Chapter 613: The Adventurers’ Guild of the New Capital

Tauro asked Robin, the acting administrator, to send messengers to each autonomous region.

After all, he couldn’t just show up unannounced.

In the meantime, there was plenty to do.

Zion, Seth, and the ten Rock-series puppets immediately began preparing to repair the road leading to the mine.

This included subjugating bandits and eliminating monsters.

An unmaintained road with little traffic was naturally dangerous—bandits and monsters tended to roam such areas.

Using the Rock-series puppets, Zion and Seth took on tasks ranging from defeating bandits to eliminating monsters while also preparing to repair the road with high-quality tools Tauro had purchased in large quantities in the Royal Capital. Together, they headed north from the territorial capital.

The nearby villagers watched the scene, wondering what was going on, but they wouldn’t understand the reason until later.

Incidentally, the human-type puppets Adam and Eve were stored in Tauro’s [Magic Storage] for his own use.

Operating them without Seth might have been difficult, but that wasn’t a problem—Garo, the wolf-shaped puppet, could act in Seth’s place.

Garo could only make wolf-like noises, but its intellect was on par with Seth’s.

Since Garo also shared thoughts with Tauro, it could properly understand and act on his intentions.

“Well then, let’s inspect the current state of our new territorial capital, Sugar, check out the Adventurers’ Guild, and take care of the necessary procedures.”

Tauro spoke the new name of the former Count Lunesk’s territorial capital aloud.

He had heard from Robin that she had given it the temporary name “Sugar.”

Saying it himself made Tauro feel a little self-conscious. It was customary for a territory’s capital to take the name—or part of the name—of its ruling family, so Robin had temporarily taken it from “Giro Sugar.” The residents liked it better than the old name, however, and it quickly caught on.

That was why Tauro made a point of saying it aloud, partly to get used to it himself.

“Hehe… Tauro, your ears are a little red.”

Aeris noticed his embarrassment at saying the unfamiliar name of the territorial capital and smiled, finding it endearing.

“Oh, you’re right. Leader, you’ll get used to it. Though if it were me, I’d be too embarrassed to say it.”

Ankh teased him.

“Alright, alright, enough—let’s go!”

Now fully flushed, Tauro hurried them along.

“Agreed. I’m curious about the Adventurers’ Guild in this city too. Let’s go.”

Unlike the others, Ragune simply agreed with Tauro, and the group left the castle for the city.

The Adventurers’ Guild in Sugar was a surprisingly large building.

This was likely because of Sugar’s ideal location as a hub for travel to the various autonomous regions and the Royal Frontier Special Zone. Adventurers heading into the southwestern regions would naturally gather here.

However, with trade halted and movement between regions diminished, the guild hall was nearly empty. There were only a few people who looked like adventurers besides the staff, even though it was still morning.

“Welcome to the Adventurers’ Guild in the new territorial capital, Sugar! You don’t look like rookies. Experienced adventurers are more than welcome! Are you here to complete the necessary registration procedures?”

Although the guild as a whole wasn’t particularly lively, one bright presence lifted the mood: a cheerful young receptionist who looked about sixteen, with black hair tied in a ponytail, large dark eyes, and a cute demeanor.

“Yes, we plan to base our activities here starting today.”

Tauro replied, removing and handing over his tag.

The rookie receptionist fumbled a bit but managed to insert the tag into the magic device and complete the procedure.

“Black-Gold Wings, right? Huh? You’re a B-plus adventurer team?! That’s amazing for someone so young!”

She exclaimed in surprise.

“My name is Miu. I’m new here. I look forward to seeing you all succeed in Sugar!”

She introduced herself and returned the tag.

Apparently, she hadn’t noticed the information that Tauro himself was the new lord.

“Nice to meet you, Miu. By the way, this is our first time here—what kind of place is Sugar?”

“Well… after the former lord went bankrupt, this land became a Royal domain, and it was quite poor. But about a year ago, things improved when Lady Robin—who’s acting on behalf of the new lord, Viscount Giro Sugar—arrived. The atmosphere in the guild has improved considerably. Before that, with trade stopped, adventurers had no interest in this city and simply passed it by… But I think it’s slowly becoming lively again. Thanks to that, I was even able to get a job here!”

Miu smiled brightly as she explained.

And this is considered “better”…?

Tauro and the others were inwardly surprised, but they could imagine how bad things must have been before. It made sense that people wouldn’t gather in a place where there was no money to be made.

Tauro understood what Miu meant.

As lord, he would likely rely on the Adventurers’ Guild for more work and would also be the one posting requests.

That would increase the amount of available work, and the number of adventurers should gradually rise as well.

At the same time, as an adventurer himself, Tauro also wanted to contribute by taking on requests.

In that regard, the cheerful receptionist Miu might well become the face of the guild.

“…By the way, would quests for people like us be in the special room in the back?”

Tauro asked, sensing the lack of staff despite the large building.

“Normally, yes—but we’re short-staffed, so everything is handled here at the front desk right now. You’re looking for B-rank requests, right? Just a moment.”

Saying this, Miu retrieved a box from a shelf behind her and placed it in front of Tauro.

Inside was a single request form.

“Oh, this was just approved by the branch manager this morning. It’s an escort request for a local merchant.”

She handed it to him.

“Departure in four days… an escort request to Cavern City in the Dwarven Autonomous Region.”

Tauro read it aloud and looked toward Aeris and the others.

“Perfect timing, don’t you think? For you and for us, Tauro.”

Aeris nodded.

“Yeah. If it’s a merchant, they probably managed to build some kind of relationship with the other side, even though they’re supposed to be on bad terms. Could be a good opportunity.”

Ankh agreed.

“What about Zion? She just headed to the northern mine today.”

“I’ll ask Seth, but she seemed pretty motivated about the roadwork…”

As Tauro said that, he suddenly froze and his face went blank.

It seemed he had begun sharing thoughts with Seth to relay the question to Zion.

Seth communicated not only through gestures and body language; he could also communicate with Zion by writing things down.

At that moment, he was using a nearby stick to write simple characters on the ground for Zion.

Since Tauro was sharing Seth’s vision, he could see the exchange directly.

“I don’t want to leave Seth to do everything alone, so I’ll stay and help with the roadwork!”

Zion replied.

She likely realized Tauro was watching through Seth’s eyes.

“Zion says she’ll stay. Well then, let’s take this request and accomplish one of our goals.”

Tauro’s blank expression returned to normal, and he relayed Zion’s answer to Aeris and the others.

“…As always, Tauro looks a bit out of it when he’s sharing vision with Seth. Hehe.”

Aeris pointed out, prompting Ragune and Ankh to laugh as well.

It seemed everyone had been thinking the same thing.

Meanwhile, the rookie receptionist Miu had no idea what was going on and was completely left out of the loop.