After the hunt for Gregor turned up their gear, the marquise junior sent me away towards the Adventurers Guild, along with a map over the town and a letter of recommendation. They didn't want any unaffiliated personal during the manhunt, and the preparations to receive the hostages. The only thing I didn't take so lightly was when they took out that bell again when I told them about Levi. Rude fellows, grr...

During the walkabout around the city, while trying to make heads or tails out of the map, my impression of the city was less that of a typical European middle-age city that's usual in the stories I read back on Earth, and more like an old European middle-age city in the middle of a rain-forest. Or it used to. The flora has withered away, leaving empty flowerbeds by the roadside. They must have contained whatever that was harvested from the forest of Velantas.

According to the old man selling meat skewers, the city was built on top of three man-made islands in the middle of a large river, which today made the production district on the northern island, the main district in the middle island, which included the noble district where Carion was caught, and the research district south of that again. 

I'm currently at one of the two commoner's districts, the western district, which was made on the shores of the river. This western district is also called the adventurers' district, due to the Adventurer Guild and many businesses related to it are located here.

As I thanked the old for the info and the skewers, I kept on aiming for the Guild, while enjoying my breakfast while walk-!?!?!

What... is this...? D-d-d-delish! It tastes good! I can't believe it! The texture that when biting into it, the overflowing meat juices, and the light seasoning with simple, but delicious, spices...

This is no matter what anyone says, REAL FOOD!!

Not any funky monster meat, not any medicinal gels made with my skills, but real, grilled food! So- so deliiiish.

*Sniff*, thinking back, I've lived a dog's life till now. Even the gruel I got yesterday night was better than the raw meat I've eaten my whole life,  but the taste was so weak I didn't notice the joy of eating...

Okay, I've decided. I'm gonna find the best chef ever to have as a party member, no matter what! I don't care if he's some weak-spout or a master kicker, as long as he can handle the battlefield known as a kitchen, then he's golden!

Huh? The skewers taste saltier now? It must be my imagination.

---

After the 4 skewers, two dumplings, one crepe, and a large number of different beverages, I arrived at the Adventurer Guild. [Golden Ratio] is now qualified as a cheat skill along with Hydra and [Lewd Demon].

But, is this really the Adventurer Guild? It looks more like a run-down bar. The stench of alcohol is hurting my nose even outside of it. How are children supposed to enter this building? Or is it a measure to prevent them from entering? Becoming an adventurer when still only a child sounds like a good way to get yourself killed.

As I entered the building, I was overcome by a wave of booze-stench. As someone that has never touched alcohol before in my life, it was enough to make me faint, hadn't I braced myself for it. Half of the guild was a tavern, which was already full of weaklings drinking away their day and money already, and on the other half were several counters, ready to accept adventurers loot and complains.

I walked towards the counter that had "Information" written above it in other-world-ish and the receptionist, a girl with wavey red-brown hair and slim body, and cat-ears at the top of her head. A therianthrope? No, I didn't pick this one because she was pretty. At least, not only because of that...

"Welcome to the Velantas-branch Adventurer Guild. What can I help you today?" - Receptionist

"Um, I would like to become an adventurer", I said while presenting the letter I got from the marquise.

"I see...?! Excuse me for a second!" - Receptionist

She took off the moment her eyes caught sight of the envelopment of the letter. This is a bad pattern, right?

While waiting for the receptionist lady, I was wondering when the cliche "messing with the newbie" even with the thug-adventures would begin, but it looks like they were down for the count due to their early drinks. Either that or they looked at me like a dog looks at a steak. *Shiver*

This body may be nice to look at, but if someone tries to make a pass on me, I'll let them meet Glavras in the next world!

"Grwl?" - Bear(?)

Huh? What's this? A bear cub, no, a teddy bear? It looks like a cub, only at the size of a small cat, and with some kind of star on its front head. It was crawling on the counter where the cat-receptionist where sitting. A monster? Nah, must be a pet. The other receptionists doesn't seem to mind it.

=====================================================================

Theodore James Hawlens

Race: [Treasure Teddy]   | Level: 4

Karma Value: 41

Skills: 4

 

HP: 18/18   | MP: 7/7   | SP: 15/15

STR: 15   | VIT: 11   | MAG: 4

RES: 6   | SPD: 8  | DEX: 10

INT: 77   | LUC: 169

=====================================================================

=====================================================================

SKILL LIST

Active Skills: [Charm LV1]

Passive Skills: [Helping Hand LV3]

Perception Skills: [Detect Treasure LV4] 

Racial Skills: [Lucky Bear LV8]

=====================================================================

......How am I supposed to comment on this? First off,

"Why [Detect Treasure]?" - Garami

I couldn't stop myself from saying that out loud. The bear, cub? Teddy bear? The bear looked at me surprised, for then starting to fumble around the receptionist's desk. Hey, are you allowed to touch that stuff?

"Grwl!" - Theodore James Hawlens

And out of the 4-dimension, that's not it. And out of the desk's drawer, the bear took out a large pot with honey.

.........Yeah, that's a treasure for a bear alright. Sure you're not wearing a red sweater normally?

As I patted the bear as a reward for showing me the trick, a deep voice resounded behind me.

"Ge-he-he-he-he! To think you could win over lil' Ted so quickly. As expected of the damned fortune goddesses Champion, ey?"

"Huh? Who are-whoa?!" - Garami

A walrus! A beastkin walrus was right behind me! At least over 2 meter high, and for some reason, his skin was dark purplish-blue. One of his tusks was broken and repaired with the new part made of gold. Like other beastkin, his arms were that of a human instead of flippers, and he had human legs as well.

It wasn't only his size that surprised me... Okay, it wasn't just "surprised". I was freaked out, mostly due to what [Judging Eye] told me. This walrus is stronger than the hydra turtle that was the boss of the Water-Knot! If the skill's telling me the truth, then this guy could take out the hydra turtle before breakfast, then continue with the two sub-bosses! Does a humanoid like this guy exist for real? This ain't some hidden camera show, right?

"I got the letter from the young lord. Welcome to the Adventurers Guild, Alvatria's Champion!" - Walrus guy

*SPPLLLRRT!!*

All the adventurers that listen in to the big guy's talk, meaning everyone as the guy was anything but quiet, did a spit-take when you-know-who's, name got mentioned. Is everyone that afraid of that idiot?

---

Race, Kur Kigal. Gender, not sure. Height, 167 cm. Weight, 52 kg. 18 years old, white hair, burgundy eyes...

"Thank you very much. Kur Kigal? I mean, could you put your hand above this crystal, so that we can register your aether signature to your Adventurer card." - Nell

After finishing the form they handed to me, the reception cat-lady, who's name is Nell by the way, turned towards something that looked like a crystal ball on top of a fancy stand. As I placed my hand over the crystal,

The world turned dark.

"?!" - Nell

"What the-!" - Adventurer A

"Who turned off the lights?!" - Adventurer B

Ah, this is...

After a little while, with a mechanical sound coming from the crystal ball, the darkness disappeared, showing an Adventurer Card for an F rank adventurer. Me

"Ge-he-he! That's something you could expect from the Mistress of Darkness, or what do you say, boys?" - Bermuda

The walrus guy, Robert Bermuda, turned around to the currently distressed adventurers. And what do you mean with "Mistress"? I'm more of a male, spiritually. 

"That piece of glass over there will show the most prominent attribute of the guy it registers, so one that's like darkness incarnated would wrap the whole building in it with ease." - Bermuda

Tch, then I would be busted if I ever wanted an ID-card of any kind. That goddess, she must have already known that. That's why she let me do as I pleased. Trying to hide that would not be plausible for more than a little while.

Still didn't keep me from glaring at the walrus guy, even if he was the Grandmaster of the place.

=====================================================================

Robert Bermuda  | Adventurers Guild Grandmaster

Race: [Beastkin (Great Ocean Walrus)]   | Level: 75

Karma Value: -21

Skills: 89

 

Main Class: Master Material Artist LV46

Sub Class: Ocean Capturer LV47

Sub Class: Gambler LV1

Sub Class: Captain LV32

Sub Class: Monk LV32

 

HP: 2145/2145   | MP: 420/420   | SP: 2712/2712

STR: 2012   | VIT: 1981   | MAG: 243

RES: 1677   | SPD: 1002  | DEX: 1428

INT: 99   | LUC: 250

=====================================================================

Yeah, way stronger than the hydra turtle, now that I've appraised him for real. And why does all the guys here have better luck than me? This guy can luckily be explained, due to one of the Unique Skills he has. And that's just one out four!  One of them is the Water Dragon Slayer skill, but the rest all have direct connections to the sea, one way or another. The luckbringer is this one:

=====================================================================

Skill: The Luck of the Sailor of a Thousand and One Seas

Skill type: Unique Skill

Effect:

• Increases the user's basic luck.
• Complete protection against a fatal attack.
  • Can be used as many times a day as the skill's level.
  • Times of uses are shared with the move-enhancing ability.
• Increased effect of a move by the skill level.
  • Can be used as many times a day as the skill's level.
  • Times of uses are shared with the protection ability.

=====================================================================

This must be an Unique skill gotten from some ocean Dungeon. Maybe it's related to the walrus's Captain and Ocean Capturer classes. For those who don't know, the latter one is a hyper-evolved Fisher class equivalent.

Out of all the skills the walrus has, this one is the worst. It's at LV6 right now, higher than my Hydra! It also means he cannot be killed 6 times a day, or he can six-double the effect of whatever he does, be it an attack, defending, or throwing a coin!

Maybe not the last one. The Gambler class is special since it can only obtain proficiency when the class-holder wins a gamble, meaning he hasn't won a single game after getting that class. Stats aren't everything I guess. Look at this guy. Not to mention Mira's INT.

"Now then girlie, ehm, Garami, is it?" - Bermuda

"If you wanna make a question towards my name, take it with the troublemaker up there. Way up there." - Garami

"Oh, that one. Anyway, Garami, do you know who's planning on meetin' ya in a few days?" - Bermuda

"...That guy from her's church, right?" - Garami

"Yeah, so good luck taking care of that." - Bermuda

Wha-! He's throwing the whole deal to me? I know it's because of me this guy's coming to town, but give a poor demon some slack...

"Fiiiiiine. But you owe me a meal." - Garami

"That's an easy one. Just tell me when you wanna be pampered." - Bermuda

Sucker. I didn't say it was my meal. He-he-he-he-he. Oh, now that I'm an adventurer, maybe it's time to dump these guys.

"Do you buy monsters here?" - Garami

"Hmm? Why yes, anything from assigned subjection targets towards rare monsters."  - Nell

I asked the receptionist Nell, as I don't trust the big bloke behind me *SMACK!* ugh!?

"Ge-he-he-he-he! Already wanna show the trophies from the Disaster's Dungeon, ey?" - Bermuda

"M-my spine... wait, how did you know-" - Garami

"Simple logic, there were some guys who found that Water-Knot whatchamacallit-Dungeon by luck, and since it was way to unnatural in how it became unfindable after that, we deduced that the mystery-Dungeon was the work of a Disaster. And who's the bigger candidate for being the mastermind of a Dungeon filled with water than the Disaster of Water?" - Bermuda

Did someone manage to enter the Dungeon? I remember the bandits I stole the Bandit Dagger from, like way too good due to the Berserker then, but were there any other outsider there? Hmmmmm... I can't remember.

"Hey, you stinkin' bags of booze! Come along to the slaughterhouse! There will be some new meat there!" - Bermuda

"Huh?" - Garami

I looked over at Nell for an explanation.

"The slaughterhouse is what the adventurers have dubbed the warehouse where we keep all the monster carcasses." - Nell

Whoaaaa. Violent nickname for a warehouse. Not to mention it's way to cool for one as well...

The warehouse was the larger building I saw while walking to the guild. When Bermuda walked in, he was greeted by a kid? Oh, it's a falloling. Like that guy I saved from the bandits. He's dragging his leg a little, so he's a retired adventurer? There are more guys working in the warehouse, so was this guy the boss here? He had many knives strapped to his belt, gutting knives and such. 

"Hey, Grandmaster. What's with the crowd?" - Dismantler

"They're here to watch the catch of the newbie here. Get your best gutting knife ready, it's probably going to be needed." - Bermuda

Tch, raising expectations without asking me. Whatever. Which one should I start with...

"Hey, ain't that a Storage space?" - Adventurer C

"No way. That's something even C rank Adventurer would kill to have." - Adventurer D

"And even if they got it, it wouldn't be able to hold that much either." - Adventurer E

"No, if she was from a demon race, then it would be explainable, but she wouldn't have too much space in it either way." - Adventurer F (demon)

As the peanut gallery kept on yapping, I decided to go through my haul of monster chronologically, starting with the newest addition.

"WHAT?!" - Adventures

"Now I've never... A Stampede Bloodbull. Is this from the Dungeon?" - Dismantler

"Nope. Got this on my way to the city. " - Garami

"How did she kill that?" - Adventurer B

"That look on its face..." - Adventurer C

"Yikes, that's nasty. Tears and snot all over the place." - Adventurer D

"Not that. She stuffed its mouth and noses." - Adventurer C

"Then, she suffocated it to death..." - Adventurer B

*Gulp*

Ignoring the gallery behind me, next, we have..,

"A turtle?" - Nell

"That must be a Pond Frog. They used to live here before." - Adventurer F

"Look at that nasty spider." - Adventurer E 

"Never seen something like that." - Adventurer A

"Hey, that's a Greycave Rat." - Adventurer D

"It looks out of place with the rest." - Adventurer B

And last, but definitely not least, I threw out the oldest victim I had from its Item Bag. Maybe it's better to call it a body bag by now.

"A JUNGLE REXUS?!?!" - Adventurers

That must be the original species the Dungeon based the T-Rex on. I don't know what was most frightening for these guys, the sheer size of the T-Rex, which took half the warehouse on its own, or the fact that its decapitated head was thrown out with it.

"...That large cut... Who managed to do that feat?" - Bermuda

"A friend." - Garami

"A... friend?" - Bermuda

"A bladed dino. Leader of a pack of raptors and sahuagins. Must not lay a hand on him. Got that?" - Garami

I used [Bloodlust] on the last part. Many of the spectating adventures turned white, while some again looked like they were ready to collapse.

"If those guys keep their hands, tentacles, claws or talons of humans, then we have no reason to do the opposite to them. Not that I wanna waste the opportunity to befriend someone with skills as great as the one who did this." - Bermuda

Phew. Virt and co should be safe with this. 

"...Hey, Grandmaster. We have a problem here." - Dismantler

"I get it. This was way more than I bargained for." - Bermuda

Hmm? Something wrong? My surprise may have shown on my face, as the Grandmaster started to explain.

"You see, the Guild is low on cash at the moment. We need to hire adventurers all the time to try and locate new water sources, keeping the undeads away from the city, and dealing with the drought. The last one may be resolved for now-" - Bermuda

Because of me!

"-but that doesn't mean we get more Sols outta it at once." - Bermuda

"Meaning?" - Garami

"We can't purchase all the materials of these guys. The Greycave Rats and Pond Frogs are one thing, but the other guys are either rare or unique monsters, making their materials too expensive for our poor, Sol-less Guild." - Bermuda

That's a bummer. 

"Then, what can you buy off then?" - Garami

"Well, we can buy the pelt of the Greycave Rat for 1 silver each, as they are in good condition, while the meat of the Pond Frogs would be 5 silvers for a single carcass. I'm not sure what we can get from these spiders, but their originality alone would go up to 50 silvers each." - Dismantler

Wait, that's 11 silvers for the rats, 20 for the frogs, and 350 for the spiders? That's already 38.100 sols already! And if the spiders have some use, then it can go up from that?!

"These turtles look promising. Their shells are durable, turtle-meat is considered a delicacy, and there are probably many medical uses for the rest. The shells alone would be two gold coins each, with the rest being worth even more." - Dismantler

W-whoa. I'm getting richer by the second. 

"The blue Jungle Rexus is the problem here. The usual Jungle Rexus could give 15 golds for each fang and claws alone, but this one looks even more promising than that. The scales would be great for armor with Water Resistance abilities, and the meat would be the perfect ingredient to meals to enhance one's strength stat. I would say... 300 golds in total?" - Dismantler

"300 golds!?!?" 

Who was it that said that? Probably everyone except the dismantler himself. 

"The biggest bounty is this guy though. The Bloodrush Bulls have been a pain for this country in several years now, so getting the big-bull of them all is some achievement. I would say a total of 350 golds for the meat and horns. No, maybe 400 due to the body being free from wounds." - Dismantler

"N-no way we can afford that at the moment." - Bermuda

So true. These two alone are enough to cover for the loss of the gold I needed to return. And I'm still waiting for that 10%! I can't resist the grin that creeps on my face.

(Hey, try to ask her to join our party.) - Adventurer A 

(Like I could! I was leering at her before. She's more likely to make me join those guys on the bench than agreeing to join!) - Adventurer B

(Yeah. She's like, 'No one bosses me around!'-kinda girl.) - Adventurer C

(She was more than something nice to look at then. Could she be a noble?) - Adventurer F

*BANG!*

"GARAMI! Is Garami here?!" - Mira

Whoa, that spooked me! I, and everyone else in the room, turned to the entrance of the warehouse. There stood Mira, with Carion right behind her, out of breath.

"Say your prayers!" - Mira

"Whoa!" - Garami

Before I could ask her why she was here, she had drawn her sword and slashed at me! I reflexively caught the sword with my han-! Wait, ain't this a Shinken Shirahadori¹Catching a moving blade?! I've only seen that in animes!

"Stop being so stubborn and resign your life already!" - Mira

"Why the samurai-talk?! And what's going on?!" - Garami

"*Wheeze*, *wheeze*, sh-she's mad be-because of tha-that spider-kin you snuck on her." - Carion

Oh, that one. The guy who I made just before Mira woke up and used as a precaution in case she was bluffing about wanting to help her uncle.

"You owe me! That shirt was my favorite one! It was worth 1.000 sols you know!" - Mira

"Huh? Wait... I see. Then let go of that sword, and I'll treat you to a whole wardrobe! Just stop adding mana to it! I feel it's slipping-!" - Garami

---

That day, on the 24th of the month of Lusalki, the Adventurers Guild of Velantas obtained a new, promising newbie. The members of the Guild also pushed Mira up on their mental ranking, from easy prey to a living nightmare.