Ch.3The Beginning of Adventure (3)

“I wonder what kind of request there’ll be~”

I head excitedly toward the bulletin board. Even after a quick glance, I can only see scattered requests to eliminate goblins, orcs, and the like.

Of course, I’m still only Straw rank, and while I’ve taken down a few humans before, I’ve never faced monsters, so I’ll leave those creatures to other adventurers.

Just as I was about to examine the board more closely, a rough hand suddenly grabbed me.

Grip.

“Ugh!”

With that unexpected grasp, I momentarily choked.

Following the hand upward with my eyes, I saw a muscular man with an indifferent expression looking down at me.

“You, show me your license.”

“Who. To you?”

“Yes.”

As the muscleman nodded, I handed him my license with a suspicious look.

Judging by how the guild staff was clearly watching, this must be some kind of procedure.

“Straw rank, huh…”

He muttered that and then let me go.

“Hmm… quite a dramatic inspection.”

Upon reaching the request board, I could see the general distribution.

High-risk requests were clustered at the top of the board, while low-risk ones were gathered at the bottom—seemingly their policy.

I didn’t like having to look so far down, but if you don’t want to die, you need to know your limits.

“Hmm…. oh!”

I spotted a decent-looking request and quickly grabbed it.

It was a request to exterminate giant rats living in the sewers. I had experience catching giant rats that crawled out of sewers before.

I lowered my head to check if there were any other suitable requests when someone placed their hand on my shoulder.

“Hey. One request per person.”

“Huh?”

“You’ve already taken one request. Now move aside.”

I silently followed his instructions.

The reason was simple.

His rank was higher than mine.

As I stepped back and watched, I noticed other people also taking just one request form each, so it didn’t seem to be a lie.

“A giant rat for my first request… not really suitable for using a sword.”

A club that I can swing properly would be better, so I should find a suitable piece of wood first.

With that thought, as I was about to head outside, the muscleman’s hand caught me again.

“You there, show me your request form.”

When I showed him the giant rat extermination request, he released me.

“If you need wood, there should be something suitable in the adventurer’s guild backyard.”

He told me where I could find wood.

He must have overheard my muttering.

“…”

Should I thank him?

Just as I was about to say something, feeling it would be impolite not to, he grabbed another adventurer.

Like me, he was a young, inexperienced Straw rank adventurer. The muscleman narrowed his eyes and forcibly took the request form.

‘The atmosphere seems different here.’

Just as I was thinking that, the muscleman opened his mouth.

“This is beyond your level. Choose another request. For example… yes, something like giant rat extermination.”

He gestured with his chin toward me standing there blankly. The adventurer who had chosen a request deemed impossible for a Straw rank turned red-faced and shouted.

“What’s it to you?! I can do it! I trained at the Swordsmanship Guild for two years!”

“Training doesn’t guarantee combat ability. You cannot clear out goblins. Choose another request.”

…So he chose goblin extermination.

From what I knew, goblins were considered the strongest monsters that a complete novice could potentially handle through sheer determination.

With proper knowledge, training, and equipment, they could be swept away, but otherwise, goblins were opponents that adventurers often struggled against.

There’s truth in wine, so I trusted that information to some extent, but I wondered about that adventurer…

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

Oh dear…

“Aren’t adventurers responsible for themselves?! Whether I live or die is none of your business! Give me back my request form now!”

Looking at the chattering adventurer, the muscleman returned the form with a disgusted expression.

“Ah….”

Now I understand.

That muscleman must be one of the higher-ranked adventurers, not a guild employee.

And the fact that no one was stopping his actions meant he had either received the guild staff’s consent or their tacit support, and I could understand what that implied.

“Can that kid really do it?”

I asked the muscleman, and he looked at me and shook his head.

The meaning required no interpretation.

*

Rustle… rustle…

“Hmm… this should do.”

As the muscleman had said, various discarded pieces of wood were piled up behind the guild.

Among them were not only rotten wood but also serviceable pieces like leftover firewood, so I selected suitable ones and made two clubs.

One for combat and one as a spare.

I don’t know who said it, but from a survivalist perspective, two is one and one is none.

With the club tucked under my arm, I placed the longsword and middle sword that were still fixed to my belt on the ground.

“Sigh… it’s a bit less stylish, but can’t be helped.”

With clubs instead of swords on my left hip and behind my waist, I looked somewhat ridiculous, but I couldn’t use damaged swords in battle.

Surely there must be a blacksmith nearby.

I looked around the guild area, and sure enough, I reached a blacksmith shop after just a few steps.

It was so large that the sign read “Ironworks” rather than “Blacksmith,” and inside, blacksmiths were hammering iron while dripping with sweat.

As I entered, the skinniest blacksmith rushed over to me.

“Welcome. What can I get you?”

“A set of longsword and middle sword.”

“Ah… sorry, but we’re out of stock… we’d have to make new ones. Is that okay?”

“You’re out of stock?”

I couldn’t help but be surprised.

A blacksmith without swords?

Moreover, with these facilities, they could easily make ten swords a day, so how could they be out of swords?

Noticing my doubt, the skinny blacksmith began making excuses.

“Well… we had a contract, but our boss got the delivery date wrong. We’re really busy right now.”

“But you said custom orders are possible?”

“We have separate craftsmen who only make custom orders. If we assign them this kind of work, government officials will come after us.”

“I see…”

Mistaking the delivery date rather than misreading contract terms—it’s truly absurd.

“So, what would you like to do?”

“Well… I’ll place an order then. A set of longsword and middle sword… Oh! Including scabbards.”

“Let’s see… with scabbards included… that’ll be 50 silver coins.”

I took out my spatial storage and retrieved 50 silver coins from my money pouch.

When I handed over the pouch of money, the skinny man seemed greatly surprised.

“Wow… is that a spatial storage? First time I’ve seen one…”

“It’s nothing special. Anyone can buy one if they have the money. Anyway, the payment?”

“Oh my! Look at me. 50 silver coins. Received for sure. The items will take about three days.”

“Then, I’ll come back then.”

*

The next day, I visited a shop specializing in adventurer clothing.

I wanted to get fitted for leather armor. Metal armor was too heavy and difficult to maintain, so leather armor was just right for someone like me who had some money.

Upon entering the shop, one of the employees took me to the measuring area, where they measured me along with others, and then I specified the type of armor I wanted.

“Leather armor.”

“How many layers of leather would you like? We can layer up to three.”

“Then three layers.”

“Understood. Leather triplet. Order received.”

A triplet is a type of armor made of cloth or leather, literally meaning three-layered armor. Unlike leather, which has inherent defensive properties, cloth is too weak with just one layer, so cloth triplets are made by layering three cloth pads.

“And I’d also like a long coat with a hood, something I can wear over the triplet. Do you have anything like that?”

“Of course. What color would you like?”

“Ivory for the outside, and burgundy for the lining.”

“Ah… understood. Ivory exterior… burgundy lining…”

“And I’d also like to buy some casual clothes, about three sets.”

“For casual clothes, please go to that corner.”

“Thanks.”

So I paid a total of 230 silver coins, and wearing my newly purchased clothes, I returned to the Iron Trout Inn in a good mood. Instead of the bland menu that was prepared, I ordered the spicy meat dish I had been curious about.

I also downed a few beers… and feeling tipsy, I lay on the bed with a smile.

“Hehehe… such a soft bed.”

A soft bed I’m feeling for the first time in my life…

Ah… I’ve been desperately saving money just to feel this sensation.

The fact that I’ve spent nearly half of my savings isn’t that important.

What matters is that I feel good about spending the money.