The city of Merferen is shrouded in the darkness of night.
　Ryoma finally arrived at his first destination, Melferen after the hunt.
　It was already past 7 o'clock in the evening.
　Normally it would take about 3 hours on foot from the Imperial Capital to Melferen.
　It's a distance of about 11 kilometers.
　However, since Ryoma was hunting on the way, he arrived at this time.

''Phew, we're here at last.''

　After all, it's lonely not having anyone I know.
　I can't help but talk to myself.
　Even if it's only for one day, being brought into a completely different world from the one I was born and raised in, no matter how much Ryoma may be, I still feel lonely.
　It's about 100 kilometers from here to the border.
　If you're on horseback, you can run through in about 4 hours, but if you're on foot at an average speed of 3-4km per hour, you can walk for 10 hours a day, it will take you 3-4 days, or 7-8 days at the latest.
　Ryouma's backpack was filled with the materials he got from the hunt.
(For now, I'll report back to the guild.)
　Ryoma walked down the road to the guild with his back to the heavy backpack while enduring his hunger.


''Here, please.''

Very well. Please wait while I check. It's okay. The seal's not broken.

　After receiving the card Liangma offered and the letter of request, the receptionist checked the reverse side of the letter and the wax seal.

''Yes. There is no problem. Then I'll add the achievement value 《Clear Point》5. What do you want to do about the "quests", the requests for defeats? Will it be settled once?

Yes. Please.

　Liangma nodded.

''Very well. You've hunted quite a few, haven't you?

''Yes. Thanks to that, the sharpness of the weapon I bought yesterday has been dulled by blood and grease and I need to take it out for sharpening.

　Hearing Ryoma's casual words, surprise spreads across the receptionist's face.
(This guy. You hunted this number with a sword? And that was in one day?　

　The requests listed on the card [The date of the request contracted request for 《Quest》 are all dated yesterday.
　Ryouma continued without noticing her gaze.

''Is there a blacksmith in this town that I can ask to sharpen?''

'Well you can find it if you leave the guild and head straight to the left on Main Street.

'I see. I'll catch up with you later. By the way, are the bills done?

　Liangma's question reminded her of her work.

'Ah!　Sorry. 54 x 3 killed by "Wild Dog" for 162 baht. 91 x 3 for 273 baht for the wild bee, killed 91 x 3. Wild Rabbit, Wild Rabbit killed 22 x 3 for 66 baht. The total was 501 baht. Each achievement value is equal to the number of kills, so the achievement value "Clear Points" is 167 points. Congratulations to Mikoshiba-san. Congratulations to Mikoshiba-san. You've been promoted to the Double I rank.

(Signed up yesterday, already moving up to the next rank...)
　To be honest, Ryouma wasn't too happy about it.
　It was a natural impression, since he hadn't had any difficulties.

''You don't seem too happy about it, do you?''

　His emotions must have been evident on his face. Ryoma answered the receptionist's question honestly.

''It's not like that, but I didn't have much trouble with it. Honestly...''

'Yes, that's true. That's why it's divided into two patterns. With people who have had a certain amount of training prior to registration, you can get to a G-rank in a week or so.

Is that so?

Yes. On the other hand, if you're a complete novice, it's a critical point for you to be able to advance to the Double I or I rank.

''Hmm. I see.........

　Ryouma didn't realize it, but the most tricky thing for a beginner to do was when it came to one versus a group.
　Most of the monsters 《monsters》 in the forest live in groups.
　Naturally, when hunting, you have to deal with a group.
　This is why the guild recommends forming a party, but not all of them are able to do so.
　There are many people who go on a quest alone for various reasons, such as they are too far apart in terms of ability, disagree with each other, or don't agree with the objective.
　And the most difficult person to join a team is a beginner.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make your life easier. I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most out of your time with us.
　This is why most newcomers to the guild will have to do their quests alone, unless they are lucky enough to form a party with other newcomers.
　The problem is that most of the "monsters" in the forest live in groups.
　In one-on-one combat, even an amateur can defeat them, but in a group, it's a different story.
　You have to be vigilant in all directions.
　Therefore, most beginners will be looking for a lone monster, called Hagre, to fight.
　However, the chances of encountering this Hagre are very low. If you crawled through the forest for a whole day and encountered it two or three times, you could say you were lucky.
　As a result, he would be divided into the two patterns the receptionist mentioned.
　Those who don't have the ability to fight only one-on-one will desperately explore the forest, while those who can fight one-on-one against many, like Ryojin, will achieve rank advancement in a few days.
　By the way, you can also rank up by doing only delivery work, but this is not recommended.
　The only thing waiting for you without the ability to fight in the real world is death.

By the way, Mikoshiba-san, if you killed so many of them, you must have accumulated a lot of skins and fangs.

Yes. It took me a while to dismantle it, though. I'm going to take it to the Magic Item Shop now.

Then why don't we start with the procurement request, the quest?

Procurement...?

　Ryoma nodded his head at her unexpected words.

''Yes. It's less expensive than taking it to the Magic Item Shop, but it's more profitable later on if you rank up first?

Oh, really?

　Her words interest Ryoma. He is a man who is sensitive to his own interests.

''Yes. You know that you can accept requests 《quests》 equal to or lower than your rank, right?

　That's what I heard when I signed up for the guild.

'Yeah, so?'

In fact, if you receive a request with a rank lower than your own, the achievement value [Clear Points] will be zero, but the reward will be doubled.

　This is new information. There was no mention of it in the [Guild Beginner's Guide].

''Eh!''

So if you're good at it, you'll earn more money if you keep moving up the ranks and complete more quests that are lower than your rank.

I see!

(Then, moving up in rank isn't a bad idea. Let's raise it.

Okay. The reception desk was on the first floor, right?

Yeah. It's right up the stairs.

　Ryoma bowed his head lightly and hobbled up the stairs.


Yes. You're able to accept a procurement-related request 《quest》?

Yes. I'd like all the requests for materials that can be obtained by killing the Wild Dog, Wild Dog, Wild Bee, Wild Bee, and Wild Rabbit, Wild Rabbit.

　The young man who was at the reception counter explains the requests "quests" one after the other in an expert manner.

Let's see. Well, for each of the materials you'll need to store, the fangs of the Wild Dog are 2 baht and the skin is 5 baht, the venomous stinger of the Wild Bee is 2 baht and the wings are 5 baht, the ears of the Wild Rabbit are 1 baht and the skin is 5 baht. The achievement value "Clear Points" is 1 point for each delivery. There is no time limit. Just hand over the goods at the delivery counter and you're done.

That's all I ask.

Very well. It's nice to meet you.

　Leaving the reception counter, Ryoma headed back to the basement delivery counter.

''Did you receive your request?''

'Yes. I've taken them all anyway.

　When Ryoma said that, the receptionist made a troubled face.

''Eh?　Have you taken them all?

'What?　Did it taste bad?

No. But if Mikoshiba-san delivers all the materials you have, even if you rank up to Single H, you will still have some extra Clear Points left over.

　That's when Ryoma realized.
　If he upgraded to Single H, the achievement value of the "Clear Points" would be zero.
　If you can't get the achievement value, it's more profitable to sell it to the magic item shop rather than delivering it to the guild.


　The clock on the wall of the guild was pointing to twenty past twenty in the evening.

'Good this time. We'll deliver it all here.''

　You can discard quests, but discarding them will lower the achievement value (clear points), so it's a bit confusing.
　If I adjusted the number of requests, I could get the achievement value clear points without wasting them, but I was no match for hunger.

''I understand. Then please put the deliveries here.

　Ryoma spread the contents of the backpack he was carrying on his back on the counter.


''Don't be silly!''

　A man's angry voice echoes at the reception counter on the first floor of the guild.

''We risked our lives to fulfill a request (quest)!　And yet you can't pay for it, what do you mean by that!

　After finishing the procurement request, Ryoma raised his rank to single H.
　When Ryoma came upstairs to eat, he saw the man.
　A large man with his hair tied up below his shoulders and dressed in iron armor was shouting at him. The two men who were dealing with him were the young man and the middle-aged man who had just handled Ryoma's request.

''Therefore!　As I've said before, we can't pay you a reward as long as the target of the defeat is different, and the request period has passed, so you'll have to pay a penalty!

　The young man, who looked frail, said to the big man in a resolute manner.

'What are you talking about!　These guys were desperate to explore and finally found it!

'Mr. Golaes, that's why I told you!　He said it's not good if you don't check it properly!

　A middle-aged man said.

'What?　You're the warden!

　The young man said, shaking his head.

''Mr. Goraes. You have a very high reputation as a mercenary. However, your ability as an adventurer seems to be less than satisfactory. This time, you received the request, the Quest, to defeat the [Red Moon Gang]. However, you took time to search for it, and without doing enough research, you killed a bandit you happened to see.

　The young man looked at the middle-aged man.

''As Gilz-san was warned, you should have done a proper investigation. There is no doubt that Goraes-san has defeated a different bandit this time. Just a few minutes ago, we have received information that a nearby village was attacked by the [Red Moon Gang] and several young girls were kidnapped.

　The young man's gaze pierced Golaes.

You can't blame yourself for all of this, of course, Mr. Golaes, I'm not saying that this damage is entirely your fault. But if you had handled it properly, perhaps the damage could have been prevented!　With that in mind, are you still unhappy with the Guild's response?

　This is a true stab in the armor.
　It's a good idea to be able to have a good time with them. It seems that he is not so stupid.
　At the very least, it seems to have the intelligence and guts to realize its own faults.

I'm sorry......................I'll pay the penalty.

　Here the young man's face also slackened.

'Excuse me. Mr. Goraes. I went a little too far with my words. I'm sorry.

　The young man bows his head to Golaes.

''It's my fault.

　When Goraes left that, he slumped his shoulders and left the guild.

(Does the request 《quest》 cost someone else's life........

　The incident that happened to happen in front of him had a strong impact on Ryoma's mind.
　It made him realize how naive he was.
　Somewhere along the line, didn't he think that the request, the quest, was an unrealistic event in a game?
　Therefore, you may have thought that it would be a simple matter of destroying the request, as you did before, right?
　The young man noticed Ryouma's gaze and approached us.

''Mikoshiba-san. What's wrong?

Oh, no, I finished the procurement-related request (quest), so I was planning to rest at the inn today and come back tomorrow to look for the request (quest) again.

　I'm not going to be able to get a good idea of what I'm talking about.

I see. I'm sure that's why you came across the scene just now. Were you surprised?

Yes that's right.

It's more common than you think. Yeah.

　The young man's face gets cloudy.

''The request 《quest》 has not been completed?

'Yes. If you can't figure out his characteristics and experience yourself, you'll be like Goraes-san this time. He's an excellent mercenary too. That's why there's no problem with his combat skills. But he didn't have any awareness of investigation and exploration. That's exactly why I had the option of forming a team (party) with other adventurers.

'I see. So if you can't do it yourself, you want me to make friends with someone who can?

　The young man's expression loosens when he hears Ryouma's reply.

''Huh. You're honest and smart. Keep up the good work, okay?

'Yes. Thank you.

　The young man smiled at Ryoma and was about to leave when he smiled at him, but as if he remembered something, he stopped and looked back.

''Ah! That's right. It's the [Red Moon Gang] that we talked about earlier, but they've set up their territory on the roads and villages between Melferen and Aru. If you're going in that direction, please be careful.

　Ryoma pondered as he watched the young man's back as he left.
(Bandits are going to come out in the direction of Aru...)
　Towards Aru. That was the name of one of the towns along the road from the imperial capital to the eastern border, and it was the name of the town that Ryojin had chosen as his next destination.


''This is no good!　It's cheaper to buy another one, Anchan.

　When Ryoma handed the sword to the blacksmith he had been taught to sharpen, the blacksmith's father said, "I'm not going to ask you to sharpen it.

'Not at all?'

Yeah. What the hell did you do with it?　The blade is completely curled up, it's just a free stick, isn't it?



　It is true that Ryoma is more experienced with a blade than most people.
　However, there is no way he would have the experience of cutting meat with a blade so many times in his daily life.

''Well........I used it in hunting.......''

The blood is getting all cloudy and the blade is all curled up like this. How long has it been unkempt?

'It's all day. I bought this new one yesterday it's........

　The blacksmith's father turned away at Ryoma's words.

''Foolishness. How could it get to this point with just ten or twenty cuts?　That would have to be over a hundred....

　But the blacksmith's father realized when he saw Ryoma's face.



Yeah.

"I'm sorry, but we don't have anything better than this sword.　Our company specializes in casting.

　That was already known when Ryoma entered the store.

'Well, the sword is good. I'll take a reasonably priced one, please. More importantly, can you sharpen this one for me?

　When he said that, Liangzhen held out the ten fat-clouded warring rings "Chakram".

''What's that?　Is that a blade too?

"The edges are edged.

　It was probably the first time he had seen it. The master holds the Chakram in his hand with interest.



Hopefully by tomorrow morning.

Well, if it takes you an hour to do one thing, I'll take care of it until about ten o'clock tomorrow if you want.

Ten o'clock? Well, let's just relax at the inn for a bit, then we'll stop here and go to the guild...

Okay. I'll take care of that. How much do I owe you?

'Well he's going to buy you a sword too, so how about four hundred baht?

　It's not too much of a problem for Ryouma, who earned nearly two thousand baht in today's day by completing procurement-based requests 《quest》 and defeat-based requests 《quest》.

(Is it because it's a cast sword that it's cheaper than the sword I bought from the blacksmith in the imperial capital...)

Okay. I'll be there tomorrow at 10:00.

　After saying that, Ryoma pays the half of the money and leaves the blacksmith shop.
(For now, it's a meal...)
　Hungry, Ryoma disappeared into the town of Melferen.