SIAW Vol. 1 Chapter 13
Chapter 13 – To the Frontier Town, Ronda
I woke up earlier than usual and entered the Dimension Area. Sil seemed to be still sleeping, but he quickly woke up and came out of the kennel.
“I probably won’t be able to come again until tonight, so I’ll leave you plenty of food, okay?”
I then took out three, four butchered Horn Rabbits.
Sil came up to me and started rubbing against my legs, so I played a bit with him, enjoying the feel of his fur in the process.
In just one day after I tamed him, his mane became even glossier. The pack he was in was very large, after all, so maybe he didn’t have enough to eat.
After breakfast, it was still a bit dark out, but I headed to the village gate with Ranga., Jeet and Zlatan were already waiting for us, as well as the elder, together with the carriage. The last one to join was Misha, clearly sleepy. She got on the coachman’s seat, and I sat next to her.
The elder, Sasha and Mei thus watched us depart, with looks of apprehension on their faces.
Soon enough, we reached the first rest stop.
According to the Map skill, there were few packs of Forest Wolves, each numbering ten members at most. There didn’t seem to be any evolved versions of the monsters either.
We thus proceeded towards the town, resting every once in a while.
On the way, we were attacked by Horn Rabbits and small groups of Forest Wolves, but Ranga and the others took care of it.
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Ultimately we reached Ronda, much earlier than expected.
The town was surrounded by stone walls. There were cultivated fields outside the walls, and I could see people working on them here and there.
The gate too was much more imposing than the village. There were guards inspecting the people who came in and out. Maybe because of the time — it was just past two in the afternoon — traffic was rather sparse.
When our carriage arrived in front of the gate, the guard approached us.
“If it isn’t Ranga! Long time no see!”
“It’s been too long, Jorn. Still stuck watching the gate, huh?”
“Ah, shut up. What brings you around, anyway?”
Ranga seemed to know the guard. The two walked away from us, shoulders locked, and started chatting. After a while, they came back, and the guard asked Ranga another question.
“…so you’re going to the Adventurers’ Guild to report about that. I’ll report to my boss.”
“Yeah, thanks. It’s still early, so I’ll go right now.”
We then were let inside the town.
While we headed towards the Adventurers’ Guild, Ranga explained what he talked about with the guard.
In town too there was a bit of a fuss about the fact that the traveling merchant Soran was missing. His family had requested the Adventurers’ Guild to form a search party. Soran, however, had planned to visit several villages, so there was no way to know ahead where he could have disappeared. They started researching the villages on his sales route from the last one, and they learned that he hadn’t visited any one of them. Regarding Ranga’s village, a search party had been sent there five days prior, but they hadn’t returned either, so they were in the middle of preparing a second party.
～
Ranga had just finished explaining when we arrived at the Adventurers’ Guild.
“I’ll go sell the pelts and Mana Stones. While they examine them, you go register with the guild. I’ll deliver the elder’s letters, then report to the guildmaster if necessary.”
I was a bit miffed that Ranga suddenly took charge like that, but I barely knew anything about the town and the guild, so I followed his orders.
We thus followed him to the reception, carrying the pelts.
“We have pelts and Mana Stones to sell. I’d like to have the four guys behind me registered as adventurers too. And…here, these letters are for the guildmaster. This is my guild card.”
Another receptionist approached, then started analyzing the items we brought.
I was given an adventurer registration form and told to fill it. One of the receptionists took the letters and went inside a room on the other side of the entrance hall.
There weren’t many adventurers around at this time, so the reception wasn’t very busy.
I was going to start filling the form, when I noticed Zlatan was gawking around, tears in his eyes.
I asked him what was going on, and he said that he could read a little, but not write. Misha said she would write for him and he sighed in relief.
In the form we had to write our name, age, race and gender only. Additionally, there was a registration fee of three silver coins.
While I was writing, a well-built man came out from the tavern on the opposite side of the room. I was secretly — and eagerly — wondering if that classic situation was going to happen to us too, and the man approached us.
“Ranga? Ranga, is that you? Man, it’s been a long time! How have you been doing?”
“Hey there, Gust. You’re drinking already?”
The man and Ranga knew each other, apparently.
The two continued talking.
“I came back yesterday from an escort mission, so I’m off duty today. What brings you here, anyway? You’ve got some new faces with you.”
“Yeah, some stuff happened, so I came to report to the guildmaster. These are guys I’ve been training at my village, I brought them to get registered today. We’re going back to the village next, but…right, the two younger ones over there are planning to stay in town and start working as adventurers, do keep an eye on them, will you?”
Ranga glanced at me and Misha.
“You? Training other people? Now that’s news…you always fought as you pleased, and left everything troublesome to the rest of the party, didn’t you?”
“W-Well, I was young…I’ve got a family now. People change.”
Ranga babbled such excuses, giving me side glances at the same time.
One of the receptionists then returned to the counter.
“Mr. Ranga, the guildmaster wishes to speak with you.”
“Sure. Sorry Gust, but I’m wanted elsewhere. I’ll see you later.”
Ranga then followed the receptionist to the back of the hall, at a suspiciously quick pace.
Gust seemed to want to say something, but before he could another receptionist called out to us.
“We are going to check your forms and issue the guild cards. When your name is called, please place a hand on this magic item. Once all of your cards are ready, I will explain how the guild works.”
The receptionist’s words made me panic a bit.
How were they going to check? Would the magic item show my status?
No matter what happened, I couldn’t let them see my skills!
Jeet was called first, and he put a hand on the magic item. The guild card appeared on the receptionist’s side, and they compared its contents with the registration form.
There didn’t seem to be any problems, as he received his card immediately.
Misha was called next. The process was the same, and she received her card right away too. The same happened to Zlatan too.
I put my hand on the magic item, as my heartbeat accelerated.
The card appeared immediately; the receptionist checked it, but their expression didn’t particularly change.
I thus received my guild card and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Focus on the information you with for the guild card to show, and you can display the HP, MP, stamina and other values, as well as the skills and titles you possess”
While listening to the explanation, Jeet and Zlatan were showing each other their cards. Misha looked at hers and seemed to be pretty happy.
“We do not recommend showing your stats, skills and titles to strangers. Such information clearly displays the owner’s abilities. If you have to show it to someone, please make sure you absolutely trust that person. Furthermore, asking others about their ability or skills is not appropriate. Please refrain from any such inquiry.”
Jeet and Zlatan looked down, embarrassed.
“The guild card functions as proof of your identity. By showing it at the entrance of a town, you should be able to enter without problems. Some towns might require an entrance fee, but the possession of a guild card can, in some cases, allow exemption. It depends on the town, however, so please check accordingly. If you ask the Adventurers’ Guild before you go, we can provide information about the nearby towns,”
Everyone nodded, listening intently.
“Furthermore, in case of murder or other grave crimes, a negative title will be attached to the perpetrator’s guild card, and the card itself will grow redder in color. If you gain a negative title without meaning to, please report to the guild as soon as possible. If it is confirmed to be an accident, the guild will issue a separate certificate. I must add, however, that such a case is extremely rare.”
I had no intention of committing crimes, but if something unreasonable or unfair happened…
“Next, I will explain about adventurer ranks. G is the lowest rank; every individual aged 12 and over can register with the guild, but the initial rank is always G. It is not possible to advance in rank until the owner becomes of age. Even in the case of registering after coming of age, the initial rank is G. At this rank, it is not possible to undertake missions that involve fighting with monsters. Some towns also only allow you to take missions inside the town itself. Advancing to rank F requires passing a test, meant to confirm if the candidate is capable of undertaking extermination-type missions. The rank then goes up to E, D, C, B, A and S, but to advance the candidate will be judged on their ability and level of contribution to the guild. The criteria for advancement are not made public. Requests and missions will be posted on that board, so please take the ones matching your rank. This concludes the basic explanation: if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.”
Pretty clear explanation, I’m sure they’re used to saying it.
We then paid the registration fee.
“It appears you are all of age already, so would you like to take the rank F advancement test already? If you wish, you may take it as soon as tomorrow.”
“Yes, please!! For all of us!”
Misha replied, without even asking us if it was okay.
Jeet and Zlatan seemed happy, though, so I guess it wasn’t a problem.
“Please come to this reception tomorrow at nine, then. The test will start as soon as you are ready.”
“Thank you!!”
So we all replied in unison. Just then, Ranga came back, followed by a middle-aged man. The man looked rather lean, with streaks of white in his hair.
Ranga introduced him to us.
“Sorry for the wait, guys. Let me introduce you to the Ronda guildmaster.”
“I’m the guildmaster, Zanvert. I’ll be honest, I was pretty surprised to hear that Ranga’s trainees took down the Forest Wolf pack! I’ll be looking forward to your exploits!”
“Thank you!!”
Zanvert, the guildmaster, seemed a pretty well-mannered person, more similar to a knight than an adventurer. I quietly used Appraisal on him, and saw that he had a surname, so he was probably a noble.
His stats were the highest I had seen after being reincarnated in this world. Compared to mine, however…well, they were a cut above Ranga’s, that’s for sure.
“Ranga, have you already decided where you’re going to stay the night? The guild staff already went to deliver the elder’s letter to Soran’s family, but they might want to talk to you, so please let me know.”
“I planned to stay at the Napping Cat. If there aren’t enough vacant rooms and we have to go somewhere else, I’ll let you know.”
“Very well.”
After that, we waited while Ranga talked to Gust, then left the guild together. We got on the carriage and Ranga took us to the Napping Cat Inn.