Chapter 25
When we opened the door and stepped inside, the smell of alcohol hit us. Was this a bar or a guild?
The guild hall was filled with tables like a bar, and people who looked unmistakably like adventurers were gathered in small groups, drinking and carousing.
The guild walls were covered with request notices, and beside them were countless wanted posters.
There was a staff-only area at the back of the guild, where a woman who appeared to be an employee was scratching her head while reading some documents. I guess she’s the one I need to talk to.
Siwoo had gone stiff with tension, while Sophia clung to my back. As I approached the woman with them, a rough-looking adventurer nearby spoke up.
“Hey! What are a bunch of brats doing here? Go suck your dad’s dick some more and come back!”
The woman, who already seemed angry, walked up to the adventurer, slapped him across the face, and shouted.
“Your mother’s tits, you ignorant bastard! Quit disrupting business and get the hell out!”
Oh, she’s tough…
The adventurer who had been slapped fell flat on the floor, then staggered to his feet and joined the drinking party as though nothing had happened.
“You fucking bitch! My teeth are all loose. Hey! Anyone want to buy me a drink? I’ll sell you one of my teeth!”
Despite his appearance, he was apparently just another run-of-the-mill drunk.
I was honestly a little intimidated by him…
“So what brings you here? Are you here for a request?”
Once the adventurer left as she had ordered, the woman put on a bright smile and asked what we wanted.
For some reason, she seemed frightening even while smiling. I must not have been the only one who felt that way, because I heard Sophia swallow nervously behind me.
“We’re here to register as adventurers.”
“Oh, come on. What a pain. Do you have a guarantor? No, of course you don’t. Pay one gold per person and wait here. You have to take a skills test. Jeez, why are even kids like you clamoring to become adventurers?”
The woman suddenly wiped the smile from her face and spoke rudely, looking annoyed.
So her attitude changes this much just because we’re not clients?
And one gold? I’d earned thirty-seven silver over six months of cooking. That deposit was ridiculously expensive.
“And do you have identification? No, right? Then that’s another gold. Actually, if you pay one more gold, I can make you Rank 7 without a skills test. How about it?”
Rank 7 was the lowest rank for adventurers.
They could hardly even be called adventurers. They were interns.
Rank 7 adventurers couldn’t go out to hunt monsters; they could only do odd jobs like gathering herbs or carrying luggage.
The fact that she was demanding another gold to grant us that rank made it clear we were being treated like total suckers.
“I have a letter of recommendation. Here.”
But I’d prepared for that in advance.
My original plan had been to get a recommendation from the branch manager of the Jie Trading Company through the village chief of Doje Village, but I’d gotten one from someone even higher up, so this was better.
“Oh, really? Let’s see… Louise, Louise… What?! Klein Louise?!”
The woman was startled, then stared at us with a flustered expression.
“This isn’t forged, is it? You know you’ll be in serious trouble if you forge this, right?”
“Feel free to verify it.”
“Of course I need to verify it! This isn’t the time to stand around… Follow me first.”
This was exactly why connections mattered. The woman’s smug tone had vanished completely.
When we followed her upstairs, we found an elegant reception room with an atmosphere completely different from that of the first floor.
After sitting on a plush sofa, we were served warm tea. Even someone as ignorant about tea as I was could tell that it was quite high-end.
After we waited for a while, the branch manager of the Adventurer’s Guild—not the woman from before—came into the reception room.
“Wow! I never thought there would be adventurers vouched for by Klein Louise!”
I hadn’t expected it either. I had asked Louise on the off chance she would agree, since I had nothing to lose, but she had readily agreed and written the recommendation immediately.
It was probably thanks to Siwoo’s protagonist buff.
“Those goblin bastards gave us a lot of grief too. The Jie Trading Company did post a request, but no adventurers were willing to take it on.
They were that dangerous, and you three took them down yourselves! Just goes to show you can’t judge people by appearances! Heh heh.”
“What? We…”
“We did defeat them. We were lucky, really. Who’d have thought goblins would let their guard down like that?”
Louise must have mixed in a few lies. Siwoo, who was bad at reading the room, was about to tell the truth, but there was no reason to reveal it.
This would all help our reputation, so there was no reason to hand back something we’d been given for free.
“Heh heh. Yeah, no matter how strong they are, monsters are still monsters.
Hmm… With a Grade 5 monster subjugation and a guarantee from Klein Louise, you can start at Rank 6.
I’d like to make you Rank 5 as well, but these are the regulations. Still, I’ll promote you after just a few requests, so don’t worry.”
It really did make things go smoothly when you had a guarantor with a famous name behind you. After discussing a few other matters, we received our adventurer cards.
With that, all three of us had become adventurers.
====
Thanks to the branch manager’s kindness, we took the inn directly across from the guild as our lodging.
The inn was operated directly by the guild, which made it relatively safe compared to other inns. That was why not just anyone was allowed to stay there.
Since only adventurers with some degree of standing could stay there, I thanked Louise once more in my heart.
After renting two rooms, we quickly unpacked our luggage, went downstairs, and finished our meal.
Then, when it was time for bed, I carried out the plan I’d prepared in advance.
“…So, we can’t let Sophie sleep alone.”
“What? Even so, that’s…”
“No, that’s exactly right. Leaving a woman alone in a room is dangerous, no matter how trustworthy this inn is. If people find out she’s sleeping alone, there will definitely be some idiots who pester her and make unwanted advances.”
“Then who will she sleep with…?”
Siwoo discreetly glanced at Sophia’s expression.
Even while pretending otherwise, he looked subtly hopeful.
“You two can share. I’m the older one, after all, right? Let’s use the rooms more comfortably.”
I said it while signaling Siwoo.
Of course, I had no intention of doing that at all. It was a plan Sophia and I had prepared together.
The plan was to make Siwoo think I wasn’t interested in Sophia while sharing a room with her!
As expected, Siwoo hesitated when the opportunity actually presented itself.
“Then I… um… Sophia and I… Would that be okay? I don’t mind, but…”
His ears turned bright red, and he sweated nervously as his eyes darted around.
What a hopeless sucker. Can he ever get together with the sub-heroine acting like that? If I get the chance, I’ll take him to a brothel and pop his cherry.
“…I’m sorry. I’m embarrassed… Oppa, can I just share a room with you?”
As Sophia said this just as planned, Siwoo looked extremely disappointed. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to object and ask her to share his room instead.
“Haa…”
When I sighed openly and looked at Siwoo, he gave me an apologetic look.
“It can’t be helped. Sophie and I will share a room. It’s late, so rest in your rooms tonight and meet on the first floor tomorrow morning.”
“Yeah! Hehe.”
“…Yes.”
Sophia clung to my arm, while Siwoo trudged toward his room.
-Click!
As soon as Siwoo left and the door closed, Sophia ran over, locked it, and threw herself into my arms.
I naturally laid Sophia down on the bed and stroked her hair.
As I cuddled with Sophia, I finally felt that the day had come to an end. It had been an incredibly eventful day.
Fighting monsters for the first time,
Getting stabbed,
Being poisoned,
Nearly dying,
Meeting the guards,
Becoming an adventurer
…Although I’d forced myself to act cheerful in front of the kids, I was scared too.
Even though this was inside ‘Heroine Netori,’ the pain and suffering had been real.
And the fear of death—the thought that I might never see Sophia again—had been truly terrifying.
As I replayed the events of the day in my mind, Sophia suddenly burst into tears.
“Sob… Oppa… Oppa…!”
Sophia must have been remembering the day as well, because she shed tears and trembled anxiously.
I silently held Sophia tightly as she trembled all over and burrowed into my arms.
But Sophia’s anxiety still didn’t disappear.
“Waaah… sob… sob sob… Oppa, you can’t die…”
“Never… Never! Sniff… Don’t die… You can’t leave me behind… okay?”
“Sob… Thinking that you almost died… makes my chest hurt so much… No matter how much I use Heal, it doesn’t get better…”
Sophia hugged me and bawled, her eyes red from crying.
I could feel Sophia’s tears soaking my chest.
I found Sophia, who loved me this much, incredibly endearing.
At the same time, I hated myself for causing her such pain.
“Sophie…”
I lowered my head and kissed Sophia.
It tasted salty, just like our first kiss.