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nWhen I got back, all the rimel birds went out to greet me. The slimes were present too, but they couldn’t say anything.

nAs I let out a lifeless voice in the mines, I fed the slimes and arranged my luggage.

n“Next is..” Ryouma

nIn order to feed the charcoal-eating cleaner slimes, I started building a kiln for them.

n“Here should be good…” Ryouma

nThe place I chose was the wall of rocks next to my house, in an area between a tunnel entrance and the entrance.

nI dug a hole right next to the existing tunnel, then gradually expanded it until it became a room shaped like an ellipse.

nIt was good enough for me to just use Rock to supplement the room from time to time, so it didn’t take that much effort to make.

nBy the time I was done, the room was high enough for a child to walk around and big enough to accommodate one or two adults as a tent.

nNext up are the slimes.

nI called an earth slime and a huge scavenger slime. As the earth slime rode the huge scavenger slime, the huge scavenger slime raised it up near the ceiling. When it was near the ceiling, it caused a part of the ceiling to turn into sand and collapse. Like that the slimes were able to gradually bore a hole through the ceiling.

n“Good job!” Ryouma

nAfter creating an entrance from the tunnel, we went a step further and created a path leading to the tunnels above.

nThe slimes looked like they still had a lot of energy left, so I had them reinforce the walls as they came back. With this the chimney was mostly completed, which meant that the charcoal kiln was also mostly complete.

nIt was so easy that I couldn’t help but wonder to myself if it was really okay like this, but the kiln works, so I guess that’s that.

nThere are other ways to make a kiln. There’s the traditional method which involves digging a hole for the kiln, building a frame, stuffing it with wood, then burying it with wood and dirt. There’s also the drum method which involves a drum and a fire. There’s a lot of ways to make a kiln, but the key point is to prevent the heat from escaping and to maintain the air to bake the wood.

nIn my case, I’m going to put a cover over the chimney to keep the heat from escaping. As for the maintenance of the air, red soil kneaded with stone and water will do.

nAnd that’s that for the kiln. Next, I’ll go and do some rounds around the mine.

nThis part of the mine hasn’t been reached by the management much, so the area around my house is full of weeds. But when you think about how all these weeds can be used for fuel, it’s not so bad. The weeds have grown high enough for me to be able to hide in them, but if I trim them and place them under the sun, depending on the weather, I could use them to get material I can easily start a fire with.

nOf course, I could also use them to make charcoal.

nI did my rounds around the mine while trimming the weeds, but then—

n“PIRORORORORO!” Rimel Bird

n“PIIPIRORORO!” Rimel Bird

n“Hmm?” Ryouma

n—I suddenly heard the cries of the rimel birds. When I looked up at the sky, my rimel birds were flying together as usual, but something was different.

n“A flock of birds?” Ryouma

nThe light in the backdrop made it hard to see clearly, but it seemed like there were a lot of other small living creatures flying. The rimel birds surrounded them in the air. They seemed to be using magic too, as the other flying creatures were… Ah.

n“KUKEH! KUKEH! KUKEH!” Ryouma

nWhen the movement of the other flying creatures were restricted, Eins let out a shrill cry, and in the next moment, all of the other flying creatures fell at the same time.

n“…So they were hunting.” Ryouma

nThey’re like a pod of dolphins hunting. Even though they’re supposed to be birds…

nSurround the enemy, then use the nightmare bird’s special mind-type attack.

nI don’t know if their targets all fainted or not, but they all fell into the ground as if they’d lost control.

nI saw some of the rimel birds eating some of those other flying creatures while still in the air, though. Were they snitching food?

n“I should take a look…” Ryouma

nAs I thought that, I went to the area near the top of the mountains were those things fell.

n“Found it. Hey!” Ryouma

n“PIRO!” Rimel Bird

n“PIRORO!” Rimel Bird

n“Ah, never mind. Just eat.” Ryouma

nMy timing was a bit bad when I called out to the rimel birds, as a result, they ended up replying while their beaks were still full, creating a rather splattery sight.

nSo, those other flying creatures were cave bats, huh.

n“Where did you find these critters?” Ryouma

n“…PIRO!!” Rimel Bird

nWhen I asked that, one of the rimel birds took off and came back after chirping in front of a tunnel. It seems they’re in that tunnel. It’s not to the same extent as before, but it seems some monsters have made a home for themselves again after I left for a while.

n“…PIRORORO?” Rimel Bird

n“You don’t have to bring me any.” Ryouma

nDoes he think I want some because I was staring? Drei had brought one with him, but I don’t really want to eat a bat. Still, if there are any leftovers, I’ll be sure to preserve them. How much they want to eat, however, is completely up to them. It’s their kill.

nIt’s a load off my back if they’re hunting the bats, so I just wished them luck and left.

n…Sure was a surprise to see the rimel birds hunting together, though…

nIn the past, whenever I saw them hunt, they hunted alone, so it’s a bit unexpected to see them hunt together.

n…Come to think of it, since they can use wind magic, I wonder if they can use Sound Bomb if I teach it to them.

nIf they can, then that’ll make it even easier for them to hunt. I’ll try teaching them next time.

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n“Good morning.” Ryouma

n“Oh, Ryouma-kun. Are you working here today?” Maelyn

nWhen I dropped by the adventurers guild early in the morning, I happened into Maelyn-san who was sticking some jobs onto the bulletin board.

n“Yes. There’s not a lot of work to do at my store right now, so I’m thinking of going back to my adventurer work.” Ryouma

n“Oh! Really? That’s good to hear. What kind of job are you looking for?” Maelyn

n“Actually, there’s something I need to deal with and was hoping to get some advice.” Ryouma

n“Don’t worry. Part of our duties is to support the adventurers. So if there’s something you need to talk about, I’m all ears. I can’t promise I’ll be very helpful, though. It’ll depend on the topic. Afterwards…” Maelyn

n“Y-You can’t!” Receptionist

nHmm? The reception area is getting noisy.

n“Oh… Excuse me.” Maelyn

n“Can’t be helped,” Maelyn-san muttered as she approached the two men and the unfamiliar receptionist girl.

n“Hey, you two! Can you please not tease our receptionist so much?” Maelyn

n“Oh, Maelyn-san.” Male 1

n“Sorry. We might have been pushing it.” Male 2

nThe two men quickly apologized and left, and now the receptionist girl is apologizing to Maelyn-san? Why?

nWhile I was wondering what was going on, Maelyn-san called for me.

n“Is something the matter?” Ryouma

n“Let me introduce you. This girl here is Paena-chan. She just started last week.” Maelyn

n“H-Hi. I’m Paena. I-It’s nice to meet you.” Paena

n“Ryouma Takebayashi. It’s nice to meet you too.” Ryouma

n“I think you get it already, but she’s a really shy kid, so it’s easy for young men to tease her.” Maelyn

n“Uu… I’m sorry.” Paena

nHmm… I guess she’s about the size of a high-school student? She looks human to me, but her small stature gives her an aura that resembles that of a small animal. She doesn’t stand out as much when lined up with Maelyn-san, but she’s good-looking and she’s also unsophisticated. She’s the sort of person that’s easy to get involved with.

n…Oops. I started going down the gloomy road there. Let’s change the topic.

n“So, Maelyn-san, did you need me for something?” Ryouma

n“As I’ve said before, it’s part of our job to hear out adventurers. So I was wondering if you’d be okay having this girl hear you out instead. Of course, I’ll be present too of course in case she needs help.” Maelyn

n“Oh, that’s no problem at all. I’ll be in your care, Paena-san.” Ryouma

n“Y-Yes! I’ll do my best!” Paena

nAfter that I brought to another room.

nIt wasn’t particularly big, but there was a chair and a desk, so it was more than enough for a little talk.

n“Didn’t know there was a room like this here.” Ryouma

n“It’s often used to guide neophyte adventurers and interrogate adventurers that have committed a crime… Ah! Please. Take a seat. Also, tea…” Paena

n“Oh, it’s alright.” Ryouma

n“Sorry to keep you waiting. I’ve brought drinks. Now. Let’s start.” Maelyn

nAfter finishing sticking the jobs on the bulletin board, Maelyn-san came back with drinks for all three of us and urged us to start the counselling process.

n“So, what did you want to seek advice about?” Paena

n“It’s about my future activities as an adventurer. I’ve managed to set a goal for myself, and although I’m only an E Rank right now, in the future, I should be able to rank up to a C… So I was wondering if it would be possible to get a list of jobs related to the monsters in this list that I could do while working toward my promotions.” Ryouma

n“Can I see that? …Treant. Mad Salamander. Karifu Monkey…” Paena

nWhen I handed her the list of monsters that could be found in the Great Shurus Forest, she started comparing the monsters in it with those in her documents.

n“…There are monsters here that are beyond an E Ranker’s jurisdiction.” Paena

n“That’s alright. I’ll just take those on when I’ve been promoted. Still, it would be nice if I could get some information on those monsters right now. I hear the guild also deals with information on geography and monsters. Would it be possible for me to get such information too?” Ryouma

n“Absolutely! It would cost you money and several days’ worth of time if you’re looking for much information, but it is definitely possible. How much information do you need?” Paena

nLet’s see… I’d like to at least know basic information of the monsters in the list, such as their habitat and ecology.

nThe most-up-to-date information would be great, but I’m sure that’s impossible… Still, there’s no point in knowing where the monsters have been spotted if a long time has already passed. I think I’ll just ask them to provide whatever information they can.

n“Also, if you can get the information on the Great Forest of Shurus and all of the monsters living in it, that would be great too.” Ryouma

n“Wait.” Maelyn

n“Is something the matter?” Ryouma

n“The Great Forest of Shurus… And this list of monsters… Are you planning on going there?” Maelyn

n“That’s my goal.” Ryouma

nI gave her the same explanation I gave to Serge-san and the others.

n“…And that’s the gist of it.” Ryouma

n“…I see. Sorry for butting in. So long as you increase your rank and do the proper preparations, the guild has no right to stop you. Continue.” Maelyn

n“…This much information would take quite a while… Sorry, senpai.” Paena

n“For the documents, the completed documents will require enough money to cover the costs of the paper used, as well as the ink, and then there’s also the salary of the people that worked on the documents. The scope of the information you’re looking for is fairly expansive, so it’ll take more than two weeks but less than a month to gather everything. In the worst case scenario, you’re looking at 10 small gold coins in damages or in the best case scenario, just one small gold coin — Is what she should have told you at a time like this.” Maelyn

n“The costs won’t be an issue. I would rather not try to haggle with the price, only to end up with insufficient information. I’ll pay as much as necessary, so long as you can get me accurate information.” Ryouma

n“The guild guarantees the accuracy of the data. After all, since it’s you we’re talking about, I’m sure you’ll be able to pay… Well then, Paena-chan, can you please prepare the contract and the blank form for the exchange. I’ve taught you the process, right?” Maelyn

n“Yes!” Paena

nAfter she left the room, only Maelyn-san and I were left.

n“I can’t believe you’re from that place.” Maelyn

n“Are you familiar with the great forest?” Ryouma

n“Hmm~… Only because of work. But I do know that it’s a dangerous place. But after finding out where you’re from, it’s all starting to make sense.” Maelyn

n“What do you mean?” Ryouma

n“Your abilities are simply too great compared to normal children. Even back there at the mines, you were put in a B Rank group, and you even fought hordes of goblins… You don’t know about this, but you’re actually a rather popular topic among the employees…” Maelyn

n“R-Really?” Ryouma

nT-They were talking about me? Scary…

n“Ufufu… We weren’t talking about anything bad. It was all praises. Something along the lines of how skilled you are or how you got rid of the work that have been piling up in the dust.” Maelyn

n“That’s fine then.” Ryouma

n“Talking about skills, though… I guess if you were able to get out of that place alone… If you were skilled enough to leave… I guess it’s only natural that you’d be strong, huh? I hear the monsters there are on a completely different level. Even if two monsters are the same type, their individual strength, the frequency of their attacks, and even the likes of goblins are different when they’re at that place…” Maelyn

n“Sorry to keep you waiting!” Paena

nPaena-san is back. Did she forget something? …No. Just now she said ‘Sorry to keep you waiting’… And she’s also handing a document…

n“…Yup. Good job. This’ll work.” Maelyn

n“Thank you very much! Umm… Please confirm the contents and sign here.” Paena

n“Ah, sure…” Ryouma

n…I don’t see anything wrong with the contents. The things I mentioned earlier have also been included.

n“Done.” Ryouma

n“Thank you! …This is the proof of your exchange with the guild. You’ll need to exchange it with the document when the time comes. Please don’t lose it.” Paena

n“Understood. ‘Item Box’.” Ryouma

nI doubt I’ll lose it if I store it in here.

n“Umm… This settles this case, and uh… Next… Oh, what job will you be taking today?” Paena

n“Let’s see… I need to rank up. Do you know of any difficult jobs nearby? Preferably, one that doesn’t take much time to do and something that could easily bring up my rank.” Ryouma

n“If you want a hard job, I think there should be a couple, but… Oh! Please wait a bit. I have just the job for you.” Paena

nPaena left like the wind and came back with a sheet of paper.

n“Sorry to keep you waiting! Here it is. Umm… Just to confirm, that spell you used earlier, that’s dimension magic, right? So you can use dimension magic, right? Because if you can, this job might just be what you’re looking for.” Paena

n“A transport job… The destination: Kereban. I know this place. I heard a magic tools fair is meant to open in it soon. But… The fixed date is ‘as quickly as possible’?” Ryouma

n“Umm… Apparently, after loading the transport carriage with the goods and sending it on its way, the client forgot to load this one package… The client wants this delivered on the afternoon of the day after tomorrow if possible, but you won’t have to take responsibility even if you fail to make it. After all, the client was the one who made the mistake. So long as you don’t lose it or break it along the way, the job won’t be marked as ‘failed’.

nIf someone had noticed the package when the next transport was being loaded, we wouldn’t be in this predicament…

nSo, anyway, I was thinking that since you can use dimension magic, you might be able to make it in time… So… Umm… I’m so sorry…” Paena

n“You don’t have to apologize! I won’t fail and you’re really doing a good job, so..” Ryouma

nShe was frighteningly fast in preparing the documents and she even brought a suitable job for me after seeing me using dimension magic nonchalantly… The documents were also properly formatted even though she worked on them so fast. It can’t be helped if she doesn’t fully understand the contents of the job, right? At first, I thought she was a clumsy girl, but considering how it’s only been a week since she was recruited, isn’t she actually really talented?

nWhen I turned to Maelyn-san, she made a troubled face and nodded her head while smiling.

n“She can do her job well. It’s just that she’s really timid. That’s why I keep telling her she should be more confident…” Maelyn

n“Sorry…” Paena

nWhat a difficult person…

nBut the job she recommended is pretty good, so I think I’ll take it.

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