■ Adventurer Guild □
The next day.
We went to the Adventurer Guild located within the Hamburg territory as soon as dawn broke.
The Adventurer Guild is a highly profitable organization spread throughout the entire Oz Kingdom, with branches in almost every city.
Regardless of whether one was an adventurer officially belonging to this city or not, it was possible to post and accept various requests, making it a place frequented by quite a number of people every day.
“Oh. It’s pretty well decorated.”
Dorothea said that while looking around inside the building.
Typically, Adventurer Guilds also sell simple food and drinks, so the first-floor hall was decorated like a tavern.
Since it was morning, there weren’t really any people drinking alcohol, but plenty were having a quick meal.
Most adventurers lead rough lives, giving the place a somewhat dull impression, whereas Dorothea and Barnett, who were dressed neatly, stood out quite a bit.
Before any unnecessary trouble arose, I led the two women toward the counter.
An employee standing at the counter greeted us with a friendly smile and asked,
“Hello. How may I assist you?”
I took out the medal proving my affiliation with the Emerald Tower from my possession and handed it over.
Since gold medals are issued starting from the fourth tier Mage level, the employee’s expression changed upon seeing it.
“I’d like to join the convoy heading to the capital if there’s one.”
“Just a moment, please.”
The employee hurriedly retrieved an old book from under the counter after hearing me speak.
After flipping through it for a while, they showed me a memo that seemed to have been recently attached.
“There happens to be a request from the Baltimore Trade Company for escort personnel traveling to the capital in two days. If you’re a Mage of the fourth tier or higher, they’ll likely accept you without question.”
It seems we caught a lucky break with a perfectly matching request.
The employee, who had been explaining the request with excitement, hesitated for a moment as if something was bothering them, then asked,
“However, the compensation promised by the trade company is only 20 silver coins. Is that acceptable?”
20 silver coins—definitely not much money.
Normally, hiring a Mage of the fourth tier or higher as an escort would require at least gold coins.
But since our goal from the beginning was to reach the capital, money wasn’t that important.
When I nodded and said it was fine, the employee happily asked for my name, saying they’d inform the trade company.
“My name is Partarth.”
As the employee wrote down the name, they paused, glanced at me, and muttered, “That’s a unique name.”
Well, it’s more of a name you’d give a dog than a person.
“I hear that a lot.”
I waved my hand casually as I said this, and the employee handed me the completed request form after tearing it out from the book.
“In two days, go to the eastern City Gate.”
“Thank you.”
Saying this, I gave a slight nod and returned to Dorothea and Barnett, who were waiting behind me. [[#]] The most comfortable way to travel long distances is usually to hitch a ride with a reputable caravan.
And for us, who have no connections, accepting a request like this was the best way to join such a caravan.
“Why can’t we just go on our own?”
In response to Dorothea’s reasonable question, I shrugged and answered,
“We’d get stopped at the checkpoint in the capital.”
First off, our identities are somewhat ambiguous.
While it might be fine in a remote place like Hamburg, once we reach Oz, the capital, we won’t be able to enter merely with fake identities.
Since we need to act covertly to assassinate the king, we couldn’t afford to draw attention to ourselves. Therefore, it was necessary to use some kind of loophole, and being affiliated with an organization was a very good method.
If we join the caravan, our identities will be verified twice: first by the Adventurer Guild, and second by the Baltimore Trade Company.
Moreover, most caravans bribe soldiers to minimize the hassle of inspections, so there’s less chance of being detained at the gate.
This way, the journey becomes easier, and we can bypass inspections smoothly—a win-win situation.
Upon hearing my explanation, Dorothea finally understood, nodding as she absentmindedly chewed on the bagel served for breakfast.
Unlike Dorothea, who was eating quietly, Barnett was curiously looking around the Adventurer Guild, delighted to be back in a human settlement after a long time.
Feeling that leaving her alone might lead to trouble, I told Dorothea I’d be right back and stood up.
“What are you doing?”
As I approached, Barnett, who had been examining the party recruitment board, turned around slightly.
“Well, there’s some pretty interesting stuff written here.”
“What kind of stuff?”
I looked at the poster Barnett had been reading until just now.
[Quick thief on standby. Guaranteed to vanish within 10 minutes when called. Holds the kingdom record for fastest bandage wrapping.]
“Ah.”
What else?
“It doesn’t feel like it, but it seems like there are a lot of posts left by thieves on the party recruitment board.”
Barnett pointed out several posters where thieves were trying hard to promote themselves.
I shrugged and explained Barnett’s doubt.
“There’s an overwhelming supply of thieves compared to the demand. So, unless they actively self-promote like this, they can’t even join a party, hence the struggle.”
Thieves are generally an ambiguous position among adventurer classes.
They’re useful for tasks like setting traps, disabling them, dungeon exploration, and lock-picking, but when it comes to actual combat, they don’t excel in anything specific.
They overlap with Rangers in reconnaissance roles, and they aren’t skilled enough fighters to stand alongside Warriors or Mages in the front lines.
Initially, during the early days of the Adventurer Guild, they had a similar pick rate to other classes, but in today’s DPS-Tank meta, they’re one of the nearly obsolete classes.
“That’s why there’s a saying that thieves should stick to wrapping bandages.”
“Aah….”
Barnett nodded in understanding.
I took her, who was still curiously looking around with wide eyes, back to our original table.
She whined about wanting to look around more, but quieted down immediately when I gave her a piece of bread.
This guy claims to eat only favorite foods, so I can’t let her skip meals.[[#]] Two days later, we headed to the eastern City Gate as the guild staff had explained.
Originally, when departing for an upward-bound convoy, it’s common practice to hire a large number of guards.
Arriving at the time specified on the request, we saw groups of adventurers who, like us, appeared to have accepted the escort request from the guild, gathered near the gate, chatting idly.
“Adventurers hired for escort duties, line up over here!”
Hearing the shout from what appeared to be a staff member, I went over.
“Hand over your request form and state the number of participants joining the convoy.”
“Three.”
“Class composition?”
“Two Mages and one Warrior.”
Upon hearing “Mage,” the staff member glanced at my face with surprise.
What are you looking at? Haven’t seen a handsome face before?
As I waited with a smug expression for whatever he was about to say, the man filled in the register with a dubious look and explained.
“You and your group will be responsible for the rear part of the convoy. I advise against slacking off. There are plenty of trade company employees watching all around.”
“Noted.”
Saying this, I gave a slight nod and turned around to find Dorothea and Barnett waiting behind me.
Hmm?
The two were in the middle of a heated argument with a stranger.
Curious about what was going on, I approached, and just then, Dorothea spotted me and called out cheerfully.
“Partarth!”
Though I instructed her to call me by my alias in public, it’s still a title I’m never used to hearing.
“What’s wrong? What’s happening?”
Then, Dorothea, clinging to my side, complained,
“This guy keeps pestering us to join his party.”
Wondering what she meant, I looked at the man.
The squint-eyed man scratched the back of his head awkwardly and smiled sheepishly.
“Hello.”
“Hello or not, what do you want with our group?”
The man then made a rather helpless expression and explained,
“Judging by the looks of it, you three seem to be a party. If there’s an open spot, could you let me tag along? The staff tried to chase me away because I came alone.”
I stared intently at him to read his intentions behind suddenly asking to join our party.
Historically, squinted eyes were considered the physiognomy of suspicious individuals.
Nine times out of ten, they were hiding strength or harbored sinister intentions.
Although I didn’t sense anything alarming right now, I couldn’t tell when his true colors might show, so I decided to reject his request.
“I’m sorry, but our party does not require additional members.”
“Really?”
He looked at me with apparent resentment, but I had already made up my mind and had no intention of repeating myself.
“Go find someone else.”
As I said this and waved my hand dismissively, the squint-eyed man slouched, shoulders drooping, and left to look for another party.
