It was past noon, so it was probably the least busy time of day.
There was no mysterious structure where the reception area and bar were integrated, and there were no events like getting harassed by drunkards as in a game.
The girl headed to a randomly available counter.
"Excuse me, I would like to register as a hunter..."
"Oh, y-yes!"
The woman, who appeared to be in her late teens and had been looking elsewhere, hurriedly turned her face towards the girl.
"Um, can you write?"
"Yes, I can."
"Then, please fill this out."
The girl took the form from the receptionist and moved to the writing stand, away from the counter.
Placing the form on the stand and taking the pen in hand, she carefully examined it. The first item to fill out, as expected, was her name.
(Name...)
The girl pondered.
(The name Adel is definitely sealed. I probably won't use it except when I meet my classmates from school someday...
The name Kairi belongs to the previous world, so I need to come up with a new name.)
At that moment, she remembered a conversation with her father from her childhood.
It was when she was given a homework assignment in elementary school to ask her parents about the origin of her name.
When Kairi asked her father about the origin of her name, he said something like this:
"Kairi, you know that I work in the aviation industry, right? In the aviation industry, we use a unit of distance called a mile.
There are nautical miles and statute miles, and the length of statute miles varies by country, such as international miles, survey miles, and legal miles. It's quite complicated.
However, in the aviation and maritime industries, which deal with the sky and the sea, a common unit called a nautical mile is used worldwide. If the units of distance in the sea and sky varied by country, it would be problematic.
Unlike statute miles, which have various standards, the standard for nautical miles is just one. The Earth is 360 degrees around its circumference. One degree of latitude is 60 miles, and one minute, which is 1/60th of a degree, is defined as one mile.
The characters for Kairi can also be read as 'Kairi.' Kairi, written as 海里, is the Japanese term for nautical miles.
It's something that remains unchanged wherever you go in the world and is recognized everywhere. I wanted you to be such a person, so I gave you this name..."
The girl ran the quill pen across the paper and wrote her name.
'Mile'
Thus, the birth of the new hunter, Mile, was marked.
Mile proceeded to fill out the rest of the form.
Gender: Female. Age: Twelve. Occupation: Mage. Special skills: None. Party preference: None. Previous hunter experience: None. Remarks: None.
When she returned to the counter and handed the completed form to the receptionist, it was accepted without any issues.
"Ms. Mile, is it? Are you from around here?"
"No, I'm from a remote mountain area. My parents passed away, and I had to live on my own. There were no other jobs I could do..."
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked such personal questions...
Now, let me explain about the guild!"
The receptionist, Laura, gave an explanation that was largely the same as what Mile had heard from her male classmates.
There are eight ranks for hunters, from G to S.
G rank is for children aged 6 to 9, who are considered 'quasi-guild members.' They can only take on jobs like odd jobs in the city or group herb gathering with a guard.
Those aged 10 and above can become official guild members, but the lowest F rank can only take on jobs like plant and mineral collection, monster hunting below Horn Rabbit, and material collection from animals like boars and deer.
E rank can handle Goblins and Orcs, and D rank marks the removal of restrictions.
However, D rank is considered a junior level, and while they can take on jobs like guard requests, employers usually require C rank or higher.
C rank is what is generally considered a 'full-fledged hunter,' and it is the most numerous. However, their abilities vary widely, from just above D rank to just below B rank.
B rank is considered top-tier and is respected in small towns. A rank is a celebrity, and the highest S rank is treated as a hero.
However, there are only a few S rank hunters even in the capital.
Promotions are decided by the guild council based on the status of job acceptance and completion, as well as contributions to the guild. However, there is a minimum required period for promotion, except in exceptional cases.
Cheating in promotions is absolutely forbidden, and those involved, even if they are branch managers, are permanently expelled from the guild, and in the worst case, executed. Therefore, no one would risk their life for a small amount of money.
Disputes among guild members are the responsibility of the individuals involved. If they escalate to criminal behavior, both the guild and the city guards will impose penalties. Even as guild members, they are still residents of the city, and criminal acts such as violence and extortion are punished.
While listening to the explanation from the receptionist, Mile's hunter card, which had been made at some point, was ready. It was a small iron plate attached to a chain to be worn around the neck. It had the letter F (the equivalent in this world's script), Mile's name, and the name and registration number of the branch engraved on it.
Of course, it did not have any mysterious functions like automatically recording the number of monsters killed or receiving emergency notifications from the guild. She would need to collect proof of each kill and, if she changed her base city, send her introduction letter and evaluation records to the new branch.
The content and destination of these records were kept strictly confidential, so there would be no issues even if she wanted to disappear.
"If a hunter's body is found somewhere, please collect this hunter card. The guild will contact the family and process the deregistration, and the card will be invalidated and given to the family as a keepsake. The finder will receive a reward from the guild, and possibly from the family as well.
Also, all the possessions of the body, including weapons and armor, belong to the finder."
The receptionist handed the hunter card to Mile while explaining this.
After the explanation was complete, the receptionist welcomed Mile again.
"Welcome to the Hunter Guild!"
That night, Mile lay on the bed in her inn, planning for the next day.
Most F rank hunter requests are not individual requests but standing requests.
Standing requests are a system where hunters can collect and bring in items without going through the formalities of accepting a job each time. Items like herbs that are always in demand and Horn Rabbit meat fall into this category.
It was a relief not to have to go through the formalities at the guild during the busy early morning.
Additionally, there was a loophole for F rank Mile to make money by hunting higher-level monsters than Horn Rabbits.
One way was to join a party, but she decided to pass on that for now.
Another way was to hunt higher-level monsters in standing requests.
The rank restrictions on requests are meant to prevent hunters from taking on dangerous jobs and to reduce the failure rate of accepted jobs. Since standing requests do not have a failure rate and there is a chance of successfully defending against an unexpected attack, the value of the materials remains the same.
While it is not recommended, if a hunter is willing to take the risk, the guild does not interfere.
However, Mile did not intend to deliberately hunt higher-level monsters unless she happened to encounter them. She was just an ordinary, average F rank hunter.
Mile had several reasons for choosing the path of a hunter.
Anyone could become a hunter regardless of their background or age.
With a hunter card, she could easily cross borders and territories.
If something went wrong, she could quickly move to another country.
Even if her name became known in another country, she could change her name and register as a new F rank hunter and start over in a distant country.
If she was dealing with animals or monsters, she could afford to make mistakes.
If she acted alone, she could freely use magic and sword skills without worrying about others.
If she suddenly disappeared, it wouldn't inconvenience anyone.
Moreover, while she could handle a weekly shift, she found it boring to be a shopkeeper from morning to night and wanted to earn some money to prepare for a happy married life in the future.
Considering all these factors, she could no longer imagine taking on any other job.
Most importantly, being a hunter was a very common, ordinary, and unremarkable job for someone who had no special talents and often struggled to find work.