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Since it’s already the 3rd time that we’ve went to the Hunter’s Guild, I already considered myself used to it. However, I didn’t fully grasp the challenges of being a hunter until now. We arrived at the guild early in the morning, but there was already a fierce competition going on inside. The battle for who gets the most profitable requests first that is.

To the left after entering the guild, there is a wall with a bulletin board for posting requests, but it is currently packed with people. On the right side of the entrance, there are even more people than in front of the bulletin board, indicating that only one person from each party is out choosing requests.

To accept a request, the party needs to take the request form from the board and bring it to the receptionist. It seems like they’re doing that to prevent the issue of having multiple parties booking for the same request.

With my height, even if I jumped into this packed crowd, I probably won’t be able to see the bulletin board anyway; and since I don’t have any other party members to wait for, I decided to observe the guild on a spot beside the entrance.

There are different kinds of people working here as hunters but the hunters currently crowding in front of the bulletin board are mostly young people. Still, although I call them young, it’s from an objective point of view. There doesn’t seem to be any people that look younger than Ciel.

There are a few people with a veteran-ish feel to them and they’re just casually looking at the crowd as well. Among the crowd, there are also some people that are likely in their teens.

『Is this perhaps because the lower ranked people want to find the most profitable requests they can?』
『I think so. In fact, we should be in that crowd as well but…』
『Ain, do you really think that we can find a request if we enter that?』
『Most probably not. Although if we use sorcery, we should be able to make a path in an instant.』
『Well that’s, quite extreme, isn’t it?』

Even though she brushed it off with a giggle, Ciel probably thought of the same thing as well. Obviously, I don’t really plan to do that but, honestly, I’d never even consider entering that.

With that said, there are some pretty young people as well. I see one over at the bulletin board too, he seems to be over 20 years old appearance-wise but he’s probably around the age of a high schooler.

On the other side, where the people are watching over the crowd, there is a group of three close to his age as well, so they’re probably in the same party as him. Including the one searching for a request, there are 2 boys and 2 girls. A group of friends forming a party together is something that’s commonly seen in literary works, they might be that kind of party as well.

And while I was observing some other random stuff, I continued talking with Ciel.

『As for me, it would depend on the requests left but I’m fine even if we take the leftover.』
『Why is that?』
『We won’t have any financial problems for a while, so doing some of the requests that the guild is struggling to fulfill might earn us some gratitude from them. What do you think, Ciel』
『Let’s see… if Ain says so, then… No, wait, give me a moment.』

When I asked her for her opinion, Ciel almost immediately agreed with me but she then suddenly paused our conversation to think about something. It’s not as if there’s a right answer for what we should do, but it’s probably best for Ciel to start thinking about what she wants to do for herself as early as now.

Although I’m in control in this town, I would generally only be in the position to assist Ciel. I’m not going to be the one in full control after all.

While waiting for Ciel to figure out her answer, I continue observing.

Come to think of it, I don’t see Alejo anywhere. I wonder why? Well, he should have been a D-rank hunter, so maybe he just doesn’t need to work diligently everyday. Still, it could also be because he can’t bear being seen in public after getting beaten up by Ciel.

Also, the boy’s party that I saw earlier seems to be arguing about something. I can’t clearly hear it from here, but it looks like the boy brought them a high difficulty request.

Since they’re a party of four, the earnings per person would probably be about one-quarter of the original reward; so considering the profit, doing a difficult request should be good. However, since they seem to be from this town, I don’t think that they need to be too concerned about earning money. If they’re not living in an inn, even 2 copper coins would be enough to buy food for the day. And with a single silver coin, even living alone shouldn’t be a problem.

Though if I take their equipment in account, they might need as much money as they can get.

Speaking of money, we exchanged the D-class spider’s magic stone for 8 silver coins. It seems like this is already more than a commoner’s daily earnings and since the only tools I use is a knife, this means that we have a lot of savings now. And as I was thinking about random nonsense, it looks like Ciel is done pondering, so she began talking to me.

『For me Ain, I want you to do the requests you want to do.』
『Does that mean, you agree with me?』
『No Ain. I want you to choose the requests you think are interesting without worrying about getting gratitude or whatnot. After all Ain, you were so excited earlier, weren’t you? We’ll be doing a lot of requests from now on, so I want you to at least choose what you want for our first request.』

Hearing her remember what happened this morning made my cheeks feel a bit hot. I don’t know if I should be embarrassed or just… It’s hard to tell who’s the mature one in this situation.

『Understood. Thank you very much.』
『It’s fine. Honestly, it’s also true that I don’t really have an idea of what we should do after all.』

It didn’t really matter what Ciel would say, as long as she gave her own opinion. That was what I originally thought but Ciel had put more thought on it than what I expected, so I really have no words. In fact, I want to praise her, that’s my girl. 『Don’t worry about it, good work Ciel.』 So I tried praising her but she didn’t quite understand the reason why. Somehow, I feel like I’m being more doting lately.

Before we noticed it, most of the hunters have left the guild, so we headed to the reception desk to greet Celia… we did, but there are now two reception counters.

That in itself probably isn’t weird at all. The guild probably has two counters open when there are a lot of people. The reason why I only saw one when I came here should be because there were just a few people at that time. However, the problem here is that one of those counters has a stool in front of it.

Even for the party of young people I saw earlier, the counter isn’t actually too tall. It might even seem a bit too short for the boys. In that case, who is this for? Well, there’s no point in asking the obvious, really. Since they went out of their way to prepare it, I thankfully obliged and used the stool, a small wooden box that was definitely originally used for something else.

Most likely expecting our arrival, Celia was waiting on the other side of that counter.

「We have been waiting for you.」
「Is it really okay to step on this box?」
「Of course, we prepared it just for you after all.」
「That’s, how I should interpret that?」

When I said so in a slightly pouty tone, Celia giggled and said 「My apologies.」

I didn’t actually mind it that much, so I pulled myself together and started with what had happened yesterday.

「Thank you very much about yesterday.」
「Please don’t worry about it, I might have been a bit too intrusive after all.」
「So then, what should I do for today? Would it be okay if I just accept a normal request?」
「Let’s see. Cielmer, in the future, you will be required to complete several high difficulty requests. However, it’s not something you will be asked to do immediately. This will be decided based on your progress. In your case, since you’re already capable enough in combat, Carol will judge whether or not you are capable of completing different types of requests. So for today, please feel free to choose a request that you would like to accept. However, you are only allowed to accept requests of E-rank and below. Please consider this a review of the standard procedures in utilizing the guild’s services.」
「I understand. Then can I look for a request now?」
「Certainly, please bring with you anything that piques your interest. If not, we will have you complete a standing request.」

So with that, I headed to the front of the bulletin board. Since I already have Ciel’s permission, I look for requests that I’m interested in doing.

Still, since most of the requests are now gone, the only ones left are F-rank herb gathering and hunting requests, and also the standing requests for E-rank hunters and above, it seems.

For D-rank and above, there are some escort requests and such, but I don’t see any requests that are B-rank and above. Since C-rank also has gathering requests, there are probably only a few strong monsters near the town. Among these, the ones that I should be able to do is, herb gathering, I guess. After all, I can only rely on Ciel when fighting monsters and hunting is practically impossible for me to do.

Besides, there is something I’m slightly curious about, so it’s time to go gather up some herbs.

I rip the form from the bulletin boards and once again examine the form’s contents.

What’s written on the form are the type of herbs needed and the required amount. For the amount, a single pouch of the designated size is enough. This request is worth 3 copper coins. The more herbs gathered, the more reward we would get but since there’s a maximum amount specified, it seems that they won’t accept anything more than that.

For the information regarding the herbs, there are the general characteristics of the herb, where it can be found, and what seems to be a drawing of the herb written on the form. If possible, I’d like to see a live sample of it, so I wonder if I can ask Celia to show me one.

For now, I bring the form back with me and step onto the stool. The guild is nearly empty now but there are still some adventurers and guild staff left, and among them, I heard someone hold back a chuckle. Well, I can’t really blame them since I’m the only one that would need to use a stool. It would be nice if they just thought that I was here for a G-rank request.

「What did you choose?」
「I was thinking about doing a herb gathering request but can I ask about a few things?」
「If it’s something that I can answer, go ahead.」
「What happens to the herbs after the request?」
「They would be processed into salves by herbalists. It can’t be created from this specific herb but a different herb can be similarly processed into potions by alchemists.」
「Then what’s the difference between them?」

I can imagine that they’d look completely different, but I can’t quite imagine what makes their effects distinctly different. Interestingly, there are only a handful of games that feature both salves and potions. As someone who has lived in Japan, I find salves and healing ointments more familiar, while potions have a certain special feel to them.

The difference between the two of them might be common knowledge here but since Celia understands my circumstances, it’s likely that’s why she intentionally told me about both of them.

「Both of them mainly heal wounds. Potions are much more effective and immediate compared to salves but are very expensive. Salves, meanwhile, are cheap but in exchange, they don’t heal as much as potions do and the only thing it can do immediately is stop a person’s bleeding. It would also depend on the severity of the wound but salves would likely need a whole night’s rest to heal the wounds. I believe that it’s a general consensus that high-ranking hunters use potions while lower-ranking hunters would use salves.」

Since magic can immediately heal wounds deep enough to reach the organs, I already imagined that potions might have a similar effect, but salves seem pretty amazing too. After all, on earth, even scratches treated with just wound ointments don’t heal in a single night, do they?

This is, in a sense, within my expectations, so I am glad about it. Either way, both of these are undoubtedly essential for hunters.

「The salves seems to be really important, but why is this request still here?」
「I think you’ll understand after completing it but the reward is rather little considering how time consuming it is. Moreover, since the salves that can be made from this herb are only that of the lowest quality, it can be said that it’s not very profitable for herbalists too. After all, making more effective salves are much more profitable for them as well.」

I see. Come to think of it, 3 copper coins are equivalent to completing three G-rank requests. Moreover, a G-rank hunter can usually complete two requests in a day, maybe even three if they try hard enough, so they probably won’t even risk going outside just to earn 3 copper coins.

And as for the herbalists, they’d probably use this herb if they have some but it wouldn’t really matter to them even if there isn’t any in stock. I don’t have any clear proof of this but this herb is probably for their apprentices to practice making salves with or something.

「I see. For now, I would like to accept this request.」
「Thank you very much. Still, are you really sure about this? As for the guild, we would be glad to process this but I don’t really think that this would be rewarding enough for you, Cielmer.」
「In that case, would you mind talking with me for a bit more?」
「That will depend on what we’re talking about. As long as it’s something concerned with working as a hunter or something related to the request, it should be alright.」
「First, would you mind showing me a sample of this herb? I’d like to bring it along if possible, but…」
「If that’s the case, alright.」

After saying so, Celia calls a working staff member and asks her to get a sample. The said staff saw me and showed a surprised look but then left us after flashing me an amused smile.

「For these kinds of herbs, can they be used to heal wounds even if they’re not processed by a herbalist? If I accidentally get injured, it might come in handy for first aid.」
「It’s said that simply washing it thoroughly and pressing it against a wound can stop the bleeding to a certain extent. However, severe injuries would be too much to heal for this particular herb.」
「When hunters get severely injured, what would they usually do?」
「Hunters usually have two options to treat their wounds: either use the medicine they have on hand, or seek the help of a sorcerer who can use healing sorcery. However, sorcerers are rare in this line of business, and even rarer are those who can use healing sorcery. As a result, hunters often resort to going to the church to have their wounds healed. Not only is it cheaper than buying a potion, but the church also offers treatment for diseases.」

Here I replied 「I see」 and nodded in agreement. I only knew that the church exists from what little knowledge I have, so I’m glad to hear that it actually exists.

To have a position in the church, you would need to have a Job derived from one of these three Jobs: the Priest, Saintess, and Divine Messenger. These Jobs excel in using healing sorcery, making them capable of healing other people. Among them, the Saintess is considered to have the most potent healing capability and the Divine Messenger is said to be able to hear the voice of the gods. Or so I learned from the books.

I now know the things that I’ve wanted to know about, so I should probably end the herb talk here.

「Understood. Thank you very much.」
「This much is no problem.」
「Also, can I ask about something related to the standing requests?」
「What is it about?」
「I’d like to ask about the parts I need to get when defeating the monsters around here.」
「Well, I can imagine you subjugating the monsters you encounter on the way after all, Cielmer. It’s somewhat of a long topic, so I’ll also forward you the compiled documents in a later day.」

And after starting with that, Celia began talking about the monsters that can be seen around these parts.

Hiya~! We’re back in the guild once again but we managed to find a request before the end of the chapter, yay~!

In this chapter, more world building and a tasteful amount of AinCiel, delish. A blushing Ain is always a welcome scene and very much welcome if it’s because of Ciel.

Also, stool. Yer a shortie, Cielmer-san. (by Celia, I guess. lol

There was just a lot of world building and human observing today (random nonsense, according to Ain), but it’s nice to know the layout of the Guild and the workplace rush hour traffic, lol. Just to be sure, I also want to show the guild layout.

o—-ProbablyLoungeArea——–
!
!
!(Ain?)
Entrance
!(Ain?)
!
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o——RequestBoardArea———

Yeah, maybe a bit too rough. Also, the counter should be directly in front of the entrance. So Ain was probably just standing in one of those spots… Menacingly. Like a horror movie child. Or a cute normal one.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay clean, stay safe, and have a nice day~!