Chapter 27
27 Broke
The days of physical exercise in the mornings and afternoons continued.
It covered everything, from tempering their basic fitness all the way to learning the different attack patterns of monsters.
There was individual training as well as mock fights, sometimes even against the instructors.
In addition, there also were training units separated by profession as well as those focused on teamwork.
The teamwork in a party could only work if you knew about you comrades profession and if it comes to a fight against other humans during an escort- or bodyguard-mission, knowing your enemy often decided the fight.
Since the balance of the female parties was heavily skewed towards magicians and against vanguards, during inter-party mock fights, the parties were mixed up a little or some of the boys switched in.
Mile’s party on the other hand, in part due to Mile being able to serve as a swordsman, in part due to their abilities being high overall, was able to compete quite well in their normal configuration…
And since too much physical training would only tire them out, there were some theoretical classes interspersed.
They contained a wide range of important knowledge from telling apart edible and poisonous plants over the peculiarities of many monsters and their weak points. Also on the curriculum were history lessons on many countries, about the inner workings of the Guild, and even how to handle nobility. There was nothing they didn’t touch upon.
A normal Hunter would experience all of this during his work and learn or steal the knowledge from his more experience party members, building a foundation for themselves by trial-and-error, a piece at a time.
Due to this, it normally takes a long time to build this foundation and it is often riddled with holes. So from that point on, most spend several more years of slow and steady refinement before they become full-fledged Hunters.
….Until then though, many lose their lives during one of their trials.
Mile wrote down all the things she thought were important into a notebook.
Although there were many who also took notes, some students didn’t even touch a pen despite listening diligently.
This had puzzled Mile, so she decided to ask her friends when they were back at their room, only for Rena to exasperatedly explain it to her.
「That’s because they can’t read or write, obviously.」
「Eh? But, then how can they read the quest forms….」
「If you ask a Guild clerk they’ll hand you something fitting. There are also some children who earn a little bit of pocket money reading the quests for illiterate Hunters.」
「………」
In her previous world, she had been a book lover… or rather, since she had no friends video games and books were her only way to relax… which made it impossible for Mile to imagine being unable to “read and write”.
She could only imagine that it must quite pitiful and sad.
「Third Party Conference!」
In response to Rena’s renewed exclamation, Mile asked a naive question.
「Why is it that Rena is always leading these meeting even though Maevis is our leader?」
「「「………………」」」
「Ah, I take that back. Please forget I asked!!」
「The topic of this meeting is about what to do on our next free day.」
As if her interjection hadn’t happened, Rena continued.
「As you all know, we lack power, skill, speed, and most importantly, money!」
Rena exclaimed her woes.
「So I thought we could do some Hunter work on our next free day.
Although we will at some point fight monsters as a part of the curriculum and get an according reward, we don’t have the luxury to wait that long!」
Just as her last ink bottle threatened to do, Rena’s funds had already dried up, relying on the cafeteria for all three of her daily meals.
Normally, one would call such a state “backed into a corner” or “at the end of her wits”.
「Maevis and Pauline have no experience as Hunters, only being registered as F-Rank Hunters to enter this place here. You have a little experience as an active F-Rank if I remember correctly, Mile?
But since I’m E-Rank, we can even take on quests against Orcs or Goblins.
If there’s a quest for them, we’ll take it, otherwise we’ll hunt Horn Rabbits and animals. If nothing unexpected happens that should turn out to about 3-4 silver coins per person.」
「Eh…..」
「What? Is there a problem with my plan?」
「N-No, it is nothing….」
Mile had only been surprised since their projected income was so low.
That evening, Mile was thinking hard while laying in bed.
About whether she should teach her roommates more about magic.
And even if she decided to, she couldn’t do it the same way as with Marcella and the others before.
Their talent hadn’t been exceptional from the start, so they wouldn’t turn to an occupation where they would have to fight for their lives with it. So, even if she had taught them quite a few tricks, there was no way they would become powerful practitioners with the fate of others resting on their shoulders, so they wouldn’t come into contact with a situation where they could make a difference between life and death that often. Because of that, they’ll probably keep their promise and the knowledge she thought them a secret.
But that wasn’t the case for the students of this school. Here magical skill directly related to keeping your life, and not just your own but also that of your party members.
If you taught somebody like that how to rapidly increase your power, they’d certainly tell their party members. And after that party dissolves, they’ll also share it with their next party.
Of course, they’ll also teach it to their children. And their close friends. And among those there’s someone who’ll open a magic school, work as a private tutor for a noble, or sell the knowledge to other countries, in pursuit of money….
The secret probably wouldn’t be kept.
And the magicians in this school had talent for it in the first place.
At this point, they already have above average thought emission power and clarity of the image, and could use sufficiently strong magic. If she taught someone like that her trick….
When she thought about it like that, she couldn’t find it in herself to teach her roommates in the same way.
But she would hate it if they instantly died after graduating, and also hoped for all of them to become C-Rank in the graduation examination instead of D-Rank.
What should she do…..
Mile’s worrying continued until dawn.
「Let’s go!!」
The next free day.
After being woken up early and rushed through breakfast by Rena, the four made their way to the capital branch of the Hunter Guild.
A branch, even though it was at the capital.
It did serve as the administrative center of all other branches inside the country, but since the Guild was a multinational organization, they couldn’t have a single country pride itself in hosting their headquarters. And since they didn’t have a central “head”, the Guild couldn’t easily be taken over by replacing it. Big decisions were made in country-spanning meetings.
Due to this, they got safety and stability of the organization in return for dulling it’s movement and making it hard to overturn decisions.
Early in the morning, the Guild was packed.
Or rather, it was packed because it was early in the morning.
And one of the reasons for that…
「Ahh, the guys from the school!」
In the end, everyone’s thoughts and the content of their purses were very much alike.
The F- and E-Rank quest board had already been ransacked, leaving not good jobs that could be completed in a day’s time.
「We’re too late….」
Rena let her head hang in disappointment.
「There are still the continuous commissions and herb gathering!」
Mile finally got Rena to cheer up and look at the market rates for the continuous commissions and herbs. Her mood lightened when she found out, that birds and Horn Rabbits earned decent money here.
「As expected of the capital, with so many people there’s a big demand of meat and the rate is good. Now, let’s go!!」
Group C of the twelfth class of the Hunter Training School, their first quest starts now.
「We haven’t caught anything….」
Rena sunk to her knees in disappointment.
To get 4 silver coins for each of them, they have to catch 8 Horn Rabbits or birds. Or two Foxes.
If it was a big animal like a deer, one would suffice, but such a fortunate thing rarely happened.
Three hours since they began hunting. Even though it was almost noon, they only had caught one Horn Rabbit and bird each. This would only earn each of the 1 silver coin.
At this rate, they’d be well off if they caught 3 more if they hunted for four more hours after lunch. For the most financially troubled of them, Rena, this was truly a matter of life and death.
Rena had made an oversight.
Since the capital had a lot of people, it also had a lot of novice Hunters as well as a big meat consumption.
In turn, the hunting grounds around the capital were almost empty.
When they stopped to make lunch and better their mood a little, Mile was thinking:
(I think it’s okay for me to bring it out now…)
「Hey Mile, what’s that!?」
「Eh, my lunch…」
The other three were eating bread they had gotten from the cafeteria and softened with a bit of water, whereas Mile pulled a grilled meat sandwich out of her Item Box while making it look like it came from her Storage Magic, along with a cup of tea.
「Why is that still hot!」
More than half had been stolen by Rena.
「Um, there is something I would like to tell all of you…」
When rested after lunch, Mile finally breached the topic.
After they had turned towards her, Mile continued.
「The reason why we are not catching that much is partly because finding prey is hard, but also because hitting it with magic is hard, right?
And since we have no archer in our team, we have to rely on magic for ranged attacks…」
「What’s your point!? Do you want to say it’s my fault!」
Rena instantly reacted to the perceived insult, but Mile continued, soothing her anger.
「Um, since as I told you before, I am quite good with a lot of magics, why don’t we take a short break and train it a little bit…?」
「You’re going to teach us?」
「Y-yes, well…」
(Did I make her mad, saying that she can learn from her junior…)
Mile was worried by that.
「Now that you mention it, you never fired a single shot, leaving all of it to me.
Fine then. Nothing good will come out of it if we’re all stressed out, so a little training to relax might be a good idea.」
Contrary to her expectations, Rena obediently accepted Mile’s proposal.
It was a small surprise, but a happy surprise that made Mile smile.
Well then, let’s start cultivating then.
Mile sometimes shows this kind of behavior that makes it seem like she thinks of the world around her as a game she is the player of. It contrasts nicely with the parts where she’s over the top worried about stuff we as the reader know is pointless for her to worry about.