Coming out of the inn, we were heading towards to the Adventurer's Guild, lead by Kuma. Along the way there, there were quite a few of the town's folks greeting Kuma. He's famous around these areas huh? Well, he did say that he often went here so it's no wonder people knew of him.
After some time, we arrived in front of the Adventurer's Guild. The guild from the outside was relatively big in my opinion. The building was radiating a feeling of magnificence in a way.
We spent no time loitering around and entered the guild. The interior of the building was not quite how I imagined it to be. Instead of looking like a bar, it was clean without any empty beer bottles around. It looked more luxurious than the inn we were staying in. It was not like a noble's house or anything but it was better than average. Besides that, to my delight, there weren't any weird smell wafting in the air.
The surrounding men and women only turned their heads for a little to look at us but soon resumed their own activities. That's to be expected though. We were not one of the big shots anyways. We also didn't pay any attention towards them and proceeded to walk to the reception desk.
The one who greeted us at the desk was a woman who looked like she was in her thirties. She also seemed like she knows Kuma.
"Oh, if it isn't Kuma-chan? What business do you have today?" The woman asked.
Kuma..... chan?
"Derillia-san, please don't call me that. Aside from that, I came here to register this guy over here as an adventurer. Surely you could do that?" Kuma conversed and asked casually to the woman who's name is Derillia with a hint of respect in his tone.
I didn't know Kuma had a human acquaintance that he respected. He didn't even conversed like this with the guards earlier. Putting that aside, I'm very excited right now. I wonder what kind of test would I be put into to be able to become an adventurer?
"Of course! Another adventurer is always welcome since there are empty spots here and there left by the deceased
adventurers. What's your name, young man?"
I suppose she views me only as a replacement huh... No matter. Someone needs to fill the empty spots sooner or later and I just happened to be the one.
"My name is Ren Tatsuki. Pleasure to meet you, Derillia-san," I introduced myself to her and bowed my head. The manners that was taught by my parents are instilled in me.
"Nice manners you got there Ren-chan." She replied back while taking out something out of a drawer from the desk.
Wait, please don't call me Ren-chan. I don't want my name to sound so feminine-like.
After shuffling around for a bit, Derillia-san finally found what she was looking for. A piece of paper.
"Here. You just fill in this form and then you are done." Derillia-san handed the paper along with a fountain pen to me.
While I was filling the form where I needed to answer the basic information about myself, I noticed that I didn't know what to put for the race section. After all, the plate showed that my race was unknown but I wasn't willing to fill 'unknown' in the blank field. It may arouse any unwanted suspicion towards me. After contemplating what to put, I ended up putting human as my race since I do looked like one.
Finishing the form, I handed it back to Derillia-san.
"Thank you. Now I just need to confirm it..."
"Confirm what?" I asked, quite confused at her statement.
"She's going to use magic on the form as one of the committee staff in the guild to confirm your registration, officially making you an adventurer." Instead of Derillia-san, Kuma was the one who answered my question.
That's good and all but there was one thing that upsets me. Why was the registration so simple? You just crushed my hopes in having to take a test to qualify as an adventurer. I thought I would brawl with someone to prove my strength. This wasn't like how I imagined it to be.
While still complaining in my head, I didn't notice that the paper I handed back to Derillia-san was glowing until just a few moments ago. After a few seconds, the glow faded and the paper was back to normal.
"Wow...." I unconsciously muttered, making it audible enough for Derillia-san to hear.
"Ren-chan, you never seen magic before this?" She asked to me, a little bit surprised that someone actually never saw magic before. I guess magic is a regular interval in this world.
"N-no. It's nothing of the sorts." I replied back to her, embarrassed of my earlier statement. It seems like I haven't gotten use to all this fantasy stuff. Can't blame me though. I had never seen a glowing paper up until now.
"Aren't you cute, Ren-chan? Could you wait here for a moment while I go fetch you your guild plate?" Derillia-san teased me for my earlier actions. Without waiting for my reply, she went into a room situated behind the reception desk while bringing the registration form that I filled.
I prefer that you would stop calling me Ren-chan and that you should call me handsome instead of cute. No man wants to be cute. Besides that, are plates the fad in this era (not the ones used for eating)?
Intrigued about the matter, I turned my head towards Kuma who wasn't talking much since we left the inn.
"Kuma, what's a guild plate. What's it for?" I asked, convinced that Kuma knows about it.
"Well, I guess you don't know anything about everything huh? Can't help it but to explain it to you. Listen carefully since I'm not willing to repeat it again." Kuma said all that while belittling me at the same time. I'm sorry that I don't know anything about everything, Mr. Who Lived A Hundred Years.
"Okay, go on." I just simply replied trying to not get on his nerves.
"Guild plate is a symbol that someone is a guild member or commonly known as an adventurer. The plate also serves as a certificate required when you apply for jobs in here or other guilds. Simply put, your qualifications. It also indicates what your current rank is. The higher your rank is, the more benefits you get." Kuma explained.
He also explained that the benefits of a higher rank were being able to do more jobs that paid more, respect from fellow adventurers and maybe a noble might request you for a job. The ranks for the adventurers are divided into seven. From the lowest to the highest; white, yellow, purple, orange, red, blue and black being the highest one. Kuma also told me that there were only a few that had been promoted into the black rank.
So, as a beginner adventurer, I'm of the white rank. I hope I don't get looked down upon. Probably will though.
As Kuma and I conversed about the topic, Derillia-san had finished with whatever business she needed to attend to and brought a white plate which I assumed was the guild plate with her to the reception desk.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Here is your guild plate, Ren-chan. I hope you strive to become a great adventurer." Derillia-san apologized for the wait and encouraged me to become a great adventurer while flashing me a smile.
"Thank you, Derillia-san." Not bothering to fix how she calls me, I thanked her for her encouragement and bowed.
"We will be taking our leave." Kuma said to her and was already walking out of the building. Since I didn't want to be left behind, I followed him.
Without realizing it, it was already evening when we finished our initial business at the guild. Since the inn provides our meals, there was no need to shop for food for now. With that, we headed straight back to the inn. On the way, I asked Kuma what rank he was as an adventurer and I was not surprised that he was of the purple rank.
He was an adventurer way before I was so it isn't unnatural for him to have a higher rank than mine although it's a bit low in my opinion.
We arrived at the inn just in time to eat dinner. We took our seats at one of the table that was provided by the inn. The inn was a two storey building. The first floor being the bar where the customers eat and the second floor being the accommodation.
I asked Kuma several questions to start up a conversation while waiting for the meal to arrive at our table.
"Kuma, we are not going to the capital on foot right? There must another means of transport."
"Idiot~ Of course not. We are going there by riding a horse. By the way, do you even know how to ride a horse?" Kuma replied back with his usual attitude that doesn't seem to stop insulting me because of my lack of skills.
"...I don't." I reluctantly answered his question.
"Haahh... I knew it. I guess we will go there by a carriage. Of course, that would cost more and since you are a white rank adventurer, you wouldn't be able to earn much. Why did I decide to follow you anyways? Oh. It's because of that fun quest."
You didn't need to say it that way. I'm hurt.
On time, a maid that works for the inn came with our meals. I said thanks to her and she went back to her job. We didn't need to pay since when Kuma booked the room for two days and two nights, he made sure the owner of the inn included the meals. We weren't going to stay in the town for a long time so two days and two nights of stay was enough. In short, we wouldn't have to worry about the meals for tomorrow.
After thanking the maid, I continued my conversation with the mean Kuma.
"Well, you didn't need to put it that way. I will make sure to make some silver coins later on tonight to pay for the carriage. With that done, I want to remind you of the promise you made to train me in the way of the sword. I want to train tonight if that's okay with you."
"Yeah, yeah. Now let's eat. I'm hungry." Kuma's nonchalant reply made me want to smack his face but I managed to suppressed my desire to do that.
In front of us were the food that was brought in by the maid. There was a meat dish that was sauteed with some vegetables and herbs, giving it a pleasant aroma. There was also soup and bread to go along with the dish. A nice smell was wafting in the air, arousing our hunger even more.
There wasn't anything wrong with the dishes but there was one thing missing. I kept looking at the table in hopes to find it but my effort was in vain. There's no rice!
I ate in silence realizing that I couldn't eat rice. I was anticipating it for so long since I wasn't able to eat it during our journey from the forest but this time also, my anticipation was crushed. I could just create rice but the feeling won't be the same. Despite my inner complaints, the dinner was satisfying and delicious. Trying not to dwell on the matter of rice, I went back to our room with Kuma.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
I haven't mentioned it but the room was a very simple room. It has two small beds for two people, a desk, several oil lamps on the wall and a full-body sized mirror. There were also small transparent windows to provide light and of course curtains for privacy. Even though it feels a little empty, the room was good enough.
My training with Kuma was going to start tonight so I changed into my light armor that was given by Kuma. The clothes was properly cleaned by me with the help of my trusty magic. I was going to grab my metal sword but was stopped by none other than Kuma.
"We are not going to use real swords. I wouldn't worry about myself getting hurt since I won't but you are the problem. So go and make us two wooden swords while I'm changing my clothes," he said while unbuttoning his white shirt.
He has a point so on to work I guess. Thanks to my magic training that I have done, I was able to make two wooden swords quickly.
By the time I finished making the wooden swords, Kuma was also dressed properly for the occasion. I handed one of the wooden swords to him and took one for myself. Tonight's training was only to spar with each other.
"Okay, now that we are set to go, let me warn you one thing. When you are facing your opponent, weak or not, never let your guard down as it can cost you your life. Now that's settled, get in your stance and get ready to spar. I just hope we are not going to be too noisy for the other guests." Kuma said to me and he especially pressed on the matter of not letting my guard down. I made sure to take mental note of that.
"Give me your best." I replied while getting into my fighting stance; bending my knees to lower myself and holding my wooden sword in front with both of my hands.
The one who took the initiative to attack first was Kuma. He launched himself towards the right side and proceeded to strike me. Once he was within my sword's reach, I swung my sword towards him, only to slash air. I hurriedly looked around to see where he went only to find a wooden sword at my throat. He was already behind me.
"I lost." I admitted defeat. I was disappointed how it ended so quickly and that I wasn't able to do anything. Hearing me admit defeat, Kuma then withdraw his wooden sword away from my throat.
"Slow! Weak! And to top it all off, you panicked once you saw me charging towards you didn't you? I'm beginning to wonder if you actually brought down the wolf during your first hunt. Another lesson to learn is to never panic during a fight. Once you do, your chance of winning is zero." Kuma scolded me.
"Even more so, I need to improve so that I can make my first step towards my fun quest. Kuma, one more time." This training isn't going to end until I say so. I will do anything to achieve my fun and one of the things that I need to do is to get stronger.
"I guess your mischievousness is what drives you. No matter. Take your stance. We shall start all over again. This time, instead of stopping before the sword reach you, I'm just gonna outright hit you with the sword. Got it?" Kuma walked back to his spot and I took my stance.
With a grin, I told him, "Bring it!".
~~~~~~
"Huff...huff. haah....haahh. phew.."
"Let's end it at that tonight. It's late anyways so try to get some sleep." Kuma said before wiping some of the sweat that had accumulated on his face using a small towel while his clothes remained dry and weren't soaked in sweat.
"Huff.. haahh.. okay..huff.."
I was panting while lying on the ground, exhausted. The training was practically one-sided crushing. I was unable to do anything against Kuma. He was too fast for my eyes to follow his movements and before I knew it, I was already struck by the sword.
As time went, I was becoming more and more tired so my performance was more sluggish each turn. Kuma on the other hand, barely broke a sweat. His clothes weren't drenched in sweat like mine. My body also ached, the result of being repeatedly hit by the wooden sword.
Dammit! Next time, I will definitely land at least one solid blow on him!
I got up from my spot and cast my magic on myself; cleaning and deodorizing myself and my clothes. After that, I went to my bed and collapsed on the bed. Shortly after, I fell asleep from the exhaustion.
~~~~~~
I woke up in the morning, bathed in the warm sunlight. Although I made sure the curtains were down last night, this morning, the curtains were up, allowing sunlight to enter the room through the small windows. I looked towards the other bed in the room but it was empty. I guess Kuma already left huh.
I got up from my bed and began doing my morning stretches. After that, I looked around the room to see if Kuma had left a note or something. Fortunately, he did as I noticed a small piece of paper was lying on the room's desk. He never left me alone up till now. I wonder what he's doing, leaving without me. I guess reading the note will tell me.
I walked towards the desk and grabbed the note to read what it says.
'I am going somewhere today to look for something and to search for a carriage for us to go to the capital. I left some money for you to go shopping if you want.
-Kuma-'
Besides the note was one silver coin. Well, this is more than enough for me. Now that I think about it, I did promise to Kuma that I would create some silver coins... I will just do that now.
After memorizing the image of the silver coin, I began imagining the coin. I used my Creation Magic to create ten silver coins that was equivalent to a thousand copper coins. I put the coins that onto the desk as I was going to change my clothes.
I donned my white buttoned shirt and black sleek pants and my pair of black shoes. I went to the mirror that was located near the desk and fixed my white hair and clothes. I checked if there were any eye bags under my black eyes; fortunately, there wasn't any. I also applied my deodorization magic so that I won't smell weird. I proceeded to take the ten silver coins that I made, leaving the one that Kuma gave on the desk and I walked out of the room.
I left the inn, knowing that by the time I woke up, it was already past the afternoon meal. With my stomach growling for food, I wandered around Corolla town to find a suitable restaurant so that I could eat. Besides my quest, I did want to eat all kinds of cuisines that this other world has to offer.
After searching for a while, I finally found a suitable and comfortable looking restaurant. I sat on one of the tables provided in the restaurant. I asked what was available and picked out three dishes with the names that fancied me the most. The tyrannical barbecued bear meat, the devil soup filled with Forka mushrooms and finally the smooth, soft, melting bread. I also ordered three glasses of plain water.
Soon, all of the dishes arrived at my table. The maid who brought it totaled up the amount of money that I had to pay. It was a whopping fifty eight copper coins. Even a stay at the inn for two days with meals was only thirty copper coins. I guess it's my fault for eating in this expensive looking restaurant. The restaurant couldn't be compared to my old world's but it was far better than the others that were in the town.
Since I already ordered the dishes, I fished out a silver coin and handed it to the maid. The maid took it and gave the proper amount of change back to me.
Looking at the dishes that were put on the table, I hoped that the dishes will worth the money. Without waiting any further, I dig in the bear dish first. I was taken back by surprise by how delicious it tasted.
The meat was so tender that I dare say that it could just slide down my throat. The tenderness also had an indescribable taste of chewiness. It was sweet and it was sour. While I was eating, I wondered if Kuma was to see me eating bear meat, would he get offended? I quickly pushed the thought aside as I moved on to the next dish.
The next dish, the devil soup with Forka mushrooms gave off an enticing aroma. There were fork like things in the soup which I assumed was the Forka mushrooms. Like the first dish, it was extremely delicious with it's hot spiciness. The mushrooms were somewhat bitter but they complimented the spiciness surprisingly well. As there was only a bowl of the soup, I quickly finished it and moved on to the bread.
The bread was the most suspicious among them all. It looked like an ordinary bread except that it was golden in color. As I had finished the two dishes earlier and drank two glasses of water, I was somewhat relieved to see that there were only two slices of bread. I picked up one slice of the bread with my hand and took a bite out of it.
"! What is this?!" I was shocked once more as the bread far surpasses the first two dishes that I ate. Some of the customers looked at me with weird eyes but I ignored them.
This bread.. This bread! Like the name said, it was smooth, it was soft and it was melting! It baffled me as to how the cook could prepare something like this. How could it possibly be? A bread that melts in your mouth as if it was butter put on a hot fry pan. It was one of the seven wonders of cooking.
I ate the slice of bread that was in my hand as I savored it to the utmost. The same went for the other slice. I now regretted the fact that there were only two slices of bread and that I was relieved earlier because of the very fact. I now realized, what truly made it expensive. It was the bread.
Gulping down the last of my drink, I walked out of the restaurant refreshed and was like a new man with newfound determination.
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A/N: I hope this chapter is good enough for this update. I regret to say that I'm not able to bring out chapters daily but I'm trying to update once 2-3 days. I may take a few days off as I'm a human, not a robot.
I also want to express my thank you to whoever it was who rated and voted my story. As always, feedback are welcome and thanks for reading :D !