The Guild.
A state institution established to efficiently control and manage adventurers and mercenaries within the Empire.
Naturally, as an organization founded under the Empire’s initiative, it was widespread throughout the Astoria Empire. Outwardly, it bore the respectable signboard of an Adventurers’ Guild, but in reality, it was much closer to a Mercenaries’ Guild.
It was an organization responsible for managing the ranks of mercenaries and adventurers, receiving and brokering quests commissioned directly by civilians or the Empire, as well as incidents occurring within imperial territory, and providing rewards for them.
Of course, institutions of this sort did not exist only in the Astoria Empire.
The neighboring Karl Kingdom and Getia Kingdom had institutions serving similar roles. When interests were at stake—such as cross-border criminals or the subjugation of large magical beasts—they would sometimes cooperate closely, crossing the barriers between nations.
In a way, it was like a regulatory office.
Academy cadets in need of money took on and cleared the quests posted here to earn funds, and naturally, aside from commoners, most people who came here were fallen nobles.
Nobles got plenty of money from their families, so there was no reason for them to stop by a place like this.
Unless they were looking to experience life as commoners or intended to make their own fortunes.
So.
"Hehe. Once we return, I think I’ll need to have a deep conversation with Cassian. A very, very thorough one."
"I explained this last time too, but Cassian did nothing wrong... I already receive more money than I could ever need."
Dolnesia’s reaction was entirely understandable.
After all, someone who was clearly receiving money from his family had suddenly been loitering in front of a Guild.
I sighed as I looked at Dolnesia, who covered her mouth as she gave a chilling laugh with eyes that weren’t smiling.
"Then why would you come to the Guild...? Don’t tell me, Ian."
At that moment.
Dolnesia’s cold gaze, which had been staring vacantly into space, slowly turned and fixed itself on me.
"...Do you gamble?"
"Do I look like I do?"
How did she reach that conclusion?
"You can’t gamble, Ian. Gambling was one of the things my brother never did, even while he was acting!"
When even Dante chimed in with a deadly serious expression, I pressed a hand to my throbbing forehead.
"I don’t gamble. I came because of a quest, but not because I need money."
Of course, I had not come here for money.
Well, if I weren’t receiving financial support, I obviously would have come here for money.
There was an important early-game item.
The way to obtain that hidden piece was through a quest posted by the Guild.
...Anyway, I had no time to waste bickering with these people about gambling or whatever.
Weekday outings did not give us much time.
I turned away without hesitation and pushed open the Guild’s heavy doors.
Creeeak—
The Guild’s interior, revealed as unoiled hinges screamed in protest, was the complete opposite of the shabby, gloomy exterior I had seen outside.
The inside was unexpectedly bright and comfortable. For a place tucked away in a grimy alley, it was rather luxurious and had an air of refinement.
I’d seen it plenty of times in the game, but it really is grand in person.
Perhaps because evening was approaching, the Guild was already bustling with mercenaries and adventurers who had finished their day’s work. They sat huddled around tables, ordering cold beer.
In one corner of the hall stood a massive quest board, firmly holding its place as though proving the true nature of this establishment. It was cluttered with every kind of request form, from stiff, freshly posted sheets to yellowed and crumpled papers left unattended for ages.
And then—
"I think we’re getting quite a bit of attention?"
Maybe he was unused to this sort of atmosphere, or maybe he was simply delighted because it was new to him. Dante drew close to me, his eyes sparkling, and whispered in my ear.
He was right.
The moment we opened the Guild doors and stepped fully inside, I could distinctly feel the gazes of the mercenaries who had been drinking turn toward us in unison, as if by prior arrangement.
"It can’t be helped."
Surely, they were not staring because of the Academy uniforms we wore.
Since many cadets already visited this Guild, being Academy students would not make us particularly unusual here.
I figured they were simply curious because we looked so obviously like young noble ladies and gentlemen.
It was rare for noblemen and noblewomen to crawl into a place like this of their own accord.
"Damn, look at that guy’s mug. Fucking terrifying..."
"Shh, idiot! Don’t meet his eyes for no reason. If you get on his bad side, he’ll fold you in half right there."
...
Never mind.
They were not staring because nobles were unusual. They were staring because my face was unusual.
For fuck’s sake.
"Ahem, hem!"
"...Don’t laugh."
"I’m not laughing, Ian. Really. It’s just... snrk, my throat suddenly felt a little dry, so I coughed."
Dante’s shoulders trembled as he stared intently at dust drifting through the air, and the corners of his mouth were already on the verge of reaching his ears.
I sighed and approached the reception desk.
Beyond the counter, a woman with neatly arranged blond hair and a crisp uniform was sorting through documents. Sensing our presence, she raised her head.
"Welcome to the Aether Branch Guild."
The receptionist bowed in greeting, then swept her slightly bored eyes over our group as though she had performed this routine countless times.
I had the impression that her gaze lingered on Dante for a moment, but only briefly.
"You are cadets of Lumea Academy. Have you come to accept a quest?"
"That is correct."
"Please wait a moment."
Replying in a stiff tone, the receptionist deftly opened a drawer beneath the desk and pulled out a thick bundle of papers. She then laid several sheets across the counter with a light tap.
Some were freshly printed, their crisp surfaces still holding a pleasant warmth, while others had been left untouched for so long that they had yellowed slightly and become creased.
"The cadet-exclusive quests are here. Please choose one that you would like."
"Cadet-exclusive quests...?"
Dante muttered softly as he looked down at the request forms on the desk, his eyes full of curiosity.
Unlike other branches throughout the Empire, the Aether Branch adjacent to Lumea Academy separately selected and managed quests that could be cleared exclusively by Academy cadets.
They claimed it was for safety, if I remembered correctly.
Thanks to that, cadets could carry out requests immediately without undergoing the troublesome formal Guild registration process. The downside, however, was that they could only undertake quests specifically chosen by the Guild.
But.
I remembered that one of those cadet-exclusive quests contained a hidden piece.
A quest that could only be cleared in the early stages, because it would disappear entirely once time passed.
That was why I had come all the way here.
Honestly, if I had my way, there would be no need to formally accept this bothersome request at all.
Now that this was reality, I could simply head straight to the place, forget the quest and all that nonsense, quietly snatch the hidden piece, and leave.
But... I had no idea where the hell that place was.
In the game, once I accepted the request, the screen would fade to black and automatically teleport me to the objective.
Rather than waste time combing every inch of vast Aether like I was beating my head against the ground, it was far more beneficial to accept the request properly and be given the exact address.
The money would just be a bonus.
"Clearing slimes from the sewers, finding a cat? They even have things like this."
While Dante curiously flipped through the worthless request forms—
"Ah, here it is."
I picked up one sheet from the pile of requests on the floor, and I could feel the receptionist’s eyes widen as she saw it.
The name of the request in my hand was...
#
"The more I think about it, the more I feel like this isn’t right."
Having arrived at the location, Dolnesia muttered with a deeply furrowed expression, as though she had just seen something she should not have.
"What isn’t right?"
"Are we really going in there? This isn’t a joke?"
"What, should we go in fake?"
Well, it was strange.
That was because the destination we had been directed to for this request was none other than an abandoned manor.
It was not some abandoned manor left alone in a deserted forest or tucked away in some secluded corner. It had been inexplicably wedged between bustling buildings lit up on either side, as though it had laid claim to the spot.
Perhaps because of the sense of dissonance created by the contrast between lighting as bright as day and deep darkness, the creepy abandoned manor felt even more ominous and sinister.
"...Maybe we should have realized it when all those old men at the Guild were snickering at us."
Dolnesia murmured quietly as she stared up at the gloomy abandoned manor.
"Come to think of it, the receptionist did say that many cadets had failed it and that everyone avoided this request. She even asked whether we were sure we wanted to take it."
I muttered as I looked at the translucent system status window floating in the air.
[Quest: Resolve the Manor’s Anomalies]
Investigate and resolve the bizarre anomalies occurring in the manor.
◈ Reward: 5 Gold
A request to resolve the manor’s anomalous phenomena.
Judging from the text alone, it was enough to make one sigh.
The reward was only five Gold, and the description was nothing more than vague wording about eliminating strange phenomena.
The details of the request were as follows.
One day, notes containing unidentified rules had suddenly begun appearing in an otherwise ordinary manor, and at the same time, bizarre anomalies had started occurring.
If one failed to follow the absurd rules written on the notes, an unknown force would immediately drive them out of the manor.
The frightened homeowner had even hired priests, but they had not resolved so much as a speck of the anomalies. Instead, ghost stories spread, and the place gained a reputation as a so-called haunted spot, drawing in crowds of sightseers.
So the fed-up homeowner had posted this request as a last resort, desperate to get rid of the phenomenon somehow.
However, unlike other quests, even if one failed this quest, they would not be torn apart or killed. They would merely be forcibly, smoothly ejected from the manor, so there was no danger at all.
On top of that, the reward offered by the homeowner was miserly pocket change, and leaving it alone would only lower the property values of nearby buildings a little. Thus, it had been relegated to the cadet-exclusive requests.
"If that’s the case, they should just tear it down."
"Apparently it was an inheritance left by his grandmother, so he can’t. Nothing to be done about that."
With a creeeak, the manor’s rusted, warped door opened.
Perhaps it had not been cleaned, because a stale odor of dust that had settled for ages and a chilling cold poured out through the gap all at once.
"It’s even dirtier inside than I expected."
"Isn’t that a flag?"
Once Dante entered last, Dolnesia sighed and circulated her spirit power. At her command, Sancho, with his pumpkin head, appeared.
Light shone through the holes in the pumpkin, illuminating the space.
Taking a closer look, it was still filthy.
"Then, let’s see. The first rule is..."
Dante’s eyes gleamed as he unfolded the note the receptionist had given us, but just as he was about to read it—
"Wait a moment."
I stopped Dante.
If we simply followed the rules properly, we could resolve the anomaly, but all we would get in return was five Gold.
To obtain the hidden piece, some preparation was necessary.
Therefore...
I took something out of my inventory.
A glass bottle filled with water.
"First, we need to call out the homeowner."
It was holy water.
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