BXBX NOVEL Chapter Volume 1 16
Editor: fba90130
Writing the important information on the sheepskin parchment, Ishpen fanned the ink with her hands. While waiting for the ink to dry, she was free and spoke to the man in front of her—-Momon. Of course it would be better if he was a bit happier that he was talking to her, but the man in front of her, his face was regrettably bad, but he was not a bad person.
“Would training be good after this?”
“Training?”
Momon made a weird parrot-like reply.
Ah, it would be bad if I don’t explain that huh. Ishpen cradled her head in her arms, but fortunately today was a lucky day when she had no work. It would be good if she could end the explanation quickly.
“Training. In short, being an adventurer is a dangerous job. That is why we give proper explanations, such that people are unable to complain about the death of others to the Guild.”
It was natural that humans that could not understand such a thing would be surprised. And so the Guild took responsibility and responded to the wills of others, and gave a basic explanation to lower the death rate. And it became a system such that if adventurers gave up on the training, the official papers would not reflect it.
“Is that so?”
“Yes it is.”
“Then what do you do in this training?”
Ishpen felt a discomfort in his tone, but she continued on without understanding where is came from.
“Basic adventurer information.”
“So you don’t want to test my swordsmanship skills then?”
“No, if you go adventuring with poor sword skills, the risk is entirely on you”
“That’s true.”
Seeing Momon nod in understanding, Ishpen’s face twisted into a wry grin.
Adventuring was a profession which was very much at-your-own-risk.
While it seemed that Momon fully understood the situation, there were a lot of mis-informed fools out there. There were those who believed the guild would provide training. Certainly you could find schools for that sort of thing and if you could pay, instructors were always available. But nothing is ever free.
The Guild will never entrust newbies with important assignments and that certainly helped to keep the attrition rate down.
In any case, the Guild was not big on wasting resources to develop newbies. The Guild preferred to save that for the wheat that appears from the chaff.
Basically adventurers who had just registered like Momon go through a large sieve.
“Training just imparts simple knowledge about the Guild. For example, knowledge about request difficulties, and rewards”
“Eh~, is that so.”
It was the matter of teaching the common knowledge of adventurers from the start.
Having confirmed that the ink had dried, Ishpen deposited the parchment with Momon’s details in a nearby box. The other staff members would retrieve the contents of the box later.
“Well now, how shall we do this? This will not take very long, but if you’ld like, we can take a seat in a different room.”
Ishpen directed her gaze meaningfully towards the door leading to the next room.
The Guild was a four storey building, the first floor had a reception office for important guests or rooms for requesters. And if you climbed the stairs to the second or third floor, there were a lot of rooms for books or rooms for security guards. There were also rooms for staff. The fourth floor was the Guildmaster’s office, safes for important documents, and similarly, rooms where important information was stored.
The room next door was a waiting room for meeting adventurers, and meeting rooms, and rooms for the inspection of various documents. Fortunately the meeting room and and waiting room were empty, and there were no adventurers using them.
Then using the meeting room next door would be good. It had been a while since she had done documents with one hand.
It was not that trainings could not be done at the counter. In fact most occurred at the counter. Most people could not even afford the small amount of time to guide adventurers.
Basically, Ishpen’s suggestion stemmed from a desire for a change in scenery.
But it was not to be.
“This will be fine.”
“I see.”
For not being able to take a woman’s hint -5……No. -10
While it was a pity that she could not leave her seat, but she opened her mouth to end the training earlier.
“Then let’s start with payment.”
One deep breath.
“The Guild takes a 20% cut upfront for work done in investigating the request. This is for the sake of investigating the request. If it is a monster subjugation request, the type of monster that appears and their number have been scouted out by the Guild.”
“On the other hand, if you report any errors in the Guild’s information, part of the 20% will be refunded. However, the chance that a different monster appears after the Guild has investigated, so please take care.”
“In the event that the Guild is unable to collect sufficient information due to special circumstances such as an urgent request, the Guild’s cut is 5%. The actual details, can be negotiated with your client.”
“If you accept a job not through the Guild, you can report it later. In this case, the Guild will not provide an investigation or act as an intermediary.”
“And that is the end of my explanation of rewards. Do you have any questions?”
Momon’s eyes goggled in shock at the torrent of words that flew from Ishpen’s mouth. Such was the speed of her explanation, it seemed like she was reading it off a list.
Ishpen had explained this countless times. It was unthinkable that she would stumble or make a mistake.
There had been a time when she read from a parchment and stumbled when asked questions. However, the current Ishpen was invincible. She was confident that she could trade blows from every angle.
Not only that, she enjoyed watching the adventurers’ confusion. Her colleague found her schadenfreude to be in very bad taste but Ishpen was addicted to it.
“……Probably not.”
“Umm, in other words, the Guild takes a cut because it does the investigative work, so we’ll just have to bear with it. In the event that the work is not through the Guild, you’re on your own. Is that right? ”
Ishpen’s perfectly manicured brow moved as a small smile appeared.
“It is just as you say, Momon-sama.”
Then wouldn’t it better to be faster? Without letting out an inch of her true thoughts, Ishpen made a decision like a challenge. In contrast, Momon kept his peaceful expression.
“Next we have the penalties for failing a request.”
“If an advanced payment has been made, you will need to pay a sum equivalent to 1.5 times of the payment. If one has not been made, you will have to pay a sum equivalent to 20% of the value of the assignment (Guild investigation fee included). In other words, you will have to return the Guild’s investigation fee to the client.”
“This for when the request fails and time has been lost. Basically the fine from this goes towards increasing the reward to hire higher ranked adventurers.”
“I recommend you not fail in the first place. Of course there are assignments of both types, so you can confirm the details of your assignments with the Guild in the future.”
“Incidentally, since the Guild makes an effort to properly investigate its requests, up to now there have not been any instances where a client asks for something impossible of the adventurer. But as mentioned earlier, if this is a job without Guild involvement, you’re on your own.”
“Sometimes, there are double bookings or other slipups and you are unable to execute the requests, and in such a thing no fines will be issued as they are exceptions. There are other exceptions and so, if you report to the Guild and depending on the circumstances, the fine might be waived. However, please do not expect much.”
“And that is the end of my explanation regarding fines. Do you have any questions?”
“No, none.”
Isphen looked at Momon to see if he was following her explanations.To find out she read his expressions. But—-
I can’t read him……
Ishpen unknowingly ground her teeth.
She could not say anything except that he was different from a normal villager. A formidable opponent.
What was a strong enemy? For a reason no one but someone like Ishpen would understand, she recognised him.
A strong enemy that was recently rarely seen in the countryside.
“Then next is the explanation regarding the level of adventurers—-Classes.”
“Basically, people like Momon-san are novices. They can attend promotion tests after completing five requests to gain benefits. This promotion test is to guard a merchant caravan, while visiting several slightly dangerous locations. Basically there is a higher chance of encountering monsters. Naturally there is the chance of not meeting any. And so about ⅖ of people do not encounter—-”
“Question.”
In response to Momon who was raising his hand in an effort to interrupt, Ishpen closed her machine gun mouth. The feeling of not expecting to be interrupted enveloped her body.
“Even if I can get benefits, is it fine if I refuse?”
“Yes.”
Momon’s question forced Ishpen to move forward some of the explanations which would normally be left until later. She mentally level-up’ed Momon from formidable opponent to the next level of existence.
“However, if you refuse you will remain a novice, and cannot accept a large number of requests. Basically you cannot accept the profitable requests.”
“There are people who take up requests involving fighting monsters in order to gain experience, but I think that’s not a very good idea”
Ishpen suddenly stopped.
“I’m not trying to scare you but … for ex-normal villagers who take up the combat assignments, 50% die as novices, 25% quit and 15% of the remainder die within a year.”
“Is the chance of dying during a promotion test high?”
“There are cases. Out of the 50%, 30% are so. The rest take on monster requests beyond their abilities, or are sometimes assaulted alone by monsters.”
From what Ishpen gleaned from adventurers, in a life-or-death struggle with monsters, village hicks who rely on brute strength don’t have a great survival rate. Something else is needed, something that most villagers lack.
Did the man, Momon, in front of her have that? Unfortunately to the office worker Ishpen it was unclear.
“I shall return to my earlier explanation. This is only relevant after you have graduated from a novice, but—-”
“There are things known as classes for adventurers. This is to meet the level of the adventurers with suitable requests. Please think of it such that you cannot choose a request of a higher difficulty level than your current class.”
“Difficulty 1 to 10 is F Class. Difficulty 11 to 20 is E Class. Difficulty 21 to 30 is D Class. Difficulty 31 to 40 is C Class. Difficulty 41 to 50 is B Class. Difficulty 51 to 60 is A Class. Difficulty 61 to 70 is A+ Class. We basically do not have anything more than this but there are rumors of A++.”
“There are promotion tests for the sake of raising one’s class. This promotion test is different from the time as a novice, even if you fail there are no effects and is only for accepting top class jobs from the Guild. In addition, if you fail the promotion test, you will be unable to take it for half a year.”
“Of course, as your class goes up, the rewards and danger shoot up.”
“That is the end of my explanation on classes. Do you have any questions?”
How about it?, Ishpen awaited Momon’s reply.
“……The knights of the Baharuth Empire, what class would they be?”
“Eh?”
Ishpen let out a wild voice. She had never imagined such a question, let alone been asked it. For a moment, the question of Was this a question made just to confuse me? filled her mind as she gazed at Momon, but concluded that it was not.
“That……will be difficult. Adventurers pride themselves on the strength of their team. For example, if you fight the knights individually, you may lose. However, I believe that if it is a team fight, victory will be possible. Etto, do you know about magic casters?”
“Yes.”
Then this will be quick.
“Adventurers have a basic four man group—-A party. There are occasionally ones of five or even six people, but as the number increases the more difficult it is to unite the opinions of the group, so an average leader would have a limit of four people.”
In a life-or-death struggle, a delay in making decisions or relaying those decisions to others could have fatal consequences. And so, the members of parties were like a single living organism.
“4-man parties generally comprise of a warrior, magic caster, healer and the vanguard. Compared to a band of four knights, the basic party may seem like a mixed bag but it has a far wider tactical repertoire. To adventurers, this is more important than anything else. The warrior and vanguard could block the attack of the knights, if they are injured, then the healer or the magic caster can use a large attack on the battlefield. Multiplying the strength of a single person, and unifying their aim. Alone, Momon-san is not that strong. However, with companions, your strength can be multiplied several times.”
Roles were allocated. And depending on them, there were several measures that one could take depending on the situation. Conversy, if you grouped together people of only one role, they might be perfect at one measure, but could do nothing else. What adventurers sought was not one point, but a multitude of solutions.
“In the end, do you know?”
Ishpen’s expression was about to change, but she suppressed it.
This guy … I thought I had dodged that question quite neatly too. He’s not going to let it go.
“Probably about D Class. However if they are the knights of the Baharuth Empire, then they should have good weapons, so depending on the situation about C……About any further would be impossible.”
“Then what about the Warrior Captain?”
“……About A+?”
He was the warrior called the Kingdom’s Strongest. If he was not about A+ then it would be bad in various ways. However, why did he compare the Baharuth Empire knights to the Warrior Captain?
Ma~, familiarity is familiarity. Since he came here to this fort city.
She had heard about the incident about the Baharuth Empire knights rampaging nearby. It might have something to do with it. Then it would be bad to ask anymore about this.
With that, Ishpen looked at Momon and felt a magma-like evil resided beneath under that calm exterior.
Ishpen agreed with her thought, and cut off her imagination. And to return to the explanation, tried to recall where they had reached. She was sure that it was just when the explanation on class had ended.
“Do you have any other questions relating to classes?”
Even if a weird question came up, she would not escape. That was a rule that Ishpen had decided for herself. Yes, even if the opponent was an overwhelmingly strong enemy.
“No, I do not have any.”
She unknowingly breathed a sigh of relief. And then Ishpen became astonished.
About when she had felt relief from not receiving questions during trainings, how long ago was it? It was so long ago she forgot, it was when she still had not become the Guild’s receptionist, it was that long ago.
Ah, that’s right.
Ishpen had the smile of a spring wind on her face.
“You are a person that is written as ‘strong enemy’ but pronounced ‘rival’, aren’t you.”
“?”
Momon slightly widened his eyes at the friendly voice that he heard. Ishpen had the smile of a goddess as she watched the change in expression.
“—-Then, next is the explanation regarding the difficulty of requests.”
“Naturally there are various request difficulties. Request difficulties are rated by comparing the request against previous requests handled by the Guild. You may consider the rating to be highly accurate. For hunting assignments, ratings depend on factors such as the hunting grounds and the rarity of the item. For scouting assignments, ratings depend on factors such as time taken and the target. This information varies depending on the location and the rarity of the thing there are searching for, and the time needed and the target also changes.”
“However, in the case of a basic monster subjugation, you may use the difficulty rating the Guild has provided. In the case of multiple monsters, the monster with the highest difficulty rating +a will be used.”
“And regarding the important thing about subjugation difficulties, is that the difficulty of subjugation is an average, please never forget this.”
“For example there is a 80 centimetre long wolf. Would the difficulty be the same as a 110 centimetre long wolf? And so please remember that this is an average. There is a range of about plus minus four. Basically when you accept monster subjugation jobs, please estimate it to be higher than average. If you’re unlucky, a difficulty 32 monster may appear in a hunt for a difficulty 28 monster.”
“And that is all on my explaination of the difficulty of requests. Do you have any questions?”
“No, I do not.”
“—-I see.”
I’ve estimated. If it’s you then this difficulty should be okay.
Not a word escaped Ishpen’s mouth and instead she had a face of a saint. On the other hand, Momon’s face said that he was looking at something strange.
A gulp could be heard from Momon’s throat.
“Lastly is the way to accept requests but, please come to the counter, and we will prepare a member card for you tomorrow. Based on the class noted on your card, find the list of assignments you are eligible for and browse through them. If you cannot read please inform us, but please know that this is not free. It is 1 copper per 10 minutes.”
“The member card that proves that you are a guild member, if tomorrow is not free you may come another day and we will pass it to you. Please keep your card with you at all times. It takes a long time to renew it. In addition, if you do not have it you will be unable to take on any jobs.”
“And so the training has been completed. Congratulations, Momon-san. We the Adventurer’s Guild officially recognises you as an adventurer, and prays for your success.”
Ishpen unconsciously stood up and extended her hand over the counter. She had not done such a thing up till now. She just felt like she wanted to thank him.
The troubled Momon hesitated, and made a fist like he decided on something. The two of them lightly shook their hands. No, it might just have been Ishpen shaking.
That Ishpen had an unexpected thought cross her mind.
It was unexpectedly soft. She had expected it to be harder.
Eventually, the two separated their hands, and Momon asked a question.
“……By the way, is it possible to select a request now and receive my member card tomorrow?”
“Eh?”
It was true that Momon was already a adventurer. Without a member card, one could not accept requests, but it was possible to select them in advance. However, before that there was something she had to confirm.
“……Did Momon-san come alone? Is there anyone that will accompany you as an adventurer?”
A short confirmation. If they existed then he would not have come to the Guild alone.
“There are none.”
“And Momon-san probably does not use magic, or have any tracking skills, right.”
“……That is so.”
When she was writing on the sheepskin parchment and asked various questions, one part was, whether one had special skills. Unfortunately, Momon replied “none” to that question.
“If that is the case then you are a warrior type, but not having companions from the start is fairly bad. In many cases, people and mixed and matched, but the end result cannot really be called a party.
Healers and clerics have no problems, and magicians that can use magic are popular. Next are thieves and rangers or people that can collect information or investigate. Lastly are warriors.”
“However.” She continued in a calming voice. “Of course excellent warriors are popular. Warriors that can prevent enemies from penetrating the back, and buy time to defeat enemies. Frankly, an analytical mind and the ability to think on one’s feet are essential for warriors. That is why warriors act as leaders in many parties. They decide where to attack or when should magic be cast. That is why there are many warriors in the ranks of heroes.”
However, a newbie warrior’s options are considerably limited.
While there were jobs that the Guild could recommend……Ishpen stared at Momon’s appearance.
A medium build. She could not think that it was above average. It was quite difficult to believe, but the possibility was there. And he was Ishpen’s rival. Nothing should be beyond him.
Enveloped by a desire to check, Ishpen extended her finger.
“Could you please lift up the luggage over there please?”
In the direction where Ishpen was pointing. Near the wall was a large bag—-A bag with its insides bulging out was placed. A belt where it could be easily gripped extended from it. Inside the clean reception room of the Guild, this bag stood out a lot.
Momon nodded, and went up right to the bag, and grabbed the belt with his two hands.”
“Hmp.”
“Eh!”
The bag which most people could not lift alone, was easily lifted by Momon.
A considerable amount of weight hanged on Momon’s hands, and the belt bit into them. However Momon’s expression did not have an expression of pain. In addition, he gave off the impression that he could handle more.
Ishpen was surprised. She had not expected that of a man with such lean muscles. Was he wrapping and restraining his muscles? If you looked closely, it was possible to think that the folds of his clothes might be hiding his muscles.
While this was a small experiment, but with this she could find several jobs. Especially jobs that were suitable for adventurers exploring. As expected of a rival.
While admiring him, Ishpen’s head was filled with various jobs—-
“Must I still hold it?”
Momon’s slightly troubled voice could be heard. In response to that voice, Ishpen made a gesture to put it down.
“I truly apologise, I remembered that we might have a suitable job.”
“I do not mind.”
Momon lowered the bag with a loud clang. Momon returned to the counter where Ishpen was waiting, and she said a job that she could request of Momon.
“Momon-san, you’ve come at the right time. We have openings for porters.”
Momon had a face that showed that he knew absolutely nothing about what he had just heard.
That was natural. It was not a job that you would hear about if you lived in a village. However, if one lived near a mountain or forest, it may sometimes be heard.
“The living creature known as a horse can unexpectedly fall sick, or go on a rampage when encountering a monster. War horse or magic that can strengthen them do not exist, and purchasing them requires quite a large sum. And so one can employ adventurers to carry and transport their luggage. As a porter, an adventurer forms a party and carries their luggage as a replacement for a horse.”
“Fuun.”
“And more than anything, making acquaintances with other adventurers will help in the future. In fact, many people begin from porter jobs, and the Guild recommends this to those starting out.”
“How heavy is the luggage?”
“About 40 kilogrammes. It should be about the same as the earlier luggage you lifted.”
“Then please do so.”
“There are porter jobs that you can immediately accept, I remember.”
Ishpen stood up, and from the book shelves behind her, she took out one book. Inside this book which was written on precious paper, was the data of various adventurers.
Flipping through several pages, she looked for her target. Referring to the data which she had finally found, she read out the detailed request that was written near it.
“The requester is Peter Mork. According to the registration card, he is the leader of his party the Axe of Cyclone. Etto, the class of the Axe of Cyclone is E Class. The details of his work is to subjugate the monsters in the surrounding areas. The weight is about 40 kilogrammes. The contracted pay is one silver per day for six days. There is no down payment. After the contracted six days, the rate is 1.2 silver per day. Food and drink will be provided by the party.”
Reading up to there, Ishpen looked at Momon’s face.
“I believe it is a basic porter job.” Ishpen flipped to the next page of her book. “Etto, have no ex-convicts or any deaths. I believe that their party has no problems with credibility.”
“Then I will accept this job.”
“Understood. Then will it be fine to accept this request tomorrow? Then I will call the Axe of Cyclone members to meet tomorrow morning at 6:00.”
“Yes. Please do.”
She became slightly busy. Ishpen recalled the location of the Axe of Cyclone off of the sheepskin parchment she read earlier.
When the conversation ended, Momon was about to walk outside, but stopped midway. Then he turned back to face Ishpen, and spoke with a troubled expression.
“……Since I do not have an inn, could you please introduce one to me?”
Momon closed the slightly squeaky door to the room. At almost the same time, a door behind Isphen opened silently.
Another receptionist had just came out of the door leading to the middle and other floors of the Guild, she was a good friend of Ishpen.
The woman closed the door she had just left from, and looked at the empty room.
“……Just now, who came?”
“Eh, my rival.”
“Ha?”
A puzzled voice was raised. Ma~, this feeling is something no one but a fellow companion on a battlefield can understand, Ishpen thought. When an adventurer fights a monster to the death and regrets death, she had heard this often. Why do you kill each other, she wanted to ask that, but Ishpen then understood something.
This was—-That.
“Nothing, just talking to myself.” Then, what about you?”
“Eh? Aa, un. Some people want adventurers to be hired as night patrol.”
“Night patrol? Are you saying the guards only are not enough?”
“N~. Hora, recently there have been rumours in the town. About people seeing a monster.”
“The ones who were drunk?”
“Yes. A monster like a shadow.”
“……I do not believe that they can enter the city. Maybe it’s just a strangely dressed thief?”
“Probably, I think.”
A tone that was filled with unrest.
Ma, hearing that monsters could be within the city limits, there was no one among them that could remain calm. Because they were the Guild’s receptionists, they have never once swung a sword, a normal person.
However—-
“But there are no causalities. At most it’s just cases of wallets disappearing right?”
In any case it was not what monsters would do. Since there were nothing but missing wallets, and those that know the value of wallets. Then it was safe to assume that humans were the closest answer.
“Meh~”
To calm down the woman mixing her words, Ishpen smiled.
“Ma, the difficulty will be decided by the ones above, we just have to do what we have to do.”
“True.”
The women laughed, and Ishpen’s earlier interrupted hands began moving. The first thing was to locate the Axe of Cyclone.