Chapter 256

(256) To the mercenary guild

Translator: Tseirp

“Thank you for your hard work . ”

“Yo, good job . ”

The same guard had been on guard duty the whole time without changing shift .

“Hn? What’s that spear?”

“Spear —? Ah, I forgot I was carrying it . ”

It was the Scorpion Spear that was dropped by the boss monster .

Oh right, the guard was an Apprentice Spearman .

He was holding a bronze spear and he did tell me a lot of information .

All right, there would be no meaning if I held onto it so I guess I’ll give it to him .

“Erm, this was dropped by the boss and you may use it if you like . ”

“Eh? But —”

“This has the effect of inflicting paralysis during attacks . I feel that it would be perfect for a guard to use it? I would be very thankful if this could help just a little to maintain security . ”

” … In that case, I will receive it with grat.i.tude . When soldiers receive goods, we have an obligation to report it to our superiors so I will put in a report . If my superior takes it … I hope he doesn’t . ”

“Hahaha … if he takes it, you may obediently hand it to him and use it to progress in your career . ”

I didn’t really have much experience in that since I only had experience working as a part-timer .

In actual fact, when I was working part-time for a family diner, it was my superior instead who told me to treasure my free time .

The situation would probably change if I became a full-time employee .

“By the way, I wish to become a mercenary but where should I go to do so?”

“Ah, you wish to become a mercenary? In that case, you should walk straight ahead on this path three hours after tomorrow’s morning bell rings . You should be able to find it immediately even without knowing the exact location . Since you could defeat this labyrinth’s boss on your own, I believe you will become a great mercenary . Also, don’t forget to bring your weapon . ”

“I got it, thank you very much . ”

I bowed to the guard and left after asking him for the location of an inn .

Then, I cleaned off the dirt from crossing the desert and investigating the dungeon with Clean and headed for an inn .

Next morning .

I immediately understood the meaning behind his words that I would be able to tell the Mercenary Guild apart .

Rugged men were all walking toward the same direction and it was the same direction as the one the market aunty told me so I could tell where to go with a glance .

About 50 men hoping to be mercenaries were lining up so I joined the end of the queue .

Perhaps because everyone heard that they only had to take a simple interview test to be hired as a mercenary?

For some reason, there was an air of nervousness and impatience .

In the end,

“Don’t cut in line!”

“What! This was originally my spot!”

“Don’t lie, you were never here!”

I heard voices from the front of the line and I unconsciously failed to contain my laughter .

Well, I didn’t know if the young man actually cut in line, or it was because of the poor queuing arrangement, or that he was actually queuing properly but the guy was picking a fight .

It wasn’t something to be proud of but I was used to lining up like that .

Waiting for my turn for a job interview — there would be chairs prepared for interviews but that sense of nervousness was the same as those waiting for their number for the Mercenary Guild . Well, that was the result of failing to get a job a hundred times so it really wasn’t something to be proud of .

“Yo, brother . You seem relaxed . ”

The middle-aged man (about 40 years old?) with a faux mohawk lining up in front of me said .

“Hn? Ah, well I am used to tests and interviews like these … although I am used to them because I failed . ”

“Hahaha, I see . By the way, is brother a swordsman?”

“I am good with a sword . How about you — Ah, Axe-user?”

“You bet . I’m able to kill any monsters with a single hit as long as I have this axe . ”

“So reliable . ”

But his job was Lumberjack .

I tried investigating the man’s job .

【Lumberjack: Lv17】

Well, a Lumberjack would acquire the Axe Equip skill as they level up and will be able to handle it but a moving monster is completely different from a stationary tree . If his job was Lumberjack, he would not be able to become an Adventurer but looking at the people lining up, I could tell there were many with non-combat jobs .

Of course, even among non-combat jobs, there are some that are stronger than combat jobs which are lower level than them and there are skills from non-combat jobs that can be used for combat .

For example, by using the Thread Manipulation skill from the Angler job, it would be possible to attack with steel thread .

Incidentally, speaking of combat jobs, there was n.o.body with criminal jobs such as Thief, Bandit, and Pirate .

“Hey, do you know what kind of interview and test are there?”

“The test is the same for everyone except for magicians . Whether we will be able to damage a wooden dummy efficiently . The content of the interview would be based on the test results . ”

Wooden dummy huh . Certainly, with a stationary wooden target, even a Lumberjack would pa.s.s — no, using an axe that has outstanding destructive power seems to be more advantageous instead .

Should I buy a good weapon instead of using my steel sword? No, they are currently at war so the weapon prices would probably have soared and a weapon shop would probably not sell a good sword . Even if they did sell one, it would probably be very overpriced .

“By the way, are we allowed to use any weapon?”

“Yes . Since the weapon you carry has become a criterion of the test . The country can’t even supply weapons to its soldiers, not to say the mercenaries . Even if a skilled swordsman is hired as a mercenary, he’ll still be useless if he only has a worn out sword . ”

“I see …”

This guy is quite knowledgeable . Should I call him the male version of Carol? I thought to myself but I decided to not use Carol’s cute name on a rugged middle-aged man just for the sake of convenience .

Nevertheless, I asked the question that was difficult to ask .

“Why do you plan to become a mercenary?”

“Hn, let me see . Do you think we can win this war?”

“Er …”

They would probably face a crushing defeat . The scale of the forces was completely different .

There were also rumors of a portion of the country’s soldiers fleeing .

“I understand just by your lack of an answer . This war would not be won by normal means . So I decided to become a mercenary . ”

“I totally don’t understand how you got to that conclusion . ”

“Soldiers will be more useless as the war seem more likely to be lost . Leaving aside n.o.bles who have their own territory or knights, there will be soldiers who are hired that will start running away when the country is in danger . When the country is faced with a lack of manpower but has no choice but to continue the war, their only choice would be to hire mercenaries . That is why the country is spending a lot of money to hire mercenaries . And then, even if the war is lost, or if the war reaches a ceasefire or truce, there have been cases where mercenaries who gained achievements in the war were given knighthood . There were stories of mercenaries who saved the life of a country’s great aristocrat and received territory in return . Even without that, the advance payment is a considerable amount too . ”

I see, it was supply and demand . When the demand for a product was high but there is low supply, the price of the product would soar . In this country’s case, that product was — military power .

In other words, the country was desperately in need of people who are capable of fighting .

That means I would be able to pa.s.s even if my ident.i.ty is somewhat uncertain .

“Thank you for teaching me all this . ”

I thanked the middle-aged Lumberjack and turned to look at the front of the line . It seemed that four people at the front of the building entered . Incidentally, the two who were quarreling seemed to have finally reached a conclusion and the young man who tried to cut in line obediently lined up behind me .

The wait continued but I was happy inside .

Regarding my job, I had a fake certificate as an Apprentice Swordsman that Miri made while my sword skill was that of a Sword Saint . There were some with non-combatant jobs among the mercenary candidates in line .

In other words, I should have no way of failing this test .

As long as I don’t screw up the interview later .

Is my employment luck finally taking a turn for the better?