Chapter 9: Skills and Levels　

"Oh, I see. That's how you ended up in such a state.”

When I explained to the three of them how this had happened, Meirir nodded as if she understood.

"Um, ......, is this kind of thing common among adventurers?"

"I can't think of removing one person from the party on the way, even if there’s a dispute about the rewards. The reason is a mess ... Hey, Takaya, your ex-party, was it a gathering of idiots who’re adventuring on their own? "

　Roar, the leader of the trio, answers Takaya's question without hiding his indignation.

　Because they cut Takaya off so easily he felt sorry for them. Sorry for all those idiots.

"I've been wondering about something. Takaya, what kind of work did you do at your old party?　It's not like you didn't do anything, right?"

　And here, Dike joined the conversation.

　He called himself a "knight," but he didn't have a sword, the symbol of a knight. He has a shield, but that's it.

"That's right ... but it's a job that anyone can do. For example, handling the prey they’d hunted..."

"In other words, a [processing shop]?"

"Processing, shop?"

　A word I hear for the first time comes out of Dike's mouth.

　From the way he spoke, it seemed that even the work that Takaya thought was just a chore had a proper name in this world.

"Dike, you have to speak more clearly. Takaya’s been puzzled for a while now.” (Meirir)

"Shut it, I already know that. It's just like this muscle-brained priest to preach to me."

"What? Any complaints??"

"No, I'm kidding. It’s nothing, sorry."

　The look in Meirir's eyes as she glares at Dike is scary. Speaking of which, she has a really good physique, even though she’s wearing a priest's uniform. She’s slender but well trained, with no useless fat and a good figure.

　If anything, Takaya got the impression that she might be more of a martial artist than a priest.

"As the name suggests, a processor is someone who is tasked with converting the corpses of magical beasts, plants, trees, and flowers obtained during the course of an adventure into food or materials used to refine items. For example, you can 'process' your hunt by cutting it into various parts so that it can be easily cooked. Do you get it so far?"

　

　Takaya nodded to Dike's story. So far he had only handled prey, but apparently a processing shop's work is diverse.

"Well, from what you said, the processor seems like a very capable and indispensable member of a party.."

"... What are you talking about? In fact, processors are a group of insanely talented guys. You can't do it without talent, and there are very few of them."

"Eh? But if you go to the city, there are so many people ..."

"It's true, but even if they have the qualifications, they're only level 1 dismantlers at best.  If you want to become a processor, you need to be at least a level III or IV to be able to do so."

"level……"

　Once again, Takaya was confused. This time it was levels. Moreover, it seems that it’s divided into several stages. I feel like I'm in a game world.

" Hey, you two. Why don't we take Takaya with us to the capital?　It would be quicker to have the people from the guild explain things to him than to have us here talking about things we don’t know much about.” (Meirir)

"I don't mind, but ...... what are do we do, leader?”

"I don't know. He's a strange boy, no doubt, but at least he's not as useless to us as he thinks he is.

"Okay!　Well, it's settled then. Takaya, you’ll come with us right?"

　I had no reason to refuse. It's a life I tried to throw away once anyway, I might as well live freely in this world until I die.

　He took the hand offered to him and stood up, and together with his three new adventurer friends, he moved to the new stage they called "the capital".

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