59 – I Want to Be an Adventurer Again
I visited the Cube Refinery late at night.
Fortunately, the door was still open.
Philstone was organizing boxes filled with herbs and boiling water in the refining machine.
I still can’t believe that he’s the Guild Master.
And on top of that, he’s the culprit who created all the annoying and strict rules in the guild and documented every task. It’s even more unfortunate.
Even now, it’s hard to accept.
A structure that trusts documents more than people.
What if there’s a fire in the guild?
I understand that he focuses on running the refinery, but to document every aspect of guild operations and neglect everything else is just asking for trouble.
If all the documents stored in the guild were to burn in a fire, wouldn’t that mean the end of the Adventurer Guild’s business?
Adventurers like me who have had their records erased are mass-produced, you know.
Well, I can’t just vent my anger, can I? It can’t be helped.
No matter how you look at it, I’m just a guild master as a hobby, with potion refining as my main profession.
A true form of desk work…
I can’t help but feel sorry for the receptionists who are working so hard at the guild.
As I stepped into the refining facility, Philstone looked at me with eyes that seemed to say, “Why are you here again?”
“Why are you here again?”
As expected, he said that.
But I needed this person to recover my adventurer rank.
During my journey here, I thought about it.
How can I meet the conditions to receive the Silver rank all at once?
The answer is to include this person as much as possible in those conditions.
Philstone had no intention of stepping back from his principles regarding guild work.
On the other hand, it means that there might be room for negotiation within the guild’s principles.
That’s why I was planning to ask him directly.
I want to register as a new adventurer, and I need your help to recover my rank all at once.
So if there’s any monster or task you want me to handle, let me know.
In other words, I’m saying that I will directly request Philstone, the guild master, to subjugate them.
And if possible, I’ll make him one of the three eyewitnesses.
Well, if he flat out refuses, then I’ll just go back to square one with no answer.
Now is a situation where I have to try anything.
“Ah, I didn’t come here to ask for my record to be restored this time.”
“Then what is it? Did you come to sell herbs or something?”
“I want to register as an adventurer again. But according to the guild’s rules, they said I have to start from the novice rank again.”
“Well, then that’s what you should do.”
Filstone replied, wiping an empty vial as if he had no interest, without even looking at me.
Hmm, how should I approach this?
At times like this, I need to let him know that I respect his ways and make him feel less guarded.
“To be honest, it’s still hard for me to accept, but I understand that you don’t want me to touch the rules you’ve set. I don’t have any intention of arguing about it.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“But it’s also difficult for me. My adventurer rank, which was silver, was revoked overnight. So I want to make one suggestion. Without breaking the guild’s rules, I want to be able to restore my original rank.”
I calmly spoke, not bothered by Filstone’s indifference.
Then Filstone’s hand, which was wiping the empty vial, stopped.
And he looked at me, asking, “Tell me more.”
I felt that the atmosphere had softened a lot compared to before.
Could it be that he felt some curiosity about my words, saying that I would recover my adventurer rank without breaking his principles?
The aura that seemed to say, “Annoying person, leave quickly,” just a moment ago disappeared.
It seems that my statement about respecting the guild’s rules has been well received.
Surprisingly, this might actually work.
“When adventurers register for the first time, don’t they give different starting ranks based on their background and experience? I want to use that to restore my original rank. That should be fine, right? It’s not breaking any guild rules, and I’ll be obtaining my rank through a legitimate method.”
“That system wasn’t created for people to exploit it.”
I immediately responded to Philstone’s words.
“I already have a track record as a Silver Rank adventurer. There are plenty of people who know that. So using that as a means to restore my original rank can’t be considered exploiting, can it?”
Philstone stared at me silently.
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I continued speaking.
“Because all laws and rules are made by people, they are bound to have flaws. Like you mentioned, it could be a special case when a missing person who was declared dead by the guild returns alive. And right now, the guild’s rules are unable to handle that special case. Yet you don’t want to change the guild’s rules, do you? So, I am saying that I will respect the guild’s rules while obtaining what I rightfully deserve.”
“Hmm…”
Philstone seemed to be deep in thought for a moment.
And in the meantime, a narration flowed through my mind.
“All the rules and documents created by Philstone were intricately intertwined like complex gears. His goal was to allow the guild to operate on its own, even without his involvement, through minimal management. But due to his excessive attachment to that goal, Philstone ended up compulsively changing the guild’s rules that had been set once.”
Is that really the case?
It wasn’t much different from what I had thought about Philstone.
Some kind of obsession or compulsive disorder that had solidified in a negative way.
Well, there are people like that sometimes.
People who won’t change what they’ve decided, no matter what.
The countless incomprehensible clauses written in the guild’s documents were probably his work as well.
Although I personally don’t prefer the type that likes to nitpick, right now, I need this person.
“What I want is simple. I am already an adventurer who has operated at the Silver Rank. However, since I don’t have any means to prove it, I can’t receive the original rank again. So, I’m asking you, the Guild Master, to personally give me an unofficial request to subdue a non-publicized monster. And all you need to do is guarantee it. That way, the guild rules won’t be broken, and I can go through the verification process to register as an adventurer at my original rank.”
“Surprisingly, are you trying to exploit the rules?”
“Master, you know very well that the guild rules have their flaws. You know it, yet you don’t fix them, right? I’m such a rare case. So, I’m saying that I will restore my rights in accordance with those rules.”
Based on the fact confirmed by the narration, I spoke to Philstone in a strong tone.
“…That’s reasonable.”
Philstone finally agreed.
Finally, there was a breakthrough to restore my adventurer rank.
Honestly, I still believed that resurrecting my erased records was the fastest and easiest way.
It was inevitable that dissatisfaction would arise from the rigid operating method that required adventurers to adhere to the rules, rather than changing the guild rules.
But it would be better to find a way around that stubbornness than to forcibly break it.
It’s better to recover the rank through a detour than not being able to recover it at all.
Negotiations won’t progress if both sides stick to their stubbornness.
Finding a breakthrough by compromising like this is also a skill in negotiations.
“Actually, there is one thing that concerns me. It’s something that hasn’t been commissioned by the guild yet and something I was planning to handle personally. Let me entrust it to you. And as the Guild Master, I will guarantee it as well.”
Philstone said to me.
Now that he’s made it convincing, the story is progressing quickly.
“Okay. What do I need to handle?”
“It’s called Mandra Gora.”
Mandra Gora?
It sounds like something I’ve heard before.
Isn’t it the name of a demon or a medicinal herb?
I’m not sure if it’s the same in this world, but at least in the land known as Mandragora, it’s something like a screaming ginseng when extracted.
“Isn’t that the name of a medicinal herb?”
“Yes, you’re right. But it’s not usually called Mandragora.”
Filstone replied with a smile in his eyes.
“It’s a variant of Mandragora that I used to raise. It’s currently running wild, so I had to lock it up.”
What? I don’t know about that. It’s scary.
* * *
The next day.
I walked along the path behind Kuber with three witnesses for the demon extermination.
Sylphy, Meruru, and as promised yesterday, Guild Master Filstone were with me.
As expected, Sylphy said she would actively help me once I explained my situation.
Meruru, being a receptionist who wasn’t good at paperwork and focused more on dealing with different species, had relatively more free time, so she could come with me.
And Filstone was personally guiding me to that “variant of Mandragora” and was also leading the way as a witness for the extermination.
“I can’t believe the senior has to receive a new adventurer rank… It’s ridiculous.”
While walking alongside Filstone, Sylphy whispered to me in a low voice.
I also strongly sympathize with Sylphy’s opinion… but right now, I think it’s fortunate enough that we found this method.
“The guild master is not the usual stuck-up human. I barely managed to get this opportunity.”
“Ugh… I should be careful not to suffer any unnecessary losses.”
“Well, in the guild, they already assumed I was dead. It’s over from the moment they processed it as a death, not a disappearance.”
“Senior, if you regain your rank, would you like to work on a mission with me again?”
“I hope so.”
As they exchanged casual small talk, they ventured deeper into the dense forest.
Filstern, who had been leading the way, abruptly stopped and spoke to me.
“Here we are. This is where the Variants are being kept.”
When I looked to where Filstern was pointing, I saw something tightly sealed by a formidable barrier, so much so that I couldn’t see inside.
The barrier was so powerful that I could feel its magic even from a distance.
Why on earth would they seal the Variants so thoroughly like that?
“I was planning to personally break the barrier and deal with it soon… but it seems like a good opportunity.”
“I… I’ll ask again, the Variants are medicinal ingredients, right?”
“Yes, they are.”
Filstern replied as if it were obvious.
“But why would they seal it so tightly like that?”
“The Variants are ingredients for a potion that can instantly revive patients who have crossed the line between life and death. It’s the best medicinal ingredient for someone like me who runs a refining facility. Naturally, I would want to cultivate it. Wouldn’t you?”
“I don’t understand why something like that would be cultivated in such a way.”
“Maybe it’s because the Demon King’s power has grown stronger, or maybe I gave it too much magic power as fertilizer. The Variants sealed here are much stronger than the average demon. It’s a bit difficult to handle, so I sealed it for now, but its medicinal effects are outstanding.”
I stared at the barrier where the Variants were sealed with a bewildered expression.
What on earth is this Filstern guy doing?
“There’s a strange smell coming from the barrier. It’s making me dizzy,” Meruru said, making a face beside me.
By the way, Meruru had the ability to detect underground plants.
Somehow, I’m becoming more and more uneasy.
“Well then, I will release the barrier.”
Philstone raised his hand towards the direction of the barrier.
The barrier surrounding the mutated Mandragora began to shine brightly.
* * *