Chapter 145

And so, Yuri stood in front of the Adventurer Guild’s door, but she couldn’t bring herself to enter, just fidgeting nervously at the entrance.

It was only natural, as Yuri’s decision to come to the Adventurer Guild was purely the result of an impulsive action.

Although she had a carefree personality, Yuri was, after all, the daughter of a count.

While she harbored admiration for the profession of adventurers and adventures, it was merely a fantasy-like longing.

The reality of meeting an actual adventurer and experiencing an adventure firsthand was a completely different matter.

It was akin to how military enthusiasts might enjoy war stories but wouldn’t actually want to experience war themselves.

Just as Sherlockians who enjoy reading Sherlock Holmes wouldn’t want to get involved with a real-life deranged serial killer.

That’s why Yuri, despite her admiration for adventurers and adventures, had never set foot in the Adventurer Guild until now.

“But… if things stay like this, I’ll just keep being looked down on by others…”

Yuri’s plan was this:

To immediately register as an adventurer at the Adventurer Guild, build an impressive track record as an adventurer, and prove to everyone that her hobby wasn’t something to be laughed at.

Dubbed the “Adventurer Noble Lady Operation.”

In reality, if you thought about it coldly, it was a ridiculous plan with questionable feasibility.

Even though she had received a better education than the average commoner, Yuri was still just a high school student at the academy. How could she possibly build a track record as an adventurer? And even if, by some miracle, she succeeded, it wouldn’t necessarily mean others would respect her hobby.

But sadly, there was no one around to point out these issues to Yuri, so she was seriously hesitating in front of the Adventurer Guild, unsure whether to go in or not.

“Excuse me, I’d like to pass. Could you move aside?”

At that moment, a man’s voice came from behind Yuri.

“Eek!”

Startled by the voice, Yuri turned around to see a Lizardman standing there, holding a shopping basket filled with various ingredients.

“L-Lizardman!”

The Lizardman race was considered quite rare even in Astram, where various demi-human races coexisted.

So, for Yuri, who had lived a peaceful life as an academy student, the Lizardman’s appearance was intimidating, and she reflexively stepped aside.

Fortunately, the Lizardman didn’t seem to mind Yuri blocking the path and casually walked past her into the Adventurer Guild.

Watching this, Yuri seemed to gain some courage. After taking a deep breath, she finally stepped inside the Adventurer Guild.

—

“Hoo. Another fulfilling day.”

I thought to myself as I organized the spoils from today’s market trip.

Lately, my wallet had been quite healthy, allowing me to enjoy satisfying shopping trips every time.

Truly, each day felt fulfilling.

The reason for this was the human hunters I had subdued before returning to Astram.

I hadn’t subdued them for the bounty, but they had a hefty price on their heads, which allowed me to receive a substantial reward.

I heard that before attacking the werewolf village, they had slaughtered and plundered numerous non-human races with the same mindset as hunting beasts.

For example, they had massacred entire goblin villages under the pretext of “pest control” and looted their belongings multiple times.

Unbelievable.

They had committed no crimes, yet they deemed it acceptable to slaughter other races simply because they weren’t human, doing so without any sense of guilt.

Honestly, even though I was human in my past life, by my standards, humans like them seemed less human than goblins or werewolves.

Well, at least that Leon guy had his arm bones completely shattered, so even if he somehow escaped execution, he’d never be able to wield a sword with his right hand again.

As I was organizing the items I bought during my shopping trip, Wendy, the receptionist at the Adventurer Guild, approached me.

“Hey, Kurt. Do you have a moment?”

“Wendy. Coming all the way up to the second floor to call me? Must be something important. What is it?”

“There’s a hopeful adventurer I’d like you to evaluate.”

“Evaluate? Me?”

Wendy’s request reminded me of the evaluation I had received from Karina when I first joined the Adventurer Guild.

“But why ask me? Isn’t that usually the role of Silver Rank or higher adventurers?”

“Well, the thing is, all the Silver Rank and higher adventurers are currently away… So, it falls to the Bronze Rank adventurers to handle it. But honestly, Kurt, your skills are on par with most Silver Rank adventurers.”

“Ah, I see.”

Come to think of it, Karina and Serena were also away on a request today.

They said it was an expedition that would take a few days, but I wasn’t keen on such long requests, so I didn’t go.

It seemed like the other Silver Rank adventurers were also coincidentally away.

Just a few months ago, I was the one being evaluated, and now I’m the one doing the evaluating. How times change.

“It probably won’t take too long. The evaluation itself shouldn’t take much time, so could you help out just this once?”

Wendy pleaded as if the Adventurer Guild was truly short-staffed, and since I didn’t have any pressing matters, I agreed.

“Alright. So, who’s the hopeful?”

“Well, actually…”

In response to my question, Wendy gave an ambiguous smile and led me to the lobby where the hopeful adventurer was waiting.

And when I arrived at the Adventurer Guild’s lobby, I couldn’t help but realize the reason behind Wendy’s ambiguous smile.

Waiting for me in the lobby was the girl I had seen earlier, loitering in front of the Adventurer Guild.

She looked no older than twenty, without any proper adventurer gear, and appeared to be just an ordinary civilian girl.

“That girl isn’t the hopeful adventurer, is she?”

“Ahaha…”

Instead of an answer, I heard the same ambiguous laughter as before.

But that laughter was as clear an answer as any.

“So, this is what you meant by ‘it won’t take long.'”

Anyone could see she was nowhere near ready to be an adventurer, still just a teenager.

This wasn’t so much an evaluation as it was a polite way to send her home.

Understanding the situation, I approached the girl, who was looking around the Adventurer Guild with a nervous expression.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Kurt, the adventurer who’ll be evaluating you.”

“Ah! You’re the person I met at the entrance earlier…!”

She recognized me.

“Right. Let’s skip the small talk and get straight to the evaluation.”

Honestly, the outcome seemed obvious, but…

Still, we had to go through the formalities.

—

And so, we entered the training grounds where I had once been evaluated by Karina.

First, before testing her skills, I asked her some basic personal questions.

“Name?”

“I’m Yuri Blossom. No, just Yuri!”

Yuri Blossom, huh?

From her speech, she seemed to be from a noble family.

Hiding her surname was probably part of that.

Honestly, a noble’s child showing up at the Adventurer Guild…

It just seemed like a rebellious phase.

But an evaluation is an evaluation.

I continued questioning Yuri.

“Occupation?”

“Aca… I mean, before aspiring to be an adventurer, I was a hunter!”

She was clearly lying.

Her speech didn’t match that of a hunter, and her clothes and hands showed she had never done manual labor.

Did she think claiming to be a former hunter would make it easier to get adventurer qualifications?

Such an obvious lie would be exposed immediately.

Why would she lie like that…?