WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Alyo

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◈ Surviving as a Warrior in a TRPG World ◈

Chapter 40: New Companion (1)

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"From the kingdom's and the Guild's perspective, Copper Plate adventurers are desperately needed. If an adventurer capable of advancing keeps putting off their promotion in a situation like this, the Guild can't exactly be pleased."

Gerik asked whether he would be penalized for continuing to delay his promotion.

"Not exactly... But there's a good chance the Guild won't consider you a 'promising prospect' in the future, Mr. Gerik."

The receptionist said that if Gerik were recognized as a promising prospect, he would receive both tangible and intangible support.

There would be visible benefits, such as shared information and priority assignment to good missions, as well as less visible advantages like connections and reputation within the Guild.

'Ha... I never imagined they'd make an issue out of delaying a promotion...'

He had wanted to advance step by step and grow safely, but an unexpected obstacle had tripped him up. Gerik felt flustered.

'What should I do...?'

The receptionist had framed it as a gentle recommendation, but Gerik realized the Adventurers’ Guild was effectively applying polite pressure through her.

At the same time, it meant the Guild had considerable expectations for him and would offer incentives if he went along with their wishes.

'With my current equipment and abilities, I can definitely do it...'

Gerik knew that, as he was now, he could aim not just for the outskirts of the Demonwild Forest, but for its shallower interior, the Boundary Forest.

With two skills that clearly gave him strength beyond Wood Plate level and the equipment Grimdal had made for him, he was strong enough to take on Boundary Forest missions.

As long as he did not overreach and could put together a proper party.

'The problem is that finding a reliable party isn't as easy as it sounds...'

There were adventurers who picked fights just because someone wore decent armor. What if he joined up with people he did not trust, only to get stabbed in the night by an "ally" coveting his gear?

That would be the worst-case scenario. Good equipment had created an ironic problem instead.

'If I just join some unfamiliar party, there's a good chance I'll be mistreated like I was in Bruno's party, or betrayed and killed by the group. Should I apply for a random party? Or push myself and go solo?'

Gerik fell into thought. Should he wander the Boundary Forest alone and take on the greater danger, or join a party while accepting the risk of betrayal?

He thought about it until late that night at the inn, but went to bed without finding an answer.

The next day.

Gerik planned to ask the receptionist for advice on the least dangerous mission available. Before he could even open his mouth, though, she spoke first.

"Mr. Gerik, you've received a named request along with a party invitation."

"...What?"

Gerik stared blankly at the sudden announcement.

Perhaps his unfamiliar expression amused her, because the receptionist gave a small smile, unlike her usual self.

She explained that an adventuring party recruiting members for a high-grade Wood Plate mission had specifically requested Gerik.

"If it's a party invitation, it's a party invitation. What's this request, then?"

"There are two people in the party who made the request. One of them thought highly of you, Mr. Gerik, and asked you to join their party. Separately, the group said they have another confidential request for you."

"A confidential request? What is it?"

"I think you'll have to accept first, meet with that person, and hear it directly. Since they requested secrecy, I wasn't told the details either."

Gerik had been betrayed over spoils not long ago, so the word "confidential" made him frown. The structure of the offer, which seemed to involve two separate requests, felt deeply unsettling.

Seeing Gerik's negative reaction, the receptionist carefully urged him to at least meet them, as if soothing him.

She seemed reluctant to explain why in detail, since the client had asked for strict confidentiality regarding their identity. Still, she quietly assured him that, in her experience, they were the "reliable" sort.

Based on everything he had seen so far, Gerik knew the receptionist was not someone who would say that lightly. Reluctantly, he accepted the meeting.

When Gerik followed her directions and entered a first-floor reception room, he saw a middle-aged man with striking white hair.

The man looked older, but his body was clearly well maintained and powerfully built. The high-quality breastplate he wore left a strong impression on Gerik.

"Hello. I'm Gerik. I heard you wanted to meet me...?"

"Greetings. I am Ilvern, a retired knight of the Ashburn family."

"A retired knight...?"

Gerik could not hide his surprise at the knight's unexpected appearance.

"Why would a knight want to see me...?"

"Do you remember drawing your sword on that drunkard who picked a fight with you at the Guild last week?"

"...Yes. I remember."

"The young lord of the family I serve saw that scene and took quite a liking to you."

Sir Ilvern paused before beginning to explain the young lord he served, Minos Ashburn.

His lord was Minos, the Ashburn family's third son, who was currently studying magic at the Royal Academy.

While training in magic, Minos had developed a deep interest in a field called magical archaeology. The problem was that archaeology, by its nature, had limits when studied from behind a desk.

Minos realized he needed to work in the field to achieve results, so he asked the family to let him gain field experience and make up for his weaknesses.

"He even insisted on gaining that experience through adventuring in the dangerous Eastern Frontier."

"...Why? Why become an adventurer of all things? What does that have to do with archaeology?"

When Gerik voiced his doubts, Sir Ilvern explained the traits of the ruins Minos needed for his research, according to the third son's own argument.

Ruins located in safe places had usually already been researched. To conduct new research, he would have to visit ruins in dangerous or uninhabited places.

In those circumstances, an archaeology researcher would have to operate little differently from an adventurer. That was Minos's reasoning.

"...And they allowed that?"

"Do you think they did?"

Sir Ilvern sighed before describing the tug-of-war between Minos and the elders of the Ashburn family.

Naturally, the family had tried to stop their precious child from doing such lowly work in dangerous places.

But Minos protested that they were blocking his academic path without proper cause, declaring that if this was how it would be, he would rather give up the path of magic altogether.

His academic reasoning was sound, and he had taken such a hard line that he would abandon magic if they refused. That put the family in a difficult position.

Another family might have locked him away or pressured him by stripping his inheritance rights. But the Ashburn elders were thoroughly defeated by Minos's logic, and their affection for their late-born son only added to it. In the end, they surrendered.

Minos had barely secured permission to become an adventurer through negotiation. But the trouble did not end there.

When the head of the family tried to attach four family knights to Minos as nominal companions for his safety, Minos fiercely refused again.

He argued that while he could receive support as a direct descendant now, the family could hardly assign him knights even after he became an independent archaeologist.

"That left the head of the family flustered, so he tried to assign just one knight commander to accompany the young lord. He said one person should be acceptable."

But Minos protested fiercely again, saying someone as overwhelmingly powerful as a knight commander was no different from several knights. He said that adventuring under the protection of such a strong person would gain him nothing.

In the end, the head of the family tried to negotiate by assigning Ilvern, who had retired from active service and was living peacefully, as Minos's sole attendant.

"...After all that heated negotiation, I was chosen."

Someone else might have objected, but Ilvern had known Minos since childhood and was close to him.

Besides, since this was Minos's first adventure, even Minos could not deny that having neither capable companions nor an eye for judging them was liable to cause trouble.

That was why the family head's suggestion to attach one retired knight as an adviser was reasonable even to Minos. In the end, he gave in and accepted it.

"Still, the head of the family must have been uneasy with only me. He secretly disguised an experienced Copper Plate adventurer as a Wood Plate and planted them in the party by making it seem like a coincidence. In practice, two members of the family are accompanying the young lord."

Gerik inwardly snorted at that. It might have been the best compromise from the family's perspective, but if Minos found out, he would probably be furious.

"Up through mid-grade Wood Plate missions, the three of us were enough. The problem began with high-grade missions."

Sir Ilvern continued. The disguised adventurer was quite skilled, and though Ilvern had retired, his experience as a knight had not gone anywhere. Up through mid-grade missions, the three of them had been sufficient.

But regardless of their abilities, the high-grade missions required before advancing to Copper Plate often needed at least four people. That created a problem.

There were also times when they had to enter the Boundary Forest or even deeper areas, making the addition of a Copper Plate-level Warrior urgently necessary for Minos's protection.

"Hmm...."

"But the young lord insisted that inviting someone ranked above him would be no different from inviting a family knight. He said he would accept no one but a fellow Wood Plate adventurer."

It was not wrong in theory, but the problem was where they could find a proven, capable person among the worthless Wood Plates who could protect the young lord.

Minos might have been prepared for the danger, but as the person responsible for protecting him, Ilvern could not attach someone incompetent to his side. If something went wrong, it would ultimately be Ilvern's head that rolled.

"So I intended to recruit a 'reliable' adventurer using the same method as with the first one, but..."

The problem was that Minos had gradually grown used to adventuring and begun to suspect that Ilvern's recommended candidates were people the family had planted in advance. He interfered, and now that they could no longer use that trick, finding a recruit had become difficult.

"Then the young lord happened to see that incident last time and took a liking to you. As it happens, I had my eye on you that day as well."

Gerik could understand a thoughtless young lord being impressed by a Wood Plate adventurer around his own age striking a dramatic pose and swinging a sword. But he could not understand why even the experienced Sir Ilvern had thought highly of him, so he asked why.

"Isn't it obvious? I saw a mere mid-grade Wood Plate using the skill 'Slash.' Even the children of renowned knightly families, despite training steadily from childhood, might barely learn one skill by your age."

Having spent many years on the battlefield as a knight, Sir Ilvern had apparently recognized at a glance that Gerik's sword strike that day had been a skill, not a simple swing.

"I was so suspicious that, at first, I even wondered whether you had been paid by someone to approach the young lord."

Gerik looked dumbfounded at Ilvern's claim that using just one skill had made him suspect Gerik was a spy.

Still, he wondered why Ilvern had ultimately decided to trust him, so he asked. Sir Ilvern replied that he had requested the Guild to investigate Gerik thoroughly over the past week.

Gerik had arrived in Stonecreek a month ago as a newcomer in shabby clothes, but his performance in the Sewer had been impressive enough to draw the Guild's attention early on.

His intelligence was far too high for someone who called himself a "farmer," and the fact that he had learned Slash raised suspicions that he was hiding his identity. But after investigating, Ilvern concluded that there was nothing serious enough to make an issue of.

"Anyway, the young lord wishes to invite you into his party. I came to the same conclusion after investigating you myself. That is why I sought you out."

Footnotes:

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