Chapter 4

Chapter 04 – Soul Card Creation

Translator: Kell | Editor: Weasalopes

Soul Card Creation

It was before noon when Hikaru woke up . He was parched . People didn’t seem to visit the graveyard as it was awfully quiet . It was a clear and sunny day .

There was a well nearby . With a bucket, Hikaru fetched some water from below and drank . His thirst was quenched, but this time his stomach grumbled . Rubbing his belly, he thought, What do I do now? I’m broke . Anything I can sell… my clothes? No, it has blood on it .

He took off his shirt to wash it, but it only turned into a shirt with holes and a brown stain .

「So cold…」

He didn’t have time to dry out his clothes so he wore them wet . He thought about his next move .

1 . Earn money .

2 . Run without being suspected of Count Morgstad’s murder .

These two are my top priority . He searched Roland’s memories for ways to make money .

「Hmm?」

Roland’s memories were more blurry than yesterday . The knowledge was there, but the things Roland learned from experience, what he felt, his precious memories were fading . It felt like some stranger’s experience that Hikaru heard from rumors . He felt Roland gradually leaving his body .

「…Anyway, I just have to live on . 」

As he searched through the memories, Hikaru hit upon something . Making a Soul Card . It sounded similar to his Skill Soul Board, but to put it simply, the Soul Card was an ID . The Adventurers’ Guild, Merchants’ Guild, and the Alchemists’ Guild issue Guild Cards while a temple issued a Soul Card . Both had slightly different features and uses, but they served as IDs all the same .

「The Adventurers Guild it is . 」

The Adventurers’ Guild issued Guild Cards for free if you were a first-timer . The other guilds asked for processing fees . It didn’t cost much, but Hikaru was flat broke .

「Where’s the Adventurers’ Guild anyway?」

Its location was not in Roland’s memories . Hikaru left the graveyard and made his way into town . Spotting a guard on patrol, he turned a corner and ended up in a back alley . He had his Stealth Skill, but now was not the time to test its effectiveness . I’ll test it out somewhere else .

It was getting more desolate as Hikaru moved farther and farther from the main street . Up ahead was a girl with a chalk, drawing something on alley walls .

「Here goes . 」

I gotta do this . A suspicious guy talking to a young girl was a cause for concern . Hikaru was still young, though .

「Excuse me . 」

Startled by Hikaru’s strange appearance, the girl started trembling . It was probably the soiled and battered clothes, yet somehow still retaining the image of a noble that scared her .

「It’s all right . I just want to ask for directions . Which way is the Adventurers’ Guild?」

「Do you want to go to the Adventurers’ Guild, Mister?」

「Yeah . 」

That seemed to be enough for the girl as she started talking .

「Well… you go straight down the alley, and you’ll end up on the main street . Cross it and go straight down a back alley, and you’ll be on the main street again . Turn right from there and after about five minutes of walking, you’ll see the Adventurers’ Guild . 」

「Got it . I’d like to thank you somehow but I got nothing with me . 」

「That’s okay! You can repay me when you hit it big!」

「…Okay . 」

What a lively young girl .

The Adventurers’ Guild was a massive stone-made building . Laughter and rough voices from brawny men rolled from within . There were women as well, though some were muscular and some wore grim expressions on their faces . Not your ordinary women . A few parties of young boys and girls were there too, but they were mostly made fun of by the adults .

Only one receptionist sat behind the guild counter . She wore a small, white hat, silver around the edges and a uniform that matched . A long skirt, and a coat that closed in front, with sleeves that grew wider . Quite a strange outfit . She was a beauty with short red hair and slightly tense features . She looked to be less than twenty years old .

The lady was working, processing quests, while dealing with men asking her out on a date .

「Hmm . 」

Not one adventurer noticed Hikaru with his Stealth Skill active . No one said something like “What’s this? Since when did the adventurers’ guild become a kids’ playground?” . Without any Skills useful in combat, it was better not to get involved in any mess .

The men formed a semi-circle around the receptionist . Left and right, people were talking to her as she did her job with an indifferent air . But there were always ten men who kept on asking her out . In order to accept or clear a quest, one would have to wedge themselves in .

「I found a really great place the other day…」

「You’re single, right, Jill? Just one time, please! Let’s have dinner one time!」

「Can you make me a guild card?」

With Stealth active, Hikaru weaved through the adventurers all the way to the front then deactivated his Skill .

「What the?!」

「The hell is this kid doing here?! Where’d he come from?!」

The eyes of the receptionist – whose name was apparently Jill – went wide with surprise as well .

「Ah, um, well…」

「Please make me a guild card . 」Hikaru said once more .

「The fuck are you saying, stupid brat?!」

「Damn brat! Get in line and wait for your turn!」

「You guys weren’t standing in line . I simply asked the guild’s receptionist to do a legitimate task for me . Besides, you can still invite her to dinner while she works on the guild card, can’t you?」

「Why you…」

One adventurer’s face went red . They weren’t stupid enough to start a fight right here, however .

「Hey . 」

「…Yeah . 」

They exchanged glances and left the building in groups .

Hmm . So they’re going to gang up on me as soon as I leave the guild . So predictable . There was none left at the counter except Hikaru .

The receptionist heaved a sigh before speaking .

「Listen here . I don’t know where you’re from, Sir, but you should apologize later . They might spare your life if you give them some money . 」she said, exasperated .

Sir? Maybe it’s the clothes .

「So a guild staff is just going to sit there and do nothing even though its members are about to extort money out of someone?」

「…What?」

「I’m saying you’re neglecting your duty . This organization is a joke I suppose given they’re ignoring potential criminals . 」

「What was that?!」

She most likely didn’t expect a rebuttal . Jill raised her voice, her gaze filled with anger .

「You want to make an enemy of the Adventurers’ Guild?」

「I see . Even the staff resorts to threats . 」

「I’m not threatening you . This is simply a warning…」

「Just make me a guild card already . You have to if someone asks, am I correct?」

She was silent, her gaze sharp .

What a waste of her beauty, Hikaru thought, his face calm and composed .

「All right, I’ll issue you a guild card . Place your hand here . 」

She held out a smooth stone board . Its surface seemed to be made of glass with various geometric shapes and ancient writings on the screen . It was similar to the Soul Board, though unrefined . What surprised Hikaru was something else entirely .

Roland was researching this…

The device was connected to the same network as the temples’ Soul Card and reads a Soul’s Records . Hikaru placed his palm on top . For a second, it seemed as though light shimmered beyond the screen .

「Hmm . It looks like you haven’t been issued a card before . 」

Jill fiddled with the device . Phew . It would’ve been all over if Roland already had a record . Then again, it was called a Soul’s Records . As such, Hikaru thought his and Roland’s would be different .

「That’s correct . 」

The whole process didn’t take long and my card was ready .

【Adventurers’ Guild Card】

. . 【Name】Hikaru

. . 【Registration】Pond Adventurers’ Guild, Kingdom of Ponsonia

. . 【Rank】G

. . 【Class】 —

「…Class?」Hikaru muttered without thinking .

He couldn’t find it in Roland’s memories . It seemed Roland didn’t deal much with adventurers .

The receptionist heaved a deep sigh .

「I don’t really want to explain, but rules are rules so I have no choice . 」

She grudgingly started explaining .

「Try touching the card with your finger . A list of possible classes for you will appear based on your Soul’s Records . By choosing one, your abilities will be boosted . It’s usually a few characters that end with the word “god” followed by a title . The shorter the name, the greater the abilities’ boost . Three characters and below are ultra-rare, with one character being mythical . Even four-character classes are enough for you to be a top-class adventurer . Soul cards and other guild cards have them too . 」

Hikaru placed his finger on the card and there appeared a list .

【Assassination God: Night Stalker】[2]

【Stealth God: Darkness Wanderer】[2]

【Ordinary Chaos God: Eye of the Storm】[3]

【Woods Strolling God: Forest Walker】[4]

【City, Town, and Village People Rescue God: Civilian】[10]

「…I see . 」

There’s a bunch of ominous ones here… What now?

「In your case, it would be『City, Town, and Village People Rescue God: Civilian』or 『Wealthy City and Townspeople Rescue God: Money Worker』or something of the sorts . Am I right?」

「…Y-Yes, o-of course . 」

「Why are you getting flustered?」

「I’m not flustered . 」

I can’t show this to her . My Skill tree and assassination experience must’ve had some kind of effect on the choices available . Hikaru selected Civilian and showed it to Jill .

「…See? I thought so . 」she said, pointing at the card .

「You can take a quest from the bulletin board and place your guild card against it to accept it . For goods delivery, you should check the reference room first for information . 」

Jill explained a few more things .

· Adventurers are ranked from G, being the lowest, to F, E, all the way to A . After that comes S which is the highest .

· Adventurers can get promoted to higher ranks based on the number and nature of quests they’ve cleared . Once promoted, they can take on more difficult quests .

· Adventurers will gradually become experts in their fields . Experts in harvesting are called Plant Hunters . Experts in searching for precious metals, Jewel Hunters . Monster Hunters, those that specialize in killing monsters . Dungeon explorers are called Adventurers . Expert in security, Bodyguards . Jack of all trades, Quest Hunters, etc .

· Once you’re famous in your field, you may receive quests that personally ask for you .

· You can select whatever job class you have and there’s no need to report it to the guild . Classes with three-character names and below are rare and give powerful abilities . There are those that become famous just by the class they have . Training and raising one’s Soul Rank will increase the number of classes available for an adventurer .

Incidentally, one’s Soul Rank increased by killing monsters and stealing a piece of their souls, making one stronger . This was in Roland’s memories as well, but it seemed his Soul Rank didn’t increase . Apparently, nobles only start hunting monsters in their later teens . Levelling up, huh?

Normal animals were differentiated from monsters based on whether they harmed humans or not . The bodies of magical monsters can be freely processed so they’re used as materials to make food, equipment, and daily necessities . They can be brought and sold to the guild .

「That’s all . I’m not going to explain all that again . 」

「It’s all right . I got it . 」

「Go, then . You’re disturbing my work . 」

Before he knew it, a bunch of adventurers have gathered behind Hikaru . Not the ones from before, but men that wanted to ask Jill out for dinner all the same .

Note: The characters Jill was referring to were the jp characters . For example, Assassination God: Night Stalker in jp is 暗殺神：ナイトストーカー; it’s a two-character class, “暗殺” followed by the character for god “神” . Woods Strolling God: Forest Walker is 森林散歩神：フォレストウォーカー in jp so that’s a four-character class “森林散歩” . Etc, etc…