"She just looks more beautiful I think"

Alex muttered these soft words to no one in particular. He was now sitting on a bench in the town square while enjoying a sandwich he had just bought to fill his stomach, which was starting to get hungry this afternoon.

Alex's eyes were focused on an object and that object was a girl he had known for a long time. Currently the girl was walking with two servants into a jewelry shop across the street.

The girl's true identity is Veria Vera Phevona, the second daughter of a well-known noble family in this kingdom. At the academy he entered the elemental magic class and managed to become one of the best graduates this year in his field of study.

Veria is in the same class as Alex. Because he has a different class, Alex rarely interacts with him. Alex still very clearly remembers the interaction between them two years ago when delivering books to the library.

Long straight black hair pulled back into a ponytail, sharp and narrow eyes conveying an impression of firmness, clean white skin indicating how diligently it is cared for and rosy pink lips that always attract every man who sees her.

He still wore an academy uniform similar to the one Alex wore.

During the six years of study, there was never any news about her being close to any man, even though most of the male students were fascinated by her beauty.

Could it be that the reason is because she is too beautiful, which makes men feel insecure? Or is it because of the high position of his family? Whatever it is, it doesn't seem that important.

Seeing that the object of his admiration was no longer visible, Alex was finally able to continue eating with gusto.

"Hmm...?"

When he was about to eat the last bite of his sandwich, Alex saw a shining object being carried by a white cat.

From its shine, Alex suspected it was expensive, valuable jewelry. Without waiting long, he immediately rushed after him.

Luckily the cat walked into an alley between buildings in the capital so Alex didn't need to worry too much about the interference of the townspeople.

This opportunity should not be wasted. That's what he thought to himself.

Alex's sneaky way of walking was like a professional thief.

"Shh... meow"

"..."

When the distance got closer, Alex tried to call the cat and apparently his efforts succeeded in making the cat stop. Alex then took the small piece of meat left on his sandwich to offer it to the cat.

He tried to shake off the piece of meat while squatting low to get the cat's attention.

"Yes, that's right, come here, cute, adorable cat."

The cat approached and then ate the meat in Alex's hand. Before eating the small dagong that Alex had given him, the cat first put the shining jewelry that had been in its mouth on the ground.

Alex quickly took the jewelry and put it in his shirt pocket.

"This is a fair exchange in my opinion"

Then after that he hurriedly left the cat before it got attention from other people. It would be very troublesome if someone appeared out of nowhere claiming to be the owner of the jewelry.

Alex will go to a safe place to examine in detail the jewelry he just got.

-------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- ------------------

"Excuse me, can I book a room for three nights?"

Alex has entered an inn and intends to make it a stopover for the next few days. Alex practically had no place to live after graduating from the academy. At the academy for six years, he lived in the dormitory provided by the academy. He also doesn't have a family to take home while he is in the capital.

The caretaker and owner of this simple inn is a middle-aged man who still seems to have the trained muscles of his youth. There was no hair at all and scars from claws from wild animals were clearly visible on his forearms.

Honestly, he is more suited to being a bouncer than an innkeeper.

"That uniform... aren't you an academy student?"

"More precisely, alumni because I just graduated this morning."

"Oh, I see..."

"Yes, that is so"

The innkeeper thought about something in his mind for a moment before finally agreeing to let Alex stay the night.

"Three nights, right? It costs ten fena and that doesn't include the meal service."

"Okay, I don't mind"

Fena is the official currency used by countries in the western continent, including the Kingdom of Alovia.

With a price of ten fena for three days in a lower middle class accommodation like this, according to Alex, it is in the reasonable category.

"Sign here"

"Here?"

"Yes, but before that, read what is written there first."

The owner handed me a piece of paper on which was written the rules of this inn. It is also written there that if a customer violates the rules, the owner has the right to evict him without prior warning.

Now Alex finally understood what the owner's large body was used for.

"Already"

Alex returned the paper to the owner.

"Here are the ten fena"

After opening his wallet, Alex gave the innkeeper ten fena notes.

"Then this is the key, room number three on the second floor. It's very easy to find so it's impossible for you to get lost and also... where is your luggage?"

"My luggage? I saved it with my magic no need to worry"

"Just up to you"

The innkeeper handed the key to Alex in an indifferent manner.

After receiving the key, Alex immediately left the counter to go to the room he had rented. He couldn't wait to examine the jewelry that had been stolen, meaning he had found it earlier.

One thing he did after entering the room was to check the surroundings to make sure there were no eavesdroppers.

"Hehehe... here it is"

Alex took the jewelry out of his shirt pocket. It could be clearly seen that the jewelry was a bracelet made from a very hard blue mixed with white rock which reminded Alex of the view of the summer sky.

This bracelet is certain to be very expensive considering the materials it is made from are certainly very rare. Alex remembered that there was a diamond called a sky diamond which had the characteristics of sky blue and white and then guessed that this bracelet was made from it.

Several years ago he heard news that a sky diamond had been auctioned at a fantastic price even though it was only the size of the tip of your little finger.

And now Alex has one that is much bigger than that and has been shaped too.

A feeling of happiness accompanied by fear filled him.

He was happy because he could finally be rich without having to work hard, but at the same time he was afraid that if someone found out that the diamond bracelet was on him, he would be robbed.

Depending on how he lives in the future, Alex's life could be better or more difficult than before.

"I have to be smart in acting"

Alex was determined to keep the diamond bracelet no matter what.

"[Summon : Inventory slime]"

Alex cast a summoning spell. A small, jelly-like monster appeared from above the magical light pattern that formed on the floor of the room.

"Come here, swallow this"

"..."

The bracelet was offered to the slime and it was immediately greeted by swallowing it.

Alex wasn't worried at all because that was the function of his summoned monster.

At least Alex has 15 different monsters including this slime. Each monster he owns has its own important role both in battle and in everyday life.

"Take out my fighting equipment"

"...."

The slime again responded to Alex's command. Now a number of clothes and weapons that Alex usually uses have been taken out of the slime's stomach in a very clean condition, even though when they were put in a few days ago all this equipment was dirty.

Inventory slime is usually used by Alex to store various equipment. All types of equipment that enter the slime's inventory will be automatically cleaned within a short period of time. That's the advantage of the slime's inventory which makes it a monster on Alex's list of favorite monsters.

Even though it is classified as a monster, this inventory slime is not as dangerous as monsters in general. It is precisely because of its very useful ability that many people dare to pay a high price to own it.

There are many traders who sell them on the market at fantastic prices so that only the upper class can afford them.

Having a free inventory of slimes as summoned monsters is really beneficial.

"Looks like tomorrow I will register to become an adventurer while looking for information on safe sales places for this bracelet."

After that, Alex checked and cared for his fighting equipment one by one before wearing it the next day.

---

The adventurer's guild is an organization under the auspices of the state whose aim is to explore territory and also protect citizens with valuable goods in return.

Most adventurers (as guild members are known) have quite good fighting skills because most of the requests from residents and local authorities are related to exterminating monsters which is disturbing to the point where the general public's perception is that adventurers are monster hunting soldiers.

Of course, as an organization that has a license to use weapons, the operations of the adventurer's guild are under the full supervision of the government.

In the kingdom of Alovia where Alex is located, the adventurer's guild has opened its branches throughout the city.

Just this morning, Alex was standing in front of the three-story building which was the guild's main headquarters. The city of Arten as the capital of the Alovia kingdom has been used as the headquarters of the adventure guild by its higher-ups.

Alex arrived already equipped with fighting equipment that his teacher had given him several years ago.

His head of hair was covered by a leather hat that had a strange symbol on the front. A thick leather jacket with a brown collar and long sleeves rolled up to the elbows. You could tell from the gap in his collar that he was wearing chainmail under his jacket. The greenish black gloves on both hands seemed to be made from a combination of metallic threads and pieces of the shell of a certain creature. The bottom of the slightly oversized black trousers he was wearing were wrinkled and folded untidily because they were blocked by monster leather boots that extended to the top of his ankles.

Alex is indeed a summoning magic expert but he still carries a sword sheathed on his back as a precaution against close combat with him without the protection of a summoned beast.

Many adventurers and civilians saw it earlier.

It's still early in the morning so it's natural that there's a lot of activity going on around this building, especially since the guild building is close to the city center. Especially considering that this is the capital.

"May luck fall on me today"

With a mumble that sounded like a prayer, Alex opened the entrance to the building.

The sight he saw after opening the door was a wide hall with many chairs and long tables lined up occupied by adventurers.

On the right wall hung a large board with various kinds of request posters issued by the guild staff. The posters appear to have been arranged sequentially by type and level.

But that's not what Alex is focused on right now.

Of the total of five counters available in this room, Alex saw that there was one counter on the edge near a poster board with the words "Registration Place" in front of it.

There was no queue like the other counters there so Alex immediately went to it before anyone else stepped in.

The gazes of several adventurers gathered in front of the poster board turned to him for a moment as if to say 'who is this person?' and immediately lost interest when they found out that Alex was here to register as an adventurer.

"Good morning, are you here to register?"

"Yes, right"

A recessionist welcomed Alex's arrival with a formal smile and polite tone of voice.

"Then please fill out this form first with this pen and then return it to me when finished and if there are any questions that make you confused, please ask me or another adventurer."

The receptionist immediately took a form from the pile of papers in front of her and handed it to Alex in a package with a special guild pen.

"Okay thank you"

After receiving the paper and pen, Alex immediately excused himself and retreated to the nearest long chair to fill it in. There were several big adventurers who were also sitting with him but he ignored them.

Alex read one by one the columns written on the form. The contents are mostly the same as the usual registration form. Starting from name, age, to abilities possessed.

Alex wrote in the ability column with the words 'summoning magic' without any further praise.

“Summoning magic? Wow, I'm really scared hehehe..."

"To-.."

'F*ck!'

Alex almost uttered a swear word that suddenly appeared in his mind.

An unknown adventurer peeked out from behind Alex's back with a mocking expression on his face.
He already knew that someone was approaching him from behind but chose to let it go in order to avoid annoying problems.

However, it seems that Alex's efforts were in vain.

“Hey guys look, this guy has an incredibly terrifying talent”

"Summoning magic huh... most summoning magic users I know can only fight small groups of goblins"

“What monster can you summon kid? Wood giants? Scaled lizards? Or maybe a phoenix? Hahahahaha..."

Now there were three adventurers who seemed to be friends with each other openly mocking Alex.

The fighting equipment they have looks good. That meant they were probably a group of high level adventurers in this guild.

In fact, from the metal tags hanging around their necks, it can be seen that they are C class adventurers, which means they are at the middle level and do not rule out the possibility of having many achievements in the guild.

Is that the reason why everyone is just watching from a distance?

There are many people paying attention but remaining silent so as not to be dragged into this problem.

Alex really wanted to beat the three of them up but was aware of the consequences of doing something careless like that.

The reason why Alex was ridiculed was probably because of the existence of summoning magic users themselves, most of whom were of low quality or rather not comparable to other types of magic.

Summoning magic users like Alex can be said to be rare and what's more, in this world there are only two types of summoning magic users when differentiated based on their level of strength, namely weak and strong. The ratio between weak and strong is 1000:1. So if you look at the facts, it's only natural that many people underestimate summoning magic users because most of the summoning magic users they meet are weak and can only summon low-class monsters. Alex is used to receiving this kind of insults during his school days and has succeeded in silencing the mouths of his insulters with achievements (and also violence).

Alex is certain and certified that he belongs to the group of very powerful summoning magic users. His fighting skills against groups of enemies are beyond doubt. This confidence grew thanks to his undefeated record during his school days for six full years. The last time he lost was a few months before entering the academy. He lost badly against his teacher who had trained him since childhood.

““Hahahhahahahahah””

The laughter of the three adventurers grew louder and began to shake Alex's will to remain silent. Almost all the eyes in this room had turned towards the three of them.

There are several meanings contained in all those glances.

A look of pity seeing Alex who was the object of ridicule, an angry but restrained gaze directed at the three adventurers and a gaze that had the desire not to care about all that.

Alex remained silent even though it was difficult. He wanted to give his first impression to the guild as a polite adventurer.

For this reason, after he felt finished filling in the registration form, Alex immediately stood up and took it back to the receptionist.

As much as possible he ignored the three adventurers.

"Hey where are you going, wait-..... eh?.. Where am I?"

One of them grabbed Alex's shoulder to try to stop him. Not long after that he looked like a confused person.

"I'm giving you a warning not to touch me carelessly or you'll die!"

Alex turned his neck fully and said in a threatening tone and intimidating eyes to the adventurer who had just touched his shoulder.

He said that not without reason. Alex seriously said that if he was touched suddenly like that, especially when his mood was bad, the person who touched him could be harmed by one of Alex's abilities which could be activated accidentally.

Physical contact is one of the conditions for activation. He usually uses this special ability to fight enemies he thinks are very strong.

The adventurer, who only received the effects of Alex's special ability for less than three seconds, was still scared and shaking.

His two friends realized something was wrong. The atmosphere became tense as if there would be a battle soon.

The other adventurers did not separate but instead looked enthusiastically waiting for the battle that seemed to be starting soon.

'I'm starting to get fed up with all this, basically today I just have to register'

Alex initially intended to take up his first request as an adventurer after registering but he abandoned that plan after losing interest.

'Maybe tomorrow I'll pick it up '

Alex left the three adventurers who were on guard to go to the registration counter.

After handing over the registration form and pen to the receptionist and confirming that the registration was complete, he quickly left the building.

A few moments after Alex left the building, the three disturbing adventurers began to regain their breathing rhythm.

One of the three asked what happened to the adventurer who touched Alex's shoulder.

"I don't even know what that feeling is. What's certain is that I felt like my soul had been transported to some terrible place."

“Could it be some kind of hypnosis?”

"I don't know, I feel like everything that happened earlier was real"

“A newcomer like him is able to intimidate a C class like us? How ridiculuous"

“It must be some kind of magic tool of his.”

“That's right hahaha”

"Ha ha ha ha...''

The situation in the building immediately returned to normal a few moments after that as if the incident was just a passing incident.