Poor Noble Nord’s Adventure

3. Accepting First Job

Nord wore the guild card made of a wooden chip he received at the counter around his neck (he threaded the string himself) and moved to the place where the “job request forms” were, as instructed by the receptionist at the Adventurer’s Guild.

Job requests at the Adventurer’s Guild were posted right after entering, to the left in the tavern. Strictly speaking, the tavern was in the back left of the guild, with chairs and tables set up, so the space between the entrance and the tavern was where adventurers searched for job requests.

Nord headed to that space, where the requests were posted. The job requests seemed to be plastered all over the wall. Large corkboards were mounted on the wall, and many job requests were posted on them. The boards, or the “quest boards,” were engraved with words like “Crystal” and “Black Iron,” along with patterns. Seeing this, Nord recalled the adventurer ranking system.

An adventurer’s rank increases with their strength and contributions, as recognized by the guild. The higher the rank, the greater the rewards from job requests. The rank names, with a few exceptions, were derived from the materials of each rank’s guild card, listed from highest to lowest:

10h Rank: Sacred Treasure Adventurer

9th Rank: Sacred Gold Adventurer

8th Rank: Sacred Silver Adventurer

7th Rank: Gold Adventurer

6th Rank: Silver Adventurer

5th Rank: Black Iron Adventurer

4th Rank: Red Copper Adventurer

3rd Rank: Crystal Adventurer

2nd Rank: Gemstone Adventurer

1st Rank: Slate Adventurer

Exception:

No-rank: Wooden Chip Adventurer – Newbie

Nord was currently a Wooden Chip Class adventurer. According to the naming rules, he’d be called “Wood,” but in reality, the nickname “Newbie” had become so widespread that he would almost certainly be called that.

As adventurers climb ranks, they receive a set amount of funds, which is an incentive beyond just earning higher rewards.

Moreover, to be promoted to Mithril rank or higher, an adventurer must be recognized by the guild for their outstanding achievements. This recognition goes through a meeting of the guild’s highest officials, and if approved by the council members, the promotion becomes possible.

Upon promotion, instead of receiving funds, adventurers are given materials for their respective ranks. For example, at Mithril rank, they would receive Mithril materials. At Orichalcum rank, they would receive Orichalcum materials.

Using these legendary materials, which even wealthy upper-class nobles struggle to obtain, for one’s own equipment is the ultimate honor for a warrior, Nord thought. But he shook his head to return to reality—what mattered was earning money for today’s meal, not legendary equipment he couldn’t get. Especially since Nord was at the lowest level of adventurers.

He had to climb to the next rank, 1st Rank Plate Adventurer, as soon as possible to earn more money.

Nord looked back at the bulletin board.

The jobs available to a Wooden Chip Class Newbie were the lowest tier, jobs that anyone could take. These requests were posted on the far end of the quest boards—at the very corner of the Adventurer’s Guild. A board labeled “Free Board” was posted along the wall.

The jobs on the Free Board, while offering low rewards, were perfect for Newbie adventurers like Nord, as they did not incur penalties for failure.

All of them were jobs completely unrelated to combat or adventure, like “cleaning city sewers,” “removing debris at a construction site,” or “cleaning the royal capital.”

The only relatively adventurer-like task was “collect herbs!”—a permanent request posted year-round. There was always demand for it, so no matter how many people took the job, it would never be removed. By the way, the “cleaning” jobs were also permanent, but they had a limit on how many could take them each day, and today’s slots were already filled.

Additionally, anyone could take jobs from the Free Board, even without a guild card. Nord had been doing so to earn pocket money for a long time. This was why Wooden Chip Class adventurers were not considered full-fledged adventurers but mere Newbies.

After looking over the Free Board, Nord decided to take the “Slime Capture Request.” The client was the Sewer Management Bureau. The request detailed how “giant rats had overbred and were eating the slimes in the sewers, causing a shortage of slimes to eat the garbage, which could clog the sewers. Please collect slimes and bring them to us!”

A supplementary note from the guild indicated they would accept up to 500 slimes and included the current count. Apparently, about half of the slimes had already been collected, so Nord thought he should hurry. He also took a herb-gathering request. Both jobs had low individual rewards, but if he gathered enough, it would be enough for a decent meal.

Nord handed the job requests to the Adventurer’s Guild staff at the counter, and they filled in his name in the “Request Taker” section. After confirming that the name matched the one on Nord’s guild card, they stamped the request forms. He was warned not to lose the stamped request forms, as they would be needed to receive the reward. The stamp on the request forms and the guild’s ledger would be matched to prevent fraud.

With the two requests in hand, Nord carefully stored them and left the guild building.

§

Before capturing slimes, Nord made preparations. But there wasn’t much to do. Besides the longsword at his waist for protection, all he needed were bags for the slimes and some rope to bundle the herbs. After returning home to prepare, Nord headed outside the royal capital.

At the capital’s gate, the guards were busy inspecting the continuous stream of visitors. They checked belongings and verified that the goods merchants carried on their carts matched their declarations, or ensured that people weren’t criminals on the wanted list.

Nord, who was born in the royal capital and was the son of a noble, had citizenship and was well-acquainted with the city guards. A simple greeting was all it took for the guards to let him through.

It seemed like the Adventurer’s Guild had Free Board jobs as a sort of tutorial to get adventurers used to the request-taking process, rather than to deal with the posted requests themselves. With that thought in mind, Nord walked from the gate to the area where slimes lived.

A river flowed around the capital’s perimeter, with water drawn inside the city. It was essential for the residents. Nord arrived downstream, where he saw familiar herbs growing in abundance.

The leaves spread out in five directions, like a human hand. Holding the leaves by their stems, Nord plucked them skillfully. The familiar sharp scent hit his nose—medicinal herbs.

Specifically, this was the most common and low-grade type of herb called a “medicinal herb.” While other higher-grade herbs also went by the same name, Nord, who had never seen them, referred to this low-grade herb with hand-shaped leaves as just “medicinal herbs.”

As Nord deftly plucked the herbs, a quivering creature appeared in front of him. It had likely crawled out from the water, its jelly-like body encased in a thin membrane, shaking as it slowly moved. A darker core could be seen in the center. A slime. Slimes were everywhere and mainly ate dead leaves, animal carcasses, and trash. They supposedly also ate small insects but were harmless to anything larger.

Since Nord had accepted a slime capture request, he caught the slime. Grasping it with both hands, the slime quivered in an attempt to escape. However, it couldn’t slip out of Nord’s grip and was placed into his bag.

Being mostly liquid, slimes could change their color depending on their environment. For instance, slimes in the sewers absorbed dirty water and took on a filthy hue. This slime, which was currently clear from living in the river, would soon be thrown into the sewers and take on that dirty color.

While pondering this, Nord continued gathering herbs and occasionally stuffed slimes into his bag as they emerged from the riverside.

§

Nord returned within the city walls before nightfall. During the night, the capital’s gates were generally closed, except for emergencies—such as military messengers. If unlucky, one would have to camp outside the city walls. Naturally, as a citizen of the capital, Nord was well aware of this.

After delivering the captured slimes to the Waterworks Bureau as instructed, Nord returned to the guild with an empty bag in hand.

As he walked along the stone-paved road of the capital, glowing red in the setting sun, he saw many people dressed like adventurers who had likely also finished their jobs.

When Nord entered the Adventurer’s Guild, all the counters already had long lines. Sighing, he joined the back of one of the queues.

In the tavern, rough-looking adventurers were already drinking, having finished their reports. Some celebrated their success, clinking glasses with their comrades. Others ate their meals alone. Some boasted about the ferocious monsters they defeated, regaling others with tales of their own prowess, drinks in hand.

As Nord’s line at the counter slowly moved forward, the number of adventurers in the tavern increased, and the noise grew louder. By the time Nord reached the counter to report, the tavern had turned into a fully-fledged banquet hall, with drunk adventurers in full swing.

“Is it always like this?”

Nord had never visited the guild at this time, so he asked, surprised by the noise. The receptionist, while processing his two quest forms and bundle of herbs, smiled with a slightly troubled yet happy expression and replied.

“Yes, it’s always like this. Is it not to your liking?”

“You’ll have to get used to it as an adventurer,” she added, to which Nord responded briefly, “No, I don’t mind it.”

The boisterous atmosphere reminded Nord of his family home, the Ferris household. Though not as loud, his home was also lively.

For adventurers, the guild might be like home. With that thought, Nord collected today’s reward from the counter.

It was just a few small copper coins, barely enough for a regular meal, but it marked Nord’s first solid step as an adventurer.