57 – I Want to Become an Adventurer Again
I am Yu Noah.
A man who became nothing when his adventurer record was erased.
I couldn’t accept that the guild’s death processing couldn’t be reversed on paper, so I decided to confront the guild master.
“But where is the master? Come to think of it, I’ve never seen them before.”
“Well… I’ve never seen them either.”
Tina’s answer filled my head with question marks.
What does it mean that she’s never seen the guild master when she works as a receptionist at the guild?
It was as perplexing as hearing someone say they work at a butcher shop but have never seen meat.
“You’ve never seen the master? You used to have consultations with them, right?”
“Well… We only communicate through letters. They’ve never actually come to the guild….”
The guild master, who is in charge of the entire guild, has never come to the guild?
Then how am I supposed to confront them?
“But we do have the address. If you go here, you can find them….”
Tina handed me a small note she quickly wrote.
The address where the guild master is staying was neatly written in beautiful handwriting on the note.
They write really well.
I took the note and immediately set off to find the master.
* * *
When I arrived at the address written on the note, I ended up at a surprising place.
A place I know well.
The Kubeol Refinery.
There was a time when I used to come here with Meluru to sell herbs.
I remember it being run by a man named Philstone, who seemed quite fussy.
“What’s this? Is the address wrong?”
I stood in front of the Kubeol Refinery, checking the address on the note from the guild master several times.
The address written on the note Tina gave me was definitely correct for this place.
Furthermore, the Kubeol Refinery was located in a secluded area with no other buildings around, and the smell of herbs was strong.
“Excuse me.”
Since I had no reason to look elsewhere, I stepped inside the refinery.
Inside, Philstone was still tinkering with the potion refining machine, not paying any attention to whether I entered or not.
“Mr. Philstone?”
I called out his name a little louder.
Even when I had come to sell herbs with Meluru before, he wouldn’t even look at me unless I tried to attract attention.
“What’s up? I’m busy right now. Basically, we don’t accept customers here. If you want potions, go to the general store.”
“It’s me. I came to sell herbs before.”
“Hmm?”
Finally, Philstone turned his head and looked at me.
It had been a long time since I last came, but we had made several deals before.
“Who are you?”
Can’t you recognize me?
It was too much of a hassle to introduce myself before they recognized me, so I decided to get straight to the point.
“I came from the Adventurer’s Guild.”
“So what?”
“I was given the address of the Guild Master and came here. I have an urgent matter to discuss with the Master. Do you know anything?”
I asked without much expectation.
I thought it might have been better to go back to Tina and confirm the address, but I didn’t want to waste my steps coming all the way here.
Philstone looked at me with a twinkle in his eyes.
It wasn’t so much a smile or laughter out of enjoyment, but rather his appearance itself that made him seem like he was smiling.
“Handle Guild matters with the receptionist. This is the Refinery.”
Well, that was to be expected.
I should go back to the Guild and ask Tina for the address again, I thought, and was about to turn around.
“The Master of the Kubele Adventurer’s Guild also runs the Refinery.
He is a master potion maker and an excellent wizard.
The address that Yunoa had was very accurate.”
My footsteps, about to leave the Refinery, came to a sudden halt.
Philstone is the Adventurer’s Guild Master?
Why is someone who is a Guild Master involved in refining potions with the smell of herbs?
From Noble mtl dot com
He should be properly going to the Guild and helping out adventurers like me who have troublesome problems.
Anyway, since Narration said it, there was no doubt that Philstone was the Guild Master.
I turned back to Philstone and spoke.
“Isn’t the reason you came here because you couldn’t resolve it with the receptionist?”
“Why are you talking about that here? As you can see, this is a potion refining station.”
“Don’t play dumb. Aren’t you the Master of the Kubele Adventurer Guild?”
Filstone’s brow slightly furrowed at my words.
He looked at me for a moment and then said, as if something had occurred to him,
“Ah, you’re the herbalist who came to sell herbs with the Merfolk.”
No, he’s only realizing that now… that’s not important!
Well, there are all kinds of people like this.
I can’t understand where his sense of responsibility as the Master of the Adventurer Guild went.
“I’m currently working as an adventurer.”
“Is that so? That’s fortunate.”
“But I can’t do that anymore. I’ve been declared dead.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“How can it not be reversed?”
“It can’t.”
Filstone answered without a moment’s hesitation.
His response was so refreshing that I didn’t even think to argue.
“No, it’s the guild’s mistake. I’m perfectly alive, but they declared me dead and prevented me from participating in adventurer activities.”
“Just register again.”
“If I register again, will they restore my original rank? As the Master, you should have that authority, right?”
“I’m sorry, can we talk later? It’s time for the refining machine extraction.”
This person didn’t seem to have any intention of listening to me properly.
But at least now they’re not denying that they’re the guild master.
Fine.
I won’t move a single step from here until the problem is resolved.
How am I supposed to make a living if I can’t work as an adventurer?
Of course, there is a way to re-register and start from bronze, but I simply couldn’t accept that.
It’s not my fault that it was revoked, I can’t bear such a loss.
I was watching Philstone as he extracted the bright red liquid from the refining machine using a transparent tube-like device.
He carefully transferred it into a vial and then mixed it with various colored solutions that were prepared next to him.
Every action he took gave off an expert’s vibe, even to someone like me who knew nothing about it.
I watched Philstone extract potions from the refining machine for a long time.
I tried speaking to him again in the middle, but he didn’t seem to hear me and just continued with his work.
After a long wait, Philstone finally finished the potion refining process and looked at me.
“What’s wrong? You still haven’t left?”
He had a genuinely curious expression.
“Either restore my adventurer record or cancel the death record. I won’t leave until then.”
“I guess I have no choice.”
“Are you going to do it?”
“I’m going to explain why it’s not possible.”
“……”
“All guild tasks are recorded. Documenting all aspects of our work is the reason I can manage the refinery here and still maintain the Master’s duties.”
The culprit who always buries the receptionists under piles of paperwork, causing them to be exhausted, is right here.
Does this person even realize that it’s because of them that Tina’s face is becoming more and more haggard?
“The processed documents are received and confirmed by me once a month through mail. And all documents are to be handled by the receptionists according to the rules. If we make an exception even once, it will leave a blemish on the guild’s operations that have been running smoothly according to the rules.”
“……Isn’t it a bigger blemish that I, who was declared dead, am alive and well here?”
“If you were declared dead by the guild, there must have been a valid reason. It’s the fact that you came back alive that’s strange. We can’t apply exceptions to such peculiar cases. Are you suggesting that we leave a flaw in the entire guild’s workflow because of you? Once exceptions start, they will continue to occur.”
Filston’s words were absurd yet strangely persuasive, which made me even more angry.
In the end, it means that I can’t change the entire process of the guild just because of me.
Then what does it mean for someone like me, who was unjustly stripped of their adventurer rank, to receive compensation?
“Yunoa was dumbfounded, questioning the guild’s principle-based operation.
Filston regarded reversing a document once it’s been invalidated as equivalent to resurrecting the dead.
Regardless of Yunoa’s life or death, the guild’s principles were more important to him.
There was no point in begging for the restoration of more invalidated records. It would be a waste of time.”
The narration confirmed Filston’s stubbornness once again.
There was no choice but to register as an adventurer with the guild without a single movement.
It was at that moment when a sense of injustice and despair began to overwhelm my mind.
“But on the other hand, it also meant that there would be no problem in restoring the adventurer rank while adhering to the guild’s principles.
The invalidated records could never be recovered. It was as difficult as making the Demon King dance naked.
However, if I could prove my abilities sufficiently while registering as an adventurer, I could receive a high rank from the beginning.”
The moment I heard the narration, scenes flashed through my mind.
It was the memory of when I first registered as an adventurer, going through various procedures, asking questions, and signing documents.
Yes, there was definitely a process in the guild to verify a person’s abilities and background when registering as an adventurer.
Because I was really nothing, I couldn’t even receive a Bronze rank and ended up with the Novice rank.
But then, if I could prove my abilities and experience, wouldn’t I be able to start with a Silver rank from the beginning?
“Um… I understand for now.”
In the end, I gave in to Philstone’s persistence.
Rather than trying to convince him here, it seemed better to go back and consult with Tina.
If I could register as an adventurer again and immediately obtain a Silver rank, I honestly didn’t care.
* * *