Character Information & Equipment:
Class: Villager Lv3, Hero Lv1, Thief Lv3
Accessory: Ring of Determination, Sandals, Bandit Bandana
The day was still young. If the main roads in this town are designed in such a way that they are heading directly to the north, south, east and west, then the sun has moved slightly over the west towards the south. So it should be⌠a little over noon, if Iâm not mistaken?
Now that Iâve gotten back onto the main road, the first place I will try to visit will be the Explorerâs Guild which is in that second building to the right, according to the information I have obtained from Alan the Slave Merchant.
So that confirms that he wasnât lying: there really is such a Job as an Explorer. Just to be sure I used Identify on that one hot chick in the building and it showed me that she was a Lv17 Explorer, just like the receptionist-looking guy behind the counter.
Okay, now for the most important part: do I really have to join the Explorerâs Guild to become an Explorer myself? Also, I was expecting the inside of the building to look more like a tavern, or the medieval equivalent of an office building, but if I were to draw any comparisons, then Iâd have to say it looked like a primitive post office, wooden tables, counters and mailbox next to the guildâs main entrance included. Several townspeople were already inside, apparently doing business with the guildâs staff, because I heard sentences such as ăIâll take that, thenă, ăSoldă or ăSo how much is this going to cost me?ă being used. If that is any indication, then I guess this place can also buy items off of you and made it possible for you to purchase whatever it is they are offering. But I am not interested in those, not for now at least.
First of all, Iâll need to do some information gathering. Listening to the people around me in hopes of catching something interesting, I headed over to what I assumed to be an information board with multiple pieces of parchment stuck to itâŚ.
Well, shit. I canât read any of those strange letters.
Something is definitely written there, but I donât know what that is, which is strange since the Banditâs Intelligence Cards were written in kanji, so why are the letters here different? Is the Explorerâs Guild special or were the Intelligence Cards special?
ăExcuse me sir, is there a problem? Do you need assistance with anything?ă
A soft voice called out to me from behind my back. When I turned around, I learned It belonged to a young girl who looked roughly the same age as me. She was a Lv2 Explorer and was dressed in the same receptionist outfit as the guy behind the counter.
ăUhm, yes. Actually, Iâm sorry to bother you but I canât read any of those.ă
I said apologetically while pointing at the message board.
ăOf course sir. If thatâs the case then I can read the information you want for 16 Nar.ă
I see. A substitute reader, huh? In a world in which the literacy rate is quite low and the ability to read is a privilege reserved mostly for those of noble birth who could afford to learn it, such an institution might actually be a quite lucrative business. And the price seemed to be pretty reasonable, but that is just my own opinion, that is to say a layman who doesnât know the actual value of this worldâs currency and the average hourly payment rate.
I took the backpack off my back and got the necessary amount of money out of the drawstring bag.
I wonder if 16 Nar is the standard price, or the one that has already been affected by my 30% discount skill? Because my intuition was telling me that the former was the case here.
ăPlease follow after me.ă
She took the pieces of paper out of the board and we made our way to one of the tables. On the way, she passed the payment on to the receptionist dude. So I assume heâs responsible for handling all the money that comes from the transactions with the people who want to read the information despite not being able to read themselves? That might be wise from the guildâs perspective, but I hope that guy leaves all the money here when he finishes his shift. After all, if we assume that the Explorerâs Guild earns a lot from substitute reading alone, then the caretaker of said money would make a perfect target for a robbery.
It pained me a little that I had to spend some money so soon after steeling myself to save as much of it as possible, but if itâs for the purpose of getting as much information about this world as I can, then I will take every little piece of info I can get my hands on, as long as it will lead me to making lots of money in no time.
On a totally unrelated side note, that girl is as pretty as Roxanne is, at least when we talk about facial features. If weâre talking about boobs, then hers were hidden under the uniform she was wearing, but at the very least the visible bulges confirmed that she was not as flat as a cutting board. But she was still inferior to Roxanne, who was an absolute bombshell all across the board!
ăAll right , I can translate as many things as you want, as long as itâll be in the time it takes for the sand in this sand watch to finish falling. Is that alright with you?ă
She then procured a small hourglass out of her pocket and showed it to me, probably so that I wouldnât try to accuse her of cheating on time. But I feel like I should point out that even for a pocket hourglass, the midsection was surprisingly narrow. I wonder how much time it will take for the sand to fall from one section to the other? 5 minutes? 10 minutes? Maybe 15 at best? Either way, I should get this lady to read as many documents as she can for me. In other words, be as precise with your questions and demands as you can.
ăOkay, I understand.ă
ăThen I presume we can start the countdown?ă
She then placed the hourglass on the table and turned it upside down, beginning the sifting of the sand inside.
ăSo, what exactly do you want to know, Mr. Customer?ă
She asked me. What I want to know is⌠wait, actually, I donât even know what I want to know, because I have no idea what is written on those pieces of paper. I asked her to read them for me precisely because I wanted to know that! So I guess weâll start with that and then branch out to the specifics.
ăWhat is written in this document right here?ă
ăThose are the general information about the newly-discovered Labyrinth, The Labyrinth of Cooratar. The current exploration progress is 11 levels. The first level is inhabited primarily by Needlewoods, level 2 is the domain of NaĂŻve Olives, the third oneâŚă
I donât get a single word of what sheâs saying to me. Like, I hear those words, but none of them is clicking with me. All I know is that sheâs probably talking about monsters prowling each level of the Labyrinthâs dungeon.
ăWhat about the intel on the Labyrinthâs deepest depths?ă
She takes all the papers and searches through them in order.
ăWell⌠it looks like no one has reached the deepest level yet, therefore we donât have any information on it yet. Iâm sorry.ă
After all that searching, all she had for me was a disappointing answer. But I kinda expected it, since the Labyrinth was apparently discovered only a few days ago. Of course no one would have reached all the way to its end in such a short amount of time.
ăAnd the other papers? What are they about?ă
ăThe ones over here contain the details of jobs for an Explorer.ă
Another piece of knowledge which was imparted to me by Alan the Slave Merchant was that the Guilds generally did not offer quests and jobs to outsiders, and that they might find it difficult to recruit Party members, but he also said that the guilds are always open for accepting new members into their ranks. But for the time being I would like to avoid making any decisions that may or may not have an impact on the rest of my days spent here. Before I commit myself to one guild or the other, Iâll have to carefully consider all of the options available to me to ensure that I wonât pick the worst possible one on the worst possible conditions. Kinda like with job hunting back on earth, but with more dire consequences.