The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 22

Episode 22

They say there’s romance in the life of an adventurer, but that’s a load of bull. It’s just a high-risk job where you risk your life to earn money.

The original intent wasn’t bad.

Though it existed implicitly from the early days of the Tersia Calendar, the profession of adventurer truly emerged 300 years ago, during Rista’s time.

‘Originally, it was more like hidden experts helping the Hero’s party… or something like that.’

In modern times, they’re like anti-monster mercenaries, resolving issues that are difficult for the military to address publicly or that require a small, elite team.

The Alliance (Adventurers’ Guild) was established as the power of adventurers grew. Now, most cities have a branch.

Over 300 years, the Adventurers’ Guild has quantified combat power, which used to be subjective, with a level and status system designed according to its own standards.

Also, they seem to have transformed the profession of adventurer into trusted combat experts by dividing them into ranks based on their combat power and achievements.

‘Back then, they just felt like thugs gathered in a bar.’

The Adventurers’ Guild.

Looking up at the sturdy, stone-built three-story building, I was filled with mixed emotions.

Stepping inside, a wide lobby unfolded. The inside felt like a government office with rows of reception desks, while the outside area resembled a bar.

From morning, numerous adventurers were gathered, chatting noisily.

“So, how’s business these days? There’s no dungeon nearby.”

“What do you mean ‘these days’? Since the Red Dragon Legion left, the Red Mountains have been a bonanza of monsters.”

“There’s a lot of buzz about Rat-Spiders lately, and although it’s a bit dangerous, the rewards are great.”

Rat-Spider, check. (Note to self: research Rat-Spiders)

In this world, information is gold.

“Are there only simple hunting quests?”

“If you want to make a fortune, go to Trident Point. Of course, only if you’re confident you won’t die.”

While eavesdropping on the conversation, the queue had shortened, and it was Rain’s turn.

“How may I help you?”

The receptionist in the guild uniform was a gaunt-faced woman, exhausted from overwork.

“I’d like to register as an adventurer.”

“Seeing your uniform, you’re a student from . Do you have your student ID or identification card?”

“I do.”

“Please put it here.”

“How long will it take?”

“ students have confirmed identities, so the adventurer’s license comes out quickly. It won’t take even 10 minutes.”

Perhaps because she had dealt with countless students, the receptionist processed everything smoothly but stopped when she saw the name on the student ID.

‘Rain Ludwig.’

Ludwig? A noble from a powerful family. I thought he was just a commoner mage because he was using polite language. Why is the heir of a great noble registering as an adventurer…?

“What’s next?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. Since you can write, please fill this out.”

The parchment the receptionist handed over, [Adventurer Registration – Mage], was a document for writing other personal information.

Current magic rank (certificate attached), main magic used, number of magic spells that can be used per day (mana amount), etc.

‘Look at this?’

For those haphazard guys to have developed this much, it’s true that you live and learn.

“You don’t have a rank… your main magic is 3-star… the number of magic spells is, um…”

The receptionist, who was checking the parchment Rain had quickly filled out, had to rack her brains.

Is he playing a prank?

No, it’s hard to ask that.

How many eccentric people are there among the nobles? They might make a scene, saying it’s rude.

“This is the last item. Could you check this part?”

“What is it?”

“It’s a special agreement only for nobles, stating that the guild is not responsible for any problems that may arise in your adventurer life.”

“Does that mean there were people who tried to hold you responsible?”

“There seem to have been many 100 years ago. That’s why this was created.”

The subsequent process was swift. When the receptionist inserted an iron plate into the output magic tool, magical light poured out and engraved Rain’s identity on the wooden plate in neat strokes.

“The adventurer ranks are Iron-Bronze-Silver-Gold-Platinum-Diamond in order.”

Iron is a rookie, Bronze is a skilled person, and Silver rank is recognized as a capable person in the world.

Gold rank is always called upon to subjugate mid- to high-level monsters, and Platinum rank is the top eleven ranked players in terms of combat power and achievements.

Diamond rank is the symbol of the leading adventurer, with only one person existing in an era.

“Does everyone start with Iron at first?”

“No. Depending on your combat experience or skill before becoming an adventurer, you can get a Bronze rank. In the case of mages, we look at the rank.”

“I see.”

“But as you know, you haven’t taken the rank test.”

“Roughly okay.”

I didn’t have any intention of becoming a top-ranked adventurer anyway. The reason I became an adventurer was just to receive requests legally.

If you become an adventurer, you can receive rewards for monster subjugation, and you can quickly dispose of monster body parts used for medicine or jewelry by entrusting them to the guild.

And with this adventurer ID, you can enter restricted dangerous areas.

‘Let’s see, the money I have on hand is forty-four silver coins…’

The goal is the Rat-Spider I heard about earlier.

Looking at the request board, it was a whopping two silver coins per spider. You can earn more money if you bring back the skin, teeth, or bones.

‘ to the Red Mountains is half a day’s journey.’

The cost of borrowing a decent horse from the guild is three coins a day… Let’s buy two days’ worth of food. Should I think of catching 150 in 24 hours?

‘I have to return to the dormitory before curfew tomorrow, so time is tight.’

Ugh…

Life is full of annoying things, and I sighed from the hardship. It would be best to lock myself in my room on the weekend and study math…

“Let’s go instead of sighing.”

Scratching the back of my head, I looked for the stable keeper of the Adventurers’ Guild. I thought he was smirking at the appearance of a new sucker, but he frowned when he saw Rain’s adventurer ID.

“What do you want? I don’t lend to Iron adventurers. What if you run away with a good horse? Is it any different just because you’re a student?”

“Is there really no way?”

“No way. Iron adventurers are just thugs. Real adventurers start from Bronze, so go away if you understand.”

“Tch, I can’t help it.”

The stable keeper, scratching his protruding belly, glanced at Rain’s adventurer pass as if he was annoyed to death.

“Huh?!”

And at that moment, he suddenly gasped and bowed politely.

“Oh! Young Master Ludwig! You should have said so earlier, hahahaha! Come this way, I’ll show you a good horse!”

“You just said you wouldn’t give it to Iron-ranked adventurers?”

“No! What does adventurer rank matter to such precious people? The foundation is different, come this way, Rain-sama (a respectful suffix, similar to ‘sir’).”

This attitude change, even though I haven’t proven my ability or the ID has changed, shows how amazing the power of the Mado family is.

“What kind of horse would you like? There’s a really good one here, and if you look at its mane, it’s just amazing.”

This must be a part of the caste system.

With mixed feelings of joy and bitterness, Rain began to choose a horse, following the stable keeper.

‘I should erase the Ludwig surname engraved on the adventurer pass.’

Being treated with such favor is okay, but as the son of a great noble, the probability of being exposed to danger during adventures will be higher.

‘And I don’t really want anyone to recognize me as a noble and bow down.’

When I went back to the receptionist and told her, I was able to remove the surname more easily than I thought. It was possible because my identity was confirmed, or something like that.

* * *

The foothills of Seonryubong, the closest peak of the Red Mountains to , had turned into a bustling business district.

“There are adventurers everywhere.”

Blacksmiths who repair adventurers’ weapons had set up stalls, and alchemists had spread out potions and pills for stamina recovery on cloths, writing down prices and soliciting customers.

“Hey! Intermediate life force potion for only 10 copper coins! Your life is copied for 10 coins, you know?”

Originally, the Red Mountains were the sanctuary where the Red Dragon Legion resided.

However, 300 years ago, in the summer when the world was covered in volcanic ash, most of the legion went down to the South Pole to burn the Abyss (a realm of chaos and evil).

The last remaining Red Dragon left this mountain range 200 years ago.

‘I received a lot of help from the Red Dragons back then.’

After the war, the Red Dragons built a huge wall of fire called in the South Pole, isolating the Abyss from the human world and protecting it.

To elaborate, the fire dragon shaman Friede, who was a member of the Rista party, was the woman who served the legion in this Red Mountain range.

“There are a lot of monsters here. Hey, young thief over there! Take a potion with you!”

As the dragon race, who were the owners and managers of this land, left, the monsters that had been rooted in the mountain range began to run rampant…

It was a great boon for adventurers. The magic realm and the southern Marquis’ city were nearby.

If they felt something strange about the monsters, they could report it immediately and receive help from the military.

“The world has really changed a lot…”

While looking around, I reached the foothills where the uphill began.

The stone steps that the Red Dragon Legion had created for humans to climb up to worship the Fire Dragon Shrine were still intact.

I left the horse with the stable keeper, put the food bag on my back, and was about to take my first step on the stairs when someone approached.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait.”

With a cool, tall height and a cheerful beauty, he wore a leather hunting suit that fit his slim physique perfectly, and there was no sound in his movements.

“You’re a mage, right? Don’t try to play dumb. Even the grand mage grandfather can’t fool my eyes.”

He carried a short bow on his back, typical of archers who value rapid fire, and the adventurer ID dangling from his waist was Bronze.

Rain squinted his eyes sullenly.

“I wasn’t playing dumb, and it’s obvious you’d recognize me since I’m wearing a school uniform, so why are you showing off?”

“Sh, shut up! It’s perfect. Our party just needed a mage.”

The archer smiled and pointed behind him, and a huge shadow swallowed the archer and Rain.

That was really… an enormous giant. For a moment, I thought a landslide had occurred. Logan and Owen wouldn’t be able to hold a candle to this man.

The black iron armor darkly reflected the southern heat, and the double-edged ax hanging on his back scattered a gloomy metallic light in all directions.

“My party member, his name is Bart.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! How is that a human? Isn’t he a monster?”

“Hey, steel brat, that’s a bit harsh? Bart is a very tender man, even if he looks like this!”

Bart looked down at Rain.

The scar that started from his forehead flowed down his left eye and ended at his chin, and his glaring eyes were creepy.

And unlike the archer, he was a Silver-ranked adventurer.

“And this is Sammy. He’s a trainee priest. He’s in charge of healing for our party.”

“Nice to meet you, brother.”

A plump young man with a gentle impression was wearing a tattered and worn priest’s robe and holding a Bible in his left hand.

“Are you guys human traffickers? Are you kidnapping people after telling them to join the party? It looks like that to me.”

As I snapped at him, a tear streamed down from Bart’s fierce eyes. The archer patted him on the back.

“Don’t cry, Bart. Stop it! It’s not the first time someone has said this to someone they’ve just met.”

This is crazy…

A man who looks like he wouldn’t shed a single tear even if his parents died has such a tender heart?

“I don’t understand. Why me, a steel brat?”

“Hmph, ranks don’t matter. I see people by their scent. You look strong at first glance.”

Then he brought his face close to Rain, sniffed, and smiled. Rain sighed.

“You’re trying to sell me something you saw somewhere! I’m leaving.”

“Wait, wait! It was a joke! Actually, Bart can’t help but like cute kids!”

“What?”

When Rain raised his eyebrows, the trainee priest Sammy stepped in.

“He said he couldn’t bear to see you go monster hunting alone, brother, and he wants to help you.”

“Why?”

“Like you, students come here to earn money because of tuition, and they often get into accidents. We’re not forcing you, so if you really don’t like it, we can’t help it.”

That monster…? No, you shouldn’t judge people by their appearance. Even if it’s real human trafficking, it’s not a problem to deal with all three of them, but that’s a bit…

“It’s more convenient to act alone. Then.”

“Really? Okay.”

As Rain started to climb the stairs, the archer turned to his companions as if he had no regrets.

“Then let’s just go by ourselves. I know a good spot where Rat-Spiders come out. We can find the way quickly too.”

At that moment, Rain quickly ran down the stairs he had climbed five steps and stood in front of the archer. And he smiled and held out his hand.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Rain. Tell me what kind of magic you want.”

Then the archer scanned Rain up and down and gave a bitter smile.

“Hmm~? That’s strangeeeeee?”

“…”

“I’m sure someone just said it was more convenient to go alone? Who was that? Ah, I don’t remember. Who was it?”

Rain felt his face heat up slightly.

“Actually, I wanted to pursue a natural party formation in the dungeon? What I just did was just testing you guys… I’d say you roughly passed?”

“This crazy guy, why is he talking like this all of a sudden?”

“Ah, please let me join the party!”

“No, no, no, no. This is not a problem that can be solved so easily. You’ve missed an opportunity that comes once in a lifetime. The world must be fair, so giving you another chance is absurd.”

Sammy smiled kindly and said that he should just accept it, but Rem shook his head.

Then Bart grabbed the archer’s shoulder and shook his head.

And… surprisingly, he smiled warmly, a smile that couldn’t come from that face, and held out his hand to Rain.

“I’ll take the front, so you and Rem can take support.”

“Hey, Bart!”

“The profits will be divided equally into four parts. You’re a student, so you can use basic attack magic, right?”

There are times when you trust someone you meet for the first time in an instant.

It was like that when I met Rista, and it was like that when Bart smiled and held out his hand.

Rain smiled and shook his huge hand.

“You bet. You guys have now seized an opportunity that comes once in a lifetime.”