Chapter 52
"Please let me join your guild."
Yes! I cheered inwardly at Sierra’s answer.
I had to summon every ounce of self-control to keep my excitement from showing on my face.
Wait, don’t get ahead of yourself. The negotiations start now!
"Are you sure you want to decide so quickly? I should warn you, I’m giving you valuable information in exchange, so it’d be a problem if you joined and then immediately left."
"I wouldn’t do anything so dishonorable. Nobles repay great kindness with gratitude."
Since 【Shield Princess】 had already revealed that she was the daughter of a count, Sierra didn’t hide the fact that she was a noble.
Still, that’s exactly why I couldn’t trust her...
"My impression of nobles is that they’d have no qualms about welching on a debt of gratitude..."
"...At least, none of my relatives would."
That was practically an admission that there were nobles who would, and it seemed this world had its share of corrupt nobles after all. They’d shown up in the game, too.
"You’re right. A verbal promise might not be enough to put you at ease. We can use my family’s contract. It’s an expensive item made by a 【Magic Tool Craftsman】. My family guarantees that it works."
"No, that won’t be necessary."
"...Are you serious?"
Sierra furrowed her brow and looked at me.
Well, given how our conversation had gone, I couldn’t blame her for thinking I wanted a contract. But I had no intention of binding my guild members with one.
If someone didn’t like my guild, frankly, they could leave. After all, this was the real-life 〈Dan-Katsu〉, brimming with content that hadn’t existed in the game.
And to enjoy 〈Dan-Katsu〉 even more, I’d need to make the most of that content, too.
The point was to build a good guild so no one would want to leave. If someone still did, that would be my failure. It happened all the time in games.
"I’m looking for companions. Besides, once my guild reaches the top of the S-rank, you’ll want to stay whether you like it or not, right?"
"You’re certainly confident."
"I’m a 【Hero】, after all."
【Hero】 was undoubtedly a top-tier Job tree.
And I’d decided that my guild would reach S-rank here, too.
Once we were the top guild, no one would even think about leaving.
But if someone still wanted to leave, there’d be nothing I could do about it.
"I see. You have good reason to be so confident. You’re capable, and you have a bright future ahead of you. Maybe you really will do exactly what you say."
"I definitely will. You’d better join now while it’s a good deal. Don’t worry—I won’t even let you think about leaving."
As I declared that with complete confidence, Sierra covered her mouth and laughed, looking amused.
All right, I’ve got our momentous second member.
And she’s a “Princess”! This is incredible. The real-life content is seriously insane!
Now I know we can form a 〈Princess Job〉 party from the very beginning.
Maybe I really should put together a party of Princess Jobs?
Oh, right. I almost forgot.
"Then I’ll tell you the requirements for 【Shield Princess】."
"Yes, please. You really do know them?"
"I’m a 【Hero】, after all."
"Hehe. I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean."
Sierra seemed to be smiling more now. The air of unease she’d had when we first met had completely disappeared.
A beautiful girl like her really did look better when she smiled.
I told her the requirements right then and there.
The requirements for 【Shield Princess】 are:
① Have the Race categories “Princess” and “Count.”
② Block monster attacks with a shield 100 times.
③ Deflect monster attacks with a shield 100 times.
④ Have never experienced the 【LV30–LV75 Level Limit】.
⑤ Meet the requirements for 【Shield Soldier】, 【Great Shield Soldier】, 【Dual Shield Soldier】, 【Shielder】, 【Elemental Shield Soldier】, 【Magic Shield Soldier】, and 【Fortress Shield Soldier】.
Those are the five requirements.
① was already fulfilled, and ② and ③ were simple enough. I could have her join the Slari-Po marathon later.
Hannah might object, but I was planning to use Slari-Po in the guild from now on, too, so I’d have to make sure she understood it wasn’t anyone’s personal property.
④ was unusual. The Level Limit for changing Jobs is the range in which you can use an Advanced Job Change Ticket, and it starts at LV30.
Once you pass LV30, you can use an Advanced Job Change Ticket to Rank Up to an advanced Job. But since your SUP (Status Up Points) and SP (Skill Points) carry over, it’s far more advantageous to reach LV75 (max level) before Ranking Up.
That was a bit of a tangent.
In other words, any “Princess” who passes LV30 can never change Jobs into 【Shield Princess】, so they need to be careful.
This was the requirement we players never figured out until the very end. The players who deduced it through sheer logic were absolute geniuses. After all, it’s easy to pass LV30 at the lower-intermediate level. At first, people thought it was impossible to become a 【Shield Princess】 through a Job change. That was a major reason it took so long for anyone to discover 【Shield Princess】.
⑤ was a little troublesome. It was like 【Great Swordmaster】, where you had to fulfill the requirements for a set of related lower Jobs.
Most high-rank lower-tier Jobs had this kind of requirement.
"That’s everything."
After I explained it, Sierra stared blankly for a while, then spoke in a feeble voice.
"No wonder I couldn’t find them..."
Well, of course she couldn’t.
In real life, challenging monsters without the benefits of a Job was beyond reckless—it was insane.
Job changes that reset your level to zero were rarely performed in this world without an extraordinary reason.
On top of that, so many Jobs had obscure requirements that people couldn’t even manage to fulfill all the requirements for the easy-to-check lower Jobs. What a state of affairs.
It was no wonder that only one person in history had ever acquired it.
Of course, I knew the requirements for every lower Job, so I told Sierra those, too.
"Seriously, who are you?"
"I’m a 【Hero】."
Huh. The word “【Hero】” really came in handy!
That was a new discovery.
After that, I took Sierra to the Noble Dormitory.
She said she had a 〈'Alchemy LV1' Bracelet〉 and an 〈Alchemy Set〉, so I decided we’d get the Slari-Po marathon started right away.
According to my plan, she should be able to fulfill the requirements for 【Shield Princess】 by the end of today.