After we finish with the discussion of our plan for the Adventurers Admission Exam, me, Felin, and Mifumi-sama prepare all our necessities for doing quests at the Adventurers Guild.
There is not much that we discuss since the Exam is still in two weeks from today. We only check on how much money we have earned and decide to take more requests to earn more funds for the Exam.
"We're heading out Mom."
"Vier, Mifumi-sama, Felin-chan, please be careful out there okay?"
Mom sees us off with her wish for us to be safe. She's worried for children like us doing adventurer's work but Mom knows that we are already at the right age to become an official Copper-Rank adventurer.
"Thank you for our packed lunch, Auntie."
"We'll be extra careful doing quests, so don't worry Auntie Stelle."
Felin gave her thanks to my Mom for preparing our packed lunch. She really enjoys eating delicious food and is happy to eat my Mom's cooking.
Mifumi-sama gave her thanks as well. She actually doesn't have to do that since my family as well Felin's family works as retainers for Mifumi-sama's family but her household raised her to be respectful to others regardless of their social status.
Mifumi-sama is actually a Noble. She is the firstborn daughter of the Greendale Baron House who governs our Green-Dale town.
Since both our families work for Mifumi-sama's Greendale Baron House, and both of us are friends close to her age, we're both chosen to accompany her being an adventurer and also be her personal retainers.
Still, me and Felin want to become adventurers on our own together with Mifumi-sama. Even if we're not chosen to be her personal retainers, we will still accompany her in being an adventurer.
After walking for a while, our group reached the east main road of our town. If we head west from here, we will reach the town's public square in less than an hour then take the north main road towards the Adventurers Guild...
...bump!...
"Ouch!..."
Someone suddenly bump into me while I'm walking.
"Vier-chan, are you okay?"
"Be careful on the road, Mister!"
Mifumi-sama is quite worried at me even though she knows that it will take more than a bump to hurt an adventurer like me. Felin on the other hand, is quite enraged. She is acting like a hissing cat. However, with her child like appearance, it's actually kinda cute.
"Sorry kid, I didn't notice you there. Are you hurt anywhere?"
"I'm fine, Mister. But you still need to be careful, what if you bump into a much younger child than me? You could totally hurt them."
"Sorry, the road is quite crowded today. I will be careful onwards. Here's a honey-candy as my apology..."
"Make it three, Mister."
"Huh?..."
That Mister got surprised or perhaps confused by my sudden demand.
"There are three of us in our group and if I'm the only one eating that honeycandy then I would feel guilty that I can't share it with my friends."
"That's right, Mister! I also want honey-candy!"
"Felin-chan, don't say things like that. And Vier-chan, you can't be greedy like that."
"No Miss, your friend is right. I guess I caused trouble with your whole group. Here, take these honey-candies."
Mifumi-sama tried to stop me and Felin from bargaining but that Mister somehow agreed to my demand and gave us three honey-candy wrapped in baking paper. After saying his apology again, that Mister said his goodbye and headed to where he was going.
"Cat-face Vier-chan, it's also your fault that you bump into that Mister, right? It's because you're monologuing while walking, right?"
"Ehh?... Ummm... No, It's because of how crowded the main road is today. I wonder why there are so many people in a countryside town like ours, right?"
Mifumi-sama stared at my face suspiciously and questioned me. I tried to dodge her question by changing the topic. She's right that I'm partially at fault for bumping that Mister but I'm not gonna admit that I'm monologuing while walking in the middle of the road... Wait!... What does she mean by Cat-face?
"Sheesh. Thankfully no one got hurt. If you're wondering why there's so many people in our town today, it's probably because they are here to purchase the Monster-Cores and Monster-Materials from last month's Dungeon-Stampede subjugation."
"Hmmm... That's probably right. The Adventurers Guild and the Merchants Association should start selling those by now."
"Vier, Mifumi-sama, let's eat the honey-candy right now!"
Among the three of us, Felin is the one that likes eating honey-candy the most. Her sparkling eyes show her anticipation of eating honey-candy. It's not that these candies are expensive but there's always a shortage for its stock. After all, these honey-candy came from the hive of bee-like monsters.
I handed the other pieces to Felin and Mifumi-sama and after eating our share we started moving again headed towards the Adventurers Guild.
While walking I can't help but look around and compare the appearance of our town to the towns that I see in my dreams of Memory-Fragment.
Our culture has been influenced by many popular Dream-Holders so our town looks like a replication of almost everything that I see in my dreams.
We don't have those tall unusual square buildings but we have the same stylish buildings made of wood from Forest-type Dungeon, metal ores and stone from Mine-type Dungeon, and glasses from Lake-type Dungeon.
Our roads are not made of the same material as those solid roads that I see in my dreams but the stones covering our roads were reshaped and reinforced by Ground-Magic so it's probably as sturdy and even as those solid roads.
The walls of our town were like those walls that protect the castle that I see in my dreams, but our walls were probably much more sturdy because of Ground-Magic reinforcement.
The only difference is that we built our town while preserving the nature around us. We don't cut down trees and we don't destroy the grounds. If we did those things, the Elementals especially the Elf race and Dwarf race would be mad at the Humans.
After some time, we finally made it to the Adventurers Guild.
It's already 9 in the morning so there are no more crowds this late in the morning. Only a few adventurers are sitting in the waiting area, there's no long line at the counter, and the quest board and notice board are not crowded. This is really the right time to come to the Adventurers Guild.
For a normal Copper-Rank rookie adventurer, they need to be early at the guild, around 6 in the morning so they can grab those limited good paying, easy Copper-Rank quests.
Our Party has an initial budget that came from our allowance, so we have the leeway of taking those less paying Copper-Rank quests.
"We don't need to burden ourselves during the morning rush at the Guild. We're not after the money yet, our goal is to learn and have more experience from doing much harder Copper-Rank quests."
Well, what I'm saying is just an excuse. We're actually after the money because we need more funds for the Adventurers Admission Exam.
"It is because you can't wake up early Vier-chan. That is why we're always late for those good-paying, easy Copper-Rank quests."
Mifumi-sama retorted to my great idea of coming late at the Adventurers Guild. I can't deny it was a bit tough for me to wake up in the morning but I can really do it if I try, probably.
"Well, Felin will get bored if we only take an easy gathering quest, right?"
I tried to dodge the topic of my sleeping habit by asking Felin for help.
"Mhm! I hope there's an exciting quest on the board."
Copper-Rank quests are usually about gathering materials from the forest, hunting Rank-1 monsters, doing chores around the town, and delivering packages around the village in our territory. However...
"There might be an unexpected quest, so don't lose hope, Felin."
"Maybe they let us fight Rank-2 or Rank-3 monsters!"
"That would be irresponsible for the Guild Felin-chan. Copper-Rank adventurers like us are only allowed to fight Rank-0 and Rank-1 monsters."
"But we did fight them last time, Mifumi-sama."
"That is because it's an emergency. We're not allowed to fight them at normal times, Felin-chan."
"Okay, Mifumi-sama."
Felin is not acting reckless or naive by wanting to fight monsters with higher rank than what's allowed to our rank. It's just that she is confident with her strength. After all, she is a pure blood Demi-Human of the Lightning-Beast Saber race.
Adventurers and monsters are categorized by Rank. These kinds of rules were made for the adventurers to know how dangerous those monsters are, which monsters are they allowed to fight, and to minimize the loss of many adventurers.
Copper-Rank adventurers like us were only allowed to fight Rank-0 and Rank-1 monsters...
Iron-Rank adventurers can fight Rank-2 and Rank-3 monsters...
Silver-Rank adventurers can fight Rank-4 and Rank-5 monsters...
Gold-Rank adventurers can fight Rank-6 and Rank-7 monsters...
And the highest of all adventurers rank the Mithril-Rank can fight Rank-8 and Rank-9, the highest of all the monsters rank.
Most of the adventurers in our town are Iron-Rank. That is the average rank for a normal adventurer. To become a Silver-Rank, you need to have a special talent, to become a Gold-Rank you need to be super strong, and to become a Mithril-Rank you need to be extraordinary. That's the simplest definition for the rank of adventurers.
If our party is aiming to support Mifumi-sama in her goal for becoming an adventurer, then we need to resolve ourselves to face all the challenges a Mithril-Rank Adventurer is capable of...
"Don't worry Vier-chan, I know our Party can do that."
"Huh?..."
I was surprised by what Mifumi-sama said. After all, what she said was the exact reply to what I was thinking.
"What do you mean Mifumi-sama?"
"Nothing. I just said out loud what I was thinking, Vier-chan."
"Sheesh. For a second, I thought that you were reading my thoughts, Mifumi-sama."
"There's no way I can do that Vier-chan. Right, Felin-chan?"
"Mhm! We really can't tell what you're thinking, Vier."
Somehow I feel like Felin and Mifumi-sama are lying... No, it's more like they're both being sarcastic. Anyway...
"The Guild won't be crowded at this time so it's much easier to pick up quests at the board."
"You're still thinking of excuses for not waking up early, right Vier-chan?"
"Ehh?... Of course not Mifumi-sama. Ha!ha!ha!"
"Sheesh. Fine, let's pick many quests that can be done in the same area."
""Mhm!""