"Um, well, you see... that is outside the jurisdiction of this guild.
That is, within the jurisdiction of the security force..." (Receptionist)
Certainly, the Hunter Guild was not a judicial institution or anything like that.
Although they could impose penalties for matters that they enforced, when it came to criminal acts, they could only capture or subjugate wanted criminals, or arrested them in the act, and they did not have the power to decide whether someone was guilty or not.
"However, it depends on the situation, whether it's just verbal insults or if it involves violence... Generally speaking, if you touch a woman's body, put your hand on the handle of a weapon, or start chanting a spell, it is likely that self-defense will be recognized, unless you have already initiated the attack. However, what I mean by 'Disrespectful killing' is..." (Receptionist)
The receptionist then became silent.
For commoners, this was a concept that had no connection except as one who was "the one being killed."
And the fact that they would ask something like that...
"I understand. Thank you!" (Marcella)
Then, step back and curtsey.
Marcella made a point of exuding an aura of nobility to keep the flying insects away.
Just as planned, both the staff and the hunters were shocked.
Normally, curtseying was a sign of respect when speaking to a superior, but it could be said that the guild staff were superior to a new hunter, so it's not a problem.
...First of all, it's not that level of discussion.
They had the courage to easily handle guild staff and hunters, and easily control situations filled with roughnecks.
It seemed that the three members of the Wonder Trio had gained a great deal of courage from that near-death battle.
This would have made Marcella seemed certain to be the daughter of an aristocrat.
...In fact, that was true...
The other two were likely daughters of nobles with lower ranks than Marcella, or perhaps her personal maids or bodyguards...
Of course, there would have been other hidden guards, and it wouldn't be strange if some of the guild staff or fellow hunters had been hired to act as guards or provide information.
No, in fact, it's possible that the guild master himself had been informed...
With this, there was no way that anyone would try and interfere unnecessarily.
Unless they wanted to find themself floating on the surface of the river tomorrow morning, or suddenly, for some reason, expelled from the Hunter Guild...
After briefly looking over the information board, the girls took a closer look at the request board.
"Gathering materials and defeating monsters below C rank. It's just the same old requests...." (Marcella)
"The royal capital is nearby, after all. I think that high-ranking requests or special requests go there. That way, there will be a larger number of recipients and people with areas of expertise." (Aureana)
"I see..." (Marcella)
As Aureana said, there was a certain compatibility between the request and the hunter.
This was something the three members of the Wonder Trio understood well during their student days, as they had only taken on special requests and racked up achievement points.
For that reason, it was common knowledge around here that if one wanted to make an unusual request, they should not go to the guild branch in this town, but to the guild branch in the royal capital, which was relatively nearby and had many hunters as members.
As a result, there were fewer interesting requests in this town on the outskirts of the royal capital than in towns far from the capital, let alone the royal capital.
"Well, we just arrived in this town today, so let's find a place to stay and get some rest." (Marcella)
"Yes" (Other 2)
Then, after receiving the completed Hunter Registration Cards with chains attached, the three of them left the guild.
Of course, since they were newcomers, their registration rank was F-rank.
"…………" (Everyone)
They'd love to have one for their party.
However, it's a dangerous property that could ruin you if you're not careful.
Don't touch it, it's dangerous (untouchable).
Aiming for the ancient dragon's treasure (a foolish and reckless act).
"…………..." (Everyone)
And not a single one of the guild staff or hunters made a sound or moved.
Marcella and her group's idea of repelling insects had been perfectly achieved, but it seemed like it would cause problems in other ways as well...
"It seems like there's no difference in magical power, precision, or speed..." (Marcella)
"Yes. The magical spirits of this continent have the same magical parameters as the spirits in charge of our continent, or maybe there is a higher-ranking spirit that oversees the spirits from all over the country and keeps them all in order..." (Aureana)
"Either way, it seems we can continue to use it just like before, which is good." (Monica)
Aureana and Monica responded to Marcella's words.
The next day, the Wonder Trio didn't show up at the guild and instead worked on testing magic in a nearby forest.
And upon inspection, it was found that the use of magic was no different from that of the old continent.
Originally, even in the Old Continent, magic was activated by "The nanomachines that were around at the time."
Because it would be problematic if individual differences in the nanomachines caused quirks in the way magic was cast, while there was diversity in individuality, the way magic was cast was naturally standardized. (However, there was diversity in the sensitivity of whether or not they would react to thought waves and participate in the activation of magic. Otherwise, it would be difficult to distinguish between mage in terms of their output.)
"But to begin with, when Adelle-san asked the spirits to give us our own dedicated spirits and when they raised our levels as mages, the power, accuracy, and reaction speed of our magic increased significantly two times. So, I won’t be surprised if there are some changes now." (Marcella)
"That's right!" (Other 2)
"...Um, can I just ask you something?" (Marcella)
"Y-yes!"
Standing in front of the request board, Marcella called out to a party of four people who were a little older than them and had been hunters since they were about 10 years old, and seemed to be what they would call "self-made."
The party consisted of three men and one woman, and they were managing without any problems, which suggested they were childhood friends from the same village...
Unless they're a close-knit group, a party of three guys and one woman, especially if the woman was reasonably pretty, was almost certain to result in arguments.
…Well, it's not that quarrels wouldn't arise if they're childhood friends, but it seemed the probability of them happening was a little lower.
These were the members of the Wonder Trio that had been taught this by a senior female hunter in the past.
"What is it?"
……?
Having been observing them for a while, Marcella called out to the boy who seemed to be the leader, but he tilted his head slightly to one side as he seemed extremely scared.
This party had not been there when the Wonder Trio had shown up at the guild two days earlier, so they likely did not hear the conversation Marcella had purposely had with the receptionist to keep the bugs away.
That's what Marcella thought, but of course, between yesterday and the day before yesterday, a "message from the guild to prevent unfortunate incidents" had been sent out to all affiliated hunters.
The guild was not going to stand by and watch one of its hunters die in vain.
So the Hunters also knew about the Wonder Trio... it was an exaggerated rumor, almost a lie... So, although they had sensed that Marcella and the others were on the brink of death... no, they had vaguely sensed that their eyes were on them, but they told themselves that couldn't be the case, and made sure not to make eye contact with Marcella and the others.
But why…
Even as he thought this, the leader boy was sweating profusely even though it wasn't hot, so as not to incur the displeasure of his hidden guards, whose whereabouts he didn't know, and the people watching over him from his home.
Marcella then told the boy her business.
"Could you join us in hunting orcs and ogres?" (Marcella)
Although she spoke in a slightly condescending manner towards those older than him, he had accepted this as an act to scare off the ants, and deep down he was embarrassed and trembling.
...However, Marcella didn't show any sign of it and remains calm.
She said "hunt" and not "subjugation" because, except for cases where they had taken up residence near human settlements as a feeding ground, or where their numbers had grown too large and need to be thinned out, it was rare for someone to go out of their way to pay a reward to request the subjugation of orcs or ogres.
…Besides, even if there was a request like that, there was no way that a party of three underage girls who had only been registered as F-rank hunters for a few days could take it, even if they were a C-rank senior hunter. The request would have stated that they were "C-rank or above," and even if it hadn’t, the receptionist would have surely rejected them…
Even if you complained and tried to argue, the guild master would come forward and use his authority to reject the request.
Therefore, they could never accept extermination missions as regular requests.
However, there was no problem if they provided materials such as fangs, skin, meat, and testicles, which were used to make aphrodisiacs.
There were cases where you happened to meet someone, got attacked, and fight back, so that's OK.
It just so happened that the testicles were being delivered...
Just to be extra safe, Marcella and her group asked local hunters to accompany them as a guide.
The Wonder Trio survived that hellish final battle. They didn't expect to fall behind the orcs and ogres at this point.
But…….
Crash!
Clatter, clatter, clatter, clatter!!
"Hold on! Hold on!" (Everyone)
The entire guild was filled with screams.
On both sides of the reception counter...
Marcella and her group were surprised by the unexpectedly large reaction, even though they were joined by local hunters, and it would have been one thing if they had been alone.
They didn't know yet.
The monsters on this continent were far more intelligent and formidable opponents than those on the old continent...
Author's Note
Announcement!
...
Thank you very much! (^^)/