Author: Kobayashi Homare | Original Source: Syosetu | Word Count: 2739 characters |
Translator: Nomad | English Source: Re:Library | Word Count: 1382 words |
Editor(s): Deximus_Maximus |
“You sure had a rough time on your first day already.”
“Not really…I’m just glad nothing serious happened.”
“You acted like a proper staff member. There are many adventurers like those who think they can get away with anything by brute force. Normally they get captured if they’re caught in the act, but some are more clever like those two who only act crudely when no one’s watching and then act calmly when in front of someone stronger. But I guess they ran out of luck when they underestimated your strength.”
He shrugged as he explained that. But it made sense, I did look pretty weak after all.
“On the other side, there’s you. I can already see you going places, there aren’t that many people out there with a sense of duty so strong they’d face against adventurers that outrank them.”
“Th-thanks…”
After Krieck complimented him, the young man blushed a bit. What he said was true, and I was also impressed by him. There had been a lot of other adventurers present, but he was the only one who stepped in, even though he clearly was not as strong as the other two. The others probably just wanted to avoid trouble for themselves or thought that there was nothing in it for them, he was the only one who took the right course of action in a situation like that.
“Anyway, you look like a complete newbie, what business brought you to the guild today?”
Hearing that, the young man gasped. Could it be…that he forgot what he came here for…?
“Err, I left my home in the countryside because I wanted to be an adventurer! I worked hard and saved up until I could buy my own gear, so all I had left to do was to register at the guild here and…then that commotion happened.”
“Ahh, I see. That’s just perfect now. Lapis, as part of your training, you can take care of registering him. I’ll watch over you.”
“Y-yessir!”
It was really sudden, but I did prefer this turn of events. Rather than having to learn that while an avalanche of adventurers piled up, it was better for me to do it in a calm environment with just the three of us.
Krieck beckoned us towards the counter. There he took out a sheet of paper, a needle, a blank bronze plate, and an extremely shiny orb.
“Master, what is this?”
“This paper is for his name, age, sex, race, and anything of importance related to that. The needle is to poke out a drop of blood, his name will get engraved on the bronze plate, and lastly, this orb is to communicate with the other guilds and share any news or gossip. Let’s get started then?”
Saying that, he uncapped the ink container while he held the pen in another hand. Then he handed both items to me.
“You should get the relevant information from him so he can register. Only four things though, name, age, sex and race. There’s no need to ask anything else.”
“Understood.”
It was my first time doing this, so my hands were trembling. After a deep breath to calm myself down, I reminded myself to smile so the young man could speak more freely.
“First, can you tell me your name?”
“Ah, yes! I’m Abel. Also, I’m seventeen, and I’m a human male!”
…He replied to everything before I could even ask. Though that was obvious given he had heard the conversation leading to that point. Krieck kept watching with a strained smile at my performance while I picked up the needle and handed it to Abel. He received it instinctively, but a bewildered expression took over his face soon after.
“Err…?”
“Poke your finger with it and put one drop of blood on the plate. And ah, if you don’t want to poke your finger you can also do it on your arm or feet, it doesn’t matter as long as you can get a drop of blood.”
“I’ll just…go with my finger then…”
Abel then pressed the needle against his finger without hesitation. I then hurried to take the plate and hold it under his finger, and when a drop of blood hit it, the plate gave off a faint glow. Through some mechanism, that prompted the plate to begin displaying Abel’s information I had just written down. Eventually, the glow died down and Abel’s bronze plate was finished, with all of his information on it.
“Lapis, place your hands on the orb now.”
I did as I was told, and as soon as my hands were on it, an enormous amount of information began flooding my brain. I was about to instinctively pull my hands away, but Krieck’s sharp voice stopped me.
“Stay like that! There’s no need to get flustered. That orb is to share information, you just tapped into the details of all the adventurers that were registered in the past. Hold the plate you just made and read what it says in your mind. If someone who was registered with a different name in the past tried to register again with a fake name, they would be found out in this step, if everything is okay, then this concludes the registration. Apparently one’s blood contains really unique properties, so no two persons have exactly the same blood. Though Lady Sorciere, who created this system, is the only one who knows all the details.”
Apparently this was something else Sorciere had created. But that aside, when I silently read the plate, I felt like my thoughts were transmitted into the orb and written down somewhere. That feeling was probably the way the orb stored information. It looked quite useful.
“Alright, with this your registration is complete, Abel. From this moment on, you’re an adventurer. Welcome to our guild!”
“Thank you very much!”
Receiving the plate from me, Abel beamed a smile. He looked happy from the bottom of his heart. Seeing him like that made me smile as well.
“There aren’t many rules for adventurers, so you should be fine as long as you don’t do anything that is against the law. If you commit any sort of crime or fraud, the guild will punish you though, first a warning, then a formal report, and if that is not enough, you’ll get stripped of your position, so be careful. In the worst case, it might be a more physical punishment though. The guild’s work is officially recognized throughout many countries, so with a proper request for punishment we would be allowed to murder someone. Or in better words, you could end up losing your life, so be really careful about what you do.”
“…Understood.”
Abel gulped audibly. He looked pretty nervous, but he would probably be fine from what I saw. I could not imagine him doing anything shady.
“And that’s pretty much how you register a new adventurer. It was easy, right?”
“Yes, if it’s just this then I can manage.”
I had thought the process would be more complex, but I was glad that it was this easy. As we spoke like that, I saw multiple people crossing the doors. Camille and our other coworkers had arrived at work.
“Oh, Lapis and Master are here? What are you two doing?”
“Nothing much, I just showed her how to register new adventurers.”
“Is that so? You look quite enthusiastic to work here, Lapis.”
Saying that, Camille laughed with a pleasant voice. That she had arrived meant that the guild would probably soon open to the public. As I thought that, Krieck gently patted my shoulder as if reading my mind.
“Now then, Lapis. It’s finally time to work for real. Watch and learn from Camille how you should man the reception desk. And if there’s anything you think you can already handle, just say it and do it. Is that okay?”
“Good by me.”
“I like that answer. Now everyone, let’s start another day at work.”
Krieck opened the doors and the adventurers lining up outside began entering one after another. I felt a bit overwhelmed and nervous seeing so many people, but after a deep breath I cheered myself on.