"Oh, so finally, young master Rex has been banished from his home too."
"It's a common story that a stupid, weak noble gets banished and becomes an adventurer, but honestly, you shouldn't underestimate us, you know? A male <Support Magician>... No, a Freeloader."
"Welcome to the bottom of the world... hahahaha."
When I arrived at the adventurer's guild alone, what awaited me were the teasing voices of some commoners.
And many other bystanders.
"Huh... What a silly mistake to think I was banished."
Please forgive me for the urge to mutter to myself.
I don't know about other countries, but at least in this kingdom, it tends to be considered a disgrace to the family to expel a child before they graduate from the noble academy.
It's ridiculous that they mistakenly assumed that I had been "banished from my home" and even went so far as to point out that this rare case is "a common occurrence."
Well, right now I don't really care about the opinions of commoners.
It's pointless to expect anything from others, whether good or bad.
...If I was still an unpopular corporate slave, I probably wouldn't have thought this way.
For the time being, I ignored the commoners who were making fun of me and headed towards the general reception desk.
"I want to register as an adventurer."
"Understood. Now, please fill out this form."
The calm-looking female staff member greeted me with a pleasant smile, showing no signs of disgust or fear.
Hmm, as expected from a guild employee who deals with rough people on a daily basis.
She must have been extremely brave.
I followed the female staff member's instructions, completed all the paperwork, and submitted it.
After a female staff member checked my documents, a short while later...
"Here's your adventurer card."
"thank you"
"With this, Rex-sama is a newbie adventurer of F rank. By the way, please note that adventurers can only take on quests of their own rank or lower."
"In other words, you F rank bastard can only take on F rank quests! You'll be stuck at the bottom forever, you weakling who can't even use a knife!"
"Gahahaha!"
Hey, were you eavesdropping on the conversation between me and the female staff member?
What a bunch of free time.
"...There's no need to worry about those people. Everyone starts out as F rank."
"It's okay. Thank you for your concern."
"No no, not at all... By the way, now that you have registered as an adventurer, how about recruiting party members? If you'd like, we help you recruit party members"
"I won't use the recruitment service. I plan to work solo."
ads
Judging from the behavior of the commoner adventurers so far, I'll definitely be left out.
They would surely be turned away with comments like "We don't need a weakling," "What kind of punishment is it to hire a male support magician?" and "Who would want to team up with a stupid noble?"
Even if there were a party willing to let us in with good intentions, there would likely be some extremists trying to sabotage.
And most importantly, there are no adventurers here who I would like to team up with.
After all, there were only people who would make fun of me to my face and bystanders who wouldn't even try to stop them.
Well, that in itself is as expected so it's no big deal.
"Excuse me, but you're a Support Magician, aren't you, Rex-sama?"
"That's true. But my sword master told me that there's no problem accepting quests solo."
I said this while pointing to the hilt of the sword at my waist.
The sword was equipment from the Duke's knight order, given to me by the commander, who said, "It's a surplus item, but please take it if you'd like."
"Well then, let me hit you once - no, fight me!"
The one who said this and challenged me to a fight was a male adventurer in his twenties.
He probably holds a grudge against Rex--no, me--for insulting him in the past.
“You’ve been holed up in your room for the past year, and now you’ve just shown up! But your luck ran out when you came to the guild! Here, you’re a junior, and I’m a senior──wait… since when did you get behind me...!"
I had moved behind the senior adventurer and lightly patted him on the shoulder.
"You've got to be kidding me... How can you use <Ground Shrink> even though you're a <Support Magician>? That's supposed to be an advanced skill that only a <Sword Saint> or an <Assassin> can master...!"
"I used physical strengthening magic to improve my leg strength."
"I've never heard of anyone "strengthening" themselves! This guy is a monster!"
All the adventurers, including the seniors who challenged me to a fight, were whispering, "That guy's dangerous...!"
It's hard to believe that these people are the same people who had been calling me a "weakling" just a moment ago.
Now that I had demonstrated a certain level of ability, I said to the female staff.
"I'm going to work solo from now on. I'm sure the staff members understand that I have the ability to do so."
“…Understood. If that’s what you want, I have no complaints about your solo activities. But for the first quest, let’s choose a relatively safe one together. The ‘Gale Bandit Gang’ has been running rampant lately… so how about this medicinal herbs collection quest?"”
The quest involves collecting a certain amount of medicinal herbs that are used to make low-level potions.
According to guild staff, in areas where medicinal herbs can be harvested in large quantities, the only monsters that appear are slimes, known as the weakest monsters.
It's definitely a request for beginners, but I'll take it seriously in order to prove my abilities as a freelancer to the guild.
"Okay, I'll take on this quest."
"Thank you very much. Please be careful."
And so, I left the guild, seen off by a gentle and kind female staff member.
Some adventurers scolded me, saying "You F-rank bastard, you should just spend the rest of your life weeding!" but I ignored them.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Ahh... I finally found it. Seriously, what part of this is for beginners?"
After much difficulty, I finally found a few medicinal herbs.
Of course, the locations where the medicinal herbs grow can be found by looking at the map provided by the guild staff.
However, perhaps because there were many people taking on the same "medicinal herb collection quest" as me, the herbs had already been overharvested, and I couldn't find any at all.
"But this won't be enough to meet the quota."
I was thinking about that while pulling out the medicinal herbs.
I soon finished collecting them all.
I thought I'd have to move to another place... but even so, I searched thoroughly until I finally found this place.
To be honest, it might be difficult to find any more medicinal herbs.
How can I achieve my quota?
"That's right, what would happen if we tried to 'heal' the herbs?"
Since Support Magicians are users of white magic, they can use healing magic, although the effect is weak.
And although I don't know if it's true or not, Louise had told me something like "In terms of the quality and quantity of magical power, yours already surpasses that of the previous Saint."
The vocation of a Saint is said to have the power to regenerate even missing parts of the body.
So...
For now, let's try releasing a little bit of magic power and see what happens.
The torn roots of medicinal herbs that should have remained in the ground.
I'm going to heal it bit by bit.
"...Ohhh! It's growing, it's growing!"
Medicinal herbs began to sprout out of the ground.
This is despite the fact that I wasn't even trying seriously.
I was a little scared of what would happen if I got serious, but I'll put that aside and gather some medicinal herbs.
…Okay, now it looks like I can achieve my quota.
ads
"--As expected of my master."
"Whoa!"
Suddenly, a familiar, flat, cool voice sounded.
When I turned around, Louise was standing there in a maid's uniform and carrying a sword.
Apparently, Louise was tailing him.
I didn't notice at all, as expected of a high-ranking Sword Saint.
"...I am truly sorry. Although I didn't mean to startle you, Master, I should not have called out to you while you were working. Please, God punish me--"
"N-no. It's my fault for being so engrossed in pulling out weeds."
It would be terrible if I got attacked by monsters while harvesting.
I'll be more careful from now on.
"Louise, thanks to you I was able to gain valuable "practical experience". Thank you. So you don't need to worry about me..."
"If you say so, master... back to the point. Master, you quickly regenerated the torn plants. This is truly the work of a saint... no, it is the work of God. If this were a fairy kingdom that loved nature, I'm sure you would be highly valued by the High Elf King."
"The High Elf King of the Fairy Kingdom...that's quite a bold statement."
"That's how important what you've accomplished, Master."
If Louise says that, I'll believe her.
I had accomplished something so important without even thinking about it.
Russle...
Hmm? It seemed like I heard some kind of noise coming from the bushes.
"...Hey Louise."
"Yes, master."
I asked in a low voice, and Louise answered in a low voice.
"Maybe I'm being followed?"
"You have noticed something very well. Such insight will be necessary for you in dealing with monsters and criminals in the future, Master. So, do you know how many people you are currently surrounding us? Please answer as if this were part of your training."
Following Louise's instruction, I heightened my senses.
The grass and trees sway even though there is no wind.
Even though it was just me and Louise there, I could hear the sounds of multiple breathing.
…And an unnatural fluctuation in magical power.
All humans possess magical power, which is used for spells and skills, and the quality of that magical power is affected by one's mental state.
"Five people."
"That's a clear answer, Master. Even though your opponents were lowlifes, you managed to calmly analyze the matter."
"--Hey, who the hell do you call "lowlifes"? You idiot."
Just as I expected, three men appeared from the bushes.
The remaining two remained hiding in the bushes.
Hmm. Judging from their bad clothes, equipment, and patterns, they are probably thieves.
"We are the Gale Bandits, the gang that silences crying children... and even among them we are the finest of the elite."
Gale Bandits?
I don't know, it's not in the game.
Ah, but it seems the guild staff said something.
I guess it slipped out of my mind because I wanted to start the quest quickly.
"If you value your life, then give me all your money and possessions. Oh, and that includes your clothes too, okay, Hehehe..."
The thief stared at Louise's body and licked his lips.
For now---
"I refuse. I won't give you anything."
"Wha...?!"
When I stated my answer, the thieves seemed surprised and let out husky voices.
TN : if you found something wrong just let me know
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