"Here you go, this is the payment for your mission," Miss Feline said, handing me a thousand crypto coins.
"Thank you," I replied, accepting my payment.
Today, I took on a mission similar to yesterday. I selected a few missions that matched my rank. Every adventurer can only choose missions that correspond to their rank or one rank above. It's a rule set by the guild to ensure the safety of adventurers. The guild itself is not responsible for any accidents caused by the adventurers' own mistakes.
Speaking of my own rank, I'm currently at rank E. Ranks E and F are considered beginner ranks. Those in these ranks can only receive household tasks, such as helping a town resident, collecting plants and herbs, or dealing with low-level monsters.
I've been learning magic and practicing all the different attributes of magic in the Castalla Forest for three days now. After three days of training, I can now use all seven magical attributes, although only at the lowest level.
"Vans, the guild master wants to see you," Miss Feline said to me.
"The guild master? What for?" I was a little surprised by Miss Feline's words.
"I don't know either. He just instructed the guild receptionist to inform you about the meeting."
I don't know why the guild master wants to meet with me. I don't think I've done anything that violates the guild's rules or caused any trouble. Maybe there was only one instance when I had an issue, during a fight with another adventurer on my first day as a registered adventurer. But even then, it wasn't me who started the trouble. So why would the guild master want to meet with a novice adventurer like me?
"How can I meet the guild master?" I asked Miss Feline.
"I'll take you to the guild master's room."
"Alright, I'll follow you."
I walked behind Miss Feline as we made our way to the guild master's room, which seemed to be on the second floor.
I couldn't find an answer as I pondered why the guild master would call me personally. I haven't even seen or met the guild master before. Usually, a guild master would summon an adventurer when they achieve something significant. But I don't feel like I've accomplished anything noteworthy recently. Instead, I've encountered some trouble right from the beginning of my journey as an adventurer.
After a while, I arrived in front of a room located at the far end of the second floor. Miss Feline opened the door and gestured for me to enter.
As I stepped into the room, I saw a man with blond hair, a slightly sharp face, and a commanding gaze. He didn't have a large, muscular body like a knight. With a slightly slim build and a height of around 180 centimeters, his status as the guild master and a former Rank A adventurer was evident. His main ability was as a wizard with three types of attributes and several other skills. Looking at his abilities, I felt tempted to challenge him.
"Please have a seat," he commanded, pointing to the only chair in front of the desk.
"Sorry, guild master, why did you suddenly call me here?" I asked him as I took a seat.
This was the second time for me to experience a situation like this. Previously, at Mr. Hector's company, I was also suddenly summoned to meet him. I hoped I wouldn't encounter any troublesome situations because I had just registered as an adventurer in this guild, only a week ago.
"I just wanted to talk about a few things with you, but before that, let me introduce myself. My name is Dariel, as you know, I am the guild master here," the guild master answered as he sat in his chair. Now we were both facing each other, separated by a desk.
"Alright, so what does the guild master want to discuss with me?" I asked him directly.
It seemed strange that he called me here just to have a conversation. There must be a specific reason for summoning me to this room.
"Relax, there's no need to be so tense. I just want to discuss some reports I received about you during the past week," the guild master replied to me.
The guild master said he wanted to talk about some reports concerning me. Does every new adventurer go through this kind of examination? It made me feel like I was being monitored.
"Is there a problem regarding me?"
"No problem at all. On the contrary, I just wanted to see you in person and discuss the achievements you've made in just one week," the guild master replied.
The guild master seemed even more suspicious by saying that, and I didn't feel like I had achieved anything in my one week as an adventurer in this guild.
"On the first day, you made an achievement by beating up several adventurers in the guild and knocking out a troublesome one. Hahaha... Isn't that a great achievement?" the guild master laughed as he read the first report about me.
"Can that be considered a good achievement? It actually caused problems for me," I countered the guild master's statement.
"Well, at least it made you instantly famous throughout the guild, right? And the good thing is, it got rid of some troublesome adventurers from this guild. Sometimes it's troublesome to have adventurers like that," the guild master said with a sigh.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"Is this about Raleigh and his group? Can't you just expel him from the guild if he causes problems, or you can revoke his adventurer license," I suggested.
Just like when you work in an office, a problematic employee should be dismissed when they have poor ethics or frequently cause trouble in the workplace, as a bad employee can also affect the performance of the company. Perhaps it's almost the same analogy.
"It's not that easy. Indeed, he often causes trouble within the guild, but the guild cannot simply revoke his license based on that alone. There are also many other adventurers with similar attitudes. Just imagine how many adventurers would lose their jobs if their licenses were revoked due to bad behavior. In the world of adventurers, it's like that. There are numerous problematic adventurers due to the variety of backgrounds they come from. Adding to that, considering the current state of the world, it's common for guilds to have such adventurers. Well, perhaps what the guild can do to prevent conflicts within the guild is to establish rules, and give warnings and threats. An adventurer's license might be revoked if they are proven to have committed criminal acts, such as becoming a bandit or committing murder."
The guild master provided me with a lot of explanations. It seemed like there were many other things I needed to learn about this world. At the very least, I had to become stronger with the destiny I carried.
"Well, I guess there are no more problems for now since there are no troublesome adventurers in this guild."
"Yeah, you could say that. I suppose it will be peaceful in the guild for a while. But I don't know about the future because adventurers always move from one city to another. Today, the guild may be calm, but who knows if a problematic adventurer will arrive tomorrow. Besides, it's the duty of a guild master to keep the guild safe and comfortable," the guild master said with a complaining expression.
It has been a week since my fight with Raleigh, and I haven't seen him in the guild anymore. Other adventurers haven't seen him either, so maybe he has truly left the city.
"Oh, by the way, Vans, I called you here because I want to raise your rank."
"To raise my rank again? Isn't it too soon for me?" I asked, a little surprised.
It has only been a week since I registered as an adventurer, and on the first day, I already received a rank promotion. Now, just after a week, I'm getting another promotion. If it continues like this, maybe in three months, I'll reach the S rank. Also, after my first rank promotion, I didn't feel like I achieved something extraordinary. I only completed general missions based on my rank and continued practicing magic in the forest.
"Well, it would be even more problematic if I don't promote your rank soon..."
"What do you mean by that?" I interrupted the guild master's words.
Moreover, what problem would he face if he doesn't promote my rank? I also haven't caused any trouble in the past few days. It's unlikely that someone would threaten a guild master to promote my rank without a clear reason. There must be a solid justification for the guild master to raise my rank.
"Sigh... Here, Vans, this is the report I received from the guild receptionist. In the past three days, you have sold approximately four hundred bodies of black wolves, five hundred bodies of silver wolves, one hundred bodies of regular wolves, one hundred black bison, and about fifty white deer. Hey, Vans, do you want to destroy the monster ecosystem here?" the guild master shouted at me, seemingly angry.
"Yeah, I was just hunting monsters within my rank, and I wanted to practice and improve my abilities," I reasoned with the guild master.
I didn't know that there were rules about preserving the population and ecosystem in a world full of monsters like this. These past few days, I've been focused on leveling up my strength and magic abilities. I need to become powerful as soon as possible because I can't stay in this city for too long.
"What kind of practice is that? It's too brutal to be called practice. You've even killed a thousand monsters in just a few days. Anyway, I will promote your rank to prevent other adventurers from losing their livelihoods because you've wiped out all the monsters. And from now on, find monsters within your rank or gather lower-ranked monsters in reasonable numbers," the guild master instructed firmly.
"Alright... I understand," reluctantly, I agreed to the guild master's command. Besides, he had a point, and I should also consider the fate of other adventurers.
"I'll inform the guild staff to promote your rank. As part of the rank promotion test, in three days, you can join an exploration of a newly appeared dungeon, or you can engage in a sparring match with an examiner from the guild. It's not mandatory for you, so you can decline if you don't want to do it. After all, the guild recognizes your abilities," the guild master explained.
"Okay, I'll join the dungeon exploration. And who will be the examiner for the sparring test from the guild?" I inquired.
"I don't know yet because we don't have high-ranked members in this guild. An examiner in this guild resigned a few months ago. Maybe I'll be the examiner myself if you're willing," the guild master responded.
That's actually good news for me. I can test how much my magic power has improved in these past few days.
"Alright, guild master, I want you to be my examiner," I confidently said to the guild master.
"Are you okay with me being the examiner?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm completely fine with that."
It's better than having someone else as the examiner. I'll be testing my strength against the guild master, who is a Rank-A It's the examiner. I won't lose anything even if I lose.
"Alright, it seems like you're quite enthusiastic. We'll have the match tomorrow at the guild's training grounds," the guild master informed me.
"Okay, guild master," I replied eagerly.
"Oh, and one more thing, Vans, have you ever seen this?" The guild master handed me an old poster from his drawer. It was a missing person poster with a massive reward for finding the person, dead or alive. The reward was ten million crypto coins—a truly fantastic reward. I knew who was in the poster, but it was better not to discuss it.
"No, guild master, I've never seen it. But that's a huge reward, isn't it? Especially considering it's the same whether the person is alive or dead," I commented.
"Well, this is a missing person poster that was put up in almost all adventurer guilds two years ago. But it's no longer valid, and it was taken down six months ago. This is a search poster for the second prince of the Fostia Kingdom, who went missing two years ago. I just felt that the description on this poster resembles you," the guild master revealed.
"T-That's impossible, guild master. Maybe it's just a coincidence," I quickly dismissed the dangerous thought from the guild master. He had a sharp instinct.
"Well, maybe you're right. It's because of your hair color and some descriptions that resemble you. It's rare to see someone with white hair in this country. Are you from the Fostia Kingdom or the Vargas Kingdom?" he inquired.
"Um... maybe Vargas," I answered hesitantly.
"I see... well, if that's the case," the guild master said, returning the poster to his drawer.
"Guild master, may I leave now?" I asked the guild master.
"Yes, that's fine. You can go back now," he replied.
I quickly walked out of the guild master's room. That last question felt more dangerous than fighting a dragon. It seems like there are dragons in this world.