The line crept forwards painfully slowly.
*Come on, come on...*
It gave me some leisure time to look around, but it wasn't what I needed.
*At least no one's bothering me.*
For some reason, I had a sneaking suspicion that someone was going to heckle or haze me, but things were uneventful so far. I supposedly looked young, but it wasn't uncommon to see kids around 13 or 14 years old mingling around.
*What are the laws around this kind of stuff?*
Was it a violation of child labor or truancy laws, or were such things unimportant in this world?
*If this so-called Guild is money laundering like I think they are, maybe breaking a few extra laws isn't that big of a deal. But shouldn't they want to fly under the radar-*
"Hello, boy. How can I help you?"
*Ah, finally.*
The lady in front of me looked rather normal compared to many of the other people around. She had dark brown hair, brown eyes, and tanned white skin. She wore a cream-colored cap with a white feather and a matching uniform with red embroidery on the hems.
*Though I can't specifically remember what my personal norm is exactly, red hair is definitely not a consideration.*
"Hello, miss," I said. "Do you know anything about gathering herbs?"
The receptionist raised an eyebrow. "What sort of herbs? It's not a common thing to request."
*What sort? The system didn't specify, so...*
"I don't think the species matters. Just any sort of herbs will do."
"Hmm... It seems you're not from around here so I'll have to let you know that gathering herbs isn't a simple task like it might be in your homeland."
"What do you mean?"
My expectation for this quest's difficulty was low considering it expired in a mere 3 hours, so I was surprised to hear this.
"We're basically in a desert," she replied. "The herbs that are requested here do not grow in the area. If there's something you need, I'll warn you that there could be a hefty price to submit a request. That being said, it is the first time I've heard somebody request herbs without specifying the type. Are you sure any herb will do?"
"Yes. Can you give me an estimate on how long it could take for somone to fulfill my request?"
"If you're lucky and your quest is accepted immediately, and you're even luckier and it's fulfilled right away, you're looking at a turnaround time of 3 days."
*Figures.*
"That's too long," I said. "I need something in less than 3 hours."
The receptionist shook her head. "I'm afraid that won't be possible."
"If so, then can I do it myself? You said I have to accept a quest or something to do it?"
"If you would like to accept a quest, I'll need to see some form of identification," she said.
"I don't have one. Can I purchase one here?"
"You don't have identification and want to accept a gathering herbs quest?" she said, her eye twitching ever so slightly.
*Yeah, yeah, I'm a nobody I know... At least she's remaining professional.*
"That's correct," I said. "If you can't issue it, then I'll figure it out myself."
The receptionist cleared her throat. "You can indeed purchase an Adventurer's ID here. It'll be 1 Silver."
"Here," I said, tossing a coin from my pouch onto the desk.
She stared at the thing for a split second before promptly accepting it and sliding it into a coin slot. Immediately, a flimsy card shot out the other side. She handed it to me along with a quill.
"Sign here," she said, pointing to a signature line at the bottom of the card.
I picked up the quill and stared at the card.
"If you can't write, I can scribe your name for you."
*It's not that...*
Obviously, I knew how to write. The problem was, I didn't have a prepared signature. I didn't know *what* to write.
*I'll just...*
I sloppily scrawled the letters "Emmushi" on the line and handed the card back to her.
She firmly took it and...
*She tore it in half? No...*
It split in two - it duplicated.
*Is that a form of magic?*
If my preconceptions from my previous existence held true here, that card would have undoubtedly torn in half.
"Here's your Adventurer ID," she said, handing one of the copies to me. "You may accept any quest that's been cleared for rank F and D adventurers."
All the card had on it was my name and rank, which was currently F. Needless to say, I wasn't confident I could get an officially appointed quest for herb gathering from the Guild.
*>System Quest: Adventurer's Guild discovery complete!*
*So it ended after I discovered my rank? Interesting. Also... for this card, wouldn't a carbon copy be simpler?*
There was no point questioning things in this world. I just had to go with the flow.