Hunter's Guild (1)

Even a great city like the Duchy of Forys can’t be completely free from the threat of magical beasts.

Of course, if the grand mage Edge Forys used his power, it would be a different story.

He just doesn’t need to.

The magical beasts’ materials are necessary even in the Duchy of Forys.

Duke Forys isn’t foolish enough to kill the goose that lays golden eggs by creating ranches.

That’s why there’s a hunter’s guild in the Duchy of Forys that grants professional hunting qualifications.

If the Duchy of Forys’s role is to organize and divide magical beasts by sectors, then the hunters’ role is to control their numbers and collect materials.

“So today we’re going to apply for the hunter qualification exam.”

“Why is that necessary?”

“You can’t enter the magical beast sectors without a license.”

“Human society is troublesome. Such matters should be left to individual judgment.”

Of course, you can enter as a client even without a license.

But we can’t exactly hire hunters just to gather herbs, can we? We’ll need funds going forward, so it’s better to have Titan earn money doing what he’s good at.

“You said you came out to see the wider world to use aura, so facing magical beasts you haven’t seen in your country should help.”

“That’s a fair point.”

After giving him a reasonable excuse, Titan’s motivation increased.

Well, the real purpose is because most incidents happen in these restricted areas.

If I want to intervene in future events, I need to be able to move freely first.

By the time we arrived at the outskirts of the city where the hunter’s guild was located.

“Huh? A magical beast? Uh… Guild Master!”

Though I had somewhat expected it, the surroundings fell into panic.

Rumors about Titan had spread quickly, but unless they saw him in person, it was quite difficult to identify Titan as a different race.

Especially for hunters who battle magical beasts daily.

“Oh dear, this could get out of hand. What to do?”

“Please put more effort into your acting, Lost. You did well at first.”

At the reception’s screams, the resident hunters each grabbed their weapons and began watching us warily.

The fact that he was with humans should have made it problematic to unilaterally consider Titan an enemy.

But the panic at reception prevented rational judgment.

“Try not to break anything, just enough.”

“Why? That’s not showing proper respect to those who face you in battle.”

“If you’re going to show respect to someone you’re hitting, you shouldn’t hit them in the first place.”

“Hmm…”

What an amusing fellow.

Anyway, I don’t particularly want to stop Titan. It’s a necessary evil for strangers to blend into a world related to violence.

We need to establish dominance.

Thoroughly, to prevent anyone from carelessly messing with us out of curiosity.

“Ugh!”

With one punch from Titan, hunters go flying.

Though they clearly seem to have broken something or lost teeth, he didn’t even use weapons.

Come to think of it, he seems more considerate than I thought.

“…Wouldn’t it have been better to talk things out?”

Linea mutters in a miserable voice as she watches the number of patients increase in real-time.

Though it wasn’t her job, her doctor’s professional conscience seemed to make her uncomfortable with the situation.

“More importantly, is it alright for you to accompany us to a place like this?”

“Ah, I actually wanted to become a hunter too. If I’m going to do it, it would be better with you two, right?”

“Is that so…”

Lies.

Linea ran a private clinic while enduring all sorts of contempt.

It was a clinic where no one but me ever visited, but Linea prepared for patients every day, even cleaning in front of the hospital.

That was clearly pride.

Something impossible without definite pride in your work.

And now she says she wanted to become a hunter? Such an obvious lie?

She must have some ulterior motive.

However, considering what I know of Linea’s nature, I don’t think it will harm us, so that’s not a problem.

Since I can’t tell exactly what she wants, I’m hesitant to push her away carelessly.

This might sound a bit materialistic, but doctors are valuable personnel.

“Stop! What is this commotion!”

As we were watching the spectacle between Titan and the hunters, the person we were waiting for finally appeared.

The hunter’s guild master of the Duchy of Forys.

The guild master of a duchy, no less.

Of course, he has considerable military power and high status.

“I am Allen Wise, master of the Forys Duchy Hunter’s Guild.”

Our counterpart is a noble.

Perhaps that’s why he looked more like a knight than a hunter.

Well, though he’s a noble, he’s a prodigal son who ran away from home in anger.

I glanced at Linea, who’s in a similar situation as a runaway teenager, and her ears twitched.

One’s a runaway teenager, one’s a runaway young adult. The Empire really is in great shape.

“Though I warned to be careful…”

He scratched his head and sighed at the current situation, as if he had already received information about Titan and prepared countermeasures.

Of course, he didn’t let his guard down against Titan. He probably knows Titan is a different race but can’t be certain about his personality.

First dialogue, then if that doesn’t work, he’ll step in personally.

“Oh my, we should clear up this misunderstanding. This could get out of hand.”

“…I see. So the reason you let Titan loose was to create a ‘misunderstanding’ like last time to trouble people?”

“My, how could I possibly stop Titan? He wouldn’t listen to me in the first place.”

I’m not at fault here.

Is it my fault that fellow goes berserk? That his nature is violent and he prefers violence over words?

I just thought we could use the fact that we were attacked first to our advantage. Is that a crime?

If it were a crime, the gods recorded in the Pantheon Temple would have struck me with divine punishment.

“Ahem, ahem.”

I clear my throat.

I squeeze between Allen Wise and Titan who are facing off.

Attitude relaxed, dignified yet maintaining as soft an atmosphere as possible.

“I apologize, brother. It seems Titan’s methods were excessive.”

“…And you are?”

“I apologize. I am one who has devoted everything to faith. Since I’ve abandoned my former name, would it be acceptable if I prove myself this way?”

I manifest holy power in my palm. Without exercising any particular authority, just emanating a bright light.

That alone is enough to prove who I am.

“So you’re a priest.”

“That’s right.”

Allen Wise seemed greatly relieved just by the fact that I could handle holy power. Well, it is the most reliable form of identification.

“Though Titan may look like this, he is a brave and righteous warrior.”

“That’s right. I am very brave and righteous. This is the dignity of royalty.”

“…Regarding these unfortunate incidents, they were to protect us from those with power. Could you not take that into consideration?”

“You bow your head too easily. Why bow when you’ve done nothing wrong?”

Titan keeps adding strange comments from the side. Though annoying, it helps, so I let it be.

Though his methods were somewhat excessive, they started the trouble first.

Moreover, they treated Titan like a magical beast and attacked, so there couldn’t be a more justified reason.

“Let’s go inside first.”

Allen Wise sighed and headed toward the inside of the guild.

That’s when Titan came closer and whispered to me.

“Lost, I played along with your tune, so I can expect something in return, right?”

It’s obvious. He must have noticed that Allen Wise is quite strong.

Considering his goals, a fight with Allen Wise would be undesirable right now. But he can’t just charge in recklessly either.

“…Right, I’ll set up a stage for you later. A stage where Allen has no choice but to fight you.”

Titan doesn’t know courtesy.

However, he’s not foolish enough to think he can get what he wants just by throwing tantrums.

Even if he attacked unilaterally, he’d just be caught in concentrated fire from the hunters. Titan knows this, so he didn’t cause trouble.

At least he shows some intention to respect human society’s rules.

Of course, I suspect he’ll do whatever he wants if things go wrong…

I’ll need to keep a tight rein on him.

*     *     *

“First, let me ask. Did you come here with the intention of becoming hunters?”

“Yes, Titan left his kingdom to train. Yet he still wants to face magical beasts that trouble the people, how could I say no to that?”

“The magical beasts in Forys Duchy are practically half ranches… No, never mind. The license isn’t just for use in Forys Duchy…”

Allen Wise muttered with an incredulous expression before shaking his head while clutching it.

Because the purpose and justification are clear. He can’t just say no after hearing all this.

Moreover, there’s political power involved.

Though it might not have much influence since it’s a foreign country, at least without proper reason he can’t refuse.

“Honestly, I’m somewhat skeptical. Just earlier too. Preventing accidents in advance is also part of my duty as guild master.”

“You mean…?”

“When Titan roams the magical beast territories, other hunters might see him as a magical beast.”

This raised a very realistic problem. Hadn’t we just seen an example of this right here?

If hunters overreacted in a residential area, they’d definitely launch preemptive attacks in magical beast territory.

“But that’s just a possibility. Well, in my opinion it’s 100% certain to happen… But it would be harsh to decide based on circumstantial evidence alone.”

However, Allen Wise didn’t seem to want to completely refuse.

If that weren’t the case, he wouldn’t have brought it up this way.

“When Titan enters magical beast territory, he must always have a companion with him.”

“A reasonable measure.”

“And even if attacked, you must not kill your opponents. If this is violated, Titan’s hunter qualification will be revoked.”

“…We’ll try our best with that.”

This was the best Allen Wise could do. Titan’s royal status probably factored into the consideration.

Though he acted otherwise, Allen Wise must have known about Titan.

This fellow is directly connected to Edge Forys after all.

“Well, of course all these conditions only apply if you pass the test.”

“I’ll have to work hard then?”

“Yes, please do.”

It’s not really meant as a check.

The hunter qualification test isn’t that difficult anyway.

How many people in this line of work can even read in the first place?

Most live day to day, hand to mouth.

So there’s no written test, only practical tests and oral interviews.

Of course, even the oral interview feels more like an unwritten test since you have to answer about magical beasts’ characteristics…

If you can’t even do that much, you shouldn’t be a hunter in the first place.

“Then the test will be in a week. The guild will assign you a guide, so please refrain from any discourtesy.”

“Yes, Lord Allen. Thank you. Surely the gods are watching your mercy.”

“Ah, yes…”

Allen Wise nods with a somewhat sour expression.

Well, that’s how it is. He probably hasn’t seen many people as polite as me.

If he’s uncomfortable with such lip service, it’s obvious how freely he must have lived after leaving his family.

“Then could you please provide some basic personal information for hunter registration? Just write down what kind of work you’ll handle during hunter activities.”

It seems he decided to handle even the reception desk work himself, probably because of the commotion.

A truly wise response.

Considering how the receptionist screamed at seeing Titan earlier, he couldn’t leave it to anyone else.

“I’m a priest, planning to provide various non-combat assistance.”

“I see.”

“Um… I’m a doctor. I’ll treat Titan if he gets hurt?”

“Huh? Ah, yes.”

Perhaps because Linea spoke in a questioning tone? A moment of silence fell.

For Linea, she was probably wondering if she should hide that I might participate in combat, while for Allen Wise, he was probably thinking about whether Titan would even get injured.

“I am a prince. Very excellent.”

“…Yes.”

I thought he would say warrior, but Titan was the type to use his political position as a weapon more than expected.

Of course, Allen Wise showed no particular reaction. He probably just didn’t want to deal with it anymore.

“That’s done. However…”

Allen Wise passes over the list.

Titan might not, but Linea and I can read, so we needed to verify if there were any poison clauses.

Reading it, I understood why Allen Wise trailed off.

Hunter Party List:

1. Priest – Lost
2. Doctor – Linea
3. Prince – Titan

Looking at just the list like this, it looks like a party following along to take care of a thoughtless prince.

Well, it’s somewhat true.

Though our prince is quite skilled as a hunter.

“The guide will be a senior hunter, and with experience, you could handle similar requests. Ah! The request fee has been paid by Duke Forys, so there won’t be any financial issues.”

In the Duchy of Forys, the duke directly supports training newcomers.

He’s someone who properly handles what needs to be done as a duke.

Allen Wise kept drinking tea as if his throat was dry. During that time, a woman who appeared to be a guild member approached and whispered to him, and Allen responded with a bright smile.

“Ah, it seems they’re in the guild right now. I’ll introduce you right away.”

With those words, Allen Wise left the reception room without looking back. His desire to avoid prolonged interaction with us is palpable.

Is it just my imagination that he seems pleased to have found someone to pass us off to?

“This is Burke, though young, he’s one of the veterans who’s worked in Forys territory for three years.”

“Uh, Master? Did I do something wrong? I heard it was newcomer education, but there’s something strange mixed in?”

“Consider this punishment for thinking about training newcomers that way.”

“Hah, really…”

The person Allen Wise introduced was a young man with black hair. Age-wise, he might be one or two years older than me?

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Lost. This is Titan, and this is Linea.”

“Well… Though I’m your senior, I showed too much displeasure. Please take care of me. I’m Burke.”

I entrusted two requests to Shade. One about the current situation of the trials spread across the continent.

And one about the movements of the subject right in front of me.

Meeting Burke Ryan here today as the person in charge of training newcomers is no coincidence.

“Then please take care of us for the week, Burke.”

Burke Ryan.

My old friend. And the brother of Claire, the church’s strongest paladin.

An unfortunate victim and an unavoidable perpetrator.

In the past, I ran away without looking back when faced with his death.

But now it’s different. It should be different, I think. If I truly considered him a friend…

Yes. This time, at least I’ll have to kill him with my own hands.