~~Iverialtown, Ten O’clock in the Morning, Seventh Day of the First Month, Ninety-First Year of the War Demon Calendar~~

Since we had departed from Faltown, a week had passed.

Upon heading north from Faltown’s east game, we had found a highway that did not reach up to Faltown. We walked along it and arrived at a place called Iverialtown.

I had been able to identify traces of it having reached all the way in the past, but the path was so overgrown that I wouldn’t have seen them if I hadn’t looked so closely.

The walk down that path to Iverialtown had been straightforward and without any incident.

And now, we were finishing up our meal at a balcony seat of a restaurant.

Pochi, on the other hand, was already done and sat down to keep watch under the table.

“As expected… No one here has heard about Faltown.”

Lina said, sounding quite bitter.

“Whoever we asked, the most they said was that there was a town with that name ten-odd years ago… Is it possible that there had been an information blockade?”

“Beats me… But this might mean the recommendation letters are rendered invalid, too.”

“That would be a problem, yes.”

“Th-that’s… terrible…”

Well, I’d been fearing this might happen from the get-go, so I’d already thought up a few alternatives.

“We might have to investigate the Magic University, or worse, the Nation above it for answers, as sketchy as that sounds.”

“But what of those recommendation letters, sir? If you were registered as a Magic University student from a nonexistent town… wouldn’t that pose somewhat of a problem?”

“I hate that Sir Ryan’s favor for us may end up being futile, but we would be better off enrolling by other means.”

Pochi and Lina turned to look at each other.

“Um, then, what should we do?”

“That’s right, Master, no matter how much of an underhanded fool you are, wouldn’t that still be difficult? We don’t have much time, either.”

Hey, calling me a fool was unnecessary. Now I’m starting to think it’s because of her always saying that that’s making my title stick.

But if I respond to that, I’ll probably be confirmed as a fool.

Then again, there’s the problem of me admitting that I’m a fool by not speaking up for myself.

Now, hol’ up a minute…

“What is Sir Asley thinking about?”

“Probably some nonsense, as always.”

“–In which case… I gotta do this! Hey, Pochi, what’s up with you calling me a fool!?”

“Er, that’s quite a slow reaction, Master. Things like this are why you’re still called a fool…”

“Damn you… That didn’t work, either — Wait, what were we talking about, again?”

Pochi heaved a sigh and glared at me with half-exasperation.“Oh, for the love of… The letters, sir, the letters. Your situation aside, Master, I’d feel sorry for Lina if she’s unable to enroll.”

“Aha, that’s it. I and Lina did gain quite a few levels over the past two years, so we should get ourselves into the Adventurers’ Guild, don’t you think?”

Pochi tilted her head, confused.

“But we don’t have the time for that, do we?”

“Our contract with the Guild would need to be signed by the town’s Chief. And after we get that… you know how it goes, right?”

“Aha, so that’s it.”

“Um, I don’t think I follow… What’s what?”

As Pochi and I grinned as an answer to her, Lina was overcome by a sense of bewilderment at our thoughts.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

When we arrived at Iverialtown’s Guild, I was surprised by how different things were compared to back in the day.

It may sound insignificant, but it concerned the permitting of Familiars’ entrance into the Guildhall. Normal animals were still prohibited, of course, but they now seemed to have no issue with animals designated as Familiars.

Is this because of the overall lower number of mages compared to the old days, and the society acknowledging the fact that Familiars can be intelligent beings, in some cases even more so than humans?

“Well well, what a surprise. I’d never thought I would be allowed inside. Maybe I should sign up as an adventurer as well?”

“Hu hu hu… No, I’m afraid we can’t get you registered.”

“Now that’s a shame~~”

‘Guild’ was a general term for organizations or establishments that mediated job requests and provided other related services.

The procedure was simple: Requests sent through the Guild were assigned a difficulty rank by the management, and then when a rank-appropriate fee was paid, they would be officially approved and posted for adventurers of suitable ranks to take.

Of course, they made money from adventurers as well. One-tenth of the completion reward was deducted right off the bat, and members of an Adventurers’ Guild had to pay an annual membership fee.

Their appearances varied, from large-scale hubs, to simple bar-like establishments like the one here in Iverialtown

“Huh, we don’t get mages turning up here often. And I just heard you’re newcomers, too — that’s another surprise. Well, first of all, you’ll need to get your application papers from that desk and sign your names, then wait while we set things up for you.”

The man behind the counter, seemingly the Guild’s receptionist, pointed to his side to show me where the registration desk was.

On it, several sheets of the application paper had been placed in a pile, each with a signature of the town’s Mayor pre-signed.

“Um, so there’s the signature… but what are we going to do with it?”

Lina asked me in a whisper.

“Now, just wait and see — Rise, A-rise… Copy & Write.”

I drew a small Spell Circle on the desk and invoked a spell to separate the Mayor’s signature from two of the sheets. Then I sent them flying onto the recommendation letters which Lina had unrolled, overwriting them onto the section with Ryan’s signature.

“W-wow… It can be used for this, too…?”

“And while we’re at it… Rise, Letter Edit.”

The text ‘Faltown’ on the recommendation letters wriggled as if they were dancing, and eventually reformed into ‘Iverialtown’.

“This is… also magic?”

“It is. Magic University graduates should be able to use it, too. I did apply some special formulas to it, though.”“Special… how?”

“In its original form, this spell’s effects could be easily detected, you see… Oh, let’s hurry and fill these in.”

Noticing that I may have caught the receptionist’s attention, I quickly filled my form and brought it to the reception counter.

“Let’s see… Lina and Asley, yes? We’d like to explain to you the ins and outs of the Adventurers’ Guild. Can you spare some time?”

“Yes, please do.”

Pochi was now the center of the attention of the daytime-drinking adventurers, but her being what she is, she’ll handle interacting them just fine.

“First of all, you can check your level by putting your hands over the Spell Circle there. Try it out some time later. Your Guild ranking is separate from your level, though, and the jobs you can accept will differ depending on that rank. Ah, those on a higher rank can accept jobs of a lower rank, of course. Beginners like you two start with ‘F,’ with the highest being ‘S’. Well, as of now, the S Rank only includes the Six Archmages and Braves and only a handful of other remarkable individuals, though. You can check out jobs for your rank on the bulletin board over there. If any of them catches your eye, just rip the posting off and bring it here. That’s all there is to explain.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Err, did you remember all of that explanation?”

“We can just ask again later if we forget. But for now, let’s just take a job or two to accustom ourselves to the routine.”

Lina’s expression suggested that she was worried.

And now Pochi was back at our side, seeming to have noticed that we were all set.

The three of us checked out the board for the F-ranked jobs.

“Let’s see… Huh? Are F-ranked jobs supposed to be this simple?”

“Right — I’m glad you noticed. Even Goblins were rare around the place we were before, after all. This would be your first time seeing things like Slimes and Killer Bees, too, I assume?”

In the vicinity of that town, most monsters were around Rank C.

Zombie Lords and Marine Lizards were C-ranked, and so were the Cyclops and Killer Mantes at the nearby grasslands. B-ranked ones were the Chimera and a Zombie King I had detected some time during the past two years. Monsters ranked lower than that had been rarely encountered.

Out of everything among them I’d fought, that one Alpha Chimera had to be the strongest… Under normal circumstances, it would probably take a party of level-60-to-70 fighters to defeat it. I needed Pochi, years of magic and magecraft research, and the Dynamite Artifacts to face it… Looks like I still have a long way to go.

If only I had two or three thousand more years…

“Master, are you thinking about some weird things again?”

“Bah, you sharp li’l furball…”

“Ahem — Of course! Should I pass away, feel free to use my fur to make yourself a coat, sir!”

Dude, aren’t you supposed to get angry at that?

“Hmm… Ah, I think I should be able to handle this one?”

Lina ripped off one of the request papers and showed it to me.

“Let’s see… Defeat 3 Ghouls, eh? I think it’s fine and all, but why Ghouls? Slimes or Goblins should be easier targets for you…”

“I’ve heard that Ghouls behave similarly to Zombies, and… I’m used to fighting Zombies, so…”

Lina explained, seeming slightly embarrassed.

I wouldn’t say I didn’t expect this, but it’s nice to see that she had carefully considered her decision. I’d like her to try fighting many other kinds of monsters as well, but this option lets her operate within our limited time while still fighting something new… She sure is fast with such calculations. An average 15-year-old probably wouldn’t have thought that far.

“Hmm, this does sound good, right?”

“Yes, I think so as well, sir.”

“All right, then… Maybe I’ll go slay some Goblins. The monsters around here aren’t as active, but Pochi, you go with Lina. We’ll be staying here for tonight, so let’s meet at the inn when we’re done.”

“”Yes, sir!””

And so we temporarily split up, with Lina and Pochi going east to hunt Ghouls, and me heading north to slay Goblins.