Entering the royal capital — and it truly lived up to its reputation as the beginner's town. Creatures of every conceivable race and form moved through the streets.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
The crisp, powerful ring of red-hot metal meeting hammer filled the air. Jhin paused in front of a blacksmith's stall, watching a dwarven smith hoist his forging hammer and bring it down on a piece of metal slowly taking shape.
A dwarf in the middle of forging will not acknowledge anyone — that much was common knowledge across the entire continent.
Kokkoro stepped up beside Jhin and gently reminded him, "Master, dwarves won't pay attention to anything else while they're forging. Shall we come back to look at weapons later?"
"Hm?" Jhin blinked, then smiled. "Kokkoro, I'm not planning to buy a weapon — I just wanted to watch how a dwarven smith works."
"Ah, but without a weapon of your own..."
Jhin waggled his right hand at her. "Forgotten already? I've got this."
"Ah — right, of course." Kokkoro had nearly forgotten about Jhin's ability, which defied every ordinary convention. As long as she and Pecorine were by his side, he would never be without a weapon.
Pecorine was staring at the glowing red metal, and — true to form — some inexplicable association with food had surfaced in her mind. A thin gleam of drool was forming at the corner of her mouth.
"Pecorine — snap out of it. We're heading to the Adventurers' Guild to exchange those monster materials."
"Ah, right!" Pecorine wiped the corner of her mouth and fell into step with the others.
The three of them walked into the Adventurers' Guild. Being fresh faces — and rather striking ones at that — they were immediately approached by several guilds looking to recruit. After turning down each invitation one by one, they finally made their way to the front desk.
Pecorine swung the large black canvas bag off her back and set it on the counter. Inside were the monster materials Jhin had retrieved from his Storage Space — fangs, generously donated by the wild boars of the deep forest.
Funny thing: during the fight, each of those tusks had been at least a meter across. Once the boars were killed, they'd shrunken down to a size you could hold in one hand — a bizarre game-like mechanic if there ever was one.
"Could you please exchange all of these materials for Eris?"
"Of course — one moment, please."
The currency of this world was the Eris — sharing its name with the goddess who had presided over Jhin's reincarnation ritual. Ten Eris to one yuan from his home world. A single apple at the fruit stall cost fifty Eris.
The receptionist returned shortly, carrying a hefty bag. "That comes to a total of one hundred and twenty thousand Eris. Since none of you are affiliated with any guild, you're unable to access guild benefits, which means we couldn't offer a higher rate. I'd recommend joining or establishing a guild as soon as possible."
Jhin had Pecorine take the Eris and turned back to the receptionist. "What are the requirements for establishing a guild?"
"As the most basic social unit recognized within the royal capital, all you need is four members and the completed information on this application form." The receptionist — a young woman with delicate gold-rimmed glasses — produced a form and placed it on the counter in front of Jhin.
The gesture sent a sudden pang through his chest. A very particular, suffocating kind of pang — the kind that came with being one short.
Jhin accepted the form with a slightly odd expression. "Thank you. We're still one person short — we'll come back once we've found the right fit."
"No problem at all! The doors of the Adventurers' Guild are always open to young adventurers like yourselves."
The three of them left the lively guild hall behind. Kokkoro was already fretting over the missing fourth member.
"Where are we supposed to find that last person? Surely there can't be many people in the royal capital who haven't already joined a guild."
"The bridge will appear when we reach the river — if you start worrying yourself sick now, luck won't come your way, Kokkoro." Jhin reached over and gave the little guide a pat on the head.
Kokkoro's face lit up with an expression of pure bliss — then, an instant later, she caught herself. Like a suddenly wary white cat, she darted out from under Jhin's "clutches," her cheeks flushing faintly as she murmured her complaint, "Master, you promised not to pat my head without warning..."
"I'll be more careful next time."
The complete lack of sincerity in his tone made it abundantly clear to Kokkoro that he'd taken absolutely none of that to heart. The moment he felt like patting her head, he'd reach for it without a second thought.
Master is wonderful in every way... except for always treating me like a child.
There was nothing she could do about it, really. The elven race simply lived long lives, and it made them look young — that was just how it was.
This wasn't Pecorine's first time in Landosol. Knowing the royal capital fairly well, she quickly thought of a promising lead. "How about we head to the notice board? Maybe there's a posting from someone looking to join a guild?"
"That's actually a great idea!"
"Then let's go!" Seeing that neither Jhin nor Kokkoro had any objections, Pecorine set off at the front with her usual boundless energy.
Behind the flower bed near the Adventurers' Guild, a black tail poked out — its gray-tipped end swishing playfully from side to side.
Those people are trying to form a guild. This is a perfect opportunity to get close to them... but what reason should I give for joining?
"The World!"
The world drained to gray without warning. Jhin walked over to the flower bed and looked down at the black-haired cat-eared girl crouching there — a single streak of white at her brow — and furrowed his own brow in thought. "So she's the one I've been sensing watching us. She doesn't look like she's possessed by Thanatos... then why has she been tailing us from the start?"
With time frozen, Jhin took a careful look at the cat-eared girl.
Her glossy black hair fell behind her in two long twintails, each end curling into a spiral. She wore a black-and-crimson mage's dress with flared bell sleeves. Because she was crouching, her thighs were on full display — black thigh-highs framing an absolutely stellar absolute territory, with a black lace garter tied just above.
Jhin pulled out his personal terminal and took a few photos, then headed back to where Kokkoro and the others were waiting.
Snap.
"Time resumes."
Jhin flipped through the photos on his terminal, mulling it over to himself.
Green eyes, exposed armpits, little fang, cat ears, absolute territory — if that's not a tsundere character template, I'll stand on my head and wash my hair.
Damn, I forgot to give those fluffy cat ears a little squeeze. She has human ears too, so those cat ears and the tail... are they accessories she wears out of personal taste?
Kyaru felt a sudden chill sweep over her — particularly sharp at the top of her head, right where her ears were. Her nimble cat ears immediately folded flat against her hair. "What was that... a horrible ominous shiver all of a sudden..."
They arrived at the notice board. There were no postings from anyone seeking to join a guild — mostly trivial odds and ends. Which guild had obtained a rare material and was looking to sell, a fresh shipment of fruit arriving at the market stalls, a newly opened restaurant offering twenty percent off everything — that sort of thing.
"Oh dear..." Pecorine smiled awkwardly. "Wasn't expecting to strike out here either..."
Jhin wasn't in any particular rush to get the guild off the ground. After all, it was only their second day in Another World — things didn't just fall into place that conveniently.
"Let's head back out to hunt monsters tomorrow. There's no need to worry about roughing it outside — and once we establish the guild we'll definitely need money, so think of it as building up funds. Finding the right person will just have to wait."
____
👻🔥Here: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: All My Employees Are Naughty Girls
We have set new community milestones:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for all readers