A Planning Meeting?
On Holy Day, most of the shops in the village were closed, and the adventurers wouldn’t take on requests unless they were urgent. The Guild was still open, but there were fewer staff members than usual.
Since the children’s gathering experience was held once every two weeks, everyone would report to work that day, but it was only a short shift around noon to receive the gathered items.
That was why I received magic training from the Vice-Guildmaster on Holy Day. Sometimes the Guildmaster joined in too, and he mainly drilled me in fire magic.
The Vice-Guildmaster’s training was the same as when I had been taught by the elf Professor Doua, no chanting, just endlessly reproducing the magic I was shown.
Just like the Leaf Wall I was first shown, he also taught me composite magic such as wind and wood together, and I practiced those as well.
“You still attend the learning hall on weekday mornings, correct? Then we’ll accept requests focused on subjugation in the forest during the mornings. I hear almost no one uses the training grounds on weekday afternoons, so why don’t we train with you in the afternoons?”
“Taddy, afternoon training is fine and all, but Vio takes a nap after lunch. If we’re going to do it, could we start after the fourth bell?”
“Oh my, that’s right… you’re still only five. Children grow while they sleep, after all. I understand. Dear, in that case Kathe should be fine going a little deeper into the forest. We’ll start with the outer forest, but perhaps by the end of the month she’ll be able to go as far as the inner forest.”
On the day the weapons were completed, Dad and Kathe’s parents had this discussion about future training.
After lunch, I usually did a bit of gathering to help digestion, then took a one-hour nap.
During that gathering time lately, I had also been cutting wood and making square boards for the karuta cards.
“Vio, I’m surprised we can still spend time together like this even after graduation. Please keep looking after me.”
“Yes. Kathe told me you were a clever child, but I never expected your martial arts and magic to be this impressive too. You might become quite successful as an adventurer.”
While the adults were discussing things, we kids deepened our friendships among ourselves, though the older brother was already almost an adult.
Kathe’s father Taddy had his tail tucked away, but Gars told me that he deliberately didn’t tuck his. Since he used both his sword and his tail as weapons.
Kathe, who aimed to become a guard knight, planned to practice tucking her tail so she could also carry out intelligence work.
“Beastkin often surpass humans in stamina and strength. Because of that, people who oppose us tend to be wary. For us lizard beastkin, our racial traits are our tails and scales.
Our scales are usually in places clothing hides, and if we can tuck our tails, we can pass for humans. It makes it easier to lure opponents into letting their guard down.”
“Ohhh, I see. Then if a woman could pass as human, she could pretend to be someone without combat ability, like a maid or lady’s attendant, and guarding someone would become much easier.
Kathe is good with water and wood magic, so she can use water to search for enemies, and wood, well, vines, to bind them. She also got good at earth magic in class, so if something happens she could protect someone with an earth wall. She’d be like a battle maid!”
Gars explained the advantages of storing one’s tail.
If someone with Kathe’s appearance could disguise herself as a human, she’d make a wonderful guard.
Taddy and Gars were rugged, muscular men. Even if they disguised themselves as humans, they’d still obviously look strong. But Kathe and Thea had slender builds and gave off the impression of refined beauties.
Well… that refined beauty had been swinging around a massive greatsword earlier.
“Hoh. That’s an interesting idea.”
“Yes, I think it’s quite good. Kathe has been aiming to become a guard knight for a noble, after all. And if I recall correctly, the daughter of Margrave Plessama’s heir will have her baptism next year.
Their ages are close, so there’s a chance she might be chosen as her guard when the girl goes to the academy.”
“Mrs. Thea, when you say academy, do you mean the Magic Academy in the royal capital? I heard all nobles attend it, but do they bring their guard knights with them too?”
“Guards aren’t necessary at the academy itself, but high-ranking people sometimes bring children of a similar age along as attendants or guards so they can attend as classmates. Of course, it’s also very common for them to choose close aides from the people they become friends with at the academy.”
All nobles of the Lizmoni Kingdom enrolled, but nobles from other countries also came to study abroad.
When that happened, bringing attendants with them was apparently normal, and some families in the Lizmoni Kingdom did the same.
Professor Doua had also told me that commoners sometimes enrolled too, like the children of merchant families who paid large donations to build connections with nobles, or those recommended by nobles.
Unlike noble children, commoners couldn’t receive elite education from a young age, so their enrollment ages weren’t fixed. Apparently they could enroll even with an age gap of two to five years.
In that case, Kathe was eight right now, so the difference would only be two years. Wouldn’t she have a good chance of enrolling with a recommendation?
“Ohh, that’s true. Kathe, the academy enrollment age is twelve. The Margrave’s granddaughter will enroll in six years. If you can raise your rank to mid Silver by then, it’ll be much easier to get recommended.”
Gars fired Kathe up, and since she now had a clear goal, she looked positively fired up.
“Dad, is it easier to get a recommendation depending on your adventurer rank?”
“Well now, did I tell ya before that nobles can’t make direct requests unless someone’s at least Gold rank?
Folks who stop climbin’ ranks once they hit Silver usually just don’t wanna get mixed up with nobles. Even so, once someone’s past mid Silver, they’re strong enough to join a Knights Order. From a noble’s point of view, that’s the sort of talent they’d like to keep close.”
“That’s right. But according to the Adventurers’ Guild regulations, direct requests to Silver rank adventurers are prohibited. That means nobles themselves can’t actively approach them.
However, connections that adventurers form on their own are allowed. That’s why adventurers who want a noble’s recommendation sometimes go to sell themselves.
For younger people, they might request a recommendation for admission to the Magic Academy while also demonstrating their abilities, hoping to become a noble’s retainer someday.”
When I asked Dad about recommendations, Thea explained even more in detail.
I see. So it’s fine if adventurers approach nobles themselves, but nobles aren’t allowed to force things from their side.
If that’s the case in other countries too, then the Adventurers’ Guild must hold quite a lot of power, right? Being able to push back against nobles is pretty amazing.
“Hahaha. Well, when monster outbreaks happen, the knights alone sometimes can’t handle the subjugation. They’re probably stronger in human-to-human combat, but when it comes to fighting monsters, adventurers have the edge.
If adventurers turned their backs during an outbreak, the town would be destroyed, and a small country might even be on the brink of collapse. That’s why almost no nation chooses to stand against the Adventurers’ Guild.”
Ahh, so that’s the reason.
Yeah, that makes sense.
They don’t reject everything, but they act as a buffer that helps manage relations with nobles.
I’m grateful for that.
I don’t plan on getting involved with nobles myself, but I’ll probably be working with the Guild for a long time. So I’d like to keep getting along with them from here on out too.
What do you think about this chapter?
