Translator: Charlotte　Editor: Weasalopes

《Your friend has sent you a message.》
《You have received some information from the GMs. Do you wish to read it?》

When I logged in in the morning, I got two notifications at the same time.
The messages were from Adele and Irina.
And there was some info from the GMs too.
I decided to read the info first.

《Update: As of yesterday, the database has been updated!》

I thought it would be about the tournament, but I was wrong.
I was interested in the trends among player population, but I had work to do.
I left it for later.

Next.
I took a look at Irina"s message.

『My【Summon Magic】became Lv.4 and I summoned a new Summon Monster. Meet Rote Kaiser.』

Included was a screenshot of a jet-black-coloured horse.
The horse had a fearless look on its face.
Irina now had a snake, a tiger, a hawk, and a horse.
A very versatile composition.
A horse was just generally useful for mobility.
A nice choice.

Next was Adele"s message.

『My new friend is this fox Kii-chan! Look at her! She"s so fluffy and cute!』

Included was a screenshot of a fox.
A beautiful orange coat with a pure white colour around its belly.
That was good and all, but the look on Adele"s face as she hugged the fox was pretty dangerous.
It looked like she was about to melt.
As usual.
Adele now had a tiger, a horse, a wolf, and a fox in her line-up.
Well as long as she was happy, that was all that mattered.

Great.
I got ready and left Master"s house.
I summoned Zangetsu, Helix, and Obsidian, my daytime mobility combo.
It was still 6 am.
I could probably make it to Remut by 7 am.
A good time to eat breakfast.

But I didn"t factor in monsters into the equation.
Well, it wasn"t a bad surprise.
It was an active Stray Horse after all.
We were ambushed by it, but Zangetsu took the bulk of the damage.
Of course, I retaliated and killed it.
It was well worth the time, but since it ran away towards Legias in the middle of our fight, I ended up putting more distance between myself and Remut.

I arrived in Remut a little later than I first expected.
Remut was already very crowded, and I had a hard time looking for somewhere to buy food.
There was a long line of players almost everywhere.
Dang it.
I made a mental note to come earlier next time.
The tournament was in two days.
The crowds suddenly felt a lot denser.

I ate breakfast at a corner in the town square before heading to my workplace.
Various materials were being carried into the new training grounds.
Some of the items had sheets covering them, so I didn"t know what they were.

「Hey, good morning.」

「Good morning.」

Nils was energetic that day too.
But the workplace looked a little strange.
The number of people there was less than half the day before.
And the mountain of materials in a corner of the room had shrunk by quite a bit too.

「Looks like some of the workmen got tired of looking at the mess. They really cleaned up the place.」

「Ah, is that so… That"s nice.」

「Yeah. Well, your quest only lasts until today. Savour the sight.」

「I will.」

「I"ll leave the rest of the chair a.s.semblies to you. I"ll do the rest of the tables.」

「Understood.」

I got to work right away.
I was in the final stretch.

I a.s.sembled the chairs at a nice pace.
My third chair was a Grade C+.
Of course, that was after I used【Physical Enchant: Aqua】to boost my DEX.
A long-awaited Grade C+.
I was very happy with that.
It took a lot of experimentation and a lot of hard work to reach that.

《【Woodworking】Level Up!》
《【Precise Manipulation】Level Up!》

The level-up was a little late. It was already my last day on the job.
But oh well, I"ll take it.
I kept using【Physical Enchant: Aqua】to try and aim for the highest Grade possible.
Grade C+. I couldn"t get anything better than that.
It was a little frustrating.

I kept going until suddenly, I ran out of chairs to a.s.semble.
No Grade B-.
I cleaned up my surroundings and returned all the tools I borrowed.
Great.
Perfect.

「I"m done with my work.」

「Huh? Already?」

I talked to Nils when he finally stopped his movements to take a breather.
He looked impressed.

「Not really related, but do you want to come work at my shop? I"d love to have you.」

「Excuse me?」

「No, I"m serious. Even if you can"t be a permanent member, it"d be great if you could come help out from time to time like you used to.」

「Well, I definitely won"t pa.s.s up the opportunity.」

「Great.」

Nils called out to all the workmen there, telling them to head to the Adventurer"s Guild building.

「Well, let"s get going.」

In the Adventurer"s Guild, the usual middle-aged staff member was waiting.
A group of impatient workmen flooded into the building.
Even though he was the only one on duty, he maintained a completely calm expression.
Nice. I was genuinely impressed.
I wanted to【Identify】him, but I felt like that would be rude.

「h.e.l.lo.」

「Oh, Mr.Nils.」

「Keith here just finished his work. I didn"t have any more proof-of-work chips so I decided to come personally.」

「Ah, sorry for the bother.」

「No worries.」

The guild staff handed Nils various coloured stones.
They were the proof-of-work chips I had received earlier.

「Thanks.」

「Of course.」

Ah.
I couldn"t see which stone Nils gave back to the guild staff.

「That"s all. And with that, Keith"s quest should be complete.」

「Yes.」

《You have completed a quest from the Guild!》
《You have received 5 Bonus Points and 2 extra Bonus Points. You currently have a total of 15 Bonus Points!》

「Here"s your compensation.」

I received a small pouch of coins.
It seemed pretty heavy.

「Is the Guild Leader here? I"m thinking of getting my next quest while I"m here.」

「Oh, that won"t be necessary.」

「Huh?」

「The Guild Leader will be very busy during the tournament. If I may suggest, I suggest you come back the day after the tournament ends.」

「Huh…」

「A lot of other work takes priority. Sorry.」

It was useless.
The smile he was wearing told me he wasn"t going to budge.
I felt anger radiate off of that smile.

「Keith. I"d appreciate it if you wouldn"t interrupt work.」

「What?」

「…Well then, I"ll inform the site manager for you.」

Nils b.u.t.ted into our conversation.

「Please do.」

Urged on by Nils, we quickly left the place.
I wondered what was going to happen had I stayed.

「You know, he"s the one man in this town you do not want to oppose.」

「Who is he?」

「A former adventurer. He was an average fighter, but now his job is making the Guild Leader do his job.」

Huh…
He really didn"t look like the Guild Leader"s boss.
Nils just flashed me a wry smile.

Well, I suspected something was wrong with him for a long time.
He seemed close to Master, after all.

「It"s a bit early, but you"re welcome to come eat lunch at the gla.s.s workshop.」

「Oh, that"d be great. Thank you so much.」

「Of course. Come by whenever you have some free time or just want to talk.」

「Thanks. Ah, on that note, there"s actually something I"d love to ask you about.」

「What is it?」

「It"s about woodworking tools. I wanted to try repairing my own equipment, and I wanted to ask about where I could get tools.」

「Hmm… Well, I have some time, let"s go together.」

「Thank you so much.」

I was really glad I decided to ask Nils about it.
I would be really grateful for his advice.
I followed after Nils.

We arrived at an aisle with workshops lined on both sides.
Nils took a turn and walked into a shop that looked like a blacksmith"s shop. It looked pretty plain.
But there weren"t any Grade C tools for sale.
All of the tools were at least a Grade C+.
I even saw a Grade kitchen knife.
Wow…

「This guy"s the best tool maker in town.」

「No matter how much you praise me, I won"t give you a discount, Nils.」

The dwarf standing across the counter responded to Nils.
The dwarf was shirtless, and his muscles were very p.r.o.nounced.

「Keith, this is the owner, Gudo.」

「I"m an adventurer. My name"s Keith.」

「The name"s Gudo.」

I thought his att.i.tude was rather curt at first, but I instinctively responded to his outstretched hand.
I immediately regretted that decision.
His grip strength was amazing. My hand was crushed.
I was glad he let go relatively quickly.

「Adventurer? I doubt you"ll find any use for this place unless you"re a craftsman.」

「I got mixed up in a lot of that kind of work.」

「Hmm. Well, if you say so.」

「Thanks. I"d like to get a set of woodworking tools. Is that alright?」

「Sure.」

「Wait, what? You"re not getting gla.s.s working tools?」

Gudo ignored his own question and proceeded to ask me for my budget.
He lined up some tools on the counter. I was grateful that I could see them before I bought them, but I couldn"t use【Appraise】to choose.
Two saws, three chisels, and two mechanical drills, along with a hammer and a mallet.
A thick-bladed knife, five different carving knives, two sheets of sandpaper, a steel square, a chalk line, and a ball of string.
He even put up a small axe.
And finally, a bag to put all the tools in.

「You have a hatchet?」

「I have a nata hatchet.」

「Could you show me?」

I pulled out the nata hatchet from my《Item Box》.
Gudo swung the blade around and touched the edge a few times.

「Hmm… This"ll do fine.」

「Do you have anything to repair these tools?」

「You think you can carry a grindstone around?」

「Sorry. I"m an adventurer.」

With a small sigh, Gudo disappeared into the back of the shop.
He came back with two different stones.
They looked quite used.

「I guess I can sell these.」

「Are you selling used items?」

「Quit it with your nonsense. New whetstone would cost more than anything else you see on display.」

「No, I know that.」

「I know you know, Nils.」

I used【Appraise】on both the stones. They were both Grade B.
They both looked worn with use, and their durability values were relatively low.
Although for the time being, it looked like they would do.
They were good enough.
I could get new gear later.

「If you can afford to spend a little more, you can get these too.」

「I will.」

I named half of the money I had on me as my budget.
It was just a beginner"s set of tools, so I had enough to cover it all.
I still had to pay out a considerable amount of money, though.
I bought it all at the asking price and put all the tools in my《Item Box》.

「By the way, would it be possible to buy a new grindstone here?」

「Most guys pool money with other craftsmen to get one. Even then, you would have to dish out your life savings.」

「Is it really that expensive?」

「Well, yeah. If you find any stones that could work as whetstones, come drop by again. I"ll buy them off of you for a high price.」

「Alright.」

I bought three different boxes of nails, and a rope-like tape measure while I was there.
Great.
It was only after I left the place that I questioned why I was buying tools in the first place.
Of course, it was because I broke my Kaya Wood Rod.
And that I got mixed up in a lot of woodworking work.

With all of that I came to one conclusion, "wouldn"t it be nice if I could make my own rods?".
I could find wood in the forest, too.
Although I doubt I would get to surpa.s.s any professional Woodworkers.
But if Reina got busy with other clients, it would be good to be able to take care of small things on my own.

I got Nils to tell me the location of a nice woodworking workshop afterwards.
I suddenly felt like cutting some branches in the forest.
Lumber was cheap, so I decided to buy some instead.
Three kaya wood branches.
I planned on doing some experiments once I returned to Master"s house.

I decided to eat lunch at the new Adventurer"s Guild building.
Nils was with me.
The food was simple.
The same stew I got earlier. We were given a large amount again and I was full after a single bowl.

I saw Nils ask for seconds.
What kind of stomach did he have?
Other workmen came in small groups to grab their bowls of food too.
They stayed a little longer to set up the venue for the tournament.
Even though it wasn"t their main job.
Thanks.

「Well, can I get going?」

「Of course. Thank you so much for everything.」

「Anytime. Do your best in the tournament.」

I parted with Nils after we finished eating.
I had nothing to do for the rest of the day and the day after.
I decided to some training for the tournament.
It would be nice if I could advance a little past the forest maze too.
It would be good experience for both me and my Summon Monsters.

What should I do…

I suppose the usual would be alright.
It"d be nice if I could encounter another Stray Horse.
I didn"t know which monsters yielded the most experience.
Stray Horses were a pretty difficult enemy.
But the items they dropped were very nice.
I had already put in a request for a new set of armour, but I could just sell the Wild Horse Hide for a high price.
Well, let"s get hunting.

Protagonist　Keith
Race　Human　Male　Racial Lv7
Job　Summoner Lv6
Bonus Points Remaining: 15

Skill Sets:
Staff Lv6　Punch Lv3　Kick Lv4　Joint Lock Lv4　Throw Lv3　Evade Lv3　Block Lv3　Summon Magic Lv7
Light Magic Lv3　Wind Magic Lv4　Earth Magic Lv3　Water Magic Lv4　Fire Magic Lv3　Dark Magic Lv3　Ice Magic Lv1
Alchemy Lv4　Pharmacy Lv3　Gla.s.smaking Lv3　Woodworking Lv3（↑1）
Cooperation Lv6　Appraise Lv5　Identify Lv6　Discern Lv1　Cold Resistance Lv3　Grab Lv5　Horsemanship Lv5　Precise Manipulation Lv6（↑1）　Jump Lv1　Heat Resistance Lv3　Climb Lv3　Dual Wield Lv2　Mental Reinforcement Lv1

Equipment:
Kaya Wood Drumsticks x2　Snow Leopard Push Dagger x3　Wild Rabbit Breastplate+ Series　Snow Ape Armguard　Wild Horse Boots+　Snow Ape Leather Helmet　Rucksack　Item Box x2

Items:
Survival Knife

t.i.tles:
Old Summoner"s Pupil
Guardian of the Forest
Man of the Middle Path

Monster Summons:
Volff　Wolf Lv5（Asleep）
Zangetsu　Horse Lv3
Helix　Hawk Lv3
Obsidian　Owl Lv4
Jean　Bat Lv4（Asleep）
Jericho Wood Golem Lv3（Asleep）
Goki　Demon Lv1（Asleep）