The Exiled Knight Takes Up Life as an Adventurer — A Former Captain's Secret Power and His Carefree Days in a Distant Land - Chapter 18

“Oh, here we are.”

I stepped off the shared carriage and walked into the city.

“This should be the place…”

I had come to the neighboring town of Irevs.

My goal was to visit Sig-Nine, the development institute of the Adventurer’s Guild.

“There! Found it! Sig-Nine is on the second floor.”

Sig-Nine is one of the guild’s core institutions, responsible for developing and selling weapons, armor, and tools for adventurers.

They also mine ores and even own their own mines under the Sig-Nine name.

With numerous international patents and enormous revenue, they operate entirely without funding from Guild Headquarters.

Because of that, they enjoy the most freedom among the guild’s divisions—but that same independence has earned them the nickname “the guild’s wild horse.”

In the Adventurer’s Guild of Tilkoa, my hometown port city, there is no Sig-Nine branch.

That’s why I came all the way to Irevs—to have a new filament thread tool made.

I climbed the stairs to the second floor and entered the equipment shop run by Sig-Nine.

“Welcome!”

“I’m here to commission a custom tool.”

“Huh? A tool commission? Uh, one moment, please.”

The shop girl disappeared into the back.

While I waited, I browsed through the various weapons and gear.

Short swords, longswords, and an assortment of knives lined the walls.

“The swords in this branch look like high quality work. Maybe I’ll get one made someday.”

The longsword and light armor I currently use were actually purchased from another town’s Sig-Nine.

After a short wait, the girl returned with a man who looked to be in his forties.

“I’m Grant, head of the Sig-Nine Irevs branch.”

“Mardin, C-rank adventurer.”

“Mardin? Wait, are you the one who took down that Fang Spider Denefis the other day?”

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“I knew it! I was going to reach out to you. That Fang Spider was… unusual.”

“Unusual?”

“Yes. According to a joint investigation with Sig-Seven, it turns out that spider was close to evolving into a Named Monster.”

Named Monsters are rare individuals within a species that possess unique abilities or have evolved beyond their kind.

They’re powerful enough to pose a threat to entire cities or nations—and for that reason, they’re given names for identification.

“Especially its filament thread. It was far superior in stretch, adhesion, and durability compared to regular ones.”

“I thought so. I actually received some of its filament and came here to have new thread made.”

I took the filament thread from my bag and showed him my custom Raphil spool.

“What’s that?”

“This is my Raphil. I use it to control filament threads.”

“This is a Raphil? That’s a strange design… looks a bit like a fishing reel.”

“Ah, structurally, it’s kind of similar.”

A few years ago, a new fishing reel had been released and caused a global fishing craze.

I’m not much of a fisherman, but the reel intrigued me enough that I bought one out of curiosity.

After taking it apart, I noticed it had several similarities to the Raphil.

My Raphil took several years and a good amount of money to develop.

Ironically, that fishing reel had been invented by a former courier who tinkered with it on a whim.

Some people are just born geniuses.

“Is this thing sold commercially?”

“No, it was made just for me.”

“A C-rank adventurer developing a personal tool like this? That would cost a fortune.”

“Well, uh… let’s just say my previous job was in that kind of field. Hahaha…”

I brushed it off with a laugh.

Grant didn’t press me on it and instead picked up the Raphil, inspecting its construction.

“Hmmm… this Raphil has room for improvement.”

“Oh? You noticed?”

“Well, I am the branch chief of Sig-Nine, you know. I handle development myself. This one’s a bit sluggish with thread release and retraction, isn’t it?”

“Exactly. Ideally, I want it to operate more smoothly. But for now, my priority is having new filament thread made.”

Grant glanced at the girl beside him and handed her the Raphil.

“Leashe. You take care of it.”

“Huh? Me? Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Make the new filament thread and upgrade—or better yet, remake—this Raphil. Can you do it?”

“Yes! I’ll do it! Please let me!”

The girl, Leashe, lit up with excitement as she inspected my Raphil.

She was about 150 sedelt tall, with short, slightly curly light green hair.

Her eyes were a stunning shade of golden canary yellow, though mostly hidden behind oversized round glasses.

“H-Hey, hold on. This girl’s doing the development?”

“That’s right. She may look young, but she’s a genius. She’s also related to the Director of Sig-Nine HQ.”

She really did look like a child.

But I’ve learned never to judge people by appearances.

“You really think you can do it, miss?”

“My name’s Leashe. And yes, please let me do it!”

“How old are you, Leashe?”

“I’m eighteen.”

Her expression was serious, and her eyes held a determined gleam.

I don’t dislike that kind of youthful energy.

“Eighteen, huh. Still a kid. But…”

I took a deep breath.

“…Alright. Let’s do it. I’m counting on you.”

“Really?! Thank you!”

“I’ll pay ten gold coins for the development. Sound good?”

“Yes!”

“And the time frame… let’s say, one month?”

“Yes! I’ll do my best!”

If I’ve made the decision to trust her, it doesn’t matter whether she’s young or not.

“Alright then. You two go to a separate room to work out the details. The other staff can take over the shop.”

“Thank you, Chief!”

Leashe bowed her head to Grant.

I handed him ten gold coins and followed her into another room, where we began discussing the new Raphil we’d develop together.