The city of Feran was a European style city. Whereas Atlea took a more eastern style, Faramouth was very European in general. They asked a nearby passerby and learned that the adventurers guild was along the main road. As they followed the main road Kotori saw many stalls selling produce and various weapons. Kotori wanted to buy some very juicy-looking fruit but was unsure of how valuable the goods were and thus decided to save her money.
As they approached the adventurers guild Kotori noted how it looked more like an inn than a guild.
They entered it and found it was sparsely populated with a few patrons lounging around on worn chairs.
At the desk was an older woman who had a frown.
[Aren't adventure guild receptionists supposed to be cute?]
Kotori and Amelie approached the receptionist counter and asked to be registered
The woman eyed them suspiciously
"Adventurers?"
"Yes" Kotori answered
"Hmmm, Don't have many of those here. Lemme see if I can find the forms"
She bent down and rummaged around on the bottom of the counter. And soon grabbed some stained papers. Written on them were the forms for registering as an adventurer
[That's odd?]
Kotori once again was confronted with something that didn't seem very game-like. She would've expected the adventurers guild to have a lot of great warriors or something.
Kotori decided to ask the lady
"Isn't the adventurers guild supposed to be more lively?"
The lady gave Kotori a confused look
"Whatcha mean?"
"I don't know, I thought adventurers would be a more lively lot" Kotori said looking around at the rundown building
"Ahh, you're one of those kinds of people. Those days are behind us" The lady said waving her hands.
"Adventurers? Who needs them, the kingdom will hire all the good fighters anyway. All the adventures left are hopeful kids like you who were raised on tales of them"
"But who does the adventuring?"
The lady laughed "The kingdom collectivized all the good dungeons if you want to get access to them you'd have better luck proving your worth to the local earl or if you're lucky the king."
Kotori almost took a step back in shock over the revelation
[My happy adventure life!]
Her dreams of becoming an adventurer like in fantasy mangas were dashed instantly. Adventures were irrelevant now?
"Then what do adventurers do now?"
The lady scratched her head
"Well, to be honest, we used to do monster subjugation requests or material collections requests but that's really fallen by the wayside since the kingdom took control of all the dungeons. We're mostly fixer uppers at this point."
She pointed to a billboard with several pieces of paper posted on it.
"Take a look at them while you finish your applications I guess"
Seeing as the conversation Kotori and Amelie walked over and took a look at the billboard
{Request: Teacher}
I need someone to teach me how to cook! I'm newlywed and I can't even cook anything nice for my spouse!
{Request: Carpenter}
My grandfather's old deck broke and I need someone to help me fix it!
{Request: Girlfriend}
I'm lonely okay...
[AS IF!]
Kotori once again felt her world collapsing around her
[Adventurers are really like this?] She thought despairingly.
[Wait, wasn't Amelie's mom a real adventurer? That means the kingdom couldn't have collectivize the dungeons for that long]
Kotori began to converse with Amelie who was also equally disappointed
"So now what?" Amelie asked. She was in no mood to be someone's girlfriend like the request asked
"I guess we have to go see if we can get recognized?" Amelie suggested
[Rejected] Kotori thought
The idea of having to work with nobles, even if from another country disgusted her.
[Still, collectivizing dungeons is pretty smart.]
It makes sense that a country would want to control all the dungeons on their border; they held rare materials after all.
Still, the thought was unsettling for Kotori, what happened to "life liberty and the pursuit of property"? Kotori was still left with a conundrum even if she wanted to get stronger by fighting in the dungeons she would have to get recognized by leadership to get access in the first place.
That was until a man who sat in the corner of the bar walk over and sat at their table
He was a lanky person, who had greased-back blond hair.
"New here right?" He asked
He had obviously seen Kotori's hopes get dashed by the receptionist.
Kotori nodded in response
He looked around making sure no one was listening and then asked them in a whisper
"How would you like you go dungeon diving without permission"
Kotori's must've expressed her shock very visibly because the man smiled
"Interested" he asked
Kotori and Amelie both nodded their heads vigorously.
"Alright, but I need payment"
Kotori internally sighed, she knew that this was obviously very suspicious but she wanted to keep up the act as if she was interested. Indeed, she was very intrigued but she also knew that what this man was dealing with was likely very illegal. Still her gut was telling her that listening to this man was the right idea.
"Go on" she said in a whisper herself
"Let's just say, I got... goods that need to be brought into the city" he explained
"Help me bring them in and I will show you a secret dungeon" He then added
"You'll also get a cut of the goods as well"
Kotori wasn't completely naive and didn't fully believe this man
"How can you prove to me you have an actual dungeon and you're not lying"
The man pulled out a horn. The horn itself was still very fresh and thus the moisture on it hadn't fully dried*
*for the unaware fresh horns are actually a little moist on the inside since they are still a part of the body
"Minotaur horn, freshly cut this morning," He said "You won't find this kinda stuff unless you have access to a dungeon"
Kotori was now very invested, on her walk to the adventurers guild she saw similar horns being sold but many of them had been harvested quite a while ago.
She looked at the man and asked one thing
"When"
YOU ARE READING
Reincarnated as a... Completely Average Person?
Fantasy"You're reincarnating as a normal person" "Wait! Don't I get a cheat skill or something! Like other Isekai hero's!" "You wasted too much time in heaven!" "Not even a single cool skill?" "No" ... "Good luck! Don't die!" "Curse you Angel-Sama!" ---- U...
