"I've got to say though..."

I looked up as I rubbed my nose. It didn't hurt, but having it planted into the stone floor probably left some dirt on it.

"It's really impressive that you even have [Chant Revocation] on top of both [Dark Magic] and [Light Magic]"

"Huh?"

What was that?

"Hmmm? You have it right? You didn't chant at all"

"Chant? For what?"

"Hey hey hey, don't tell me you've never chanted to use your magic"

I tilted my head to the side.

(Why's the receptionist looking at me with so much surprise)

"That's...you really must've gone the long way around to use magic then, if you've never chanted before"

"Well...I am self taught"

"True, you did say that before. Normally people learn from an experienced mage and are taught the chants first. From there, they learn the magic skills, but it sounds like you learned [Mana Manipulation first]?"

"Well, I do have it"

I can't just say I got the magic skills first then learned [Mana Manipulation] while trying to figure out how to make the skills work.

"A high levelled mage that've never used chants huh? Well, not like it's never happened, but it's pretty rare. In that case, I recommend you check our library. You might discover some orthodox skills and techniques that normal mage would have"

"Really?"

A library huh? I haven't read any books since coming to this world. No, I haven't even seen paper now that I thought about it. Was it expensive or something?

"That's right. Hey Lucy!"

"Sir!"

The receptionist sat straight up, nervously looking at the macho man.

"Once you've updated the girl's registration, make sure to show her the library"

"Yes sir!"

"I think you should look into getting the [Multi-cast] skill next little girl. But anyways, good luck out there. I expect great things from you"

With a big grin, the rabbit man pawed my head, squishing my hat and hood as he rubbed it back and forth. The second he removed his hand, I combed back my hair and fixed my hat and hood before standing up again.

"I'll try not to disappoint"

With a bit of a smile, I turned back and followed the receptionist back to the lobby.

"Please give me a moment and I'll have your new guild card ready"

With those parting words, Lucy went back through the door behind the receptions counter I was back to standing at.

A short while later, she returned, and handed me a shiny new card. This one was made from polished steel, or something that appeared like that. The details and decorations itself were the same as before, aside from the change to my rank to D, and some colour was added to the emblems on both sides.

"With this, you are officially now a rank D adventurer. Congratulations"

The receptionist gave me a gentle smile and bow.

"Ah, thanks"

Once I finished admiring the new card, I put it away in my bag.

"With your new rank, the guild waives the standard rank restrictions regarding requests, but still recommends that you avoid taking requests too much higher than your own rank"

"...does that mean I can take A rank requests if I wanted?"

I asked her after taking a second to process her words.

"That is correct, but I strongly warn against doing so. Every increase in rank comes with a significant increase in difficulty. Even with the results of your examination, I don't recommend you try any requests above C rank"

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind"

Getting killed because I was too cocky would be a terrible way to go.

"Now then, thanks to the guild master's permission, if you like, I can show you to the library immediately"

"Ah...umm...the guild master?"

"Branch Guild Master Strongear. The one who administered your examination"

"Huh?! He was the guild master?"

That bunny-eared macho man?!

"Yes, he is. Is something the matter?"

"Ah, ummm, it's just..."

I couldn't say that I thought it was absurd that such a weird looking guy was the guild master.

"Umm...I never thought that the guild master would go through the effort of doing the examination for a new adventurer"

"Well, admittedly not normally, however you were recommended by the guild master of Edgeworth Village. It may be a small village, but the branch guild master there is highly regarded"

"That...you mean that letter I gave you said such?"

"That is correct"

(To think that I had hit the jackpot like that. I suppose I owe him a bit for that)

"It is also thanks to the letter that you were given permission to use the library so easily"

"That too?!"

(I mean, it's just a library isn't it?)

"That is correct. Normally, you would need explicit permission to use the library by someone with authority regarding the library"

"I suppose it's because the guild needs to be able to trust anyone who uses the library?"

I suppose it's where secrets would be stored after all.

"That is correct. It would be troubling if any articles were damaged or stolen after all"

(That's the reason?!)

"So they're that expensive huh?"

"A book would normally cost the average D rank about a year of private savings"

"That much?!"

Lucy nodded.

"So I ask that you consider the level of trust the branch guild master is offering by giving you permission to freely use the library"

"I see, I guess so..."

Now I was getting intimidated at the thought of reading any books. It was like I just suddenly got permission to check out original historical documents.

(Am I going to have to wear rubber gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints? But that aside, I really do owe that old guild master for this)

"So would you like me to show you the library right now?"

"Ah, no. I'd rather take a request and earn some money first"

I only had some chump change left. If I got distracted by the library and forgot to make some cash, I could be put in a bad spot pretty quickly.

"In that case, simply present your guild card to any receptionist when you desire to use the library. Your access permission has already been registered"

I nodded. Those notes kept in their system was already proving useful.

"In regards to requests, they are all posted on that wall over there. While you are allowed to take request of any difficulty you desire due to your current rank, the adventurer's guild recommends that you not overreach yourself and take requests significantly higher than your own rank. Also please keep in mind that some requests require specific ranks, and can not be taken by those below that rank under any circumstances. Requests like that specifically note the rank requirements on them"

I carved Lucy's words into my mind. I was glad I safely got to rank D without problems, but I still had no idea how strong I was relative to actual strong people of this world. That macho man, I mean guild master, might've been an outlier and was unusually low level.

"Simply bring any request boards from the wall you wish to take to this counter and we will register those requests for you"

"I can take more than one at once?"

"You may take as many as you feel you are able to complete before the request date is reached. However, taking too many requests at once is frowned upon, and we insist that instead of taking many lower rank requests that you take a fewer number of more suitable difficulty requests so that fellow adventurers have a chance to receive requests appropriate to their skill"

That was pretty convenient, and their request made plenty of sense.

"Alright"

"Oh, one last thing"

As I was about to turn to check the wall, the receptionist called out to me again.

"This doesn't really apply to you this early, but some of the request plates aren't for this city but for other locations. Particularly the B and A rank ones. Due to the small number of B and A rank adventurers, we often post requests from other locations in the hopes that capable people can discover them even if they are not at the city the requests were offered in"

"Huh, 'kay. Well, I'll have a look now then"

With a small nod, I made my way to the wall where the requests were posted.

Unlike the previous village, there were actually a decent number of request planks hanging off of the wall. On top of that, they were even organized by rank and type, with the lowest rank ones on the right and the highest on the left.

In addition, the rank B and A planks weren't for this city like the receptionist lady said. All of them didn't state that they were requests, but instead mentioned that they were for other locations. I immediately disregarded those requests. I wanted some quick cash, not a big job from far away. Not only that, but I didn't have a good grasp of my strength. While it was unlikely, for all I knew, I was only as strong as the average C rank. Taking an A rank request right was too risky.

Instead, my eyes scanned through the D rank requests. While I was probably quite a bit stronger than most D rankers from how the examination went, first hand experience hunting monsters considered appropriate for D rank adventurers would give me a good idea in regards to my abilities.

There were two subjugation requests available for my rank. The first was for orcs. The plank said that a group of five orcs were spotted to the north, and were to be subjugated before they established a colony. If the orcs were similar to the ones I had farmed in the dungeon, then they would be small fries for me. In addition, they wouldn't have much extras for me to bring back for bonus cash most likely.

The second request was for something called hornbulls. It seemed like they often appeared in the plains to the south-east, and the requester wanted their numbers culled a bit. The proof of subjugation was their horns. One pair for one monster, and the request was for three, but would accept more. The request was 15 silver coins, with additional kills offering 5 more coins each.

Just doing this one request would make me more money than everything I had earned at the previous village.

It made me wonder if I had been ripped off. Then again, I was selling something that they wouldn't normally buy, so it made sense that it wouldn't give me as much as something that was high in demand. Especially considering the poor state of that village.

I reached up and pulled the hornbull request plate off of the nail it hung off of before returning to the reception counter.

Luckily, I didn't have to wait and got to talk to Lucy again immediately.

"Hey, I want to take this request"

I put the wooden plank on to the counter with my shiny new guild card.

"I understand. Please wait a moment"

She took both items and examined the plank for a moment before touching them both to a device under the counter. A quick glow of light later, she gave them both back to me.

"Thank you for waiting. The request had been registered. Please hold on to the request plate until you finish the request. In addition, in case you haven't been informed, if the request plate is shown to the guards at the city gates, they will waive the entrance tax"

"Oh, thanks"

(That's convenient)

"Oh, could you tell me about this hornbull? I don't know anything about them"

"Is that so? Hornbulls are large, quadruped monsters. They usually stand a bit taller than you do, and vaguely resemble a horse, but with a short neck, and have large horns that stick out sideways then bend forward. They typically appear in small groups in open grasslands, and have made the south-eastern plains their home"

Her description made them sound a lot like normal bulls from Earth.

"They are well known for charging at anything they perceive as a threat and try to gore them with their horns, so be careful of approaching them head-on"

I nodded. They really sounded like bulls.

"Alright, thanks. I'll be back soon"

"Please be careful, and good luck in your hunt"

I grabbed my card and the request plank and put them into one of the belt pouches I bought in Edgeworth Village, then headed out.

 

A quick walk got me through the eastern gates, and what greeted me was a wide open plains with a single packed dirt road cutting through it as it meandered all the way to the horizon.

According to the request, my subjugation targets typically were to the south-east.

Confirming the direction, I headed off with a light jog, holding my hood down with a hand.

 

As I made my way, I passed other adventurers. They looked at me in surprise as I quickly ran past them, but returned to whatever they were doing. It looked like most of them were relatively new, as they always wore pretty basic equipment. Simple leather breastplates and dull swords or spears, maybe a worn-looking bow or a simple stick in their hands.

Most of them were working together in small groups, but the occasional adventurer was hunched over digging something up by themself.

As I created distance between myself and the city, the number of other people I saw dwindled from the occasional one to pretty much nobody. Despite that, there wasn't any indication that the grasslands were going to end anytime soon as the city walls slowly sank into the horizon.

In the distance, I finally saw a group of creatures grazing on the plains. There were five of them, and all looked like shaggy brown cows. Three had the stereotypical wide bull horns, while the other two had smaller horns that each formed a half-crescent.

I wasn't too worried about the differences, but they were all pretty big. Just like how Lucy said in the guild, their shoulders stood taller than me, yet they were quadrupeds. It was hard to imagine how much more they weighed than I did, but probably at least five times as much. No, probably way more than that, as they looked significantly wider than me as well.

One of them was keeping an eye out for me, but otherwise ignored me. That would probably change the second I got too close, so it would've been better to start my attack from here.

After thinking about it for a moment, I chose to deploy [Aqua Magic].

I produced an ice lance for each monster, then fired them all off at the same time. Shockwaves pounded against me as the speeding projectiles pushed the air outwards as they flew. Immediately after, the sounds of shattering ice and the splatter of blood and gore reached my ears before five heavy thuds followed.

All the hornbulls were laying dead.

...

Well then.

I wasn't too surprised considering they were considered about as difficult as orcs, and back in the dungeon I used to commit genocide on their settlement floor before moving on to the deeper floors. But it was sort of disappointing that they weren't able resist at all.

It was a waste, so I used telekinesis magic to lift one up and put an empty jar below the monster to gather it's blood while I sucked the rest out from the open wounds from the other four.

 

My belly was full, and all my blood jars were at capacity. The hornbulls were deprived of their horns as I snapped them off as proof, then they were all shoved into my bag. The surreal sight of a white cartoon bunny plush eating giant bulls made me wonder what real killer bunnies looked like when they ate, but I quickly put that thought aside as my work ended, and I made my way back to the city.

The guard asked for my ID and I showed my request plank at the same time. Unlike the first time I entered the city, this guard didn't ask for the entry tax just like the receptionist said.

I was thankful for being able to save money like that.

Once inside, I quickly made my way to the guild. The sun was still high in the sky, so once I cashed everything in, I had plenty of time to spend in the library.

Like earlier, there weren't too many people inside the guild building, so I was quickly able to get to Lucy's counter again. It was nice being able to talk to someone I already knew a bit rather than go to a new receptionist each time.

"Oh, welcome back. Was there a problem?"

"No, no problem. I'm done"

I took out my card and the plank, then the horns from all the hornbulls.

"..."

Across from me, Lucy had a look of shock on her face as she stared at the pile of horns I placed.

"Umm..."

"Oh, I'm sorry! Please give me a moment to check the proofs"

After taking a moment to reboot, the receptionist gathered the horns and sorted them out on the counter, confirming them all.

"I have confirmed it. Five sets of hornbull horns. Three from males, and two from females"

(Ah, that was the difference between them)

"I have confirmed that you have completed the request with an additional two subjugations, totalling your reward to 25 silver coins"

With that, she took my guild card and the request plank and put them to the device she used earlier under the counter. A soft glow appeared, then she handed me back my card and held on to the plank. Next, she opened a drawer, and with some clinking sounds, she extracted and placed two silver plates and five silver coins on to the counter.

Finally, she piled the horns into an empty crate pulled from a stack beside her and dropped the request plank inside as well.

"If you brought any of the hornbull materials, you can sell them off at the materials counter to your left"

Lucy pointed towards the bored looking man at another counter.

"Alright. Could you show me to the library after?"

"It would be my pleasure"

I quickly made my way over to the other counter.

"Umm...excuse me..."

"Oh, hey. Do you need something?"

The man who looked like he was about to nod off quickly woke up and gave me a gentle smile.

"I was wondering if you'd buy something"

"That's fine, but we mostly only buy monster materials. If you have anything else, then you're better off selling it to someone who deals with that sort of thing"

"That's fine. Can I put them here?"

"Yea, just lay it on the counter"

I pulled out one of the hornbulls and plopped it onto the counter with a heavy thud.

Shifting my body to the side, I could see the man's mouth gape open as he stared at it.

"You...that wasn't heavy?"

I shook my head.

The body certainly was huge, and would've been impossible for anyone to lift on their own on Earth, but thanks to the skill system, even someone as small as me could easily lift up something as big as that without issue as long as I had high enough stats.

"I've got four more too"

If there was more space on the counter, I would've put them out already.

"Ah, wait a sec, let me get some help"

With that, the man called for two more people, who carried the hornbull carcasses away though the door in the back as the first man examined each of my kills before giving me the money for all of them with a nervous smile.