Hikaru thought it had been a while since he took off his mask and went out to town with Lavia and Paula like a real adventurer.

He'd bought new gear since they were worn out from his solo expeditions and the battle in Dream Maker—short-sleeved s.h.i.+rts that were easy to move in even during summer, and a backpack. His wakizas.h.i.+ and dagger were sheathed on his back.

Lavia, carrying light luggage, wore a dress made of durable fabric and a light, hooded overcoat. Paula's outfit was similar to Lavia's, although unlike her, she didn't wear any coat.

「So that's the Adventurers Guild. It really stands out.」

Vireocean had a huge port, where trade and commerce flourished. The huge establishment in the harbor was the market, and the huge building in the middle of the city was the Adventurers Guild.

The side facing south was like an open-air café. Armed adventurers gathered around the tables, chatting and discussing matters. It was bright outside, which made it difficult to see what was inside, but upon getting closer, Hikaru could see it was quite big.

A row of counters was installed inside: Registration, Commission Acceptance, Commission Order, Party, and Funds Management. The commission bulletin board was on a different wall.

「Hmm… There's a lot fewer commissions than I expected.」

The commissions posted were spa.r.s.e. There were quite a fair number of adventurers around, but upon closer look, they seemed to just be killing time.

Adventurers gathered around as a female staff carrying commissions made her way to the bulletin board.

「Come on, Reine. Escort jobs again?」

「Escort, public works, and transport… No decent jobs, huh.」

「My sword's crying.」

Hikaru studied the posted commissions. The adventurers were right.

Escort commissions—escort caravans travelling to other cities.

Public works—goes without saying, but it involved engineering work.

Transport—transporting wood, earth, and sand used for public works.

They were all far from the usual adventurer-type jobs. It would be difficult for Hikaru to leave this city for escort jobs, and the latter two would be too tough on the girls.

「Excuse me. Can I ask you something?」Hikaru called out to the receptionist as she finished posting the commissions.

「Of course. What is it?」she answered, smiling.

Slender and fair, she had long, beautiful whitish blonde hair. With her golden eyes, she almost looked like a doll, if it weren't for the slight freckles on her porcelain skin.

Hikaru could hear people grumbling.

「Tch. Who's that kid and why's he talking to Reine?」

「There's not a lot of commissions here.」Hikaru said.

「Oh, is this your first time here? If you have the time, I can tell you about Ville Zentra's Adventurers Guild.」

Hikaru looked over his shoulder at Lavia and Paula. It was rare for a receptionist of such a big guild to be so accommodating, and without decent commissions, they had nothing to do. They wouldn't lose anything by listening to what she had to say.

「Please, if you don't mind.」Hikaru said.

「Okay. Come with me.」

「Can I bring my two friends with me?」

The receptionist looked surprised the moment she noticed the girls.「Yes, you can.」

「Right now, Ville Zentra is experiencing an unprecedented boom.」Reine said.「You may know this already, but many refugees came from the newly-discovered continent to the east. The Supreme Leader, Patricia Zylberstein, guaranteed their livelihood. As such, there had been a surge in construction work and other things.」

「Wouldn't that mean more commissions for the guild, though?」

「Yes. Escort jobs, public works, and transport commissions. Caravans carry various goods from towns, and there's a lot of work going on for housing construction.」

「No, I mean isn't there a need to hunt animals for food, or gather medicinal herbs?」

Reine frowned.「Actually… we do have those kinds of commissions, but they all get taken.」

「All? Shouldn't there be a lot of those?」

「Yes. But the number of adventurers had increased quite a lot.」

「Wait a minute…」Hikaru finally realized it.「Did the people of Dream Maker become adventurers?!」

「I see you know the name of their country. Exactly. Their leader wanted a way for them to earn money, and the Supreme Leader recommended the Adventurers Guild. They're diligent, coming here early every morning to take commissions and working all day until evening before going home. They're very capable as well.」

Those guys… It made perfect sense. Monsters in Grand Dream were far more powerful than the ones here. Soldiers had high Soul Ranks, and they had decent stats as well. It wasn't hard to imagine that they wouldn't just sit around and do nothing for three months.

No, this is a good thing, Hikaru thought.

They were trying to be independent. Apparently, they took commissions every day without a break.

I'll ask if I see Doriachi or Grucel.

Perhaps they were proud of their soldiers. Still this didn't change the fact that Hikaru desperately needed money. He tried to think of a different plan instead.

「So other than public works and transport, there are no other commissions that can be done around the city.」

「That is correct. I'm sorry. You can come here early if you want. We'll put up commissions for the day then.」

「Why don't the others do that?」

「Well…」

Reine was calm and composed until now, but for the first time she appeared to be at a loss. Watching her, Hikaru realized something.

「Ah, I get it. They're not really diligent.」

「I know I shouldn't say this, but you're not far off the mark.」

「Okay, I understand. Thank you for the information. Does this guild have a reference room?」

「A reference… room?」

「Yes. I can look for rare plants and animals for money even without commissions, right? I want to study some data about them.」

「My, how diligent.」Reine blushed. Apparently she loved the word “diligent”.「I'll show you to the room, then. This way.」

「Uh, you can just tell me where it is. I don't want to bother you any longer.」

「It's fine. It's also a receptionist's job to guide promising adventurers. But…」She glanced at Lavia and Paula.「You'll provoke the other adventurers by having pretty girls serve you, so I suggest you keep that in moderation.」

「What?! Uh, they're not—」

「The reference room is this way.」Reine stood up and left the reception booth.

「They don't really serve me or anything.」Hikaru said.

They were both capable persons that fought alongside Hikaru. The girls didn't seem to mind, however.

「We have to make sure that they know we serve and belong to Hikaru.」Lavia said.

「L-Lavichan?!」Paula exclaimed.

Lavia took Paula's right arm and clung to Hikaru's left arm.

「It's hard to move like this, Lavia.」Hikaru remarked.

「I know.」

「Come on.」

「Or are you okay if adventurers started hitting on us?」

「…No.」

If he saw a filthy adventurer talking to Lavia, Hikaru knew he'd get annoyed, even if their topic was nothing indecent.

「Hehe. You sure are possessive.」

「Fine, whatever. Now let's go to the reference room.」

「L-Like this?! Can I stay back at least?!」Paula was getting fl.u.s.tered.

「No, you're sticking with us.」Lavia said.

「Whaaat?!」

As they stepped out of the booth, Hikaru felt the adventurers staring daggers at him, which he simply ignored.

「Oh…」

Reine too appeared both shocked and disgusted at the same time, but did not say a word.

I think they way she looks at me changed a bit… Hikaru thought.

Apparently Hikaru's behavior right now was far from “diligent”.