episode_0146

Early morning.

Ting- ting-

Ignoring the unusually cheerful doorbell, I entered. The lingering smell of last night’s alcohol wafted from the lobby.

“Welcome to the Karis Adventurer’s Guild.”

Yeah, this is an adventurer’s guild, alright.

Should I call it a shop-in-shop…? The Karis Adventurer’s Guild has a perfectly normal guild headquarters on the first floor, and a tavern on the second.

Adventurers usually hold meetings about requests, strategy sessions, and the like, and they often have a drink or two if needed.

Perhaps this crazy accessibility is why Karis is the most famous adventurer’s guild in the royal capital.

After all, adventuring is incredibly dangerous, to the point where you might lose your life at any moment, so you can’t possibly do it without loosening a screw or two.

That’s where alcohol comes in as a convenient and reliable ‘medicine.’ It’s not for nothing that adventurers’ best friend is alcohol.

A drink to celebrate good times, a drink over sadness, two drinks when you’re hurt, three when you’re tired.

Though, if a beautiful female adventurer gets a little too tipsy, she might wake up the next day with her clothes scattered in an alley or stable.

Aside from such unfortunate incidents, moderate drinking makes life as an adventurer more comfortable.

Anyway, today, I’m not here to drink.

“Katia!”

Greeted enthusiastically by Yuri, she’s the Karis guild’s receptionist, someone I met before. Katia helped with the adventurer registration exam and various request processing.

“Ah—the Philbrog sisters! Good to see you.”

“Good morning.”

“Yes, how have you been?”

I smiled slightly in affirmation, and Yuri also smiled faintly, gently stroking her lower abdomen.

“Of course… we’re doing well—♡”

“What do you mean, Yuri—?”

“Are we not doing well?”

As always, she clung to one of my arms, showering me with relentless affection.

Well… I’m dressed casually today, so it doesn’t particularly matter. There aren’t many people around, and I only came to renew our adventurer passes, so even merging wouldn’t be a bother.

“Whew… Here you go.”

Taking out our passes and placing them on the table, Katia deftly accepted the metal pieces. She went into the room inside the reception desk, tinkered for a moment, then quickly returned with the updated passes.

The magical tools inside aren’t even produced in Akastos… I wonder what they look like.

“That’s all! You still have three months of grace period, but before then, each of you must succeed in at least one request to avoid a rank drop.”

“Okay—”

The work was done in an instant, but the passes clearly showed the recent renewal date and the rank drop deadline.

Anyway, whatever magic is in the adventurer’s passes and this system gives it a processing speed rivaling a network computer.

It’s nothing new to be surprised by this level of technology… I’m already looking at semi-transparent displays.

Beep- 『[Condition: Adventurer’s Guild Request Renewal] Met.』

To be honest, since my status window appeared, I have also tried to channel Tony Stark, having multiple windows open in the room.

It’s… a man’s fantasy, isn’t it?

Even with a beautiful girl’s face and breasts, I have a man’s memories and… well… you know… so I couldn’t help it.

Anyway.

My business is finished, so I could go home, but it felt a little wasteful to just show my face at the guild. But it’s too early to drink.

“Since we’re here… let’s browse the request board like we’re window shopping.”

“Yes!”

That was the consensus we came to.

When you spend time with someone you love, everything is fun. Even small weeds on roadside become a source of conversation, and even pulling out a single memory and sharing it often leads to sunset.

Therefore, for us, who have taken a small step into the life of an adventurer, the request board was a paradise of conversation.

Even by just looking at the requests posted and completed, you could more or less understand what kind of day adventurers in Karis are having. We could also catch glimpses of what’s happening around the royal capital.

For example, let’s see…

Common ones include exterminating pests that destroy rice paddies during the growing season,

escorting carts to Liberty Port…

“This one looks good? We’re going that way anyway—”

“Hmm… the deadline doesn’t match.”

“Ah—I see.”

Somewhat disappointing. It was a chance to get paid for a free ride…

No, let’s forget about the cart. The memories of the past welled up, constricting my throat.

“I’m not looking at it with the intention of accepting, sister…”

“Ah, right. That’s true.”

I’m just looking for fun, and yet I’m already in work mode. I quickly shook my head and returned to a relaxed mindset, scanning the board again.

There were some common requests, and not a few that simply asked for the escort of VIPs to banquets.

I wonder how important those people are… while others are working their fingers to the bone farming and transporting things, they get to enjoy their drinks and women. I want to see their faces.

As I muttered this… Yuri stared at my face intently.

“…Why?”

“Nothing.”

In addition to this daily life, there were also quite a few requests to fill adventurer party positions.

Summer seems to be the season for everything, as countless monsters appeared, and many people were gathering to exterminate them.

I was scanning through all of this…

*Grab-*

Yuri grabbed my arm.

Since she didn’t say anything, I looked towards where her finger was pointing.

「Karis Adventurer’s Guild Request No. 14412」 -Requester: Lulu Valentine -Rank/Classification: Epic/Gathering (Mining) -Contents: Tarun Gorge Magical Ore Mining -Deadline: Within 30 days of the request date -Details: Reward money or equivalent magical tools and magical items.

An aspect of daily life I hadn’t expected to see.

“Well… she’s good at her job.”

“Right—”

She didn’t take her eyes off the request. Something clearly came to mind.

*A chuckle*

“Shall we visit her later with gifts?”

“Yes-! Bringing a lot of friends would make Teacher happy, too!”

Besides being an academy instructor, Lulu was also Yuri’s magic teacher, so she would undoubtedly care for her more than other students.

“Anyway, Yuri is too kind…”

“Mommy—”

I missed Yuri, having only been away less than an hour. I bent down and hugged her tightly. Her soft touch, like rubbing cheeks together, is addictive.

“Wa- wait a minute… people— people—!!”

“Mmm-?”

Looking around at the guild lobby, more people were there than I thought. Most with… you know… were looking at us, and when I looked at them, they looked away.

*Tight grip-*

I held Yuri’s back even tighter. And I did my best, burying my face in her bosom and wriggling.

*Wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle-*

“Aaah- ugh- uuu—”

It’s not my fault that I’m making strange moans from simply hugging her. Nor is it my fault that the voyeurs suddenly became shy.

“This is my favorite place.”

“Ugh- you’re terrible…”

At least I don’t have to worry about getting married, I even feel like showing her off as mine. Adventurers are frankly more animalistic so marking my territory like this will keep others from getting any closer.

So… it’s following the natural order. By the way, I killed all the guys who bothered Yuri.

*Gurgling stomach sounds-*

“I guess it’s time for breakfast.”

“What should we have?”

“Let’s keep it simple, bread and ham. We have to pack for our trip today.”

Yuri, who was making a quick breakfast list in her notebook, stared at me wide-eyed for a moment.

“Packing? Was there anything to pack…”

“Silly, when you’re going on a trip, you only need to pack one thing.”

Her face quickly lit up with excitement.

*Drum roll-*

After a very short pause, I announced the answer.

“The most important thing for a trip… is people.”

The highlight of travel lies more in sharing than obtaining pleasure. Even solo backpacking involves spending time with the local people, doesn’t it?

Therefore, travel cannot exist alone.

Whether you’re short on cash, lost your way, or are physically tired. It all becomes happy memories when shared, that is what travel is.

“So, let’s find some people to go with from now on.”

“Yes!”

Of course, I don’t mean in a huge group of dozens. Six or so would be fine. I counted the people that easily came to mind in one hand, so it wasn’t a bad idea.

Just as we were about to leave the Adventurer’s Guild…

I quickly rushed to the board and snatched a request form.