Chapter 11: Reward and Difficulty
[space_man][space_man]Eld, who came to the West Forest, starts walking around looking for medicinal herbs for the time being. According to Sophia, medicinal herbs grow in clusters in this forest, and it should be easy to complete the request.
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[space_man][space_man]”Oh, they really are growing in clusters.”
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[space_man][space_man]When he comes to a slightly open area, he sees medicinal herbs growing lushly. It looks as if someone is cultivating them, but since this forest is under the Guild’s management, even if someone is cultivating them without permission, anything inside the forest is considered the Guild’s property.
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[space_man][space_man]”Well then, I guess I should tie them up in bundles of 10.”
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[space_man][space_man]Eld carefully and quickly picks the medicinal herbs, ties them up in bundles of 10 with string, and stores them in a different dimension using spatial magic.
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[space_man][space_man]He collects 100 medicinal herbs in less than 30 minutes and decides to explore the forest before returning to report.
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[space_man][space_man]There doesn’t seem to be anything particularly characteristic about the forest; it’s just like any other forest. Occasionally, he hears the sounds of creatures passing by, but he can’t tell if they are monsters or ordinary animals.
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[space_man][space_man]”Hmm. I guess it would be best to basically accept requests for gathering in this forest.”
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[space_man][space_man]Saying that, Eld returned to the Guild.
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[space_man][space_man]”Welcome back. That was fast.”
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[space_man][space_man]Sophia, who was working at the reception desk, calls out to Eld when she sees him enter the Guild.
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[space_man][space_man]”Yes, there was a cluster of them a little way into the forest, so it was a big help. Here’s 100 of them.”
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[space_man][space_man]Saying that, he takes out 100 medicinal herbs from his subspace.
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[space_man][space_man]”……Yes, there’s no problem. Then here’s 3600R, the request fee minus the 10% tax.”
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[space_man][space_man]Sophia receives the medicinal herbs and hands Eld the request fee.
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[space_man][space_man]”3600 huh…… I don’t have to pay for lodging, so I guess it’s just barely enough to eat out for all three meals.”
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[space_man][space_man]Eld puts the money in his wallet. In the past, he would have completed one or two more requests in the afternoon, but since there was no need to rush now, he decided to look around the town.
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[space_man][space_man]When he goes outside the Guild, he notices a lot of people walking around. In the early morning, there were many farmers, but now, before noon, it seems that many merchants are coming and going. Eld walks around and checks out what kind of shops are where.
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[space_man][space_man]Every shop seems to have a fair number of people coming and going, and they all seem quite lively.
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[space_man][space_man]”It’s a new town, so that’s part of it, but it’s quite bustling, isn’t it?”
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[space_man][space_man]Saying that, he strolls around the town and heads back home.
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[space_man][space_man]From the next day onward, he starts completing requests in the morning and afternoon. In the morning, he completes gathering requests in the forest, and in the afternoon, he completes monster extermination requests.
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[space_man][space_man]The monsters mainly seem to inhabit the forest, and if he rummages through the bushes, he sometimes encounters boar-type, rabbit-type, and dog-type monsters.
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[space_man][space_man]The major difference between ordinary animals and monsters is said to be the amount of magic power within their bodies. Even if they look the same, monsters are more ferocious and may attack without provocation, so it’s desirable to exterminate them immediately if you find them.
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[space_man][space_man]”Oh, a rabbit monster is building a harem with ordinary rabbits.”
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[space_man][space_man]After exterminating the rabbit monster, Eld was rummaging through the bushes to see if there was anything else when several rabbits ran away. Eld thinks that this is exactly what they mean by”escaping like a rabbit.”
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[space_man][space_man]It’s difficult for Eld to perceive the amount of magic power in others. However, he can sometimes tell whether it’s a monster or an animal just by looking at it.
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[space_man][space_man]As mentioned earlier, if it’s hostile when you encounter it, it’s almost certainly a monster. Other than that, there are changes such as horns growing on parts of their body, elongated fangs, or body hair dyed in the color of elemental magic.
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[space_man][space_man]Regarding body hair, since there are species that naturally have those colors, it’s not always a reliable indicator. Therefore, when checking, it’s recommended to confirm the amount of magic power to determine whether it’s a monster or not.
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[space_man][space_man]It seems that it’s a common occurrence to think you’ve exterminated a monster and go to report it, only to find out that it was just an ordinary animal.
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[space_man][space_man]About two weeks after Eld resumed being an adventurer, he noticed a request that was different from the ones he usually saw.
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[space_man][space_man]”This is……”
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[space_man][space_man]Eld checks the details of the request.
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[space_man][space_man]”Ah, that one. It came in as an emergency yesterday. It seems that something is happening at the place where a magic sword was sealed long ago, and they want you to investigate it.”
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[space_man][space_man]Sophia doesn’t know that Eld has a magic sword.
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[space_man][space_man]”……Well then, I’ll take it. The reward is pretty good too.”
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[space_man][space_man]”Oh, thank you……Ah, if you can complete this request, you’ll accumulate enough points to be promoted to D rank.”
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[space_man][space_man]Requests are categorized from S to F depending on the adventurer’s rank, but even within the same rank, the difficulty varies between gathering and extermination requests.
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[space_man][space_man]In the past, rank promotion was based on the number of requests completed at the same rank, but there were complaints that it was unfair for adventurers who only did easy requests to be promoted to the same rank as adventurers who also completed difficult requests after completing the same number of requests. Therefore, the system was changed to a point-based system where points are awarded based on the difficulty.
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[space_man][space_man]”Oh, then I’ll have to put my back into it.”
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[space_man][space_man]Eld signs the request contract with a laugh.
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[space_man][space_man]”Then please be careful.”
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[space_man][space_man]Eld leaves the Guild and heads out of town. He was able to share a ride on a carriage that was going near his destination, so he was able to arrive in half a day instead of the usual one day.
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[space_man][space_man]”Now…… what will happen?”
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[space_man][space_man]Eld stands in front of the entrance to the cave, which is his destination, and peers inside. It’s dark inside, and he can’t see to the back.
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[space_man][space_man]”Well, that’s to be expected. 『Light』”
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[space_man][space_man]He activates a magical light and steps into the cave.
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[space_man][space_man]It was six years ago that he obtained the magic sword. It was when he was a novice adventurer. At that time, he had a companion, so he was able to easily proceed through this cave, which was said to be a bit difficult for novices.
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[space_man][space_man]Now, even though he has a blank period, he’s different from when he was a novice, and he can explore the cave alone without any problems. He explores the cave while searching his memories, but he doesn’t find anything particularly unusual.