When a guild or domus was established, the rule was that it could not use the same name as another organization. So instead of oak, we had used acorn. After all, an oak tree grew from an acorn.
Cesare propped his chin on his hand and grumbled.
“Still, something other than acorn would have been better. A wolf, a lion, things like that.”
“Those were all already taken as organization names.”
Cool names people thought of were always more or less similar. I stood, clearing away the plates.
“Since we have finished eating, I think it is time we go register the domus. You two come with me.”
“Yes. After we finish washing the dishes. Hey, Xenia. Let us decide who washes the dishes with rock-paper-scissors.”
“Okay! Rock, paper, scissors!”
After Cesare, who had lost at rock-paper-scissors, finished washing all the dishes, we headed toward the Administration Office.
The Administration Office was an institution that handled matters related to guilds and domuses.
On the first floor were people who had come to place requests, as well as people who had come to find work by taking those requests. The atmosphere was as noisy now as it had been back then.
“Master, it looks like registration is over there.”
Xenia said, tugging on my clothes. In a corner, there was a counter for registering new organizations.
We headed to the counter and spoke to an employee who looked somewhat haggard.
“Hello. We would like to establish a new organization.”
“Yes. Please fill out the documents there.”
I filled out the simple paperwork and handed it to him. The employee, who wore thick glasses, looked at it with some confusion.
“You are registering under the name Balanus, correct? Why use this name, of all things?”
Did he know the circumstances? This person, too, seemed wary of Balanus and reluctant to deal with it. Cesare, standing beside me, spoke as though growling.
“We are reestablishing it. Is there a problem? Or is the name already taken?”
The way he bared his fangs and threatened him made him look like a wild beast. I saw the employee flinch.
“There should be no problem! I will just go check, so please wait a moment!”
He hurried away. Cesare spoke in a sulky tone.
“Those bastards at the Administration Office ignore anyone who is not from a high-ranking organization. You have to speak a little strongly like this to make them move.”
“Yes, it was like that in the past too. But do not use vulgar language. Calling them bastards.”
“Bastard is…… vulgar language?”
He looked genuinely surprised. What exactly counted as profanity to Cesare, and what counted as ordinary speech?
Before long, the employee returned. Unlike before, he spoke in a deliberately polite tone.
“You have been registered as Balanus Domus. The requests available to Iron Rank are posted on that board over there.”
A large bulletin board was densely covered with notices. The location had changed, but the system seemed similar to the old days.
As we moved toward the bulletin board, Xenia asked.
“What is Iron Rank?”
“It is the lowest level among organization ranks.”
Guilds and domuses were divided into ranks based on strength, character, and other such factors.
They were divided into Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Black Jade, White Jade, and Star Jade Ranks, and the requests they could accept differed depending on their rank.
After hearing the whole explanation, Xenia looked interested. She also seemed strangely motivated.
Xenia read aloud a notice posted at the very bottom of the board.
“A swarm of cockroaches came out in my house, so I left. I have not been able to go back in for three days. Please catch them for me. Please. Cockroach Extermination Request, 30,000 batz.”
Thirty thousand batz was about the price of three dishes of food. Xenia tilted her head and read another notice.
“Even though I take my dog out for walks five times a day, it still asks to go out again. I feel like I am going to die. Please walk the dog for me. Dog Walking, 30,000 batz.”
The requests Iron Rank could accept were mostly petty errands.
Most of them were requests that could be solved even by some passing drifter, and since they were easy, the rewards were modest. If not that……
“Kill the Three-Headed Dragon and bring back the Dragon Heart, 50,000 batz.”
“A Dragon Heart for 50,000 batz? What kind of shameless bastard posted this request?”
Cesare spoke as if dumbfounded. Iron Rank requests were mostly like this.
“Cesare, bastard is vulgar language, and shameless in that sense is rude as well.”
“Yes. There are many people whose consciences have died. But are we really going to do these jobs?”
Considering the strength of our domus, every request was far too easy.
We could probably bring back a Dragon Heart as well, but it would be troublesome if we gained the image of people who worked for absurdly low pay.
I wanted work that was more difficult and paid better, but at this point, that was impossible.
“No matter how strong we are, our recognition is low, so no one will entrust us with high-grade requests.”
Few people would entrust important work to an organization they had never heard of before. Cesare said with a sullen expression.
“Even so, we are not going to run errands for children like this, are we?”
“Of course not. If the Supporter System still exists, I intend to use that.”
At those words, Xenia tilted her head and asked.
“What is the Supporter System?”
“It is a system in which one organization receives help from another organization.”
Occasionally, there were organizations with high ranks but insufficient combat strength. Such organizations often hired supporters.
In other words, they cooperated with organizations like ours, whose rank was low but whose combat strength was high. Cesare crossed his arms and said.
“Well, that is not bad. I know they pay a pittance, though. But will any place accept a newly formed organization like ours?”
“You are a skilled mercenary. If they know you are with us, they will want to take us as supporters.”
It was fortunate that at least one of us had a recognized career. Cesare looked a little embarrassed, but his expression was full of confidence.
“Good grief. Of course. There are plenty of places that want to take this Cesare. Then let us go negotiate with another organization. I will look for a suitable place.”
Cesare went to find the employee from earlier. Then, after something that was either a conversation or a threat, he returned with a list of organizations looking for supporters.
There were five guilds. All were Silver Rank, and except for one, all of them were names I did not know. I pointed to the familiar name with my finger and said.
“Let us visit this one last.”
“Good. Then let us go in order. Just trust me.”
I followed the confident Cesare to the guilds looking for supporters. As soon as we entered the first guild, someone recognized Cesare. His eyes widened in surprise as he said.
“Mr. Cesare? What brings you here, Mr. Cesare?”
“You know me?”
“Of course. You are famous…….”
At those words, Cesare’s shoulders rose so high they looked as though they might pierce the ceiling.
“I have joined a domus this time. You are looking for supporters, right? We will specially assist you. We may be few in number, but I guarantee our skill.”
The other person glanced at me and Xenia, then spoke with a troubled expression.
“I think supporters will be a little difficult.”
“Why? Because we are newly formed?”
“That is part of it, but…….”
He hesitated, then finally opened his mouth.
“I know Mr. Cesare is a strong mercenary, but we do not work with alcoholics.”
“Huh?”
“Please leave now.”
And so we were driven out of the first guild. Xenia stared at Cesare and said.
“Brother, you are not popular.”
“No! They wanted to refuse because we are newly formed, but they had no justification, so they used me as an excuse!”
“It did not look that way.”
“There is still the next guild anyway, is there not? Let us go!”
With that, Cesare strode toward the next guild.
The second guild.
“By Mr. Cesare, do you mean the man who beat up his employer last time? Ah, that is a bit…….”
The third guild.
“It seems you came looking for illegal work, but please try somewhere else. Getting involved with Mr. Cesare would harm our image…….”
The fourth guild.
“I am sorry, but no matter how urgent we are, we cannot disgrace the name of our guild. I have heard Mr. Cesare has unilaterally broken contracts several times.”
And so we were driven out of all four places.
As Cesare came out of the guild building, he looked thoroughly shocked. He muttered as though he could not believe it.
“They rejected me…… They all rejected me?”
No wonder he had been taking odd jobs despite his ability. Was it a matter of attitude? Xenia patted the despairing Cesare and comforted him.
“It is all right, Brother. Even if everyone rejects you as a scoundrel who drank so much that you did not show up to meeting places, beat up employers because you did not like them, broke contracts, and took illegal jobs, I still love you.”
“Yes, thank you so fucking much…….”
“You are grateful, so why are you pinching my cheek?”
As I watched the beautiful sibling affection unfold, I fell briefly into thought. There was still one final guild left. It was not a place I particularly wanted to go, but there was no choice.
“Then shall we go to the fifth guild?”
At those words, Cesare, who was in the middle of clawing at Xenia as she clawed back at him, said.
“Will that be all right, Master? Perhaps it would be better if I stayed out of it…….”
“It will be fine. Let us go together.”
I took the children to the final guild. The polished building was as luxurious as those of famous guilds.
It seemed they earned quite a bit despite being Silver Rank. Fifteen years ago, they had not been the kind of guild that could live in a building like this. It seemed a great deal of time really had passed.
The nameplate beside the building was made of luxurious ebony. The guild’s name was engraved in gold leaf, and beside it was an elegant swallow symbol. Xenia looked at it and read it carefully.
“Nidus Hirundinis Crepuscularis Guild.”
“What a long name. What does it mean?”
So it was still this long, difficult-to-pronounce name. I knocked on the guild’s door and said,
“I think it means something like the Twilight Swallow’s Nest. Let us go inside first.”
When we entered, a middle-aged person in charge greeted us. It was a face I knew.
“We heard you were looking for supporters, so we came.”
His gaze touched me coldly, then fell away. That calculating gaze of his was still the same.
“It is difficult to cooperate with a newly formed organization that lacks both manpower and a reliable history.”
“We have not even told you our name yet.”
“What is your name?”
Rather than asking because he was truly curious, his tone felt indifferent, as if telling us to say it and leave. I smiled quietly.
“Dane Balanus. I belong to Balanus Domus.”
At those words, the person in charge opened his eyes wide. He looked as though he had seen a ghost.
“What? What does that…….”
“To be precise, the Dane you know is my father. We merely share the same name. No, I suppose our skill is similar too.”
This lie had become fairly comfortable on my tongue now. I spoke to the man whose gaze had changed.
“Blood does not go anywhere. Is that not a fairly good guarantee?”
Blood. In this world, it was probably the surest form of collateral.
This person in charge knew the me of the past. He knew my strength. In that case, he could not ignore the me who claimed to have inherited Dane’s blood.
“Guildmaster Gaspar would be interested as well.”
“……Please wait a moment.”
Once I even mentioned the guildmaster’s name, the person in charge looked even more flustered. After he left, Xenia looked at me with eyes full of curiosity.
“Master, do you know the guildmaster here? That person in charge seemed to recognize you too.”
“Yes. I know him. Though he is not a face I particularly wish to see.”
It was not quite enough to call it an ill-fated relationship, but he was someone I did not want to face. Still, our circumstances were urgent now, so there was no helping it.
After we waited for a little while, the person in charge returned. The place he led us to was the guildmaster’s office on the second floor.
“Guildmaster, I have brought him.”
“……Let him in.”
The door opened. In the middle of an old-fashioned office stood a man. A savage face as burly as a bandit’s, a hooked and angular nose, and an expression twisted as though he were always displeased.
Gaspar. The man who had been the same age as me had now entered middle age after fifteen years.
“……You certainly look exactly alike. To think that bastard had a child.”
He looked me over with threatening eyes, then laughed contemptuously.
“He lived his whole life pretending to be so noble, but I suppose he was sowing seeds in secret after all. And here I thought he lived pretending to be a saint.”