Greed, the Great Sin City, Training Hall, First Floor, Lecture Room
Glen muttered quietly in the center of the training hall room.
“Ah… what a pain.”
In front of him, about thirty humans were gathered. They were all sorts of people, with diverse genders and races, including Humans, Beastkin, and Natives. They were all holders of the “Chalk Ring,” meaning they were all aspiring Adventurers. They sat there with lazy expressions, looking like they were up to no good.
They didn’t look like decent folk, and indeed they weren’t. These were Nameless, the lowest stratum of this world’s residents. What’s more, Rods had shrewdly handpicked them, deeming them as “trash who would die immediately if thrown into the Labyrinth,” and guided them to the training hall.
Frankly, dealing with them was a hassle.
“I wish they’d all get eaten by goblins and die soon.”
“You’re saying everything you’re thinking out loud, old man.”
One of the sullen students pointed this out, and Glen, with a quick “Oh,” stroked his beard. It wasn’t like he cared if his true feelings were heard, though.
“Ah, whatever. Anyway, let’s finish this training quickly, you bastards, prepare yoursel—”
“Glen, two more trainees have been added!”
“Die.”
Seeing Rods and two children burst in, Glen groaned.
◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆
Training Hall
Ul eagerly accepted the offer without a second thought, but as time passed, she began to feel a strange dissonance between the name “training” and the profession of “Adventurer.” The word “training” conjured an image of diligence, seriousness, and steadfastness. The word “Adventurer,” on the other hand, evoked a sense of roughness, recklessness, and lack of seriousness.
It was Ul’s personal impression, but she didn’t think it was far off. In fact, the aspiring Adventurers here, like Ul, were irritated and fidgety, finding even sitting at a desk to be bothersome. Their faces were plastered with the expression, “Why do we have to be here?”
“Yeah, Adventurers are supposed to be like this, aren’t they?”
While gaining a strange sense of understanding, Ul looked at the man before her, presumably the instructor.
“…What a pain.”
He looked to be around forty or fifty. A Human, with a messy beard and unkempt, dark red hair. His lifeless eyes showed no hint of motivation, making him completely unsuitable for the title of “teacher.” Even Ul couldn’t help but wear a skeptical expression.
Muttering something that sounded like a complaint, he let out a large, resigned sigh. Then, turning towards Ul and the others, he twisted his face into a sarcastic grin.
“I’m Glen, the one who will be instructing here. Welcome to this damn training hall, you morons who aspire to become damn Adventurers.”
Ul wondered if he really intended to teach. The others probably thought the same thing. Shizuku, standing next to her, was inexplicably clapping, but didn’t she find the man in front of them somehow… odd?
Glen, however, continued without showing any sign of concern.
“It’s not mandatory to attend this training hall. No one will stop you if you go straight to the Labyrinth, and the Knights won’t arrest you. …Since you’re here, it’s probably because that idiot Rods egged you on.”
“Were we egged on?”
“Perhaps…”
Ul gave a non-committal answer to Shizuku’s question.
Honestly, when Ul first heard about this, she thought it was a pretty sweet deal. As someone with no home, even lodging cost money. That was true even for the filthy, uncomfortable, and cheap inns for Nameless. Getting lodging and instruction for free felt too good to be true. Unfortunately, Ul had no other choice. So, she couldn’t help but agree that she had been “egged on.”
“Hey, you old geezer, don’t mess with us! We don’t care about what you have to say!”
However, the others didn’t seem to agree. The man next to Ul stood up and shouted. He was loud.
“We came here because you said you’d give us rings! Hand them over! The ‘Copper Ring’!”
“Ring?” Ul tilted her head and looked at Shizuku. Shizuku also tilted her head.
Ul understood the meaning of a “Copper Ring.” It wasn’t the “provisional” Adventurer’s ring that Rods had given them, the “Chalk Ring” they currently possessed. It was a real Adventurer’s ring. Would they really give it to them here? But then, why hadn’t Rods mentioned it?
“Could it be a surprise?”
“A surprise, huh?”
As Ul and Shizuku engaged in this foolish conversation, Glen, looking annoyed by the rising complaints from all around, pulled something out of his pocket.
Gleaming brightly under the Sun’s rays outside the window, the ring was not the dull Chalk Ring they were wearing. It was undeniably a formal Adventurer’s ring.
“The Copper Ring. Well, it’s the lowest-ranked ring in the Adventurer’s Guild, but its effects are still far greater than the Chalk ones you were given. If I tell you it grants the authority to be exempt from ‘city residency fees,’ you’ll understand, won’t you?”
At that single statement, the participants in the training hall who had been complaining became agitated. For the Nameless, who couldn’t even remain in the city without paying a certain fee, merely that one attractive authority was hidden within that small ring.
“So, I doubt you’ll listen to a long explanation, will you? Let me explain the rules here.”
Saying so, Glen held up three fingers.
“There are three ways to leave this training hall. One is expulsion, which you can do anytime you wish, by your own will. As I said before, this training hall isn’t mandatory. If you don’t want to be here, I won’t stop you from leaving.”
He then bent one finger. However, the other participants were intently watching the ring Glen held. They clearly had no intention of leaving immediately.
“Second, by earning my approval. If I deem you worthy, I will give you a ring.”
Grinning, Glen bent another finger. It was clear he had no intention of granting approval easily. Yet, the participants still stared at the ring. They hadn’t given up at all. They looked as if they were about to pounce.
Then, Glen spoke his last condition.
“Third, defeat me. The method doesn’t matter.”
The moment he uttered those words, several participants kicked their chairs away and stood up. They were holding blunt, club-like weapons, brandished from who knows where. The man who seemed to be the leader of these thugs, looking like a common robber, approached Glen and sneered.
“So, if I beat you up, I get the ring without having to ‘study’?”
“Oh, that’s right.”
“Are there any rules for that? Like, can’t be a one-on-one fight or anything?”
“I told you, the method doesn’t matter.”
Upon hearing this, he gestured to his companions with his chin. Then he roared.
“Then! It means you won’t complain if we beat you up right here, right?!”
An old, long table was overturned. The men lunged forward, surrounding Glen. Shouts, or perhaps screams, echoed from the classroom.
“…Ugh.”
“Oh?”
At that moment, Ul felt a strange, unknown chill run down her spine. An intuition, without any basis, warned her of danger. Following it, Ul instinctively grabbed Shizuku’s shoulder and lowered her head.
The impact that enveloped the entire room came in the next instant.
“…HAGOBBA?!”
Simultaneously, a strange scream echoed, unlike even the death throes of a monster.
“……Huh?”
Carefully, Ul looked up. For some reason, the men who had surrounded Glen had disappeared. She looked to the right, then to the left, but they were nowhere to be seen. Then, seeing something like stone fragments falling from above, she looked up.
“…Ah.”
There, on the ceiling, were the thugs. Their heads were plunged into the ceiling, their bodies embedded up to their torsos as they dangled there. The thugs, now strange ceiling decorations, were so surreal they transcended mere fear.
“Alright, any other challengers? You can all come at me, I don’t mind.”
Glen smiled genially at the trainees, but no one responded.
Greed Branch of the Adventurer’s Guild, Training Hall, 245th Term
Participants: 30, Dropouts: 5, Remaining: 25
“…Eh.”
“Did we end up in a terribly dangerous place?”
Shizuku’s casual remark was spot on.
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