Volume 18 Side Story 2, Inspectors (Part 1)

“You’re a provisionally registered group, don’t be so cheeky!!!”

A loud yell echoed through the guild’s reception hall.

This attracted attention to the source of the noise.

This was quite a lot of people since many adventurers were gathered in the hall at this time of the day, searching for work.

At the center of the noise was Geric, a large man who had been making a lot of noise recently. He was a mid-level adventurer who had been working in this northern town for some time.

Those who had been adventurers in this town for a long time looked at Geric with bitter expressions.

The large man was an adventurer who had recently drifted to this city and was carrying a registered Crown Card issued by Amamiya Tower.

In contrast, the adventurers who had not made it to Amamiya Tower were using provisional Crown Cards issued at the reception desk here.

According to Crown regulations, there was no significant difference between full registration and provisional registration.

However, the card provision via full registration would display ones’ status on the card. It was considered a status symbol among the adventurers.

Geric, who had recently arrived in town, was making a lot of noise as if to show off his status.

Of course, Geric was not the only one with this registration card. Most who had the card had returned to Amamiya Tower to escort the large trading party.

Once they realized that they were the highest ranked adventurers left, they began to behave in this manner.

The commotion itself was a common occurrence.

There was an unspoken understanding that the first one to get the job posted on the bulletin board would be the one who got it first.

But of course, it was an unspoken agreement and not written in Crown’s rules.

This was why some of them were so arrogant, and what Geric was doing was especially awful.

Geric was trying to take a lucrative job from a newcomer thanks to his registration card.

Crown generally does not get involved in these disturbances.

Of course, Crown may intervene if there was violence within Crown, but Geric was cunning enough not to cause violence.

He only threatens to take the request away from them.

Normally, someone of a higher rank would stop them, but since Geric was the highest ranked person with a registered card there. There was no one to stop him.

Though, there should have been no difference in ability between those with full registration and provisional registration.

Although this explanation should have been given at the time of registration, the reality was that the distinction had already begun to be made among the adventurers.

Normally, those threatened by Geric would give up and look for another request, but today’s adventurers were different.

The adventurer replied with a firm and just argument.

“But I found this request first. I have the right, don’t I? Besides, there should be no difference between a provisional registration and a full registration.”

“Shut up! You’ve never even been to headquarters, what do you know!?”

This was bad, thought the adventurers who had been watching the commotion.

Looking at Geric, he was already looking like he was about to cause trouble.

Then someone intervened.

“What’s going on?”

A young man’s voice came from the counter side, that was, from the Crown’s staff.

The adventurers looked in that direction, and when the man came out, he had a look of annoyance on his face.

“Oh. Is this not Mr. Geric? How can I help you?”

“Oh, Branch Manager Rodogel. Oh, I was just teaching him a lesson on how to behave, since he has no idea of his place in the world.

“Oh, that’s not nice.”

Both Rodogel and Geric looked at the young adventurer with a smirk when he called Rodogel a branch manager.

Rodogel had been appointed branch manager of this northern city just a month or so earlier.

Originally, the position had been held by someone dispatched from Crown headquarters, but Rodogel, a member of one of the most powerful families in the city, was now in charge.

To put it bluntly, Rodogel’s appointment as branch manager was not well received among the adventurers.

This was clear from the commotion that had just erupted.

“For the time being, I’ll have you come to my room. You’ll have to take responsibility for this commotion.

Rodogel said this not to Geric but to the young adventurer.

“I had nothing to do with it! Why do you assume that it is my fault!”

“I am not asking your opinion right now, okay? I am asking you to come to my room and tell me your story.”

The tone of his voice was calm, but it was clear from his expression that the branch manager was clearly on Geric’s side.

The adventurers who had been watching the proceedings now averted their eyes so as not to be caught in the middle.

The young adventurers knew what would happen if they listened to the branch manager, and they had no intention of following him.

However, if they disobeyed the branch chief, they would certainly not be able to make it as adventurers in this town.

He began to think about giving up and moving to another city, but a third voice further interrupted him at this point.

“Please wait. I don’t understand the meaning of taking only this person with you under the current circumstances. Could you please explain?”

It was a young woman who came to Rodogel.

Rodogel looked at the woman for a moment, took one look at her, and said.

“I don’t have to explain all that to you, a slave.”

“That’s not an answer, and at Crown, even if you’re a slave, you’re guaranteed certain right, correct?”

Of course, not all slaves were guaranteed such rights.

Such as criminal slaves.

However, for other slaves, it was the norm at Crown to treat them as equals to ordinary people, as long as they were recognized for their achievements.

“You dare to challenge me as a mere slave?”

“If you had behaved properly as a branch manager, a slave like me wouldn’t have to speak to you.

The exchange between the two people left those around them gaping.

The exchange between Geric and the young adventurer had already been blown out of the water.

“And by the way, there are rumors that you have been favoring your own people to increase their ranks, right?

If his people were good at their jobs, there would be no problem.

However, simply favoring one’s own people and raising their ranks was against regulations.

The female slave’s words caused the surrounding adventurers to grow restless.

Rank was that important to adventurers.

“… Hmph. I guess the word ‘daredevil’ means someone like you… That’s enough. Hey.”

As Rodogel said this, several of the adventurers present stood up and began to approach the woman.

But before their hands could grab the woman, another group of adventurers stopped their actions.

“Oops. Sorry, but I’m not going to let you touch her. Geric, is it? You too.”

With that voice, the other adventurers who had been following Geric’s instructions stopped their actions.

“Hey, what the hell, you guys! Are you defying me?”

“No, that’s not it… it just can’t be helped, right? People like us have no choice but to follow those who are higher in rank.”

The adventurer standing in front of the female slave smirked as he said this.

“…What?”

“Ghazala-san, please don’t say it in such a misleading way.”

The surrounding adventurers reacted in surprise to the name ‘Ghazala’, which the female slave had mentioned.

As one of the adventurers who had made a name for himself by bringing in expensive materials from Amamiya Tower, his name was well known in this northern town.

“Well. You’re not mistaken, isn’t that right, Inspector Lisa Floren?”

The name Gazala called had caused ripples to spread through the reception hall of the Crown branch in the northern city.

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Rodogel’s appointment to the position of branch manager in the northern city was based on the insistence of the northern city.

Of course, there was no need for Crown to listen to such a request.

Wahid and his team could have rejected the request itself, but they decided to accept it temporarily.

They knew quite well the possibility of people becoming leeches, but they were willing to accept the request for future prospects, and quicken expansion.

Once accepted, a person was nothing more than a member of one position in the organization.

The organization would decide how the person would be treated.

There could be complaints from the outside about how they were handled, but it would be meaningless for an outsider to interfere in the management of the organization.

Even if political pressure was exercised.

As a result, Rodogel’s appointment as branch manager was a result of the two parties’ mutual interests, and he did more than Wahid and his team had expected.

In a bad way.

Starting with favoritism towards his own people, to forcibly increasing the ranks of his favorites, and finally to the elimination of adventurers who he didn’t like.

In such a short period of time, they had violated the regulations in just about every possible way.

Although they were trying to see how things would turn out, there was no improvement in the end, so Lisa was assigned to resolve this situation.