Ch.17Chapter 17 – Streetlights

About three weeks had passed since discussing the party and the guild.

After arriving safely in the Kingdom of Mikea, we passed through a gate even more massive than the one in the New Kingdom. Then, diligently making our way to the capital, that’s how time had flown by.

“How magnificent.”

If the border gate was enormous, the capital’s gate could only be described as magnificent first and foremost.

That massive gate was adorned with gold decorations throughout, and the bridge leading to the entrance was lined with vibrant flowers blooming everywhere, which prompted such an impression.

Haven smiled slightly and said:

“Well, it is a nation’s capital after all.”

“I heard the Magic Tower regularly maintains those flowers.”

“The Magic Tower, you say?”

“They make the flowers bloom regardless of season as a welcome to travelers.”

Seems rather wasteful.

After passing through the excessively ornate path, we waited in front of the gate guarded by sentries.

During that time, the others explained various things to me, a foreigner in their eyes, talking about the merits of the Kingdom of Mikea and places worth visiting.

Of course, it went in one ear and out the other.

As we waited, it was soon our turn.

As expected of a capital’s gate, the identity check was excessively strict.

Naturally, I was the problem again.

“So, you’re vouching for this person’s identity?”

“Yes, they plan to join the Adventurers’ Guild of the Kingdom of Mikea.”

“I intend to take them directly to register.”

Both Eve and Haven were simultaneously vouching for my identity.

When the sentry seemed unsatisfied with just Eve’s word, Haven also stepped forward to help.

After thinking for a moment, the sentry finally spoke:

“Very well. However, you must submit a guild certificate to this guardpost within a week of passing through this gate. Until then, this person is restricted from leaving the capital. Also, please understand that if you fail to submit it within a week, you will face consequences.”

The sentry added various other warnings directed at me.

‘I suppose this is still quite lenient.’

I thought it might be careless to let someone of unknown identity into the capital. Though in my case, having guarantors made it a somewhat different situation.

As if reading my mind, Eve spoke up:

“If any problems arise, they immediately round up all people like you, Kei.”

Eve looked at me seriously.

“If you get caught then, there’s really nothing good that will come of it.”

“What happens specifically?”

“Well, I’ve never seen anyone who’s come back out.”

…It seemed best to quietly submit my identification to the guardpost as soon as possible.

After passing through the gate and walking a short distance, we saw a highly developed street with brick pavements and fountains.

In the distance, I could vaguely make out a tall tower, and beyond it, an enormous castle.

Near the tower, there was also a massive building, slightly smaller than the castle.

“Finally arrived at our beloved home.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Haven and Ravi exchanged such words.

Eve quietly smiled and spoke:

“Everyone’s worked hard, but our contract is still ongoing, right?”

“It ends when we deliver the cargo to the young lady’s company, doesn’t it?”

“That’s right, but today…”

Eve looked up at the sky.

Judging by the sun’s position, there wasn’t much time left until evening.

“With not much daylight left, I was thinking we could rest at an inn tonight and go tomorrow.”

“Your employees must be anxiously waiting for you, though.”

“A good boss is one who doesn’t show their face too often, right? They might be praying I don’t come in until tomorrow.”

Eve joked playfully.

“I wanted to finish our contract by getting Kei registered with the guild, having a celebration dinner tonight, and then safely unloading the cargo at the company tomorrow.”

“We’ve all worked hard together, haven’t we?” Eve added.

“That sounds fine to me. What about the others?”

Haven readily accepted Eve’s proposal, and his party members also agreed willingly.

“I’m fine with it too.”

I had no reason to refuse either.

After all, if we parted ways, I’d immediately have to worry about where to sleep.

Eve skillfully guided the group to an inn.

We secured rooms at one of the inns built by the Merchants’ Association for its members, left our luggage and cart there, and headed out.

Walking through the capital’s crowds, we eventually found a building with a large sign that read “Adventurers’ Guild.”

At first glance, it looked like an upscale tavern.

Wooden barrels that appeared to be beer kegs were set up outside, adding to that atmosphere.

“They operate it together with a tavern.”

“The food and side dishes are just decent enough to eat.”

Haven and Ravi said as they opened the entrance.

I had expected an apocalyptic scene with burly people carrying weapons, but surprisingly, the inside was clean.

On one wall was a large wooden board with papers posted on it, and in front of it stood people in various attire holding various weapons, looking at the board.

Those who picked up papers from there either chatted lightly among themselves or quietly left the building, but they didn’t seem intent on causing any commotion inside.

People who had successfully obtained papers, either by winning some competition or without any competition at all, walked with light steps across the marble floor toward uniformed men and women behind rather antique wooden counters.

In one corner, under a sign that read “Tavern,” there were tables and chairs, and a black-haired woman who seemed drunk was slumped over, with a waitress clearing away her empty glasses.

The atmosphere was more quiet and peaceful than I had imagined.

“Did you expect some rowdy place full of ruffians?”

Ravi asked with a smile.

I nodded in response.

“Well, I did have that impression since it’s a place where people who fight physically gather.”

“That’s rude. There are also intelligent mages and priests who come here to earn pocket money. Calling it ‘fighting physically’ is a bit disrespectful to adventurers, brother.”

So there are mages and priests registered with the Adventurers’ Guild too.

‘But Haven’s party is all warriors, isn’t it?’

I wasn’t sure if it was because they had few members or for some other reason, but his argument seemed somewhat unconvincing.

Anyway, since he mentioned mages, I should ask.

“Are there mages from the Magic Tower as well?”

“…I suppose there might be? But as far as I know, most mages in the guild are quacks who couldn’t get into the Tower and learned magic by chance.”

I nodded at Haven’s explanation.

Apparently not all mages were from the Magic Tower.

“I don’t know about Tower graduates, but those quacks aren’t really that impressive.”

That was Ravi’s explanation.

If even warriors found them unimpressive, it seemed best not to expect much from non-Tower mages.

As we pushed through the crowd toward the counter, Haven spoke:

“Just as the Merchants’ Association has various guidelines, the guild also has many rules. One of them is ‘Don’t cause disturbances inside the guild.'”

Haven paused briefly before continuing.

“If the environment becomes threatening to clients or guild staff over there, they can’t receive requests. So they establish proper behavior for adventurers from the start.”

As Haven finished, Ravi added:

“Besides the headquarters here, there are also branches, and the guild regularly sends inspectors to monitor and prevent misconduct.”

They seemed stricter about trust than I had thought.

Now I was curious about what happens when rules are broken.

“What happens if someone breaks the rules? Like getting drunk and causing a scene?”

“Sooner or later, senior adventurers will come beat them up. If alcohol was involved, they’ll consider it a mistake due to drinking and show some leniency.”

“What if someone causes trouble without being drunk?”

“Sooner or later, senior adventurers will beat them up, take everything they have, and revoke their guild membership.”

The beating part is the same either way.

What a barbaric place.

“Besides that, there’s ‘Contract Compliance’ and various other rules, but the point is ‘Actions that lose the trust of the guild and adventurers are never tolerated.’ It’s your livelihood at stake.”

Ravi summarized it briefly.

As we continued talking, Haven waited in front of the receptionist.

Since another adventurer was currently speaking with them, he was patiently waiting his turn.

Soon, as that adventurer moved aside, he approached the receptionist.

“Excuse me.”

Haven spoke, pointing at me.

“This person wishes to join the guild.”

The registration process was simpler than I expected.

It just involved filling out name, age, occupation, etc., receiving an explanation about ranks, and undergoing a brief interview about character.

Fortunately, there was no procedure to verify if my name or age was correct.

‘Thanks to those church bastards, I don’t even know my own name and age.’

It would have been really troublesome if they had some tool to verify the truth.

Since I had been going by Kei, I simply wrote that as my name, and for occupation, I figured I’d be a warrior since I use my body to fight, so I wrote that. For age, I put down around 24.

“Let me see if you’ve filled it out properly.”

Suddenly, Eve leaned in and started examining the form I was filling out.

“Are you trying to see my age?”

“I wasn’t interested, but seeing the age field made me curious.”

I need to hide it.

But wait, how old is this woman anyway?

I should ask politely.

“By the way, may I ask how old you are, Eve?”

When I asked politely, Eve smiled brightly.

“‘How old’?”

Her hand moved at a terrifying speed.

In the end, I got smacked on the back several times.

After a brief interview, I received a necklace with a guild certificate marked “F-rank.”

Finally, I had something to proudly present when asked to prove my identity.

“F-rank means you’ll mostly be doing odd jobs or errands rather than full-fledged subjugation missions.”

Haven explained.

“Subjugation starts from E-rank. The principle is to take requests appropriate to your rank.”

“I suppose they don’t want to send just anyone and risk failure, which would damage their credibility.”

“Correct. But E-rank subjugation requests would be no match for you, Kei. You’ll rank up quickly since you can take down trolls with a single blow.”

I nodded at Haven’s explanation that the troll I had killed with one blow was actually recommended for C-rank parties of at least two people.

Were the monsters that appeared in that forest higher ranked than I thought?

With guild registration complete, we had no further business there.

When we opened the door and came out, the sun was beginning to set.

“I’ll have to submit my guild certificate to the guardpost tomorrow.”

“The day after tomorrow. Tomorrow we need to help move the cargo.”

When I said this to Eve, she smiled lightly.

“That would be appreciated.”

The sun was setting, but the city wasn’t getting dark.

Light was coming from lamps attached to tall iron poles.

“Those are streetlamps. The Magic Tower sends magical power to maintain them.”

“The Magic Tower manages quite a variety of things.”

“Thanks to them, the kingdom’s capital stays bright even at night.”

“It’s good for preventing crime too,” Ravi added.

But his explanation didn’t reach my ears.

It was because of a scene flashing through my mind.

Clearly, it was a night scene from where I used to live.

A night scene with lights everywhere.

Just from something like this, such a scene came to mind.

The scar on my face began to sting slightly, as if water had seeped into it.

‘Good thing I’m wearing a helmet.’

Otherwise, I might have shown an unsightly face.

Where did I hear it before? Something about not showing a crying face carelessly.

I remember finding that advice ridiculous at the time.

“Kei?”

Eve’s call brought my mind back to reality from the lost memories I had been wandering through.

“What were you doing, spacing out suddenly?”

“Just, um, I was staring because it’s fascinating.”

I spoke while feigning calmness.

Fortunately, my voice didn’t tremble.

“I can understand that. I was the same when I first saw it.”

Thankfully thinking it was nothing serious, Eve turned forward and started walking again. I stared at her back for a moment, then looked down at the ground as I walked.

I couldn’t raise my face.

If I did, the light from the streetlamps would enter my helmet.

“…I want to go home.”

I muttered quietly.

I couldn’t raise my face.