The three of us headed out to the guild as soon as we’d finished eating. It was pretty crowded since it was right near the middle of town.
The first floor of the guild’s building was laid out like a restaurant. It was a lot more cheerful than I thought it would be. I’d pictured it in my head as a bar where ruffians would hang about, but it looked like my fears were unfounded. The female receptionist met us with a lovely smile as we approached the counter.
“Uhm, we’d like to register with the guild, please.”
“All right, then. That’s no problem at all. Would that be three for registration, then?”
“Yes. All three of us,” Linze replied.
“Will this be your first time registering with the guild? If so, I can provide a basic explanation of what it means to register with us.”
“Please do.” The gist of it was that the guild would take the requests of individuals or groups, publicize them, then take a small fee upon completion. That was how the guild worked.
The requests were split into ranks based on how difficult they were expected to be, so someone with a low personal rank couldn’t accept requests aimed at those of a higher rank. However, so long as half of one’s party were of a high enough rank, they would be able to accept such requests even if the others in the party didn’t meet the rank requirements.
Upon completion of a quest, one would receive payment. If one failed a quest, however, they would be charged with breach of contract. Hrmm... I need to pick and choose my work carefully.
In addition, if one continued to fail multiple quests, then they would be deemed a low-quality individual, and their guild registration would be revoked as a penalty. Were that to happen, one would never be able to re-register with any guild branch in any town.
Other stipulations included: If one did not accept any requests at all for five years, then their guild registration would expire; one could not accept multiple requests at the same time; Concerning subjugation requests, one must hunt the monsters in the designated area, else their work would be deemed invalid; as a general rule, the guild would not directly involve itself in personal dissent between adventurers, unless such dissent was judged to be harmful to the guild itself... Anyway, we received a pretty thorough explanation of the rules.
“And that about sums up the explanation. If you have any further questions, please direct them to the appropriate individuals.”
“Alright, got it,” I replied.
“Very well. Please fill in and return these forms with all of the required details.” The receptionist handed us three blank forms, but I couldn’t read a single word on them. When I informed Linze that I couldn’t read or write, she agreed to help me fill out my form. Hrm... I knew that being illiterate was going to cause me problems sooner or later.
The receptionist then took the registration forms and held a pitch black card over each of them in turn, seemingly casting some sort of spell. Afterward, she took out a small pin and told each of us to spill a little bit of our blood onto the cards.
I did as I was instructed, took the small pin in hand and pricked my finger with it, then rubbed a small amount of blood onto the surface of the card. Some white letters floated up onto it... but I still couldn’t make heads or tails of what it said.
“Each of your personal Guild Cards has a little spell on it that will make it turn gray if handled by someone other than its real owner for longer than a few seconds. It’s a simple anti-forgery mechanism. Also, should you happen to lose your card, please report to the guild as swiftly as possible. For a small fee, we will be able to issue you a new card.”
The receptionist took hold of my card and stood there for a few seconds. Just as she’d said, it eventually turned from pitch black to a dull gray. The very moment she placed the card back in my hands, it snapped right back to black. That was a really cool trick. I wondered how it worked.
“With this, your guild registration is complete. All available work requests are posted on the board over there. If you see one you would like to accept, please confirm all details and apply for it through our quest clerk.”
The three of us stood in front of the board where the quests were posted. Our Guild Cards were all black, signifying that we were at the beginner level. Our cards would apparently change in color as our ranks rose, but right now we could only accept quests aimed at beginners.
Elze and Linze busily pored through each quest notice one by one, but I on the other hand...
“...Not good. I seriously need to learn how to read and write, and fast...” If I couldn’t understand the details of a job, I was never going to get anywhere. I made a mental note to put evenings aside for studying my reading and writing.
“Hey, hey, Linze, check this one out. The reward’s pretty decent, and it seems like a good place to start. How about it?”
“...Yeah. This one doesn’t seem so bad. What do you think, Touya?”
“...Sorry. I can’t make any sense of it.” Elze had been merrily pointing out the request in question, but her finger drooped slightly when I said that. Ngh...
“...Umm, let’s see. It’s a request to go out and defeat some beast monsters in the forest to the east. They want us to hunt five Lone-Horned Wolves. They’re not very strong, so I think we can manage. Oh right, the reward is eighteen copper.” Linze was polite enough to read out the details of the quest to me.
Eighteen copper, huh... Split evenly between us, that would make for six copper each. That could pay for three nights of lodging. Not bad at all.
“Fine, let’s go with that,” I decided.
“Okie dokie! I’ll take this to the clerk.” Elze tore down the request notice and headed on over to the quest clerk.
Lone-Horned Wolves... Apparently they were wolves with a single horn on their head, sort of obvious given their name. I was slightly worried as to whether I could defeat them or not...
...Huh? “Oh, right... I completely forgot...”
“What’s wrong...?” Linze curiously asked why I was standing there, clearly dumbfounded.
“I, uh... I sort of kind of don’t have a weapon yet.” It had totally slipped my mind.
Trying to take on a subjugation quest unarmed would have been the height of idiocy. Therefore, we decided to make a beeline for the weapon store after departing the guild.
We took a north street and eventually another glaringly obvious logo on a signboard came into view. Just as one might expect, this one was of a sword and shield. And again, just as one might expect, I could not decipher the name of the shop printed below the logo.
Opening the shop door made a small bell tinkle, announcing our arrival. The noise caused a massive, bearded old man to spawn from within the depths of the store. He was huge. In fact, I almost mistook him for a bear.
“Welc’m. Lookin’ for something?”
The bear-man appeared to be the store’s owner. Goddamn he’s massive. He had to have been at least two meters tall. Was he some sort of pro wrestler or something?
“We’re looking for a weapon for this guy here. Mind if we take a look around?” Elze asked in a clear attempt to aid me.
“Go right ahead. Feel free to pick up anythin’ that catches yer eye.” Mr. Bear responded to her with a gentle smile.
What a nice bear... I mean person. What a nice person. I wondered if he would like some honey...
The shop was packed from floor to ceiling with weapons. There were all kinds up on display as well. Everything from swords to spears, bows, axes, even whips. So many weapons...
“Any weapons you’re good with, Touya?”
“Hrmm... Nothing particular comes to mind, but... Well, I have been trained with swords. Just a little, though.” Negative thoughts formed in my mind as I answered Elze’s question. I said swords, but I’d only ever held one in kendo classes. I’d never actually received any proper training. I probably knew some of the basics of swordplay, at best. I was pretty much a rank amateur.
“...In that case, I think
a sword would be the best fit. Touya seems like more of an agile fighter than one who uses brute force, so, I think, maybe a one-handed sword...” Linze pointed out a section of the shop where one-handed swords were on display.
I picked up one of the swords, still in its scabbard, and held it by the hilt with one hand. It was too light. I felt that maybe a slightly heavier sword would suit me better.
Just then, one sword in particular caught my eye. Actually, that was no mere sword... It was a katana. A slim, curved blade with a masterfully crafted circular handguard. A black sheath with a belt-like cord. Upon closer inspection, there were parts which differed from the Japanese katanas that I was familiar with, but it was still remarkably similar.
“...What’s the matter?”
“Oh, you’re looking at that Eashen sword? I suppose it makes sense that you’d be drawn to a weapon from your homeland.” Noticing my fixation on the katana, Linze and Elze called out to me.
Ah, so this sword was from Eashen, apparently. Not that it was actually my homeland... But, well, it did seem that Eashen and Japan had a lot of common points. The more I heard about it, the more interested I became in this Eashen.
I took the katana down and carefully removed it from its sheath. The pattern on the blade shone beautifully in the light, captivating me for a moment. The blade was a bit thicker than I’d assumed, so the katana itself was fairly heavy. Not so heavy that I wouldn’t be able to swing it properly, though.
“How much is this one?” Mr. Bear’s head popped out suddenly from farther back in the store as soon as those words left my mouth.
“Err, that one, eh? That’ll be two gold, aye. Thing is, though, it ain’t exactly the easiest weapon ta use. Definitely ain’t something I’d suggest fer a beginner.”
“T-Two gold?! Isn’t that a little expensive?” Elze argued on my behalf.
“Well, it ain’t like I usually get ’em stocked often, and even when I do there’s hardly anyone who can use the dang thing. Of course it’s gonna be pricey!” Elze pouted at Mr. Bear’s words, but he remained steadfast.
Thinking it over, that price probably was reasonable. Even I could tell that a weapon like this had intrinsic value.
“I’ll take it. You said it cost two gold?” I returned the katana to its sheath and pulled two gold coins out from my wallet, placing them on the store counter.
“Pleasure doin’ business with ya. Interested in any protective gear while yer at it?”
“Nah, this’ll do for now. I’ll come back when I have a bit more cash on me.”
“Gotcha. Well then, here’s hoping that sword helps ya earn a boatload.” The bear heartily laughed as he spoke.
Now, I’d found what I was after, but Elze and Linze ended up picking some things up while we were there. Elze went for some leg armor called greaves, a type that covers the leg from roughly foot to shin, and Linze bought a silver wand. It seemed that Elze was a close-ranged brawler, while Linze supported from the rear with magic.
Weapons secured, we decided that the general item shop was next on our list of stops. Along the way, I got curious about something, so I fired up my map application to check the name of the shop we just left.
«Weapon Shop Eight Bears» ...Did everyone in the town share this bizarre naming sense?
At the item shop I bought a small pouch, a canteen, a lunchbox, a fishing hook and some fishing line, a pair of scissors, a knife, a toolbox with plenty of handy little things such as matches, some medicinal herbs, some antidotes, and other little things along those lines. Elze and Linze already had necessities like that, so I was the only one who bought anything there.
And so, our preparations were complete at last. Beware, Lone-Horned Wolves, we’re coming to the forest to wipe you out!
◇ ◇ ◇
The eastern forest was about a two hour walk away from Reflet. I had hoped we might be able to hitch a ride on a carriage if we happened to pass any, but not a single one passed by. Exactly two hours later, we arrived at the forest.
We made our way into the dense woodland, being sure to take note of our surroundings. At first I was frightened by every little noise, from birds crying to small animals moving around amongst the trees. Gradually, though, I started to notice something.
Faintly, but surely... I could detect the presence of things around me. I could tell what or where something was, how it saw us... All manner of things like that. I wondered what it was... Some kind of sixth sense, maybe? It might’ve just been another one of those little gifts from God.
As I pondered the thought, I noticed something directing aggression toward us from just a bit ahead and to the left. I could feel the hostility clearly.
“Hold up. Something’s there.” The girls stopped in their tracks when I spoke up.
I continued to gaze toward that point as my party got into a battle formation. As if it was waiting for that one movement, a dark shadow came leaping out and attacked us.
“Hup!” I panicked and spun my body to evade, reassuring myself internally that it was fine after all.
I could predict its movements. It was roughly the size of a large dog, with gray fur and a single black horn on its head. However, the beast before me was far too ferocious to be a mere dog... So this is what a Lone-Horned Wolf looks like.
As I turned to face it, a second one jumped out from the other side and attacked Elze. She stood before the creature and swung her fist straight into the creature’s muzzle. Taking a smashing blow from her gauntlet-clad fist, the Lone-Horned Wolf was thrown to the ground with all the life knocked out of it. Killed in a single motion.
Thinking me distracted as I looked at Elze’s fight, the wolf in front of me bared its fangs and leapt to attack again. I remained calm, simply moving in time with the wolf’s attack, then drew the katana at my hip. My attack connected as our bodies passed one another. In that instant, the wolf’s head was torn from its body and sent flying through the air. The decapitated piece bounced to the ground like a basketball.
I felt some guilt and other unpleasant emotions at having killed an animal for the first time in my life, but another four wolves showed up before I had any time to let those emotions sink in. Two of them rushed toward my location.
“Come forth, Fire! Hail of Red Stones: [Ignis Fire]!”
By the time I even heard those words, one of the wolves charging at me suddenly burst into flames. It seemed like Linze had backed me up from behind with her magic. Crap! I missed my first chance to see magic in action! Dang it...
The other wolf charged at me, but I dodged once again and laid into it with my katana. It dropped to the ground and its body became still.
I turned to see one of the other wolves leaping at Elze, who countered with a roundhouse kick to its stomach and sent it flying. Nearby, the final remaining wolf was burned to a crisp. Man, I just missed another chance to see magic...
“Guess we’re done here. The request was to defeat five wolves, but we ended up taking out one extra, huh.” Elze reported in, clanging her gauntlets together.
We’d beaten six in total, with each of us having taken out two. For our first fight, that was pretty good. Though really, it was only my first fight.
So, as proof that we’d completed the quest, we had to take back the wolf horns with us. We cut off all six of their horns and placed them in our pouches. Our only remaining job was to deliver them to the guild to complete the mission.
As we left the forest, I physically felt my body grow less tense. It felt like something stifling had been lifted right out of the air. That was probably just another feeling I had to get used to.
Luckily this time we managed to catch a carriage on its way into town, so we got to hitch a ride.
We made it back to town in only a fraction of the time thanks to that. After arriving in town, we traveled by foot to the guild, where we reported in about completing the request to hunt five Lone-Horned Wolves. I ended up keeping the remaining horn in commemoration of the day’s events.
/> “Okay, all of the horns appear to be here. Now, please present your Guild Cards.” When we presented our cards to the receptionist, she pressed something like a stamp on each of them. As she did, a magical circle appeared briefly on the cards before fading out.
When I asked about it later, I found out that the stamp differed based on the difficulty of the request completed. The cards saved the information about what we had done, so as we accumulated stamps, eventually our rank would increase and the color of our card would change.
We were only at Black, the Beginner rank. Apparently, the ascending order was Black, Purple, Green, Blue, Red, Silver, and finally Gold.
“Here’s your reward of eighteen copper coins. Well then, the request has been fulfilled. Good work out there!” The receptionist handed us our reward, which we promptly split into six coins each. With that, we’d earned three days of food and accommodation. And it finally felt like I would be able to make it just fine in this new world.
“Hey, hey, wanna go grab a bite to eat to celebrate clearing our first quest?” Elze proposed that course of action as we left the guild.
It was a little early for dinner, but it occurred to me that we’d missed lunch, so I supposed that maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea. Plus, I had a favor to ask, so it seemed like a good opportunity.
We decided to go to a little tea house in town. I ordered a hot sandwich and milk, Elze ordered what appeared to be a meat pie and orange juice, and Linze ordered a pancake and black tea. After our orders were brought out, I began to talk.
“Hey, can I ask you two for a favor?”
“A favor?” Elze replied.
“Yeah. Think you could teach me how to read and write? It’d really help me out. I’m already having trouble here and there, so I figure that the sooner I learn, the better.”
“Hmm... that’s a good point! If you can’t read quest information, then I guess...” Elze and Linze nodded in unison. It was at times like that where you could really tell they were twins.
“In that case, get Linze to teach you. She’s smart, so I’m sure she’ll be a good teacher.”
In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 1 Page 3
