I sat behind a counter, Sifting through various papers. “Heya Hiro, You got any new quests for us. Maybe your bedroom needs exploring?” a young woman in front of me laughed. “I’m a receptionist, not a prostitute, now do you want my recommendation or not?” I asked angrily. “Yea, Yea, you’re no fun” the woman said as she waved her hand. I pulled out several of the papers and laid them in front of her. “Alright, here are your options, Spider’s nest in West Shire, Great Serpent in Saint Lilia’s lake, or Dire Wolf den by the golden trail. Personally, I’d go with the Spiders nest though. You could kill a Serpent if you bombarded it from land but knowing your personality, you would probably charge into the shallow water to fight it. Dire Wolves are also iffy, you could kill the ones guarding the den but since you’re scared of the dark, you'd have a hard time finishing the job.”

“You said you wouldn’t tell anyone,” the woman said as she smacked me on the head. “Fine, I'll go with the Spider’s nest. If you want, you could come too. I could always use someone to keep my sleeping bag warm.” Her friends snickered behind her. “No, now get outta here. Go!” I said as I shooed her away. Sadly this was my life now. Getting sexualy harassed by female adventurers. Yea, I know, woe is me, but it wasn’t all that great. I was a receptionist at one of the capital's largest guild halls and what’s more, I was the only male one to boot. Because most adventurers were men, most guilds hired cute female receptionists as poster girls to entice more customers to register. Because of that, male receptionists like me were not only a rarity but also a perfect outlet for the frustrations of the growing population of female adventurers.

You might wonder why they were letting a fifteen year old endure such a thing but sadly, I wasn’t fifteen any more. Unfortunately, my life had spiraled downhill faster than a filler arc and now, the strapping young isekai otaku that had been summoned to this world was figuratively dead. Now all that was left was me, Hiro, a twenty two year old guild receptionist barely managing to keep himself out of debt.

It all started after I left the Flameheart mansion. I quickly blew all my money on adventuring equipment and spent a year stuck at the bottom rank, unable to move up. I was forced to pick herbs and look for lost cats which provided barely enough money to sustain myself. Eventually, my funds ran dry so I had to crawl back to the Flameheart family and ask for a loan. After that, I became a shut in and spent a long time researching magic. I was able to acquire a nice collection of books on magic and poured over them, hoping to find a way to use magic myself but ultimately, it was in vain.

After months of obsessive research, I finally fell into debt again with nothing to show for it. After some petty groveling, I was able to get another loan from the Flameheart family and gave up on magic, becoming a bartender at the local guild instead. I continued to read though and even wrote my own theories on magic using the knowledge from my world but it was all still fruitless. Fortunately, all that reading led to me having a surprisingly deep wealth of knowledge about this world and its magic which led to me becoming a guild receptionist.

It had taken a couple years but several days ago, I had finally paid off the last of my loans and was once again, debt free. Sadly, the happy go lucky isekai loving fifteen year old idiot that was summoned to this world was gone. Now my dreams were no longer about becoming some badass op protagonist but of one day snagging the Guild Master's position whenever he finally croaked. What Lofty aspirations I had.

“Hey Hiro, mind cleaning up the job request board for me?” The Guild Master asked me. Speak of the devil. He was a nice older man who left most of the day to day things to me. I was kind of like his protégé, though some of my coworkers called me a pushover. I couldn’t really blame them though. I had lost most of my passion over the past several years. I exited the counter and walked over to a large board that hosted several dozen pieces of paper. I began removing all the ones that had expired as well as the ones without an official seal or the ones with a forged seal. As I was picking through them, one of them caught my eye.

Looking for temporary teacher for Imperial Institute of Magic.

• Must have advanced knowledge of the following:
  Theoretical magic
  Practical applications of magic
  High level concept magic
  Alchemical conversion theory

Applicants can schedule an appointment with headmaster Violet in order to interview for the position.

3,000 Gil Weekly Salary

I did a double take after looking at the salary. 3,000 Gil was what I made working two months at the guildhall and this position paid that much in a week. The requirements were also not that bad either. All of those topics were things I felt pretty confident in after my years of research so I could probably teach them to someone else. I pulled the flier down and rolled it up, sliding it under my vest. Nothing wrong with lessening the competition, right?

Tomorrow was one of my days off so I decided I would go and apply for the position. I finished cleaning up the board before returning to the counter. “You look quite happy, did something good happen?” one of my female coworkers, Eleanor, asked. “No, not really. Besides, are you implying that I usually look unhappy?” I asked playfully. She had light auburn hair and brown eyes. What's more, she was totally in my strike zone. Sadly though, she claimed to have a boyfriend. “It’s just rare to see you smile Hiro. I’m sure our patrons would appreciate seeing you smile more as well.” I winced slightly as I replied, “Oh don’t even get me started on that lot. I don’t know how you look so happy all the time. Especially with all those guys trying to put the moves on you.” Eleanor’s expression darkened slightly as she said. “It’s simple Hiro. I just pray that all those disgusting men who flirt with me will suffer brutal and painful deaths on their quests.”

I’m sorry I asked. Most of my coworkers with a few exceptions were very nice to me and I did feel slightly sorry that they garnered so much unwanted attention. I might be a hypocrite considering I always liked the receptionist characters in isekai and fantasy series. Unfortunately, working with them and as one of them somewhat spoiled my enjoyment of the archetype. “Actually, keep it on the down low, but I’m thinking about applying for another position soon.” I told her. “Oh, here at the guild?” she asked, obviously intrigued. I shook my head as I pulled out the rolled up job listing. “No, as a teacher at the Imperial Academy”

Her surprise was evident as her eyes widened. “Hmm… you must be a powerful mage then. I was always under the impression you were incredibly weak considering you retired after one year as an F rank adventure.” Like most people, Eleanor didn’t know I couldn’t use magic and was under the impression I simply didn’t because it was weak. “Well, I pride myself on knowledge. That’s all that really matters if you want to be a teacher right?” She chuckled slightly which made me blush and replied, “Then I wish you luck Hiro.”

I carried those words in my heart the next day as I walked to the Imperial Academy. The academy as well as the guild were located in the nicer part of the city so thankfully, the streets were paved and generally pretty clean . I approached the massive gate that surrounded the academy which was guarded by two young men. They both wore the navy blue uniform of the country's military. After briefly searching me for weapons, they allowed me to pass. The campus grounds were extensive and featured everything from student dorms to training fields. My destination however was the primary school building where the headmistresses office resided. After getting lost and ultimately having to ask a faculty member for directions, I arrived before her office.

The door was a simple wooden door, identical to nearly every other one in the school building and yet, when I raised my hand to knock. I couldn’t. I was stricken with a feeling I hadn’t felt in several years. Not since my time on earth. Suddenly, I was a boy again, using the sleeve of my fancy private school uniform to wipe my brow of sweat as I stood in front of the principal's office. What was it about a school’s leader that could inspire so much fear in you, even as an adult? I wondered. “Do you need something from my office?” a voice behind me asked. I nearly leapt out of my skin as I turned around to find a woman standing behind me.