Wizard: I crush legends with martial arts.

Chapter 108 The Message from the Ruins

It took quite a bit of time to wait for the Nightingale Dance Troupe to finish packing.

As night fell, Alphonse and his party entered Brightman.

The Nightingale Dance Troupe also has to pay an entry tax.

Alphonse and his group, however, did not need to go through such trouble; they only needed to identify themselves.

Nobles do not have to pay this tax.

Once we get to the city, we don't need to worry about them anymore; they'll find their own way.

Brightman was far more prosperous than any of the cities I had seen in the past few days, with lights shining everywhere and people strolling around in small groups.

They didn't look like ordinary civilians; many were wearing leather armor and carrying weapons.

Instead of finding a hotel, they spotted the Mercenary Guild.

Mia immediately stopped the carriage, grabbed the bandit leader by the head, and went to question him.

Alphonse saw mercenaries appear more frequently in Western fantasy novels and anime.

My predecessor had witnessed this in this other world, but had never been inside it.

So he simply pulled up Midio, who looked ashen and hadn't recovered yet, and followed him inside.

The Mercenary Guild's hall was bustling with people.

This main hall is where the Mercenary Guild handles its daily affairs, including basic tasks such as mission handover, buying and selling supplies, and intelligence dissemination.

The mercenaries who stayed here to handle various matters were all somewhat surprised by Alphonse and Mia's attire.

Miya, in particular, is stunningly beautiful and has a hot figure, making her especially eye-catching.

But they only gossiped about it amongst themselves, all thinking it was some noble young master who came to the guild to hire mercenaries to risk their lives.

There was no blocking the road, provocation, or verbal harassment.

Even the most astute mercenaries could smell the strong stench of blood on Mia, especially since the package she was carrying was stained with blood, indicating that she was not someone to be trifled with.

Midio instinctively covered his mouth and nose.

This is to be expected; a place where a bunch of grown men gather is unlikely to have any pleasant smells.

The smell of sweat was mixed with all sorts of strange odors, making it quite sour and unpleasant.

After waiting in line for a while, it was Mia's turn.

The person in charge of reception was a middle-aged man with a full beard.

Unfortunately, she's not the mascot.

It seems that what's said in anime is all false; women really aren't very suitable for dealing with mercenaries.

"Hello, I'm Hans, the receptionist from the Mercenary Guild. Do you gentlemen need to hire mercenaries?" Hans asked.

Mia placed the package containing the head directly in front of the window blocked by the wooden fence. "No, this is the bandit leader we met on the road. Help me see if he is a wanted person."

Hans has seen his share of ups and downs, and Mia isn't the first person to do something like this.

I unpacked the package and examined it closely.

He then took out a stack of arrest warrants from under the table and compared them one by one.

After working for a while, he finally perked up and said, "That's right! This is Eba Berg, the leader of the Wild Boar Bandits. He's a cunning fellow who always bullies the weak and fears the strong. I didn't expect him to fall into the hands of you two. I'll settle your bounty right away."

Alphonse admired him quite a bit; he was able to recognize the head's identity just from a portrait.

According to the rules posted on the wall, joining the Mercenary Guild is actually quite simple; all you need to do is fill out a form.

However, you have to start as an E-rank mercenary and complete a certain number of missions before you can level up.

Bounty hunters are an exception. As long as they are strong enough to kill the criminals on the wanted list, they can collect the reward by taking their heads.

After looking around, Alphonse lost interest.

Midio, however, was different. He leaned against the window and raised his hand. "Uncle, I want to register as a mercenary."

"Why do you want to be a mercenary?" Alphonse asked, looking down in confusion.

Is being a magic advisor in the Frostwind Territory better than being a mercenary who lives a life of constant danger?

"It's fun," Midio muttered. His thinking was actually quite simple: becoming a mercenary would earn him a bronze badge as identification, which he could keep as a souvenir.

Hans found it strange that this young man who came with the two nobles actually wanted to become a mercenary.

But thinking about it, it might just be youthful exuberance; people who just want to have fun aren't uncommon.

Although he was a bit young, he couldn't refuse in front of the two nobles, so he took out a form and pushed it to Midio.

The bounty was quickly calculated; it wasn't much, but it wasn't small either—120 gold coins.

"Why is it so lively here?" Mia put away her purse and asked another question.

Compared to Alphonse, she had experience in dealing with mercenary guilds, which was quite rare.

Hans explained, "Because we discovered a ruin in our Emerald Territory, which contains a large number of monsters. Many mercenaries have obtained treasures and various precious materials from it, which has attracted mercenaries from the surrounding areas to come here to search for treasure, and as a result, we have received many more commissions."

Remains?

Alphonse was immediately intrigued.

After asking around, I learned that the ruins were discovered by prospecting experts under Count Jürgen, the lord of Emerald Territory. However, Count Jürgen did not treat it as a forbidden area for his own exploration. Instead, he opened it to the outside world and only charged an entrance fee.

The strangest thing is that this underground ruin seems to have a unique ecosystem. Despite the large influx of mercenaries, the number of monsters has not decreased at all, and the mercenaries who survived all obtained various rare materials and equipment.

However, no mercenary has yet been able to reach the deepest part of the ruins.

According to the mercenaries' reports, venturing deeper into the ruins leads to a thick fog, where the monsters hidden behind the fog become increasingly ferocious. Many mercenaries have lost their lives in the pursuit of treasure.

Alphonse was already making plans in his mind. Since he had come all the way to another world, he should at least take a look at this place.

Anyway, we still have plenty of time.

Just as he was pondering this, a small problem arose with the form that Midio had filled out.

Hans wasn't deliberately making things difficult; registering as an E-rank mercenary was a very easy thing, but the fact that Midio was a magician still surprised him.

This was also because Midio wasn't wearing a magic robe.

The problem lies here: Midio filled in "first-tier mage," but Midio's word alone wasn't enough; he had to produce a mage's badge as proof.

Midio didn't pass any evaluation exams, so of course he doesn't have a mage badge.

The Mercenary Guild does not have personnel responsible for assessing and evaluating the rank of mages.

In the end, Midio had to change his status from a first-tier mage to a mage apprentice in order to receive the bronze medal of an E-rank mercenary.

The bronze medal was rather crudely made, but Midio treasured it and kept it carefully.

This was just a minor setback; Alphonse and his group encountered even more trouble than that.

After leaving the mercenary guild, I asked around for hotels and inns, but they were all full.

Accommodation became a major problem.

You can't just stay cooped up in a carriage all night.

After a moment's thought, Alphonse came up with a solution. "Come on, follow me to the lord's manor!"

(End of this chapter)