Skeleton Knight, in Another World

Translator/Editor: Silver

「Seeking Employment as an Adventurer」 Part 2

Although this was a different world, it lacked the feeling of fantasy. Frankly speaking, it only gave off the vibe of a world in the Medieval era. There were no floating continents, elves , or even basic monsters such as goblins. I heard that there were monsters, but they were most likely just larger versions of normal animals.

Currently, the most fantasy-like element here was me. Despite being a skeleton, I could eat, walk, talk, and even use magic.

It seemed that the only indicator that this was another world was that there were apparently monster-like beasts about.

Suddenly, I felt something approaching from deeper within the forest. With the sound of footsteps getting closer, the sound of pig oinks became more abundant.

From the depths of the thicket emerged three bipedal pigs that were all around a hundred and sixty centimetres tall.

They had a hunched over posture, thick arms, and were carrying clubs made from logs. They also had reddish skin and wore nothing. Standing on short legs, their stomachs protruded out in front of them.

Fantasy has finally appeared.

Orcs in the game had similar builds, but there were some slight differences. The intelligence seems to be lower than in the game, as this orcs have no metal weapons or armor. They were the all-stars of small fries in the game for level 20-40 players.

If it is only this, I should be able to handle this much with a little wiggle room. My current body was at the highest level of 255 due to my hardcore grinding.

The normal level limit was 250, but that cap was lifted by completing special requirements. The levels after the cap removal granted to ten time the stat boost of the normal a normal level gain, so my actual ability should be equal to a level 300 character.

The three orcs seem to be communicating with their squalls. One points to the two boars laying by the stream and said something. He was gesturing in a way that indicted a good catch.

When they finally notice my figure sitting on a nearby rock, one let out a shrill cry.

“pigii ~~~!!”

“buhitsu!? hugotsuhugotsubuhi!!”

The call seems to have alerted the others, as they all raised their clubs and came charging at me. The speed was not fast in the slightest. I could easily make out the vibrations in their protruding stomachs as they ran.

Putting on my helmet, I instantly transported behind the them. I proceed to whip out my sword, and cut through the neck of the slowest orc.

“buhiyutsu!?”

The orc head was taken off from the chin upwards.

The other orcs were surprised that the enemy had disappeared, and were desperately looking around. Then the two of them finally realized something.

I swung my sword from the right to the left, and felt no resistance as the slowest orc’s head was sent flying and its body dropped. There was blood gushing out the body of the dead orc.

“pigitsu!!? pigii ~~~!!!”

The remaining two orcs raised a scream, and started to run deeper into the forest.

I didn’t chase after them because I already had the 2 wild boars and 1 orc head.

I drop the head into the water, to wash away the blood. Even though it came from an orc, it looked just like a pig’s head to me. I still put it in the game bag anyway.

The head should count as proof of subjugation.

I went to two boars out by the stream, and began to bind the two with some of the spear rope I had. The 2 should have weighted over 100 kg but due to the level of my body, I barely felt anything.

I move through the grooves of the trees as I start to leave the forest. I got a little turned around as I walked, but I was eventually able to spot the highway.

Out on the highway, I see the day is starting to fade away. It should be around 3:00 p.m. right?

Looking around as I transported, I made my way back to Rubierute. When I just make it to the fork in the road, I saw other people making their way towards the city. From here to the city, It seems that I will have to make the trek on foot.

An hour later, I reached the east gate of the city. I simply showed the guards my pa.s.s to get inside.

The people that came before me were surprised, when they looked at the game that I was bringing in. After all it wasn’t something that a normal traveler could carry with one hand.

When I arrived at the adventurer’s guild, I just walk through the double-doors to enter. Unchanged from this morning, the one-eyed bear of a man was sitting in the cage. There was n.o.body else here but a guy doing office work in the back.

The lips of the bear-like uncle seemed to twist, as I make my way towards the counter.

I originally though the cage was to protect the person at the counter, but looking at the uncle, I imagine that its real propose is to keep a dangerous animal from getting out.

“A bit early. Have you hunted something?”

In response to that, I take the wild boar from over my shoulder and place it on the floor. Then I place my game bag on the counter, and take out the orc head.

“It’s these three. Can a adventurer’s certification be issued?”

“Well, I didn’t think it would be possible to bring back three within half a day. Is it one orc and two wild burba. What about the meat and magic stone of the orc?”

The boars seem to be called burba. It also seem that orc meat was edible. One piece seemed to sell for 5 sek.

Finally, since orcs were monsters, they seemed to have magic stones as their center. When I said that I didn’t take the magic stone, the man laughed saying “You really aren’t strapped for cash”. The magic stone of a orc was about the size of a pinky, and is priced at 1 sek. It seems that I lost out on one silver coin.

It seemed a little wasteful when I though about the cost of one night in a cheap inn. Next time, I should collect as many of them as I can.

After the inspection of the hunted game, a metal plate the size of a dog tag was placed on the counter.

“It is proof of adventure certification. You need to pay the 3 sek registration fee and provide your name.”

“It is Arc.”

After saying my name, I hand the 3 sliver coins to the uncle, and pick up the the adventurer certification plate. There was a 5-digit serial number written in roman like numerals, as well as 3 stars engraved into it.

When I stare at the plate, the unknown letters are translated in my head. 『”Rhoden kingdom, Rubierute branch adventurer』was engraved on the tag. It was somewhat strange.

That reminds me, I am able to understand the people that I talk to just fine. Really this it……

There has been no trouble with reading or writing.

“What are the stars for?”

“They are used to measure the capability of the adventurers. Three stars mean that you are capable of handling orcs alone. The highest level is seven, but those guys are rare finds.”

The one-eyed bear-like uncle was giving off an improbable aura, as he laughed and smiled.

Among the seven ranks, three stars doesn’t seem to be good or bad. It seemed to be the 『Normal』ranking in the guild.

“Usually adventurers just pick a job from the board over there.”

Near the entrance was a bulletin board, that was covered entirely with wooden plaques. It was similar to  dedication plaques found at a shrine.

I took one of the wooden plaques in my hand. The translation of the writing occurred in my head, and the description of the text appeared in my mind.

Each of these wooden plaques seem to represent an request. Studying the plaques, it seem that once a request is completed, they sand them down so a new one can be engraved on it. Paper was probably a high-cla.s.s item.

I decided to look through the request for the time being.

“A ch.o.r.e request wonderland.”

The majority of the quest are ch.o.r.e request, vermin subjugation in fields, crop collecting in the field, debris hauling, cleaning the aqueducts. It would be more accurate to call the adventures guild a labor union. The composition was also rather low.

“A good percent of request require a lot of man power, so the local guild delegates those request regularly. If you’re looking for more lucrative work then you should explore the mercenary section the guild delegates. The adventurers that take on those quest are know to have a lot of pocket money, and it is a great way to build up your reputation”

Doing the mercenary quests is out of the question, the probability of my real form being found out would skyrocket if I did.

I need to do a simple quest for the time being, to get a sense of the atmosphere around here. Thinking it over, I take one of the request plaque off the board and place it on the counter.

It was a request from Rita village to escort a medical herb collection. The reward was quite low, being only a single silver coin. I picked it because I was a little interested in the medical herbs.

The bear-like uncle had a wondering face, when he read the request’s contact.

“Really, are you serious? Frankly speaking, its a job that doesn’t match the reward.”

“No problem. I’m only interested in the collection of the herbs.”

“Are you crazy. You can’t go soft for the client on this request. It would be okay if you took something else.”

The bear-like uncle says so, as he starting the request acceptance procedures. The request was from a 13 year old village girl.

“When the quest is complete have the client hand you the quest completion plaque. When you submit the request and completion plaques together you will be paid in full.”

I leave the guild building after hearing the way to get to the village and thanking the bear-like uncle.

I then enter the merchant a.s.sociation building. Some time ago, the bear-like uncle said I should take the game I hunted here, so that they can buy it off me.

The merchant a.s.sociation building was larger that the guilds one, and there was a lot more staff to deal with the larger number of visitors.

The counter of the a.s.sociation building was divided by iron-barred windows, and there were many employees working behind it. When I called out t0 the staff, a middle-aged man comes out to greet me.

“h.e.l.lo. How may I help you today?”

“I’m here to ask about the purchase of these fellows.”

I show the two burba over my shoulder to the receptionist. The receptionist then directed me to the warehouse representative. Exiting the building, a carriage stopped across the street, and I loaded the game before being taken to the warehouse location to see about the purchases.

A thin young man comes out to the table with my catches on it. Then began his inspection of the game. I also took out the head of the orc as well.

“It’ll be 7 sek and 5 sok for the burbas, and 1 sek for the orc head. In total that comes to 1 suk and 6 sek.”

The burba were worth 7 pieces of silver and 5 copper pieces apiece, while the head was worth one silver. While I though about such things, the staff member pulled out one gold coin and five silver ones. An extra copper is also paid.

I place the money in my pouch and left.

The sun has long since started to set, and dusk was starting to dye the the area.

I’ll stay the night here again, then depart for Rata village in the morning.