Adventurer's Guild

Today, Allen only had to work in the morning and had the rest of the day off.

"Are you heading out now?" Rickel asked as the two ate lunch together in the servants' dining hall.

Allen, who was wearing casual clothes instead of his uniform, replied, "Yes, I'm thinking of checking out the city."

"I see. In that case..."

Once again, Rickel, a true exemplar of a superior, briefed Allen on a variety of things. He explained that there was no strict curfew in this house, but anyone who returned too late would earn a summons from the butler. Generally, returning between 9 p.m. to midnight was fine. Allen was relieved to hear there was some leeway.

Two or three times a week, Rickel would go out into town to go drinking. He shared stories with Allen of how he would slip out around 3 p.m. only to get upbraided by Sebas afterward, as if these were feats that he was proud of.

Lastly, he instructed Allen to always keep House Granvelle's crest on his person whenever going out. With that, Allen was allowed to go.

'My goal for today: check out the Adventurer's Guild.'

So far, Allen had investigated pretty much every store that caught his interest along the way from the mansion to the marketplace. However, whereas the Baron's mansion and the nobles' residential area were close to the north gate—this city had gates arranged in all four cardinal directions— the Adventurer's Guild was close to the south gate. Being on the opposite side of the city made it too far away for a quick detour while running an errand.

The fact that it took Allen two hours to reach the marketplace, which was located in the center of the city, meant that it would take him four hours one way to reach the Adventurer's Guild. Allen was worried about getting back too late, so he took off at a run. There were things he really wanted to confirm for himself today.

According to Rickel, the Adventurer's Guild was a worldwide organization, and even the Baron would post bounty quests for monsters there at times.

As Allen made his way, he passed someone wearing armor with a gigantic sword on his back. He was most likely an adventurer, one of those in this world who made a living hunting monsters for rewards. Allen had seen quite a few of them while on his shopping trips.

'Oh! I'm seeing more and more adventurers around. There are so many people holding swords, staves, and everything in between.'

As the south gate loomed up ahead, Allen eventually spotted a large building along the main avenue that adventurers were flowing in and out of.

It was surrounded by inns and taverns, leaving little doubt that this was the Adventurer's Guild. Allen stepped inside without hesitation.

'Hm, the place looks pretty empty overall. It's around 3 p.m. right now. I guess I missed rush hour. That's a relief.'

Quite a few gazes converged on Allen, some because of his hair color, some because he was a child who had come into the guild by himself. However, he walked on, paying them no mind.

'So, can I become an adventurer?'

Indeed, this was precisely what Allen had wanted to confirm today. He approached the pretty woman standing behind a counter who had been staring at him the whole time.

"Excuse me."

"Yes, how may I help you?"

"Can I become an adventurer?"

"Hmm... How old are you?"

"I'm eight."

"You have to be twelve to register."

"Aww..."

"Sorry."

'I see, so no go.'

Allen had become a manservant as part of Baron Granvelle's reward to Rodin for his contributions to the development of Krena Village. While he planned on keeping at the work for now, the position was too restrictive to dedicate the entire rest of his life to.

He was considering becoming a full-time adventurer after serving the Baron for a few years. When the time came, he could just tell the Baron that the job of a manservant did not really suit him.

He had wanted to get a leg up on his next career now, but had just learned that he could not actually become an adventurer until he turned twelve.

He was not finished just yet, though. After all, the age requirement was not the only thing he wanted to confirm today.

"Changing topics, I want to know what kind of monsters live around Granvelle City. Do you have any reference materials that I can read?"

"I'm sorry, only adventurers are allowed to enter the reference room."

Apparently the receptionist was not at liberty to tell Allen anything. He thanked her, then stepped away from the counter. However, he had come all this way, even going so far as to use up half of his day off. He could not just go back with nothing to show for his efforts, so he started to check out the rest of the Guild to glean whatever information he could.

'Oh, these must be quest posters.'

One wall was covered all over with sheets of parchment and torn-off stubs, most likely remnants of posters already torn off the wall.

'Okay, so this wall is where adventurers get quests from.'

The details on the posters were written in English, so Allen was able to read them without issue. Each poster detailed the target monster's name and rank, and the reward for killing it.

___

Horned Rabbit (Rank E): 1 copper

Goblin (Rank D): 5 copper

Big Toad (Rank D): 8 copper

Orc (Rank C): 3 silver

Armored Ant (Rank C): 3 silver

___

There was a bit of variety among the monsters mentioned, with all the targets lined up along the length of the board according to rank. Allen promptly wrote everything down in his grimoire.

'Problem is, these don't say where each kind of monster is found. Does that mean they appear everywhere?'

"Hey, hey, hey, what's a brat doing in a place like this? Kiddo, this ain't a place for squirts like you!"

Just as Allen was getting absorbed in his thoughts, a voice broke his concentration. He turned around to find a man standing before him. He appeared to be in his early twenties and had countless scars across his arms and face. There was a sword on his waist.

"Ah, I'm already on my way out."

Allen had caught on that he was not very welcomed here and did not want to bother with getting messed with, so he decided to leave. However, as a shot in the dark, he decided to try asking the adventurer who had just addressed him the question that had just popped into his mind.

"Mister, why don't these quest posters say where the monsters are located?"

"Huh? Well, that's 'cause they're all over the place," the man answered with a somewhat annoyed expression. According to him, the higher-ranked monsters gathered at the foot of the White Dragon Mountains.

'By that, he's referring to the mountains on the other side of Krena Village, right? Or does the range extend that far, this close to this city?'

Allen had yet to see a map of this world or even of this fiefdom. There was probably one in the mansion's study, but servants were not allowed in that room.

The adventurer revealed that the ranks of monsters increased the further they were from Granvelle City. Allen made sure to properly write down everything he said.

___

Near Granvelle City: Rank E monsters

1 day's walk: Rank E to D monsters

3 days' walk: Rank D to C monsters

7 days' walk: Rank C to B monsters

___

There was also a poster up for a murdergalsh with a high completion reward that no one seemed interested in picking up.

___

Murdergalsh (Rank B): 200 gold

Currently located: Ranba Village

___

Wow, the reward amount suddenly jumped way up.

"Is no one going to kill this murdergalsh?" Allen asked the adventurer, who was actually answering quite a few of his questions.

As it turned out, the murdergalsh was a monster that moved around frequently and arbitrarily; even if someone was to head for Ranba Village right now, they could very well find their target gone and their trip a complete waste of time and effort.

Add this to the fact that the murdergalsh was on the stronger end of the Rank B spectrum, and little wonder no one seemed interested in hunting it. In most cases, murdergalsh quests remained up for so long that they were eventually left for the realm's knights to take care of.

"Then why hasn't anyone accepted this white dragon quest?"

___

White Dragon (Rank A): 1,000 gold

Currently located: White Dragon Mountains

___

The parchment at the far end of the board was completely discolored, as if it had been left untouched for decades. The promised reward of a thousand gold coins was such a staggering amount that all other quests paled in comparison.

"Kiddo, how many more questions ya got, huh?"

"It's not like you've got anything to lose, right?"

Only after Allen promised this was the last thing he wanted to know did the adventurer sigh and relent. He explained that the white dragon living in the White Dragon Mountains was too strong for anyone to defeat.

However, there were mithril ore veins in the mountains, so the realm really needed the monster gone. Because of this, the reward for the quest kept going up until it eventually reached a thousand gold.

'In other words, the mithril veins are precious enough to be worth more than the quest completion reward. That aside, even though this guy's really curt, he's actually a pretty nice guy. Did he originally talk to me because he was worried I might get into trouble being alone here?'

Just then, a voice called out to the man. "Raven, I'm done reporting to the guild!"

A girl who looked to be in her late teens approached. She was wearing an outfit that exposed her midriff and was armed with daggers. Following right behind her was a woman wearing a hooded robe and holding a staff. She appeared to be in her early twenties. They were both adventurers, and clearly companions of the man named Raven.

"Ready to go drink?" asked the first girl.

"Yep, let's go," Raven replied.

"So, what were y— Hm? Who's this kid?"

"Ah, I'm sorry for being a bother. I was just asking Mr. Raven a few things about monsters. Mr. Raven, thank you very much."

As he had asked pretty much everything he wanted to know, Allen courteously thanked the man and left the Adventurer's Guild.

'Hm, so all the monsters close to town are low-ranked. I'd have to go far away to encounter ones that give more XP.'

This trip had turned out very fruitful. Based on what he'd just learned, Allen already knew what he had to do next.