Episode 5
The Adventurer’s Guild building was smaller than even the village hall, which was disappointing, but when I stepped inside,
the bustle and vitality I felt surpassed my expectations.
People sat around tables, laughing as they traded tales of their adventures, while adventurers gathered in front of the bulletin board, carefully considering the postings and discussing them with their companions.
Despite the noise, the interior was packed so tightly there was barely room to set foot anywhere, with receptionists responding with kind smiles and people lined up waiting in front of them.
Oh... This is impressive.
It was a liveliness I could never have expected from the outside.
When I stood stupidly at the entrance, a few middle-aged men looked my way and burst out laughing.
"How long do you think that guy will last?"
"He won’t even need a day. He looks like prime fodder for an orc."
"Hahaha. Don’t tease him. A man ought to dream big."
It was an amusing sight, hearing them openly badmouth someone like that.
Strangely, I didn’t feel offended. Something good had happened to me as soon as I arrived in Marne.
For the moment, I was in a generous enough mood to laugh off most things.
To hear an explanation, I headed toward the receptionist with the shortest line.
The line there hardly seemed to be getting shorter. When I wondered why, I saw that the new receptionist was inexperienced at her job and was kept busy apologizing to every customer.
"H-how may I help you?"
By the time it was my turn, the new receptionist was even breathing heavily.
It had been worth waiting. She was a beauty with a pure-looking face, large breasts visible even through her uniform, and a neat bob cut reaching her shoulders that suited her perfectly.
"I’d like to register as an adventurer."
"N-new... New adventurers, please write your name and occupation here."
...Did she bite her tongue?
I took the paper and began writing as instructed. Thanks to the Goddess’s Emissary ability, even letters I had never seen before felt as familiar and easy to use as the language of the country where I had been born and raised.
Since the Goddess’s Emissaries seemed to be sent to various worlds, an ability like this must be essential.
"By the way, what does ‘occupation’ mean here?"
"It refers to class names such as mage, swordsman, or thief. May I take a look at what skills you possess?"
"Sure. Go ahead."
It wasn’t as though I had anything besides Fire Arrow anyway.
"Wow! You wield fire magic. I think you can just write ‘mage.’"
It was nothing special, but her reaction was so warm. I didn’t dislike it. I should make use of this place from now on.
More importantly, the receptionist had large breasts.
"Is there some kind of certificate? Something that serves as proof of identity."
"Ah, you mean an adventurer li... license! Adventurer licenses are issued after you clear your first mission.
It takes about two days for the license to be issued."
"Hmm."
No wonder registration was so easy.
It meant they would only acknowledge you after you had built up a record.
"Are there any benefits to staying an adventurer for a long time?"
"Depending on the difficulty and number of missions you complete, your con... contribution to the guild increases, and your rank rises."
...Every time she stammered, this young lady’s face grew redder and redder.
Was she going to overheat and explode?
"Explain the ranks to me."
"Yes. You start at Bronze, and after building up a certain amount of achievements, you rise to Silver, Gold, and Diamond.
Most of the adventurers in the guild remain at Bronze or Silver. Once you reach Gold rank, you receive housing support and a monthly pension."
Oh... It might not be a bad idea to aim for a high rank as an adventurer.
Traveling around was nice, but having a home would make life more comfortable.
"What benefits do you get at Diamond rank? Aren’t you going to explain that?"
The area around me suddenly fell silent.
What was this intense attention? After a moment, the atmosphere returned to normal.
"D-Diamond rank is... a rank specially bestowed by His Majesty the King upon those who have resolved an immense calamity."
The receptionist spoke cautiously.
I see. So it wasn’t a rank an ordinary adventurer could aim for.
I probably didn’t need to hear about the benefits. Unless I was the calamity, I had no interest in fighting one.
What if I ended up running into another Goddess’s Emissary who supposedly existed in this world?
Never mind that one—I’d end up earning the disfavor of yet another god.
The key was to fool around casually on a moderate stage. Establishing some grand achievement that might affect the entire world sounded troublesome even just to imagine.
Next, I listened to an explanation of how to accept missions.
"There are various missions posted on the bulletin board. Mission ranks range from D to S according to difficulty.
Once you tell us which mission you want, we process your request and set a deadline. You simply have to achieve the objective within that time."
It wasn’t particularly complicated.
If they told me to gather herbs, I gathered herbs. If they told me to bring back something they wanted hunted, I hunted it and brought it back.
Since this was a world with monsters, hunting things would naturally be the mainstay. People’s lives probably revolved around that sort of thing as well.
I seemed to have heard enough of the explanation.
"Thank you for explaining it so kindly."
"I’m sorry. I’m still inexperienced..."
"You spoke clearly at the end without stammering, didn’t you? You’ll be fine once you get used to it."
"Th-thank you!"
The large-breasted receptionist repeatedly bowed her head, expressing her gratitude with her entire body.
I had been thinking of accepting a mission right away, but when I came to my senses, the sun was setting beyond the window.
I decided I should call it a day and find somewhere to sleep. As someone from the modern world, sleeping rough was far too harsh for me.
I had no money, but I had anticipated this and pulled out a whole lot of goblin teeth!
Sell the materials and make money. Wasn’t that the most basic thing of all?
I entered one of the many general stores lining the streets and spilled out a heap of goblin teeth.
"These are goblin teeth. How much can you give me for them?"
"Aaaah! He’s a lunatic! Guards! Guards!"
I was thrown out. ...This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
I guess collecting parts of monster corpses was considered insane.
Avoiding the gazes of the people drawn by the commotion, I hurried away.
It couldn’t be helped. This was an experience too.
I’d have to use hypnosis.
I searched for an inn that was as shabby and empty as possible. The reason was that there was a limit to how many people I could hypnotize at once.
My signature gestures and hypnosis switches—finger snapping and clapping—worked by triggering the act of “focusing the target’s consciousness.”
The conditions were a hand gesture and a sound. Since gestures that were too similar could cause confusion, I had standardized the finger snap for applying hypnosis and clapping for awakening someone from the trance, and trained myself accordingly.
In other words, a crowded space where many people were chatting without paying any attention to me was the worst possible place for me.
I could hypnotize the person standing before me, but everyone else would see everything I did.
Unless the situation absolutely required it, I had to avoid places like that.
After walking around for a while, I found what seemed like the ideal inn in a secluded alley.
How perfectly fitting was the phrase “so empty that even the flies had abandoned it”?
The wooden floor and tables hadn’t been properly cleaned, and there was a strange smell in the air. It was the sort of place where I wouldn’t feel the slightest guilt about eating and drinking for free through hypnosis.
On the contrary, wouldn’t eating anything served here give me an upset stomach?
"What are you doing? There’s a customer here. Hurry up and take his order!"
"W-welcome!"
After I heard someone shouting inside, a woman with watery-blue hair approached me with an intimidated expression.
"Is something wrong?"
"N-no, nothing. He’s just had a little too much to drink."
Hmm... This was certainly an unpleasant story I hadn’t asked to hear.
Still, it had been a good decision to come to this inn. The wife was quite beautiful. My eyes were drawn to her well-developed hips and breasts, clearly visible even beneath her loose clothing.
Her clothes were old and shabby, but her skin was lustrous, and her hair and fingernails were meticulously groomed. The inn’s lack of cleanliness seemed to be entirely due to her husband’s misconduct.
"Um... sir?"
The woman seemed frightened as I stared intently at her body without saying anything.
"Give me whatever is the most delicious thing here. Two servings."
My stomach, which had received nothing but water all day, rumbled, demanding solid food.
"Yes!"
I took the Starlight Shell out of my inventory and examined it.
What on earth was this used for? An accessory? Surely not. I couldn’t imagine Leira wearing such a cute accessory in her hair.
"Here is the food you ordered."
Let’s see.
The menu seemed to be a soup made with white-fleshed fish. I took a spoonful and smelled it, but there was no fishy odor—only a pleasant aroma.
I hadn’t expected much, but it was quite delicious.
"I’d like to stay the night. Do you have a room?"
After finishing my meal, I went to the reception desk, where a man whose face bore the full marks of life’s hardships came out and spoke to me.
"Use the third room on the second floor. Thirty-five silver, including the food you just ate."
Snap.
I snapped my fingers.
"Innkeeper. I have already paid you. You have an obligation to provide a night with your wife to a guest staying here."
"An... obligation to provide..."
"Your wife always does her best to provide sexual services so that the guest can be satisfied. That is your joy."
"...Yes."
Clap!
I clapped my hands to release him from the trance, then accepted the key.
"Guest, if you wish, I will send my wife upstairs."
"What do you mean, ‘send her upstairs’?"
I pretended not to understand and feigned innocence.
"My wife’s premium pussy is part of the lodging service at our Water and Grass Inn."
The blue-haired married woman flinched and fidgeted shyly.
"Premium, you say? I can’t pass up that pussy. Send her up right away."
"Yes, understood, sir."
I went up to the second floor. The floor creaked in places, so I hadn’t expected much, but the room was fairly clean.
There was no soft bed or anything like that, but in the old room barely illuminated by a single candle, I could feel the atmosphere of another world.
I had always lived while looking only at my neatly arranged room, so this was refreshing in its own way.
But I couldn’t sleep in a place like this forever. I would have to think about where I would sleep starting tomorrow as well.
As I sat on the bed and waited, I soon heard a knock.
"Um, Adventurer... May I come in?"
"Come in."
Her hair was damp, as though she had just washed it.
It seemed she had come fully prepared to receive a man, draped in a thin cloth that revealed everything beneath it as she approached with secretive steps.
"My name is Anais, and I’ll be providing you with a ser... sexual service tonight."
Anais said this while politely bowing her head.