Chapter 408: Chaotic Reception Room (Pig)

‘Our Kuzunoha Company’s new store has many new features that the old store didn’t have!’, that’s the kind of mood I am getting from this, similar to those power ranger scenes where they get a new hideout.

It didn’t lead to a ‘Let me explain!’ though.

We have actually moved to an independent store that has a bigger scale.

I am currently welcoming guest number one in the reception room (pig). It is the biggest and best equipped from the many reception rooms.

There’s also: scale, net, forest, and wings.

The current state where there’s always a reception room ready for business discussions and used to its full extent speaks a lot about the outstanding condition of Tsige.

And for some reason, I have to show up in every single one of them today.

This will be one hellish day.

“Dio-kun, you are an Eren Novice?” (Makoto)

“Yes.” (Dio)

“Haku-san should obviously know about this Job.” (Makoto)

“Only the name. But I don’t know about the Skills in detail.” (Haku)

“For now, what I want to know is what’s the relationship it has with the Double Job though..” (Makoto)

“Double..Job?” (Haku)

I had Haku-san and Dio-kun sit opposite to me, and open up the discussion.

Haku-san had apparently gone out to the wasteland which is rare, and said she had something to talk about with us.

This was a great opportunity, so I made time and we are now here.

Dio-kun didn’t even know he had become an Eren Novice, and for the Double Job, it wasn’t just the Adventurer Guild, even Root didn’t know at all what this was.

I wanted to borrow the knowledge of this woman that at a glance looks like a plain alluring dancer. She herself probably doesn’t know why she is here.

I understand that feeling.

I have experienced that several times.

“That’s right. That Root, he couldn’t get in contact with Azu-san and the others, so he pushed this onto me.” (Makoto)

“So Dio-kun has fulfilled the conditions for a Double Job.” (Haku)

“Right right.” (Makoto)

Now then, it looks like she has some idea of why this Double Job and Eren Novice are connected.

Lucky~.

This truly is fortunate.

By the way, Haku-san is in her usual attire.

The reason why I had her sit opposite to me despite her about to sit by my side is because the one who brought the tea was Mio.

Mio would take the trouble of bringing tea in the recent business discussions. One of the reasons why is because at quite the big business deals, I would ask Mio beforehand so that I can get her instinct-based opinion.

But when it is a business discussion with a woman, especially an unfamiliar one, there’s a 50% chance she would show up.

Her worrywart nature really doesn’t go away.

“..Double Job is like a special reward -to the adventurer.” (Haku)

“Special reward? For what action?” (Makoto)

From what I know, aside from Dio-kun having become a Variant, he is simply a talented hyuman.

Was it some sort of achievement or title?

In the first place, the Adventurer Guild is a system based on the MMO there.

Double Job must be one of those things.

“For maxing out.” (Haku)

“Maxing out? Meaning that you reach the end point of a Job?” (Makoto)

Maxing out is basically max level.

If it is level, it would be something like lvl 99, or if it is stats, it would be something like 999.

“The condition to obtain a Double Job is to obtain all the Skills in all the Job Trees. It is as you think, Raidou-kun, going all the way till a dead end, but it is slightly different. The proficiency of your Skills must be raised to max as well. Eren Novice is one such end point.” (Haku)

“End point. Wait, Dio-kun has?! He is still around his 20s and isn’t a battle expert or anything though?!” (Makoto)

The first one to fulfill the requirement to the Double Job is Dio-kun who hasn’t even gone out of Tsige to train?!

Impossible.

“Novice is the first Job that everyone begins with. What comes from classing up from there is Eren Novice. It is a Job that you definitely don’t turn into unless you purposely aim to.” (Haku)

“The next after Novice, you say. Then, it is on the same ladder as a Swordsman, and yet, it is the last? That’s strange.” (Makoto)

“..Yeah, in a sense. *Cough* It is normal to take advantage of holes, you know?” (Haku)

“..Yeah.” (Makoto)

I am sorry for being a level 1 merchant.

“He must have gotten the Eren Novice’s Skills and raised them to their upper limit. I can only think of that being the reason as to why he got the Double Job.” (Haku)

“..What’s the demerit of taking the Double Job?” (Makoto)

“There’s none. It is a special reward after all. As the name states, Double Job is choosing a Job one more time and classing up with it. You will still retain your Eren Novice’s Skills. The power corrections will stay the same, too. Dio-kun.” (Haku)

“Y-Yes?!” (Dio)

“Take the blessing without any worries. You must have somewhat thought about that possibility, so you can go to the guild once you have decided on one.” (Haku)

“Right. Dio-kun, go ahead.” (Makoto)

“..Got it. I will leave what I should know and what would be better for me to know to you, Raidou-dono. I would like you to please allow me to put my efforts in what I have in front of me right now. I will be taking my leave!!” (Dio)

What a sharp boy.

It is true that I wanted to confirm something with Haku-san that’s a bit hard to talk about.

But he noticed that and even showed consideration.

He is indeed a good boy like Root says.

He is not rebellious like Jin and the others.

Of course there’s his own personality in play here, but his upbringing must have been good too.

If the only thing that’s good is the environment you grow in, you can end up like the past version of the Rembrandt sisters -’a real piece of work’, as Jin once said.

“The Skills of Erin Novice don’t need that much proficiency. Swordsmanship, brawler, healing magic, offensive magic, support magic, merchant skills enough to have a stall, tool skills that allow you to at least do daily maintenance, alchemist skills that allow you to mix potions.” (Haku)

“Sounds like a lineup of test Skills.” (Makoto)

“There’s exclusive equipment for Eren Novices, you see. They are all things forgotten by society already, but you could say they have a decent degree of battle power. But well, at a glance, it does look like a test Job as you say, Raidou-kun. This may go against what I said before, but it is true that it is a Job for entertainment that you would have in your second or third account.” (Haku)

“Regardless of that..” (Makoto)

“..Yeah?” (Haku)

“I don’t know how hard it is to raise all your Skills to max, but can it be possible to accomplish that -by a young hyuman who has been living normally?” (Makoto)

“Plain impossible. Just what is he..?” (Haku)

“I don’t know what his circumstances were in Rotsgard, but he is one of the people who got caught in the scheme of the demons and lost their humanity.” (Makoto)

“Aah.. If I remember correctly, it was the Variant Incident, right? I have only heard tidbits of it, but I do know the outline of it.” (Haku)

“That one.” (Makoto)

“There’s a number of possibilities, but..don’t you know the biggest possibility?” (Haku)

“So it really is that.” (Makoto)

“For good or for bad, the Rotsgard Academy is the best environment for an Eren Novice. You can get as much proficiency as you want there..with PK or Player Killing. Oops, calling it PK was a bit inconsiderate. If you can kill people unrestrainedly, you could say that’s the best place to reach max with the highest efficiency. There are a whole bunch of hyumans with masteries in a lot of different areas there after all.” (Haku)

“You are telling me that’s the best way to gain proficiency..?” (Makoto)

It isn’t strange for the best hunting grounds for proficiency and experience to have a lot of players there.

The more merits there are, the more PKing would be within acceptable grounds.

“It is true that it is a bit different from experience points. It is indeed more efficient than hunting mamonos and Spirits normally.” (Haku)

Haku-san answers my question bluntly.

Dio-kun.. Dio didn’t become a complete Variant.

But it is not like he held back his transformation while maintaining his sanity the whole time.

I could tell from the reaction of the Bishop Shima-san that it wasn’t the first time he was on the verge of transforming into a Variant in front of her.

In other words, he may not have transformed completely, but..he might have lost consciousness and let himself be driven by instincts a number of times.

Of course, victims must have increased from that.

Merchants, adventurers, students; whichever the case, people.

Hyumans and demi-humans who have trained in their own path, be it as a warrior, mage, or a merchant.

If you want to be super optimistic about it, there’s also the chance that every time he was on the verge of becoming a Variant, there would be some sort of mysterious modifier in skill proficiency, but that just isn’t convincing.

Dio’s level has increased quite a lot more than what his history states, and he has reached a territory that’s too unnatural for someone enrolled in the Academy.

So he had become a killer without his knowledge, huh.

That’s..heavy.

“You have helped me greatly here. With this, I will now be able to give a decent report to Root about the Eren Novice matter and the Double Job matter.” (Makoto)

The both of us must have been thinking about the same thing.

I break the heavy silence, and give my thanks to Haku-san.

“It is okay, it is okay! Anyways, I see. So there wasn’t a single Double Job until now, huh..” (Haku)

“So it seems. It is hard to even reach the end of the Job Tree, so I kinda get it though.” (Makoto)

“..Yeah.” (Haku)

“Haku-san..now that I think about it, you came here because you had something to tell me, right?” (Makoto)

“Actually, the only ones I know that have a second ability related to the Guild are Azu-san and Hitsuna.” (Haku)

“?”

“As you already know, at the times when one is on the verge of death or when one wishes from the bottom of their hearts for power, we would be sent to that space that can create abilities, right?” (Haku)

“..Yeah.” (Makoto)

A space that can create abilities?

“The ability you obtain there is an ability for the individual that cannot be passed on to others no matter what you do. But Azu-san and Hitsuna alone created an ability that can provide benefits not only for them but for the whole guild.” (Haku)

“..What kind of thing?” (Makoto)

The creation of an ability.

A place that can create a power you wish?

I don’t know about this.

I still don’t know that place.

It seems like there was a time when Senpai and Tomoki got a drastic power increase, so it must be that.

But I don’t know the specific method. It is still vague.

“Double Job; Azu-san chose that as his second ability. And then, he added it into the Guild with conditions. He may have chosen an ability that can be added to Guild on purpose. He mastered the path of a knight and reached the peak of tamers, and that’s what he has become now.” (Haku)

“Regarding that person, his other traits are so much more outrageous that it doesn’t surprise me as much.” (Makoto)

“Right. And so, Hitsuna went for talisman magic. That girl, who created a new magic formula that was similar to the onmyouji path, did the same thing as Azu-san and added this into the Guild for other adventurers to use. There aren’t that many talisman magic users and there hasn’t been any clarifications on that path aside from Lorel, but I am sure it will eventually resonate in the whole world.” (Haku)

“..”

Talisman magic, huh.

It is true that the concept is completely different from the magic of this world.

The progenitor of talisman magic, huh.

historical

I see. Being the first generation Priestess isn’t just for show.

“And there’s you who is teaching common language to demonic beasts despite not being Azu-san.” (Haku)

“..Eh?” (Makoto)

The topic suddenly shifted to me?!

“You didn’t look like the type of boy that would think such an outrageous thing and have the strong initiative to actually do it though. I miscalculated.. Also, where was such a strong and fierce demonic beast? I do feel the talent in him, but to entrust him to a way too incapable tamer so promptly.. Geez. I ended up helping out.. There’s no problem in that, I hope?” (Haku)

“No, I would say that’s fortunate. If you are watching after them, I wouldn’t have needed to put the assassin as bodyguard.” (Makoto)

“Hmm, those people are in a dangerous situation. I can look after them for a while, but I think it is better to look after them yourselves too.” (Haku)

“I have asked for Alpine to assist if anything happens. I have investigated the state of the tamers, but they are in a somewhat pitiful state.. I have hopes for that Baretta boy.” (Makoto)

They consider demonic beasts like consumables after all.

I really want to shout at them to take more care of their partner.

“I agree with that too. They are lacking way too much in joint partnership and camaraderie. It is possible to change names when they class up, so I plan on dealing with things in that area first. It may just be temporary, but I am his teacher now, so I gotta train him to become a good example of a tamer. I am glad I got your agreement, Raidou-kun.” (Haku)

“Here too, it is a reassuring help.” (Makoto)

“I even ended messing up by telling the Bronzeman Company’s representative about the Storage Skill in the flow of things. I still haven’t woken up completely yet it seems.” (Haku)

“Sto..rage?” (Makoto)

“..”

“..”

“..Well then! See ya later!” (Haku)

?! No, I heard nothing about that last part! I am going to be meeting that very same person today though!” (Makoto)

What’s this Storage Skill?!

You can have a Skill that can work similarly to the magic bag?

What’s that? That sounds super convenient.

Wait, that’s not it!

Haku-san, come back!

But she ran out of the room like the wind and didn’t return.