The Adventurer's Guild, also known as the Pioneer's Guild.

Consisting of three floors, its standing area is the size of five surrounding buildings. The entrance alone can accommodate ten mounted wolves side by side, and there is no "door" that can be opened or closed. It is a public place open for business all day long...

To have such a vast space within a limited town, it shows the importance of the Pioneer's Guild in this city.

I heard from Milia that this city of "Rundia" is a border outpost of Sidonia.

Just think about it for a moment; the country cannot send a limited army for exploration, so the existence of pioneers is quite important, right?

That should be the case. Milia and the others jumped off the wolves.

It seems like we can't ride in here, so I jumped off as well, ignoring the gazes around me.

"Are we going to recall the wolves?"

"No need. There should be many stables over there, and there will be dedicated caretakers to take care of them. We've been riding and fighting for so long, let's reward them properly..."

Just as Milia was speaking, two individuals dressed in uniforms approached us.

The female seemed to have more guts than the male, as she came up to observe the wolves.

"To have tamed such powerful monsters... please command them not to cause any trouble."

This tone suggests that taking care of riding beasts is quite common among adventurers.

I don't need to be surprised. They are like the valets at the entrance of a hotel, hmm.

"No problem. You guys behave and go with them, no mischief allowed."

I gave the order, and the four wolves wagged their tails like little dogs, while the caretaker stroked Lucia's wolf, and the wolf gently licked the caretaker.

"Lolo, if they bully you, just eat them without hesitation."

Silena held the magic core of the warrior bear in her left hand and petted the wolf with her right hand, looking worried.

"Esteemed upper-ranked pioneers, it is our honor to have the opportunity to take care of such powerful monsters. Please rest assured and leave them to us!!"

The female caretaker was very excited.

"Lan, can you pay the fee first..."

As I expected, they still need to be paid... "Of course."

Milia and the others didn't have any money on them, and the big bag of gold coins contained many magic cores and bear skins, too troublesome to open.

I took out a small bag of coins and handed six gold coins to the caretaker. I had no idea how much to give...

After receiving it, she looked worried... I glanced at Milia and the others; they were all a bit surprised.

"Not enough?"

"No, no, there's no need for such a large gold... just four silver coins will suffice..."

"Prepare meat for the wolves, and consider the excess as your reward."

I had no idea about the prices here. Since I had already thrown it out, I might as well act generous for face.

"Thank you, thank you!! As expected of an A-ranked adventurer, you are so generous!"

Saying that, I walked towards the guild entrance.

Milia and the others seemed a bit bothered, but they followed suit.

After passing by, the two caretakers bowed and said "Thank you very much."

"In this city, are six gold coins a lot?"

I asked Milia and the others next to me.

"Lan, are you actually from some royal family in a certain country?"

"No, why would you come to that conclusion? I just don't know much about the prices here."

"Prices? In this city, one gold coin is enough to provide for an average household, even for meat, for a month. Rundia isn't scarce in terms of ingredients, so prices are low..."

"No wonder, Lan, you're so decisive when it comes to spending money~"

I fell silent.

After all, these were just the coins I picked up, there's nothing to worry about.

I need to find an opportunity to learn about the common knowledge of this world from them.

-Entering the guild, it feels similar to a guild designed by programmers in a game.

A spacious hall, a bar-like place on the right, where many rough men and women are drinking.

On the left, there is only a huge bulletin board and stairs leading to the second floor.

Most of the adventurers, armed individuals, are looking at the bulletin board, and occasionally someone takes down a request. They must be bounty missions.From below, you could see the edge of the second floor, where several adventurers were looking at us, holding bottles of alcohol in their hands. Don't drop them by accident…

Worrying about what might fall from above, we walked towards the guild counter ahead.

Apart from people dressed as adventurers, there were also many people in ordinary attire or luxurious clothing, probably here to commission missions…

"I need to get my identification card. Who can accompany me?"

I was still a bit uneasy since it was a unfamiliar place.

What should I do if I encounter any troublemakers? The adventurers around us were looking at us with the same gaze they looked at rare animals.

Lucia, Milia, and Silena whispered to each other and then came to my side.

"I'll go with you…"

"Thanks. What did you guys just say? Are you trying to exclude me?!"

"How could we? It was just a secret between girls. Um, Lan, can you accompany me to a place later?"

"Of course, I also wanted to explore a bit. Let's go get our identification cards first."

"Then we'll go collect the bounty for defeating the Martial Arts Bear and report the casualties. Let's meet on the second floor later."

Milia led Silena and walked towards the other side.

We headed towards the counter. Behind the counter, I could see many female staff in uniforms bustling about.

Four female staff members were seated in front of the counter, and I chose the leftmost one.

"Lan, why did you line up here?"

"Can't we handle it here?"

"No, that side seems to have fewer people. It would save us a lot of time."

"Tsk tsk tsk, you don't understand. Usually, in games or novels, the pretty counter girls have hidden storylines. For example, that counter girl used to be a super powerful adventurer, and so on…"

If I could raise a flag, it would make things much easier.

"Games? Novels? Forget about those for now, but how do you know about Miss Eilil's past as an S-ranked adventurer? Do you know her personally?!"

"Huh?! Well…"

"Really!?"

"Amazing!! No wonder she's our idol!"

The person in front of us, who was in line, seemed to have overheard our conversation and turned around to shout.

It seemed like Miss Eilil had quite a few fans. Are they actually here to take care of business?

By the way, are there idols in this world too?

News about this immediately spread and caused a commotion among the surrounding adventurers.

Thanks to that, Lucia and I were glared at by Miss Eilil…

She seemed to recognize Lucia and there was a slight sense of not being truly angry in her expression.

We waited in line for about ten minutes.

"Hey, Lucia, thanks to you, I'll probably be bothered by people inviting me to join their parties for a while. Is there anything you want to say?"

Eilil, a blonde staff member with impeccable features, greeted Lucia with a slightly angry smile.

Lucia, holding a giant sickle in her left hand and scratching her head with her right hand, laughed bitterly. "Haha, sorry, sorry. Well, since it's already out in the open, why don't you let it go if I treat you to a meal?"

It seemed like their relationship was pretty good.

"Sure, let's do it tonight. By the way, is this handsome guy your new partner? And where's little Laina? Don't tell me…"

"She's doing well. She went to collect the bounty over there. Oh, and look!"

Lucia showed her the identification card that she had just put away.

"You're lying! She's already A-ranked?! What kind of ridiculous thing did she do?!"

Eilil's exclamation attracted the attention of the surrounding adventurers and the staff behind the counter.

I took a look around and seemed to understand.

Adventurers with purple identification cards were almost non-existent in this guild. Most were white, green, or Lan-colored. There were also a few orange ones.

Sweeping my gaze, I only saw two people with purple identification cards, holding wine glasses and looking at us.

It seemed like it was only appropriate to pay attention to Lucia, after all, she was so eye-catching.

"We can talk about that later. Please help us with our leader's identification card. We have something to do later."

Lucia pushed me forward.

"Hello, I'm from the countryside. Please take care of me. Just call me 'Lan.' The leader is a name they decided to call me on their own.""Okay, okay! I'm Eleri. Have you heard about me from Lucia?"

"Yes, she described you as a very beautiful person..."

"Thank you. Since we already know each other, there's no need to be too formal. Can I sign up as an adventurer?"

She's more easygoing than I expected. But Eleri keeps eyeing my body, giving me an indescribable discomfort. Even though she wears a professional smile, it can't hide that gaze. Why...? Is my appearance really that rare?

She seems to sense that I'm thinking about something, so she changes the subject. I also look around and ask, "I don't really understand these things. Can you explain the difference between adventurers, pioneers, and explorers? They all seem to take on similar tasks."

"Exactly, they all take on the same tasks. Adventurers and explorers are like freelancers, while pioneers have to register in the national directory. After reaching rank A, pioneers can choose to become knights, leaving behind dangerous pioneer work. It's a very promising career."

"Luckily, I'm not interested in the country. Freedom is a man's romance. Please help me become an adventurer."

"Huh!? No, how about becoming a pioneer... We promised to succeed together, right?"

Lucia wraps her right arm around my neck and leans on my right shoulder, speaking in a big sister-like tone.

Stupid. Did she think that by rubbing her ample chest against my left arm, I would give in?

Other people's fiancées can't threaten me. If it were Milia, maybe I would fall for it.

Decisively, I assert, "Please help me register as an adventurer!!"

"Hmm, you have good determination. I really like that about you."

"I also really like you!" I reply seriously and earnestly.

"Hehehe, you're interesting. Please wait a moment."

Eleri seems to go to the back to get something and temporarily leaves the counter.

"Lan, do you want to be assassinated?" Lucia, leaning on my shoulder, whispers in my ear.

Instantly, I understand her meaning. The people in line behind us have murderous glares.

The surrounding adventurers are the same. We should be careful.

"By the way, Lucia, are you planning to become a knight?"

— Change of topic.

"I used to have that idea, but I don't want to anymore. Since you're not becoming a pioneer, I plan to revoke my pioneer status and become an adventurer. Let's reach the pinnacle together!"

"Aren't you going to get married? You have a fiancé... Let go, or people will misunderstand when they see us acquaintances."

I push away Lucia's right hand on my shoulder.

"It doesn't matter... I'll make a decision after I go home. The fiancé might not be entirely my problem, and right now..."

Is there something difficult to say?

"Sorry for the wait~"

Eleri comes back to the counter holding a crystal ball. My conversation with Lucia ends.

Is this it?

It's the magic testing crystal often seen in novels and anime.

The next scene should be me exploding with my extraordinary potential, shocking the entire guild!

"Please put your hand on the crystal ball..."

Here it comes!!!

I place my left hand on it. The color of the crystal ball keeps changing until it finally turns gray and separates into a neatly shaped crystal. The crystal ball feels slightly smaller.

And then, that's it.

After picking up the crystal fragment, Eleri takes out a beautiful crystal chain from her staff uniform bag and strings the crystal piece onto it.

"Okay, it's done. As proof of our friendship, I'll give you this chain I made myself. Even though we're friends... I still need to charge you, one silver coin for the registration fee."

Huh? That's it?

The dramatic scene I anticipated seems to not happen...

I receive the crystal necklace from Eleri and hand her a gold coin.

The surrounding adventurers and some clients look at me with jealous eyes.

In a sense, I've indeed attracted attention. Hopefully, her admirers won't really try to assassinate me, right?

Trying to ignore the onlookers, I look at my ID card and ask, "It didn't turn purple... Does that mean I have to engage in a battle before it changes color?"

"Of course! Right now, you're at the lowest level. It will only turn purple when you reach level 30 as an A-ranker. Although it might be tough, it should be easy for you to catch up to Lucia. Take care and good luck."

Ellie gave me nine silver coins, encouraging me with a warm smile.

"Thank you."

She's such a good woman... I feel completely healed.

Since there were still many people waiting in line behind us, I thanked Lucia and walked towards the hall.

I opened my identification card.

--------------

Name: Lan

Race: Human

Level: 1

Affiliation: None

Achievements: None

Guild Rank: F

Health Status: Right arm injured - Virgin

--------------

"Um, why am I only level 1?"

I showed the identification card to Lucia next to me, and she seemed surprised too: "That's ridiculous! Lan defeated that Martial Bear overwhelmingly, which is classified as an SS-level monster! How can you be only level 1?"

Speaking of which...

This guy has been absent-minded since earlier. Well, maybe his data will update after killing a monster.

After all, my phone shows an Lv: 34.

"Nevermind that, didn't you say you wanted me to accompany you somewhere?"

"Ah, right, I almost forgot. Let's finish here quickly and meet up with them when we come back."

Lucia carried a giant scythe in her left hand and reached out her right hand to hold my left hand, walking briskly towards the guild entrance.