CH 14

“Souya-san. First of all, before we start. How much do you know about adventurers?”

“I’ve heard about it from Mia-kun to some extent. I heard that depending on your adventurer rank, you can get a job here.”

“That seems to be the general flow. That makes it quicker. Then I’ll tell you about it with that in mind.”

Souya had been an adventurer 20 years ago, so he knew the rules of the adventurer rank, but he decided to pretend to be a beginner and ask Louise. It had been 20 years since then, so there might have been some changes in the rules. Mia told me that the adventurer’s guild now requires an initial fee, so I think I need to ask about that as well.

“The first time you do this, you’ll have a temporary license as a blank-class called White. If your abilities are recognized after completing a few requests, you can become an official guild member as a bronze-class called Bronze. If it’s a request that can quickly prove your high rank, you can finish it in one case at the earliest.”

“Blank-grade, White. I didn’t know such a thing existed …… No, Mia-kun was Bronze-class.”

The changes from 20 years ago were immediately apparent. Louise’s blank-grade White was an adventurer rank that Souya had never heard of before. Twenty years ago, bronze was the starting rank, so an even lower adventurer rank must have been made.

“Yes. I’m sorry. But the quality of adventurers has been declining compared to the past. That’s why we need these temporary license ranks.”

“But it’s blank. It’s not made of metal, is it? I wonder why it’s paper. Is it a combination of “paper” and “pepe”?”

(T/N: Honestly, I don’t get this. I’m really sorry, I’m not a dad, after all.)

He said a Dad gag that he came up with at random.

Souya regretted what he said, but contrary to expectations, Louise had a slight smile on her face.

“Aha, Souya-san, of course not. Well, it’s true that it’s a bit Pepe …… It’s just that about two out of every five new rookies who aspire to adventure have given up on the path of adventuring before they reach Bronze-class.”

“–I see. So those who quit after a few requests are not worthy of bronze?”

“That’s right. There are many reasons for this, such as it was not what they expected, they became afraid of losing their lives, or they realized they were not strong enough. There is no difference in the fact that they were not fit to be adventurers. The fact that the guild was issuing bronze guild cards to those who were less than qualified adventurers was considered problematic in many ways. It was six years ago that the rules were revised to reflect this.”

Louise got up from her seat and took out a form from a drawer in the back and placed it in front of Souya.

“A blank-class is simply like this. There’s a cut line here. After you fill out the form, the guild’s seal of approval will be stamped here, and this part will be treated as a blank-class adventurer’s card. You can cut it out and keep it as a temporary license until it becomes bronze.”

“I see. It’s easy to make and doesn’t cost much. Two birds with one stone.”

“Yes. It takes a long time to engrave the name and number on the bronze guild certificate, so we do it this way. From there, you can earn Silver-class, Gold-class, and Platinum-class based on your merit and contribution …… In addition, there’s a top-level class called the Demon Silver Class called Mithril, but there are only two Demon Silver Class Mithril members in the guild at the moment. We don’t have any here at the branch.”

“I see, so they are a legendary existence. So, in reality, Platinum might be the highest grade rank.”

“Yes. Even that is a narrow gate with only a few dozen people enrolled. In fact, if you have Gold-class, you can take on almost any request, so Gold-grade is what most adventurers aim for.”

After confirming that the explanations for all but the blank-class were roughly as they had been in the past, Souya ran his quill over the form Louise had handed him.

“I’m finished, Louise-san.”

“I’ll check it out …… yes …… yes, I don’t see any problems. Thank you for your hard work, Souya-san.”

After reading through the description, Louise stamped the Adventurer’s Guild seal of approval over the portion signed with Souya’s name and occupation, and then cut it into a rectangle with scissors.

“Here, it’s a temporary license. In the meantime, as long as it’s a blank piece of paper, it’s not that important, so it can be easily reissued if lost, but please try not to lose it. “

“I understand. Hahaha, as expected, the paper is roughly made. I need to get my hands on a bronze-class adventurer’s card as soon as possible.”

Souya grabbed the temporary license made of paper with his fingers, fumbled with it, and tucked it into the breast pocket of his business suit.

“I understand the explanation of the adventurer grade rank. By the way, I heard from Mia-kun that you need to pay a fee to join the Adventurer’s Guild. I’ve heard that it costs fifty silver coins, but as I told you, I don’t have any right now.”

“Blank-class is free to join. If you want to become a full-fledged member, all you have to do is pay a fee of fifty silver coins for a bronze adventurer’s card. If you don’t have the money, we can deduct it from your reward.”

“Oh, I see. I understand. If I don’t need it right now, that would be great. I was going to have to go into debt again.”

Souya was relieved. It seems that Mia was mistaken when she said she needed fifty silver coins right away. But there was no doubt that they would need it, so they would have to account for it as a cost.

“The rest is, it is forbidden to accept requests as a Blank-class alone. So you’ll need to have an adventurer of bronze-class or higher accompany you.”

“Well, when I heard it was a temporary license, I knew it would be. You can’t accept requests as a soloist.”

The reason why the blank-class was created was rather simple and straightforward. I was surprised that two out of every five new adventurers quit, but if you ask me, that’s probably how it is. It was no exception in the real world to see so many new recruits leaving their jobs.

“Souya-san, if you don’t mind, let me help you accompany you to become a bronze-class.”

Mia, who had been watching the conversation between Souya and Louise, finally decided it was her turn to enter the conversation.

“If Mia and Souya are teaming up, then we’ve got ourselves a party. We can provide a minimum number of requests for a small group …… However, I’m sure two of you would be fine, but would the balance of the party be an issue?”

“…… Erm, Louise-san, is there a problem?”

When Louise mentions balance, Mia gives her a curious look.

“You are a cleric, Mia, and Souya-san is a magician. It’s hard to find a good balance when neither of you can step forward and fight.”

“Louise-san, Souya-san is very strong when he steps forward, you know. He took out most of the group of wild thieves with his bare hands.”

When Louise heard Mia’s words, her smile instantly changed to a straight face and she quickly took Souya’s hand who was sitting in front of her.

“…… No way. I can’t believe I misjudged your abilities. Is that story true?”

Louise is staring at Souya’s open palm with a surprised expression on her face. Seeing this, Souya’s eyes narrowed and a thin smile appeared on his face.