Awakening(??) (2)
“Instructor! I got you bread!”
Iriel left a thin, gold-inlaid necklace in his hand.
And in the center of it was a reddish, glowing jewel.
A magic stone of this size and mana capacity…
It was comparable to all the magic stones the First Prince had given him.
He had inadvertently received such a beautifully crafted magic stone, but Zeke couldn’t just accept it and be happy.
He was more surprised than grateful.
‘What is this supposed to mean?’
He knew that this body and Iriel had some sort of past relationship.
But even if they had a deep relationship, this was only the third time Zeke had met her.
The first time they met, he told her to get lost, and he didn’t remember treating her particularly well or showing her any kindness yesterday, either.
And today, the third time, a sudden gift.
Iriel must have known that his body was different from the past.
But this was unexpected.
‘She’s giving me this under these circumstances? Out of the blue?’
It was too much of a coincidence.
Zeke was in a situation where he needed about 20 more magic stones.
In this world, magic stones were so expensive that even Selena couldn’t bring herself to buy them for him.
Even the First Prince had a troubled look on his face when he asked for a magic stone.
‘She figured out that I needed magic stones beforehand.’
That meant she had been watching his every move.
The female student who entered when he was one student short.
Perhaps she had even figured out that he would be visiting this place.
According to what he had heard from Selena, it was unusual for her to be so friendly with commoners, even with something like bread.
Again, he was hesitant to reveal that he had no memory of her.
He had confirmed with the Eyes of Judgment that she herself had no malicious intent.
Someone around Iriel could have manipulated the situation like this.
The back of his head itched strangely.
‘I’ve been careful about any possible surveillance, so who could it be…? I might be able to get some answers if I dig into Iriel.’
With the determination to pump Iriel for information, Zeke carefully examined the necklace in his hand.
‘There’s no trace of magic on it. It’s just an ordinary magic stone. Anyway… I’ll use it since she gave it to me.’
Even if he just installed a filter, he would be able to use various skills more conveniently than before, and it would be easier to investigate her.
It might come back to bite him later, but Zeke decided to use the magic stone.
‘Now I only need to get about ten more. This just made things a lot easier.’
“Instructor!?”
“Ah, sorry. Is that the bread I asked for?”
“Yes! Here you go!”
Zeke accepted the freshly baked baguette.
The blackened surface seemed hard enough to be useful when hunting monsters.
And when he held it in his hand, he felt the same pulse as usual.
‘Amazing. This is…’
Soi Spoon puffed out her chest and said,
“I named this the Crispy Crust, Soft Inside Baguette! The air pockets don’t go all the way through, so as long as the crust doesn’t break, the inside will stay moist!”
“Can you even eat this?”
“Of course! But when you eat it, I recommend you let the crust melt in your mouth for a while. It came out a little harder than I expected. It’ll taste good, though, since it has mocha in it.”
“Thank you. I’ll put it to good use. By the way, how long has Iriel been gone?”
“Uh, um… You came in not long after she did.”
As expected.
Zeke nodded.
“And what happened to those guys from before? The loan sharks?”
“Oh, I haven’t seen them lately. We agreed to pay the interest like you said before.”
‘I’ll take care of them next week on my day off.’
* * *
Zeke slung the bread on his back and visited a large building on the outskirts of the capital.
It was a brokerage for those who made a living hunting monsters.
The Adventurers’ Guild.
Countless people in light armor were coming and going.
They were sitting at round tables, drinking beer, or talking loudly in a drunken stupor.
A boisterous, festive atmosphere continued.
“Hey, hey, I heard you caught some goblins yesterday.”
“It was nothing. I didn’t get anything, so don’t ask.”
“Come on, you still raided a whole village.”
“I swear, if I could just see a single magic stone shard, I’d be happy.”
Zeke looked around for a place to receive a request.
He saw a woman in a corner of the room, stacking papers and smiling brightly.
“Ah! Welcome! I haven’t seen you before.”
“Yes, I’d like to hunt some monsters.”
“Um. Do you have a name registered with the guild?”
“Would you mind checking?”
This body might have registered with the Adventurers’ Guild before.
“What is your name?”
“Zeke Clayman.”
“Hmm, there’s no registered name. Would you like to register as a new member?”
Zeke nodded.
The receptionist asked him all sorts of questions about his personal information.
She didn’t believe him at first when he told her he was a swordsmanship instructor at Ramielli Academy, and her jaw dropped when he showed her his academy seal.
“If you’re an academy instructor, you must be of noble birth… Are you sure you want to use the guild?”
“Yes.”
Usually, nobles who used swords would belong to their family’s order of knights and carry out high-paying requests that came in individually, without going through the guild.
It was much cleaner, paid better, and there was no need to go through the hassle.
But Zeke didn’t even know what family he belonged to.
The bastard who had put him up to this probably only wrote the word ‘noble’ in his personal information at the academy.
‘He received systematic training, so he’s much stronger than the average adventurer… Systematic my ass.’
Honestly, in Zeke’s eyes, the guys here and the knights were all the same.
“Yes. You’re all registered. So, what kind of request are you looking for?”
“How many can I take?”
“Uh, well… You’re newly registered, so you don’t have a rank yet. So you can only take about three low-level requests…”
The receptionist scratched her cheek awkwardly.
Zeke didn’t need a high-paying request right now.
Of course, stronger monsters had a higher chance of dropping magic stones, but he needed to collect ten magic stones worth as quickly as possible.
‘Only three. And since I don’t have a rank, I probably won’t be able to get any decent requests.’
Considering the time it took to travel and other incidentals, it was much more efficient to go for quantity over quality.
Zeke wondered if he could just get some information here.
It would be like encroaching on the territory of other adventurers.
He had a feeling they wouldn’t like that very much, so he borrowed a quill and paper from the receptionist and scribbled something down.
[What about buying information without taking on a request?]
“…Excuse me?”
The receptionist read what Zeke had written on the paper and asked back.
[You said I couldn’t get any decent requests because I don’t have a rank. So what happens if I pay for the location of monsters or buy request forms?]
“Uh… J-Just a moment!”
She said in a flustered voice and left for a moment.
Zeke held the paper in his hand and burned it with mana.
Not long after the receptionist left, the Guild Master came down from the second floor.
He had a friendly face and was constantly wiping sweat with a handkerchief.
‘This boy… is he really an instructor at Ramielli Academy?’
He narrowed his small eyes.
‘If he wanted to hunt monsters, he could have taken a knightly order… but he came all the way to the Adventurers’ Guild…’
The Guild Master suspected that the reason this nobleman had come to hunt monsters was perhaps due to his lack of skill.
He gave a warm smile.
“I hear you’re a nobleman.”
“That’s right.”
“Can you prove you’re a noble?”
Zeke frowned.
“Do I have to prove that?”
“Haha. Don’t get so worked up. We have some imposters from time to time, so it’s a standard verification process for everyone.”
He chuckled, but his eyes didn’t change.
‘He’s testing me?’
Zeke let it slide for now.
He pulled out the seal that identified him as an instructor at Ramielli Academy.
The Guild Master examined the seal carefully.
It was genuine.
But, perhaps it was the camaraderie of shady people.
‘It could be stolen… No, it wouldn’t make sense for him to show it to me if it was stolen. Then is he a noble’s son who was placed here through connections?’
In any case, the Guild Master decided to call Zeke aside to make a deal.
It was an opportunity to make a lot of money.
“I’ve confirmed it. Well… about your previous proposal. Would you come upstairs with me for a moment? Ah, please leave all your weapons here.”
The Guild Master glanced at the club on Zeke’s back.
“Weapons? You mean this?”
Zeke pulled the bread off his back. The smell of the slightly burnt exterior was savory.
The Guild Master wrinkled his nose.
“This is… bread.”
Zeke nodded.
“A bread… with a handle? Hmm, is it a snack? Well, you can bring it in.”
“Sure.”
There were so many strange people who visited the Adventurers’ Guild that he didn’t think much of it.
He led Zeke up the stairs and into a secluded room.
Zeke looked around the room.
It seemed the Guild Master used this room whenever he made these kinds of secret deals.
‘This guy’s up to something interesting.’
Zeke spotted a suspicious device on one of the walls, but he pretended not to notice and turned his gaze to the Guild Master.
“I apologize for bringing you to such a humble place, but this is a rather sensitive matter. You don’t have to worry, no sound can escape this room.”
“Good.”
The Guild Master continued.
In short, it was possible to purchase information privately without going through the brokerage.
However, this kind of thing was a backroom deal.
If word got out, it could draw the ire of other adventurers who had been diligently carrying out minor requests to raise their ranks.
“And you won’t be able to receive a reward. The guild will keep the reward for the completed request.”
“I see.”
“And you must inform us of both completed and unresolved requests. That way, we can avoid double-booking requests.”
They would complete the request as usual.
The guild would take the reward paid by the client.
And they would receive money as an information fee, so there was no reason for the Guild Master to refuse.
Even if Zeke failed, they could just put the request back up.
“What’s the price?”
“One gold coin per request.”
‘Ha, he’s really trying to rip me off. I understand lowballing in a backroom deal, but… Does he really trust other adventurers that much?’
Zeke laughed in disbelief.
‘Or does he think I’m weak?’
Zeke stared at the Guild Master with cold eyes.
The Guild Master’s body trembled like an aspen leaf at the sudden pressure of his gaze.
“Don’t be too greedy.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re taking the request reward separately, and on top of that, you want an information fee that’s more expensive than the reward. And since I’m an academy instructor, I can’t very well go around revealing this backroom deal…”
They looked down on him for his youthful appearance.
“Do you really think you have me by the balls?”
“!”
Zeke stared down the Guild Master.
“The information fee. Fine. I’ll pay it. But if I complete the request with the information I buy here, can you guarantee me a rank increase?”
He didn’t know if he would have to hunt monsters in the future for magic stones, training, or other reasons.
He didn’t want to have to go through this hassle every time.
“W-We need results to raise your rank! This is a private transaction, so it can’t be counted as a result!”
The Guild Master trembled, but he wouldn’t give up his profit.
Zeke quickly reached out and grabbed the man’s thick neck.
*Squeeze!*
“Gah!”
He lifted him straight up.
“Gurk! Guh!”
The Guild Master grabbed Zeke’s arm and tried to pull it away, his face turning crimson, but he couldn’t budge it, as if it were made of iron.
‘W-What is this! Is he insane?!’
Zeke eased his grip slightly and asked,
“Is it hard?”
“Gasp… T-That’s…! Cough!”
“If it’s hard, say it’s hard. I’ll make it easy for you.”
As Zeke’s grip tightened again, the Guild Master felt death approaching.
He nodded his head rapidly.
“A-rank! If you complete all the tasks, I guarantee you an A-rank!!”
*Thud.*
Zeke let go of his neck.
*Thump.*
“Gasp… Gasp…”
The Guild Master rubbed his neck and sucked in a ragged breath.
Zeke ignored him and headed for a corner of the wall that he had been eyeing since he first entered.
He pulled the baguette off his back, poured a bit of mana into it, and swung it at the wall.
*Crash!*
The wall crumbled where Zeke had struck it.
Inside were a pure white orb and a stack of papers.
Zeke pocketed the orb and the papers.
‘Hmm, is this a crystal ball? A recording?’
“I like to have safety measures in place. I’ll be taking this secret ledger.”
“T-That’s!”
The Guild Master’s eyes trembled as he lay sprawled on the floor.
“If you don’t try anything funny, we can be partners in the future. Now, show me the request forms.”
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