I got up, got dressed, and went down to the dining room. Elze and Linze were already up and eating. I sat down and Mika brought my breakfast over. Bread, ham and eggs, vegetable soup, tomato salad. Good first thing in the morning.
After eating, the three of us headed to the guild. It was near the center of town and reasonably busy.
The guild’s first floor was a tavern-style restaurant — brighter than I’d expected. I’d been imagining a rough-and-tumble drinkers’ den, but apparently that worry was unfounded. The receptionist smiled at us pleasantly as we approached the counter.
“I’d like to register with the guild, please.”
“Of course. All three of you?”
“Yes, three.”
“First-time registration for all three? Let me walk you through the basics.”
“Please.”
The guild’s basic function: introduce clients’ jobs to adventurers, and take a percentage. Jobs were ranked by difficulty; lower-ranked members couldn’t accept higher-ranked work. However, if at least half of a party qualified at the higher rank, lower-ranked members could come along.
Completing a job paid out a fee; failing could incur penalties. Pick jobs carefully.
Repeated failures, judged in bad faith, could result in registration being revoked — and once revoked, no guild in any town would re-register you.
Plus: not taking a single job for five years = registration expires. No taking multiple jobs at once. Monster-extermination jobs were invalid if the kills happened outside the designated area. The guild didn’t normally intervene in personal disputes between adventurers — except where the guild’s interests were affected. Et cetera.
“That concludes the briefing. Please ask staff if anything’s unclear.”
“Got it.”
“Please fill out these forms.”
She handed each of us a form. I couldn’t read any of it. I admitted I couldn’t read or write and asked Linze to fill in for me. Reading and writing — definitely going to be an issue.
The receptionist accepted the completed forms, held a pitch-black card over each one, and murmured something incantation-like. Then she handed each of us a small pin and asked us to mark the card with a drop of our blood.
I pricked my finger and pressed it to the card. White text faded in — which of course I couldn’t read.
“This guild card has a charm that turns it gray within seconds if anyone other than the owner touches it. Anti-forgery. If you lose it, report it immediately — re-issue costs money, but it’s possible.”
She picked up my card. It went gray. When I touched it back, it instantly went black again. Cool trick. How does that work?
“Registration complete. Job postings are on that board — review them and submit applications at the request desk.”
The three of us stood in front of the request board. Our cards were black — beginner rank. As you ranked up, the card color would change. For now, beginner-black jobs only.
Elze and Linze were poring over individual postings, considering. As for me—
“This is bad… I really need to learn to read.”
If I couldn’t read job content, this didn’t work. Evening study sessions, starting tonight.
“Hey, hey — how about this one, Linze? Decent pay too, good starter.”
“Mm… not bad. Touya, your read?”
”…Sorry. I have no idea what it says.”
Elze’s pointing finger drooped at my pathetic reply.
”…Um — monster extermination in the eastern forest. Horn-Wolves, five of them. Not very strong… we can probably handle it. Pay is 18 copper.”
Linze read the request aloud for my benefit, haltingly. 18 copper — split three ways, that’s 6 each. Three nights of lodging. Not bad.
“Let’s do it.”
“Okay. I’ll submit the application.”
Elze peeled the posting off the board and went over to the request desk. Horn-Wolves. Named for the horn on their head, apparently. Can I actually handle one of those, though?
…Hold on.
“Damn… I forgot something important…”
”…What is it?”
Linze looked at my dazed expression curiously.
“I don’t have a weapon yet.”
I’d forgotten.
A monster-extermination request, with no weapon? Not going to work. We left the guild and headed for a weapon shop.
Walking north up the main street, a familiar pattern of sign came into view: a sword and shield, easily readable as a weapons logo. Still can’t read the actual shop name.
I pushed the door open and a small bell chimed. A large bearded middle-aged man emerged from the back. Huge. Like a bear.
“Welcome. What’re you looking for?”
The bear was apparently the owner. Big. Over two meters, probably. Built like a wrestler.
“We’re looking for a weapon for this guy. Mind if we browse?”
“By all means. Pick anything up.”
The bear-man answered Elze cheerfully. A good bear — sorry, a good man. Does he like honey, I wonder.
The shop was packed with weapons of every kind — swords, spears, bows, axes, whips — every type covered, lined up cheek-to-jowl.
“Touya, any weapon you’re good with?”
“Hmm — nothing in particular… I had a little kendo training, if anything.”
I’d had some sword-instruction at school. Glorified PE classes. Largely amateur-tier.
”…Then a sword’s probably best. Touya, your build — a hit-and-run style suits you better than a power style. So… one-handed sword?”
Linze pointed to a corner of single-handed swords. I picked up a sheathed one and gripped the hilt. Light. Could even handle slightly heavier.
A sword mounted on the wall caught my eye. No — not a sword. A katana. A curved, slim blade with elegant fittings on a round guard, the hilt wrapped in cord-style binding, with a black-lacquered scabbard. Close inspection revealed slight differences from the Japanese katana I knew, but it deserved the name.
”…What is it?”
“Ah, that’s an Eashen sword. Your hometown style — drew you in?”
Linze and Elze called over. So this is Eashen-made. I wasn’t from there, but apparently Eashen had a lot in common with Japan. Getting more curious about Eashen by the minute.
I lifted the katana off the wall and slowly drew it from its scabbard. The hamon pattern flashed in the light — striking. Thicker spine than I expected, the blade itself heavy. But not too heavy for me to handle.
“How much is this?”
The bear poked his head out from the back.
“Ah, that one. Two gold coins. But it’s a tough one to wield — not really beginner-recommended.”
“Two gold? That’s a lot, isn’t it!?”
“It comes in rarely, and the user base is small. The price reflects that.”
Elze pouted but the bear waved her off mildly. Probably a fair price. I’d already decided it was worth it.
“I’ll take it. Two gold.”
I returned the katana to its scabbard and put two gold on the counter.
“Thanks for the business. Armor?”
“I’ll pass for now. I’ll come back when I’ve earned more.”
“All right. Earn lots with that katana.”
He laughed heartily.
I was done shopping; Elze bought greaves (leg armor from shin to instep), Linze a silver wand. Their combat styles, apparently: Elze front-line striker, Linze back-line caster.
After the weapon shop, on the way to the general store, I checked the previous shop on the map out of curiosity.
“Bear-Hachi’s Weapons.”
…The naming sensibilities in this town are off.
At the general store I picked up a small pouch, a canteen, travel rations, a toolbox containing fishing hooks and line, scissors, a knife, matches, and other necessities, plus medicinal herbs and antidote herbs. The twins already had everything they needed; I was the only buyer this round.
Right. Fully equipped. Time to head to the eastern forest and hunt some Horn-Wolves.