen.

Even if they are the ones who were saved by me.

“If it’s okay, I’ll cross swords with Licia-sama again.”

Ren shook hands with Lessard, who had a cheerful expression on his face.

(In fact, I promised Licia-sama recently as well.)

It’s impossible to cut ties with Licia now.

Then, I want to have as good a relationship with her as possible. I believe that this will help me to avoid the future that I want to avoid.

“Boy, I thank you too.”

“Don’t mention it all. Weiss-sama is teaching me imperial swordsmanship, and I’m the one who should be thanking you.”

It’s also one of the reasons why I remain in this town.

He would have to tell his parents in his village that he had been given a job by Lessard.

Since he decided to do so, he will have to send a letter.

After all, it would take nearly 20 days to get to the Ashtons’ village and back.