episode_0058

In the end, I couldn’t resist Philstone’s persistence and returned to the guild.

The guild was bustling with activity as adventurers were scarce, focusing on paperwork.

As I approached the reception, Tina noticed me and asked, “Oh, Miss Yunoa! How was it? Did you meet the Master?”

“Yes, I did meet him, but…”

I told Tina that the owner of the Kubele Refinery was also the guild master.

Tina looked slightly surprised upon hearing my words.

Perhaps she didn’t know either.

Well, if she did, she would have told me before writing down the address for me.

It was unbelievable that the guild master was running the guild without even showing his face to the guild members.

I relayed the story I shared with Philstone to Tina.

Tina listened to my story with interest and then spoke up.

“I see… When I was hired as a receptionist, I was trained to prioritize paperwork. Even delivering documents to the Master once a month.”

“It seems like you’re struggling because of that person, Tina.”

“Haha… It’s work, so I can’t help it.”

Tina laughed awkwardly.

Seeing her expression, something came to mind.

The tired, resigned expression unique to those who work tirelessly day in and day out just to make ends meet.

“So, it seems difficult to revive the dismissed documents, and I want to register as a new adventurer.”

I asked Tina for a favor.

However, I didn’t plan on registering as an adventurer right away.

It’s meaningless to register if I can’t even get the Silver rank.

With my current skills, it wouldn’t be difficult to climb up from Bronze to Silver, but it’s a matter of pride.

Besides, there was a minimum time requirement for each rank in the adventurer registration assessment.

It’s impossible to go from Bronze to Silver, Silver to Gold in just two days.

So, I wanted to get the Silver rank as soon as possible.

“Are you registering as a new adventurer?”

“But if I don’t get the Silver rank immediately, I won’t register. Can you at least see what rank I can get based on the conditions?”

“Well… There are several conditions, so let me take a look.”

Tina took out the adventurer registration form from under the counter.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen this, the adventurer registration form filled with insurance-like terms.

I never thought I’d see this form again under these circumstances.

“First, sign here and then proceed with the questions, but feel free to ask questions first.”

“Yes, please.”

“Have you received training from a knight training camp, academy, swordsmanship school, or magic university?”

“No.”

“Does your family have a Gold rank adventurer or the founder of a recognized swordsmanship or magic school acknowledged by the kingdom?”

“No.”

Yes, these were definitely the questions.

As I answered the questions, memories of when I first registered as an adventurer came flooding back.

Just like back then, I could only answer no to these questions.

Listening to the questions again, I realized that being an adventurer requires a surprisingly strong background and connections.

Surprisingly, it also requires a substantial initial capital, family background, and education…

Coming from a wealthy family and receiving a good education from a reputable institution gives you a head start.

Well, that’s just how life is.

“Do you have any experience in war or mercenary activities, or have you won battles against monsters?”

Finally, a question I could confidently answer came up.

“I have experience in two extermination missions, and I’ve defeated countless monsters. I even fell into a hole leading to the demon realm in the Horn Canyon and survived to make it here. Isn’t that quite a decent career?”

I confidently told Tina.

However, Tina looked at me with a mysterious expression and a troubled look.

“Well, that’s…”

“Is there a problem?”

“All of it is the experience that Yunoa has gained as an adventurer, so it’s not something that can be used for new registration.”

“What?”

What kind of sudden revelation is this?

“War experience is recognized as a career when active as a soldier, and mercenary activities are only recognized if actually carried out as a mercenary. Since Yunoa has been active as an ‘adventurer’ and the Yunoa being registered as new is technically treated as a different person, the documented records of activities as an adventurer cannot be used.”

What the heck.

It’s unfair enough to treat someone who is perfectly alive as dead, but this is just too much.

“Well, that’s…”

“Unfortunately… there is no recognized experience… at all. Of course, I’m not doubting that Yunoa’s experience is false. It’s just the guild’s policy…”

That darn potion-addicted guild master, how strict did they make the guild rules?

It feels like dealing with a rigid government agency where there’s no room for flexibility.

“Lastly, what class would you like to register with the guild?”

Tina asked the final question.

Wait a minute, isn’t it the same as when I first registered as an adventurer, and in the end, the answer to the question hasn’t changed?

“Um… before answering, can I roughly know what grade I can get now?”

“Yes…”

“Really, I’m just asking in case.”

“Yes.”

“Really, just in case, it’s not the Novice grade, right?”

Tina hesitated slightly in response to my question.

She must be feeling awkward too.

She probably knows better than anyone how I’ve been living as an adventurer.

With a very apologetic expression, Tina said, “Novice… that’s right.”

Forget it, don’t register.

* * *

I decided to give up on registering as a new adventurer.

If they can’t even accept the Bronze grade, Novice?

It’s like going through all the trouble in the military to become a sergeant and then being told to go back to being a trainee.

For now, registering as a new adventurer is on hold until I find a solution.

Luckily, I had some money.

I could roughly live without working for a while.

I thought there would be a way if I followed the hint from the narration, but it seems that’s not the case.

To relieve some stress, I bought some chicken skewers from a street vendor.

Ah, it’s delicious.

This is the taste of human society…!

Staying in the demon realm unintentionally made me miss the taste of human food so much.

Eating a few chicken skewers made me feel a bit better about the failed adventurer registration.

“Sigh… what should I do now…?”

Feeling a bit better, I walked through the evening streets, pondering my options.

Should I go back to Philstone and try to persuade them again? No, that’s probably impossible.

It seems that the experience I can leverage was all gained during my time as an adventurer and cannot be used.

Should I go to the nearby forest and hunt monsters to quickly build up some experience?

Upon further investigation, it seemed that only defeating monsters in the presence of many witnesses could be counted as experience.

Even if I defeat a strong monster alone, it won’t count unless witnessed by many people.

Three witnesses…

Where can I find people to bring as witnesses…

Perhaps Sylphy, Tina, and Meruru.

Sylphy would probably follow me if I asked her as a senior! I’ll help you out!

But asking Tina and Meruru, who are working as receptionists, to accompany me and be witnesses for my experience-building would be a burden.

Melluru seems to have some free time, but Tina looks really busy.

Shari… let’s leave the ghost out of this.

And since Milreya isn’t here, that’s fine.

But it would be even weirder to find someone I don’t know and ask them to watch me defeat monsters for my adventurer registration experience!

Is there no other way?

“Yunoa was scratching her head, pondering on how to create experience for her new adventurer registration.

However, simply subjugating monsters without any background made it difficult to achieve the desired rank.”

So, what am I supposed to do?

I can’t just accept the fate of being reset to Novice rank and start over from scratch in the adventurer life.

“Currently, the only way to quickly build a recognized background for new adventurers, including prominent guild members, was to accumulate experience.

And there were several conditions required for this.”

The narrator continued to speak to me.

“A Silver-ranked or higher adventurer must defeat a powerful monster that challenges them.

During the subjugation of the monster, they must have at least three witnesses and submit a certificate to the guild.

And in this process, they must receive the guild master’s recognition to fill in the lacking background.”

I already know the first and second conditions.

But what does the third one mean?

Receive the guild master’s recognition while fulfilling those conditions?

It seems like it means that if I receive the guild master’s recognition, I can fill in the lacking background even though I wasn’t born into a famous family or graduated from a specific institution.

“Hmm….”

“Changing Philstone’s unreasonable and inflexible attitude won’t be easy, but for now, I had no choice but to comply with his demands.

However, if I could break through this properly, it wouldn’t be all bad for Yunoa.

If I could restore the adventurer rank according to Philstone’s standards, then something terrible awaited Philstone.”

I really hope that’s the case.

If something terrible awaits Philstone, then I definitely can’t give up.

I thought maybe the narrator would give me a hint, but there was no more narration after this.

Damn, they always give some information and leave out the crucial parts.

I definitely understand the direction now.

Subjugate a monster worthy of Silver rank with three witnesses and receive the guild master’s recognition.

It won’t be easy to get recognition from that stubborn guy.

I mulled over the words the narrator had said in my head.

And the part that bothered me was ‘receive the guild master’s recognition in this process.’

It sounded like I had to achieve all the conditions at once rather than separately.

Well, I guess I have no choice but to go see Philstone again.

Before it gets too late, I hurried my steps towards the Kubele Refinery.