Chapter 88 – The Two (2)
No matter which city you go to, people you can face as common as pebbles on the street are people who have jumped into the adventurer front.
In order for an adventurer to be promoted, it is necessary to successfully complete the guild’s request or catch wanted monsters or criminals to accumulate contributions to the guild to which it belongs, and conversely, if the request fails, the death or disappearance of a party member, large or small crimes. When you commit an act, your contribution is reduced and you may be demoted.
For that reason, the dog tag worn around the neck is a piece of evidence that serves as an indicator that helps to roughly grasp the abilities of adventurers.
The dog tag, which is a small stone plate made by roughly hewn and painted white, is a white porcelain grade for a newcomer who has just registered as an adventurer.
The gray dog tag created by thinly spreading a piece of metal left over from use in making equipment and stamping out the seal of the guild is a grade of steel that has gradually become accustomed to the life of an adventurer.
The copper-colored dog tag, which has largely eliminated the possibility of counterfeiting, is of the same grade by using ore containing high-purity copper to shape it with the hands of a trader and go through the process of precisely shaping it.
From the same level, where the adventurer’s guild has accumulated a lot of credit and performance, it can be said to be a true member, and corresponding rights and interests are guaranteed.
Valuables, equipment, and property can be safely stored in the guild’s warehouse, or the guild side mediates requests for difficulty and compensation appropriate to the same level.
Any adventurer can climb to the same level as long as they successfully accumulate contributions, but the situation is different from the silver level.
“Anyway, from the silver level, should I say that it is the main force of the adventurer’s guild and at the same time a concept like pride?
Well, it’s a job where adventurers make a living through hard work, so it’s great that they’ve been holding on well for a long time, but… ．
After dinner, Roden, who was talking while resting her chin on her table, was sitting side by side with Roxia and telling stories about the adventurer’s rank.
The girl, who nodded her head while satisfying her curiosity, looked at the silver adventurer’s dog tag that the owner had been issued by a guild in another city a long time ago.
“Aha… That’s why you have to take the test even when you go to another city. By the way, what kind of test did your uncle take when he got that dog tag?”
“Yeah. We were also curious about how oppa took the test.”
Just before Roden spoke her words, her twin sister, who had cleaned up all her dishes and dried her, sat down side by side across from her.
If Roden and Loxia are in charge of cooking whenever the four of them have mealtime together, it is the twin sisters’ role to clean up after the meal is over.
Anyway, Roden, who briefly recalled her memories of a few years ago, opened her mouth, touching his dog tag that he had put down on her table.
“For now, with other silver-ranked or higher adventurers as witnesses, interview the guild’s receptionist or guild officer to evaluate their personality.”
To explain the reason for keeping other adventurers in an easy-to-understand way, it is to prepare for an unfortunate incident. There are often idiots in the world who will attack without thinking when they receive a negative answer in the screening process.
“If you pass the interview, you can take the promotion test right away. By the way, the test fee is also taken away at this time, but I don’t know how much I have to pay these days.”
“How much did Roden’s brother pay for her exam?”
“At that time, obviously… I paid about 3 silver.”
Merim looked at Roden with three of her fingers spread wide, and made a disgusted expression.
“Oooh, the exam fee is filthy expensive. The other day, the captain said he paid a little over 2 silver for the exam fee.”
“Did the test fee go down these days? Or it could be a little different for each guild.
“Yes. The content of the test the captain took… Was to catch five wild drakes in half a day with another tester, but one was not enough…”
“It’s a waste to hear it again.”
“Yes, the captain also regretted it a lot.”
By the way, if you fail the promotion test, you can aim for the next opportunity only after half a year, assuming that you keep the contribution required for the promotion all the time.
“So, was Uncle also a test of catching a drake?”
“No. In my case, because there was a jungle area around the city where I took the test… It was about capturing twelve dryads with three people, including me.”
Of course, the promotion test passed neatly at once, and at that time, Roden alone hunted eight dryads.
It’s literally a neck-and-neck carry.
The twin sisters, who had listened closely to how Roden passed the promotion test from beginning to end, sighed in a relaxed posture while leaning on the backrest.
“Whoa!”
“The monsters to be hunted in the test we’re about to see… Must be of a completely different type from those caught by the captain and brother.”
“Probably the difficulty level will be roughly the same, so be sure to prepare.”
“Huh.”
The place where the twin sisters have to take the test is Nazari, a mid-sized city located in the direction to the capital of the Principality of Haron.
On the way to the capital from the western part of the principality, the commercial district is active, and thanks to the fact that there are areas with a kind of ecosystem where various monsters live in the surrounding area, it is a city overflowing with work for adventurers.
Assuming that you are traveling on a horse, it is a distance that takes about five days for a pure round trip.
At one point, Roden, looking at the map he had pulled out of his inventory, handed it to her twin sister, frowning in her concern.
“By the way, I don’t know if it’ll be all right if you two go alone.”
When the twin sisters told me about the promotion test a little while ago, they nailed Roden and Roxia by saying that they would go to Nazari by themselves.
“Don’t worry too much. Roden oppa. Before the four of us lived together, we went around town and city by ourselves. We’ll have to pass this test on our own.”
“Moreover, it’s kind of like having consecutive closures, right? Older brother Roden.”
“It is, though.”
From the point of view of Roden, who closed the potion shop for a few days before going on a swamp expedition, there is nothing else to argue with her twin sister.
After leisurely preparing the necessary things for tomorrow’s trip, they say that they set off for Nazari as soon as the morning of the sand is bright.
Considering the time spent going back and forth from Varmela to Nazari, taking exams, and taking breaks in between, it would take at least a week to return home.
“…Tsk! I can’t.”
Thoughtfully, Roden clicked his tongue and decided to respect her twin sister’s choice.
“Because it’s not strange no matter what happens during the trip. Merim, I don’t know about anything else, but don’t forget the scroll I entrusted to you. It’s just for one thing.”
Even in the midst of that, she doesn’t forget to take her summoning scroll that can summon Roden.
“Yes, yes~ I know it well. These days, I always keep it in my gym bag almost like a talisman.”
“Whoa, looking at it, it seems that my older brother is overprotective of us.”
After looking at Roden and Roxia’s worried eyes, the twin sisters met each other’s eyes and smiled at the same time.
It can’t be a bad feeling to have precious people who sincerely care about their well-being.
Even after that, the four of them chatted about the promotion test and travel, and greeted the night.
* * *
Next day.
In time for a lunch break, Roxia left her shop, and Roden went out with her twin sister for a while and went to visit a stable right next to the city wall.
The purpose is, of course, to acquire a horse. It is not a purchase, but a rental.
If two twin sisters are making a short trip, it is much easier and faster to rent a horse than to use a carriage.
“Are you two… Even able to ride a horse?”
It was not unreasonable for Roden to ask such a question to her twin sister, who chose to rent a horse as a means of transportation.
Horseback riding is never easier than it looks. Anyone who rides a horse once will be able to realize the difficulty of horseback riding.
You have to endure the feeling of riding on a creature rather than standing on your own feet, and you have to concentrate your mind considerably by giving considerable strength to the lower body of the rider according to the movement of the horse.
“Ah, I’ve ridden horses a few times before. There’s no particular problem.”
“So, what about Roden’s brother?”
“It’s me, I tend to burn quite a bit.”
On Earth, it was Loden who only saw horses the moment she traveled to Jeju Island, but after she came over here, she saw them on a daily basis and even rode her horse.
At first, it was vaguely scary, and I fell off a lot of horses, but I got used to it when I did a lot of things. I became much better at riding horses than normal people.
Quite a bit of time has passed since I last rode on the back of a horse, but I should still be able to ride without difficulty.
Suddenly, the three of them arrived at the stable, which was built as a wooden building.
“…Hmm?”
A young man who seemed to be an employee, who was concentrating on changing the horseshoes with a wide steel line, stopped working and approached the party with a bright face, as if he felt a presence.
“Oh, welcome. Guest! Are you here to borrow a horse?”
Horses are often purchased, but most customers rent rather than buy. Therefore, it has become a habit for staff to ask customers if they have come to borrow a horse.
Merim, who nodded her head in her representation, opened her mouth as she glanced at the horses visible through her wooden board.
“Yeah~ I came here because I needed two horses to borrow for about a week starting tomorrow.”
“Haha, let me introduce you as a poor guy. Please wait here for a moment.”
The moment an employee with a sales smile was about to enter the barn, Merim stopped him.
“Wait a minute. Mister. We’ll choose for ourselves.”
