I Was Invited to Join the Country as a Warrior from Another World, but I Refused and Decided to Start as a Soldier - CH 3

The sun began to set, ushering in the darkness of the night.

I turned my attention to the everyday people walking along the street.

Some of them have long ears. Non-humans, werewolves and the like are walking around as if it’s the norm.

That reminds me, there were also maids back in the castle who had things like cat ears and dog ears.

“I’m not a fan of crowds.”

Fujihira muttered, with a look of disdain in his eyes.

“You all lack any real individuality.”

“What are you on about now?”

“It’s the truth, isn’t it? If I hadn’t spoke up back there, you’d all be puppets of the country by now.”

“I doubt it.”

It’s non-stop with this guy.

For starters, it’s important to see something for yourself before making a decision.

I’ll have to proactively mediate for Fujihira and the others.

“Hold on, stop arguing already. The King told us that we could return anytime we wanted. We were told we could scope out the situation first, and all I care about is whether or not this world is somewhere I could actually live.”

“R-Right, there’s that.”

“…Gnn! Top Ten Otherwordly Pitfalls! Worthless classmates! I’m gonna get dragged down with you lot sticking to me!”

Fujihira’s attitude is pretty bad.

I imagine it’s pretty hard being forced to live with a short fuse like that.

It’d be nice if he could do something about that attitude of thinking he’s somehow different to the rest of us.

Speaking of… what are those “Ten Otherworldy Pitfalls” anyway?

“Here you go talking about us being useless, and yet… you’re the one most likely to start setting fires.”

“The fuck you just say!?”

“Wait! Just hold on! Stop fighting! Let’s move on from this.”

Why am I the one having to mediate between Fujihira and everyone else?

“Back in the castle, while we were eating, we were told that monsters run amok all across this world.

They asked us for our help in fighting against the monsters too.”

“Hmm…”

“Regardless of what you decide, shouldn’t there be different jobs and ways of making money? Will we even make money from killing monsters?”

“Probably not. At the very least, it wouldn’t be about receiving money just for killing the monster.”

There’s still a bunch of questions left unanswered.

Around that time, Fujihira smiled, unsheathing a dagger he’d received earlier.

“Huh? When did they provide us with those?”

As we all check our bags, we don’t find anything.

“Fujihira, did only you get one?”

“Why’re you the only one with a weapon?”

“Sigh… I knew you were dunces. Looks like I got the only one.”

At that moment, a memory resurfaced in my mind of Fujihira leaving the dining hall to use the toilet while we were eating.

The way he walked on his way back looked off to me.

He probably… stole it at some point.

I’m not sure if I should call him our for being nuts, or be impressed by it.

I’m getting chills just thinking about it.

Assuming won’t do me any good, so I’ll keep schtum about it.

This guy’s got a loud mouth.

To be honest, I’d rather not get involved.

“Even if you have a weapon, going out and fighting things will get you nowhere. You have to register first at the Adventurer’s Guild!”

That’s right, Fujihira has a point.

…Wait, what? Adventurer’s Guild?

Everyone present, with the exception of Fujihara, were flummoxed.

“What’s an Adventurer’s Guild?”

“Sounds like something from a tabletop RPG…”

“You mean a Hunter’s Guild? Like from a monster hunting game.”1

“Did you hear about it back at the castle? Did somebody mention it?”

Everyone flung their questions at Fujihira.

Fujihira then responded, with a look of exasperation written all over his face.

“Are you all too brain-dead to fully grasp the situation we’re in? That’s just how these other-world stories are. Like, Adventurer’s Guilds are typically the norm.”

“The norm? Have you been summoned to a different world before or what?”

Oh, that makes sense.

It’d explain why Fujihira didn’t back down when he confronted the king, no?

“The heck? It’s a staple, a STAPLE. This sort of thing always happens in otherworld settings.”

“So you don’t really know if there’s an institution that could help us…”

Sheer astonishment.

Fujihira’s so far gone into these stories and novels that he’s blurting out facilities that may or may not even exist.

He’s got a record for it… Even so, if something like that really does it, it’d definitely be a game changer for us.

Possibly finding work also means… the possibility of food.

“The Guilds are typically influential, and imposing! Like over there!”

After Fujihira finished speaking… he dove straight into a nearby building that looked more like a 5* hotel.

The words from the world… are gibberish to me.

Meaning, it’s difficult to understand what the sign attached means.

It’d be weird if we could understand the language, now that I think about it.

As we followed Fujihira into the building, a large man with a strong physique grabbed his collar and tossed him back out.

“Don’t touch me! Who do you think you are!?”

“This place isn’t for penniless brats like you! Get out of here, now!”

So it’s… an inn.

I doubt it’s an Adventurer’s Guild, or anything resembling one, then.

“Are you with him?”

Sharp eyes pierced straight towards us.

I didn’t want to, but… If something happened here, it’d be a huge hassle.

“Sorry. We only just arrived from abroad, so we weren’t quite sure what to expect here.”

Gotta stay low profile, acting like a poor bumpkin should work.

If we start telling people we came from another world, it might end up being relayed to the King, which would could cut off our escape route as we get whisked back to the castle.

“Hey! You apologize too!”

“Shut up! I won’t bow my head to anyone!”

Stop acting up, Fujihira!

Seeing him like this, the tough-looking man sighed, as if all the energy had been sucked right out of him.

“If you’re looking for somewhere cheap to stay, try the slums outside the city.”

Oh? That’s a good conversation starter.

While I may not be the best conversationalist, it’s better than leaving here with nothing.

“No, that’s not quite right… Do you know where we could find an Adventurer’s Guild?”

“Huh?”

All eyes drew on Fujihira after seeing how the man reacted.

So, that means there isn’t one?

“Newbies, huh?… The building you’re looking for is down the street and on the right.”

Ohh… So there is something.

“No idea where you must’ve come from to confuse an establishment like this for the Guild… This kid waltzed right up to the counter and said “I want to be an adventurer”, or something.”

Yeesh, Fujihira.

Check your surrounding a little more.

“Ah…. Thank you so much for your help!”

“”Thank you!!””

Everyone, besides Fujihira, followed along with thanking the man.

It’s all about the energy.

After we, loudly, thanked him, the strong-looking man went back into the building, possibly having lost interest.

Everyone’s eyes went back to Fujihira, staring coldly at him.

What the hell was with that “the guild’s over there”!?

What kind of jackass walks up to a counter with that large-than-life attitude all like “I wanna be an adventurer!”!? That’s not the kind of attitude people want!

“Uhh… It looks like the thing Fujihira mentioned might actually be real. I’m not 100%, but we may as well try.”

There’s nothing else we can do.

“Fuck.”

Fujihira grumbles with a low voice, following closely behind us.

“Top Ten Otherwordly Pitfalls! The natives are dipshits!”

“You’re the dipshit here! It’s your fault for making the mistake.”

“Shut up! They should’ve made the building more obvious!”

He’s being too loud.

We should ignore him.

Fujihira continues to mutter under his breath as we ignore his ranting.

“If it weren’t for you, I’d already be…”

What? What would he be if we weren’t around? This guy is an enigma, is he pretending to be someone else again?

Then… Huh?

Around two rows down from the hostel, I spied a ragged, city-hall looking building.

Casually asking people on the street, they all confirm it. So, we decide to head over to the Guild, or whatever it is, to assess to situation.

There’s a lot of chairs. Also, there’s a bunch of bulletin boards.

Then there’s… wait, what is that?

Some strange, monolith-looking thing is there too.

It’s also floating.

What’s with that? Some kind of exhibition?

The building radiates a post office, or town hall kind of vibe.

And due to how late it currently is, there aren’t many receptionists at the counters.

Isn’t there someone in charge of a night shift here, like a government office or something?

It looked as if there was a hospital next door.

“Hehe…”

Hm?

Fujihira, puffing out his chest like some hero as if he hadn’t learned his lesson the first time, sauntered over towards a counter.

Why’s he being so slow about it though?

Trying to show off some big-game aura?

The men inside of the guild began pointing over to Fujihira, sneers plastered all over their faces.

It was pretty funny to us too.

I couldn’t think of the last time I’d laughed so naturally before this.

“Can I be an adventurer?”

As he said that, we all cringed.

Even if I’m not the one who said it, second hand embarrassment is still going to kick in.

Footnote:

1: Monster Hunter.