Weather forecast. Monster tide.
Both were unfamiliar terms to Kanzaki Rei.
He still didn't even know how monsters were born in this world.
I'll need to study that when I get the chance.
Rei responded with a cheerful smile.
"I was just planning to take on some monster subjugation commissions anyway."
Hearing Rei's reply, Shirley broke into a bright smile.
"That's wonderful, Little Rei. If monsters start running rampant while we're waiting for reinforcements, we'd have no choice but to seal the town and forbid anyone from leaving."
"That would be a real headache for workers who want to gather herbs or mine ore during the Harvest Moon season."
Besides people like adventurers who hunted monsters for rewards—
There were also those who had taken non-combat professions, earning their living through work such as farming, herbal gathering, blacksmithing, mining, and other trades.
Normally, the areas surrounding a town were regularly patrolled.
If patrol units encountered weak, low-tier monsters, they would simply eliminate them on the spot.
But if they ran into more troublesome monsters, they would follow protocol—either organizing a direct subjugation operation depending on the situation, or handing the matter over to the Adventurers' Guild to issue a subjugation quest.
The guild and the official patrol forces worked in cooperation.
Unless it was an extremely urgent situation, high-ranking elites officially assigned to the kingdom wouldn't personally intervene.
In other words—
They outsourced the problem first, and only handled the core issues themselves.
"Sister Shirley, how many commissions can I take?"
Shirley answered,
"Normally, a Level 2 adventurer can only accept two commissions at the same time."
"But the situation right now is special. And you're also a member of a Legendary adventurer party."
"So… how many do you want to take?"
Seeing her answer like that, Rei didn't hold back.
He simply swept his finger across a horizontal row of quests on the board.
"These nine."
"And… this one."
A row of Third-Tier Lord-level monster hunting commissions, plus one quest to deal with an entire monster settlement.
Even Shirley couldn't help the slight twitch at the corner of her mouth.
That's quite the lion's share…
"Is that okay?" Rei asked, turning his head.
Shirley rubbed her temples.
She knew Rei was Izparut's apprentice, and therefore extremely talented…
But letting an eight-year-old Level 2 mage take on that many high-difficulty commissions…
"…Let me think."
Shirley fell silent for a moment.
Exhale—
"…Alright. You can."
Rei immediately flashed a bright smile.
"Thank you, Sister Shirley."
"Oh, and Sister Shirley—could you help me post a commission as well?"
"Same as yesterday, but this time recruiting Level 3 adventurers."
Shirley blinked.
"You want to hire adventurers to protect you? Hmm… if you're taking that many commissions, I could help recommend a few candidates."
Rei posted the commission just like yesterday.
[Commission Notice]
Hiring:Level 3 adventurers from different teams.
Required Roles:
Healing Caster
Defender
Gatherer
Defender Requirement:Must possess the skill Shared Damage Distribution.
Mission Objective:Single-day rapid farming of Third-Tier Monster Lords — 9 targets.
Reward:1 gold coin per monster.
After posting the commission, Rei didn't rush anything.
He simply found an empty seat inside the guild and began reading quietly.
About half an hour later—
An adventurer approached him.
A new face.
Rei examined the person standing in front of him.
A black-haired healer with twin ponytails.
Most healing casters were women, so this wasn't surprising.
Of course, male healers existed too—Rei just hadn't met any yet.
"You… are hiring Third-Tier adventurers?"
Seeing the tender-faced eight-year-old child, Loth couldn't help feeling skeptical.
"Yes. That's me."
Alright then.
Looks like she doesn't know who I am.
Explaining everything would be too troublesome.
Having a little reputation really would make things easier… otherwise people question everything you do.
"I'm Izparut's apprentice."
After thinking for a moment, Rei concluded that this was the most effective explanation.
However—
The result was Loth bursting into laughter.
"Haha—hahaHAHA!"
"Everyone knows Iz has tons of apprentices, kid. Adventuring isn't something someone your age should be doing."
Holding her head, Loth shook it with a helpless expression.
Then she walked toward Shirley, apparently planning to complain.
She spread her hands toward Shirley, shaking her head and sighing in disappointment.
Shirley simply covered her mouth and laughed softly, explaining something.
Then Rei saw the two of them exchange a few words that almost looked like an argument.
Loth suddenly turned her head back toward Rei—
Her eyes filled with surprise.
Rei smiled and flashed her a casual "V" sign with his fingers.
She turned back to Shirley.
Shirley smiled and nodded, saying something else.
Loth turned back toward Rei again.
This time—
Her face looked like she had seen a ghost.
Complete shock.
"No way!!!"
"This kid is the greatest magical genius since Iz?!"
The shout was so loud that the entire Adventurers' Guild heard it.
Rei quietly covered his ears.
Did you really have to shout that loud…?
People who made a fuss like this seemed like they would be troublesome to deal with.
After the shock passed—
Loth walked back over and grabbed Rei's small hand.
"Kid, I was blind. Please, I'm begging you—take me with you."
"I'm bankrupt."
Behind her, Shirley followed with an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry, Little Rei."
"Loth spends money a bit recklessly, but she's actually a very capable healing caster."
"I was the one who recommended your team to her."
Oh~
That was quite the 180-degree attitude shift.
Since Shirley said she was capable, Rei had no reason to be picky.
As for being broke…
Everyone went through that phase at some point.
As long as her ability wasn't a problem, it didn't matter.
…
Forming the party took quite a bit of time.
After some effort, they finally gathered everyone Rei required.
And as before, his condition remained the same:
Everyone had to come from different teams.
This seemingly casual requirement actually had another purpose hidden within it.
It meant none of them knew each other well.
If people from the same original team joined him, they could easily collude in private.
For example…
If malicious intentions arose, they might conspire together to eliminate him.
One should always guard against others.
Even if Rei treated people with goodwill, he still needed to prevent the possibility of being schemed against.
Of course, he wouldn't become excessively paranoid over extremely unlikely events.
Caution and paranoia were not the same thing.
Inside the Dracoxen Carriage—
"So… you all came to Rain Town on your own as adventurers, haven't found suitable teams yet, and plan to form a temporary party first."
Rei confirmed once more.
Loth nodded.
"Yes, that's right."
The other two nodded as well.
Compared to Second-Tier adventurers, the Third-Tier adventurers clearly had far superior equipment.
Loth was:
[Level 3 Healing Caster / Level 1 Diviner / Level 1 Alchemist]
Maizel was:
[Level 3 Gatherer / Level 2 Archer / Level 1 Healing Caster]
Trand was:
[Level 3 Defender / Level 1 Blacksmith / Level 1 Gatherer]
Some professions overlapped.
Maizel even had Level 1 Healing Caster as a secondary role.
Compared to Level 1 or Level 2 adventurers, the profession combinations of Level 3 adventurers were clearly far more diverse.
They had already begun holding three professions simultaneously.
Looks like I should start thinking about choosing a second profession myself.