Chapter 88: Chapter 88
Eru nodded in gratitude, “Thank you, may we meet again.” The innkeeper nodded as he left Eru to go to the kitchen. He left the inn building with his backpack on before meeting the waitress, Mei, sweeping the ground. “Yo!” Eru waved his hands. “Leaving so soon?” the girl stopped sweeping. Eru nodded, “Yup. I need to get going. As much as I enjoyed the food here, I’m not made of money.” The girl chuckled, “Heh, be careful out there!” Eru, let out a smile, “Sure. I hope you enjoy the sight this morning, miss Mei!”
“What do you….” The girl, Mei, remembered what happened this morning before letting out a blush. When she was about to retort, Eru was already long gone. “Sigh. I hope we can meet again someday. He’s hot”, Mei murmured. Unknowingly to her, her father in the kitchen had a sharp hearing sense. He heard what Mei said, and his forehead wrinkled.
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After Eru had walked downhill for a while, he finally arrived at the main road. He found that the main road was similar to the road from Borea City to the Great Aeolus City. Then, Eru looked around before finding a sign. “Hmm, Gale Borders to the left and Great Aeolus City to the right…. Damn it! Those guys really got me”, Eru scratched the back of his head. “To the left it is”, Eru walked along the main road. The road was fairly long as when he arrived at the fork of the road, it was nearly nightfall. “Go north here…. After all this time, I still need to climb. Fine, at least the road is not a mountain path.”
When the sun completely set, Eru finally arrived right in front of a city. “Tailwind City, huh” Eru approached the city gate before being stopped by a voice. “Halt, what purpose do you have coming here?” a guard, tall in stature, came out from the city’s wall above the gate. Then, the guard jumped down, creating a small crater due to his weight or, rather, his heavy armour. The guard observed Eru from head to toe, “A foreigner? Huh, that’s rare”, he quipped. “I’m here for the Adventurers Pilgrimage”, Eru immediately explained his purpose.
“Adventurers Pilgrimage? People still do that?” the guard’s eyes widened in surprise, “Letter of recommendation?” Eru took out the Adventurers Handbook from his pouch, “Here you go”, he handed it to the guard. The guard observed the Adventurers Handbook and found a letter of recommendation of Borea City and a stamp from Great Aeolus City. “Hmm, they look legit. Alright, come in”, the guard opened the massive gate with his own two hands. “Welcome to Tailwind City”, the guard said, revealing the magnificent view of Tailwind City to Eru. The sight of Tailwind City reminded Eru of a traditional Chinese city from movies and novels.
Red lanterns were shining brightly in the sky, supported by strings that lit up yellow. The crowded and lively atmosphere of the city’s centre, the marketplace that surrounded it and the cheery expression on the townspeople astonished Eru. “Whoa”, Eru couldn’t close his mouth. “Amazing, right?” the guard grinned as he pushed Eru inside. The guard followed Eru inside the city before closing the gate. “You mind, man!” Eru moaned, trying to stabilize himself from falling over.
“Come, I’ll take you to the Adventurers Guild”, the guard chuckled. The guard led Eru all over the city, and on the way, Eru was being stared at by a lot of people there. “Sorry about them; they did not have a chance of seeing a foreigner so often”, the guard smiled wryly. “It’s okay, I kinda understand. It felt weird, is all”, Eru replied to the burly guard. They chatted along the way while the guard took Eru on a city tour until they eventually reached a massive building with a fish head on both of their edges.
“This building is….?”
The guard smiled, pointing his hand at the building, “The Adventurers Guild.”
“What!? It can’t be…. This is the Adventurers Guild!” Eru yelled out, flabbergasted.
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“Welcome to Tailwind City Adventurers Guild!” a female receptionist, wearing a one-piece red dress with white clouds as motives, greeted Eru and the guard. Her outfit greatly resembled Mei, the waitress from the mountain inn. “Oh, captain, welcome back!” the female receptionist had a beaming smile on her face after she saw the guard. “Ling!” the guard flashed a smile back at the female receptionist, Ling. “Bringing foreigner, eh, An Li”, Ling winked at the guard, An Li.
“Quit those dirty thoughts of yours”, An Li protested. “Aw, captain An Li blushed. It’s okay, captain. You had no luck with women. How about you try your luck with men instead?” Ling winked naughtily at An Li. The burly captain fuse lit up; he was about to retort Ling skillfully avert the conversation by looking at Eru before saying, “So, what’s your business here, young foreigner?” Eru ignored An Li that was about to burst, and handed the receptionist lady, Ling, his handbook. Ling recognized the handbook straight away, “Adventurers Pilgrimage? There’s still someone doing this?” she gawked while observing Eru with more interest.
“What’s wrong with it?”
“You dream of travelling the world, kid?” Ling did not answer Eru’s question. Instead, she threw another question towards Eru. “Why? You did not answer my question”, Eru said, feeling quite irritated. The receptionist lady chuckled, “Well, did Yuya from Borea City did not explain it to you?” Eru veins on his forehead bulged. He was about to lash out before he was stopped by An Lin. “Calm down, kid. She had a talent pissing people off.”
“You two are no fun”, Ling waved her hand. Then, her eyes turned serious as she stared at Eru, “Did Yuya really did not tell you about this? About the Adventurers Pilgrimage.” Eru squinted his eyes, “No. Mr Yuya did not tell me anything except to travel around the kingdom to collect the recommendation letter from each branch. That way, I’ll become a full-fledge adventurer”, Eru explained. Ling shook her head, “Tch, tch, tch. That Yuya, really…. He really did not explain what the Adventurers Pilgrimage is…..”
Eru was curious, “So, what about Adventurers Pilgrimage?” he asked. Ling then took a deep breath, “I’ll explain what it is, but you must answer me first. Do you want to travel the world?” Eru nodded, “I want to, yeah. My father and mother said that becoming an adventurer is the best way to look at the world.” Ling nodded back in understanding, “I see. Then, you did the right thing.” Eru looked confused, “What do you mean?”
Ling blinked, “Well, the purpose of the Adventurers Pilgrimage is for an adventurer to obtain the all-mighty Adventurers Badge.” Eru frowned, “Only for that?” Ling clicked her tongue in disdain, “You don’t know anything. For anyone, any adventurers, to obtain the Adventurers Badge was a privilege not many had. Anyone could become an adventurer, but not many possess the Adventurers Badge.” Eru’s eyes squinted, “What’s so special about it, anyway?”
Ling scoffed, “How do you obtain two recommendations when you’re this dumb?” Eru’s temper began to rise a little, but Ling immediately continued, “Only those approved by the Adventurers Guild had the privilege to have the badge. Adventurers needed to pass the necessary procedure if they wanted to obtain the Adventurers Badge, which is the Adventurers Pilgrimage. Each guild branch must give the pilgrim a quest suitable to them. That’s just formality. However, they can give whatever they wanted as long as the quest did not seem unsolvable.”
Eru listened carefully to what Ling was saying, “Then, what’s the benefit of going to all these troubles?” Ling shook her head, “Impatient, aren’t we?” she paused for a second before continuing, “There’s a lot of them. One of the benefits of having the Adventurers Badge is that it can be used as proof of identification, even in other countries. That’s why I asked you before if you want to travel the world. Not many adventurers currently want to obtain the badge as the criteria are really hard. Nowadays, travelling all over the world is made easier thanks to the addition of a passport.”
A sudden realization then dawned on Eru, “So, you don’t need to do this pilgrimage to become adventurers?” Ling shook her head while smiling, “Nope. If you want to become an adventurer, just pass the test in your region. Then the examiner will give you an Adventurers Handbook proving to others that you’re an adventurer from that region. However, travelling would be harder for them. Because they needed to use the same method civilians does in order to travel around.”
Eru’s expression was grim when he heard what Ling had said, “So all this trial that was given to me were for nothing? That’s why Andre was smiling all over when he heard I’m on the Adventurers Pilgrimage. He can give me whatever he wants. I knew I’d been set up. Join the tournament, he said, win the tournament, he said. Thanks to that, I attract many weirdoes to me. If I had known that, I should’ve become a merchant…. Fuck you, Andre! The next time we’ve met shall be your last!” Eru threw a tantrum which Ling watched with joy.
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