Rising Life Volume 1, Chapter 2

Chapter 2: A Man Abandoned Even by the Adventurers' Guild

「............ah」

　The nostalgic dream paused there.

　Kian blinked a few times and saw the rotting ceiling boards spread out in his vision.

(This place ......?)

　He pulled himself up from the cold straw bed that smelled of mold.

　A shoulder strap made of deerskin slipped off my chest.

　This place is...

　This place is, right.

　This is the room of the cheap inn where he always roosts as an adventurer.

　As proof of this, he could hear someone snoring noisily from behind the thin walls.

(Oh, man. Was I dreaming about those days again?)

　Shaking his head lightly, Kian stirred his black hair with his fingers.

　Pale sunlight was streaming in through the small window.

　It seems that night had long since fallen.

「I should wash my face. ......」

　Kian muttered, getting out of bed and bending over the wooden tub in the corner of the room.

　In the water, he saw a familiar reflection of himself.

　A bearded man of nearly thirty.

　In the common people of the human race, a man over thirty is an old man, so in the world, he is already an old man.

　The outcast, Kian Vid, had become an old man.

　It had been fourteen years since he left the city of Azrair.

　When he was a teenager, he thought he had a long way to go.

　When he was in his early twenties, he thought he was still young.

　But now he's this old.

　If you're an adventurer, you'll be called a mid-class veteran.

　If you're a craftsman, you're a veteran.

(But I'm .......)

「.............Sarah, I wonder how you are doing. Jibril (my little brother) and my dad are ....... No, Jibril was supposed to marry Sarah, I think.......  If that's the case, she's old enough to have a child at all.」

　Kian plunged his hands into the tub with a splash.

　He felt the cold water on his hands.

　His face, floating on the surface of the water, shattered into pieces.

「『I'll definitely be back stronger than ever. ......!』 huh」

　Kian muttered and felt something hot running down his cheek.

　He sipped his nose and wiped his cheeks with his shoulder.

　He naturally burst out laughing.

「Haha. Ha ha ......, ha ha ha ......」

　His voice echoes in the small, damp room.

　He has no motivation to do anything.

　He feels like dreaming in a daze today.

　But in reality, this was not the time to get sentimental.

　He had paid his rent two days ago, and his wallet and stomach were empty.

　He needs to get out of the house, go to the adventurer's guild, and find a job.

　　x x x x

「Kian-sama, a 9th-class adventurer. Your adventurer's license has been revoked.」

「Huh ......?」

　At the reception desk of the Adventurer's Guild, with its majestic white and gold decorations, Kian was stiffened by the receptionist's unexpected words.

　The receptionist shook her tightly coiffed chestnut hair slightly and repeated it once more with a ready-made sales smile.

「You are a 9th-class adventurer, Kian-san. The guild has revoked your adventurer status. You have thirty days from today to find a way to make a living, such as going to the guild's second career change window or returning to your hometown.」

「No, um, errr...」

(I don't understand.)

　What the hell did I do? Kian put his hands on the counter and looked at the receptionist.

　He wanted to shout out, "You're tyrannical, explain to me exactly what you mean," but his face naturally frowned.

「Wh-What do you mean by that, ......? Have I done something wrong?」

　The receptionist's eyes quickly turned cold as she looked at the bearded Kian.

「You are not aware of it? Really?」

「Y-yes.」

　When Kian nodded, the receptionist snorted, clearly mocking him.

　She began to speak in a tone that seemed a little angry and conversely intimidating to Kian.

「Lately, there's been a lot of dissatisfaction among the fledgling 10th-class adventurers. They said that adventurers of higher ranks, who don't make as much money, monopolize the relatively lucrative requests for fledgling adventurers. As a result, the newcomers were forced to kill goblins and demons, which were highly dangerous for little reward. Do you understand? The newcomers, who should be protected by the guild, are taking on dangerous work while the adventurers, who are used to adventuring, are making easy money. The guild takes this very seriously. For example, the request that Kian-san received three days ago to collect medicinal herbs was a good deal that the guild ordered for a newcomer. It's not written anywhere, but by unwritten rule, everyone was passing it on to the newcomers. The newcomers would collect herbs, earn money, and equip themselves before heading out to defeat the goblins and demons. Because of Kian-san's greed, our precious newcomers are suddenly being forced to take on highly challenging defeat quests, almost naked. Competition? The first one to arrive wins? You can't train newcomers if you do that. If you are a member of a guild, you need to follow the unwritten rules that have been cultivated by precedent and custom.」

「......!」

　Unwritten rules.

　It was a common-sense rule that all adventurers had to keep in mind as a common understanding in a frontier land where the legal system was still in its infancy: do not steal from others, do not get involved in the illegal drug trade with malicious intent, and do not engage in private duels without following the proper procedures.

　Even a newcomer to this land would be punished by the guild for doing so. Kian knew as much about unwritten rules as anyone else. If you're not too smart, you don't know what you're going to be punished for.

　Nevertheless, it is a serious procedural flaw that the criteria for punishment are not clearly stated.

　It was impossible for Kian, who knew the legal system of Azrair, to do anything about it.

　If he had a big heart, he would have proudly argued that there was a procedural problem here.

「――」

(What should I do ......)

　Kian glanced at the face of the woman in front of him.

　It is actually elite to be called a receptionist.

　It is often the case that those who have graduated from the academy in the royal capital get jobs in the guild and are dispatched as underlings. The receptionist in front of me must be one of them, judging from her young appearance.

　In the face of this elite beauty, who was rambling on and on, Kian couldn't help but back away.

「Of course, I don't want to hear such a brazen rejoinder like 『Do you know, please clearly state such important things and share them there in advance when I receive a quest』」

「Is.......that so. Haha.......I didn't know that. I-I'm a bit of an outsider, after all.」

「You've been in this town before I came here, so you can't use that argument.」

「No, ......, umm ......, right. I'm sorry. ......」

　Kian nodded helplessly.

　He bowed to the new receptionist, who was about a year younger than him.

　He has no choice but to bow down because of his position.

「Therefore, we have decided to make a list of all adventurers in the guild who are causing trouble like Kian-san's, to issue a stern warning and a monetary penalty of ten silver coins for lower-class adventurers and above, and revoke the qualifications of the lowest class adventurers. Kian-san is a 9th-class adventurer, the lowest of the ten adventurer ranks. Therefore, your adventuring credentials will be revoked in a month, so please find a new job before then」

「.......!...... Ah, umm. By the way, what kind of job placement does the guild offer?」

「Who knows? If it is Kian-san, you're probably working in the coal mines in the south or on the great ice wall in the north?」

「No way. Both of them will only last five years at most.」

「If you don't like it, why don't you go back to your hometown?」

　The receptionist began to clear away the papers on her desk as if she had lost interest.

　Just now, right in front of his eyes, Kian's papers were thrown into the wastebasket.

　Kian's head spins in confusion as he tries to think of something to say.

　The receptionist gave him her signature smile and said,

「Next person, please!」

「Wa-Wait a minute, pleas――」

「Get out of the way, you "Garbage Scavenger"! You're bothering Sophie-chan!」

　A muscular arm extended from behind me and pushed me to the side.

　It's a large man with fine iron armor and a large ax on his back.

　Kian backed away, unable to say anything, and suddenly looked around.

「Ah ......」

　Eyes, eyes, eyes that look at him.

　How were they looking at Kian, who was devouring the young receptionist who was like an idol?

　Of course, everyone was looking at him with hatred and disgust.

「――」

　Kian could feel his face turning red.

　He has been called a "Garbage Scavenger" and now he seems to have ruined his reputation again.

(No, no. If I bite her anymore, I'll get nothing ......)

　The receptionist, Sophie, only told Kian that the guild had made a decision.

　There's nothing he can do.

　He can't do anything about it if he stays here.

(I have no choice but to go to the mediation center ......)

　Kian's shoulders slumped and he began to trudge back through the white and gold adventurer's guild.

(Adventurers was my only hope in every sense of the word.)

　It was a profession that could be done with nothing, as long as one had skill and wisdom.

　But even here, there was no place for Kian, who had little magic power.

　Of course, he made an effort.

　Theoretically, he could get by with only a cupful of magic power, because lions and bears are strong with their natural physical abilities, even without using magic to strengthen their bodies.

　He thought that he could build up his muscles and become like a lion or a bear.

(But the reality is ruthless.)

　It takes more than just working out to grow muscles.

　If you don't take in enough meat, grain, and fat, your body will not grow due to physiological problems.

　In fact, if you only train without eating, you will get injured and your muscles will become smaller.

　In other words, if you just manage to eat poorly day in and day out, nothing is going to change.

(What I've gained in the last decade or so is the strength of a common - let's say, a soldier with a bucketful of magic power that I can manage to surpass if I use technology.)

　As a healer, Kian saves energy and energy again and again, and he can barely fix three minor wounds a day.

　He had no choice but to improve his scouting skills, such as lock-picking and light work, but that was about it.

　That was all he got out of it.

　That's it.

　It's a funny thing for a former armed monk of the god Azrair, who is in charge of death and rebirth.

　.......After all, the monastery in Azrair was more fortunate than any other.

　There was food and plenty of time and facilities to improve oneself.

　If Kian did not succeed there, he was undoubtedly a failure.

　　x x x x

　By the time Kian left the guild's mediation office, the sun had turned a deep orange.

　In another hour or two, the sun would begin to set.

(I'm hungry.)

　Kian thought absentmindedly as he looked out at the crowds passing through the city.

　The jobs he was offered at the agency were not just working in the mines or on the Great Ice Wall as the receptionist had said, but they were all the same in terms of content.

　Thinly paid jobs with death on the line.

　It would have been much more humane to work the fields as a serf in the countryside.

　But if Kian, an outsider, were to settle in the village without permission, he would be caught by the lord, fined, and then driven out.

　He can't even return to his hometown of Azrair.

　It was almost a complete dead end.

(What should I do now?)

　He started walking aimlessly.

　The inn he was renting was somehow letting him live there with a discount for adventurers, so if he found out that his adventuring license would be revoked, the owner would not leave him.

(Then again, maybe it would have been better to pay the rent on time.)

　It was definitely wiser to pay the rent on time.

　If he was going to be evicted, it would have been better to use the rent money to eat and drink somewhere and get nourishment.

　……Well。

　Surely he wouldn't have done it even if he had thought of it, though, because he was raised in Azrair with strict precepts and discipline.

(I'm definitely an idiot. I have no wisdom to live by. No greed. There's nothing. Nothing. ......)

　In a vision blurred by despair, he wandered aimlessly through the street stalls.

　If you don't have something cheap and nutritious to eat, you're going to collapse.

　That's when...

『"Here, Azrairian."』

「............?」

　He suddenly heard a voice in his brain calling out to me.

　It was a woman's voice.

　A mysterious high voice.

　A contradictory impression of youthfulness and age.

　The words "elves who live for hundreds of years with their young looks," "dragon's family," and "legendary vampires who are said to have perished" came to his mind, but looking around, he couldn't find any such alien beings.

『This way, this way.』

　The voice seemed to be coming from the darkness of the white tented stall on the right.

　Kian narrowed his eyes and stretched his beard toward the tent.

　There it was.

　It was a small pair of glasses made of steel and glass.

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