Chapter 23

“Um, I think I can register here.” Shortly after arriving in the town of Aiphoné, Lorna took Reinharte’s advice and headed to a building bearing the mark of the Adventurers Guild. Map: Aiphoné—Adventurers Guild Headquarters Players who begin their journey in Aiphoné will take their adventurers exam in this building. All the quests are beginner-friendly, and there are a number of manuals available that offer combat tutorials. Most of the main and side quests early on in the game are issued from this location, so if ever you get lost, this place should be your first stop. It’s right where the internet said it would be. Lorna looked at the map again. There was no mistaking it—this was the Adventurers Guild headquarters. That was all well and good, but… “There’s been a disaster in Ipple Woods?!” “What’s going on over there?! The terrain has been completely altered!” “I heard all the monsters have been hunted to extinction!” “The Lord of the Woods… I can’t sense it anywhere…” “Does this mean the Demon Lord’s been revived?!” These people… They’re blocking my way… Lorna was stuck standing at the building’s entrance. It was chaos inside. The doors had been flung wide open, and droves of adventurers were screaming at each other as they ran back and forth. The atmosphere was positively brutal. One thing was clear, at least: Lorna’s “natural disaster” was the cause of the commotion. Welp… Guess I’ll forget about becoming an adventurer. She was already feeling ready to give up. But if she didn’t become an adventurer, she couldn’t make any money. It was the only surefire way for a traveler to save up the shil they’d need to continue their journey. A-anyway, as long as I try my best not to stand out, it should be fine… Lorna kept her head down and quickly moved through the crowd into the building. But despite her attempts to avoid the others’ gazes… “…Geh-heh-heh. Get a load of that fancy staff. Must’ve cost a fortune.” “That’s definitely combat gear. Which means she’s not here to issue a quest…” “Tale as old as time. Some noble’s kid gets Daddy to buy her a fancy weapon and thinks that makes her an adventurer.” “In other words…this girl’s probably got more shil than she knows what to do with.” They whispered and laughed as she walked by. She looked for all the world like a naive little girl. To the group of delinquent adventurers, she was the perfect mark. “You thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’, Chumpo?” “Geh-heh-heh… Like you even gotta ask.” Three large men stood up and headed toward Lorna. The other adventurers and guild staff merely stood by, trying not to get involved. Normally, industry veterans would have stepped in to put an end to the men’s crooked schemes, but every one of them was out investigating the cause of the natural disasters. And so the three large men approached Lorna and stood in her way. “Geh-heh-heh! Well, well, little lady— Eeeeee?!” “We’re not gonna let you pass— Ahhhhh!” “Give us all your money— Eeeeee?!” In the end, all three of them were run over. The instant they made contact with Lorna, they were sent flying across the room. They felt like they’d been hit by a runaway carriage. “““GUH?””” Everyone in the room fell silent, then turned and gawked at Lorna. Lorna, meanwhile, was just as shocked as everyone else. Uh… Why did the people I bumped into go flying across the room? Lorna had recently ascended to Level 22—putting her in the same league as some of the most skilled adventurers. And the gear she had equipped brought her ATK and SPD stats over 300. She had yet to fully realize the ramifications of these changes. Even setting aside her outrageously high MP and M-ATK, Lorna had one of the highest physical attack stats in the kingdom. The men might have been large, but they were still weak, and they’d made the grave mistake of trying to impede Lorna mid–power walk. “Wh-whoa… What the…?” The other adventurers quickly came to a realization: This girl’s stats were off the chart. They all shared the same thought at the same time. What the heck is up with her…? This would later become the starting scene of a new tale in Aiphoné known as the “Legend of Lorna, the World’s Strongest Witch.” But at the time, Lorna had no way of knowing that. “U-um, are you all right…?” she asked. “Sorry I accidentally sent you flying across the room…” “O-oh… Err… I-I’m f-fine…” “You’re…here for the adventurers exam…right?” “Th-the reception desk is…over there.” “…Oh? Thank you.” Lorna was confused, but she headed in the direction the nice men had pointed. I don’t really get what just happened, but they seemed kind. Come to think of it, I bet they put on that little comedy performance to help set new adventurers at ease! The Adventurers Guild was a lot less scary than she’d anticipated. But Lorna didn’t have time to worry about that. She had important business to take care of. “Um, hi there,” she said to the clerk. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to exchange these materials for shil…” “Hmm? Oh! Yes, of course. Would you show me what you’ve brought, please?” “Okay.” Lorna rifled through her bag and pulled out one thing after another. Gems and materials, and more gems, and more materials. “…?!” Soon, the desk was covered with all sorts of drops from what must have been powerful monsters (the clerk hadn’t seen much of it before and couldn’t be sure), and what looked like the fabled Phantom Leaf, which was said to grow only in very small quantities in the Magic Forest. What the heck is up with this girl…? The clerk’s face twitched as she tried to maintain her composure. “Oh, also, I’d like to, um, register as an adventurer… Is that the right word?” “…You mean…you’re not registered yet?” “…Huh? Well, no. Is that a problem?” “You’re telling me you’re not even an official adventurer and you’ve still gathered this much stuff…?” “Oh, uh, y’see… I was just walking along in the woods. And wouldn’t you know it, I found a bunch of gems just lying around! I guess it was my lucky day.” That made everything even stranger. A person didn’t simply walk along in the woods all alone when the place was crawling with monsters. Usually, you needed someone to scan for enemies, someone to carry gear, someone to fight… Handling all that by yourself was practically impossible. And now this girl was casually claiming that she’d done just that. Like it was no big deal. “V-very well… Allow me to scan your stats for a moment, if you would. Please place your hand on the stats tablet.” “Oh… Okay.” Lorna unequipped her staff and placed her hand on the stone tablet. The next moment, a display popped up and revealed her stats to the clerk. Wh-what?! Level 22?! And her speed…364?! This innocent-looking child? Come to think of it, wasn’t Lorna Hermit the name of the girl Miss Elmina told us to take into custody the moment we spotted her? The clerk looked back up at Lorna. She appeared to be an average, empty-headed girl. Or at least she did at first glance. But the clerk had seen many adventurers come and go in her day, and she could tell one thing for sure— Something wasn’t right about this girl. No way am I getting involved with this… Better pass her off to Miss Elmina. The woman behind the counter pulled out a registration form. In the box labeled RESPONSIBLE PARTY, she wrote Elmina Manaflame. With that, Lorna was ready to start her adventurers exam, unknowingly kicking off a period of great suffering for Elmina.