Chapter 20
The atmosphere inside the Adventurer's Guild and the attitude of the guild staff became quite simple once the reason was understood.
Even though it was in another country, it was due to the unreasonable demands of my mentor, a Rank 9 adventurer, and my fellow disciple, who, unlike me, is a full-time adventurer already at Rank 7.
No matter how high-ranking an adventurer may be, it's obvious, but unless they're a complete idiot, no adventurer would threaten the Adventurer's Guild.
Of course, the other adventurers, knowing that such an idiot was rumored to be coming soon, would naturally pay attention when two people matching the rumored description walked into the guild.
The guild staff, threatened... or rather, requested by high-ranking adventurers, would naturally be intimidated.
Seriously, what did those two do?
I felt a genuine headache coming on.
Once the misunderstanding was cleared up, things proceeded very smoothly.
As expected of the Adventurer's Guild in the City of Adventurers, Hekatai.
The registration process was extremely efficient, and without much waiting, both Erika's and my adventurer registration were completed.
Erika gazed curiously at the thin card-like magic tool commonly called a guild card.
By the way, since I already had one from the Faltarl Kingdom, the information from the Orclura Kingdom's Adventurer's Guild was simply added to it.
By the way, its function is merely that of an ID.
Though classified as a magic tool, most of its functionality is dedicated to anti-forgery measures, with only minor features like displaying name, current rank, and subjugation records as a bonus.
"By the way, you seem to be quite the famous person."
Erika said this while we were walking toward the city gate.
"To defeat the Needle Spider Queen single-handedly is something to be proud of even by our standards."
By "our standards," she probably meant the standards at the academy.
"Even if I did it alone, my mentor was there by my side."
To avoid misunderstanding, I clarified that while I did defeat the Needle Spider alone, it was part of my mentor's training.
It was under the watchful eye of a Rank 9 adventurer, so I can't consider it purely my own strength.
"Even so."
For some reason, Erika happily denied it.
"I thought I would no longer underestimate you, but it seems I still did."
"I'm not that impressive of a person."
"Oh? Is that modesty?"
Erika said this while making a gesture as if peering into my face.
Her gesture was so cute that I instinctively turned my face away.
"I see, you're just embarrassed."
Saying that, Erika laughed.
*
Despite a slight delay, we decided to go on our first monster subjugation right after completing our adventurer registration, as originally planned.
That's why we deliberately headed to the Adventurer's Guild early in the morning.
By the way, the one who suggested it was Erika.
She said it would be fun to live as real adventurers, not just in name, but I wasn't sure if that was just an excuse to get through this farce or her true feelings.
I couldn't tell whether it was a convenient excuse for her to get through this farce or if it was her genuine sentiment.
But one thing I can say for sure.
"This looks fun."
I muttered this while watching Erika subjugate monsters left and right, turning the entire area into a sea of fire.
This was a grassland about two hours south of Hekatai on foot, using physical enhancement.
We picked a request at random to subjugate monsters that frequently appeared on the road between one of the farming villages supporting Hekatai's food supply and the city.
However, for Erika's first job as a human, it might have been too easy.
The monsters spotted were ape-like creatures with long claws called Bonbo.
Though they form groups, their strength is only about what a Rank 2 adventurer would target, honestly pretty weak.
Even I feel that way about them; for Erika, it's like swatting away flies.
If there's a problem, it's probably this.
Someone must have neglected to teach this human named Erika the concept of holding back.
Despite being ape-like monsters, Bonbo often appear in grasslands, characterized by claws as long as a human's little finger and moving in groups.
When those Bonbo spotted us in the grassland, they naturally attacked.
Well, to put it bluntly, they ended up seeing hell.
The moment they entered Erika's field of vision, pillars of fire erupted from beneath their feet, burning them to ashes.
And not just one, but multiple at once, precisely targeting only the ground beneath the Bonbo.
About thirty pillars of fire rose simultaneously.
From my perspective, where I can see magic, it was a hellish scene of golden magic sparkling for a moment among the Bonbo charging at us, followed by pillars of fire and screams of death.
Perhaps it was the right timing for a group to gather, as the total number of Bonbo was probably a little over a hundred.
Whether they charged in a tight group, scattered to surround us, or tried to sneak closer using decoys, Erika sank them all into a sea of fire without letting them get close.
Bonbo are monsters that appear widely, even in the Faltarl Kingdom.
Though weak, they attack in groups, so novice adventurers often get hurt underestimating them.
They're sometimes called newbie killers, and despite their strength, they're disliked by adventurers.
This can also be seen from the fact that, among monsters with straightforward names, Bonbo has a unique proper name that doesn't sound like a typical monster.
But this time, they picked the wrong opponent.
Watching Erika annihilate the Bonbo group in mere minutes, I felt a little sympathy for them.
"Anyway, good job."
I approached Erika, who had turned the entire area into a sea of fire without causing a wildfire, and said that.
It could be called a masterstroke, supported by incredible precision and magic capacity, but since there were so many opponents, several bald patches were left in the grassland.
The only area within sight without bald patches within a ten-meter radius was around Erika.
"There were surprisingly many of them, weren't there?"
She said this without a hint of fatigue.
Rather, she looked satisfied.
She probably used magic to her heart's content for the first time.
The strength she showed at the academy was nothing compared to the hellish scene that just unfolded before my eyes.
Using magic without worrying about those around her must be difficult at the academy.
Simply put, there are too many people and too little space.
So even if she went a little overboard on her first time, it shouldn't be something to criticize her for.
It shouldn't be, but I can't just let it slide either.
I sighed inwardly.
"Erika, um..."
My awkward words made her tilt her head with a questioning look on her satisfied face, so cute.
"It's hard to say, but..."
"What is it?"
Ugh, this is hard to say.
"The request is a failure."