Volume 1 Chapter 2 The Man Abandoned By The Adventurers’ Guild
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”……Ah.”
The nostalgic dream suddenly cut off there.
Kian blinked a few times, confirming that the rotting ceiling boards were spread out in his view.
(Where is this…?)
He sat up from the cold straw bed, filled with the smell of mold.
The deer-hide shoulder wrap slipped off his chest.
This place is──.
This is, yes.
The room in the cheap inn he always used as a hideout while being an adventurer.
As proof, he could hear someone snoring loudly from the thin wall next door.
(What a pain. Was I dreaming about those days again?)
He lightly shook his head and ran his fingers through his black hair.
Soft sunlight was streaming in through the small window.
It seemed the night had long since passed.
”Should I wash my face…”
He muttered as he stood up from the bed and bent down to the wooden bucket in the corner of the room.
His familiar reflection stared back at him in the water.
A bearded man nearing 30──.
In human society, anyone over 40 is considered old, so he was already at the age where people would call him an old man.
The exiled Kian Vahid had become an old man.
It had been 14 years since he left the town of Azrael.
In his teenage years, he thought he still had plenty of time ahead.
In his early twenties, he believed he was still young.
And now, here he was at this age.
For an adventurer, he was considered middle-aged to veteran.
If he were a craftsman, he would be a seasoned veteran.
(But, I’m…)
”…….I wonder how Sarah is doing. And Jibril and Father… No, Jibril was supposed to marry Sarah. …If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be strange at all for them to have kids by now.”
He splashed both hands into the bucket.
The cold water felt refreshing against his skin.
His face, reflected on the water’s surface, shattered into pieces.
”‘I will definitely come back stronger…!’ huh?”
He muttered, feeling something warm trickle down his cheek.
Sniffling, he wiped his cheek with his shoulder.
A laugh escaped him naturally.
”Haha. Haha…, hahaha…”
His voice echoed hollowly in the small, damp room.
He felt no motivation to do anything.
Today, he just wanted to drift off into daydreams like this.
However, the reality was that he couldn’t afford to indulge in sentimentality.
He had paid the overdue rent 2 days ago, leaving his wallet and stomach empty.
He needed to leave the house, head to the Adventurer’s Guild, and look for work.
* * *
”Rank 9 Adventurer Sir Kian. Your adventurer qualifications have been revoked.”
”Huh…?”
In the grand interior decorated in white and gold──at the reception desk of the Adventurer’s Guild──Kian froze at the receptionist’s unexpected words.
The receptionist, with her neatly tied chestnut hair, slightly swayed it and repeated with a forced smile.
”Rank 9 Adventurer Sir Kian. You have been issued a revocation of your adventurer qualifications by the Guild. Please visit the Guild’s second job change desk within 30 days or consider ways to make a living back in your hometown.”
”No, um, well…”
(What the heck is going on?)
What on earth had he done──Kian leaned forward on the counter, bringing his face closer to the receptionist.
He wanted to raise his voice and demand a proper explanation for this outrageous situation, but his expression naturally twisted into a pleading one.
”W-What does this mean…? Did I do something wrong?”
The receptionist’s eyes turned cold as she looked at the bearded Kian.
”You really have no awareness of this? Seriously?”
”Y-Yes.”
As Kian nodded, the receptionist let out a clear, mocking snort.
She began to speak in a tone that seemed a bit angry, almost intimidating Kian in the process.
”Recently, there have been complaints among the rookie rank ten adventurers. Higher-ranked adventurers, who can’t make any money, are monopolizing the relatively profitable requests meant for beginners.”
She paused, her gaze sharp as she took a breath before continuing.
”Because of that, the new guys are stuck with dangerous goblin and undead extermination quests that pay poorly. You get it? The newcomers, who should be protected, are taking on risky jobs while the seasoned adventurers are raking in easy money.”
She glanced at Kian, making sure he understood the gravity of the situation.
”The guild is taking this very seriously. For example, the herb gathering request that Mr. Kian took 3 days ago was a good deal that the guild had issued for newcomers.”
Her voice lowered slightly, almost as if she was trying to explain something that should have been obvious.
”It’s not written anywhere, but there was an unspoken agreement to pass it on to the newbies. The newcomers would gather herbs, earn some cash, and then gear up before heading out to tackle goblins or undead.”
She shifted, making eye contact with Kian to drive the point home.
”But because Mr. Kian got greedy, a valuable newcomer is now forced to jump into a high-difficulty extermination quest completely unprepared, you know?”
There was a beat of silence before she spoke again, her tone growing more intense.
”Competition? First come, first served? If that’s how it’s going to be, the newbies won’t grow.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she leaned in just slightly, emphasizing her next words.
”If you’re a member of the guild, you need to adhere to the unwritten rules that have been established through precedent and custom.”
”…”
Unwritten rules.
These are the common understandings that every adventurer must keep in mind in this still-developing frontier land.
You shouldn’t steal someone else’s prey, you shouldn’t get involved in illegal drug dealings with malicious intent, and you shouldn’t engage in private duels without following the proper procedures, among other things.
Even someone who just arrived here would recognize the things that would likely get them punished by the guild.
Kian was aware of these unwritten rules just like anyone else.
In fact, unless someone was really dim-witted, they wouldn’t be clueless about what could get them in trouble.
That said, the lack of clear standards for punishment is a significant procedural flaw.
For Kian, who knew the legal system of Azrael, this was simply unacceptable.
If someone had a thick skin, they might boldly assert that there was an issue with the procedures here──but──.
”──────.”
(What should I do…)
Kian stole a glance at the face of the woman in front of him.
The receptionist was actually an elite.
After graduating from the academy in the royal capital, it’s common for people to get jobs at the guild and be sent out as trainees.
The young-looking receptionist in front of Kian seemed to be one of those cases.
Faced with the elite beauty who was rambling on in a long-winded manner, Kian instinctively took a step back.
’I don’t know, but important things like that should be clearly documented, and you should sort it out beforehand when accepting quests.’ Kian thought, but of course, such audacious words didn’t come out of his mouth.
”Is that so? Haha… I didn’t know that. I mean, I’m just an outsider here.”
”You’ve been in this town long before I came here, so that excuse won’t fly.”
”Uh… well, yes. I’m sorry…”
He hung his head weakly.
Bowing repeatedly to the new receptionist, who was about a generation younger than him, he felt he had no choice but to lower himself in this situation.
”Therefore, we will be compiling a list of adventurers like you, Mr. Kian, who are causing trouble at the guild.”
She paused, allowing the weight of her words to sink in before continuing.
”Those ranked as junior adventurers and above will receive a stern warning and a monetary penalty of ten silver coins.”
She leaned forward slightly, her eyes fixed on him as she spoke the next part with a calm finality.
”While the lowest-ranked adventurers will face cancellation of their qualifications.”
She didn’t break eye contact, her voice now carrying a sense of inevitability.
”Mr. Kian, you belong to the lowest rank, which is the ninth rank among the ten adventurer ranks.”
A brief silence followed as she allowed the statement to linger.
”Consequently, your adventurer qualifications will be revoked in a month, so please decide on your next job by then.”
”…Ah, um. By the way, what kind of job placements does the guild offer?”
”Well? For someone like you, it might be work in the southern coal mine or at the northern ice wall.”
”That’s not good; both of those only last 5 years at most!”
”If you don’t like it, why not just go back to your hometown?”
The receptionist began to tidy up the papers on her desk as if she had lost interest.
Right in front of him, Kian’s documents were tossed into the trash bin.
He felt a rush of confusion and knew he had to say something, but his mind was racing.
Just then, the receptionist flashed a killer smile and said:.
”Next, please!”
”W-wait a second──.”
”Move it, ‘garbage scavenger’! Sophie is in trouble here!”
A muscular arm reached from behind and shoved him aside.
It was a big man clad in impressive iron armor, carrying a large axe on his back.
Kian could only step back in silence, glancing around in a daze.
”Ah…”
The eyes, the eyes, the eyes looking at him.
Kian, who was pressing on with the young receptionist that resembled an idol, wondered how they were perceived by her.
Of course, everyone was casting looks of hatred and disgust.
”────.”
He felt his face flush red.
It was bad enough being called a ‘garbage scavenger,’ but it seemed he had just further tarnished his reputation by coming here.
(This is no good. If I keep pushing her, nothing will come of it…)
Sophia, the receptionist, was merely conveying what the guild had decided to Kian.
There was nothing he could do.
Sticking around here wouldn’t change anything.
(Guess I have no choice but to go to the agency…)
With his shoulders slumped, Kian began to trudge back through the white and gold adventurer’s guild.
(Adventurers were the only hope in every sense)
Even in a state of nothingness, it was a profession where one could rise up with just skill and wit.
However──there was no place for Kian, who had little magical power, even here.
He had certainly put in the effort.
Theoretically, he could manage with just a cup’s worth of magic──lions and bears were strong due to their innate physical abilities without using magical enhancements.
He thought he could just build muscle and become like a lion or a bear.
(But reality is harsh)
To build muscle, it wasn’t enough to just train the body.
Without sufficient meat, grains, and fats, the body wouldn’t grow due to physiological issues.
In fact, if he only trained without eating, he would get injured and his muscles would shrink.
In other words──just scraping by for a meager meal every day wouldn’t change anything.
(In these past several years, all he had gained was a strength that could barely surpass a soldier with a typical──let’s say, a bucket’s worth of magic, using techniques)
As a healer, he had to conserve energy, barely managing to heal light injuries 3 times a day.
Reluctantly, he had honed skills like lockpicking and acrobatics for scouting──but that was about it.
That was all he had gained.
Just that.
It was laughable for a warrior monk under the god Azrael, who governed death and rebirth.
…In the end, the monastery of Azrael was more blessed than anywhere else.
There was food, and plenty of time and facilities to hone oneself.
Kian, who couldn’t thrive there, was undoubtedly a dropout.
* * *
As Kian left the guild’s employment agency, the sun had turned a deep orange.
It would start getting dark in another hour or 2.
(I’m hungry.)
While watching the crowd bustling through the town, Kian thought absentmindedly.
The jobs introduced at the agency weren’t just the labor in the mines or on the great ice walls that the receptionist had mentioned; they were mostly similar in nature.
Low-paying jobs that were a breath away from death.
It would be much more human to live as a peasant in the countryside, tilling the fields.
However, if Kian, an outsider, were to settle in a village on his own, he would likely be caught by the lord, fined, and then expelled.
He couldn’t even return to his hometown of Azrael.
He was almost completely stuck.
(What should I do from here?)
He started walking aimlessly.
The inn he was staying at was only allowing him to stay because he was using the adventurer discount, so if they found out his adventurer qualifications were revoked, the owner wouldn’t keep him around.
(Then, maybe it would have been better to just fall behind on rent.)
It was definitely smarter to fall behind on rent.
If he was going to be kicked out anyway, he might as well have spent the rent money on food and drink to get some nutrition.
…Well, having been raised under strict rules and discipline in Azrael, he probably wouldn’t have thought of it, even if he had.
(I’m definitely an idiot. I have no wisdom for living. No greed. Nothing. Definitely nothing…)
In a haze of despair, he wandered through the street stalls.
He felt like he might collapse if he didn’t eat something──anything cheap and nutritious.
At that moment──.
’Hey, you there, Azrael person.’
”……?”
Suddenly, a voice called out to him in his mind.
It was a woman’s voice.
A seductive, high-pitched voice.
It gave off a contradictory impression of being youthful yet seeming older.
Words like young-looking elves who lived for hundreds of years, dragon kin, or the legendary vampires said to be extinct floated through his mind, but looking around, he didn’t see any such otherworldly beings.
’Over here, over here.’
The voice seemed to be coming from the shadows of a white tent stall to his right.
Kian squinted and stretched his beard toward the tent.
What was there was──.
A small pair of glasses made of iron and glass.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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