“Ahh, that was filling. If you had not mentioned it, I would have forgotten to eat, Tasianna.” I giggled with reddened cheeks.

“I would presume so; you ate multiple dishes at the inn, in addition to whatever we picked up on the way,” Tasianna commented. “However, wasn’t it too little? Don’t you eat more, Miss Saori?”

The blush on my face intensified as I began scratching my cheeks with a wry smile. “I would, yes, but the stares I got from the adventurers were suffocating, ahaha … We usually eat in private, no?”

For lunch, we decided to try out the tavern next to the hunters guild. As adventurers needed to travel from town to town to fulfill their quests, similar to Kushlek’zar and the saurians, both the hunters and mercenary guilds had set up inns next to their guild houses for their members’ exclusive use.

While inns, places for travelers to find lodging, were common in town, it was very well possible not enough rooms would be available for adventurers, especially when other travelers like merchants and vagrants were around. With winter making travel difficult, most inns were fully reserved according to the hunters I asked.

As the inn also acted as a tavern to serve drinks and warm food, I thought this was a good time to learn how townspeople ate and listen to gossip. I tried village food, the food of a noble’s chef, lizardmen swamp cuisine, and my own cooking style with Peolyncian ingredients. I learned about medieval European foods from books but never tasted them myself. There were medieval fairs on Earth, but I never had the opportunity to attend them. In this life, I wanted to correct that.

One of my goals in my past life was to travel the world with my mother to honor my late father’s wish. My father believed enjoying a culture’s cuisine as part of the whole experience as life’s hardship molded a region’s specialties.

I didn’t consider myself a certified chef, but I did believe in my home cooking. If I wanted to become better, then I should try as many dishes as possible and experiment with as many new ingredients as I could get my hands on, like those Firwood frost cones.

For example, Yokohama, the city I was born and raised in, belonged to the Kanagawa prefecture and had a regional specialty called “shirasu,” which translated to whitebait or baby sardines in English. The “shirasu heaven” of the prefecture, Enoshima island, made tons of dishes and snacks with them, of which I liked the shirasu don the most. A bowl of rice with some raw baby sardines. Ahh, heavenly.

It was only south of Tokyo and you could easily get to the Kanagawa prefecture by train, so I would recommend any tourist to try them. I may be dead on Earth, but I will still support my prefecture!

Hmm, I really sound like Tamae-san at this point … She might enjoy the cuisine in this world, but I really hope Aurena’s warning isn’t true. Please, my students, don’t be in this world.

Hestia’s meeting with Aurena shook me a bit. The thought of my students being in this world, forced to kill to survive sounded mortifying. Sure, I only became a teacher for the money, but that didn’t invalidate how I liked the majority of them. A few were problemakers or just problematic due to their parent’s jobs, but I didn’t want them to experience this world.

Well, worrying too much about it would give me wrinkles. I already deaged with my new body, so I should appreciate my rejuvenated youth.

Anyway, while on our way to the hunters guild’s inn, we also visited a few eateries. Most of them only served one or two dishes, but each dish was made with passion by the locals. It made my home chef’s heart flourish. I believe Hestia would like them too, even if they were mostly made with greens.

The hunters inn, on the other hand, was quite bizarre if I still had the mindset I had on Earth. Most of the meat dishes were made from monster products, so they had very unique tastes due to the texture. I also learned the kitchen was connected with the eatery in the hunters guild’s main hall, so I guess we could hang out while looking at the Quest board.

The smell of ale and cider was so pungent … I need to come back after I finish visiting the guilds. I need some booze!

After eating my fill, we greeted Melia, took a look at the Quest board, and then made our way to the mercenary guild. It wasn’t far from the hunters guild, so we made it there in no time.

Similar to the hunters guild, it was rowdy and full of mercenaries ranging from tall, buff men with hunks of metal shaped into weapons to beastman women of various subraces. It was around lunchtime now, so it was relatively calmer than our second visit to the hunters guild.

“Saori and Tasianna, correct? Thank you for coming back to the guild!”

This was Rachael, a human receptionist of the mercenary guild who had apparently been assigned to be our exclusive handler, much like Melia. Unlike Melia, this orange-haired girl who looked around 17 was energetic and full of passion whenever she spoke to anybody, reminding me a bit of an unrestrained Hestia.

“Good afternoon, Rachael, how are you today? Are we eligible for the promotion?”

“Ah, yes, I have confirmed it with the Boss. He has received a report made by the ‘Depths Serpents’ party, and they have acknowledged your names as valued participants,” Rachael replied with a thumbs up. “We have also questioned the guild members you’ve mentioned. They have safely made it back to Firwood and given their full support on the matter. A rising rank C party with clear-cut B rankers and multiple D rankers have attested that the three of you were an invaluable help during the Quest, which means your party will receive four rank D points. Congratulations. You, Tasianna, and Lady Hestia are now rank F mercs!”

To get promoted to the next rank in either adventurer guild, you had to gain a certain number of rank points through Questing. While the circumstance of us gaining D rank at the hunters guild was abnormal, our beginner rank of G at the mercenary guild was the norm for any new member, no matter how strong. We had to work our way up here like anybody else.

The guilds usually were independent from the kingdom and city they were in, as such they would investigate reports by themselves. We were technically rookies, so having us come in and announce “We helped the Depth Serpents take down some bandits!” made people suspicious. They had to fact check the claim, which I appreciated.

After they got the report from Kushlek’zar’s party and the mercs we saved, everything worked out.

Tasianna and I handed over our IDs for the promotion to Rachael. Normally, a promotion interview would be scheduled to assess our characters and ability to improve, but that wasn’t necessary since four rank Cs endorsed us: Kushlek’zar, Grazlahta, Krim-Slak, and Akasht. The saurians might be in a different town now, but they really wanted to help us.

Unfortunately, Hestia wasn’t here so she couldn’t get promoted just yet, but she could do that next time she came here.

“Oh, that reminded me. Saori, has Lady Hestia already registered your party? I mean, giving you guys an official party name, that’s what I meant. Considering what the three of you can actually do, it would be a total waste to not market yourself better! One name is easier to remember, after all,” she said with an excited smile after handing our IDs back.

Being our exclusive handler, she was the only one in the mercenary guild aside from the guild master to be privy to our information. She had to know who and what we were, to support us correctly. I was a bit worried her friskiness might cause her to accidentally leak some information, but the guild master seemed to trust her enough to give her this much responsibility.

After thanking her for the promotion, I shook my head to her question. We should do it eventually, though. The prestige would be nice.

Hunters Guild Membership Rank: D

Fulfilled Quests: 4

Points: 1 D, 3 G

Rank Total: 1 D / 40 D

Mercenary Guild Membership Rank: F

Fulfilled Quests: 2

Points: 4 D, 1 F

Rank Total: 12 F / 15 F

Three more points? A Quest or three should do it.

Tasianna and I went over to the board, scouring the board for any Quests, just like we’d done at the hunters guild. While there were a couple of Quests I would imagine a mercenary to do—like escorting merchants like bodyguards, home security, and headhunting—there were also more peaceful options like being shop bouncers, package transporters, or even service personnel for shops and stalls. Hunters focused on monsters, while mercs handled anything related to humans and such.

Eventually, somebody interrupted us while we were looking at the board, speaking loudly to catch our attention. Turning around, three adolescent humans geared in basic gambesons stood before us, each carrying either an arming sword, mace, or spear. Prudent enough, all three had wooden heater shields strapped on their left arm.

“Hey, you two, looking for a Quest to do?” one of them asked.

While there were quite a few adventurers who looked like they were cosplaying manga characters, there were also those who looked more grounded, like actual medieval European mercenaries you would read from books. Still … they looked green and young. Well, they probably were around my age or older, but it didn’t change the fact they looked new.

These three gave me that impression, at least.

“You ladies were looking at the board for a while, so I thought you two might be looking for a Quest. We have an easy rank F one and with you two, we’ll have a full party,” the young mercenary with the mace offered with a friendly smile. “The way you two are dressed … Rogue and mage, right? Could use both.”

While Tasianna gave his party the stink eye, visibly annoyed, I greeted them but politely declined. “Thank you for the offer, but we are not looking for any help. We were only inspecting the board for Quests.”

… Rachael just went upstairs to the guild master … Did they time this or was this a coincidence?

Waving his hand in a joking manner, the sword wielder spoke instead of his friend, “Oh, come on now, no need to be so cold. You guys are rank Gs, right? Just joined the guild? We’re rank Fs, and we just want to help our juniors. In this line of work, it can get really dangerous, so getting some help once in a while isn’t bad.”

Before I could respond, Tasianna jerked her head to their direction, scowling at them as she growled, “Leave!” in a low-pitched tone. Even her [Terror Aura Lv. 1] could be terrifying if she began cooling the air around her with [Cryokinesis]. Her patience was at her limits.

“Hey, hey, what is that kinda attitude?!” Although having intimidated all three, the spear user among them bravely stepped forward, reproaching Tasianna with a slightly pale face. “We’re just here to help, okay! You three obviously have no weapons or protective gear so either you two are mages or idiots who think joining the mercenary guild is easy money. Pah! Learn to work with others or get the fuck out of here!”

The guildhall is loud with everybody speaking, they probably didn’t hear our conversation with Rachael. That should explain it, I believe.

“Yeah, yeah! He’s right!” the two others said in unison, having regained their morale from their friend’s speech. “Three front liners, two back liners. A solid composition. Besides, you two are girls, so why not just take the free help and be happy about it?!”

The people around us are mostly watching with interest or outright ignoring us. The receptionists look annoyed but aren’t intervening. Was this normal? I guess, if you joined a guild focused on dealing with people, you had to have the necessary people skills.

Sighing in exasperation, I discreetly took out a token from my storage before this argument escalated even further. Tasianna looked like she would explode any second now. With a blue squared token in my hand, I showed it off to them, not forgetting to flaunt the serpent symbol on it.

While the three were confused at what I was showing, around 16 mercenaries quickly rose from their seats, rushed over to the three, and placed their hands on their shoulders. “Enough flirting, you hot-bloods,” they all said and pulled them away from us. The three complained and tried to resist but it was futile against all those muscles.

… Interesting.

Without giving it any thought to just what the saurians had done to them to cause this reaction, we left the guild without taking a Quest. Seeing as Tasianna was still annoyed by what had happened, I had to help her cool down first before continuing our guild visits.

After enjoying a snack break with our self-made rice crackers, we then went to our next destination. However, as we didn’t know where the chef, tailor, and alchemy guilds were, and it would be annoying to ask a stranger for directions, we instead went to a cobbler store in the middle district.

Entering it, our vision was filled with shoes, shoes, and more shoes. With an assortment of shoes and boots on both sides of the shop, there was also a counter with a clerk and an area where a cobbler was repairing a worker’s boots. We went to the counter.

“Good afternoon, does Ruld work here? Brown hair, medium length, around 18 years old?” I asked the clerk, who answered affirmatively. Ruld was the cobbler responsible for our shoes, so I wanted to pay him a visit.

“Hey, lucky boy, come out! You got a customer!” he shouted through a door leading to the back of the shop. “Lucky boy,” huh?

“Yeah, I heard you, I heard you. Where is my… Oh! Miss Saori, Miss Tasianna!” Once Ruld came out from the back, we greeted each other, and I told him what I needed from him. As his lunch break was about to begin, he agreed to bring us to the tailor guild once I promised him a meal.

On our way, I began questioning Ruld about the guilds of this town. While he didn’t know much about the merchants guild, he was acquainted with the artisan guilds, more specifically the cobbler guild, as he was an official member.

In Earth’s history, guilds were essentially groupings of people aiming to protect their vested interests by aiding and protecting each other much like labor unions. Aside from the two adventurer guilds, guilds in Artorias, and possibly all of Peolynca, were split into two groups: the merchant guild and the artisan guilds. Thankfully, most of what Ruld explained to me was similar to what I learned of historical guilds on Earth, albeit with some differences, since Peolynca had mana.

Normally, most merchants from a town or city belonged to the merchant guild and benefited from their protection and connections, as the guild was responsible for maintaining industry standards and prices. I would have to go there eventually, but it was good to know they were mostly the same.

The artisan guilds, on the other hand, were multiple smaller guilds, each responsible for one specific trade. They were so numerous, like the tailor, chef, blacksmith, mining, bakers, alchemy, etc. Artisans could rely on their guilds to enforce and further their interests, especially against the other guilds.

Ruld led us to the tailor guild, where I asked to join them as a full member. The reason was that I needed to make money outside of just doing adventurer Quests since I didn’t believe relying purely on them would be smart. If we were stuck in a city for various reasons, for example, Hestia or Tasianna got sick, I could earn some extra money while staying around to care for them.

It was good to diversify our income.

There was also another reason and that had to do with what Barathan asked Tasianna and me to do. Initially, he wanted me to help him as a spy to gather information on the church as he believed it was necessary to protect Hestia. While I did agree, I also was reluctant to fully trust House Helvas. I didn’t believe they would do anything bad to us, but I didn’t want us to be involved too much in political matters.

So, instead, I decided on a different plan. I wanted to make our own business. Our party’s current worth came purely from Hestia’s royal bloodline and her role as Aurena’s Champion, nothing more. We had little to no contacts and influence outside of House Helvas’s daughter, Ellaine, and even that was flimsy at best.

Through a business and being part of multiple guilds, I had the idea of using our talents to acquire both funds and acquaintances. Inspired by traveling circuses and idol tours, I thought we could not only spread Hestia’s name as an idol but also increase her power through [The Light]’s fan milestones. Meanwhile, Tasianna and I could start increasing our own values by becoming better artisans.

Yes, our goal also included increasing our reputation as adventurers by increasing our ranks, but I would love to make something like a mobile café or restaurant. Not only could we serve food and drinks but we would also be the only place to listen to Hestia sing! Her singing had always left an impact on me but her first concert was something else. I wanted to make her dream come true.

But to do that, we needed money. We needed to raise enough capital to start building a real concert stage for her. This brought me back to Barathan’s plan. To protect Hestia from the church we needed more influence to push them back. To lead the life the three of us wanted, we needed to make this work so not even an emperor could go against us.

And the first step to this whole plan was to join guilds and fix our financial problems!

Taking out Hestia’s noble dress from my storage, I showed the tailor guild’s members my work. Normally, you would join a guild by first becoming an apprentice at the age of seven after your baptism at the temple of Aurena. You would work there and hone your abilities until you slowly reached adulthood with 15, at which point you would have to show the guild your “masterwork” as a qualification work. Similar to a university thesis for a bachelor or master.

My noble dress for Hestia was one of my best works which was even approved of by Barathan and the maids of House Helvas themselves. Hestia’s idol outfit was also splendid but I believed they were too “modern” for the tailors. I had to work with what this world considered standard first, and then start the fashion revolution.

As I was a foreigner who hadn’t had an apprenticeship at the guild before, the guild members were naturally suspicious of me. They were impressed by my work but it seemed they weren’t too happy with it being only made out of mana threads.

Mana threads were only used for the robes of mages and the extravagant protective clothes of nobles. As they were made with mana, not only were they easy to enchant with protective runes and enchantments but also light enough to be worn underneath the armor. They could boost stats and also improve firepower, but that also meant they were expensive as a useful quantity of threads cost a large amount of mana to make.

Powerful mages like Hestia were able to produce threads easily, but most disliked creating them. The guild members couldn’t tell me why, but I guess it had to do with arcane corruption. These people weren’t mages, after all. For this reason, there was a scarcity of mana threads.

However, not every client was a noble. “If you can only work with mana threads then go work with a noble, we only work with normal threads,” they told me and would only accept me if I could show an equal masterwork with their rules. “Challenge accepted,” I said.

I believed they wanted me to show them my sewing techniques from how they inspected my masterwork. Thankfully, this also meant they would supply me with thread and fabric, so I didn’t have to pay for it. I didn’t know what they expected but after I started sewing, their jaws just dropped to the ground.

With a combination of high agility, [Sewing Lv. 10], and through constant practice; planning the design and executing it felt too easy. My hands deftly moved the needle with no wasted movements, steadily stitching up an elaborate dress I saw a woman wear in the upper district. Nevertheless, even with my full focus on sewing, it took long enough that Ruld had to return to his shop. If I had to estimate, I believe I needed three hours to finally finish the heavily embroidered dress.

With my brain having reached its limit, the guild members didn’t make it better when they started questioning me about my techniques and training. I was so mentally exhausted I had a small blackout. Thankfully, the tailors understood at that point how exhausted I was. It didn’t take them long to accept me as a member.

I had to give them my ID and I also had the chance to use its ability to hide information, but their surprised faces when they saw my level and skills was priceless. Ahem, I should act maturer.

“Most cities and towns inside Artorias have a merchant and general artisan guild. They are all international, with their Headquarters in the Empire of Folschreck, so don’t worry about anything. Your membership will work anywhere,” the guild master assured me.

Now a member of the tailor guild, I could receive commissions through the guild or directly from my clients, however, I had to pay a tax whenever I finished a commission or tailor Quest. In return, they would hook me up with potential clients if I wished.

Despite my near brain numbness, Tasianna and I continued to the chef guild after a short break for me to recuperate. The process was about the same, only that I had to cook something on the spot. Besides me, Tasianna also decided to join. I was a bit nervous that she would antagonize the guild members, but I was confident in her ability to cook. I taught her, after all.

Needless to say, we aced it. We now could legally work in any eatery’s kitchen or open up our own if we wanted to. The wandering restaurant dream will one day become true.

Our last goal for the day was the alchemy guild. Tasianna recently decided to become an alchemist to help our plan as she was also our herbalist. Barathan informed us about the prices for health potions in Firwood and it was pretty high. We had a ton of Belzac herbs with system descriptions that suggested they could be used for health potions, and we were cultivating more in our garden.

Not to mention, magical catalysts and those flying gargoyles required alchemy to be created. The former, like Kushlek’zar’s praying amulet, strengthened magical attacks and casting speed, while the latter would be nice for me so I could fly around with the others. Even if we didn’t need any potions ourselves, getting catalysts would be beneficial.

One more guild membership for the day and we would be done!

“I apologize but we only accept new members who have received an invitation from the guild master.”

… What?

“I understand but my friend wishes to join as an apprentice. She wishes to learn how to do alchemy,” I argued back at the receptionist of this huge guildhall, which reminded me too much of a bank.

Her brows furrowed, looking apologetic as she replied, “I do apologize but apprentices require recommendations from a current alchemy meister to join the guild under an apprenticeship.”

“… Can we speak with one of them, or maybe the guild master?”

She shook her head. “I am afraid not. We value the privacy of our members, and our guild master is currently not available.”

… Well, this is sad.

We were riding on a wave of success until now but it all broke down. I wanted to try a bribe, but I wasn’t confident about it. I thought it would cause us trouble, so I rejected the idea. So, instead, we gave up after she said “next” and an alchemist rudely shoved us out of the line. I was mildly annoyed.

“… I hate humans,” Tasianna uttered once we left the grandiose building in the upper district of the town. “They have been infuriating me since our visit at the mercenary guild.”

“You did not seem very annoyed about Rachael,” I countered.

She shrugged in response. “She’s tolerable, much like Lady Ellaine and Lorena. I won’t start a conversation with them but I also don’t mind them too much.”

Chuckling, I caressed her back and then gave her a slight push. “That is good! That is an improvement, Tasianna! Good for you. Not every human is bad, so if you can tolerate them now, it will not be long until you can start befriending them. Anyway, let us go to the inn and take a well-earned rest! We can deal with the alchemy guild another time!”

“… Ehe, you only want to drink some alcohol, Miss Saori,” she replied with a wry smile. “Urgh, couldn’t we simply buy some for take away like with the eateries … Mhmmph?!”

“No, no, no!” I stopped her by pressing a finger on her lips, silencing her. “There is an after-work tradition where I come from where co-workers drink and eat together and enjoy the atmosphere of the nightlife! We are both members of the chef guild now, which makes us co-workers! No Hestia to stop us, only us two adults. Come on, I will show you how to unwind, Tasianna!”

I wasn’t a big drinker but I still enjoyed the nightlife and spending time with my senpais at izakaya pubs, places where the working adult could unwind a bit in a casual setting with alcohol and snacks. With how stressful life was, everybody deserved to take a break once in a while.

I’ll ask Barathan or have Hestia ask Ellaine for some alchemy tips. Maybe they know some recipes. Tasianna can practice first and then we can return to the guild.

Still, it was a bit weird the alchemy guild was that exclusive. Yes, guilds on Earth were like gentlemen clubs but I thought a human alchemy guild would at least want to learn about elven alchemy. Sure, Tasianna had no idea about it, but at least they should be curious. She looked like a wind elf.

Ahh, whatever, I can think about it later! It’s time to party, first, ahhaha! Pub time!