To register at the Adventurer's Guild, I asked the beautiful receptionist for help, and she gave me a rundown on everything.
Basically, you take on quests to earn money, and ranks go from the bottom up:
Copper
Iron
Bronze
Silver
Gold
Mithril
Orichalcum
That's the order.
You can take on quests regardless of rank, but if you take a quest above your rank, the reward gets reduced and you get hit with a huge penalty fee if you fail.
So yeah, that's the gist of it.
And then the beautiful receptionist dropped her next line on me.
"So, the registration fee will be five silver coins."
Huh? That's straight-up highway robbery.
There's no way someone who's about to become an adventurer can afford that much.
"You're joking, right?"
"No, I'm not joking. I can lend you the money personally. You will have to pay interest, of course."
The receptionist said that with a salesperson's smile.
When I looked at the other receptionist's face, she was wearing an expression of undisguised disgust.
Looking around behind me, the adventurers were split between those wearing "here we go again" expressions and those grinning with amusement.
The type who use their good looks as a shield to push their work onto others — we had those in my previous life too.
Naturally, I wasn't going to allow that.
"What is the standard registration fee?"
I asked while applying a light pressure.
The beautiful receptionist's face trembled, but she said nothing.
Maybe the pressure wasn't enough.
Just as I was thinking about ramping it up a notch, a veteran-looking person called out to me.
"Hey, you're overdoing it. Mithia here went and fainted. Let me handle the paperwork for you. Registration fee is three copper coins."
Ah, so she'd fainted.
No wonder she couldn't answer.
"Then I'll take you up on that."
I checked with my Divine Eye just to be sure there was no deception, and since there wasn't, I went ahead as instructed.
As told, I dripped blood onto the card, and it lit up.
If you've read enough light novels, it's a pretty familiar sight.
I was feeling a little moved when someone spoke to me from behind.
"Hey kid, what did you do to Mithia? Depending on your answer, you won't get off easy, y'know?"
A scary-looking guy had approached.
He looked like he was about to throw a punch at any moment.
"I didn't do anything. I just asked what the standard registration fee was."
"Just asking doesn't make someone faint, genius. Registration with Mithia here costs five silver coins, got it? Break that rule and you won't be able to survive in this town."
"Whatever."
"You little brat! You've got some nerve looking down on me!"
"Knock it off! Take it outside!"
A veteran receptionist stepped in to break things up.
It looked like the guild card was finished.
Might as well ask while I'm here.
"Um, what happens if there's a dispute within the guild?"
"If you break guild property, you pay for it. Other than that, it's basically do whatever you want — the guild doesn't get involved since it's your own responsibility. Adventurers pop up like weeds anyway, so nobody cares if you drop dead. Watch yourself."
Oh, that works out nicely.
Guess I should put on a show so nobody looks down on me.
"Hey, old man."
Pouring every ounce of my "drop dead" feelings into it, I unleashed [Sword Saint]-class intimidation.
The scary-looking man's eyes rolled back and he collapsed without a sound.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing! I just told you to knock it off!
You're getting dirty fluids
all over the place! I said don't cause trouble for the guild — were you even listening!?"
I didn't answer. Instead, I rummaged through the fallen man's pocket, pulled out a pouch of coins, and handed it to the veteran receptionist.
"This should cover the compensation."
By the time I came to, everything around me had gone dead silent.
The guild doesn’t meddle in private brawls.
But you mustn’t cause trouble for the guild.
So, as an apology to the guild, I handed over the old man’s money.
It wouldn’t make sense to use my own money when I was the one accosted.
I don’t know how much was in it, but it was probably enough.
"Hey, this guy’s not breathing!"
"No way, he’s a Gold Rank!"
I couldn’t very well let him die, so I pulled an elixir from my magic bag and splashed it on him.
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Skill: [Reverse], [Divine Eye], [Sword God]
Thank you always for reading!