As I finished my breakfast and took a break, one of the guests approached me.

“Hey Lark, are you planning on going back to your room and lazing around for the rest of the day?”

“Well, actually I made a promise with Guldo-san yesterday and was planning to head over there after this.”

“Oh, I see. In that case, why don’t we all go together? We’re adventurers, despite our intimidating appearance,” another muscular guest spoke up.

It wasn’t surprising that they were adventurers, as they looked the part. Nonetheless, I accepted their kind offer to accompany them. On our way to the Guild, I asked the adventurers about something that had been on my mind, “Um… do you guys normally not use Guldo-san’s reception desk? Guldo-san mentioned that nobody ever goes to his reception desk.”

“Well, there’s a reason for that. Right, guys?” the leader asked the others, who all nodded in agreement.

They proceeded to explain why nobody went to Guldo-san’s. It was apparently due to an incident that occurred about ten years ago when a dragon attacked. At that time, a new labyrinth was discovered in a land slightly away from the capital, and adventurers of all ranks went to explore it. This was the reason why Guldo-san was the only who fought the dragon alone at the time. The adventurers only found out about it after everything was over. Since then, they had developed a sense of inferiority towards Guldo-san.

After organizing their story in my head, I asked them another question, “So, does that mean you guys avoid getting too close to Guldo-san because you feel guilty towards him?”

One of the adventurers nodded in response to my question. “Well, yeah… We know Guldo-san isn’t the type of person to blame us, but we still feel guilty about it. If we had stayed in the capital back then, Guldo-san would still be active as an adventurer.”

The atmosphere suddenly became heavy, so I quickly changed the subject. “Oh, I see… Well, now I understand why people never go to Guldo-san’s reception desk. But what about the other people who don’t have a reason like that?”

The leader of the group answered nonchalantly, “Well, those people just go to others as well. After all, Guldo-san has a scary face.”

Then, the other adventurers were all saying the same thing.

“That scary face, even though it’s the capital, he doesn’t fit in.”

“If you see him for the first time, you’d mistake him for a bandit.”

“Y-Yeah, I guess so. Hahaha…”

I couldn’t help but smile wryly. Somehow, Guldo-san is a pitiful person…

◈

I arrived at the guild and parted ways with the adventurers at the inn to head towards Guldo-san’s reception desk. However, I couldn’t see him anywhere.

“Huh, Guldo-san’s not here.” Looking around nervously, my eyes caught a sign that read “Away from Desk.”

As I looked for more clues, I came across a note under the sign that said, “Come to the basement I used for the exam, Lark.”

This must be Guldo-san’s note. Following the instructions in the note, I headed to the basement. After knocking on the door, I received a response and entered the room.

Inside, Guldo-san was sitting in a chair, grinning as he looked my way. “Oh, Lark, you’ve arrived.”

“Good day, Guldo-san. Why did you call me out here?”

“Ah, well, I figured things would get a little loud up there. Please take the seat across from me.”

I didn’t quite understand, but I sat across from him in the chair. Guldo-san pulled a slightly oversized bag out of his pocket and set it down on the table.

“Um, what is this?”

“It’s your reward for yesterday’s work. Actually, I was planning to issue a guild call for new adventurers to help organise that warehouse. It was supposed to take a few days to complete, but… well, since you finished it all, the reward money is all yours. There are thirty silver coins in the bag. Please double-check the contents just in case.”

“What? Uh, I mean, what? T-Thirty coins!? Isn’t that a considerable amount!?” I unintentionally raised my voice.

Yesterday, even though they were secondhand clothes, the payment for the clothes I bought in the commercial district was one silver coin. With thirty coins, it should have been a considerable value.

“Oh, and remember the silver coin you stored away to show the Master you skills the other day? The Master agreed to include them as part of your reward, so you’ll receive a total of thirty-one silver coins. It’s a lot of money for a new adventurer, but once you’re a high-ranking adventurer, you can earn this much in a single day. “It’s not a huge sum of money,” Guldo-san remarked, motioning with his gaze to take the bag.

Although I was surprised, I confirmed that there were indeed thirty silver coins inside the bag.

“Well, then, I’ll gladly accept it… Now I understand why I’m here. If a new adventurer received such a reward all of a sudden, it would cause a commotion, wouldn’t it?”

Guldo-san laughed as he nodded at my words. Then he took a serious expression. “That’s correct… Aside from that, there’s another reason I called Lark here.”

“Eh?”

“You were helped by someone when you collapsed and came to me, right? Wasn’t he the guy with the silver hair?”

“Y-Yes, that’s right…”

“You might have vaguely noticed it, but he’s an acquaintance of mine.”

“That did seem to be the case.”

When I first arrived at the guild and handed Guldo-san a letter from my benefactor, he said something along the lines of “That guy, huh…”.

They are acquaintances after all.

“Yes, that’s right. That guy asked me a while ago if I could raise someone as an adventurer if they showed up with a letter he wrote and if they had the aptitude,” he stated.

“Did something like that really happen…? That’s why Guldo-san has been looking after me all this time. I never said anything, but I’ve always wondered why you’re so nice to me “I said.

He then elaborated, “I was obviously asked to do it, but I also enjoy it. Lark, you’re a lot of fun to teach because of your vast potential.”

“Oh, thank you very much.”

I was slightly embarrassed after being praised unexpectedly. Because of that, I decided to change the subject and inquire about my benefactor instead. “Um, what kind of person was the one who helped me?” I asked Guldo-san.

“Hmm, let’s see… he’s not really a bad person, but he’s the type who doesn’t interact with others much. He left a few years ago to take care of some business, and he hasn’t returned since,” Guldo-san explained, his voice trailing off.

Maybe it’s best not to ask any more about it. “It’s fine, Guldo-san. We can talk about it later,” I interjected, obediently nodding. Although I was curious about my benefactor’s identity, Guldo-san seemed hesitant to discuss it, so I decided not to press the issue any further. After the conversation died down, Guldo-san offered to train me.

He pointed to the various weapons hung on the basement walls. “First, I’ll teach you the basic moves, so pick a weapon that suits you,” he said.

As instructed, I approached the wall to select a weapon. There were long swords, axes, spears, and other weapons available, but I chose the short sword at hand, partly because I had learned the “short sword technique” skill.

Guldo-san exclaimed in admiration when I returned with the weapon, “Oh, a short sword…since Lark is small, a short sword is easier to control than a large sword. You made an excellent decision.”

I didn’t give it much thought, but I was praised in some way…well, I’m glad he took it positively.

“All right, then, let me show you the basics of the short sword,” Guldo-san said.

“Please do,” I replied.

As a result, Guldo-training san’s began.