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Guild Expulsion
「Tenth-tier adventurer, Sir Sora. I’m sorry but your qualification as an adventurer will be revoked today」
「….Huh?」
Three days before I was attacked by the king of flies
On that day, I was told by the guild’s receptionist that I was fired from the adventurers’ guild without a shred of pity.
It made my jaw drop.
I could not understand what just happened all of a sudden.
「…You’re joking, right…?」
「Nope. It’s an official decision approved by the guild master. Here is the letter of notice」
I grabbed the single sheet of document that the receptionist politely handed me with trembling hands.
It definitely stated on there that the tenth-tier adventurer, Sora, was expelled from the guild. The guild master’s seal of approval was also there.
I felt a sharp pain in my heart when I confirmed it. It wasn’t a figure of speech either.
How on earth did this happen? I asked myself.
Why am I suddenly expelled from the adventurers’ guild?
I had just finished my daily routine of herb gathering today and I had just turned them in as well.
There was no reason for them to be this stingy about it just because I didn’t turn in the exact amount.
I haven’t made any fatal mistakes recently in any other quests either. Rather, I have only been doing herb gathering quests for these last few months in the first place.
So why did I have to be expelled?
I started to get pissed at the composed expression of the receptionist in front of me as I thought about it.
This receptionist with braided hair, her words were polite, but her eyes were dead cold. She looked at me like she was looking at some rocks or weeds. It reminded me of how my father used to look at me.
Even though I’ve been enrolled in the guild for five years now, I was still at the lowest rank, an adventurer of the tenth-tier. It might be unavoidable for me to be looked down on.
However, it would be too much to have my adventurer qualification revoked for no reason just because of that.
I opened my mouth with the intention of yelling at her to stop fucking with me.
「…B-but couldn’t there some kind of mistake?」
—But what came out of my own mouth were words so polite that it made me sick.
The young receptionist who didn’t even look like she was over twenty years old made a small sigh. The disgust she was feeling from having to waste more time to deal with me was now showing on her face.
「There’s no mistake about it. It’s stated in the guild rules that adventurers who are not promoted out of the tenth-tier in a three year period will lose their qualification. Sir Sora, since you’ve been demoted three years ago, you’ve stayed at the tenth-tier the whole time, right? Then the conditions are met」
「…Oh, is-is that so…? I-I didn’t know about that. Um, I wish you would have given me a warning ahead of time…」
「Again, what I told you is stated clearly in the guild’s rules. It’s your own fault if you didn’t know about it. The guild has no obligation to give you a warning on it」
The receptionist stared at me right in the eyes as she replied.
I got cold feet and instinctively backed down from her angry gaze.
「This city of Ishka provides adventurers with lots of favorable treatments. That is because the city needs their power to defend it from the constant threat of monsters. Regardless of being an adventurer or part of the guild staff, as long as the person belonged to the guild, they have to always bear in mind the fact that they have the duty to work for the city of Ishka」
「That…well, I know…」
I wasn’t lying. I came to this city because I had heard about this city’s situation.
I came there to protect this city and the people here from the threat of monsters. I thought that I could even get my name out there by doing so.
I swore an oath to show everyone that what I could not do on the island, I will do in this city.
…But now that oath was farther away than the moon that’s floating in the sky.
The guild receptionist showered me with her cold eyes after she heard my response.
「While you’re aware of it, you still haven’t even climbed one rank in the timespan of three years, you know? In the first place, the climb to the ninth-tier is not difficult at all. Shouldn’t you know better than anyone about that since you were once in the ninth-tier five years ago?」
「B-but…. It takes a little bit of money…」
「The commission fee to take the ninth-tier exam is one silver coin. Are you telling me you couldn’t even make one silver coin in three years? Meanwhile, you were enjoying all the special privileges given to adventurers as you lived? Privileges are only given to those who fulfill their duties. Even a child would know that」
「Ughh….」
「Anyway, rules are rules. The punishment will stand. Moreover, after talking with you now, Sir Sora, it seems to me that you have indeed been neglecting your duty as an adventurer for the last three years.」
A barrage of sound words came pouring out of the receptionist’s mouth.
I could not come up with any comebacks and could only grunt silently as I opened and closed my mouth pointlessly.
I guess after seeing me like that, the receptionist probably judged that any more than this would be a waste of time for her, so she continued with an uncaring tone.
「This is your reward for today’s quest. I wish you luck in the future– Next person in line, please」
「Wait a—」
I was about to forcefully interrupt her and tell her to wait a minute.
But the receptionist was no longer paying attention to me.
The adventurers who were waiting in line had their eyes on me now as if they were telling me to hurry up and get the fuck out.
They were the eyes of people with both rankings and levels that were above me. I was starting to freeze up from their dangerous glares.
As a fake smile formed naturally on my face, I pitied myself from the bottom of my heart.
Doing that was like a skunk farting as its last defense.
I thought about at least talking some shit about the receptionist… but after thinking about it, this young and pretty receptionist was quite popular amongst the adventurers.
If I was going to cuss at her, it wouldn’t be surprising for the other adventurers here to jump in.
In the end, I could only walk away from the receptionist while feeling dejected.
Usually after I finished questing, I would go to the dining area of the guild to get a cup of ale (beer), but I’m not in the mood for that right now.
Well, before that–
「You’re not even going to return the proof of guild membership to me…? Are you serious?」
The silver seal that you have to hand in when you turn in your quest- they did not return that to me.
The proof of guild membership not only confirms your identity; it’s something that you need to provide when you want to receive adventurer’s benefits.
To put it simply, without that seal, I don’t get any discounts.
The city of Ishka, also known as the freedom city or adventure city, was always under the threat of monsters.
Naturally, the knights and soldiers who serve the country protected the city as well, but since most of Ishka’s battle potential relied on adventurers, the policy of giving adventurers preferential treatment was implemented.
Around here, it was just like what the receptionist said.
The benefits of being an adventurer ranged from getting discounts on weapons and tools to things like being able to live in inns for cheap. If you don’t have the proof of the guild, your living expenses will be about 30% higher.
The proof of the guild is normally submitted when you turn in your quest, and then it is returned to you with your rewards.
The fact that it was never given back to me shows that it wasn’t a prank or some kind of harassment by the receptionist, it was simply reality.
…At this time, the fact that I’ve been expelled from the guild has finally started to sink in. My back was shaking without me realizing it.
If I don’t have a job then I won’t have any income. I don’t have much savings either.
Up until now, my living expenses were cut down from using the dining area of the guild and the adventurer discounts in the inns.
I’ve been barely getting by in life as it is, and starting tomorrow, I won’t even be able to do that.
I walked out of the adventurers’ guild in a daze.
This was the organization I belonged to for the past five years. Even though it was my last day here, no one called out to stop me, and no one is going to miss me either.
It was just like five years ago.
Without me realizing it, an empty laugh surfaced from the corner of my mouth.
All I could do was laugh… that was all I could do.