In a world completely shrouded in darkness, we walked through the night streets lit by magical streetlights and eventually arrived at the Adventurer's Guild.

The adventurer's guild in King's Landing was different in scale from the one in the city of Atratia.
I passed through the guild's entrance door and walked through the bustling guild even though it was night.
I was followed by Cyril, Satsuki, and Mee.

When I got to the guild office, there was a nervous-looking man in his mid-20s.
I tell him what I need.

'I'm an adventurer registered in the city of Atratia, and I'd like you to respond to a quest that comes in. My name is William Glenford.'

I said and presented the bronze plaque that was my adventurer's card.
The man at the counter took one look at it and snickered, 'Hmm.

'You ...... are an F-rank adventurer, aren't you? Nomination quests are for beginners like you, you know?

He said, pointing with his chin to my adventurer's card and gesturing for me to take it and leave.

A surprising response.
I hadn't expected to run into such an incomprehensible obstacle in such a place.

But we couldn't just back down when he said that.

'No, there should be no problem according to the rules.

'Huh. ...... Well, according to the rules, yes. But ...... you know, I know you're at an age where you tend to think you're the hero of an adventure story, but you should have a little more common sense. There you go. There you go.

The man at the counter waved his hand as if to shoo away anyone in his way.

Then Cyril, who was behind me, stepped forward and confronted the man at the counter.

'You know, it's your job, so do it right. William is not the misguided new adventurer you think he is.

With that, Cyril produced his bronze adventurer's card, slamming it against the counter.
But the man behind the counter took one look at it too and smiled wryly.

'Rank E. ....... You're a pretty girl, so why don't you join a higher-ranked party instead of working with an F-ranked guy like this? I don't know how much you love this guy, but you have to be smarter than that. I'm sure you'll be able to sneak into some of the top parties if you use your body.

The man at the counter then sighed derisively.

It was indeed too much to say.
I was about to warn him, but...

But then... blech.
Before I could act, I heard the sound of Cyril's patience being cut off.

'It's you! Get out of there for a minute and sit on the floor here! I'll give you an hour-long lecture! If you're not going to come out, I'm going to drag you out!

'Hey, hey, calm down, Cyril! I know how you feel! I know what you're thinking!

Satsuki hurriedly stopped Cyril from grabbing the man at the counter by choking him.
Cyril is sniffling and staring at the receptionist, but he seems to have managed to restrain himself from grabbing him.

However, the nature of this receptionist is just awful.
I wonder if the Adventurer's Guild is short on staff, or if there are other reasons for having such a man at the desk.

But that wasn't the end of the man at the counter's snark.

'Hmm, that's exactly what ....... I've been teaching him how to get ahead, and he won't even listen to me. This is why commoners are ....... If you're going to send me a job with your connections, you might as well introduce me to a better one. ......'

He mumbled to himself.

Well, it seems he's a drunkard's son from a good family.
The adventurer's guild may not be so forgiving when it comes to people who have been recruited by influential people.

But in any case, we need you to do your job well at least.
I demanded again from the man at the counter.

'I say again. If you receive a request to appoint William Glenford and his party, please respond.

'...... d*mn, you're persistent. All right, I'll deal with it if it comes to that. Then get the hell out of here, you bottom-feeder.''

The man at the counter waved his hand again.

I left the Adventurer's Guild with the three girls, feeling sorry for myself.
I was impressed by the fact that Satsuki, Cyril, and Mee all stuck their tongues out at the man as they left.


That night, we stayed at an inn in the royal capital.


That night, we took a lodging in the royal capital, and the next morning.
When we went to the adventurer's guild, we found the man from yesterday at the counter.

I asked the man at the counter, 'William, the one I told you about yesterday, have you gotten the quest?

I ask the man at the counter.
I assumed that the request for the nomination quest would have come in last night, so I came to ask him first thing in the morning...

The man at the counter lifts the corner of his mouth and replies.

The man at the counter lifted his head and said, 'No, you haven't. What, did you think you'd get an order yesterday? Well, it's quite frightening, isn't it, a dreamy boy who can't see reality?

Satsuki was about to interrupt the grinning man at the counter when the door to the guild opened.

The door of the guild's entrance opened, and a girl came running in.
The girl recognized me and called out to me.

'Oh, Will! I'm sorry I'm late, I've taken a lot of time to prepare. I'll send out the request now.

The girl was Irene, in her usual male attire.
She walked past us and stood in front of the counter.

'I'd like to submit a request. Is this a good place to do it?

'...... Ah, yes. I was wondering if ...... you might be Princess Irene?

The man at the counter has a different attitude than before.
He straightens his back and looks nervous.

'Yes, I am. But I think you should treat it as a request from Knight Irene rather than a request from the royal family.

When the man at the counter heard this, his eyes rolled up in his head and he began to fidget.

'Wow, I understand. ...... So, what can the Princess want from us, the Adventurer's Guild?

'Well, as I said before, I'd like to send out a nomination quest. I'm nominating William Glenford and his party.

The man at the counter was sweating profusely from his forehead.
He glanced at me and advised Irene.

In the event that you have a good relationship with the person who is going to receive the request, you can ask them directly without going through our adventurer's guild. ......'.

The man at the counter made a surprisingly straightforward point.
In general, he is correct in this regard.

The nomination quest system is used when the client and the requester know each other, but do not yet have a relationship of mutual trust.

By having the adventurer's guild intervene between the two parties, the guild can act as a mediator in the event of a problem, and prevent problems from occurring in the first place.


The Adventurer's Guild is also able to earn a fee for the role it is expected to play.

But even so, there are always exceptions to the rule.
Eileen does not retreat, but answers the man at the counter with a smile.

'Yes. But I want the guild to act as an intermediary. Of course, you can charge me a fee, and there's no problem with the rules, right?

'Um, ......, yes, there is no problem.'

The man at the counter replied to Irene with an air of nonchalance.

The reason why I asked Irene to do a nomination quest this time is because I wanted to put a public agency in between us so that the royal family would not be seen as privatizing the state's finances.

Also, for us adventurers, the quest format has the advantage that we can count the number of times we complete quests to improve our adventurer rank.

The problem with this system is that it makes it easy for rich people to raise their adventurer ranks.
However, the adventurer rank system itself was designed to prevent inexperienced adventurers from taking on high-level quests, and the adventurers' guild probably feels that it cannot take care of those who go to their deaths to cheat.

In addition, the guild sometimes makes exceptions for those who do so blatantly.
However, this is not one of those cases.

I'm going to talk to the guy at the counter.

'So. I'd like to accept that nomination quest. Please handle it.'

'At ......, then, we will process it as such. Please wait over there for a moment. ......'

The man at the counter grunted in pain as he processed the nomination quest.