MTLNOVEL Chapter 04: Adventurer Guild_2
"No, this is bullshit. I'll prove it to you." Raising his hand, Andrew chanted a spell. In an instant, the wind blew and gathered the snow, forming the outline of a dog on the ground.
Pointing at the dog's outline, Andrew said with an enigmatic expression, "See? Just find a dog that looks like this."
The lady was dumbfounded, silently lowered her head, took out some money, and handed it to Christina.
Christina was also stunned, hesitantly reaching out to accept the twenty-five copper coins.
"Have a pleasant day, madam." Andrew gave an elegant bow, then snapped his fingers while turning around. "Let's go. We're heading to the adventurer guild to pick up a proper mission."
With that, he had already taken large strides away.
Christina, carrying her cross-body cloth bag, hurriedly chased after him.
Behind them lingered the muttered self-recrimination of the lady, "How am I supposed to find a dog that looks like that? I've never seen one… Forget it. Why was I so foolish to spend twenty-five copper coins just to track down a dog? I should've just cleaned up the dog poop and been done with it."
"Mr. Duru."
"What is it?"
Trailing behind Andrew, Christina lowered her voice and said, "The spell you just recited seemed like an ordinary wind spell."
"Yes, that's correct. It was just an ordinary wind spell."
"Then… we fooled Lady Lida, didn't we?"
"No, we didn't," Andrew replied expressionlessly as he walked. "What you heard was a wind spell. What you didn't hear was the Sabi Principle."
"The Sabi Principle?"
"That's right, an ancient divination secret technique from Krimasha. It resonates with nature by modulating a person's magnetic field, enabling the user to uncover hidden truths they're searching for. An ordinary wind spell is just its surface disguise. I discovered this secret in the Krimasha Relics—I haven't told anyone else before. Keep it a secret, alright?"
"Mm!" Christina nodded vigorously, her spirits lifting with excitement. "But why can't you tell anyone else?"
"Because I'm afraid of causing trouble. After all, this spell is just too… powerful. I'm worried people will go to any lengths to seek my help. I'm a person who likes to stay low-key, you know?"
"I see now! I swear I won't tell anyone!"
Seeing the sudden look of realization on Christina's face, Andrew's lips curled into a faint smile. Of course, he quickly suppressed it, leaving no visible trace.
Just "dog poop," nothing more—how could such a trivial thing stump the illustrious Grand Master Andrew? Haha.
Andrew almost felt like his steps carried the wind beneath them, particularly with a dragon tagging along beside him as a follower.
...
Linlopes, an unremarkable border town of the Lunbak Empire.
It wasn't a military stronghold, nor an economic hub. Its population was small, and it was far from the Lunbak Empire's capital. The surrounding area held little strategic significance, despite bordering the Gustav Empire. A mountain range—impossible for armies to traverse—lay between them. Most of the time, the perpetually overburdened Lunbak Royal Family didn't even bother with the town. Even stationed troops were placed here halfheartedly; sometimes decades would go by without a rotation. Many soldiers stationed here chose to settle down, marrying and starting families. Day in and day out, nothing much changed for decades.
Yet, even this small town had its unique points of pride—for instance, the adventurer guild.
While the towering mountain range was impassable for armies, merchants—motivated by sufficient profit—could make their way through.
Over time, this area became the hub of a hidden trade route, attracting adventurers, smugglers, and slave traders in droves. With so many "questionable individuals" around, public safety was poor, the Lunbak Royal Family was indifferent, and the local garrison was too weak to maintain order. In response, the townsfolk developed their own self-governing system under anarchy: the adventurer guild.
Elsewhere, only the wealthy hired the adventurer guild, which at best served as a mere coalition of mercenary groups. Here, even ordinary residents sought their services.
Indeed, the adventurer guild had permeated every aspect of life here. Even the well-traveled Andrew was taken aback when he witnessed the guild's immense scale.
From a distance, it appeared to be an unassuming building. But once inside, one would find that this structure defied all conventional expectations of architecture. Most large complexes had one or two underground levels and three to five above-ground stories. The adventurer guild, however, had only a ground-level floor and possibly five or more levels underground.
Why "possibly"? Because Andrew had counted at least five levels himself.
A massive ring-shaped structure, with a hollow central atrium that descended downwards, had a plaza at the very bottom. People were gathered there, hosting some sort of event accompanied by loud shouting and cheering.
On the surrounding levels were rows of compartments, each adorned with a sign: "Office of XX Mercenary Group." A quick glance revealed at least seventy to eighty mercenary groups. Nearly every office was bustling, some staffed with uniformed clerks sporting well-trimmed little mustaches, ready to welcome clients. There were also adventurers—some recently returned, others preparing to depart, or simply waiting for work while busy polishing their weapons. And, of course, there were the clients coming to commission tasks.
And this wasn't the only atrium—there were eight of them, all interconnected.
Everywhere, people. Noise and chatter filled the air. For Andrew, that was his first impression of this place.
Humans were undoubtedly the dominant presence. But there were also axe-wielding dwarves, goblins with collars around their necks, gold-obsessed gremlins counting coins while drooling, hulking one-eyed giants, pale beastmen with fangs, and more. Even Wood Elves were visible, as well as blood elves like himself. Astonishingly, he even spotted tiny Flower Elves, no larger than a hand with six dragonfly-like wings, which typically never left the Elf Territory.
Andrew was thoroughly amazed.
"Wow!" Weaving through the dense crowd, Andrew lowered the hood of the cloak he'd been wearing on his head. Surely no one here would find the presence of a blood elf particularly surprising. "This place is incredible. The adventurer guild here is vastly larger than I ever imagined. I've actually never seen one like this."
"Mr. Duru's never seen an adventurer guild this large before?"
"No, what I mean is, I've never seen such a large guild in such a tiny town. It is a bit of a shock. In that sense, being a mercenary here seems to hold a lot of promise."
"Of course! Being a mercenary has always been a highly promising career," Christina replied excitedly. "I hope that one day, I can become a great Mercenary Corps Commander. Then my mother would be so proud."
"Your mother? She... is a dragon, right?"
"Yes, a dragon. She's a green dragon," Christina said, biting her lip, her gaze flickering for some inexplicable reason.
"What am I even thinking?" Andrew slapped his forehead, chuckling wryly. "A dragon's mother is obviously a dragon. What, were you expecting a Hydra? That'd be ridiculous."
Glancing around, Andrew continued, "There should be some sort of counter or desk here, right? The kind where missions are posted and we can accept them. Do they have one?"
Christina nodded emphatically. "Yes, but you have to sign a contract with them to take on their missions. Once you sign, you're limited to their assignments. And they won't sign with me."
"Then how do you usually take on missions?" Andrew asked casually.
Lowering her head, Christina pulled a thick stack of papers from her bag. With a fighting spirit in her voice, she said earnestly, "Flyers! Passing out flyers!"