The Crown Prince Who Raises a Side Character

#4 Vern the Novice Adventurer (2) – The Newbie is Competent

#4 Vern the Novice Adventurer (2) – The Newbie is Competent

There’s a truth one inevitably learns while working at the Adventurer’s Guild.

That there are a truly unimaginable number of utter fools in the world, and they’re all prone to spouting lies so easily disproven they clearly hadn’t given a thought to the consequences.

So, when Vern first claimed to have completed the request, Blanca had simply intended to laugh it off.

A handsome exterior, but completely useless on the inside, she’d thought.

But the moment she saw the proof in his hand, Blanca realized this was no longer a situation to be taken lightly.

‘He stole it.’

Paul, the storehouse keeper, was an incredibly stubborn man.

He was not the type to yield, no matter if a novice adventurer threatened him or offered some paltry trade for the proof.

The fact that Vern held the proof meant only one thing: he had acquired it through some sort of illegitimate means.

No, it would almost be a relief if he’d only stolen it.

What if, on the off chance, he had taken it by force?

It seemed unlikely that that muscular giant could be defeated by a mere novice adventurer, but what if he’d been caught off guard, ambushed while his guard was down?

Blanca’s gaze turned momentarily chilling.

But she erased that look in an instant, speaking to Vern with an air of complete indifference.

“Hmm. It’ll take a little while to process, so please have a seat and wait over there. I’ll call you when I’m done.”

“Understood.”

Vern offered no resistance, taking a seat in the waiting area. Blanca then exchanged glances with another receptionist.

Confirming the receptionist’s nod, Blanca slipped out the guild’s back door with swift purpose, heading towards the warehouse where the client waited.

It was simply faster than calling someone else to investigate, she figured.

Reaching the warehouse, she saw Paul slumped in front of it and cried out.

“Uncle! Are you alright? What happened?!”

“Ah…”

Paul seemed utterly dazed.

Blanca, remembering his usual self—those piercing eyes, lecturing fledgling adventurers into shape—worried if he’d been drugged or something.

“Is this because of the adventurer the guild sent just now? What on earth did they do to you…!!”

Paul blinked a few times, then finally blurted out.

“That adventurer… the job…”

“The job?”

“…did it very well.”

“…”

Blanca blinked.

Surely, he hadn’t lost his mind.

“We need to hurry to the temple.”

“No, no, that’s not the point! Look at the state of the warehouse!”

In all my days, I’d never seen someone work like that, Paul clicked his tongue in amazement. Despite feeling a slight wave of relief seeing him seemingly without any obvious injuries, Blanca couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease.

I mean, how much *better* could someone be at their job─

“─When did they do the expansion work here?”

“Expansion? They didn’t. It hasn’t grown an inch from its original size.”

“But, still.”

A good portion of the requests submitted to the Adventurer’s Guild involved collecting a certain amount of a specific item.

Meat, hides, fruits, plants, minerals, and even rare monster cores – all sorts of specialized materials.

Of course, storing and managing all those requested items within the Guild building would be a colossal waste of space.

Items that were especially rare or dangerous, the kind that could cause trouble just by being left out, would be directly managed, but otherwise, the Guild outsourced the task to contracted warehouses, retrieving items as needed.

Paul’s warehouse was one such contracted Guild warehouse, often used to assess the character of new adventurers. As such, it mainly held inexpensive, high-volume items.

It was notoriously disorganized, no matter how often it was tidied.

And yet, here it was, impeccably clean.

So much so that it felt as if the warehouse had physically expanded.

Paul scratched the back of his head.

“At first, he was just moving things around according to my instructions, right? But somewhere along the way, he started organizing things on his own, and later, he was explaining how he organized everything, and why. It felt like I was being controlled by a ghost.”

“Does that even make sense? Organizing isn’t just about having physical strength.”

“It’s not just ‘good strength.’ He was lifting crates full of metal swords like they were paper bags. And his organizational skills were top-notch too. Do you really think I would make something like that up?”

Saying that, there was nothing to be said.

“Send that friend of yours again sometime. Even calling him in once a week would make my work easier.”

Unused to seeing Paul’s face melt with satisfaction as he surveyed the warehouse, Blanca shook her head and returned to the Guild.

Waiting at the Guild’s back door were the Guild Guards and other staff, their faces grim. They pressed Blanca for details.

“It’s nothing. He just said he liked the work, so he paid quickly.”

“Huh, really? What’s gotten into that cranky old coot?”

“Whew. We were worried for nothing.”

Each of the staff members visibly relaxed.

Subduing a rookie adventurer wasn’t hard work, but depending on the mess that rookie made, they could all face a tragic ending of working overtime.

Returning to her reception desk, Blanca found Vern, the cause of this entire incident, sitting quietly in the waiting area, arms crossed and eyes closed.

Feeling inexplicably annoyed by his nonchalant demeanor, Blanca called him over.

“Yes, I’ve confirmed completion. Here’s your reward.”

Blanca spread the coins out on the reception desk table.

The reward for a quest given to a Rank 1 adventurer wasn’t much.

Hard, stone-like bread, and a watery soup that barely seemed to have any flavour in it.

An amount that would vanish as quickly as you bought the cheapest meal and paid for a bed in the communal dormitory.

Around thirty quests needed to be completed to rise to Rank 2.

Assuming you completed one quest a day, you’d have to endure, eating and sleeping in the most meager conditions, for about a month without even dreaming of saving.

And if you did sloppy work or caused trouble along the way, the number of quests needed for promotion would only increase.

It wasn’t for naught that seasoned adventurers called this period the ‘Sieve’.

Those who held naive fantasies about the adventurer’s life, those lacking in either stamina or mental fortitude, most failed to even reach Rank 2, falling by the wayside.

Thus, the words Blanca offered Vern were akin to a kindness.

“Guild requests skim a fee off the top, so manual labor ends up paying less than being hired directly on-site. The client was extremely satisfied; why not try working for them directly instead?”

At Blanca’s suggestion, Vern blinked, then offered a smile.

“Thank you for the advice. But, becoming an adventurer is one of my dreams, you see.”

“Ah, I see.”

Blanca didn’t press further.

Experience often trumps a hundred words of advice.

He seemed to have managed the warehouse cleaning well enough, but after a taste of the adventurer’s bottom-rung life, this young man would come to know reality soon enough.

“So, will you take on another request? There’s still time for one more.”

“Then I’ll take the sewer cleaning request. I’ve heard the stories, but never been inside myself.”

“You’ll likely wish you never knew once you’ve been down there.”

Blanca watched Vern’s departing figure with a strangely listless gaze after explaining the request.

“Becoming an adventurer is his dream, huh.”

There were few professions less fitting of the word ‘adventurer’, she mused.

Chewing back the unspoken words.

*

Thereafter, Vern steadily completed requests befitting a Rank 1 adventurer.

He whacked rats in the sewers, ran petty errands delivering small items within the city, and sometimes even pulled weeds or cleaned the streets.

[Unbelievable.]

From within Bern’s shadow, Lucidrah clicked her tongue, clearly exasperated.

Bern, without uttering a word aloud, replied to Lucidrah through thought.

‘And what is your complaint this time?’

[Why the tone?]

‘I have always used this tone, have I not?’

[What nonsense is that? You were all flowery language and airs, like some highborn noble.]

‘That is the Crown Prince back in the Empire. I am different.’

[……]

Lucidrah stared at Bern with a ‘what is this guy’ expression.

She knew that if she moved to the shadow of his true self and spoke, he would undoubtedly revert to that lofty tone as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

However, she’d learned from experience that arguing with this shameless man was a fruitless endeavor that only drained her, so she swiftly changed the subject.

[Why all this roundabout foolishness? Do you find weeding weeds entertaining?]

‘Not particularly, but it is a necessary task for promotion, so I have no choice.’

[No, what I mean is. Instead of beating around the bush, why not just storm into that Guild thing, show off your aura, and be done with it? Flex your muscles once and they’ll be tripping over themselves to accommodate you.]

Lucidrah, based on her observations, considered the skills of these adventurers to be generally atrocious.

A ‘Rank 2’ was barely more than a trained commoner, and only a ‘Rank 3’ could even somewhat channel magic to reinforce their bodies.

If he were to display his aura, imbuing his weapon with magic to drastically increase its power, he’d practically have a Rank 4 through brute strength alone.

But Bern was unconvinced.

‘Adventurers are not back-alley thugs. Strength is important, yes, but diligence and responsibility in fulfilling requests are far more so. I do not believe they would simply recognize someone as a high-ranking adventurer based on a display of raw power.’

[Still, you’ll get some bonus points, right?]

‘That much is true, I suppose.’

This time, Bern readily nodded his head.

However, he continued after that.

‘But, is there really a need to rush so much? Since I don’t know much about the adventurer’s world anyway, isn’t it better to start from the bottom and slowly climb the ranks to learn a thing or two?’

[Haa. To stubbornly insist on such a frustrating method, I just don’t understand.]

‘Oh dear, you seem to have a *cider* addiction. That’s unfortunate. A person should live life with leisure, you know.’

[……]

Lucidra didn’t know exactly what this ‘cider’ meant.

But somehow, she knew she was being treated like a fool.

It was just then, as she was about to get annoyed.

Thwack!

Bern’s shoulder bumped into someone as he was walking.

To describe it in more detail, it would be more accurate to say that even though Bern had sidestepped, the other party deliberately followed him and collided.

“Eh? Hey, you bump into someone and don’t even say sorry? Huh?”

The man who bumped into Bern’s shoulder berated him with a harsh tone and a menacing expression.

“Hey hey, take it easy. He’s just some guy catching rabbits trying to become an adventurer, he’s gonna cry.”

“Hey, newbie! Hurry up and apologize! That guy is no joke when he’s angry!”

Behind him, a group that seemed to be his companions jeered with sneers on their faces.

Lucidra asked, looking puzzled.

“Did they ever, you know, start something with you when I wasn’t around?”

‘No, I haven’t really ever spoken with them before.’

“Ah. Just jealousy, then.”

Bern’s pace when resolving commissions was fairly quick, and his client satisfaction was also high.

It wasn’t as though he had some extraordinary secret; he was simply strong, resourceful, and worked diligently. But that alone was enough to earn him high praise within the Adventurer’s Guild, and even lighthearted compliments about being the next ace, or whatever.

There were those in this world who simply resented others doing well and being recognized.

“Hey, say something, *say* something.”

“Looks like the little punk’s scared stiff.”

“That’s what you get for sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

Standing before the jeering mob, Bern blinked for a moment.

And then, he gave a slight push to the shoulder of the first thug who’d bumped into him.

It wasn’t even a hard shove, just a light touch it seemed, but the effect was dramatic.

*Thwack!*

As if hit by a carriage, the thug flew through the air, then rolled across the ground.

He convulsed, hacking, then went limp, seemingly unconscious.

The thugs who had been mocking Bern, and even the passersby who had been watching to see how things would unfold, were frozen solid.

Then, Bern spoke.

“Ah, I’m terribly sorry for bumping into you.”

“…….”

A silence, hard to describe, settled over the scene.

In the shadows, Lucedra stammered,

“Didn’t you just go on about composure and rules a moment ago?”

‘Well, I’ve just learned another rule of the adventurer’s life, haven’t I? “If someone acts like scum for no reason, *give* them a reason.” Truly, there’s so much to learn in this world.’

*That’s* not an adventurer’s rule; it just sounds like your personality is a bit… unclean.

Lucedra thought it idly, but didn’t bother to vocalize it.

There was no need to watch the hoodlums, belatedly realizing the situation, charge forward with screams.

If he hadn’t shown his strength at all, perhaps things would be different, but they had witnessed his clearly abnormal power firsthand. If they still chose to attack instead of fleeing, they were practically begging to naturally select themselves out of existence.

“Hm?”

Suddenly, Lucedra sensed an odd gaze.

A woman with bright sky-blue hair and eyes.

Blanca, the receptionist as she was likely called, was staring directly at Bern as he easily subdued the thugs.

Her eyes gleamed with a strange light.