The Exiled Knight Takes Up Life as an Adventurer — A Former Captain's Secret Power and His Carefree Days in a Distant Land - Chapter 17

Early the next morning, I said goodbye to Zaal and the captain.

The caravan set off for the next town.

“Alright, time to head to the Adventurer’s Guild.”

I made my way toward the guild located in the city center of Irevs.

The corpse of the Fang Spider Denefis had already been delivered to the guild.

This particular guild was a solid, three-story stone building—quite an impressive structure.

The first-floor lobby was especially spacious.

I walked up to the counter, submitted the quest completion documents, and received my payment: five silver coins.

“You’re Mr. Mardin, correct? We’ve purchased the materials from the Fang Spider Denefis, so here’s the payment for those as well.”

“That was a big one, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, it certainly was. Actually, someone from the research institute Sig-Seven would like to speak with you. Do you have a moment?”

“Sig-Seven?”

The Adventurer’s Guild is composed of nine main institutions, and one of them is the research body Sig-Seven.

They study the ecology of monsters, handle classification and naming of newly discovered species, assign ranks, and manage rare unique creatures known as Named Monsters.

They also publish the official monster encyclopedia.

Sig-Seven is considered the most prestigious of all the guild institutions, and many aspire to become monster researchers under them.

“Sure, I’ll meet with them.”

“Thank you. And regarding the material purchase—here’s five gold coins in total for the two spiders.”

“Nice. That’s a good price.”

“Yes. It would’ve been even higher if the legs were intact.”

“Against those two? That would’ve been impossible. Hahaha.”

After receiving the coins, I met with a Sig-Seven staff member—a man in his forties.

He was clearly excited and asked in detail about the battle and the condition of the nest.

“A-Amazing! It’s possible that spider had completely dominated that entire thicket!”

“That wouldn’t surprise me. I’ve never seen a nest that large before.”

“We’ll be sending an investigation team immediately! Mr. Mardin, could you show us the location?”

“Act as a guide? Sure, no problem.”

“We’ll register it as an official quest from Sig-Seven and compensate you properly.”

“Huh? That’s not necessary. I’m heading back that way anyway, and you’ve already paid me for the materials.”

“Haha, we can’t allow that. If an adventurer refuses compensation, we get scolded by our superiors.”

The Adventurer’s Guild is very strict about ensuring all labor is fairly paid.

That directive comes straight from both the current Guildmaster and the Kingdom of Larche, which oversees the guild’s operation.

It’s a different world from my days as a knight, where service came before reward.

But I’ve accepted that change.

“Alright, I’ll take it as a quest, then.”

“Thank you. We really appreciate it.”

“Oh, by the way—if it’s not too much trouble, I’d like to get some of the spider’s filament thread.”

“You use it?”

“Yeah. I rely on it for my equipment and techniques.”

“I see. The disassembly of the Fang Spider Denefis is already complete. We extracted a large amount of filament thread, so we’ll give you some for free.”

“Seriously? That’s a huge help.”

“Based on our analysis, this is the highest-grade filament we’ve ever seen from a Fang Spider.”

“Really? That makes sense. Its adhesive strength was incredible, and it didn’t behave like a typical Denefis.”

I received a spool of thread wound around a large wooden Raphil reel.

It looked to be nearly a hundred medelt in length.

With this much, I could craft new threads and still have enough left over as backup.

—

I guided the Sig-Seven investigation team to the thicket that had served as Denefis’s nest.

The researcher got so excited at the sheer scale of the web that I was a little concerned.

I had heard that Sig-Seven’s staff tended to be eccentric.

Still, if they were happy, that was enough for me.

After receiving five silver coins as the quest reward, I headed home.

All in all, I’d earned a total of six gold coins from this entire job.

“Phew… I’m home.”

Just as the sun was setting, I arrived back in the port town of Tilkoa.

When I dropped by the Adventurer’s Guild, Ferleat, the ever-smiling poster girl of the dining hall, greeted me warmly.

“Mardin, welcome back!”

“Ferleat? What are you doing here? You should be off work by now.”

“I was waiting for you. I thought we could share this together.”

Ferleat pulled out a bottle of wine.

“The Guildmaster won a case of wine at an auction and gave me one bottle at a discount. I thought I’d share it with you.”

“Oh? That’s really generous of you!”

“Of course! You’re always treating me to good stuff!”

Whenever I brought back monster ingredients, I always made sure to share some with Ferleat.

She was the one who cooked them, after all.

“Haha. Actually… I’ve got something too.”

I reached into my bag and pulled out a bottle of wine.

“Huh? Is that…?”

“I bought one myself. During the escort quest, I asked the merchant if he’d sell me a bottle—and he did.”

“No way! That’s the really expensive one, isn’t it?!”

“Yep. Cost me a whole gold coin.”

“A gold coin?! A-Are you sure we should drink something so fancy?”

“Of course. This job paid off pretty well.”

“You know, Mardin, you always seem to be making good money.”

“Th-That’s just luck! Total coincidence.”

We opened the bottle and poured it into the glasses Ferleat had prepared.

The wine glowed with a red hue, like the sun dipping below the horizon, with golden highlights shimmering through.

Its rich aroma filled the room, and we instinctively looked at each other in amazement.

“This is… incredible.”

“I-It’s my first time having wine like this…”

We raised our glasses and toasted.

“Delicious!”

“This is amazing!”

“Let’s open yours too, Ferleat.”

“Yeah, let’s drink it!”

We poured her wine into another set of glasses.

Compared to the first one, hers had a brighter, deeper red hue.

“This one’s great too. Really light and refreshing.”

“And it’s so good, even though it was cheap.”

“Maybe the Guildmaster gave you a special price.”

“You think so? Maybe… He is a bit of a mystery.”

Ferleat refilled my empty glass.

“But you’re a mystery too, Mardin. Aren’t you secretly a top-tier adventurer?”

“No way! I’m just a lifelong C-rank, you know that.”

“Well, I guess if you were some big shot, you wouldn’t still be in this town.”

“Exactly. The talented ones all head to the big cities.”

“Promise me you won’t leave?”

“Haha. I like it here. Besides, I’m getting older. I plan to keep working at this cozy little guild for as long as I can.”

At that moment, someone placed a hand on my shoulder.

I turned around—and saw a familiar face.

“Calling it a backwater guild, huh?”

“Palma! Hahaha. You know it’s true.”

“Not gonna argue.”

“Come on, join us. This wine is incredible.”

I held up the bottle and showed him the label.

“Wait a second—that’s the salvaged wine, isn’t it?!”

“Yep. Bought it from the merchant myself.”

“Y-You’re okay with opening it? That stuff’s crazy expensive!”

“The escort quest paid well. Let’s enjoy it.”

Before long, more guild staff and familiar adventurers joined us after their shifts ended.

Together, we shared the wine and enjoyed a well-earned celebration.