She pointed to the bottom of the paper, where "Single I" was listed.

  "Simply put, your level reflects your combat experience, while your guild rank shows how many guild quests you've taken and successfully completed. Combat experience refers to how much strength you've absorbed from other creatures. Are you familiar with how strength absorption works?"

  "Yes, it's when you kill another creature and part of its power becomes yours, right?"

  "That's correct. To put it simply, at level 1, you have the average strength of a human. At level 10, you have ten times that strength. While it doesn't matter much for adventuring, for mercenary work, this value directly affects your base pay."

  "I see. So, if you're at level 10, you can earn ten times the salary?"

  "Well, that's the basic idea. Next, regarding guild ranks, they increase each time you complete a quest and accumulate the required achievement points. The higher your rank, the better paying quests you can take on. The quests you can accept must be of the same rank as you or lower."

  Silva's eyes were drawn to the notes section on the paper.

  "What does this cautionary note mean?"

  "Yes, you can take on as many quests as you like at one time, but each quest has a deadline. If you exceed this deadline, a penalty fee is charged, and your achievement points will decrease."

  "So, it's possible for your rank to drop?"

  "Exactly. Your rank increases by accumulating 100 achievement points. For you, Mr. Schneizel, the progression would be Double I, then Triple I, and finally Single H. However, if you fail a quest and drop below 100 points after reaching Double, you would fall back to Single I. That said..."

  She pointed to the indemnity clause section.

  "If there are discrepancies or flaws in the quest's conditions or details, you won't be penalized even if you can't complete it. In some cases, you can even claim damages from the client. If that happens, please contact the guild, and we'll handle it."

  (This sounds like temp work...)

  "That concludes the basic explanation. Do you have any questions?"

  "No."

  Silva shook his head.

  "Then, let's choose your first job, Mr. Schneizel."

  She again pulled out a stack of documents from the drawer and placed them in front of Silva.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  At the top of the paper, "Single I" rank was noted, followed by numerous listed jobs.

  "So, Mr. Schneizel, what kind of quests are you interested in? Adventuring? Mercenary work?"

  "Honestly, either is fine..."

  (It really feels like I'm being interviewed...)

  Silva recalled the recommendation interview he had during his high school entrance exam. It was similar in the sense that they were asking about his future plans.

  "Hmm... If you're confident in your combat skills, then mercenary work might be a good fit."

  Saying this, she marked a few sections with red circles.

  "The ones I've marked are combat focused jobs—wild dog extermination or wild bee extermination. There's no specific deadline, the payment is 3 copper coins per exterminated target, and you gain 1 achievement point per kill."

  Silva asked about what he had in mind, jobs that involved traveling to another town, such as escorting someone or delivering goods.

  "Are there any jobs that involve traveling to another town?"

  "Delivery jobs, perhaps. Escort jobs aren't available at the I rank..."

  She shook her head regretfully.

  "Escort jobs involve the client's life directly, so only those deemed to have a certain level of capability can accept them. You need to be at least rank C for those."

  "Then, how about delivery jobs? Are there any that go outside the country?"

  "Hmm... Long distance deliveries aren't available at the I rank. The most you can do is deliver to a neighboring town."

  Unlike in games, it seemed there were many restrictions. Silva noticed a map hanging on the wall behind her.

  "By the way, if I search in the neighboring town, might there be jobs going further?"

  "There might be, for delivery jobs."

  "Um, could I borrow a map, please?"

  Though the receptionist looked puzzled, she pulled out a folded map from the drawer and spread it out on the counter.

  "Uh, where's Ortomea on here?"

  "This is the capital, Ortomea."

  Her finger pointed to a large dot on the map, located near the border between the central and southern regions. In bold, black letters, "Capital Ortomea" was marked. Looking closely, a thick red line surrounded parts of the central and western areas.

  That thick red line likely represented the borders of the Ortomea Empire. It was quite expansive.

  (Garulique, Melferen, Gildas, Oito... If I'm going somewhere, it has to be one of these four towns...)

  Silva's eyes were drawn to the four towns. Each was located near the imperial capital.

  "Are there any delivery jobs going to Melferen?"

  At Silva's question, the receptionist scanned through the stack of documents.

  "Please wait a moment... Let's see... This one requires a higher rank... And this one is already taken... Hmm... Ah! Here's one! It's a letter delivery. The reward is 30 copper coins, and you earn 5 achievement points."

  As a newcomer, there likely weren't many jobs Silva could take on, especially after specifying a destination. Jobs aren't always conveniently available, and someone else might have already taken them.

  However, Silva seemed to have luck on his side. After thoroughly searching through the stack, the receptionist looked at Silva with a triumphant smile.

  "I'll take that one."

  Silva quickly accepted the quest. In situations like this, decisiveness is key. There was no time to hesitate.

  "Alright, you'll be taking this one."

  She wrote something on a glass plate attached to the pedestal with the glass orb. The orb flashed.

  "All done. The deadline is within three days. The quest will be completed once you deliver the letter to the guild in Melferen. Would you like to take on any other quests?"

  "Then, please sign me up for all the available extermination quests."

  "Alright. Then, we have the wild dog, wild bee, and wild rabbit extermination quests. These have no deadlines, so please report to the guild when you've made some progress."

  "Got it."