Chapter 288 - Hero and the Manufacturing Guild

“So this is the country of Apristos…”

With Tet still in her arms, Akari made her way along the main road that stretched through the middle of the Royal Capital of Apristos.

This was the closest neighboring kingdom of humans to Alheim, the kingdom of the elves. It was also the kingdom that waged a war against Alheim in the past.

The demon Amon was the one who orchestrated the war behind the scenes.

However, a certain sage and his comrades were also staying in Alheim at that time, so the demon’s plans went awry.

Apristos had proceeded with the war and deployed its troops, but all of them had been sent back to this country due to the sage’s magic. The demon was also slayed by that same sage.

“It’s a huge city.”

“Yep.”

“Wait, Tet. You speaking might be a bit —”

Akari was flustered when Tet, who was still in her arms, replied to her like she always did.

“It’s fine. Seems like a lot of creatures can speak in this world.”

“R-Really?”

“Yup!”

Tet seemed to be knowledgeable about this world, more or less.

“If somebody asks about Tet, just say ‘she’s a familiar', okay.”

“I see. Okay, I’ll do that.”

Apparently, people could tame wild beasts and monsters and turn them into familiars. Akari was once again hit with the realization that she came into another world, indeed.

She could converse with Tet without any regard to the people around her. She was a bit happy when she realized this.

It was lonely walking around an unfamiliar place on her own, after all.

“Where is that Manufacturing Guild, I wonder?”

Akari’s first plan was to inquire about the location of the manufacturing guild mentioned by the guard.

She thought that she would be able to work and provide for her needs in this world if she could register at the guild and get her own identification papers.

“Akari, that way.”

“Eh. Tet, you know?”

“Yup. Tet knows a little bit about this world.”

Tet possessed the knowledge and ability to guide Akari through this world, just like how she led Akari to this country, through that dark forest where the girl didn’t even know which direction to turn to.

“I see. That’s really reassuring, you know. I’m counting on you then, Tet.”

“Yup. Leave it to me~!”

──＊＊＊──

Akari continued walking under Tet’s instructions.

“Manufacturing Guild… It’s here.”

She was standing in front of a building with a sign that said “Manufacturing Guild” written in huge, bold letters.

Akari spoke to the guard normally, so she forgot this, but the girl had the ability to understand the language of this world.

The goddess from her original world bestowed the skill [Language Comprehension] to her.

This skill had the same effect as that of Luna’s skill, so Akari could even decipher the Divine Script.

A lot of people entered and left the manufacturing guild, so she entered the building by following the flow of people.

“Hello there. What are you doing?”

Once inside, Akari had been looking around unsure of where to go when somebody called out to her from behind her.

“Ah, er…”

A young brunette with a ponytail was standing behind her when she whirled around.

“Commission? Or did you come to the Guild to register?”

“I want to register.”

“Alright. This way, then.”

The girl pressed Akari’s back and led her all the way to the back of the guild.

“Okay, I’ll have you fill out this form, so sit here.”

There was a counter for the commission transactions in the innermost part of the guild. The ponytailed girl went behind the counter, took a piece of paper and placed it in front of Akari.

It seemed that the girl who led Akari was no other than the receptionist lady of this guild.

The paper listed name, age and items that could be manufactured, so Akari filled them in.

Name: Akari

Age: 15

Craft: Accessories

Tet told her to leave her surname out since it would be troublesome if they were to discover that she came from another world.

The age she stated was the same as how old she was in her previous world.

As for the things that she could make, she recalled the accessories she made back then, like earrings and bracelets, so she decided to write that.

“I’m Akari. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

She introduced herself while handing the paper back to the ponytailed girl.

“Okay, thanks. Ah, I’m Eliza, by the way. Pleased to meet you.”

The receptionist lady’s name was Eliza.

“Hello, Eliza. Once again, I’ll be in your care.”

“Yup. Alright, wait for a bit, I’ll make your guild card. Oh, and —”

Eliza took out a fist-sized crystal ball from under the counter.

“It’s just part of the rules. I’ll check if what you wrote is true with this.”

The thing she placed on the table was a magical tool called [Crystal Ball of Truth].

“Okay, what should I do with this?”

“Hold the paper you just filled out on one hand, and touch this crystal ball with the other while saying ‘There is nothing false written here’.”

“I understand. Er… I didn’t write anything false on this paper.”

The crystal ball that Akari touched with her right hand glowed blue.

“Alright. Seems fine. Thanks.”

There was no problem, apparently.

“Here, Akari’s guild card.”

Eliza handed a card to Akari after a while.

“Thank you so much!”

Akari broke into a huge grin after getting her card.

“Fufufu, do your best from now on, okay?”

“Yes, I will give it my all!”

Eliza smiled gently when she saw Akari beaming.

“By the way, do you live here in the capital, Akari?”

“N-No.”

“Then, do you plan to commute from a nearby town?”

“Er…”

It was hard to say that she was homeless.

And that she was also an orphan.

“Oh, perhaps, you don’t have anywhere to go?”

“...Yes.”

Eliza hit the bull’s eye.

Akari was flustered thinking about what to do, but with the hope that Eliza would listen to her, she decided to just answer honestly.

“I see. Then, you can stay at the second floor of this guild house. You don’t have to pay rent until you can make your items and have a stable income, three months max.”

“R-Really?!”

“Yes. Our guild also supports young people under the age of 18 so that they can become independent. There are a lot of kids with some personal reasons, so it’s open to anyone until they turn 18, unless they get into trouble.”

Even so, the rooms they could rent weren't that huge, apparently. It would be too cramped to create things inside their room.

Moreover, many newcomers would become apprentices in the weapon shops, armor shops, or tool shops in the Royal Capital after gaining a number of skills and finding their masters there, and most of them would be living on site. That left quite a number of vacancies in the guild house.

“I understand. Then, I’ll be under your care until I can earn money.”

“Gotcha! There are five other girls currently living in the guild house. I’ll introduce you to them later. Oh, by the way, I’m the one in charge of the rooms and stuff, so if you have any concerns feel free to tell me, okay.”

“Yes. Thank you very much.”

“Oh, and one more thing —”

Eliza handed a small pouch to Akari.

“What is this, Eliza-san?”

“This is for your living expenses for now. You don’t have money, right? Ah, don’t get me wrong. This is just a temporary loan.”

“But, that’s…”

Akari couldn’t help but feel shy borrowing money when she didn’t even have a track record, and she didn’t even know if the items she made would sell or not.

“If Akari can’t make a living as a craftsman, then we’ll have you help out in the guild’s management.”

If she couldn’t sell a thing, then she would work as receptionist, or guild house cleaner, or waiter at the establishments affiliated to the guild.

“Akari is pretty, so I guess you’ll be assigned as receptionist.”

“I-I will work hard to sell my items!”

Akari came to this world in order to defeat the Demon King. She wanted to secure a base and enough funds so that she could gather information and do other related things, so she didn’t have any problems registering with the manufacturing guild.

However, if she became the guild’s receptionist and led a stable life, she might just abandon her plans for the Demon King and be satisfied with what she had as it was.

Akari was a girl with a strong sense of duty.

Her top goal was to defeat the Demon King.

However, Akari still wouldn’t be able to return to her original world even after slaying the Demon King, so she was also gradually considering her options and what would possibly happen after defeating that Demon King.

“Alright, once again, please treat me well, Akari.”

“Please treat me well!”

Akari had been worried about a few things since coming into this Isekai world, but with this, she was able to secure her base of operations without a hitch.