I'm sorry, sir, but I can't give you permission to accept this quest.

(Yes?)

　When I went to the guild's receptionist, it was such an unexpected response.
　I was a bit stunned.

''Um, why is that?''
This 'Quest to Kill 15 Goblins' is a quest for 5 or more red marks or 3 or more blue marks.

　The s*xy guild employee's sister, whose purple wavy hair hides her right eye, looks at me.

　Giggling.

.................

　Then she said.

'You're a red mark, aren't you, Marle?　And I was told that you have three companions.
Yes, sir.
That means four red marks. I can't authorize an order.
No, but,

　When I tried to argue with her, she turned her white hand to me.

'No exceptions will be made. Or are there any blue markers at the party?
He's not here.
Well, I'm afraid I can't allow it.

　Clearly, she tells me.
　I tell her.


'But there's gold, silver and white.'
...What?
Mr. Kilt, Illtimina, and Solstice. Um, do you know them?　
I know, but...

　She uttered a pout and huffed.

　She fluttered her purple hair and hurriedly fished out the material at hand.

'There it is,'

　Pouting and reading it with great speed.

　Silence for a few seconds.
　Then he looked at me slowly.

"Marle, have you ever met our guild leader, Mumpa Vina?
Oh, yes.
''................... I beg your pardon.

　She suddenly rose from her chair and bowed her head deeply.

(Yeah!)

It was you, Mr. Marle, who has done so much for our guild. Mr. Mumpa has requested that we do our best to accommodate Mr. Marle's wishes.
Ha, ha.
I'll give you the go-ahead to order now.

　She sits down in her chair and crisply rummages through the papers.

(Well, all the eyes around her...)　

　A child who makes an adult woman bow her head...people around us look at us in puzzlement.

　Eventually, I sign a document handed to me by a staff member's sister.

　Names and member names.
　The leader's address, age and gender.

(Is this one for the guild and this one for the insurance guild?　(This is for the client, I guess?)　

　Hmmm.
　It's hard because I write a surprising number of pieces.

'Um, what's this?'
It's for Mael's reserve.

　I see.
　I wish I had some kind of reprographic technology.

　Eventually, I finish the paperwork.

　At the end of the form, a crystal-like transparent magic stone is prepared, just like when I registered as an adventurer.

"Here, please hold your hand over it while showing the adventurer's seal.
A hand?
Okay. Then, please tell us your name and the names of your party members. The magic mark and voice will be registered in this magic stone. It will also serve as your identification when you return.

　Heh~.
　I nodded and focused my attention on my right hand.

''..........''
..........

　No answer........d*mn.

　Guru.

　I started to put my arm around me, and the sister of the guild staff has a suspicious look on her face. Ugh, please don't look at me........

　Pooh.

　Before long, the Adventurer's Marker shone.

Yeah.

　The older sister turned her satisfied face and very raw eyes to me.
　She shirks.

　I regained my composure and held up my right hand, which glowed red to the magic stone.

"The red-marked adventurer, Marl. My companions are Kilt Amandes, Iltimina Wong and Solstice Wong.
Yes, you have registered.

　The sister nodded, shaking her purple wavy hair.

'The quest due date is five days. Please, don't forget.
Yes, sir.
We look forward to your safe return, my lord. --Blessings to you, my brave young wind.

　Finally, the sister gave me a tremendous smile.

(............)

　Ah, so that's what the guild is all about.
　I thought.

　I laughed along with the thoughts that were bubbling up.

'I'm off!'

　As a member of the same guild, I said it proudly and then headed to my three friends.　


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇


　Iltimina and the others were waiting for me in the restaurant on the second floor of the guild.

"Hey guys, here it is.

　We sat down at the same table, talking to each other.
　The girls laughed immediately, too.

"Come on, Merle.
Welcome back.

　Huh?
　The silver-haired beauty is gone.

　As I scurry around, Solstice tells me while I eat the ice cream I've apparently ordered while I'm waiting.

'Kilt's out there,'
Outside?
If you stay, you'll attract more people and make things harder.

　Oh, okay.

(It's not easy being famous...)

　I am convinced, and Illtimina says to me.

'Did you get the order successfully?
Yes.

　I was a little nervous.

That's good.
I made this quest just in case.

　I put the request form on the table.

'Which one?' And the sisters lean forward. No, no, Mr. Solstice, don't hold the spoon in your mouth. Frivolous.

'I see, so it's goblin defeating.
That's boring. Why don't you slay the dragon and do something really cool?
You know what?

　I'm ignoring Solstice now.

"Miss Illtimina. Is that all you have?
Yes, sir.

　She laughed.

'Knowing what you're capable of, you made the right choice. No problem.
Good.
And you've thought of the location, haven't you?
Of course.

　So that you can go on a day trip.

No, thank you.

　Illtimina-san nodded with satisfaction.

　Apparently, we have received a pass so far.

(Good.)

　Relieved, I get up from my seat.

'Well, I've got Kilt waiting, so let's get going.
Yes, sir.
Yeah.

　The two of us also stand up.
　Just as I thought, Illtimina-san held something out to me.

(Hmm?)

　In a white hand, there is a silver coin.

　A thousand lido coins.
　That is, 100,000 yen.

"Merle. I'm going to give you this money.
What?
You remember how to be an adventurer, don't you?　First of all, get ready for this.

　....Adventurer's Tips?

(Oh!　(Get your stuff ready!)

　The first thing I have to do is to choose what to bring with me on my quest.

This money was used to pay for Merle's contribution to the defeat of the Red Dragon Gad. Please don't hesitate.
Uh-huh.

　I'm surprised that you had that kind of money set aside for me.
　But now, I'll be grateful to spend it.

I'd love to. Hey, can you buy me a few bucks?
..........

　Solstice says while holding a spoon in her mouth.
　d*mn, she's........

I can get most of the tools I need from the shopping facility on the first floor, so let's go.
Yes.

　So we headed to the first floor.


　◇ ◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇


　Weapon shops, armor shops, tool shops, etc. line the first floor of the guild.

(Heh, there's a lot of stuff here.)

　This sword is very cool.
　...but it's 2,000 rides.
　This armor is so light it's almost like 5,000 rides!

(Hmmm, equipment systems are expensive.)

　Well, I guess I don't need it now, do I?

　For weapons, I have the 'Marl's Fang'.
　As for the armor, I have the 'Traveling Clothes' and 'White Silver Armor' that Illtimina-san bought for me.

　So, it's a tool now.
　And in order to carry it around.

Maybe a backpack first?
Yes, sir.

　Illtimina laughed in praise of me.

'A backpack can be a protection against attacks on your back. The ones with metal plates are strong, but they are heavy. Now with Marle, I think a leather one would suffice.
Okay.
Now, just make sure it's waterproof.

　As she said this, she touched the backpack that lined the wall of the tool shop.

'It's useless if the rainwater sinks in and the tools inside become unusable. Even if it's a little expensive, just choose one that's waterproof.
Yes.

　But which one is better?
　She picked a suitable one and placed it on my back.

'I like it right here,'
Yeah?
The price is 500 lidos, but it's not bad.

　As she said that, she grabbed another backpack as well.

'I can't get rid of this one either. It looks great with Merle's brown hair, doesn't it?
Yeah, yeah.
'No, this one's prettier... no, I'm going to go out on a limb here?　Or, in a slightly more mature way, this...

　Lee, Miss Illtimina?
　I know it's serious, but it's a bit out of character.

'You know what, sister Irna?　It won't be a test if you don't let Merle choose properly, okay?
... haha.

　Illtimina finally noticed her sister's prodding.
　She dropped back with a sluggish, "I'm sorry........

　I chuckle.

Then, I. I'll be the first one Illtimina-san chose.
Yes, yes....
'Whatever. Kilt, why don't you just hurry up and get on with it?

　That's right.
　I nodded and quickly purchased a backpack.

　Then I went to the other stores and bought what I thought I would need.

　First, portable food.
　A day trip, but enough for two days, just in case.

　A blanket.
　And these too, just in case we needed to camp out.

　Rope.
　What do you think it could be used for?

　2Lion's water bottle.
　Of course, there's no water in it yet.

　Medicine and bandages.
　To treat the injuries.
　The medicine is not a magic product like the "healing spirit water" but just an ointment.

　By the way, I found "Rejuvenating Spiritual Water for Healing" sold at the store, but a small bottle of 200ml seems to cost 1,000 rides... it was expensive.

(It's certainly not an amount of money to drink when you get dragon wheel sickness...)

　And then there's the magic stone.

　Three fire magic stones.
　5 Water Magick Stones.
　2 Wind Magicks.

　Anyway, they were cheap, so I just bought them.

"Do you want to get rid of the lights?
No, goblins sometimes nest in caves. And if the defeat is prolonged, it could be nighttime, right?
Oh, okay.

　Then add a lantern.
　And some fuel oil.

　Solstice, who has been watching me shop, interrupts me.

"Why don't you just make sure you can fit it in your backpack, okay?
Uh-huh.
And the weight, because sometimes you have to carry it on your back for ten hours or more, right?

　Okay.
　I'll take your advice and give it a try.

Yeah, it's going to work.

　There's still plenty of room in the backpack.
　But the weight.

(...should we not go any further?)

　I thought.

　Honestly, it's not that heavy.
　But what we're going to do is a war zone.

　It's not a simple climb.

　It's not a simple mountain climbing experience, and if I imagined running and fighting as hard as I could, it would be tougher with my physical strength.

(Would it be okay if I only carried this stuff with me?)

　I'll check again.

　Oh.....

I forgot the luminescent signal round!

　I hurriedly bought it.
　Illtimina-san smiled with her eyes looking at her beloved apprentice and nodded repeatedly, saying, 'Yeah, yeah.'

　--and so my shopping was done.

''It was ... too late.''

　Mr. Quilt was leaning against the white wall of the doorway, just as he'd come, waiting, and he looked a little unhappy.

'I'm sorry,'
"Hmm?

　I apologize, and my golden eyes find a brand new backpack on my back.
　Mr. Kilt chuckles.

'I see. I see.
Yes.
Well, then, I have no choice. I think you should take your time in checking your luggage.

　bang-bang

　A white hand taps my head lightly.
　Then she takes a step back and looks at my whole body from top to bottom.

　Her silver hair shimmers in the sunshine, and Ms. Kilt nods broadly.

'Mmm. Your outfit has become quite a bit more like an adventurer's.
..........

　Haha.
　I'm kind of happy about that.

　I look at everyone, embarrassed.

　Beside Kilt-san, there's that big sandbag-like leather bag next to her. Iltimina-san has that big backpack on her back, and Solstice has a small backpack on her back, too.

(It's like we're finally friends...)

　Of course, I'm still testing.
　But it seemed to me now that I wasn't a companion or just a liability.

　Three of them were looking at me, too.
　Then Mr. Kilt said.

'So, our young leader-dono?　Can't we come to a decision?
Yes.

　I take a deep breath.

'Then we'll head into the forest near the ruins of Dior to take out the goblins!
Yes!
"Mm.
Oh!

　Our voices echo into the blue sky.

　We thrust our fists into the air and eventually the four of us got into the carriage that would take us from the royal capital to the ruins of Dior.