I am now on my way back to the capital escorting Richard. We talk for a bit, and Richard seems to be a nice guy.

“Say, can I ask you for a favor? I really don’t like to ask for this, since you saved my life, but would you be willing to work as a guard inside the capital, too? Of course, I would pay you for it.”

“Hm? I don’t really mind, but can you tell me the details before I accept?” Somehow it became weird now. Richard is squirming in his seat, while watching his feat. He obviously feels uncomfortable, but why? There would be no problem, if it were just a job offer?

“Well… There is a place I have to visit. But I don’t feel exactly safe going by myself.”

A place inside a city where he doesn’t feel safe? To be honest, there is only one thing that comes to my mind… “So… it’s got something to do with the underworld?”

“I am not that type of guy!” He panics and almost shouts, but he immediately becomes quiet again and says, “But yes. There is a black market auction in a few days. So it’s not exactly legal. But I promise I have no bad intentions.”

A black market auction, huh? I can understand why he feels uncomfortable asking for that. I am not sure if I want to get involved, but… there might be something on display that could be interesting for me. For example, a new lead for information about vampires. I still have found no information about my situation. With that hopeful thought in mind…

“Alright, I accept, but I have a condition. I don’t know what items will be on display, but if there is something of interest for me, I would like to bid, too.”

He looks at me, surprised, and then says, “That’s fine. Thank you very much.”

After that, we discussed the reward. Since he wants me to keep silent about the details, he offers 5 Big Bronze Coins, which a bit higher payment than usual. Well, it is a black market auction after all. We also decide to still go through Adventurer Guild, but since we can’t write down the details, the request will just state that he wants a guard for one day.

He also tells me why he wants to take part in the black market auction. Apparently, robbers broke into his home and stole some jewelry. Unfortunately, the city guards make little progress in looking for the robbers and the stolen goods, so they have already given up on it. But one of these items was a necklace, which is a memento from his deceased mother, and he heard through one connection that this necklace will be sold at this auction.

Of course, he thought of reporting this to the guards, but since they have little success in this case, he doubts anything will come out of it. So, the chances of retrieving the necklace are higher if he tries to buy it back.

After hearing all this, I also promise him I will not bid on the necklace and he lets out a relieved sigh after hearing this. Well, it’s not the kind of item I am interested in, anyway.

We arrive at the capital with no further delays and head immediately to the Adventurer Guild.

“Welcome. What can I do for you?”

“Hello. I want to file a complaint, and I brought him as a witness.” I am really glad, Richard added that last sentence. Otherwise, it could look like he wants to complain about me. Not that I would care about what other people think, but it is still nice that I don’t have to bother with this.

“I see. Could you please follow me to the meeting room? Then we can discuss the details there.” The receptionist is obviously uneasy about this, but she still keeps up her professional demeanor. She informs the other receptionist and then leads us to the meeting room.

“Ok, could you tell me what happened?”

At this, Richard starts his explanation about how he came from the city of Baros and that he hired an Adventurer Party called ‘Blood Fangs’ as his guards. “Everything was fine until we got attacked by a large group of Orcs this morning. When they saw that there was an Orc Warrior among them, they fled…” “They did what?” she shouted, while slamming her hands on the table and leaning over.

“Please excuse me, that was unsightly.” She sits back down, her face is slightly red.

“No, I can understand your reaction. I was shocked, too, when I heard about it.”

She now looks at me. “He brought you as a witness, right?”

Well, it’s no wonder she doubts me. After all, he didn’t bring up my name in his explanation until now.

“Yes. While I didn’t see what happened until that point. I saw Richard chased by the Orcs when I was out hunting.” With that, I explained my part of the story, about how I defeated the Orcs and saved him.

“I am sorry. I didn’t know you were a high-ranking adventurer. Did you recently come to the capital?”

“Ah, that is a misunderstanding. I just registered recently, so I am still G-Rank.”

Here we go again. I really should raise my Rank faster. I don’t want to explain this every time. But after I show her my Identification Card, and take out the remains of the Orcs, she finally believes me.

“I see. I understand the situation now. We will contact the other Guild Branches to make sure they will get their punishment.”

Oh, they can send messages to other Branches? When I ask about it curiously, the receptionist explains that they have a magic tool to transmit messages.

Then she also takes care of the process to count that request as a success in my request history. Usually, I wouldn’t have been able to accept that request, since it was an E-Rank request and I can only accept requests up to F-Rank. But this is a special situation. For one, I saved a client from troubles that occurred because other Adventurers abandoned him. And second, with this request recorded as a success, including me selling the remains of the Orcs, this is enough to promote me to F-Rank.

I didn’t expect to be promoted again, but it is a pleasant bonus.

After the receptionist took care of everything, we proceed with the new nominated request for me. Richard explains he wants to hire me again as a guard for one day, but leaves out the details with the reason that it has something to do with his business.

At that explanation, the receptionist furrows her brows and says, “I see. We have requests like this sometimes, but it is hard to give them a proper rank. So the guild masters decided we categorize these kinds of requests as E-Rank by default. Is this alright?” she asks Richard, and he nods, accepting her proposal. Then she continues, this time talking to me. “Also, you should be aware that it is hard to assess the risks if you don’t know about the contents. That’s why it is usually hard to find Adventurers accepting those kinds of request. Even if the reward is higher.”

“I know, but that is fine for me. We already discussed the request in private, so I know about the details. But thank you for the advice.”

“I see, then I will proceed with the formalities.”