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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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Even if I carried the grandiose title of “exclusive butler” and donned the attire, there was nothing special about me.
I woke up at dawn to serve as Cheryl’s sparring partner, tidied up her room with the maids while she ate her meals, and did preparations like loading necessary items onto the carriage in accordance with the day’s schedule.
The more troublesome task was accompanying her to social gatherings and acting as a living memo pad, introducing or remembering the names and faces of nobles.
Originally, due to the reputation of the Ogatorf family, it would have been a fairly busy position, but Cheryl was different.
“I’m going to receive a quest today, so get ready.”
“Hey, I even put on cologne, so you should have told me earlier if that was the case.”
“I didn’t tell you on purpose.”
Watching Cheryl gradually become adept at teasing people, I shuddered.
As she spent 6 out of 7 days at the academy, an area forbidden to servants, I hardly had any proper duties. After a few simple tidying tasks, my daily routine was training with the knights.
It was only on days when lectures were off that I would accompany Cheryl on outings, but she didn’t go out to play or shop – she went to receive requests from the Adventurer’s Guild. Today happened to be one of those days.
How vexing.
But what was even more vexing was the fact that this embodiment of vexation, Cheryl, was a Blue-ranked adventurer.
At first, I had thought she would be at most a Green-rank, the 6th rank, but I never imagined she would be one rank higher.
A single rank might not seem like much, but in reality, being recognized as a proper adventurer starts from the Blue rank, with the three ranks below serving as triple filters to weed out those unworthy of being even treated as people.
It was quite surprising that no one objected or even assigned a guard to the young heiress wandering off alone to slay monsters, but after a few trips, I noticed there were knights secretly keeping watch.
From the way they didn’t offer any help, it seemed they would only intervene if the situation escalated to a level where her status was discovered and she faced kidnapping or assassination attempts.
Of course, this was also beneficial for me, as she always demanded that I accompany her on quests.
Naturally, a fresh-faced adventurer with an uncolored Iron-rank emblem couldn’t possibly take on Blue-rank requests.
Thanks to this, I was able to go to the Adventurer’s Guild whenever I pleased during weekdays under the pretense of assisting Cheryl and accept any requests that came my way.
The Green-rank emblem hanging from my neck was the result of my diligent efforts over more than a year. There were various incidents, but overall, it was a quite satisfactory experience.
It was also during this time that I resolved one of the questions I had upon first arriving: ‘What kind of quests does the capital’s Adventurer’s Guild have, and how can it sustain itself?’
The extermination quests at the capital’s Adventurer’s Guild were simple – either extremely easy or extremely difficult, with no in-between.
The difficult quests were so unbelievable that you couldn’t tell if they were from a novel or real life.
Requests like “A manticore has appeared in such-and-such mountain range and is attacking the city” or “A high-ranking demon was summoned somewhere, causing devastation” would appear and disappear daily.
It was then that I first realized, through personal experience, that this world’s problems weren’t limited to the Demon Lord’s army.
On the other hand, the easy requests were the textbook variety that could be found anywhere – dealing with goblins appearing in nearby villages, exterminating monsters in underground waterways, hunting recently increased low-risk monster hordes, and so on.
As the difficulty level increased, the locations became more distant from the capital. It was essentially a free-range theme park for safe combat experience.
As a result, those with some wealth who wanted to build their strength safely would start their adventurer lives at the capital’s guild.
Since that was their customer base, it was only natural for the guild to generate revenue. Seeing them selling consumable goods within the guild premises, it was easy to surmise that they were making quite a tidy profit.
Lost in these thoughts, I donned my leather armor, gathered my belongings like the cloak and sleeping bag I had brought from Ogwen, and stepped outside. Shortly after, Cheryl appeared before me in a similar adventurer’s garb.
She wore a lightweight processed leather armor and greaves, with a steel gauntlet, longsword, and a short cape – likely in anticipation of the cooling weather – all befitting an adventurer.
“We’re going a little far today,” she abruptly said.
“How far are we talking?”
“I heard there have been sightings of bandits gathering at the ruins near the western vineyards.”
As Cheryl tied her long hair back for ease of movement and started walking, I couldn’t hide my doubts.
“If it’s the western vineyards I’m thinking of, it will take a day just to go there and back, no?”
“That’s the one.”
“But, what about the academy?”
“Didn’t I mention? It’s on a break.”
She hadn’t mentioned it at all. However, I did recall her taking about a week off around early October last year, citing the fall break.
The fall break! Even I, who had experienced modern civilization, had never encountered such a festival, yet this vexing creature could indulge in it.
“No matter how I think about it, the academy seems too lenient. A break? I think I should file a complaint demanding they provide education 365 days a year without a single day off.”
“The moment you submit such a complaint, a petition to allow servants to accompany students will be filed along with it.”
“You’re a good student, aren’t you? Doesn’t the thought of being able to study 365 days a year make you tingle with excitement?”
Cheryl responded by punching me in the side, clearly deeming my words unworthy of a verbal response.
Thus, exchanging such meaningless banter that had become familiar, we exited the manor through the back gate, escorted by the servants and knights. As it was the entrance used by non-noble visitors, no one paid any mind to our adventurer attire.
“Based on what you said earlier, is this an extermination or reconnaissance request?”
“Extermination.”
“It should be a good experience.”
“How vexing.”
The fact that she used the word “vexing” to describe me meant she shared the same thoughts. It truly was vexing that this 15-year-old brat’s thought process aligned with mine, despite my greater age.
After a long walk, we arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild, which was quite crowded even in the morning. As it was unusual for me to visit the guild at this hour on a weekday, the crowd felt unfamiliar.
“I didn’t realize the capital had so many adventurers.”
Even Cheryl seemed to share my sentiment. For her to make such a remark despite her insider knowledge implied that something out of the ordinary was happening.
“If it strikes you that way, perhaps there’s been some incident?”
“Hard to say. Based on the atmosphere, it doesn’t seem too serious, so it might not matter.”
True, the mood was more lively than grave or serious. Since there didn’t appear to be any major issues, we decided not to dwell on it and approached the massive bulletin board where requests were posted.
As always, numerous quests were densely pinned to the board – neatly posted by the guild receptionists, as well as haphazardly re-pinned by others, making them crookedly stuck and unsightly.
With the crowd added to the already chaotic pile of requests, the area in front of the board was pandemonium.
“…Ugh!”
And behind me, Cheryl, at just over 165 cm tall, was straining on her tiptoes with all her might, trying to peer at the board.
What an amusing sight!
Look at that flustered platinum-haired rabbit! Despite being 15 cm shorter and lighter than me, her lofty pride and drive were causing her to willingly dive into hell instead of simply asking me for help!
Maintaining her dignity by not pushing back against those shoving her, merely twitching her thin brows! The bobbing backside as she hopped about! The furry hand reaching out to… huh? What?
The momentary amusement abruptly cooled as I strode over, pulling Cheryl back with my left hand while batting away the paw of some scoundrel reaching for her backside with my right.
*THUD!*
His age was hard to gauge – mid-twenties? Thirties? With a beard and weathered skin, it wasn’t easy to estimate the adventurer’s age.
However, his unkempt shoes and poorly maintained gear, along with a leather cuirass showing only signs of age rather than damage, made it clear he was no major threat. The sound of him crashing into a chair drew some sidelong glances from bystanders.
“What the f…?! What’s your problem, you bastard?!”
“Bastard? What’s with that language coming out of your mouth?”
Expecting him to slink off or stammer after being knocked down, I furrowed my brow as he glared defiantly.
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