Soul Eater of the Rebellion 4 Guild Expulsion
「Tenth-tier adventurer, Sorsama. I"m sorry but your qualification as an adventurer will be revoked today」
「….Huh?」
Three days before the attack of the Fly Lord.
I was told that I was fired from the adventurer"s guild by the receptionists without a shred of pity.
It instinctively made my jaw drop.
I could not understand what just happened all of a sudden.
「…You"re joking, right…?」
「Nope. It"s an official announcement approved by the guild master. This is the letter of notice」
I grabbed the single doc.u.ment that the receptionist politely handed me with my trembling hands.
It definitely stated on there that the tenth-tier adventurer, Sora, was expelled from the guild. And the guild master"s seal was also on there.
I felt a sharp pain in my heart when I confirmed it. I don"t mean it metaphorically either.
How on earth did this happen? I asked myself that.
Why did I suddenly get expelled from the adventurer"s guild?
I had just finished my daily routine of herb picking quests today and was just turning them in.
There was no reason for them to be this stingy about it just because I didn"t turn in the exact amount.
I haven"t made any fatal mistakes recently in any other quests either. Rather, in the first place, I have only done herb gathering quests for these last few months.
And yet, why did I get expelled?
I was furious at the receptionist in front of me when I kept thinking about it.
The way she talked was polite, but the eyes of this receptionist with braided hair were dead cold whenever she looked at me. It reminded me of the way my father used to look at me, just like she was looking at some rocks or weeds.
I"ve been enrolled in the guild for five years now, and I was still at the lowest rank, an adventurer of the tenth-tier, so it might be unavoidable for me to be looked down on.
However, it would be too far of a stretch to have my adventurer qualification revoked for no reason just because of that.
I opened my mouth with the intention of yelling at her to stop f.u.c.king with me.
「…B-but couldn"t there some kind of mistake?」
—But what came out of my own mouth were words so polite that it made me sick.
The young receptionist who wasn"t even twenty years old sighed a little. The disgust she was feeling from having to waste more time to deal with me was now showing on her face.
「There"s no mistake about it. It"s stated in the guild rules that the adventurers who don"t have a promotion out of the tenth-tier in a three year period will lose their qualification. Sorsama, since you"ve been demoted three years ago, you"ve stayed at the tenth-tier the whole time, right? Then the conditions are met」
「…Oh, is-is that so… I-I didn"t know about that. I-If you knew about that, I wish you would have given me a warning ahead of time…」
「Again, what I"m telling you was in clear writing in the guild"s rules. It"s your own fault if you didn"t know about it. The guild has no obligation to give you a warning on it」
The receptionist looked at me in the eyes and replied so.
I backed off instinctively when under such an angry gaze.
「This city of Ishka has provided adventurers with lots of favorable treatments. That is because the city needs the power from them to defend it from the constant threat of monsters. Regardless of being an adventurer or part of the guild staff, as long as the person belonged to this guild, they have to always bear in mind of the fact that they have the duty to work for the city of Ishka」
「That…well, I knew that…」
I wasn"t lying. I came to this city because I had heard about that.
I came there to protect this city and the people from the threat of monsters. I thought that I could even get my name out there from doing so.
I swore an oath to show everyone that what I could not do on the island, I will do in this city.
…But now that oath was farther away than the moon that"s floating in the sky.
The guild receptionist who had heard my words showered me with her cold eyes.
「While you"re aware of it, you still haven"t even climbed one rank in the time of three years, you know? In the first place, the climb to the ninth-tier is not difficult at all. Shouldn"t you know better than anyone about this since you were once in the ninth-tier five years ago?」
「You"re not wrong… but…. It takes a little bit of money…」
「The commission fee to take the ninth-tier exam is one silver coin. Are you telling me you couldn"t bring out one silver coin in three years? Meanwhile, you were enjoying all the special privileges given to adventurers as you lived? Privileges are only given to those who fulfill their duties. Even a child would know that」
「Ughh….」
「Anyway, rules are rules. The punishment will stand. Moreover, after talking with you now, Sorsama, it seems to me that you have been neglecting your duty as an adventurer for the last three years.」
A barrage of sound words came pouring out of the receptionist"s mouth.
I could not come up with any comebacks and could only make a silent "auuu" sound as I opened and closed my mouth pointlessly.
I guess after seeing me act like that, the receptionist judged that any more than this would be a waste of time for her, and so she continued with a neutral voice,
「This is your reward for today"s quest. I wish you luck in the future– Next person in line, please」
「Wait a—」
I was about to forcefully interrupt her and tell her to wait a minute.
But the receptionist was not looking at me any longer.
The adventurers who were waiting in line had their eyes on me now as if they were telling me to hurry and finish.
They were the eyes of people with both rankings and levels that were above me. I was starting to get cold feet from their dangerous glares.
As a fake smile formed naturally on my face, I pitied myself from the bottom of my heart.
That smile was like a skunk"s fart as its last defense.
I thought about talking s.h.i.t about the receptionist… but after thinking about it, this young and pretty receptionist was quite popular amongst the adventurers.
If I was going to cuss at her, it wouldn"t be surprising for the other adventurers here to jump in.
In the end, I could only walk away from the receptionist while feeling dejected.
Just like usual after I finished questing, I would go to the dining area of the guild to get a cup of ale (beer), but I"m not in the mood for that right now.
No, but before that–
「Not even returning the proof of guild membership to me…? Are you serious?」
The silver seal that you have to hand in when you turn in your quest- they did not return that to me either.
To simply put it, without that seal, you don"t get an adventurer"s discount.
The city of Ishka, also called the freedom city or adventurer city, was always under the threat of monsters.
Naturally, the knights and soldiers who serve the country protect the city as well, but since most of their battle potential relied on adventurers, the policy of giving adventurers preferential treatment was implemented.
Around here, it was just like what the receptionist said.
The benefits of being an adventurer ranged from having discounts on weapons and tools, to things like daily expenses in inns. If you don"t have the proof of the guild, your living expenses are about thirty percent higher.
The proof of the guild is normally submitted when you turn in your quest, and then it is returned to you with your rewards.
The fact that it was never given back to me shows that it wasn"t a prank or some kind of hara.s.sment by the receptionist, it was simply reality.
At this time, the fact that I"ve been expelled from the guild has finally started to sink in. My back was shaking without me realizing it.
If I don"t have a job then I won"t have any income. I didn"t have much savings either.
Up until now, my living expenses were cut down from using the dining area of the guild and the adventurer discounts in the inns.
I"ve been barely getting by in my daily life as it is, and now I might not be able to even do that after tomorrow.
I walked out of the adventurer"s guild in a daze.
This was the organization I belonged to for the past five years. Even though it was my last day here, no one will call out to me, and no one will miss me either.
It was just like five years ago.
Without me realizing it, a bitter laugh surfaced from the corner of my mouth.
All I could do was laugh… that was all I could do.