NOVEL NEXT Chapter 5
Episode 5: Adventurers’ Guild (Part 1)
The next morning.
I arrived in front of the “Adventurers’ Guild” building, whose location I had noted the night before.
The building’s sign bore a mark of a dragon’s body with crossed sword, bow, and staff, and beneath it was written “Adventurers’ Guild – Romel Branch”.
(Romel Branch? Is that the name of this town?)
Opening the door and entering the building, I immediately came upon a large hall with tables and chairs arranged here and there, like a food court. At each table sat sparsely distributed armed men and women, presumably adventurers, chatting in groups. On the walls were large bulletin boards with multiple memo-like papers posted. The boards were divided into A to F, with boards A and B having no postings. Next to the bulletin boards, which looked like a reception area, was a counter where young women in matching uniforms were working.
As I approached the counter, one of the women there addressed me.
“Welcome. Are you here to make a request?”
“No, I want to become an adventurer.”
“Oh, you’re here for adventurer registration? Are you of legal age?”
“Well, I’m 16. Is that okay?”
I lied casually.
“Yes. Anyone 15 years or older without a criminal record can register. Please fill out this form with your name, age, and any special skills. Do you need help writing?”
“No need. I can manage.”
I received a paper that felt like straw paper and began writing with the quill pen they handed me. It’s my first time using a quill pen, but I’ll manage somehow. If someone in Japan were asked “Can you read and write?”, they might go crazy, but in a less developed civilization, it’s not unexpected. Even in developed countries on Earth, illiteracy is common among the poor. Japan’s literacy rate is unusually high. I can speak multiple languages, but I can only read and write in Japanese and English.
I write my name and age, but pause at the ‘special skills’ section.
“If you don’t have any, it’s fine to leave it blank,” the receptionist helpfully suggests.
There’s no need to be unnecessarily honest, so I submit the form with the special skills section blank.
“So, Mr. Ray, is it? Just to confirm, do you have any criminal record?”
“No.”
“Please note that if any criminal history is discovered later, your qualification will be revoked and you may face penalties including fines. Now, here you are.”
The receptionist hands me a wooden tag with a string attached, likely to be worn around the neck. Is this the adventurer’s badge? The wooden tag has the letter “G” written on it.
“First, I’ll give you a brief explanation about being an ‘adventurer’. With few exceptions, new adventurers start at G rank. However, G rank is essentially an ‘adventurer trainee’. G rank adventurers are officially registered after completing ten G-rank requests. While ‘adventurer trainees’ can be minors, official registration is only possible for adults. Since you’re an adult, Mr. Ray, you can be officially registered as F-rank after completing the required number of requests. Official registration requires a fee of one silver coin, so please have it ready when registering.”
“Detailed rules will be explained later at the initial orientation. Attending this orientation is also a condition for official registration, so please make sure to attend. This month’s orientation is… tomorrow. Would you like to attend? By the way, the next orientation will be next month.”
“I’ll attend tomorrow.”
“Understood. Please come here tomorrow afternoon.”
“Got it. Are there any recommended inns around here?”
“In this area, most people stay either at the inn on the second floor of the tavern next door or at the ‘Kutsurogi-tei’ just outside the guild. The tavern’s second floor is a shared dormitory room, costing one large copper coin per night without meals. ‘Kutsurogi-tei’ offers private rooms with two meals for one silver coin per night.”
“Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.”
After asking about the inns’ locations, I thanked the receptionist, hung the wooden tag around my neck, tucked it inside my shirt, and left the guild. While some adventurers in the hall were looking at the bulletin boards or chatting with companions, a few were observing me.
(I’m glad there wasn’t any cliché event where I got hassled.)
…
Looking at the coins in my pocket, I head towards the private room inn “Kutsurogi-tei”.
(One silver coin, huh? That’s probably around 10,000 yen in Japanese currency? It should last me three days.)
I find a building that looks right with a sign that reads “Kutsurogi-tei” and enter.
“I’d like to stay. Do you have any vacant rooms?”
I ask the middle-aged woman at the reception.
“Sure do. One night with two meals, breakfast and dinner, for one silver coin.”
“I’ll take it for three nights, for now.”
“Three nights, alright. That’ll be three silver coins. Your room is 204 on the second floor. Here’s the key. Come to the reception to return the key on the morning of the fourth day. If you’re not here, we’ll dispose of any belongings left in the room.”
“Understood. Can I order breakfast now?”
“Yeah, you’re still in time. Go eat in the dining hall. There’s a well in the back you can use freely for water.”
I take the key and head to the dining hall. A rugged middle-aged man is washing dishes in the kitchen. There doesn’t seem to be any wait staff, so I call out to the man in the kitchen.
“I’ll be staying for three days starting today. I heard I could still get breakfast…”
“Hm? A customer? Wait a bit, I’ll prepare it now.”
He hands me a tray with bread and soup. I sit at a nearby table to eat. The soup is a vegetable-based salt soup with a token amount of meat. What kind of meat is it, I wonder? The bread is hard and can only be eaten by dipping it in the soup.
While this might be tough for someone used to Japanese food, it’s similar to meals in conflict zones. However, if this body is in its growth phase, subsisting solely on such meals wouldn’t be ideal. I’ll need to consider a more nutritionally balanced diet in the future.
After finishing the meal, I head to my room on the second floor. It’s a fairly ordinary room. There’s no bath or toilet, just a bed, desk, and chair. The toilet is in a shared outhouse near the well, used by both men and women.
(The toilet near the well? Seriously… I hope they didn’t use well water for that soup earlier.)
I thought placing a toilet near the well was unhygienic, but I was surprised when I entered. It’s a pit latrine, but there’s a slime-like creature at the bottom. An amoeba-like, viscous, moving creature is eating the waste. Since waste processing is completed within this space, it doesn’t seem to affect the nearby well. It’s truly fantasy-like.
(I hope it doesn’t come up while I’m using it…)
Still, from now on, I’ll drink water created by magic just in case.
There’s no bath. The style here is to scoop water from the well into a bucket and wipe your body with a cloth. I asked at the reception, and while inns with baths do exist, they’re quite expensive. As a Japanese person, I’d like to soak in a bathtub, so I’ll work hard to earn enough.
Once the hero-killing job is done, I’ll demand additional payment in gold from the goddess.