As I went with the others to the tamer guild, the first thing that came to view was tram stop where the monster pulling wagons were. This is a mining town, so transport jobs are naturally the most popular jobs around here. Following that logic, there’s a lot of large-sized monsters, most of which either look like a cow or a horse. There are also some boar-like ones.
It seems small monsters can be taken inside the guild without any problem, so I could bring the slimes with us as long I have them use the shrink skill.
It was mostly humans inside the guild, but there were some goblins here and there carrying luggage.
Reinhart-san led us to a counter.
“Welcome to the Tamer Guild Gimuru Branch. How may I help you?” [Clerk]
“We will be registering my daughter and this child. We will also be submitting new information.” [Reinhart]
“Very well. Please follow me.” [Clerk]
The person manning the counter led us to a room and served us tea. A few minutes later, a man dressed in clothes better than the other staff members came with carrying some writing implements.
The man had a hair of red and white in a ratio of 8:2, arranged properly as if he had taken the time to get it done. He looked fairly old.
Light reflected off his hair as he looked toward us through his golden-rimmed glasses.
“It’s been a while, Reinbach. I see the young lad, Reinhart, and Elize’s daughter is well.” [Well-Attired Old Man]
“It’s been a while.” [Elize]
“You seem to be doing well, Taylor.” [Reinbach]
Apparently, he’s an acquaintance of the ducal family.
“Not bad, anyway. As for the two of you, this will be our first time meeting. I am Taylor Smith, the man in charge of the Tamer Guild Gimuru Branch. By the way, Reinbach, since when did you have two grandchildren? I’ve heard of your granddaughter, I’m sure, but lately I’ve been forgetting things, so do forgive me if I’m mistaken.” [Taylor]
“Elialia is my only grandchild. This boy here is Ryouma-kun. By some stroke of fate, we met him a few days ago. We would like to register both him and my granddaughter to the tamer guild, and I would like you to raise his rank as soon as possible.” [Reinbach]
Can you really ask something like that!? I yelled inwardly.
When I glanced at Reinbach-sama’s face, he said this.
“Ryouma-kun, Taylor is an old friend of mine, he’s a man you can trust. There won’t be any problems.” [Reinbach[
When Reinbach-sama said that, the branch head, Taylor, spoke as if nothing at all was amiss.
“I can accommodate him to some extent since you’re the one introducing him, but a quick rank up will require that he has the skill for it.” [Taylor]
“Don’t worry, in the first place, the reason I’m asking this is because Ryouma-kun is far too skilled for his age.” [Reinbach]
“So you want a position that will prevent some strange people from messing with him, I see… I’d love to sit down and hear about his situation, but for now, let’s go ahead and proceed with the registration.” [Taylor]
Taylor took out two sheets of paper from the bundle of paper he was carrying by his armpit and handed them to me and Elialia.
“Fill in the necessary blanks. Ryouma-kun, will you be needing an amanuensis?” [Taylor]
“Thank you, but I can write a little, so I’ll fill the blanks in myself.” [Ryouma]
I quickly filled in the blanks and submitted the paper to Taylor. The necessary blanks were name, age, race, and how long I’ve known Monster Taming or Conjuration.
“…So the young lady completed her first contract just a few days ago. Congratulations.” [Taylor]
“Thank you very much.”
Taylor smiled at Elialia, then he glanced at the paper I submitted.
“Ryouma-kun, you completed your first contract 3 years ago. What familiars do you have with you now?” [Taylor]
“Slimes.” [Ryouma]
When I said all I had were slimes, Taylor made a difficult face.
“If all you have are slimes, I’m afraid it will be difficult to raise your rank… The jobs in this town revolve mainly around transporting goods or luggage. You need to at least have a goblin or a kobold if I’m to introduce you to a job. I can’t just give you work you’re unsuited to, after all.
To raise your rank, the first thing needed is a merit of some sort. That’s something you can normally build up by fulfilling one job after another. In other words, a person who can’t work can’t gain merit.” [Taylor]
Well, yeah. After all, if the guild can’t get any work done, no one will trust them.
Should I talk about my research here? As I thought that, I looked to Reinbach-sama and the others for confirmation. When I saw them nod, I went ahead and explained about the 2 new slimes I discovered, as well as my findings on the method to tame the Big Slime.
Taylor didn’t show much of a reaction to the two new variants, but as soon as I mentioned the taming methods of the Big Slime, he quickly hushed me before I could even say anything. After that he made a difficult face and fell silent.
“Hmm… If you’ve really figured out the method to tame the Big Slime that would indeed be a big achievement, but…” [Taylor]
“Is there a problem?” [Ryouma]
When I asked that, Taylor made a face that looked like he’d eaten a bug.
“There’s a current trend among Monster Tamers wherein only those who can tame powerful monsters are considered excellent.” [Taylor]
“That’s nothing new. Those people were around even when we were still children ourselves.” [Reinbach]
“That’s true, but the trend has been getting stronger lately. People who share those sentiments have increased among the upper brass of the Tamer Guild. I’m in charge of the branch here, so I’m able to keep an eye for any discrimination of the sort, but transport jobs are still the main jobs here, so there are definitely a considerable number of people who share that sentiment. One’s abilities aren’t really meant to be dictated by such meaningless standard, but unfortunately…” [Taylor]
We’ve digressed from the topic a bit, but after asking again, it seems I can indeed raise my rank by submitting my research findings. Only, the details of the promotion would require the details to be sent to the main branch, which will then scrutinize the information I’ve submitted and decide whether I’m worthy of a promotion or not. If they decide I’m unworthy, I’ll end up being investigated and I might even be demoted.
Moreover, because of the recent trend, slime-related matters aren’t currently valued, so I might not be promoted even if I hand over the information on the big slime. In that case, I’ll only be calling trouble to myself.
I think it’ll be better if I just give up.
Leave a Reply