novelraw Chapter 20
Chapter 20
Chapter 20: The Adventurers' Guild!
The Adventurers' Guild in Bedrock Town was located right next door to the Job Center—the two facilities were more or less run as a single operation, with the Adventurers' Guild only sending someone over to the Job Center when visitors arrived. Lilu walked into the Guild Hall clutching her Tin Staff, uneasy and on edge—and immediately drew a wave of prying stares. Her eyes went a little red, and she instinctively ducked behind Fred. Fred and Aernis immediately closed ranks around her like a pair of mother hens.
"Well now—it's Lady Holy Maiden," Doniel came walking over. "Thank you for what you did last time—and Fred too, of course—though if it weren't for your Holy Power, how would this rascal have come out of the Boss Room without a scratch?"
He gave Fred a thump on the chest as he said it, and Fred gave him one back. As one of only three B-rank party leaders in Bedrock Town, Doniel's strength was not to be taken lightly, and his party was a remarkably tight-knit unit. With Doniel vouching for them, Lilu immediately felt many of the hostile stares from the surrounding crowd begin to fade.
"Let me guess," Doniel stroked his chin. "Fred, you scoundrel—you're trying to pull the Holy Maiden into your party, aren't you? Whatever happened to fair competition? You've gone and made your move first! Lady Holy Maiden, look at me—our Grey Bear Party is very strong too."
Fred smiled without a word at the man's exaggerated performance. The crowd around them, however, erupted.
"Hold on—the Holy Maiden and the Hero in the same party—what kind of golden combination is this!"
"No way, no way—is this setting up to take on the Demon King?!"
"Lady Holy Maiden, could you heal my leg injury?"
For the adventurer uncle who called out for help, Lilu walked over and healed the slightly infected wound he'd been too reluctant to spend a Healing Potion on. He immediately threw away his walking stick and gave the room a spinning kick on the spot—followed by a loud crack—and the uncle who had just thrown out his back was once again on the receiving end of Lilu's Healing Arts.
"Alright, stop all this chittering and chattering!" The cat-eared receptionist rapped on the counter. "You especially, Thomson! What kind of spinning kick were you trying to show off—you threw your back out and then made Lady Holy Maiden heal you again. Don't forget—every time a Church Healer uses Healing Arts it costs money: ten gold coins per use. You've just racked up a twenty gold coin debt in one go. Are you going to be able to pay that off in this lifetime?"
Lilu gave a startled jolt. This…… you had to pay for Healing magic? Before she could even process it, the adventurer uncle had already made a quick getaway and vanished.
"Miwa," Fred walked up to the counter, "I'd like to add Lilu to my party."
"No problem," Miwa's cat ears twitched. "Class Cards—hand them over!"
Fred produced his Class Card, while Lilu raised both hands above her head and offered hers up. She was only barely taller than the counter, and from Miwa's perspective, the sight of her holding out the card with both hands stretched overhead was absolutely adorable!
Ahhhh—how can there be a Lady Holy Maiden this adorable in the world!
Miwa, whose nose was already dripping with a trickle trickle of blood, had been completely captured by the Beloved by All aura. She swiftly processed Lilu's party registration—from Lilu's perspective, she had only swiped both Class Cards across a metal plate beneath a Crystal Ball. The motion felt inexplicably familiar for some reason—back on Earth there had been something similar that worked the same way with a swipe.
"Registration complete," Miwa said, pressing a hand to her nose. "Does the Hero's Party need to accept any commissions today?"
"What commissions are available?"
"The notice board is on the left—please take your time looking through it."
"Understood."
Fred headed toward the notice board, while Lilu stuck close to Aernis's side, blinking her large, clear eyes as she carefully took in everything around her. The adventurers nearby greeted her one after another, and Lilu responded with polite nods.
Through her observations, she noticed a tremendous gap between adventurer parties of different ranks. Take Doniel's Grey Bear Party—the members were relatively well-equipped, their armor, packs, and weapons all items of Superior quality, and everyone's morale was high. C-rank parties, on the other hand, were noticeably worse off—their party leader could just barely put together a full set of armor, while most members wore leather armor or travel clothes. D-rank parties wore plain cloth without exception, and some didn't even have proper weapons, making do with sharpened wooden staves. As for E-rank adventurers, they were essentially indistinguishable from beggars—many couldn't even form or join a party at all.
The adventurer uncle who had sneaked in a request for Lilu to heal his leg injury just now had been a D-rank adventurer.
A short while later, Fred picked up three commissions. Under the somewhat envious gazes of the crowd, he went to the front desk to register. Miwa swiped his Class Card once beneath the Crystal Ball, and the three commissions were logged onto the card.
"Let's go—we're heading into the dungeon."
"Right!"
Lilu fell into step right behind Fred, but her short little legs genuinely struggled to keep pace with the long strides of the two ahead of her. Fortunately, in the time since she'd leveled up to Level 21, her base attributes had improved substantially—and the physical training Molay had supervised during that period had finally given her better stamina than she'd ever had back on Earth. Still, Fred hadn't made her carry any luggage—both packs were shouldered between himself and Aernis, with Lilu carrying nothing but her Tin Staff. Before they'd gone very far, Lilu felt something was off.
"Fred, um…… I should be carrying a pack too."
"It's fine, Lilu." Fred ruffled her head. "When we get to the dungeon entrance, we'll hire a Porter."
"A Porter?" Lilu wasn't sure what that meant.
"People who specialize in carrying luggage," Aernis explained. "Every dungeon entrance has plenty of them. Most are ordinary Class holders—the Farmer type mostly, Classes with physical strength but no combat ability. Back home though, everyone in our Tribe except the warriors would take on Porter work, and if the price was right, even the warriors would do it."
Lilu understood at once—it was the all-purpose pack carrier!
However, Porters did not join the party, and therefore earned no experience from monster kills—so they were mostly just physical laborers, not counted toward the party's combat strength.
Dripping Cavern, the C-rank dungeon, was located at the center of Bedrock Town—a natural cavern that looked quite impressive in scale. The Adventurers' Guild had fitted it with a large gate for easier management, which remained closed except for its side entrances. In the plaza before the entrance, a Goddess Statue stood tall and imposing. Lilu looked at the Goddess, who had been depicted in flowing robes and Vestments—her expression carrying a sorrowful compassion for all creation, her ten fingers laced together at her chest, as though in prayer for all the world. Lilu then recalled the image of that indecent Goddess—bare feet, with fabric coverage across her whole body amounting to perhaps five percent—and arrived at an inescapable conclusion: the person who had sculpted this statue had absolutely never laid eyes on the real Goddess. Otherwise, they never would have put this much clothing on her.
"My lord, do you need a Porter?"
"I'm very strong—only ten silver coins!"
"Pick me, my lord—I've been to the twentieth floor. I can take care of myself if things get dangerous."
No sooner had they stepped into the plaza than a large crowd closed in around them. Most were local farmers, their physical condition noticeably below that of combat-Class adventurers. A handful of older adventurers were mixed in among them—clearly people who had become too injured or disabled to continue adventuring and had stepped down to Porter work as the next best option.
Watching Fred get surrounded by the crowd, Lilu visibly shrank back. Aernis patted her on the head, and the unease melted away at once. Whether it was Fred or Aernis, both gave her an overwhelming sense of security—and without quite realizing it, she had come to depend on them. She even harbored the rather shameful wish to simply go on hiding under the shelter of their wings forever.
Ahhhh—I really am a selfish, terrible woman……