“I just have to remember what Kasim and my other adventurer comrades taught me,” Vandal said. “Adventurers need courage and belief in themselves.” When Vandal first encountered then, Kasim had been leading his party against goblins with almost no chance of victory. The young man had even been trying to hold back the goblins so that Zeno and Fester could escape and warn the village.
This was the same thing. He needed the bravery to overcome the fear of getting picked on and the belief in himself that he could keep his murderous rage under control.
“It’s also been useful to learn about everything else I’ll need in order to be an adventurer. I’ll definitely need a house, for example.”
Normally, an adventurer wouldn’t need a house. Newbies would take cheap lodgings, and veterans might have a particular inn that they used as a base. But Vandal had Borkz, Zadilis, Sam, Eleonora, and all the others to think about. They wouldn’t be treated as humans but rather as subordinate monsters that Vandal had tamed.
For that reason, he wouldn’t be able to make use of an inn. Just like restaurants and lodgings on Earth didn’t allow pets, inns did not allow monsters that were far more terrifying than the most feral beasts. Lefdia or small pixies was one thing; those from humanoid races like Eleonora and Zadilis might be admissible depending on the place. But strolling in with Knochen and Skeleton would never work. Of course, there were Tamers among adventurers, but when they used an inn, they would stable their monsters. Goblins, kobolts, even ghouls—their place was in the stables. And all of Vandal’s subordinate monsters would receive the same treatment.
I can’t let them suffer such a slap in the face. When Vandal had realized all of this the previous night, Eleonora got the wrong end of the stick, saying, “I never imagined anyone would see me so humiliated—other than you, Lord Vandal—but I’ll sleep in the filth with the horses if need be!”
“All this means,” Vandal muttered to himself, “I need to attend the adventurers’ academy before I become an adventurer, but before I even do that, I will have defeated bandits and criminals, visited dungeons to collect treasure, and even bought my own large house. Hmmm. It feels like I’m doing things in the wrong order.”
It did sound strange. Still, he couldn’t make it alone because his curse prevented him from earning experience, and the loneliness would just crush him anyway. He certainly didn’t have the confidence to find a party at the academy.
So he needed more money.
“Even after I get a house, I’ll need collars or necklaces for everyone to show that I’ve tamed them, or we won’t be able to walk the streets unmolested. It’s not easy, becoming an adventurer.” As he had that thought, he passed a dilapidated Vida shrine and arrived at the adventurers’ guild.
It was a two-story affair that looked like dozens of the entire General Store from the Seventh Pioneer Village, guild branch and all, could fit inside. It was clearly one of the largest buildings in Niakki, rival to anything apart from the lord’s manor. In a proper city, the building for a guild branch in a town was going to be even larger; Vandal had seen that for himself in Talosheim. He offered a brief prayer that the adventurers wouldn’t give him grief.
“Let’s do this.” Firming his resolve, he opened the door to the adventurers’ guild.
It was past the time of day when adventurers crowded around looking for new postings, so there weren’t many people inside. There were the receptionists at the quest counter and some other workers doing paperwork in the back. Vandal proceeded quietly forward, arriving at the counter without incident. His prayers were being answered.
Naturally, this assumption was flawed. Most of those present hadn’t even noticed him. Even if they did, none of them were going to start something with a child. Any children who came to an adventurers’ guild were either first timers coming to register, Grade G adventurers, or students from the academy. Grade G adventurers took on day labor around the town and kept the guild clean. The only thing to be gained from asking if they could hope to succeed as adventurers was laughter at asking such a silly question.
If they were students at the academy, giving the kid grief would look even worse. Becoming an instructor there was a popular second career for adventurers after they stepped away from active duty. Berating a student with good cause was one thing, but threatening them for no reason would piss off a bunch of veteran adventurers and possibly jeopardize a future teaching career. The trope of adventurers getting picked on by those with more experience only therefore occurred after newbies had graduated and were heading out on their first real quest, or if the ones doing the bullying were also children.
Of course, in all walks of life there were those to whom common sense did not apply, but they weren’t exactly stationed on purpose in every guild branch. Vandal’s prayers had indeed come true, in that the Niakki branch did not have any such problem elements.
“Hello. I would like to register as an adventurer.”
“Ah! H-hello.” The girl on reception looked surprised for a moment—probably not having noticed Vandal until he spoke up—but then quickly restored her smile and offered a paper and pen. “Please, fill out this form with your name, age, race, and any special skills you have. Do you need someone to fill it in for you?”
“No, I can handle it. But what should I put for special skills?”
Borkz had told him about the process from 200 years ago and Kachia about the modern one in Milg, but different times and different countries probably meant differences in the process. It didn’t hurt to ask.
“You can mention any training you received, any attributes you are particularly skilled with, and any unique skills you have.”
“Unique skills? I thought you see skills when you issue my guild card?”
“Yes, but anything seen by our staff at that time is protected information that remains secret. Anything you write on this form will mean you don’t mind other people knowing about it. We can use it to help find you work.”
There were unique skills that allowed for additional damage against specific monsters, such as Goblin Slayer and Dragon Slayer. Making that information public could help the guild find work that suited those skills or help people who needed adventurers to find the right party. However, if the adventurers wished to keep things secret, in principle, staff who saw all their skills would need to keep that information to themselves.