Chapter 29 – Professional Spirit

Professional Spirit

—–

“Have a safe trip.”
“Take care, Ariel!”
“Sister, be careful out there.”

Today marks a week since Cherny started working as a housekeeper in our house. I left the house again, seeing off the three of them.
The reason, as always…
‘I’m out of money.’
Cherny eats so much that Puel looks like a light eater in comparison.
I should have known from when she stole an entire pig from the village.

“More please! Ariel-nim’s cooking is so delicious!”
Of course, I don’t dislike it. I’m rather grateful that she enjoys my cooking so much.

But with three dependents now, I have no choice but to work hard.
‘Right. I need to use the disguise magic.’
I almost went out without it. I almost forgot since it’s been a while since I went out.

They say that people are seen as completely different individuals even with slight changes in facial features.
…Human nature being what it is, one doesn’t want to transform into an ugly appearance on purpose, right?
After slightly altering my face with disguise magic, I headed towards the Adventurers’ Guild again.

——

Creak.
As I opened the door of the Adventurers’ Guild, I could see at a glance the still bustling interior.
‘Nothing has changed here.’
Well, it’s only been about a week, what could have changed?

“Looking for one person to join in scouting an Orc village quest. Must be confident in hiding oneself!!”
…Has that person still not found anyone?
I’m sure he was doing the same thing when I first came to the Adventurers’ Guild.

As I slowly approached the reception counter where the guild staff was, a familiar staff member recognized me. Was her name Camilla?
…I remember Airi calling her that before.

As I approached right up to the counter, the guild staff spoke to me first.
“Hello, May-nim. I was just about to pass on some information to you, perfect timing!”
“Information to pass on?”

“Um… You took on the goblin subjugation request with Airi last time, right?”
“I did.”
Then the guild staff carefully started talking about the previous request.

“…Afterwards, Airi complained that monsters of a level not matching the rank appeared, and just looking at the scale, it was an excessive request for a bronze-rank adventurer to take on.”
The staff continued speaking.
I could sense an apologetic feeling from her attitude and atmosphere as she spoke to me.

“Since this could have led to a big problem if true, the Adventurers’ Guild took it seriously and dispatched an investigation team.”
‘Certainly….’
Even setting aside the appearance of the giant goblin, the scale of the goblins certainly exceeded the level of a request suitable for a bronze-rank adventurer to take on.

It seems Airi separately complained to the Adventurers’ Guild after completing the request.
‘I feel sorry for leaving the aftermath to Airi alone.’
I completely forgot about going to the Adventurers’ Guild the day after completing the request. I’m sorry, Airi.

“Based on the scale of the village, traces of battle, and Airi’s testimony, we confirmed that we had incorrectly set the rank, and the Adventurers’ Guild decided to compensate Airi and May-nim… We’re truly sorry.”
The staff member stood up and bowed 90 degrees while apologizing.
It wasn’t even her fault, but seeing her sincerely apologize made me a bit flustered.
‘Is this what they call professional spirit?’

The gazes of adventurers started to turn towards us at this rare sight.
“Um… Could you raise your head? Too much attention is focused on us…”
“Ah. Yes.”
It seems the Adventurers’ Guild took this matter more seriously than I thought.

It makes sense, because if incorrect rank setting leads to unnecessary loss of life, the Adventurers’ Guild would be held responsible.
…But honestly, while the Adventurers’ Guild might take it as a serious matter, I don’t really care much.
I’m a bit angry that Airi could have been hurt, but in the end, it turned out well.
‘I wonder if Airi would feel a bit disappointed if she heard this.’

I mentally apologized to Airi and then spoke to the guild staff.
“I’ll accept the apology. I’m not sure about Airi though. Anyway, what’s this compensation you mentioned?”
Was I too obvious in looking forward to the compensation? No. They brought up the compensation first.

After finishing my self-justification, the guild staff answered me.
“Ah. Yes. The Adventurers’ Guild has decided to provide monetary compensation to both Airi and May-nim, along with…”
‘Monetary compensation?’
Hearing the guild staff’s words, my heart started to beat a little faster. You can call me materialistic if you want. The more money, the better.

“…For Airi, who was originally a silver-rank adventurer, we’ll provide performance compensation, and for May-nim, who was a bronze-rank adventurer, we’ve decided to promote you directly to silver-rank adventurer without a promotion test.”
The guild staff added with a bitter smile.
“Of course, it’s only natural since you brilliantly handled a request that wasn’t originally bronze-rank level.”

According to the staff, it seems I’m being promoted directly to silver rank without a promotion test. That’s less troublesome.
Originally, when the word ‘test’ is attached, eight or nine times out of ten, no, ten out of ten times it’s troublesome.

“Just a moment…”
Saying that, the staff member fumbled to take something out.
“This is an amount equivalent to three times the original request reward. …Of course, we’re not trying to cover up our mistake with this, but we’d be grateful if you could accept it as a token of our apology.”

She then held out a quite stylish leather pouch to me. If it’s three times the reward for the request I took on…
‘…30 silver?’
It’s quite heavy. Does this mean I’ve earned a total of 45 silver from one request?

“I’ll let it slide this time, but I hope this kind of thing doesn’t happen again.”
“Yes. Thank you.”

Barely holding back the smile that kept trying to escape, I spoke to the staff member indifferently.
‘I guess I can just rest today without taking on a request.’
I was originally planning to take on a simple herb gathering request. Today is a day off. Wait for me, Saya, Puel.

Just then.
“Wait a minute. You got promoted to silver rank for just completing one goblin subjugation request?”

A man walking towards me and the staff member with a swagger.
The silver-rank adventurer badge prominently displayed on his chest was impressive. A glimpse of his pride.

“Mr. Hector. May-nim was promoted according to the Adventurers’ Guild’s policy…”
“So, you’re saying that this great Adventurers’ Guild’s policy is to promote a bronze-rank punk to silver rank for just one goblin subjugation?!”

The man spoke in a voice so loud it made me frown.
It was a moment when I thought that being an Adventurers’ Guild staff must be a really tough job. They have to treat even such troublemakers as customers.

Hearing the man’s words, some adventurers frowned, but most were watching the commotion here with smiles. They seemed to tacitly agree.
Perhaps emboldened by the surrounding reactions, the man came at me with an even more confident tone.

“Hey. Just because you have a pretty face, don’t think you can look down on this place. Did you sleep with the guild master or something? Kuk kuk.”
“Wait. You… That’s going too far!”
Even the guild staff who was listening beside me got angry at such low-class words.
I wasn’t particularly angry, but the current situation was a bit unpleasant.

‘…What should I do.’
Last time, I subdued a man who was causing trouble with petrification magic, but it seems the man in front of me didn’t see that scene.
If he could still act like this after seeing that, I would have to admit it’s impressive in its own way.

“Do you even know what hardships we silver-rank adventurers went through to get here? Huh?”
“Mr. Hector. Any further disparagement of May-nim’s promotion will be taken as an insult to the Adventurers’ Guild itself.”
“…Tch.”

At the staff’s firm tone, the man clicked his tongue and returned to his table.
“I’m sorry, May-nim. Many adventurers can be rough… I’ll give him a warning later, so please don’t worry too much.”
“It’s okay. I didn’t think much of it.”

After the man left, the guild staff who had been sneaking glances at me apologized.
Honestly, it would be a lie to say I wasn’t irritated, but it wasn’t something to dwell on. Just a level of unpleasantness that would disappear by thinking about the children at home for a moment.
‘Am I too far gone?’

“…That’s good then. You can come pick up your silver-rank adventurer badge in about a day or two… By the way, what brought you here today?”
“I came to ask if there were any simple requests to take on…”
Given the unexpected gain, I wonder if I really need to take on a request today.

The atmosphere isn’t great, and it’s not like I’m in a hurry for work.
‘Oh, come to think of it, I can take on silver-rank adventurer requests now.’
I should at least look at the list.

“Can you show me the list of requests that silver-rank adventurers can take on?”
“Oh yes. Just a moment.”
The guild staff took out a few sheets of paper from a neatly organized pile.

“There’s an Orc village reconnaissance mission… Werewolf subjugation, and a merchant convoy escort mission left. Other than that, there are requests that even bronze-rank adventurers can take on, should I show you that list?”
“No, that’s okay.”

‘I guess it’s because my rank has gone up, the rewards look quite good.’
Most of the requests written on the paper the staff handed me had good rewards. The difficulty would have increased proportionally though.
‘The Orc village reconnaissance mission… I don’t feel like doing it.’

From when I first came, there was an adventurer looking for someone to join the Orc village reconnaissance mission. The fact that no one has been found until now means there must be a good reason.
‘The Werewolf subjugation request looks good too… The merchant convoy escort mission?’

It seems they’re looking for escorts for a merchant convoy heading to Cleanver… The reward is quite high. 30 silver.
Since one meat skewer costs 5 copper… It’s enough money to buy 600 meat skewers.

“Can you explain more about this merchant convoy escort mission?”
“Hmm. This one, right? Just a moment.”
The guild staff looked at the request sheet I pointed to and started explaining about the merchant convoy escort mission.

“First of all, as you can see, it’s a mission to escort a merchant’s carriage from Lonzville to Cleanver. They’re recruiting four silver-rank or higher adventurers, and it’s scheduled for three days from now.”
Three days from now… not bad.

It’s a mission with other people, but since it’s an escort mission, there probably won’t be a need for much interaction.
The problem is that it takes a full day to travel by carriage from Lonzville to Cleanver… but with Cherny around, it should be okay to leave the house for a day or so.

Her barrier skills are quite good. I can trust her with it.
“Then, I’ll take on this request.”
“You mean the merchant convoy escort mission? Understood.”

After a moment’s consideration, I decided to take on the merchant convoy escort mission.
Not only for the reward, but it also seemed not bad for Saya and Puel to experience being apart from me for a day. Especially Saya.
‘I wonder if Saya will be very angry.’

After completing the request acceptance, I headed home with a bit of worry.
.
.
.
And on the evening before the day of the request.
I casually told Saya and Puel that I probably wouldn’t be coming home tomorrow.

Then Saya and Puel’s faces looked like they might burst into tears at any moment.
I hadn’t told them separately that I was doing adventurer work, but both Saya and Puel vaguely knew that the reason I was going out was to earn money.

Perhaps because of this, Saya and Puel admirably didn’t try to hold me back.
“…When you come back, you have to stay at home with us. Promise.”
“Sister. Don’t overdo it.”

“I promise.”

‘This makes my heart weak….’
Is this how parents feel when they let their children become independent? No, I’m the one becoming independent. And only for a day.

You could say I’m making a fuss over being apart for just one day, but both Saya and Puel are children with many wounds.
…They both have experiences of being abandoned by their parents, so they dislike being separated from me, perhaps excessively.
But I can’t always be with them forever.

“Cherny. Please take good care of Saya and Puel.”
“Ye-yes! I’ll give my life for them!”
…You don’t need to go that far.

And as time passed, the day of the request arrived.